Noir Dedede is Kirby Air Riders’ lone true secret Rider and the culmination of Road Trip’s story. He sits at the intersection of the game’s lore arc about Zorah and Galactic Nova, its New Game Plus structure, and its Legendary Machine Leo. Unlocking him means you have effectively “finished” Road Trip.
Who Noir Dedede is in Kirby Air Riders
In the Riders roster, Noir Dedede is listed separately from King Dedede and described as “Zorah's granted wish finally set free. A lone warrior focused on a lonely mission.” He is not a simple palette swap; he’s treated as his own Rider, with independent stats, a unique Special, and his own slot on the character select screen.
Within Road Trip, Noir Dedede also appears as one of the mode’s bosses. That puts him in the same tier as other major story antagonists, alongside entities like Galactic Nova and Gigantes. Only after that arc resolves does he join the playable cast.
| Rider | Role | Flavor description | Special move |
|---|---|---|---|
| Noir Dedede | Secret Rider, Road Trip boss | Zorah’s wish given form; solitary, mission-driven warrior | Shadow Ride |
Noir Dedede’s connection to Zorah and Galactic Nova
Road Trip’s late-game cutscenes spell out the backstory that eventually produces Noir Dedede. Zorah is an entity that became part of the land itself, yet remained conscious, stuck in immobility for what’s framed as an eternity. During that time, it has a single desire: to be free and travel wherever it wants.
That wish eventually reaches the Fountain of Dreams, which broadcasts it further until it reaches Galactic Nova, the living clockwork star orbiting Pop Star. The same Nova that Kirby has faced in earlier games becomes a key focus course and boss in Air Riders: there is a Galactic Nova race track in Air Ride, and Galactic Nova also appears as a Road Trip boss. Noir Dedede’s description as Zorah’s wish “finally set free” lines him up as the end product of that wish, moving through Nova’s power and the events of Road Trip’s true final stage.
The result is a Dedede-shaped figure that is not simply King Dedede possessed, but a distinct, wish-born Rider with his own agenda. That’s why he’s separated in the roster and treated as the one unlockable character tied specifically to the true ending.
How to unlock Noir Dedede (Road Trip true ending requirements)
Unlocking Noir Dedede is entirely tied to Road Trip and its New Game Plus loop. There are four structural steps:
| Step | Requirement | What it unlocks next |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Finish a full standard Road Trip run once | New Game Plus (NG+) |
| 2 | In NG+, obtain every Machine during that run | Eligibility to trigger NG+ final boss clear condition |
| 3 | Defeat the regular NG+ final boss after collecting all Machines | Stage 12: Journey’s End |
| 4 | Clear Journey’s End’s true final boss while piloting Leo | True ending cutscene, Noir Dedede as a Rider, Leo parts in City Trial (with extra checklist progress) |
Step 1 – Unlock New Game Plus
First, Road Trip has to be cleared once in its normal format. That means playing from Stage 1 through the standard final stage and beating the boss there. Once that full route is complete, Road Trip gains a New Game Plus option. NG+ is presented as a replay of the route with extra conditions and progression tracking aimed at completion rather than a different story.
Step 2 – Collect all Machines within an NG+ run
The key NG+ condition is not just finishing again, but doing so while collecting every Machine during that specific NG+ run. Kirby Air Riders helps here: in NG+, stages are tagged to show where you can still obtain any Machine you are missing, so you can route around the gaps instead of guessing.
“Collecting all the Machines” refers to the Road Trip-eligible Air Ride machines, not Legendary Machines like Dragoon and Hydra that are limited to City Trial. You need to ensure each standard Machine has been acquired at least once during that NG+ playthrough before you tackle the NG+ final boss.
Step 3 – Beat the NG+ final boss to open Journey’s End
Once every Machine has been checked off in NG+, you can push through to the mode’s regular final boss and defeat it. Doing that with the Machine completion requirement satisfied unlocks Stage 12, Journey’s End, which is Road Trip’s hidden final stage.
Journey’s End is treated less like a standard stretch of road and more like a capstone sequence for the mode. It unlocks only in this specific, all‑Machines NG+ clear state, and it is the only place where both Leo and the true final boss are forced into play.
Step 4 – Clear Journey’s End with Leo to unlock Noir Dedede
Entering Journey’s End automatically replaces your current Machine with Leo, one of the new Legendary Machines created for Kirby Air Riders. You do not choose Leo, and you do not bring your previous Machine in; Leo is mandatory for this final fight.
To finish the Road Trip story properly, you must:
- Play Stage 12: Journey’s End with Leo as provided by the game.
- Defeat the true final boss in that stage.
- Watch the true ending sequence that follows.
After the credits and ending cutscene tied to that boss, Noir Dedede is added to the Riders roster as a fully playable character. From that point on, he can be used in the same modes as the other Riders that support character selection.
What else the true ending unlocks alongside Noir Dedede
Noir Dedede is the headline reward for seeing the true ending, but not the only one tied to this route. The end of Journey’s End also connects Road Trip to City Trial via Leo’s parts.
| Reward | Condition | Effect |
|---|---|---|
| Noir Dedede (Rider) | Defeat true final boss in Journey’s End (with Machines completed in NG+) | New playable Rider with Shadow Ride Special |
| Leo parts in City Trial | True final boss cleared + at least 140 Road Trip checklist tasks cleared | Leo’s Machine parts begin appearing in City Trial’s red boxes |
The extra condition for Leo is important: clearing the true final boss alone is not enough. Road Trip’s checklist needs to be heavily progressed—at least 140 tasks completed—before Leo’s parts can spawn in City Trial. Once both conditions are met, you can start assembling Leo during City Trial matches in the same way Dragoon and Hydra are built by gathering three machine parts.
Noir Dedede’s Special: Shadow Ride
Noir Dedede’s Rider identity is built around stealth and control rather than raw hammer swings. His Special is called Shadow Ride and is classified under the game’s “Special” move system tied to the Rider’s Y button gauge.
| Special | Type | Effect summary |
|---|---|---|
| Shadow Ride | Special | Slides past opponents like a shadow, leaving them trapped in darkness |
In practice, Shadow Ride is an evasive burst with an attached debuff: it lets Noir Dedede slip through dense packs of Riders or traffic, then punishes the group he just phased through by dropping them into obscured vision or otherwise “darkened” conditions. It’s more about lane control and counterplay than straightforward damage, especially in races where the leading clump is fighting for position.
Because every Rider can use Copy Abilities in Air Riders, Shadow Ride layers on top of whatever Copy Ability Noir Dedede currently holds. That lets him combine a high‑impact Special with tools like Fire or Plasma for even more disruptive plays.
Where Noir Dedede sits in the broader roster
Kirby Air Riders significantly expands the Rider lineup beyond Kirby, King Dedede, and Meta Knight. The roster includes Bandana Waddle Dee, Waddle Doo, Chef Kawasaki, Knuckle Joe, Rick, Gooey, Cappy, Rocky, Scarfy, Starman, Lololo & Lalala, Marx, Daroach, Magolor, Taranza, Susie, and more. Noir Dedede appears at the end of that list as the only Rider gated behind the true ending route rather than a simpler unlock condition.
New characters from across the series—like Magolor, Taranza, and Susie—are represented without being treated as secret; they are unlocked through normal progression or straightforward criteria. Noir Dedede stands out as the one character tied to an entire mode’s completion, bolted onto the back of Road Trip’s most demanding checklist goals.
That positioning matches his narrative role. He’s literally Zorah’s wish walking around Dream Land with a personal mission, and structurally, he is the game’s way of saying you’ve gone all the way through Road Trip, mastered its Machines, and faced its final boss in its intended conditions.
For players who care about both mechanics and story, unlocking Noir Dedede is less about checking off a hidden character and more about closing the loop on Kirby Air Riders’ biggest ideas. Zorah’s stalled dream, Galactic Nova’s intervention, Leo’s debut, and the Road Trip checklist all converge on a single Rider with a single, very sharp Special move.
