Editing Zero

{{Infobox-Boss
|image=[[File:KDL3 Zero artwork.png|250px]]
|caption=Artwork of '''Zero''' with [[Dark Matter (cloud)|Dark Matter cloud]] from ''[[Kirby's Dream Land 3]]''
|game1=''[[Kirby's Dream Land 3]]'' (1997)
|lastgame=''[[Kirby's Return to Dream Land Deluxe]]'' (2023, reference)
|game=<small>''[[Kirby: Planet Robobot]]'' ([[Sticker (Kirby: Planet Robobot)|sticker]])<br>''[[Kirby Star Allies]]'' ([[Celebration Picture]])<br>''[[Kirby's Dream Buffet]]'' ([[Character Treat]])</small>
|weakness=[[Love-Love Stick]], [[Gooey]]
|relative=[[Dark Matter]], [[Dark Matter (cloud)]]
|similar=[[0²]], [[Dark Mind]], [[Void Termina]], [[Void Soul]], [[Void]]
|theme music=[[File:VsZero KDL3.oga]]
|theme title="[[Vs. Zero]]"
}}
'''Zero''' (sometimes shortened as '''0'''; also known as '''?''' in the [[bad ending]] of ''[[Kirby's Dream Land 3]]'') is the final [[boss]] of ''[[Kirby's Dream Land 3]]''. It is the leader of [[Dark Matter]], and is fought directly after Dark Matter in the [[Hyper Zone]]. While it does not appear in ''[[Kirby 64: The Crystal Shards]]'', Zero appears to have been succeeded by [[0²]].

Although only formally appearing in one game, Zero's legacy throughout the series is quite vast, as several subsequent final bosses would reference or resemble it, including [[Dark Mind]], [[Magolor (second form)|Magolor]], and [[Void]].

==Characteristics==
{{ImCap
|image=File:KDL3 B Zero.png
|size=95px
|align=left
|caption=Zero's sprite in ''Kirby's Dream Land 3''
|captionalign=center}}
Zero is a giant white sphere with a single red eyeball in the center. For some of its attacks, it spurts blood from red streaks on its body and from its eye. It also has the power to summon [[Dark Matter|Mini Dark Matter]] that charges forward. When Zero's initial phase is defeated, its eyeball emerges from its body and is fought on its own in the final phase of the battle; it is smaller and faster and continues to spurt blood, but loses its ability to summon Mini Dark Matter, instead opting to aggressively and continuously charge at Kirby and Gooey.
{{clear|left}}

==Game appearances==
{|class="wikitable mw-collapsible mw-collapsed" border="1" cellpadding="2"
!colspan=3|Zero's video game appearances &nbsp;
|-
!Game
!Role
!Notes
|-
|''[[Kirby's Dream Land 3]]''
|Main antagonist and true final boss
|
|-
|''[[Kirby: Planet Robobot]]''
|Reference
|Appears as a [[Sticker (Kirby: Planet Robobot)|sticker]]
|-
|''[[Kirby Star Allies]]''
|Reference
|Appears in the "Bad Boss Brothers" [[Celebration Picture]].
|-
|''[[Kirby's Dream Buffet]]''
|Reference
|Appears on a [[Character Treat]].
|-
| ''[[Kirby's Return to Dream Land Deluxe]]''
| Reference 
| Appears as a [[Mask#Kirby's Return to Dream Land Deluxe|Dress-Up Mask]].
|}

===''Kirby's Dream Land 3''===
[[File:KDL3 Hyper Zone screenshot 05.png|thumb|A portion of the battle with Zero]]
After forging the [[Love-Love Stick]], [[Kirby]] and his friend [[Gooey]] fly into the heart of of [[Dark Matter (cloud)|the dark cloud]] in an area called the [[Hyper Zone]]. There, after Kirby defeats [[Dark Matter]], Zero appears out of nowhere and engages Kirby.

====Phase 1====
Zero has a number of attacks, but what makes it the most dangerous is its looming size. Zero's attacks are as follows:
*Shooting red blood pellets out from its body as a projectile volley.
*Creating [[Dark Matter|Mini Dark Matter]] flyers and sending them at Kirby.
*Charging at Kirby.
*Leaving the main area and firing blood at Kirby from the background.

To hurt Zero, Kirby must simply hit the boss with projectiles from the [[Love-Love Stick]] in his hands (32 [[damage]] per shot), though Zero takes many hits to defeat. Zero's first form has 4080 [[stamina|HP]], which takes 128 shots from Kirby to defeat (or 160 shots if Gooey is in battle due to the 0.8× damage modifier for 2 players). Zero's first form has only 1 invincibility frame when getting hit, so it's faster to defeat this form with 2 players.

====Phase 2====
Once it loses all its HP, Zero's eye rips out of its body in rather gory fashion and pursues Kirby as a last resort to defeat him. All Kirby has to do at this point is dodge and keep hitting it with the Love-Love Stick. In this form, Zero now has only 256 HP and takes 8 shots from Kirby to be defeated (or 10 shots if Gooey is in battle). Zero's eye has much longer invincibility frames, so it's recommended to battle with 1 player only. Notably, it's common for Zero's eye to get caught in a loop if Kirby stays put; it will just continuously spin around him without actually dealing damage, which makes hitting it much easier. Defeating the eye of Zero finally defeats Zero itself and completes ''Kirby's Dream Land 3'' with the good ending.
{{clear}}

===''Kirby: Planet Robobot''===
[[File:KPR Zero Sticker.png|thumb|Zero's sticker in ''Kirby: Planet Robobot'']]
Zero appears as a [[Sticker (Kirby: Planet Robobot)|sticker]], based on his artwork from ''Kirby's Dream Land 3'' (though shrunken down a fair bit).

===''Kirby Star Allies''===
Zero appears in the [[Celebration Picture]] "Bad Boss Brothers" alongside many other final bosses.

=== ''Kirby's Dream Buffet'' ===
In ''[[Kirby's Dream Buffet]]'', Zero appears on a [[Character Treat]], depicting its artwork from ''Kirby's Dream Land 3''.

=== ''Kirby's Return to Dream Land Deluxe'' ===
In ''[[Kirby's Return to Dream Land Deluxe]]'', Zero's likeness appears in the form of a [[Mask#Kirby's Return to Dream Land Deluxe|Dress-Up Mask]], rewarded for completing card #41 in the [[Stamp Rally]].

==Trivia==
*Although it is easy to construe the blood that spurts from Zero and [[0²]] as merely red energy blobs, both the ending credit illustration of 0² in ''[[Kirby 64: The Crystal Shards]]'' and the game's ESRB E10+ rating in ''[[Kirby's Dream Collection Special Edition]]'' confirm it as blood.<ref>{{cite web|quote=One boss character (a giant eyeball) fires red droplets at Kirby; additional red-damage effects appear as its health decreases.|url=https://www.esrb.org/ratings/32367/kirbys-dream-collection-special-edition/|title=Kirby's Dream Collection Special Edition|site=ESRB}} ([https://web.archive.org/web/20240126131458/https://www.esrb.org/ratings/32367/kirbys-dream-collection-special-edition/ Wayback Machine snapshot])</ref>
**Zero is one of the few bosses in the [[Kirby (series)|''Kirby'' series]] that explicitly depicts blood. The others include [[0²]], [[Shadow Dedede]], [[Dark Meta Knight#Kirby: Triple Deluxe|Dark Meta Knight's Revenge]], [[Star Dream Soul OS]] and [[Void Termina]].
*Zero was originally set to appear as a [[Kirby Ball|ball character]] in ''[[Kirby: Canvas Curse]]'', along with other bosses from previous games, like [[Lololo & Lalala]], [[Dark Matter]], and [[Nightmare|Nightmare's Power Orb]]. However, the idea was scrapped, and it doesn't appear in the final game.<ref>{{cite book|book=[[20th Anniversary Kirby Pupupu Encyclopedia]]|publisher=Shogakukan|page=125}}</ref>
*[[Dark Nebula]] is called "Dark Zero" in Japanese, Chinese and Korean, but beyond this connection, there is no confirmed relationship between it and Zero.
*In ''[[Kirby's Return to Dream Land]]'', [[Lor & Magolor]] have an attack similar to one of Zero's, in which they fire barrages of bullets from the background.
*[[Void]] has a similar color scheme to that of Zero and resembles him more in his Dark Matter-esque form. This connection is furthered by the Hyper Zone's appearance in Void's splash screen.

==Gallery==
{{center|<gallery>
Bad Boss Brothers.png|Zero can be seen in the lower-right in the "Bad Boss Brothers" [[Celebration Picture]] from ''[[Kirby Star Allies]]''
Bad Boss Brothers sketch.jpg|Original sketch of the "Bad Boss Brothers" Celebration Picture
KDB Zero character treat.png|[[Character Treat]] from ''[[Kirby's Dream Buffet]]''
KRtDLD Zero Mask Icon.png|[[Mask#Kirby's Return to Dream Land Deluxe|Dress-Up Mask]] from ''[[Kirby's Return to Dream Land Deluxe]]''
KRtDLD Zero Mask.jpg|Kirby wearing the Zero Dress-Up Mask in ''Kirby's Return to Dream Land Deluxe''
General Miiverse artwork 2.jpg|[[Miiverse]] illustration commemorating Kirby's 23rd birthday
KIRBY Mystic Perfume ZMM Artwork.jpg|Zero-themed perfume bottle for the "KIRBY Mystic Perfume" merchandise alongside [[Marx]] and [[Magolor]] themed bottles.
Twitter commemorative - Valentine's Day 2018.jpg|Illustration from the [[Kirby JP Twitter]] featuring a cookie based on Zero
Dedede Directory 36 - Zero.jpg|[[Dedede Directory]] about Zero
Pupupu Train cushion and badges.jpg|Zero occupying the train door as seen on a "Manners Improvement" badge and cushion from the "[[Kirby Pupupu Train]]" 2018 events. The text says "Let the door be open"
Pupupu Times Vol 2 Towel.jpg|Zero (bottom right) as seen on "Pupupu Times Vol.2" towel from the "Pupupu Train" 2018 events. The news headline says "Train delay! Numerous sightings of a giant flying sphere!"
Kirby Hanafuda Card Set 8.jpg|Set 8 of the Kirby hanafuda cards, featuring Zero.
KMP Oil Charms 2.jpg|Second set of oil charms from the "KIRBY Mystic Perfume" merchandise line
</gallery>}}

==Names in other languages==
{{Names
|ja=ゼロ
|jaR=Zero
|jaM=Zero
|zh=零
|zhR=Líng
|zhM=Zero
|fr=Zéro
|frM=Zero
|de=Zero
|deM=-
|it=Zero
|itM=-
|es=Zero
|esM=-
|ko=제로
|koR=Jero
|koM=Zero
|pt=Zero
|ptM=-
|nl=Zero
|nlM=-
}}
{{ref}}
{{Navbox-Characters}}
{{Navbox-KDL3}}

[[Category:Bosses in Kirby's Dream Land 3]]
[[Category:Secret bosses]]
[[Category:Final bosses]]
[[Category:Villains]]