Meta Knight 'Gijinka'

Might very well stick to this. Unless Popopo Superstar comes a-callin'...

Meta Knight. The knight of knights. A lofty title to hold in chivalry. In this bleak world, especially in the kingdom of Dreamland, very few even bother to become knights. As such, only 3 knights in history have ever carried that title, and all 3 are related.

Meet Barley Scapallerro, the 3rd to claim the title of Knight of Knights, and surely the youngest one of all. All his life, Barley's one dream was to be the best knight in the world, just like his father, Skyvus Scapallerro (Meta Knight I). However, his father had become the Meta Knight against his own wishes (his story will be told at another time), and he didn't want his son to make the same mistakes he did, so Barley was forbidden to enter knighthood. The poor boy (being only 8) was beside himself, and ran away into the woods to sulk. However, he soon came upon an interesting item; a gold-plated mirror wedged into a small rock face. In it, Barley saw himself, but an ideal version of himself; an intrepid warrior, battling horrendous creatures in a treacherous land.

Every day after that, Barley would visit this Amazing Mirror, watching his escapades. One day, though, the poor child was whisked away by his twisted ideal into the Mirror Realm, where all reflections of the mind resided. A monstrous warlock wanted to harness the power of this Mirror Realm, so he corrupted the images Barley's mind had constructed through that Amazing Mirror, using this Mirror World as a base, taking Barley's ideal reflection for his slave. All hope would have been lost had Barley not discovered a glistening shard of metal carelessly lodged in a stone. The sword was pronged and curved, with a glowing emerald in its hilt. Master, the sword called itself.

With this powerful item and the help of the four Kirbies, Barley conquered his dreams and defeated the Dark Mind. Upon returning to the true world, Barley was confronted and thanked by his ideal reflection with glowing gold sword and a pat on the shoulder. Upon returning home to his father (who was beside himself with the child), Barley realized that somehow, he had become his ideal; a brave, skilled warrior, complete with armor, golden sword Galaxia, flowing cape, and shining platinum mask.

The 3rd Meta Knight became involved in many adventures afterwards. In these, he learns the true natures of Kirby and others, makes friends, and becomes the Greatest Warrior on the planet.
...
That's right. 3 Meta-Knights. But why? Well, #1 [link] is way too different from the modern Meta Knight, especially since he can't fly. #2 [link] is a little closer to the Knight we know now, but his attacks are actually very different from Meta Knightmare's Knight (the most recent one), especially the Mach Tornado thing. So, there are 3 of the masked warrior. End of story. Ok, not really, but you get my point.

UP NEXT: MARX (the suspense!)