Fatal Error
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"Fatal Error" is a theme from Kirby: Planet Robobot that plays primarily during cutscenes associated with Star Dream. It was composed by Hirokazu Ando.[1]
Composition
"Fatal Error" is a brisk and war-like theme in G minor and 4/4. Timpani, snares, and a piano bass dominate the percussion aspect, over which dramatic brass, woodwinds, and the occasional xylophone are overlaid. The track presents the unique motif of "VS. Star Dream" in the form of a repeated bassoon five tone long scale segment followed by quaver-two semiquaver descending patterns in seconds and thirds. The rhythmically modified opening phrase of "The Noble Haltmann" immediately follows up, after which the motif and this version of "The Noble Haltmann" repeat an octave higher with more narrow intervals in the descending passage. In the second section, "The Noble Haltmann" is developed further with instruments adding up incrementally. The motif of "Fatal Error" drops down to low registers and builds up slightly. In tense suspension, a xylophone plays the motif of "Bright Spinning Planet" before the track loops.
Game appearances
Kirby: Planet Robobot
"Fatal Error" plays during the cutscenes "Apocalyptic Wish" and "A Star Is Born", as well as the lobby of The True Arena shortly before fighting the final boss of the mode. It can be found as track 092 in the Jukebox.
Kirby: Star Allies
"Fatal Error" was added into Kirby Star Allies in version 4.0.0 as a rest theme in The Ultimate Choice, where it appears exclusively on Soul Melter EX. It can be found as Track 212 in the Jukebox.
Other appearances
"Fatal Error" appears on the Kirby: Planet Robobot Original Soundtrack as part of Disc 2, Track 18: "Apocalyptic Wish", a medley made up of themes from the namesake cutscene. It is also featured on its own three tracks later (Disc 2, Track 21). These are, overall, the 70th and 73rd tracks on the album respectively.
Etymology
This theme is named after the fatal error in programming which refers to an error in the code so critical that it causes the program (or, rarely, the whole system) to crash in response. Susie's theft of the interaction headset for Star Dream during the cutscene "Apocalyptic Wish" may have caused such an error to take place, resulting in Star Dream's subsequent reboot to force it on a destructive rampage. This can be interpreted metaphorically as well, where Star Dream continually corrupted President Haltmann's mind, causing the erroneous shift of goals from rescuing his daughter to "infinite prosperity", which was eventually rephrased as "destroy the whole universe".
Trivia
- "VS. Star Dream", from which this track was partially derived, shares its melody with the track "Spinning Jungle" from Kirby: Triple Deluxe. Composer Hirokazu Ando acknowledged the similarity, and admitted he only realized it after finishing the theme, and that was simply a coincidence.[2]
Names in other languages
| Language | Name | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| Japanese | Fatal Error |
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