Dark Nebula
Dark Nebula (a.k.a. Dark Zero)
The youngest of the independent Dark Matter, Dark Nebula was created as an ongoing experiment into how free-willed Dark Matter would grow and develop. 02 specifically created Nebula as a blank slate and let him grow in whichever direction happened "naturally", doing little to directly interfere with his growth, creation-wise.
Nebula developed into a powerful creature like the other independents, with his specific strengths being total mastery of fire, ice and lightning magic. He also has a skill for possession that far surpasses anyone except 02 himself - and even then, Nebula is stealthier at it than 02 is. Various sub-abilities evolved around those central ones, but despite this Nebula was somehow never enough for 02 and the two had a horrible relationship.
Nebula eventually ran away from 02's tyranny and got into a chain of terrorising mischief that lead to the events of Squeak Squad. He is currently carrying on his lone wolf life, though with a large friend group to help him out (that is to say... he has friends at all now).
Divine Domains
Darkness by extension of his "lineage".
Artifacts
Not that he's willingly associated with it, but the cult kept him sealed inside a censer before having to move him to the chest. He was also used to create many of the cult's "negativity bomb" crystals.
Holy Books & Codes
In the sole religion that is devoted to Dark Matter - the cult - Nebula is actually viewed as a traitor and impostor to the Sole God, 02. Because of this, Dark Matter cultists have an incredibly dim view of Dark Nebula and go so far as to regard him as an exile.
Divine Symbols & Sigils
The staring Dark Matter sigil. Nebula specifically is associated with stars.
Physical Description
General Physical Condition
The slenderest body type in the hive. Generally androgynous build with a small waist and narrow shoulders.
Body Features
Deep midnight blue skin, pitch black hair, classic pointed Kirbyverse ears. Nebula is an interesting case body-wise as he... actually doesn't have a body. His "body", inasmuch as he has one, is essentially just his outfit. He has his head and his hands, but anything "covered" by his outfit is actually just empty space. This makes him much like a ghost.
Facial Features
Pointed, effeminate face with high cheekbones. Resembles 02 if 02 weren't such a wreck. Upward-slanting electric pink eye with a black sclera. Has arched eyebrows the same colour as his hair. Has a fabulous pearly smile which is shockingly visible against his face.
Identifying Characteristics
His star patch, his colour scheme, he's just generally a very recognisable guy.
Physical quirks
Has no noticeable walking pattern; he moves with an unnerving stillness in his gait, as if he were simply gliding across the floor (which he is). Always stands straight and proud.
Special abilities
Nebula has all the typical Dark Matter abilities - possession, shadow-walking, incorporeality, black lightning, emotion eating and manipulation.
Total elemental mastery of fire, ice and lightning. Can assume a form associated with each of those that essentially turns him into an elemental. He excels at using these abilities specifically for combat, but can cast a huge array of spells and magic with them for other purposes.
Dark Nebula is the possession specialist of the hive. Any target that would give a lesser Dark Matter trouble, Nebula can overtake with ease. He's so skilled that he can possess without warping the victim's appearance at all - the only reason Dark Daroach got a change was because Nebula was exhausted from being sealed away. In addition, he can hold on for far longer than other Dark Matter when being repulsed by a holy weapon or light magic - it will still eventually oust him, but he has the strength to maintain his grip for a much longer period of time.
He can render himself invisible, and blend in seamlessly with the darkness of open space. It's practically impossible to detect him when he does this - even the usual Dark Matter energy signature fades out and just reads as "space" to even the most advanced sensors.
Apparel & Accessories
Typical Dark Matter stylings: long, flowy and covering. His outfit is always in perfect condition as Nebula puts a lot of stock in how he looks. He has two glassy beads woven into his hair to hold his long bangs and a star clasp keeping his cloak held at the hollow of his neck.
Mental characteristics
Personal history
Dark Nebula is the youngest independent Dark Matter, having been created the most recently. As detailed in the introduction, he was created as an experiment for 02 to test various ideas about Dark Matter development. Unfortunately, due to multiple factors (largely 02's personality), this was always doomed to failure as Nebula quickly turned into 02's personal punching bag, both emotionally and physically. This lead to them having a horrible relationship, and eventually Nebula ran away from 02 entirely. In a combination of callousness and sheer apathy, 02 didn't force Nebula to return like he might have other Dark Matter, and therefore Nebula was relatively free to pursue his own ends away from the looming eye of his father.
From there, Nebula spent almost all of his time terrorising whole planets indiscriminately as an outlet for his anger (and also just because of general Dark Matter instincts). Due to his physical resemblance to 02 and his advanced shapeshifting abilities, Nebula actually took on the alias of "Dark Zero" and masqueraded himself as 02 returned. Despite his severe dislike for his father, this was simply the most effective way to instil fear and wreak havoc among people who recognised Dark Matter. He would also occasionally take on grander titles like "Lord of the Underworld", but monikers like these were actually assigned to him by the people he was tormenting.
This state of affairs continued for some time until eventually his actions caught the eye of the cult. At first they planned to meet with him and pledge their services, as such a public-facing and easily-reached Dark Matter was a complete rarity. This would have been an unmissable opportunity for them. However, when a forward party reached the current location Nebula was haunting and discovered what appeared to be a rogue Dark Matter taking the name and visage of their lord for its own gain, their opinion was sealed. From then on the cult viewed Nebula as a traitor to the hive, the Impostor Child.
The cult withdrew contact and a plan was drawn up to capture Nebula and imprison him. Normally this would be heresy to the cult, but they'd designated Nebula as an exile and the act of removing him was seen as an offering to 02. They would be preventing him from interfering with Dark Matter's intentions for the universe.
The cult tracked Nebula's movements until he moved to a new planet and looked like he was going to stay there for a while. They sent out a squad headed by Zan Partizanne to place one of their crystallised negativity bombs in an ideal area to spring their trap. The bomb did exactly as it was supposed to and drew Nebula's attention with a sudden huge spike of negative emotions. He turned up personally to investigate, only to be captured in a specially-rigged cage made of light magic. Zan Partizanne was one of the only members of the cult aside from Hyness himself who was capable of wielding magic advanced enough to trap a Dark Matter, which is why she appointed herself to this duty. She also had a semi-decent chance of surviving if something went wrong.
Luckily for her, everything went exactly as planned and Nebula was completely restrained by the spell. He was incapacitated by the exposure to light magic and Zan sealed him inside an enchanted censer. This censer was also lined with light magic, which both prevented Nebula from escaping, and made him unable to exert any power from inside. He was also unable to sense anything outside of his prison like a Dark Matter usually would have been able to.
He was taken back to one of the cult's many Jambastions where he was used as a living battery. Since Dark Matter essentially have infinite power and endlessly regenerate, he was an incredibly convenient source of darkness for everything from spells to rituals to magical items. Countless negativity crystals were produced using his energy. Occasionally he would be removed from the censer and transferred to another seal where he could be observed by cult members. This was usually enacted on the rare occasions Hyness would visit, but the high priest viewed Nebula with a disgust that far exceeded the rest of his underlings', so he never gave Nebula much regard.
It's unknown how long Nebula was sealed for. Even with Dark Matter having self-generating power, the imprisonment itself wore on Nebula - as it was designed to. Being exposed to light magic for so long is severely damaging to Dark Matter, and his censer was specifically enchanted to leave enough vitality for the cult to harvest, but still wear him down over time. This was intended both as a ritualistic "punishment" and to prevent disaster if he ever escaped. Nebula got weaker and weaker while imprisoned and eventually slipped into a kind of stasis, unable to maintain consciousness any more.
This carried on until one day, the cult was moving him and several other items to a hideout base on a certain planet. Unbeknownst to them, their movements had been tracked by Meta Knight. The base was raided by his knights and all hell broke loose. In the chaos, the cult had to rip Nebula out of the censer and destroy it, because they couldn't risk losing such a powerful item to their enemies, and it would be far too easy to track magically, with how saturated in darkness it was. They had enough time to perform another last-minute spell and sealed Nebula inside a treasure chest, one of the few "inconspicuous" items they had to hand.
Sadly for them, Meta Knight and his band were too much to overcome and the cult had to flee without Nebula. Meta Knight salvaged what he could from the hideout, destroying whatever he deemed safe to get rid of. When he found the chest, it was obvious to him that something dangerous must have been inside it, with the complexity of the spell holding it shut. If he destroyed that, it would just release whatever it was. This is why he decided to take the chest back to Popstar and entrust it to King Dedede.
This was, to be fair, the correct choice from Meta Knight given the information he had to hand. It would just sadly turn out not to be any old cursed object inside that chest, but a whole entire Dark Matter, and a very powerful one at that.
... At least, it would have been. Nebula was so thoroughly exhausted from his imprisonment that he didn't even regain consciousness until quite some time after being transferred to the vaults of Castle Dedede. It was then that he discovered that the spell used to seal him inside the treasure chest was a stop-gap measure at best, and he was able to exert the tiniest influence on the world around him. He still couldn't see, hear, or feel anything unless it was physically touching the chest, but this was enough of a change that he forced himself to stay awake. The seal on the chest was still made of light magic, which meant that he still had no hope of escape, but it only contained him. It wasn't actively draining him like his previous imprisonment was. Thanks to this, Nebula was able to emanate a minuscule amount of his aura any time someone picked up the chest. This eventually lead to rumours among King Dedede's retinue of it being haunted, and the chest was moved to a dustier corner of the vaults to be forgotten.
Until, of course, one eventful day when infamous thieving band the Squeaks would bust into Castle Dedede and steal a certain treasure chest. Thus ensued the events of Squeak Squad, which ended in Daroach opening the treasure chest and releasing, to his horror, Dark Nebula. Nebula immediately pounced on Daroach and possessed the mouse, desperate for anything to hang onto and anybody to hide in. Possession was all he could muster in his utterly weakened state, and it wasn't very good possession, either. He was easily ousted by Kirby and then just as easily defeated. In a stroke of cosmic luck, however, Kirby's weapon of choice this time around was the Triple Star, which despite being a powerful weapon in its own right, wasn't made of light magic. The Triple Star is an elemental weapon, and therefore wasn't actually capable of killing a Dark Matter.
Nebula was so exhausted, however, that he wasn't able to hold himself together after his defeat and his physical form fell apart, leading Kirby to believe he was dead. Far, far away, 02 also felt this loss and similarly believed Nebula dead, because the star's energy signature was so weak at that point that 02 couldn't feel it.
It took Nebula a long time to recover enough to form a body again, and even longer to begin recovering a semblance of his power. He spent this time keeping a low profile and avoiding the notice of both the cult and his father as best he could.
Eventually, he was drawn out of hiding by his curiosity over Magolor's apparent friendship with 02, prompting him to go harangue meet the wizard. This inevitably lead to 02 realising Nebula was still alive, but it also kicked off the chain of events that would give Nebula his first ever friends.
Gender Identity
Totally genderless and sexless same as all Dark Matter. Presents masculine and speaks in a masculine voice, and answers to masculine pronouns. Would accept neuter pronouns, and feminine pronouns too, but would give you weird looks about it.
Sexuality
What The Fuck Even Is Sexuality To A Dark Matter We Mean Really
Education
Nothing formal. His education consists of the inherited shared knowledge of the hive, which results in a shockingly broad knowledge of the universe in general - less so on the personal side, especially since the independent Dark Matter tend to stay out of each others' heads.
Employment
None.
Accomplishments & Achievements
Wreaked general mischief and havoc on the galaxy for a while before being sealed into the treasure chest. Possessed Daroach, infamous leader of the thieving gang the Squeaks. Fought Kirby and didn't die DUN DUN
Failures & Embarrassments
Getting caught by the cult and being sealed in the treasure chest. Being defeated by Kirby. Being found again by his father.
Mental Trauma
His entire "upbringing" thanks to 02's harsh and callous treatment. This is what caused him to develop his incredible ego and air of superiority. It's a cover for his crushing self-hatred and clinging desire to be loved.
All Dark Matter inherit 02's traumas, and independent Dark Matter in particular tend to reflect one or more of 02's specific personality quirks. Dark Nebula is 02's wild emotions and childishness. Of them all, Dark Nebula most reminds 02 of Zero, and thus is on the receiving end of aaaall that self-loathing and anger.
His time spent imprisoned by the cult also scarred him, but not necessarily from the imprisonment and experimentation performed on him. To Nebula, being captured by the cult and used as a living battery was just a horrible rehash of his "home" life, and the way his family already treated him. It was reinforcement for all the self-hatred and horrible things he was told about himself - he really was only good as a tool. But worst of all, the thing that still burns him to this day, is that 02 didn't come looking for him. His father didn't care.
Intellectual Characteristics
Has an uncanny talent for picking up on people's mannerisms and behaviour, which makes him scary good at mimicry. This is an extension of his possession skills and is not necessarily conscious, but he takes full advantage of it whenever he can.
In general acts very logically about situations, though this is always heavily coloured by his ego. It'll be logic alright, but logic that benefits him first and foremost. Applies many double standards to himself.
Morality & Philosophy
Typical Dark Matter morality, which is to say Always Chaotic Evil. Except psyche! The core, basic desire of any Dark Matter is to be loved. They just cover this up with what 02's personality has become - a whoooole lotta anger, grief and violence.
Nebula in particular is a lot more chilled out than one would expect of a Dark Matter. He has their typical callous disregard for life, but genuinely just wants to be by himself most of the time. His philosophy is to exist on his own away from 02's influence as much as possible.
Taboos
Dark Matter don't really have much in the way of a society to develop taboos, but bringing Kirby up in any circumstance is definitely one of them. For Nebula personally, any mention of Hyness or the cult is less a taboo and more a berserk button.
Personality Characteristics
Motivation
Generally wants to be left alone. He's perfectly content to wander the universe and entertain himself, but his recent budding friendship with the Lor Crew has started to become a priority also. His awful upbringing (and just generally being a Dark Matter) has left him desperate for affection and love, so he attached rather fiercely to Magolor. Doing what he can to maintain and nurture that friendship now figures strongly into most of his decisions.
Anything that will keep him away from 02.
Likes & Dislikes
Likes the starry scenery of Halfmoon. He blends in there (quite literally) and it feels very peaceful to him.
Virtues & Personality perks
Reliable. If Dark Nebula likes you and you ask him to do something for you, he will. He's honest and a good listener (though rather sarcastic most of the time). He's a good silent presence when you just need someone to be there with you.
If this sounds like a quote from 02's page, it is. Pretty much all Dark Matter behave this way once they've bonded with someone.
Vices & Personality flaws
Extremely volatile in his emotions. Feels his emotions very strongly and jumps between them with little notice. Has an enormous ego which is just as easily hurt. Has a particular hatred of being treated like a child or condescended to - this particular insult will make him leap straight to physical violence.
Assumes he's not wanted.
Hygiene
Quite good for a Dark Matter, even though this barely applies to them at all. Nebula takes a lot of pride in his appearance so he'll always keep his hair brushed and his outfit clean, etc. If he gets a tear or stain in his clothes, he'll reform them immediately (since Dark Matter "clothing" is just more darkness).
Social
Contacts & Relations
Unsteady friendship with the Lor Crew; gets on best with Magolor, and is on pretty decent terms with Star Dream and Marx.
Goes and bothers Daroach on occasion, who against all sense seems quite fond of Nebula.
Hates Hyness and the cult with a seething passion.
Family Ties
02 is his "father" and the other Dark Matter are his siblings. Notables include Miracle Matter and Drawcia.
Religious Views
Dark Matter are a religion unto themselves in some places. Nebula knows that gods exist, he just doesn't particularly care.
Social Aptitude
Confident and egotistical in everything he does. Won't be ruffled by anything, and always puts on an air of superiority. Often aims to throw his conversation partner off and leave them unsure of where they stand in the discussion. Knows perfectly well how to act decently and kindly to people, just usually never bothers.
Mannerisms
Always smirking. Speaks with an unassailable air of greatness. He actually doesn't make many gestures or body language motions when speaking, but is very fond of the ol' eyebrow raise.
Hobbies & Pets
Typical Dark Matter hobbies: causing misery and pain wherever he goes. Nebula actually does this somewhat less than most Dark Matter, and usually just messes with people on a more superfluous level: scaring them, stalking people, etc. He's mostly content to just find a patch of shadow to chill in.
Speech
Has a smooth mid-pitch voice and speaks in the Dark Matter accent, which any regular Kirbyverse resident would be unable to place. Speaks somewhat eloquently but is prone to cutting bluntness and sarcasm when annoyed. Speaks plainly and doesn't hesitate to ask questions or remark upon what he sees.
Relationships
History
Rocky, to put it extremely lightly. 02 abused Dark Nebula practically since the day Nebula was created; mentally and physically. From the very moment Nebula was created, 02 made it crystal clear that Nebula was an experiment, and a disappointing one at that. Nebula never received any affection or pride from 02 and was constantly compared unfavourably to the other individual Dark Matter. Even though 02's supposed goal for Dark Nebula was to let him grow "organically" and develop a personality and powers without direct modeling from 02, this idea was shot down pretty much immediately by 02's own temperament. The man has difficulty treating people well at the best of times, but as far as he's concerned, all Dark Matter are fair game to take out his fury and self-loathing on - even the ones that have a mind of their own. So Dark Nebula was subjected to a constant stream of such "misdirected" self-loathing, which manifested as anything from verbal abuse to forcing Nebula to be magical target practice for himself and the other independents. In fact Nebula received a much heftier dose of this treatment than the other independents would have in the same situation; Nebula reminds 02 most strongly of his time as Zero, and that's not a memory that 02 is emotionally equipped to deal with. His default coping method for having to recall his previous life is to get extremely furious with whatever caused it - thus, Nebula was practically incapable of not spurring 02's wrath. All of this, as one might expect, shaped Dark Nebula's personality and worldview quite drastically. In response to the constant abuse, Nebula retaliated by growing an ego the size of the moon to cover his own not-insignificant self-hatred. This was quite a task, since from the get-go he inherited a vast amount of it from 02, only to have more artificially layered on top. Nebula loathes 02 with a passion but because of his very nature as a Dark Matter, is pretty much utterly resigned to this treatment. He knows that not only is it impossible for him to truly escape 02, he also knows that it's almost as impossible for 02 to change. Thus, his interactions with 02 often outwardly appear to be normal; Nebula may be quiet and reserved, but he doesn't mouth off or stand against his father. He takes whatever happens to him.
Relationship Reasoning
02 is referred to as the "father" of all Dark Matter, as this is the easiest term to describe his relationship to them. In actuality Dark Matter are simply extensions of himself, but the independents have minds of their own and are therefore able to form more fully-realised relationships with him.
Commonalities & Shared Interests
02 and Dark Nebula share a lot of typical Dark Matter "interests", but Nebula doesn't exactly have a choice in that, of course.
Shared Secrets
Nebula knows everything 02 knows, but in a rare streak of generosity, 02 tends to stay out of the independents' heads. He could access that knowledge in completeness at any time he liked but in general he will only know what an independent shares with him.
Shared Acquaintances
The Lor crew.
Wealth & Financial state
Totally inapplicable to Dark Matter.
Divine Classification
Technically a god, though most people view him as a demon.
Current Status
Generally being a vagabond and keeping to himself.
Species
Honorary & Occupational Titles
Unknown to pretty much anyone outside of the hive and Kirby - except for the Dark Matter cult. In their scripture, he's a betrayer and impostor figure, and as such frequently gets saddled with negative titles to that effect. Sometimes they reference his position as 02's child, but more often than not the cult doesn't dignify him with that connection.
Age
Ageless like all Dark Matter. Generally appears late twenties.
Circumstances of Birth
Created at an unknown time as 02's latest research into independent Dark Matter creation.
Birthplace
The Dark Star.
Spouses
Siblings
Children
Current Residence
Nomadic; wanders between planets and often just chills in space. Can frequently be found visiting Magolor onboard the Lor, or visiting his favourite planets such as Halfmoon.
Pronouns
He/him
Sex
Dark Matter aren't organic.
Gender
Fucked Up as usual for Dark Matter, kind of lazily leans towards masculine.
Presentation
Generally androgynous. Has the same disregard for gender presentation that all Dark Matter do.
Eyes
Pure black sclera with a hot violet-pink iris, and a black slit pupil.
Hair
Pitch black, forming a stylised star with four points sweeping out from his face, and the fifth falling down to mid-lower back. Has strange glowing streaks on its underside the same pink as his eye. Wears it parted to the side.
Skin Tone/Pigmentation
Deep midnight blue and almost gaseous to the touch.
Height
5'6"... possiby gonna make him shorter tbh.
Weight
what the fuck do dark matter even weigh
Belief/Deity
Doesn't follow any religion. Is strictly speaking a god/demigod himself.
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