Metalude

Metalude is the het ship between Meta Knight and Garlude from the Kirby fandom.

Canon
Meta Knight and Garlude both were allies and friends who belonged to the Star Warrior Corps of the Galactic Warriors Army, an intergalactic force dedicated to fighting the forces of the evil Nightmare. The two warriors greatly respected each other and thus were close. Eventually they were sent to retrieve Galaxia, a legendary sword that was said to be needed kept out of Lord Nightmare's hands so he won't take over the universe. When the two arrived at the location they were confronted by the Demon Beast Kirisakin, an ape-like monster who guarded the blade. The mission almost failed, but Garlude sacrificed her life to ensure Meta Knight would get the sword and escape, having realized he was the one worthy of wielding it.

Years after her demise Garlude's daughter, Silica, would go to Popstar, where Meta Knight hid after the Galactic Warriors lost to Nightmare, in search of him as she believed the knight to have betrayed her mother to get Galaxia. Meta Knight was confronted and nearly killed by Silica but wound up trying to warn her about the sword's effects on the unworthy which Silica found out when the sword shocked and rejected her. Kirisakin was then sent to kill both and only then did Silica learn the truth from grabbing Galaxia herself that Garlude willingly sacrificed herself to save his life and ensure Meta Knight would retrieve and wield Galaxia. Once Kirby defeated and destroyed Kirisakin, avenging Garlude in the process, Silica left in peaceful terms with her mother's old friend. In the finale Silica would assist Meta Knight in destroying Nightmare's base, thus fully and truly avenging her mother and Meta Knight's friend.

Fanon
had its start around the early stages of the Kirby fandom, with special attention being drawn to Garlude being implicitly one of Meta Knight's closest allies in the anime canon. Those who shipped it were mostly drawn to the possibility of the two having feelings for each other during their time in the Galactic Warriors Army, and the likely tragedy of Meta Knight losing his beloved in exchange for Galaxia and a possible source of trauma for him. Their possible chemistry as battle partners is also another dynamic explored in fanworks of them. That Meta Knight met her daughter afterwards and had to explain to her that he didn't kill her mother as well as the notable absence of an onscreen appearance from whoever Silica's father was also ensured that there wasn't much conflict to writing the two in a relationship.

The ship has some mild popularity in the fandom, primarily those who grew up with the Kirby anime. Other than that, it tends to get overshadowed by more "mainstream" Meta Knight ships such as Metadede and MetaGala which are more commonly seen nowadays thanks to the game series overtaking the anime in terms of the public perception of the Kirby franchise. Regardless it does enjoy a good enough niche to see considerable amounts of fanart and even memes. It also has a peaceful coexistence with other Meta Knight ships, owing it to its relative obscurity and select amount of fans. It also occasionally gets turned into an OT3 with Knuckle Joe's father (commonly referred to as "Jecra") added to the pairing as the third member. On extremely rare ocassions some people take issue with the ship supposedly being "sexist" due to some narrative elements of the duo's interactions in canon but they are minor gripes that hardly impact the ship's popularity.

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Trivia

 * Like Knuckle Joe's father, Garlude was a warrior close to Meta Knight whose death had a connection to Meta Knight himself and whose children thought their parents were unjustly killed. Similarly it's Meta Knight who clarifies the truth to both children, albeit with some assistance from other sources to fully convince them.