Taranza

Taranza is a six-handed character featured in some of the later Kirby games. He is an antagonist in some of his earlier appearances, with his debut appearance being Kirby: Triple Deluxe, but has converted to an ally in some of his later appearances. Taranza hails from Floralia, and is a former retainer of Queen Sectonia.

In Kirby: Triple Deluxe, Taranza was sent by Queen Sectonia to kidnap Kirby, but he kidnaps King Dedede instead. Kirby then chases him up the Dreamstalk all the way to Royal Road, where he uses his hypnotic abilities to put King Dedede under his control. After Masked Dedede is defeated, he entreats Queen Sectonia to save him, but she does not: instead, she strikes him with a laser beam attack, prompting Taranza to switch allegiances after this betrayal. It is hinted in the in-game descriptions that Taranza used to be friends with Queen Sectonia but recently noticed some disturbing changes in her demeanor.

In Team Kirby Clash Deluxe, Taranza is the main villain responsible for driving the inhabitants of the Dream Kingdom into disturbing the peace. After Kirby and his allies defeat him, he uses a magical mirror to summon dangerous monsters from another dimension. However, the game's ending reveals that the mirror was controlling Taranza the entire time, and he returns to being peaceful after it is destroyed.

In Kirby Star Allies's third update, Taranza was made a playable character.