Playstyle and Moveset:
Ground Speed - 5/10: Lark has decent speed on the ground.
Air Speed - 9/10: I'm intending for Lark to have an AMAZING air game, if not the best air game in the Smash series as a whole to reference his being a pilot (or pilot-in-training?) and all.
Size 5(?)-6(?)/10: I've envisioned him to be, say,
's height? Maybe a bit taller.
Weight 4/10: Lark is a light-ish character that can be launched fairly easily. Not to Glass Cannon proportions obviously, but still somewhat light due to his size and all. Again, the slight lightness referencing his whole pilot persona. Overall, about as light as
.
Fall Speed 4/10: Again, referencing his whole pilot persona from the Pilot Wings games, Lark falls at an unusually slow rate.
Jump Height 10/10: Lark's jump height is definitely above average. Because he can fly with the help of his Birdman suit! (For 3 jumps.)
Traction 3/10: Lark has somewhat decent traction, but he does slide just a tad bit when turning.
Lark's playstyle and moveset involves him using various pilot gear to fight as well as utilizng his Birdman suit from Pilot Wings 64, resulting in him using some moves similar to Falco, but different in function. I wanted to make Lark somewhat average on the ground, decent speed, power, and endurance. But in the air, that's where Lark would TRULY shine. Speedy, Durable, and his air game overall would equip him with some of the most deadly combos.
Normal Attacks:
Jab Combo: Lark begins with one large poke from the right wing of his Birdman suit. A swipe from the left wing, and a forced slam from both wings, Very similar to
's side smash. Only difference is that the wind box is not as large, and the knockback is nowhere near as great. This move can be infinitely held, with Lark rapidly "poking" his opponents with the tip of the wings, ending the wing slam.
Side Tilt: A VERY large swipe with the left wing of his Birdman suit. Similar to
's side tilt, but a windbox is produced, destroying weak projectiles, and not as much knockback.
Up Tilt: Performs an upwards triple kick with the Jumble Hopper spring shoes in the style of
and
's UTilts. The final kick does a lot more knockback, but just enough so that Lark can follow up with a multitude of aerial attacks
Down Tilt: Lark sweeps the floor with the right wing. No knockback or wind box, but can be used rapidly and repeatedly to trip opponents
Dash Attack: Lark rushes in with a big headbutt to his opponents, courtesy of his helmet. Does amazing knockback, and can KO at very high percentages.
Smash Attacks:
Side: Lark performs a grounded dive, sliding into any opponents in his path. Similar to his dash attack, but doesn't travel as far, and does more knockback. Can KO earlier than his dash attack as well.
Up: With the help of his Jumble Hopper spring boots, Lark hops upwards with SO much force, that his helmet sends opponents flying straight upwards, allowing him to follow up with many aerial attacks. KO at...I don't know. 100%? 110%? 120%?
Down: Lark rapidly spins along the ground, similar to
, but attacking with his right foot and left wing. Does a lot of damage, but the knockback will leave a bit to be desired. The most damaging of all his Smash Attacks, but has the least knockback.
Grabs:
Lark will grab with one hand.
Pummel: Lark head-bangs the opponent with his helmet.
Forward: Lark performs a Judo Throw, sending opponents flying headfirst. Has a VERY small windbox for nearby opponents.
Backward: Lark tosses the opponent over his head and behind him, backhand-punching the opponent away.
Up: Lark tosses the opponent upwards, using his helmet to send them further upward.
Down: Lark tosses his opponent downwards, jumping high into the air, and then landing, performing a big body slam onto them. Supposed to reference the Skydiving mini game from Pilot Wings 64.
Aerials:
This is where I thought Lark would TRULY shine in terms of attacks and combos BTW, with the exception of his DAir, all of his aerial attacks are multi-hitting.
NAir: Lark performs a seriously rapid spin in the air, similar to
, but more damaging, and the knockback is almost non-existent, meaning he could folow up with some more aerials
FAir: Lark spreads the wings of his Birdman suit extending them forward, rapidly jabbing at his opponents.
BAir: Basically performs a "winged" version of Fox's FAir, but instead the wings are directly behind him, rather than directing them diagonally like Fox's feet when he performs his FAir.
UAir: Lark rapidly flaps the wings of his Birdman suit above him, doing multiple hits. Has a windbox that goes a distance. Think of
's UAir in Smash 4, but the windbox isn't as strong (Don't know if
's UAir in Brawl had the same effect.)
DAir: Lark sends himself downwards, head-first. Can meteor smash at any frame, but only if the opponent is hit by his "actual" head. The opponent will NOT be meteor smashed if they are hit by the side of Lark's head or any other part of his body. (Think of the
's Headache Maker DSpecial.)
Specials:
B: Boost Ring - Although not necessarily used in this manner in the games, this move utilizes the floating rings/orbs that are a staple of the Pilot Wings games. When used, Lark places a floating ring in front of him which can be passed to give him an instant momentum boost to dash into opponents, sending them flying from the collision. However, opponents can also go through this ring as well, which can be used to their advantage as well, rushing into other opponents (including Lark!), and doing damage to them as well. As a matter of fact, if the opponent uses the ring to crash into Lark, he actually takes more knockback, similar to if
's Trick Shot is sent flying back at them. BTW, depending on the character's weight, the move could cause less knockback or more. For example: if
goes through a ring, his knockback is very small, so you don't need to worry about lightweights. If
or any middleweights walk through, the knockback is...decent, to say the least. But, if any heavyweights, such as
were to go through, watch out! Get out of the way as soon as possible or you'll be sent flying into next week! Don't worry though, because if you happen to place the ring just right, it could be used as a trap to rush an opponent offstage, sending them so far away, so fast, it won't be too likely that they'll be able to make it back to the stage.
Side+B: Penguin Dive - Lark tosses a Penguin in the direction he is facing which opponents can send sliding back at him, if he's not careful. When sliding into opponents, the Penguin will do decent knockback and damage if it hits. If the Penguin does NOT hit, opponents may trip over the VERY small trail of ice it leaves behind. The Penguin can be struck away like the Waddle Dees. Upon landing on the ground, the penguins will just waddle around and do nothing, before disappearing. Sometimes they might steal an item and bring it back to Lark.
Up+B: Rocket Belt - This move works as a recovery (similar to
's U-Special), but the thrusters burn opponents behind or below you. Unlike the item, this Rocket Belt cannot be used "infinitely" like the item, and instead bursts upwards with blazing speed and does great knockback at the start of takeoff. Similar to
's Rocket Jump, but travels MUCH higher vertically. Sadly, this move has little to no horizontal recovery.
Down+B: Parachute - This move would work like
's N-Air in Melee, and would also grant you super slow falling speed like
's U-Special. However, the move itself does NOT give Lark extra altitude, but it is great for covering long horizontal distances while falling. (Only damages the second it opens. Afterwards, if you're not careful, Lark can be gimped from recovering if the opponent were to hit him. If they end up hitting the parachute, the opponent takes damage)
Final Smash:
Cannon: The cannon from PW 64 is used by Lark in a manner almost identical to that of the Dragoon item in Brawl and Smash 4. A colossal cannon comes out of nowhere, dropping from the sky. Excitedly, Lark hops inside preparing to fire himself at his opponents from the foreground. Be very careful though, as Lark has quite a small window of time to fire himself at his opponents. He has a span of 15 seconds. If he does not fire himself in that window of time, the FS will abruptly cancel itself, and Lark will return to the stage as if nothing had just happened. If he does fire himself however, Lark will deal MASSIVE damage and knockback to whoever he manages to hit, to the point where it is almost always going to be a OHKO. BTW, it should be noted that the FS one-use only, so Lark must time the attack right, and position himself carefully.
Taunts:
Side: Lark makes a funny face in whatever direction he's facing.
Up: Lark takes off his helmet, blows on it, uses his elbow to wipe it clean, and straps it back on his head. BTW, during the time Lark's helmet is taken off, his messy, unkempt, semi-spiky hair can be seen. Obviously, this will be the only giveaway that Lark and Nester, the mascot of Nintendo Power, ARE in fact, the exact same person.
Down: Lark attempts to rapidly flap the wings of his Birdman suit, actually lifting himself off of the ground for about 3-5 seconds, he then gets tired and falls back down onto the ground, landing on his butt. All with a cheerful little smile.
Entrance:
Lark flies in via his Gyrocopter, and uses a parachute to float safely down to the ground. However, the parachute ends up covering his body, and he quickly struggles to get out from under it and eventually gets out.
Victory Poses:
1. Lark jumps up high into the air happily shouting "Yahoo!!!" Kiwi will yell "I won!"
2. The little penguin from Lark's side special attempts to waddle over to Lark, but instead Lark walks over to it, picks it up and gives it a big hug over their victory.
3. Lark basically performs his entrance animation from the start of a match, but this time, he can't get out from under the parachute.
I would REALLY appreciate it if someone could help me with palette swaps. I'm planning on having it that Kiwi (also from Pilot Wings 64) would be an alt. skin of Lark. I envision the costumes to be like this:
Lark:
Normal outfit (Red, white, yellow, orange) (Blue jeans) (Red sneakers) (Red and white helmet)
Goose (A character also from Pilot Wings 64) (United States-themed (Red, white, and blue) version of Lark's pilot outfit) (Red jeans) (Blue sneakers) (United States-themed helmet)
Hawk (Pilot Wings 64 character) (Red, Navy blue, and black version of Lark's pilot outfit) (Black jeans) (Black sneakers) (Yellow and green helmet)
Civilian outfit (Red baseball cap turned backwards, Black t-shirt with the #28 written on it) (Blue jeans) (Red sneakers)
Kiwi:
Normal outfit (Pink, cyan, purple, and orange pilot suit) (Pink shorts) (Orange shoes) (Pink helmet)
Ibis (PW 64 character) (Green, orange, and black version of Kiwi's pilot outfit) (Green shorts) (Yellow shoes) (Black helmet)
Hooter (PW 64 character) (Blue, white, and yellow version of Kiwi's pilot outfit) (Blue shorts) (Black shoes) (Blue and cyan helmet)
Civilian outfit (Yellow dress) (Cute little brown dress shoes)