Ringabel
A0. Brave System
A1. Palette Swaps
B0. Moveset
>B01. Ground Attacks
>B02. Aerial Attacks
>B03. Throws
>B04. Specials
>B04a. Neutral Special
>B04b. Side Special
>B04c. Up Special
>B04d. Down Special
>B05. Final Smash
C0. Thoughts
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A0. Brave System:
Ringabel can execute up to three extensions after some of his attacks, each extension costing one Brave Point, unless specified otherwise. Ringabel may have up to three BP at any time. As Ringabel can do all three extensions, even with one BP, he may use up enough BP to go into the negatives. If he does, he enters a special stun effect that slowly regenerates BP every 2 seconds up until it reaches 0, where he thereafter can move freely again. If he is hit during this stun effect, he immediately recovers enough BP to go back to 0 BP.
A1. Palette Swaps/Alt Costumes:
Ringabel wields the Murakumo katana and the Blood Blade in each of his palettes/alts.
Default: Freelancer outfit
Palette 1: Mostly Yellow
Palette 2: Mostly Green
Palette 3: Mostly Red
Alt: His Dark Knight Armor
Alt Palette 1: Dark Blue with white accents
Alt Palette 2: Dark Green
Alt Palette 3: Blood Red with black accents
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B0. Moveset
B01. Ground Attacks
Jab: Standard three sword strikes, though Ringabel alternates between the Murakumo and the Blood Blade. You can do a multi-hit combo jab instead by holding the button.
Dash Attack: Slashes in a wide arc with the Murakumo. This can be extended three times by holding the attack button for three additional slashes, with Ringabel alternating between the Blood blade and the Murakumo. The attack has decent, but not killer knockback if not extended. If extended, it can kill at low percents.
F-Tilt: Swings the Murakumo and the Blood Blade. 2-hits. Fast and with decent knockback. It's not a kill move by any means though.
U-Tilt: Swings above him with the Murakumo. one hit only. Like the f-tilt, it's fast and has decent, but not powerful, knockback.
D-Tilt: sweeps the ground in front of him with his blades. 2 hits. This attack can be extended twice by tapping the attack button while still pressing down on the control stick: Ringabel will use the Drain Sword Magic from his Blood Blade and then immediately slash twice (this costs 2 BP), before slashing once more with the Murakumo. Used in this way, Ringabel will be healed 8% when using the first extension, and healing himself with a further 8% with the last extension so long as he damages the opponent, but this attack doesn't have high knockback, allowing the opponent a chance to retaliate if you Brave into the negatives with this attack.
F-Smash: Conjures a ball of darkness in front of him which can trap opponents before weakly sending them flying. Ringabel can extend this attack in the same manner as Link: He thrusts his sword through the ball of darkness, creating an explosion and launching the trapped opponent further, which can kill at low percentages, but also damages Ringabel.
U-Smash: Slices once above him in a wide arc for reasonable damage, which launches opponents weakly. Can be further extended into three additional slices by holding the attack button, Ringabel alternating between the Blood Blade and the Murakumo, the last hit packing a lot of knockback which can kill at low percents.
D-Smash: Ringabel stabs the Blood Blade and the Katana at the sides of him, creating a dark shockwave. It can't be extended like the other two, and it's his weakest smash attack, but the KO power is reasonable.
B02. Aerial Attacks
Nair: Spins around twice, arms with swords outstretched. The first hits on both sides can combo into a second hit on both sides. It's otherwise unremarkable.
Fair: Swings the Murakumo in an arc in front of him. Good range and reasonable strength.
Bair: Thrusts the Blood Blade behind him, creating an explosion of darkness. The explosion has good power and will kill at low percents, otherwise, it's somewhat, but not extraordinarily, weak.
Uair: Swings the Murakumo in an arc upwards. Good range and works for keeping opponents in the air.
Dair: Thrusts the Blood Blade downwards. This is a meteor smash when he initially thrusts. It's reasonably powerful, but at it's strongest if you hit with the meteor part of the move.
B03. Throws
Grab: Pretty standard as far as grabs go.
Grab Attack: Punches the opponent. About average in speed.
F-Throw: Thrusts the Blood Blade into the opponent, launching them.
B-Throw: Similiar to the above, but the thrust creates a mini-explosion of darkness that sends the opponent far. This is Ringabel's kill throw, and it can ko at reasonable percents.
U-Throw: Uppercuts the opponent. Ringabel's set-up throw.
D-Throw: Plants the Blood Blade into the opponent while they're lying on the ground, launching them.
B04. Specials
B04a. Neutral B: Dark Bane: Ringabel takes a stance with Murakumo in reverse grip, then brings it in an arc upwards, conjuring a sword beam of darkness in front of him that have good horizontal range and which explodes upon impact. The attack can be charged up for a bigger sword beam and explosion and can kill at extremely low percentages when fully charged, or at low percents when uncharged. The more you charge this attack, the more damage Ringabel suffers to himself. This move has two extensions that activates if you're holding the special button while an opponent who's not shielding has been hit by an eplosion: The first extension (which costs two BP) has Ringabel activate the Drain Magic in his Blood Blade while simultaneously conjuring forth an explosion that knocks the opponent towards Ringabel. The second extension then has Ringabel perform a series of slashes with his swords before eventually knocking the opponent away with a powerful slash. Ringabel's % will be restored to what it was prior to using Dark Bane if he hits with the last extension. High start-up lag.
>Custom 1: Black Bane: This custom variant has a much larger sword beam and explosion, giving better horizontal range and much better vertical range, and can potentially hit for more damage and knockback than the default special... if Ringabel is close enough to the opponent, otherwise, the move decreases in power as the projectile travels. This custom variant damages Ringabel even more than the default special does at comparable charge times. It also has the same extensions as the default special, though the HP Ringabel heals upon hitting with the last extension is not enough to fully compensate the initial percent damage to himself.
>Custom 2: Minus Strike: Ringabel goes through the motions of performing Dark Bane... but instead of conjuring dark explosions, Murakumo is coated with darkness instead. This move's damage and knockback depends on how much damage Ringabel currently has, having immense power and knockback if his percents are high, but does piddly damage and won't even cause a flinch if Ringabel is at 0%. This custom variant has three extensions, which make him perform this move three more times. In comparison to the above, the range is poor and the start-up lag and endlag are slightly higher than usual.
B04b. Side B: Black Magic: Ringabel casts Fire, a medium-sized reasonably fast moving fireball. If this fireball hits an opponent, an explosion occurs that hits multiple times before launching the opponent. This attack has Brave Extensions activated by holding the special button while the explosion is out: The first extension casts Blizzara at the same point as the explosion (also a multi-hit move, but which has a larger radius and can catch more opponents), the second extension casts Thundaga (multi-hit move, but also covers a wide radius that can catch opponents more easily than Blizzara), and the last extension casts Dark (pulls opponents trapped in Thundaga towards the point of origin which is a grab hitbox, then a single-hit explosion of darkness sends them flying). If an opponent is in range of the first three extensions and shields during all of them, the shield is guaranteed to go out halfway through Thundaga. Kills at reasonable percentages.
>Custom 1: Status Black Magic: Ringabel casts a dark ball that doesn't damage the opponent, but puts him/her to sleep. The ball travels slower than the default special. This custom variant has extensions that activate through the same means as the default side special: The first extension casts Poison (puts a flower on the opponent affected by the sleep magic), the second casts Drain on them (multi-hit for up to 16% damage to the opponent and takes away up to 16% for Ringabel depending on if the opponent mashes out of it: Drain has a grab hitbox similiar to Nosferatu), and the last extension casts Dark as above, but without the pulling effect (of course, if an opponent was hit by Drain, it practically guarantees that he will be hit by Dark as well). Kills at higher percentages than the default.
>Custom 2: Dark: Ringabel casts Dark in front of him. Kills at slightly lower percentages than the default move, but the origin point is no longer a grab hitbox, instead hitting multiple times before the explosion. This custom variant has no extensions.
B04c. Up B: Teleport Stone: Ringabel uses a teleport stone, allowing him to teleport a certain distance. This move is similiar to Zelda's Up B. Ringabel enters helpless upon completion of the move.
>Custom 1: Far Teleport: Ringabel can teleport a longer distance than the default, but the move will not do damage. Ringabel enters helpless upon completion of the move.
>Custom 2: Meteor Stone: Ringabel's directions for teleporting is limited, and he won't teleport as far, but both the start and the end of this custom variant spikes the opponent. Ringabel enters helpless upon completion of the move.
B04d. Down B: Default: Initiates a defensive stance. If hit, he won't get hurt or knocked back, but time slows down for one second for the attacker while Ringabel gains a Brave Point and may immediately flick the control stick or press the shield button to put up a shield or perform an evasive maneuver. If Ringabel has his maximum of 3 Brave Points, any further uses of Default allows him to put up a shield or perform evasive maneuvers as usual, but won't give him any Brave Points.
>Custom 1: Default Counter: The timing is stricter than usual, but Ringabel can forego getting the Brave Point in favor of slashing the opponent with the Murakumo, which do damage and knockback equal to 1.25 times the countered move's power.
>Custom 2: Brave Default: The timing is much stricter than usual, and Ringabel will take the full brunt of the attack even if he times it right, but he automatically gains 3 BP.
B05. Final Smash: Bravely Second: Ringabel warps the space in front of him. If you don't hit anyone there's no effect, but if you do hit, Ringabel immediately activates Bravely Second leading to a cutscene Final Smash where Ringabel casts the Drain Sword Magic through his Blood Blade, followed up by five Dark Banes, then five more Dark Banes, and then finishes off with Dark Nebula. The opponent takes a lot of damage from this Final Smash and will be KOed at extremely low percentages.
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C0. THOUGHTS
I looked a bit at the BD battle system, and since the main point of that is making strategic use of a built-in risk-reward mechanic, I decided to make Ringabel into an extension of that. To that end, he has to risk putting himself in harm's way in order to reap the rewards, and I hope I was able to show that through this moveset. I decided to base a good deal of this through the Dark Knight class since Dark Knights are natural risk-takers. I made him able to use Black Magic since Ringabel is also likely the first you'd make into a Black Mage, it captures certain aspects regarding the Bravely Default series that I otherwise can't show through the Dark Knight class, and certain abilities in the original game can also make a Dark Knight into a decent caster.
