User:PhotonLancer2/Marx

""The cosmic jester from Kirby Super Star sensed danger from afar and is ready to roll across galaxies on his ball! This final boss is here to help!""

- - Kirby Star Allies

Summary
Marx (Japanese: マルク, Maruku) is a recurring character in the Kirby franchise. He initially appears as a manipulative jester-type character who tricks Kirby into helping him with his plan, though after his defeat and warped resurrection, he later befriends Kirby and helps him with his adventures. He bares a slight resemblance to Noddies, with his round, armless body donning a cap, leading many fans to speculate this may be his species, though this has not been officially confirmed.

Milky Way Wishes
Marx makes his debut in Kirby Super Star's final main sub-game, Milky Way Wishes, which takes place in the Year ??? (Year ???? in the remake). With the sun and moon fighting over whether it should be day or night, the way of life in Dream Land has been disturbed. Marx, seemingly possessing knowledge of astronomy, approaches some Dream Landers watching this clash between celestial bodies, and informs them that a wish-granting mechanical comet known as Galactic NOVA may be the remedy, entrusting one such Dream Lander, Kirby, with the task of summoning him. He informs Kirby that he must visit the Fountain of Dreams on each planet within their solar system to collect the Warp Star-like objects needed to summon NOVA.

Upon completing this task, Kirby is ambushed by Marx, who makes a striking return to hijack the wish made upon NOVA. Wishing to control Popstar, Marx reveals he was the one who caused the war between the sun and moon as a means of tricking Kirby into summoning the comet for his own ends. He then enters what the English localisation describes as his true form, however, the Japanese version of this line (ついに正体をあらわした) could be read as him "finally showing his true colours", which would instead more likely refer to how he revealed he was pulling the strings, which may imply NOVA instead granted him this transformation to him as a means to better control Popstar. However, he is later portrayed as being readily able to turn into this form, making it unclear exactly whether this form is natural to him or not. Regardless, he uses his more menacing winged form against Kirby for a final battle to determine the fate of Popstar, ultimately being defeated and launched into the very comet that granted his wish, causing NOVA to explode and lead to Marx's death.

The True Arena
Marx will always appear as the final opponent in the boss rush sub-game of Kirby Super Star, The Arena, cementing his title as the final boss of the game. However, not much else can be taken from this. It is only when the Nintendo DS remake, Kirby Super Star Ultra, introduced The True Arena that Marx's story would continue. It is revealed in a flashback that Marx was left as a seemingly lifeless corpse, as indicated by how he now appears colourless, however he was saved from death's door by the debris and fuel from NOVA's remains floating about him being absorbed into his being. Using NOVA's power, he was able to transform into Marx Soul. The Soul form in Kirby is more of a complete transformation of an already-defeated enemy in which they totally lose control, a sad shell and pitiable husk of their former self, rather than being their actual spiritual essence, though there is still an implication of such. The time frame is not exactly clear, but at some point after this, Marx Soul becomes a member of the Last 4 (四天王 in the Japanese localisation) that make up the final four opponents of the True Arena. Since recent foes such as Masked Dedede and Galacta Knight are members of this deadly quartet, it may be implied that Marx Soul was waiting for his revenge on Kirby for quite some time, rather than fighting him immediately after his rebirth. This does seem to have an effect on this overall story, rather than being limited the The True Arena, as the pieces Marx absorbed from NOVA are shown to be missing when the comet is rebuilt in Meta Knightmare Ultra. Kirby once again emerges victorious when challenged by Marx Soul, however, causing Marx to split in half with a blood curling scream in the face of what appears to be his final defeat.

Other appearances
Despite the implications of a finality from his defeat as Marx Soul, Marx's appearances would not end here. In the subgame Kirby Brawlball in Kirby Mass Attack, King Dedede launches Kirby to fight several bosses in a pinball-like setting, with his final challenge being Marx, now much larger in size and returned to his normal self. Considering some of Marx Soul's attacks involve him splitting in half, it's clear that this happening to him is far from fatal, meaning Kirby may have just defeated him rather than outright killed him. Once again managing to narrowly avoid his fate, he also seems to have come to his senses again. The idea of a character being almost exorcised from their Soul form has been displayed in the series, and we know Marx has had a taste of the power of his Soul form as some of the attacks he uses were those used by Marx Soul. This time around, Marx appears to be punished rather than placed in a near-death situation, allowing him to safely continue his role within the series.

Whilst by no means confirmed, it is speculated by fans that Marx may have had a role to play within Kirby's Return to Dream Land. Magolor's arrival on Popstar was not entirely a random planet of choice to escape to, as he informs Kirby that he knows somebody who knows him quite well, whilst also showing he is aware that Kirby has had battles with fellow Popstar residents. Considering the similarities in their plans, alongside their common depicted with one another in promotional material and as one of the Stone transformations in Kirby Triple Deluxe and Planet Robobot, it's not farfetched to believe Marx is who he is referring to, which would in turn imply Marx is why Magolor came to Popstar to use Kirby to help him in the first place by making him aware of him. However, how exactly they met is not entirely clear.

Kirby Star Allies
Coming soon

Powers and Stats
Name: Marx

Origin: Kirby

Age: Unknown in Kirby Superstar, Kirby Superstar Ultra and Kirby Mass Attack, aeons old by Kirby Star Allies (The events of Kirby and the Amazing Mirror are said to be aeons ago in Kirby Triple Deluxe, Kirby Star Allies takes place after this.)

Gender: Male

Classification: Jester, likely astronomer, possibly Noddy

Powers and Abilities: Coming soon

Speed: Coming soon