Character Analysis (Kirby Star Allies; Hyness)

 Character Analysis

Name: Hyness

Gender: Male

Age: Unclear

Ethnicity: An unknown clan that was wiped from history, and, according to a Nintendo Dream interview, is nearing the brink of extinction.

Family: The Three Mage-Sisters, a group of sisters/sisterhood (The wording is deliberately ambiguous) were all adopted and raised by Hyness, and act as elite enforces of the cult out of love and loyalty to his cause, despite his physically abusive behavior.

Cultural background: Hyness is either a descendant or survivor of a long-gone religious clan that was formerly aligned with a different group

Intelligence (IQ): While overshadowed by his current insanity, his charisma and emotional and strong intellect was what made him the elective leader of his religious clan.

Education: N/A

Occupation: The figurehead of the villainous cult that acts as the main antagonist group of Kirby Star Allies.

Religion/Philosophy: The minister/head priest of an unnamed apocalyptic cult that worships an ancient, planet-destroying traveling entity known as "Void."

Sexual orientation: N/A

Goals, ambition, dreams: To resurrect Void/Void Termina, the god of his religion, and let him conquer the world out of vengeance.

Secrets: He was formerly a kind leader, whose compassion and intelligence had made him a beloved, de-facto leader of the religious sect he heads. However, the tribulations and suffering he and his clan had suffered had led to him eventually 'forsaking his heart' and becoming trapped in a mental "spiral of loneliness and despair." All this culminated into his corruption into the abusive, insane cult leader that Kirby encounters in the climax of Kirby Star Allies's initial story mode.

Fears/Phobias: N/A

Sense of humor: While it is mostly a byproduct of his darkness/grief-induced insanity, he frequently dances and makes bizarre movements during the heroes' fight against Hyness, and in his rant about his motivations, he outright screams "HAPPY BIRTHDAY, DARK LORD! HAPPY BIRTHDAY!"

Adrenaline moments: His entire existence, from his entire battle, before and after, to the implements of both his religion and backstory, is arguably an entire 'adrenaline marathon'. The deity of the 'Jamba religion' alone, Void, has various attacks and forms that a multitude of past antagonists and monstrosities from past Kirby titles, and is implied to be both the origin of such entities but may even be related to Kirby himself.

Physical description: Hyness is clad in religious attire; wearing a white cloak with gold, runic embroidery, as well as the logo of the cult he leads. He has a blue head with yellow rings all over his bulging eyes and ears, as well as a distinct nose.

Physical disabilities, if any: His head could turn at inhumane angles, adding to his mad gesticulation. 

Intention: Hyness's actions reflect a vengeful, insanity-driven desire to enact revenge against the world for dismissing him and his people.

Subtext: The entirety of Hyness's religion's context and what is told from both background info, Hyness's words, and the deity behind the religion, both reflects continuity from across the Kirby franchise, and contributes to the subtext about the 'Ancients' that have been alluded to since games such as Kirby: Super Star Ultra, Kirby's Return to Dream Land, etc.

Execution: From his wild spasms, his bizarre dances, and abusive behavior towards his subordinates, he unambiguously expresses himself as an insane, malevolent leader.

Caricature: With his holy attire, his devotion to his "Dark Lord/God", and his descent to madness; he's a ghastly caricature of devout religious leaders; especially their hypocrisies and cruelties.

Center of Power: It rests upon his upper body, his shoulders and/or hip area. While Kirby characters have relatively simple anatomy to begin with, and his body is obscured; he compensates by his constant shuddering and dancing, which involves flailing around his body and arms. He's also at least strong enough to grab and punch around his subordinates, especially whilst they've been unwillingly petrified into statues.

Three Poses:

This pointing gesture, which is what was used as the establishing shot of his splash art before Kirby fights him; is relatively modest compared to his expressiveness before and after his mask is removed. This simple pose reflects the quiet eerieness his initial introduction showcases, as well as arguably represents him being the dictating officiant of his religion.

Pictured above is his most frequent pose, which was most prominently shown when he was moderating the Jamba Heart, the artifact that contains the deity he worships.. The way he constantly raises his arms may either be how he tends to gesticulates as per his religion and/or is an indicator of his intensely expressive madness.

Hyness dances around just like this during the second phase of his battle. This exemplifies his absolute madness once the mask of calmness has been forcibly excised from him, and shows just how his despair-induced madness has affected him as a person.

Gestures:

Along with showing his wild gestures, this section also shows his dismissive, abusive side, as here are scenes where he's explicitly shown abusing the Mage-Sisters, who are his direct subordinates and are the primary commanding enforcers of the cult.