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Welcome everyone. Now that SSB4 has come and went speculation has slowed down greatly, but from time to time I find myself coming up with movesets for characters. It seems like there's always one more character to draw up ideas for; one more move, another type of attack. So, because of that I'm bringing this thread back from the dead with new characters, Kirby Hats and the like. The artwork quality has improved since I first started the this thread so there'll be some big differences this time.
The Dixie and Rayman posts have been updated and completed in the former's case, and in the latter's case there'll be new artwork to show. There'll be new characters of course, and I'm ready to show them! Just scroll down to see.
I've got tons of stuff to show off to everyone, so check back often, and as always I'm constantly looking for feedback on the ideas. If you like the artwork let me know; if you have an opinion good or bad about my ideas feel free to voice...well...type them--I'll appreciate the response. And, don't hesitate to check out my Deviantart and Tumblr pages; you might take a shine to my off-site work.
I'm gonna start this blog with a character who I feel has a lot of potential, despite her looks and what we've seen her do in game. After brainstorming for hours and coming up with dozens of ideas, I'm happy to introduce this character as my blog's first piece of artwork.
WARNING! CHALLENGER APPROACHING!
Dixie Kong, the third hero of the DKC series sets foot in the arena, joining her boyfriend and his best friend (and perhaps a nemesis?!) to cause chaos. With her elegant flowing ponytail, Dixie proves she's not just monkeying around. She's definitely the cutest kong in Smash, but be careful--she has a savage side that's as wild as her companions.
Okay everyone, here's my jab idea for The Third Hero:
Using her hair for support, she sits back and kicks her feet forward; Dixie pedals her feet back continuously to rack up damage.
Then, to finish her rapid kicks, she uses her hair and body to thrust herself forward feet first to give opponents a forceful shove. Thanks to her hair's length she's able to move a nice distance for her finisher.
Originally I thought of the 2nd drawing as a forward tilt backup idea, but after seeing the introduction of standard attack finishers in a Pic of the Day months ago, I knew what to do with this move.
Tilts:
I thought up a forward tilt for Dixie Kong
She coils her blonde hair behind her and leans on one side of her body, then shifts her weight to the opposite side to swing her hair and make it spank the ground. Those who get hit by it just as its about to smack the ground receive a stronger strike, while those who get hit in mid-swing are punished less. The move's not TOO powerful, but it can kill, particularly the full swing...once certain percentages are reached, of course. Has good range thanks to Dixie's hair and the fact that she leans outward.
Dixie's UpTilt involves her body facing us as she shuffles gracefully left to right or vice versa. She literally tilts; as she does so her hair sways with her to whack opponents above her, behind her and in front of her to move them around. It has great range and its effective at crowd control, but it has little knockback and by extension no real killing power. It is however good for disrupting aerial approaches and those that are too close as it displaces them, and if a foe's damage is substantial they'll be swept around through the whole animation instead of part of it. It's best to use this on airborne targets as they'll typically get stirred more than grounded opponents, who are more likely to get smacked depending on where they are, how close they are to Dixie and what stage her attack's in. It's generally a carrying attack. She'll always start the move from behind where she's facing; this is good to for getting those who rolled around her.
This is the attack's layout. At position 1, she starts the move and foes directly above as well as those beside her get hit and swept to position 2. Grounded opponents who got hit during position 1 will be swept and usually left here. Airborne victims likely won't. At P2, new victims both grounded and aerial will be whacked and likely carried with the airborne victims of P1 and swung to P3 where the attack ends. From this point, victims will either hit the ground or be chucked forward a bit, especially if their damage % is EXTREMELY high. Enemies who make contact at P3 will simply get whacked and pushed back. They only take damage ranging from average to below average from this move at these 3 points. Good for displacement, close-quarters crowd control or setting up the Forward Tilt or Forward Smash.
To pull off her Down Tilt, Dixie does a swift handstand and lets her hair fall forward to smash into the ground. Opponents hit by it will be bounced upwards with semi decent force if their % is at or near zero; the knockback (or more accurately knock-up) is good but the move's not KO worthy unless on really high percentages, though it's a nice and quick way to bounce opponents off.
Here's the attack layout. At Position 1 there's no attack, but the transition to P2 is something to be aware of, as the startup swing does negligible damage but may knock you forward if grounded or swung with slightly more force if aerial. In either case, if you get hit at this transition, you should be pushed just out of the reach of this DTilt, with minor damage if you're higher than 20%. If your % is lower than 20, you're likely to endure the full attack. At P2, Dixie's hair swings downward, so anything hit from this point on the way to P3 will nudged or forced underneath the hair. At P3, the hair makes contact with the ground and BAM! The attack has unfolded. Anything it immediately touches will be bounced upwards as the attack is complete, and those that were forced through the whole move will be slammed into the ground, bounced up and receive higher damage and knockback than those making contact at P3. P4 is simply Dixie returning to her neutral position.
The move is quick on the startup side but has just a touch of ending lag; about the speed of Diddy's Forward Tilt, and as the move bounces foes upward I liken it to a 1-directional shockwave with (surprise surprise) nice reach thanks to her hair. It's quick and strong but not a killing move, however you might be able to use it to set up her Up Tilt at the right percentages. Just think...Dtilt-> UTilt-> FTilt/FSmash. This is one of Dixie's "Get back!" moves.
Alternate Down Tilt: Swift Spank
Based off Tropical Freeze. She kneels and leans forward, allowing her hair to strike twice in front of her with a relatively small range. It's quick, reliable and has a stinging quality, but the attack is always 2 strikes per input, which means if the hits don't connect Dixie could be vulnerable to a counterattack. As I wrote before, the moves quick so she's not in too much danger if she misses, right?
I came up with the Handstand Slam just before I saw Dixie do that hair-banging groundpound from DKC Tropical Freeze, and I gotta admit it looked cool so I drew up something based on it. I find it practical; it's swift and she leans low unlike in the other which she is more open to danger, but it's not as strong and looks similar to her Forward Tilt. Still, both ideas are good but I prefer the Slam over the Spank. As long as I get ideas circulating in others, every drawing I show will serve its purpose. So in this case, if I have more than 1 idea to show for the same attack then the more the merrier.
Dash Attack:
Gotta start cranking out these moveset ideas. Here's another: Dash Attack: Ponytail Pirouette
Dixie uses her spin attack from Tropical Freeze in Smash Bros.! She starts by kicking a leg out and briefly extending an arm while simultaneously turning to spin. As she rotates, an arm, a leg and her ponytail smack opponents up to four times. It's a quick move that carries foes like most other tornado attacks (like DK's or Mega Man's) through the animation and is fast to perform with little startup or ending lag.
A pretty straightforward, 4-hit attack; I just wanna point out that the poses above represent different stages in the move's lifespan. The first pose is the startup, the 2nd and 3rd are the attack itself, but different points. The closer Dixie's left arm is to her paralleling her left leg, the closer the attack is to finishing. I looked at ballerinas spinning and noticed they don't always keep their arms or legs in the same pose throughout, so I did the same with Dixie. Keeps me from being bored having to draw the same pose but at different rotations. Hopefully I caught a sense of momentum with these.
Smash Attacks:
To begin her Forward Smash attack, Dixie coils her hair around herself and turns her back to her foes. As she charges the move her hair tightens and snakes around her body; she balances on one foot in preparation for what's to come, unaffected by her own constricted grip. The extent of the coil grows with each second while Dixie grows more determined to maintain her posture. The pressure mounts...and then finally...!
WHAAAOOOOoomsshh!! She makes a fierce spin and unravels her hair, slashing the space around her! While she turns, her ponytail extends to whip the air with immense might and smack anything it collides with HARD. The force behind this move is extreme and her strongest smash attack without a doubt, and you can even hear the wind crack while the move's used. She easily surpasses her boyfriend's strength and practically rivals DK's!
This is a high-powered move with amazing knockback and high killing power, so do your best to avoid it! This move is a stationary spin attack that, thanks to her hair, gives this kong an elliptical strike range with impressive reach, damage, knockback and KO potential. The move starts quickly but has a bit of ending lag, for a revolution that fiercely performed needs a moment to keep balance. The upside to this however is that Dixie's using her hair to attack, and thus has a bit of a backswing that foes should beware. The backswing isn't as deadly (far less tbh) or powerful but it still packs a punch, so rolling around Dixie or standing behind this attack will leave you with a nasty surprise.
Dixie's UpTilt is a good setup for this move.
I finally got to show a smash attack. The idea behind it is a powerful backhand move where hair is used instead of hand, and I think it works out nicely
Dixie starts her Up Smash with a handstand pose. Her arms and hair stay bent on the ground to support herself and cushion her head, for balancing in that position can be painful.
The blood flows down as the attack charges, but she remains clear-headed and focused. And then...
ssSSSHWEEEEEemsh!!! She launches herself straight up to collide with foes and knock them higher! Her hair goes from a curled cushion to propel herself upward; as she does so she extends her legs in the hopes of impacting enemies with blunt force. She uses her hair merely for assistance, as this attack has her rely on her feet to deal the damage, and boy is it strong. The force she uses to blast upwards coupled with the overall trajectory makes this quite a jolt for her!
A near - strictly vertical attack from Dixie. The extended length of her ponytail matches the length of her body, and thus like many of her moves she's granted some good range. As she shoots upward her feet have incredible force; it's not as powerful as her Forward Smash, but it has quite a healthy bit of killing power. Also, due to the vertical nature of this move, it's most effective on those directly above her and the knockback is vertically oriented as well.
In regard to Smash attacks, Dixie's Forward relies mostly on her hair to deal damage; her Up reverses that "role" and her Down has no reliance on her hair. A nice dynamic IMO.
Onto more moveset ideas. I'm not sure how much these posts will affect her chances with the ballot with just 12 days left, but I want to finish these ideas since I'm so close. I have a few concepts here in the hope that at least one appeals to people's imagination if the other(s) don't. Another massive post is here, brace yourselves, if the post is annoyingly long I'll wrap spoiler tags on it.
Down Smash: Quick Split
As she charges her Down Smash, Dixie strikes a pose. Her hand seems poised to shoot up while her hair curls too. With each passing second she becomes more determined to unleash the attack. And then... ssSSWOOOM!! She performs a split! This Smash attack is a quick maneuver in which Dixie uses her feet to do damage. The attack is the fastest of her smashes, but also the weakest. While her Forward Smash has huge KO potential--the most actually--and her Up Smash isn't bad at killing either, her Down Smash isn't reliable for KO's off the bat. Higher percentages notwithstanding. Her hair deals no damage, but it does smack foes while it unravels just before she splits. The chance of getting hit by it is remote and just disrupts you in that split second before she splits.
And that's the default idea for a down smash. It fits the dynamic I have with the other 2; while the Forward Smash has her rely strictly on her hair, and her Up allows her to use her hair and feet, her Down Smash has no real reliance on it and instead the damage comes from her feet. There's barely any ending lag and almost none on the startup side. It's a simple yet practical attack, one that many fighters can do, and because of that I feel the need to show ideas that could be more unique and specialized:
Alternate Down Smash 1: Sit Spin Sweep
The cute Kong wraps her hair around her and crouches while doing so, letting her hair wrap tightly but still maintaining her balance. Sound familiar? Well it is but-- sSSSSHHHoooWOOOMSSH! She unleashes the attack and performs a figure skating move called a Sit Spin, and in the process uncurls her hair to smack foes while she spins! It's essentially her Forward Smash at a lower height, the only differences here is that you control how much she spins. Do a quick Smash and she'll spin once, charge it halfway and she'll spin twice, but charge it fully and you'll get three spins! The hair smacks foes away throughout either spin, and the one before the last is the strongest (ie: 2 spins means the first will be the strongest and 3 spins means the 2nd will be the strongest) as Dixie will be winding down momentum to finish the attack.
And here's the finisher. No matter how long the Smash is charged, the final spin will end with her making this pose. Anyone hit by the hair will be knocked away, but what's most important about this part is that the amount of spins determine how much ending lag you'll get. She'll be holding that pose for a bit to regain balance; how long exactly is up to you, so keep that in mind when charging the attack.
Like the Whiplash Smash the Sit Spin Sweep is powerful; not AS powerful but can be slightly stronger than the Up Smash, if we're talking about the strongest spin in the set when fully charged. A graceful and strong spin, and a good idea IMO, but as it is her Whiplash Smash re-purposed--which isn't necessarily bad, I have yet another idea:
Alternate Down Smash 2: Spinning Kong
Dixie balances on one hand while the rest of her limbs and her hair seem poised to strike. What could she be getting ready to do while keeping most of herself in the air? SWOOOM-SWOOOM-SWOOOM-SWOOOM!!!!
...A Spinning Kong of course! Like DK, Dixie can pull off that Kong tornado move, but she uses it differently. She performs the attack while upside-down and stays in one place, and spins twice, but if you charge it longer she'll spin three times and four if fully charged. Like the 1st alternate Down Smash the ending lag depends on how much you charge the move, but it's not exactly powerful, and the final spin is the strongest. While the other spins rack up damage and keep you in the cyclone like Peach's Down Smash, the final spin knocks you away with good knockback if fully charged, and decent if not. It's a wild attack that highlights her savage side.
...
Those are the Down Smash ideas. While I'm going with the first one, I can't deny the other two are cooler and more unique. I felt the need to have her use a quick and reliable attack at the cost of raw power, and complete the dynamic I have with the Up and Forward as well as show that she's not 100% hair. Each of the three smashes in this post have their strengths and flaws, so it's best to pick your favorite of the bunch.
All that's left are the Specials and her "Glide". Stay tuned for it.
Aerials:
A nice whirling kick. She spins twice to let her feet hit you; it pushes enemies back on moderate damage percentages and hits two times when used on those with low percentages. Nothing too special about the move, but its reliable and gets its job done.
Another practical attack for Dixie, her forward air has her do two kicks: right leg then left. Like the alternate down tilt idea the input yields 2 hits per use, and you can attack repeatedly with it to rack up damage. Enemies are knocked upwards and backwards slightly with each kick--enough to push them back by just a bit but not enough to keep foes from escaping another dose; time it right and you'll get much more than 2 hits from these strikes. The move's quick on its own and not KO-worthy, but with Dixie's airspeed being the best of the Kongs and a unique ability of her own, you can practically chase foes around using this move repeatedly and slowly descend to the ground.
While the attack isn't as spectacular as her Up and Down Air (coming soon) or as strong as her Back Air, it's great for aggressive approaches. She moves faster than DK and Diddy in the air and can stay off the ground longer than they ever could.
Dixie's Forward Air is a go-to move for horizontal momentum, while her Neutral is a quick way to push others back; her Up Air is deliberately meant to rack up damage and disrupt her own falling speed while it's being used, almost to the point of floating in mid air (which she technically can't do, but "gliding's" a different story). Her Back Air is strong and can kill once certain thresholds are crossed, and her Down Air...is perfect for..displacement..
Here we have a hair-assisted whiplash attack. She curves her hair around her then immediately turns 180 degresss, extending her hair in the process to smack foes, much like her forward smash but reversed. She then turns back to her start position. A powerful move, no doubt, but not quite the fastest airborne attack of hers. It takes a split second to get to the part you see above (while most BAirs are practically instantaneous) and the ending lag's roughly the same, so you might wanna use this move preemptively if you're sure it'll hit, and when it does it pays off. Not quite as fast as other BAirs or Dixie's other aerials, but still a reliable speed with good power. It is her strongest aerial move, and if you've ever had the misfortune of being hit by one of Ike's aerials, you'll have a very solid idea of its KO potential.
Also, as it is a tad slower due to startup and ending lag, it would be tougher to use this move as much as others before you land. Dixie doesn't have to worry too much though, because she's got an ability to stay airborne for quite some time. It's an ability...that I'll detail later..
While airborne, Dixie can use her hair for more than maneuvering. She can treat enemies above her to a violent display of her hair's spinning ability, in which her ponytail twists and throttles wildly; it jerks and whips in a dangerous fashion, abandoning the more graceful movements it's known for and embraces a feral nature. The ponytail lashes and contorts relentlessly in a strange circular form that resembles a tornado, and thus she's able to gain multiple hits while enemies are caught in this cyclone.
Dixie makes a sort of free falling pose to pull off the move. Her arms are stretched outward while her head dips so that her feet are the highest point of her body; this allows her ponytail enough room to swivel uncontrollably without smacking herself, and her body is poised to help her with her movement, for the turbulent nature of her Simian Cyclone slows her good air speed. Fortunately this move slows her falling speed considerably, as she is spinning her ponytail afterall.
Great for racking up damage and trapping enemies in a hairy cyclone, not much of a killing move.
Another moveset idea has arrived!
Down Air: Hair Hook
The Third Hero does one acrobatic spin while her hair curves at an angle, acting like a hook-shaped appendage in hopes of catching a foe. Once someone is snagged, they're swung by her hair and tossed above her. Where exactly? Well that depends on where Dixie catches them; If they're caught at the beginning of the attack they'll be flung a good distance away, but if caught near the end they'll barely be thrown. Here's an example:
As you can see, the earlier she catches someone the further away she'll throw them, but the later it happens the easier it'll be for her enemy to retaliate. Say for example she catches Mario near the end of the swing; that means he'll be free to hit her with say, his Meteor Smash after he's tossed and spike her before she can react. He'd basically be right on top of her and ready for payback, so if you use this move, TIMING IS KEY.
If Dixie's lucky, she might be able to use her Up Air right before her foe strikes back..
Although the move doesn't do much damage, the strength of her throw is absolutely no joke--it can become KO-worthy quickly, especially if you're caught at the beginning, and I should mention: the throw trajectories shown are based off a foe being tossed at 0% damage (they won't be at 0% after the throw however), and the attack radius is the length of her ponytail while swinging, not the trajectory lines which means fighters will be thrown from the tip of her hair, not the lines you see branching out. Those are only the level of force you can expect from each point in the swing. One last thing, only one enemy can be snagged per each usage; other enemies will just get smacked by Dixie's hair while it swings the victim, and they'll take more damage from being whacked than the one who's being thrown. I know most of that was shown/written in the drawing but I wanna be 210% clear about this.
The move, along with her Up Tilt and a certain Special is meant to show off her capabilities as a grapple-oriented fighter. In this case she has an aerial throw as an attack at her disposal, and it's perfect for displacing enemies by sending them somewhere they probably didn't wanna go, whether they're grounded or aerial. Incidentally, this works better on grounded foes as they're typically below you, and the swing has a downward arc. You can force opponents into the air with this, or just displace already airborne fighters. Since Dixie does have a lot of air-oriented options to work with you can best believe she's forcing you to fight on her terms.
You guys wouldn't believe how long this drawing took. I could never get it right when it came to the pose and the angle lol. The rough drafts looked like she was on the ground, too stiffly posed or badly proportioned, so I'm glad to finally get to show this one. This was meant to be her Aerial Down B when I first brainstormed it BUT I came up with something else and figured this would be a cool/unique Down Air instead. With this posted, the Aerial attacks are all complete, like the tilts. Dixie's air attacks utilize her hair in some cases and kicks in others while her tilts have her rely strictly on her ponytail. All that's left are the grabs/throws, a Smash, Running Attack (guess what it is) and the dreaded Specials. But I'm not done with the air yet...
Descent:
Midair Jump: Ponytail Twirl
In Smash, Dixie uses her hair like she does in Tropical Freeze for a second jump. She rises up like in that game but afterwards she can hold it to do a maneuver known as a Descent.
It's activated like Peach's floating, and it behaves differently. Unlike Floating, a Descent is affected by gravity and can be used until you are attacked, break out of it or touch the ground. The above image shows the default trajectory, which is Down, but your fall speed is slowed moderately. If you don't use a directional input the above is how your Descent will be depicted.
You can move left or right too while doing this; if you press lightly opposite of where she's facing Dixie will drift back slowly...
And if you press Forward she'll move like this, letting her airspeed shine as her mobility becomes a clear benefit. If you press opposite of where she's facing on the Analogue (AKA Control) stick with standard or greater force, she'll move this way in that direction, which is faster than the "Slow Drift" version. You can change direction anytime while Descending--going Downward-Diagonal Left or Downward-Diagonal Right--just always keep in mind your growing proximity to the ground.
Now, while Descending, if you air-dodge, press B, touch the ground or get hit, you'll cancel the move. This will even happen if you try to use most attacks as it'll disrupt Dixie's spinning ponytail, and because of that there's only one move that you can use while Descending:
Remember that Forward Air I showed a long while back, and its basic nature? Dixie can use it while Descending! Simply press A or hold the Analogue (Control) Stick in the direction she's facing and she'll do 2 consecutive kicks per input. Combined with the aerial mobility of her Descent and her airspeed, Dixie can use these kicks to chase down opponents while staying airborne, giving her an offensive option while moving through the air. This is the only attack she can perform without stopping her descent; as most of her other aerials have her using her hair and/or spinning she can't reasonably use the Twirl at the same time, making her simple FAir very useful for approaches and the like. Her Descent slows her fallspeed and leaves her aerial mobility in tact, unlike her Up Air which nearly stops her fallspeed temporarily but greatly slows her airspeed too, which is useful in some cases but certainly not all.
Of the Kongs, Dixie has the best airspeed and can stay in the air longer thanks to this, Squawks and her Up Air. In general, she weighs more than Diddy but less than DK, as hair is heavy and Dixie has quite a lot of it. She's also stronger than Diddy and at times rivals DK--those times usually depend on if she's using a hair attack like her Forward Smash--and she's slower than Diddy, who is the fastest Kong. DK's the Powerhouse, Diddy's the Mauler and Dixie's the Grappler.
I didn't know whether to have this as her Down B or her Spring Leap at first but I chose the latter. That said, this would make an interesting Down B with the right tweaks.
Specials:
Up Special: Squawks
One of the DKC series' most popular Animal Buddies pops in to help Dixie recover. While holding her with his talons, Squawks can fly freely and carry Dixie to safety; each time you press B or the Jump Button, Squawks flaps his wings and goes higher. It works like Kirby's multiple jumps--or more accurately, Squawks controls almost exactly like he did in DKC2, but with some differences.
For starters, Squawks doesn't vomit nuts at threats--making him defenseless, and Dixie's damage percentage affects his mobility. He can't carry you so quickly if you're at or near 0%, meaning he'll tire fast and struggle to stay in the air. As he loses his stamina, he'll begin to fall faster as time passes, no matter how many times he flaps his wings. Eventually, his fluttering will go from allowing you to go higher, to maintaining a certain height, to simply stalling your inevitable return to land. The flaps are infinite, but it's really weighed down by the circumstance. He won't let you go until you touch the ground, or if you--as well as any enemies--make him let you go.
Does that deflate your enthusiasm? Well don't let it bother you too much, because the higher your damage percentage, the longer it takes for Squawks to get exhausted! He'll move a bit faster too--not Lucario levels of speed but not too bad either. A Dixie Kong at 999% damage won't be forced to return to the ground for quite a while, but when you're at THAT damage threshold, does it even matter how long you can stay airborne? Also, in the interests of fair play, this mechanic is nerfed considerably during Sudden Death Matches--we wouldn't want Dixie pulling a Sonic and hiding under the stage forever...
Basically this Special's better when Dixie's hurting, but why? Because the higher your damage percent, the easier it is to launch you, and if it's easier to knock you away then it must be easier to carry you too! This makes your damage a bit beneficial, but I wouldn't play recklessly, because Squawks can get hit... ...Leaving you completely helpless. He'll vanish in a puff of feathers and smoke like most enemies in DKCTF, and you'll fall. Dixie can also get hit while he carries her; Squawks will let her go and fly off the screen, but she'll be able to use "A-Button" Attacks and her Glide-like ability. Specials won't be available until she touches the ground. She can even let go of Squawks by Air-Dodging or pressing the Attack button at any time, in which case she won't be able to use her pseudo-Glide, but since her Up Air nearly stops her in place for a few seconds like Fox's aerial Down B, she might figure something out.
That's the idea for Squawks. Hopefully the concept doesn't make him seem too overpowered. The idea is giving Dixie infinite but heavily regulated jumps, with restrictions that slowly and steadily decrease with more damage taken. It should be very difficult to survive to the point where these jumps keep her in the air for dozens of minutes, so making it to 999% damage should be a near-impossible reward of exhaustion-free flight. It's obvious that attacking the already-defenseless Squawks is priority 1 when Dixie's carried by him, so be careful when using this.
Forward Special: Sound Blast
Dixie takes out her guitar from Tropical Freeze and strikes with a wave of sound! Simply press the input and you'll get a small wave, but smash the input like Samus's Missiles to get a wave like the one above. The closer the opponent is to the guitar itself, the stronger the strike--it's like when you put your ears too close to a microphone, only weaponized in this case.
The result can be deafening, but the wave isn't far-reaching even when pressed with force. It travels almost as far as the starbits from Rosalina's Luma Shot, and those that are hit by the wave are pushed away and may be stunned, depending on how close they were to the instrument. When it comes to damage, it's laughable, but the real power comes from the knockback--which isn't spectacular, but very reliable for pushing people away--as well as the hitstun, which really kicks in for those who get too close. The most potent blast comes from the inner blue circle--those hit by that will be pushed through the entire wave and paralyzed at the same time, about as long as a fully charged shot from Zero Suit Samus. That will no doubt give Dixie time to hit you or catch with her Neutral Special, which is a grab, so be careful. Luckily though, that only applies to those caught in a full blast; if you're only caught in the outer wave of a full blast you'll be stunned for a second and still be pushed back, and if you're hit with a regular blast you'll be moved back without any hitstun.
This move is mainly defensive, meant to teach close-quarter opponents about personal space and allow Dixie to unleash some mean hair attacks. Those at the edge of the wave won't be feeling the strength of this strike, and while the inner circle isn't deadly like Jigglypuff's Down B or Luigi's Up B, it's still a potent force.
...
That's the concept for the Forward Special. I wanted her to use her guitar but I wasn't sure which one at first. DKC2's is nostalgic but I like DKCTF's more so I used that, and as a musical instrument attack I looked at DK64, Jungle Beat, DK's Final Smash and Barbara's AT for inspiration. I wanted it to be like a depowered version of DK's and focus on one direction as well as be defensive. I also colored it in a way that separates it from the latter 2's sound attacks. This is likely to be the only Special I can show you guys in time however--I might have Squawks ready but I doubt it. I'll still finish what's left but as these threads might get locked after Oct 3rd, I'll probably upload these somewhere else. Hope you guys and gals like the drawing!
Neutral Special: Hair Snare Swing
I've established that Dixie doesn't use her hair for traditional grabs in this moveset, but she does for this Special. It's not a simple "Press B to grab" scenario though, it's a little more involved than that.
Once you press B, Dixie takes a stance. A mode has been activated for her, in which she stands still and ready to react in various ways. The stance is easy to assume and thus has no startup or ending lag; you can't walk around while in this stance, but you can easily get out of it by pressing B or A, jumping, dodging or by getting attacked. You can also shield while you're in the stance, and unlike the other options above, you'll automatically return to this position. Retaliating won't be a problem for you.
Most of the specifics are either written in the pic, mentioned or will be mentioned in a few more sentences, but the move is easy to perform.
So, you know how to cancel this, but what is this used for? This Special is Input-Sensitive on the ground, and the inputs are strictly directional. One thing to note is that if someone comes up opposite from where Dixie's facing, you can press back on the Control Stick for her to reverse her stance at any time. Now, Dixie has 3 real options when in this stance: Forward, Diagonal and Upward. If you press the Control Stick in any of these directions, she'll grab with her ponytail.
Here's the Forward Swing. She extends her hair in hopes of catching a foe. This is the critical moment; it's fast, far-reaching and can grab those right behind her at the start of the swing, but if Dixie misses she'll return to the "Ready Stance" above with negligible ending lag preceding it. There'll be nothing stopping her from trying again, so break her out of that stance ASAP.
If she does catch you with this move...
You'll be grabbed, swung and likely slammed opposite of where she caught you. In this case it'll be behind her initial stance. The strength of the Neutral Forward is the weakest of the 3; a nice trade off for not punishing Dixie for missing her target. The ending lag of all the successful swings are the same. In the Forward's case that means it's worse than when you miss, but only slightly. Here's the layout:
I asked the Sandbag to do a few more demonstrations, but it adamantly refused. Its agent said this was too many throws for one fighter. Oh well, this nonspecific mannequin showed up and didn't mind filling in.
Anyway, those caught are snared and swung in one swift motion, making the attack-throw quite quick. Where Dixie slams her hair into is important, because the force of the impact will hurt whoever stands there. Those who didn't get grabbed should keep that in mind. This move can work on projectiles and items in a limited sense as well; if you use this on a crate or barrel she'll pick it up with her hair like in DKC 2 and knock away smaller items, but she doesn't reflect projectiles, especially not things like Link's arrows or Fox's lasers. At best, she can deflect--not reflect--grabbable projectiles, but it's not a reliable move for that.
We've got the Forward input out the way, now let me escalate the energy with the Diagonal Input:
The Diagonal Swing is meant for catching combatants coming from the air, at an angle. Say for instance, Dixie assumes this stance as someone runs toward her; the opponent anticipates a Forward Swing and so jumps to avoid it, but instead Dixie swings her hair diagonally. Or, an airborne assailant approaches at an angle, allowing an appropriate application of this move. What's likely to happen?
She's sure to swing the Hair Snare into the ground at a diagonal angle, slamming snatched smashers at an angle opposite of the grab. Since this is a grounded throw, the trajectory is a reverse of the swing itself, but what's interesting here is that regardless of whether you catch someone, Dixie will slam her hair like this and won't return to the Ready Stance. She's swinging at an angle and in a way that makes her unable to ignore the impact; missing means she'll have more ending lag than when she succeeds. She'll shrug off a failed swing and take no damage, but if she catches someone she'll rebound quickly to her idle pose, free to do whatever. Here's the layout:
Like the Forward Swing, where her hair hits the ground is important. Non-grabbed victims are at risk of being hit by this, and there's more force and damage in the Diagonal than the Forward swing. The stakes are higher here, so Dixie's throwing more might into this.
Next up is the Up Swing. Have a look:
Pressing Up has Dixie swing her hair to catch those directly above. It's strictly vertical, and like the other 2 swings is performed quickly.
And the launch trajectory is vertical as well. Dixie slams her hair and victim into the ground and bounces them up with sheer might. The raw power behind this is on par with her Forward Smash fully charged, enough to startle heavyweights. IT IS THE STRONGEST OF ALL HER THROWS, and when using this one it is absolutely necessary that this move connects, otherwise Dixie's gonna be in trouble. Have a look at the layout:
As you can see, she'll rebound quickly if she succeeds and send her opponent flying, but if she misses she'll crash into the ground, toppling over as if laid out by a terrible punch. A far cry from a graceful fall--one that leaves a valuable window of opportunity of vulnerability. She doesn't take damage from failing, but the amount of pain a fighter can unleash makes that a cold comfort. She's putting everything she's got into this swing, and this move is one she wants--no NEEDS to succeed. Good luck with it.
The Up Swing is high-risk, high-reward. Of her 3 Up throws, this one is the only with vertical trajectory. Her traditional throw is diagonally oriented while her Cargo Up has her throw at a highly curved arc.
On the ground, her Neutral Special is tactical, simple but strategic and meant to accommodate a shifting situation. It can be used in the air too, but it's much simpler off the ground.
She does one spin, tossing whoever she touches in front of her an alright distance away, regardless if they were in front already. It is quick, not spectacular and the antithesis of the ground version. Simplicity in the air, versatile on the ground. This is her 2nd aerial grab, but her Down Air is better.
Her Neutral Special, Down Air and Forward Throw all highlight her possibilities as a Grapple-oriented fighter--allowing Dixie to have 12 throws in her moveset--9 added to her 3 regular throws. Those standing directly behind her when she performs either swing will get swept into the entire sequence, and if you're swung with more force based on where you get caught in the swing. Here's one last illustration:
Down Special: Spring Leap
Ever wanted to get high into the air without needing to use Squawks first, and still be able to use your unique midair jump or Squawks afterwards? Well when on the ground, Dixie's Down B allows this to happen! Simply press the input and… Guh-THOOONG! Dixie uses her ponytail to launch herself at an upwards-diagonal angle, allowing her to jolt higher than her regular jump; once she reaches the highest point of her Spring Leap the move ends officially. From here she's free to do whatever, like attack, use specials or her Ponytail Twirl. The move is mainly meant to give Dixie altitude quickly, catapulting herself to heights that can be increased with her midair jump and Squawks even further.
While airborne or during the move's trajectory, she can do a somersault in which her hair smacks foes. It's like ZSS's kick for obvious reasons and can spike if sweetspotted, but it's more difficult to pull this off than Donkey Kong's (not Diddy) Forward Air, which it is also inspired by. She's spinning like DK does and thus you gotta time it right to get a powerful Meteor Smash out of it. Also, the Spring Leap only launches Dixie if she's on the ground; you'll get this attack if you decide to do it in midair. You'll be able to use Specials after performing this move, but only if you use her aerial Down B. If you Press Down B while on the ground and then attack while going through the trajectory, you won't be able to use Specials, leaving you semi-helpless like Diddy, similar to how he is after kicking while Monkey Flipping. Here's the layout:
She rolls forward, allows her hair to push against the ground and shoots up into the air. The aerial version simply lets her swing her hair at an angle that while it's tricky to catch someone with, it can be a strong attack.
It's like a hybrid of Zero Suit Samus's Down B and Diddy Kong's Side B, with its own differences of course. While ZS Samus's trajectory travels strictly on an arc and Diddy's is very horizontal, Dixie's is diagonal. It's similar not only because of being a maneuver with options, but also because if you press the attack button while in the trajectory you'll activate a hidden move. That said, I tried to make it distinct from Diddy and Samus, so I included a small diagram to reinforce that:
Dixie's skilled in the air, and this is a good way to get her in her element without a hassle.
Pummel and Throws:
While holding her victim, Dixie spins her hair and smacks them twice with it. Each input yields 2 quick strikes that do 1-2% of damage per hit, so in the best case scenario you'll get 4% damage for one input or 2% for the worst case. This pummel has 1.7 seconds worth of ending lag however, meaning that while the strikes are quick and have fluctuating percentages, the move itself is hard to abuse and unreliable for racking up damage. But hey, it IS a pummel after all and not meant to do as much damage as her throws.
That's one idea for a pummel; hope y'all like, but if you're not too crazy about the idea I have another:
Alternate Grab Pummel
Here Dixie takes a more traditional approach, in which she knees her foe whilst they remain in her grasp. There's far less ending lag in this one--about 0.9 seconds in this case, and she usually gives 0-3% damage per each singular strike. The chances for each percentage is random.
Since she's using her knees here I drew her with kneepads, but like my signature it's kinda hard to spot in this one. The 1st pummel is my favorite of the 2 but I can't deny the 2nd was sketched better. You guys are free to pick whichever you like more though (if you like either to begin with XD); I'm all about choices ATM.
Now onto a throw!
Forward Throw:
So, y'all may have noticed that in my moveset, Dixie grabs with her hands, not her hair. Weird right? That doesn't make sense; why have her do that?? Using her hands over hair seems like a missed oppurtunity--one that's too iconic for her to pass up, right? Well it would be, if her Neutral Special didn't have it covered, and that's a topic I'm saving for later. For now, let me show you what happens when you throw enemies forward.
When Dixie throws someone forward, you get her: Cargo Grab:
After pressing forward while holding a foe, Dixie tosses and rolls them onto her ponytail and wraps it around them tightly. Man, Sandbag's in for it now...
With her victim snugly squeezed, the blonde kong is able to walk around with them, like DK but with her own differences. For one, she walks on all fours so she doesn't sacrifice speed, but her jump height depends on the weight of her victim. She's a middleweight, so characters lighter than her barely affect her jumps, but those with more weight than her do. Heavy fighters put a noticeable dent in this, and Super Heavyweights like Bowser and DK ensure she barely leaves the ground at all, reducing her to short-hop heights at best. She can't even jump if carrying a Metal Bowser. Her speed remains unaffected though, and her Cargo Carry's faster than DK's equivalent.
So, we know what happens when Dixie uses her Cargo Grab, but what about her Cargo Throws? Let's start with her Forward: Cargo Forward: Cruel Catapult
As the name implies, Dixie effortlessly shifts her body forward and catapults her victim. The strength behind it is reliable, but not a guaranteed killer. Cargo Down: Hair-Hamma Slamma
Dixie slams her foe down HARD. They bounce up with intensity, as this move is actually stronger than her regular Down Throw. There's no fire involved, I just got carried away with the ink.
Something about the name of the throw reminds me of that DKC cartoon... Cargo Back: The Bucking Back Kick
Dixie rolls her foes of the tip of her hair and nails them with a mean back kick, like a wily horse unseating its rider. It's only a tad stronger than her standard back throw, but it has less knockback. Cargo Up: Hair Hurl
Lastly, Dixie uses her hair to swing victims upward at a curved arc. It's far less powerful than her normal up throw, and the trajectory is less vertical than its counterpart too.
The Throws are finished and Sandbag can finally rest. I wanna extend a huge congrats to it for putting up with not 4 but 7 demonstrations as well as one massive thank you! Oddly enough, Dixie has a total of 12 throws in my moveset--more than any fighter ever. She has the potential to be a grapple-oriented fighter, the likes of which Smash has never seen, and it's all thanks to that huge arm growing out the back of her head. I've shown 8 (all these plus her Down Air) of her throws, the last 4 will be shown later, and each of them are very Special. Thankfully Sandbag won't be demonstrating, and what's even better, is that the next entry won't be as humongous as this. Hope y'all enjoyed this set, and keep the Dixie hype alive!
After holding onto an enemy, Dixie casually tosses them behind her in a small arc. There's not much force behind it honestly and it seems weak...until she swiftly follows up with a flip kick and launches them like a beach ball! The throw turns out to be more powerful than it seemed at first, as the kick gives the extra oomph needed to be a dangerous move. Foes are launched a good distance and while it's not insanely powerful, the right percentages will grant a satisfying KO.
And here's the layout. From Point 1 to Point 2 Dixie casually tosses the foe, doing 2-5% damage. She uses her hair as a balancing agent and flips back immediately, kicking the victim as you can see at P3. Here, the main portion of the attack's power is given, inflicting percentages that are higher than P2's initial toss and launching the enemy. Dixie continues the momentum she created to swing to P4 where her part in the throw ends and she gets ready to return to her neutral position.
The idea is a 2-hit throw in which Dixie flipkicks with the grace of a gymnastic fighter in a swift arc. Slightly elaborate but fast to perform. Good knockback, and KO worthy at the right thresholds. I hope y'all like, and I'd like to give a special thanks to the Sandbag. Most people wouldn't make a guest appearance in moveset ideas just to get wailed on, so mad props to it! Unfortunately for it, we have more..."demonstrations" coming...
Up Throw: Bubblegum Blast
Dixie whips out her Bubblegum Popgun, modified by Funky for Smash, to blast foes away. Instead of firing a gumball, Dixie's gun inflates a wad of gum until it's ready to pop, and it's helped along by her victim. The gum's explosion is strong, and sounds a lot like when you lose a life in the original DKC. The sound of those balloons popping back in the day was painful for a kid y'know...but MUCH more for whoever's receiving this.
Dixie starts the move by crouching and pulling her foe's face with her, as you can see at Point 2. If you look closely you'll see a wicked grin on her face; perhaps she knows what kind of pain her victim will receive? Anyway, at Point 3 Dixie springs up and tosses her enemy above with standard force. She keeps her hands up, and while transitioning to Point 4 her gun appears in a puff of smoke, like most hammerspace items in the original trilogy. At P4 the gun's out and she charges it while the gum inflates; at the same time, the foe's falling down with no choice but to land on the sphere of gum. Once they make contact, the pressurized gum combined with the weight of the victim and the speed of their fall result in the explosion, blasting them away as you can see at Point 5.
The knockback behind the blast makes her Up Throw the strongest of her traditional throws, and it works slightly better on heavier characters. They make the pop stronger, but since they fall faster to begin with the transition from P4 to P5 will be quicker, compared to lighter characters who don't impact the gum bubble as strongly as heavyweights. Also, this is the only time she uses the gun in my moveset--a shame too, since this could make a good Alternate Up Smash. Ah well, maybe it'll inspire someone else to imagine some uses for it in their moveset.
With her Up, Down and Back throws out the way, looks like the Sandbag has to endure one more demonstration before it can finally call it quits. That is, unless Dixie's Forward Throw works a lot like DK's...
As she clenches her opponent tightly, Dixie uses her hair as a balancing agent then leaps into the air with her victim and crashes into the ground--all while using her foe to cushion her own landing! I've combined elements of her Up Smash and Down Special to create this throw; it's not too fancy but it feels pretty sweet to do this to someone.
And here's the layout. The Sandbag has graciously agreed to be part of the demonstration--I'm so glad it's fine with being the throw victim for any hypothetical moves! So nice of it! Anyway, as you can see Dixie rolls back, launches, crashes down with the foe then happily jumps off them. They're unwillingly taken for a ride like how Kirby and Metaknight treat their opponents, but Dixie's trajectory isn't nearly as high as theirs. Also, I wasn't sure if the victim should be bounced opposite of Dixie as she jumps off or even if she'll jump forward or backward after, so I'll leave that to the imagination.
Dixie's post has been updated and revamped with the ideas I've made during the Smash 4 hype, making her entry more or less complete. She's the first character I've completed illustrations for, and since I'm happy with how she turned out I'm eager to show off more characters in a similar style. As this post will belong to her I'm gonna put the old ideas here as well, leaving the following post free for something else. A final Smash, perhaps?
Here's a standard jab combo idea for Dixie Kong. She first starts with an uppercut with one fist that lifts enemies up slightly, then follows with a hook from the other. While doing so, the hand that did the uppercut is raised higher, then brought down like a hammer to slam down the opponent.
The first hit lifts foes just a bit, the second nudges them back, and the last hit knocks them down. She takes a couple steps forward while doing this too.
[collapse=Artist's Comments]For the first image of this post, I wanted to depict Dixie in a tough way. It had to be something a chimp could do, but also look fighter-like and still girly. I notice that Dixie has a lot of that 'cute' look about her, and I wanted to try and keep that. I also thought it would be good to curl her ponytail in a coiled shape to go with her stance, and hint that its...'alive'...cuz its a big part of my moveset ideas for her.
[/collapse]
OK, so I went to Mega Man's sub-thread to check out his moves list, and apparently, the Metal Blades is his Neutral Special. That means that we know what Kirby's gonna take--but here's the thing: the Metal Blades aren't Mega Man's. They're a weapon copied from Metal Man, and since Kirby's gonna be using those...who's helmet will he take to represent it?
I mean, he IS taking the power from Mega Man, but its a power that was copied from Metal Man to begin with, so wouldn't it be funny if, when Kirby inhhales Mega Man, he takes Metal Man's appearance instead?
This was a little idea I thought would be kinda funny to see in SSB4. Its a chance to have Kirby reference something that he's copying in a bit of an unexpected way, and I think it'd work out pretty good. I decided to use color for this one so that it'd stand out more, and to give those who don't know what Metal Man looks like an idea of his helmet. I don't think a simple drawing without color would really work in this case.
For Kirby's eyes I used a sky blue color pencil--I would've blended it with the regular blue but it was nowhere to be found, so I used my pencil help darken the edges of his eyes, along with just a bit of purple. The rest of the drawing was a similar case; Metal Man's helmet is red, but I thought a good way do shade it would be to add traces of blue, purple and my pencil in the areas that the direction of light wouldn't touch. The darkest areas would have hints of cool colors while the lightest would be closer to white.
The blades were the hardest part. The right positioning, making sure its disk-like...etc. I based them off of how they look in Smash 4 rather than the classic look. Even the one on his forehead follows that style too, and the shading is what really needed attention. I imagine them as slick and shiny, so you can guess its hard to detail shadows on reflective surfaces. I decided to go a little wild with the colors, cuz its difficult to imagine the shading on a shiny surface your envisioning with a 'made up' lightsource. The one in Kirby's right....nub looks better, because its in the shadow.
Overall, I like what I did, but now that this one's in color, I wish I did the same for Dixie's Introduction post.
Alright guys, this was quite ahead of schedule, but after last week's Nintendo Direct I HAD to post this. Here's a sneak peek of one of my most wanted characters:
Yes, Rayman! The limbless being of light from Ubisoft. While I'm not too confident that he'd be setting foot in the arena, I'd be lying if I said he isn't a good 3rd Party possibility. Ubisoft is in a good standing with Nintendo, and with many of Rayman 's games appearing on the latter's systems he does stand a chance.
His speculation was hurt by Ubisoft making the upcoming Rayman Legends multiplatform instead of Wii U-exclusive like originally planned, and thanks to that I'm cautiously pessimistic. But luckily I'm just a fan and this thread isn't necessarily about who WILL get in, it's more about who I WANT in--I'm able to showcase my SSB-related hopes and dreams to whoever wants to have a look. The news of Mario and Luigi costumes for Rayman Legends have certainly reignited some of my passion for him, so why not celebrate with an update to this thread?
And honestly, if he did somehow make it in, I would go through the freakin roof. It'd be better than the day Diddy was revealed on the Dojo...
I'm jumping the gun, BUT I've had this waiting for a while. As a new character feature, I wanted this to be colored, and now that SSB4 has a trend of tag lines for new characters, I wanted to imitate that as best I could.
I had many attempts, but I finally found what I wanted with this pose. In it, Rayman seems to be diving towards something--the way his body is positioned with one fist guiding the way and his hair flowing behind him as well as his hood highlight this. His torso is bent to help with the slight downward-diagonal path and his left foot (the one on our right) is stretched behind him to help convey the motion. His face looks happy--eager. It shows his energetic mood and frankly, his love of violence. Perhaps he's jumping into battle?
I used color pencils and pencil as well as markers and pens for this one...I think they all meshed well, and after seeing my friend's artwork of Ridley (more on that later), I had to add a background of some sort!
It needed to be wild--something that worked with the pose I had for Rayman. I figured since he's drawn in motion, the bg needed to streak behind him, and like practically blank backgrounds of the official newcomers, I had the color match the character. Obviously purple was the more fitting choice. It, along with the ink marks, help the work stand out.
Rayman Forward Tilt: The Violent Propeller
Here's an idea for Rayman involving a body part he rarely uses for combat: his head. For his forward tilt (or Strong Side attack), he leans forward and scrunches his body together, then fires his skull; his helicopter hair spins as he does this and anyone who makes contact takes multiple hits and gets carried through the attack's trajectory. The diagonal path makes it hard for some to escape as they'll be elevated and easy for some to duck under if they're far enough from the initial frames, but the incline is low so it might not do much. They're effectively pushed pack from Rayman and they take damage as well, a bit unexpected right? How is his hair able to damage? Well in Rayman 1, there was a part in the game where he had to cut 2 very thick ropes (about the width of his body!) with his helicopter hair to avoid drowning. It took time but it did the trick--otherwise we'd only have one game in the series!
I've wanted to draw this attack for Rayman long before I actually got around to it--it's older than all my Dixie Kong ideas but I only fleshed it out after I was working on her, and because of that I drew it in a similar style. In general, that made me want to have a particular look for any character's attack category, so I followed the look of her tilts for his, and the same for the other categories. The good thing about Rayman is there's not much brainstorming needed for a moveset thanks to Origins and Legends, but there's still some gaps that need to be filled, and I plan to fill them.
Neutral Air: Scoop Shot
To begin his NAir, Rayman performs a swift uppercut that raises victims upward a bit. The hit is sturdy and doesn't provide as much knockback as Rayman's fists normally dish out, but just as he finishes with this uppercut...
Rayman follows up with a strong jab to punch his target away! He fires off his inactive fist from the first drawing, curving it slightly and extending it a nice distance to blast foes in a slightly downward trajectory. The distance that he launches this fist from coupled with the speed makes this hit reliably strong, and while the knockback is downward-oriented the move is far from a meteor smash due to the slight curve of the shot.
Rayman's NAir is a 2-hit attack that has his uppercut provide the setup for his punch, as it potentially can scoop up foes beneath and in front of him so he can send them flying forward. Since he's attacking with his fists in this case, Rayman's delivering some decent damage and solid knockback--especially in the 2nd shot's case due to his hard-hitting nature; this means that many hits that involve his fists can be reliable for KOs, and while the move is performed quickly, Rayman has a touch of ending lag due to the 2nd strike. The ending lag is common among all his aerials honestly.
End of Concept
Rayman technically doesn't have a Neutral Air equivalent in Origins/Legends, since pressing the attack button while airborne will have him do a variety of attacks (at least 4 AFAIK), so I figure why not make one myself. Since he strings together a bunch of hits in those games I decided to use one and take it in my own direction. The uppercut above is actually what one of those random attacks are; I paused the game and re-drew it, but the 2nd drawing is something I came up with to be an add-on to the attack. So, credit for the 1st drawing goes to Ubisoft; the 2nd drawing and the concept of this NAir comes from me.
Also, since Rayman has a good moveset pool from Origins and Legends, I won't be making a Forward or Up Air; I might make a Back Air and I'll definitely do a Down Air because I'm tired of ground-pounds, and I'll do a Forward and Down Smash.
And thanks Vinyl for the compliment! I'm really impressed with how Metal Man Kirby turned out!
It's time to revive the thread! It's been 3 years since I first started this idea, and now that I'm able to grow it with fresh ideas I'm gonna do so today.
In the years since this project started, I waited on Smash Wii U's arrival by drawing up ideas for Dixie Kong and who I wanted to be in the next game. With the help of a friend, there was a good handful of character art we created and shared with various sites, and Stormborn
(the post above) and I were very proud of them. Here they are:
The first of our collaboration was Bowser Jr.! We loved this trouble maker--he's my favorite Mario character and turned out to be a blast in Smash for me. As you can see, we envisioned him differently from how he turned out, but we wound up loving how he plays in the game. He is in fact, my secondary choice behind Diddy Kong, and I never saw the Clown Car idea coming, which made him better because he destroyed the "LOL, Bowser clone" assumption.
Next up was Little Mac! I had never played a Punch-Out!! game before the Wii version came out, and honestly it was one of the most fun and intense games I bought for that system. I knew Mac was an AT in Brawl, but his latest game is what made me say he HAS to be in Smash; Stormborn agreed, and this is the result. What's funny is that we finished this drawing shortly before Mac was actually announced--not only did we meet an unknown deadline, but we managed to get referenced by TV Tropes--my FAVORITE website at the time outta sheer coincidence! We needed a tagline for Mac; Storm suggested Little Mac: Enters the Ring!, but I convinced him that Little Mac: Punches In!! would fit much better, so he whipped this up:
And guess what Nintendo revealed to be Mac's tagline:
In fact, if you go to TV Tropes SSB Hilarious in Hindsight page (http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/HilariousInHindsight/SuperSmashBros) and look at the Fan Art section, they reference this coincidence. I swear that neither Bonny nor myself have any TV Tropes accounts. It was purely coincidence and when I stumbled upon this I HAD to tell him.
We then moved on to Mewtwo, a fighter we agreed would make for an amazing comeback. This was mostly Bonny's idea: I was to draw up a pose for Mewtwo and he'd bring it to life. It took me a while to do it, but the end result is something we're both proud of. Bonny wanted the added twist of having the X and Y versions playable in some form, and I honestly like the poses I came up with.
We also did one for Rayman! This was way back when I was just fanboy-dreaming about the idea of him in the game. Rayman Origins showed me his potential as a fighter and Legends had just come out. We did this simply as a rule-free, pick anyone we want entry. The thought of this limbless hero being in Smash was just a fantasy of mine that very few shared...
But then Sakurai revealed he had a trophy in the game.
I cannot begin to tell y'all how ecstatic I was when it was shown on the Dojo. The feeling I got was beyond incredible--I shot through the freaking ROOF with unbridled excitement and I could NOT calm down. It was such a monumental moment for me, and then about a year later Omni fooled all of us with his hyper-convincing hoax. I'm not even mad that it was a fake--it was so convincing, so high quality that you HAD to be extremely cynical to guess it as a fake.
What makes me proud of the collab most is that the characters we made art for or were going to actually wound up getting confirmed long after we made them. The only exceptions were Rayman and K. Rool, who each had tons of demand and appeal. Our collaboration ended after we finished those characters; we were gonna work on the Miis and then K. Rool in that order but honestly I had to focus on Real Life issues to stay afloat. I didn't have much time to focus on these characters and instead I put what was left of my drive into finishing Dixie's moveset. I succeeded in that regard, but there was more that I wanted to do, like sketch out ideas for more characters, and thus that's why this thread is alive again. I'm here to pitch concepts for various fighters both new and old and I can't wait to show them. I'll be doing that soon, but first I must show one more drawing:
A fellow Smash Bros. fan on Tumblr reached out to artists for a massive project of her's, and this was my submission. She wanted to have all the playable fighters battling eachother; we were to each choose a character we wanted to draw and submit it to her, so that she could organize it on one massive image; Bonny heard about it and then told me. THIS is the end result: http://supersmashartists.tumblr.com/image/130674066822
My Diddy's in there, you just gotta find him, and according to the list it's the only Diddy there.
Thank you, I have quite a few things I want to post as well, which reminds me--I have a moveset idea for Rayman I forgot to show:
Rayman Forward Tilt: The Violent Propeller
Here's an idea for Rayman involving a body part he rarely uses for combat: his head. For his forward tilt (or Strong Side attack), he leans forward and scrunches his body together, then fires his skull; his helicopter hair spins as he does this and anyone who makes contact takes multiple hits and gets carried through the attack's trajectory. The diagonal path makes it hard for some to escape as they'll be elevated and easy for some to duck under if they're far enough from the initial frames, but the incline is low so it might not do much. They're effectively pushed pack from Rayman and they take damage as well, a bit unexpected right? How is his hair able to damage? Well in Rayman 1, there was a part in the game where he had to cut 2 very thick ropes (about the width of his body!) with his helicopter hair to avoid drowning. It took time but it did the trick--otherwise we'd only have one game in the series!
I've wanted to draw this attack for Rayman long before I actually got around to it--it's older than all my Dixie Kong ideas but I only fleshed it out after I was working on her, and because of that I drew it in a similar style. In general, that made me want to have a particular look for any character's attack category, so I followed the look of her tilts for his, and the same for the other categories. The good thing about Rayman is there's not much brainstorming needed for a moveset thanks to Origins and Legends, but there's still some gaps that need to be filled, and I plan to fill them.
Okay, IDK what was going on before, but it seems all the images are displaying correctly. So, let me show another idea for Rayman:
Rayman Neutral Air: Rayman Revolver
So, with this idea, Rayman uses his hands and feet to orbit around him; knocking away whoever comes into contact with his body parts. The damage properties would be based on the parts that hit you: Rayman's feet would cause more hitstun while his fists would be more knockback-oriented. It was meant to highlight his wild nature, as well as show him doing something that limbed-fighters couldn't do, but I honestly don't really like this and just wanted to share it.
Thanks to Photobucket changing their rules for hosting pics on other sites, I've had to relocate to Imgur for all things Smash. So, bearing that in mind, here's another idea for Rayman:
Neutral Air: Scoop Shot
To begin his NAir, Rayman performs a swift uppercut that raises victims upward a bit. The hit is sturdy and doesn't provide as much knockback as Rayman's fists normally dish out, but just as he finishes with this uppercut...
Rayman follows up with a strong jab to punch his target away! He fires off his inactive fist from the first drawing, curving it slightly and extending it a nice distance to blast foes in a slightly downward trajectory. The distance that he launches this fist from coupled with the speed makes this hit reliably strong, and while the knockback is downward-oriented the move is far from a meteor smash due to the slight curve of the shot.
Rayman's NAir is a 2-hit attack that has his uppercut provide the setup for his punch, as it potentially can scoop up foes beneath and in front of him so he can send them flying forward. Since he's attacking with his fists in this case, Rayman's delivering some decent damage and solid knockback--especially in the 2nd shot's case due to his hard-hitting nature; this means that many hits that involve his fists can be reliable for KOs, and while the move is performed quickly, Rayman has a touch of ending lag due to the 2nd strike. The ending lag is common among all his aerials honestly.
End of Concept
Rayman technically doesn't have a Neutral Air equivalent in Origins/Legends, since pressing the attack button while airborne will have him do a variety of attacks (at least 4 AFAIK), so I figure why not make one myself. Since he strings together a bunch of hits in those games I decided to use one and take it in my own direction. The uppercut above is actually what one of those random attacks are; I paused the game and re-drew it, but the 2nd drawing is something I came up with to be an add-on to the attack. So, credit for the 1st drawing goes to Ubisoft; the 2nd drawing and the concept of this NAir comes from me.
Also, since Rayman has a good moveset pool from Origins and Legends, I won't be making a Forward or Up Air; I might make a Back Air and I'll definitely do a Down Air because I'm tired of ground-pounds, and I'll do a Forward and Down Smash.
