What does a main mean to you?

[Ampetrix]

is my main
is my former main but turned out to be my secondary, I perform with Alph better.

These peeps are the ones I don't really take seriously, but hoping to get better at them:

 

[Desert Croc]

This are my 4 mains that I like to pit against each other sometimes:


Other characters I like to use:

 

[Dr.Megaman]

Please rename the topic to "What does Main mean?".

I renamed it

 

[WolfieXVII ❂]

It means to me loyalty lel.
I dont hate when people decide to main like 30 characters, but I do like to stick with ones I'm familiar with.
I've mained Link and Kirby since Melee, and I've recently picked up Robin.
I don't like having too many mains but Pit's playstyle intrigues me.
At the risk of sounding like a hipster, I don't like maining characters a lot of people use, 'tis why I never tried Shulk.
At most I use 3-4 characters. I wouldn't dare drop Link, but Kirby has been kind of iffy for me lately. Maybe I'm in a slump. I want to drop someone for Pit however, unless I can get better with Robin I might drop him.

 

[Zero Suit Roxas]

"Mom! You're messing up my main!"

I find a main to be the character you enjoy using and are good at, the character you play most as. Not the characters you like playing as but are not good at. Not the characters you are good at but hate playing as. You have to like your main. Therefore, you can really only have one main. You can have a few secondaries, and whatever other categories you like, but one main should be plenty.

I main and make my secondary. I guess my playabout characters would be and . I haven't entirely experimented with all the characters but these guys sorta just clicked. I mained from Brawl so I figured I'd go with that again.

 

[XxBHunterxX]

For what it's worth, I'd like to apologize to the people that were in the middle of that argument.

I pick Olimar. I hope this peace offering is accepted.

It wasn't that big of a deal because I knew what you saying, I was just trying to help you clarify, and I know I came off as being rude and mean and I'm sorry for that.

I hope you would except this apology from me

 

[JamesDNaux]

It wasn't that big of a deal because I knew what you saying, I was just trying to help you clarify, and I know I came off as being rude and mean and I'm sorry for that.

I hope you would except this apology from me

I may have been a bit too defensive myself. I know that most people around here have a strict definition of main, and I want to be clear that I'm completely fine with that. The only thing that bothered me was people trying to correct me when I was not wrong, as I used the word in a completely different manner. There must have been a big misunderstanding, because I wasn't trying to tell anyone how they should use the word main, but I was trying to tell people not to tell me how to use it. If that makes sense.

Everything's all good though, water under the bridge.

 

[Luggy]

For me, a main is a character that you enjoy playing a lot and mostly want to play a lot. It doesn't matter if you have like 10 mains or just one (even the full roster if you want), if you're enjoying playing those/this characters and want to play more, then this is a main in my opinion.

So I guess my mains are and . I love playing with them. And my secondaries are probably and . I like playing them, but only for fun.

 

[ToxicWolf1132]

I guess a main is like your signature character. This is THE character that represents you in smash.

After reading through some of the responses, I realized that I don't really have a main, I tend to just play around with a bunch of characters at once. If I had to pick though, I guess I'd have either Mr. Game & Watch or Dark Pit be my main. As for my secondaries, it's probably consist of the mii brawler and lucario. And for my play about characters, it'd be falco, zelda, robin, jiggypuff, link, toon link, samus, sonic, iggy, lucina, and villager.

 

[XxBHunterxX]

I may have been a bit too defensive myself. I know that most people around here have a strict definition of main, and I want to be clear that I'm completely fine with that. The only thing that bothered me was people trying to correct me when I was not wrong, as I used the word in a completely different manner. There must have been a big misunderstanding, because I wasn't trying to tell anyone how they should use the word main, but I was trying to tell people not to tell me how to use it. If that makes sense.

Everything's all good though, water under the bridge.

Yeah, you know it was bad when the title of the thread is changed

 

[Donkeykong98123]

A character you'll play as no matter what changes they get in a game. Hmm, say the character that if you don't know who to play your cursor starts to drift towards them automatically, knowing that you'll be happy playing this character. A character that you like to play so much that you'd play them even in the most impossible matchups.

 

[ChikoLad]

Wow, and here I was expecting a heartwarming topic where people explain why they love and play certain characters.

Nah, but anyway, my group of main characters is generally very compact, however, Smash 4's is a little bigger for me, due to the massive roster.

is my favourite character to use. She's my favourite Nintendo character, female fictional character, and one of my favourite characters in general, and someone who's been at the top of my wishlist since before Brawl. So I'm still ecstatic that she's in this game. Her playstyle is far removed from what I usually go for, but if I love a character enough, I will get good with them. And sure enough, I'm better with her than any other character in the game, including my mains from past games. I've meshed really well with her playstyle, and since she's basically the most technical character in the game, she also feels like the most rewarding to me. I feel like I will always have something new to discover about what she can do in Smash (fitting, since I feel the exact same way about the character in general).

is the character I have played second to most according to my game data, and it's no surprise. Always used him in Brawl and Project M. He's a lot better this time around, so that's extra incentive to use him this time too. And even without that, he's Sonic the Hedgehog. He's one of the biggest icons in gaming, and on top of that, he's an extremely deeply developed character in general, so he's always been one of my favourite fictional characters. His announcements for both Brawl and Smash 4 were really hype to me.
However, I do feel the 3DS Circle Pad GREATLY limits my ability to control him properly, so I tend to stick with Rosalina for now.

is a huge surprise, both in terms of being in Smash at all, and in terms of being my third favourite character to use. I laughed at the guy as much as anyone else in his source game, but when you get down to it, few would be deeply attached to the character since he was merely a background gag in his original game. However, Sakurai took Mr. Peepers (the dog, FYI), and a duck, and made them work together as an adorable and fun duo that I sincerely hope get the Kid Icarus treatment. As far as Smash goes though, they just feel really fun to play and are solid up close and at a distance.

was second to Rosalina in terms of characters I wanted in Smash, and his reveal undoubtedly set the tone for this game, and got me excited for it. I may not have loved the character for as long as others, but I started getting into the Mega Man not long before his Smash reveal, and I do really like the character. I played him a ton in the demo and love how he plays. I've kinda been neglecting him lately, but that's more of a time issue. I will put more work into him in the future, though.

 

[Minordeth]

My mains are the Dorf and the Mac. I had a kneejerk reaction to playing as Mac because of his prolific appearances in FG, but he is stupid amounts of fun to play as and - perhaps due to his popularity - the mind-games he can inflict are joyous, especially on projectile/counter spammers.

That said, sonicbrawler's roster is my nightmare.

 

[Mario & Sonic Guy]

Primary Main:
Alternates:
Maybe?:

Rosalina has started to become like a trump card for me, as not only have I used Rosalina way more than anyone else, but it's all thanks to her that I've even conquered Classic on intensity level 9.0.

Mario and Yoshi are simply alternates that I'll use from time to time.

As for everyone else, I may use them occasionally, but I won't ever really be maining them. Of course, Duck Hunt has been rather humorous, so there might be some light for that duo. Mega Man is out of the question for me, since I just can't use him properly.

 

[Alaya]

Rather than secondaries, I have a few characters I play just to learn more about some strategies so I can use that knowledge when I play Lucina:

to learn air approaching / anti air strategies / gimping / lightweight maneuvering

for forcing an approach from people who normally camp

for countering rolls / edge guarding / super armor tactics / heavyweight maneuvering


Still need to find some characters I like for training my understanding of grab game / camping / combos / meteors / dealing with speedsters / overwhelming with speed / charging specials / etc.

Kind of a depressingly long list actually...

 

[BLUJAY]

well as of right now Diddy, Yoshi, Greeninja, Captain Falcon

 

[AlexAnthonyD]

If you were put in a life or death situation and had to play 1 match with 2 stock and a 5 minute time on final destination, who would you choose? This character is your main. Anybody less than this is a secondary/other

 

[SmashBro99]

I see it kind of like

Mains are characters you have played with enough that you feel confident in using even if it's not a great matchup, characters you have spent the most time with, because you like the character or how they play or both.

Secondary Mains are characters you can play well, and enjoy playing, but you aren't as strong with these characters yet.

My take on it anyway.

 

[HPHatecraft]

To me, a main is knowing extensive knowledge of that character. Combos, frame data, tech, match ups, etc. A pocket character means you know a little bit of the character, punishes, some frame data, a little match up knowledge, but knowing there is always room for growth.

 

[BLUJAY]

well for me i determine my main out of how much fun i have with said character i know it sounds stupid but id have to say and are my favorites diddy as my main

 

[BLUJAY]

For what it's worth, I'd like to apologize to the people that were in the middle of that argument.

I pick Olimar. I hope this peace offering is accepted.

olimar is great!!!

 

[Zero Suit Roxas]

If you were put in a life or death situation and had to play 1 match with 2 stock and a 5 minute time on final destination, who would you choose? This character is your main. Anybody less than this is a secondary/other

What kind of person would threaten to kill you if you lost a 1v1 For Glory match (besides angry little siblings)?

 

[AlexAnthonyD]

What kind of person would threaten to kill you if you lost a 1v1 For Glory match (besides angry little siblings)?

Hypothetical situations involve all sorts of people to artificially help you realize something without the need for a real life example.

 

[MarioFireRed]

To me, a Main in Smash is a character you can play better than most if not all the rest of the cast. It's a character you stick with you through thick and thin and keep working at. Your go-to for any match-ups and fits your playstyle effectively. But above all a Main is a character you're very passionate about and want to learn about them. Now for me I have four equally placed characters as mains primarily due to me liking them and loving their gameplay to the point that it was impossible to pick just one to soar above the rest.

: Shulk would without a doubt be my Main if I chose only one character. Although I've never played Xenoblade Chronicles, Shulk's reveal trailer for Smash instantly caught my eye with his Monado Arts gimmick. I saw it as being able to adapt and take advantage of any situation once mastered, but the hill going up is a rather steep one. Nevertheless I pressed on and got the hang of using him as a defensive character with mixups every now and then with Jump and Speed Arts. Versatility is the number one thing I look for in a character, and I gotta say I'm really feeling it with Shulk.

: THE character I spent the most time in the demo with. Mega Man taught me not to rely on the "Get close and spam Smash Attacks" strategy I've always done with Mario in the past games and forced me to plan ahead and utilize my projectiles. It's thanks to him that I was able to get the hang of Shulk and the other two characters down the road due to making more use of tilts and SH aerials in my gameplay. I've been picking him up more often as of recent and I never regretted that decision to use this guy over Mario, not even once.

: It wasn't until this game that made me realize that I have an affinity for fast sword users in nearly every game that offers them that isn't a point-click MMO, which drew me to Marth and Lucina. The main reason why I chose Lucina is due to her sword property hitting fixed damaged on every part of the blade and by virtue of being a female character for gender diversity among my most played characters. She seems like a character I can just click with when I first picked her up, so I trusted my instinct and raised her Falchion high and never turned back.

: My most recent and unexpected addition. At first he felt clunky and impractical in his Koopa Car, but then I realized that his Side B can be jump cancelled similar to Sonic's Spin Dashes. Like Shulk I can play offensively with Jr's Koopa Kart and useful aerials or hang back with the Cannonballs and Mecha Koopa which really adds to the versatility factor. It also helps that he's essentially 8 characters rolled into one with a unique moveset, which might just make me like him a lot more back in the Mario series.

I also have a handful of secondaries that I'm good with but not to the extent of the previous four:


As well as characters I simply can't play for whatever reason:


Everyone else I'm average with or am fine with casual play.

 

[Evello]

I would say it's possible to have more than 1 main, but it's rare and I think anything over 2 or 3 is stretching it. A main is a character you focus on learning more than all other characters, and with whom you play best. They're the character you would pick to use if something important was on the line, be it money, bragging rights over a friend/rival, or just W/L%. Whether intentionally or not, there's almost always one character who feels best, or with whom you play best. IMO, any imbalance in play quantity or quality is grounds for sole main status. Hence why multiple mains is rare. I've never managed to play more than 1 character as well and as often to be co-mains. Right now I play Shulk and Ike a lot, but my status stands at:

Main:
Secondary:
Other:

 

[CampLow]

I usually have what ever character I really wanna play as my main and a secondary just in case I need to cover my mains bad matchups. In short low tier main, high tier secondary.

 

[LancerStaff]

I stand firmly in the "main = best character" boat. Your skill at the game will be split for every character you main. Me, I want to be the best I can be, and that requires that I devote my time to (essentially) one character.

 

[BKTang']

I think that a main is the character you play the most with, not only because you're good with, but also because you like it. You can't really choose a main in my opinion, it's about a feeling you have when you play. For me it's , I don't know why, I don't know much about her background (except that she's a goddess from KI), but I always enjoy playing as her.

Maybe I'm quite good with other characters, but it's never as enjoyable as a main.

 

[MasterOfKnees]

My mains are the characters I actually sit down and analyze, the ones I actually experiment with, find out what moves and follow-ups work best, I'll try and maximize my main's potential everytime I play as one of them and if I lose I'll sit down and think of the mistakes I made and try and correct them next time I play. It's the characters that I dedicate myself to basically, the ones I want to be really good with, every other character I more or less just wing it with, I have no idea how to play any character at a high level aside from my mains.

As for the max amount of mains, I have 5 mains personally and I find that to be a bit much at times, in reality I'd probably be better if I bumped two of them down to alt level, but so far I refuse to do that.

 

[Ravio_Yo]

If you were put in a life or death situation and had to play 1 match with 2 stock and a 5 minute time on final destination, who would you choose? This character is your main. Anybody less than this is a secondary/other

But my main isn't as good on FD as my secondary.

Battlefield tho

 

[DeiSakuChris]

A main represent to me the character you play the most, the character you want to master and make him top tier.

A main represent to me a character you put hours in training mode to find every technics possible with him.

A main represent to me a character you know like your town, you know what do to with him in this situation, and you know what to not do in this situation with him.

A main to me is 1 character, 1 character that no matter the situation, you want to make him beat every obstacles on his way, beat every characters with him, no matter some have advantage on him, you still continue to fight against them to find how to beat them even with a handicap.

A main to me is not only a character you play, but a character you feel.

 

[Darrylols]

main(m

n)
adj.
1. Most important; principal. See Synonyms at chief.


okay I seriously need to et rid of my sarcastic attitude

main = 1 character only

 

[AlexAnthonyD]

But my main isn't as good on FD as my secondary.

Battlefield tho

Who would you take in a best of 5,two stages, FD and Battlefield, winner counter picks, the first game is chosen at random between the two stages. Which character do you pick? There is your main.

 

[Zero Suit Roxas]

Who would you take in a best of 5,two stages, FD and Battlefield, winner counter picks, the first game is chosen at random between the two stages. Which character do you pick? There is your main.

Is my life at stake this time?

Just kidding! Mains should be characters you're good at and would take into any battle with you, but you should also like them. Their movesets, their power, weight, speed, etc. It wouldn't be a bad thing to enjoy playing as the character, either, or maybe knowing something about the game(s) they come from.

 

[GoldWindRequiem]

Current mains:

: I am loving how viable Ness is looking up to be in this game. His aerial game is as good as ever, and his ground game has improved. He's also got some neat combos here and there. Currently my favorite itteration of Ness in the Smash series thus far.

: I was sort of appaled at Marth's range nerf, as well as his landing lag after certain attacks, but as I started playing him more, I was reminded of why I loved Marth in the first place. He's still quick and nimble, and has good ground and aerial game, especially his f-air, which can be used as a really good approach. While this itteration of Marth isn't as good as past itterations, I think he has potential, if put into the right hands, and I yearn to master him one day.

Subs:

Others I enjoy:

 

[Deleted member 269706]

is love. is life.

 

[AlexAnthonyD]

Is my life at stake this time?

Just kidding! Mains should be characters you're good at and would take into any battle with you, but you should also like them. Their movesets, their power, weight, speed, etc. It wouldn't be a bad thing to enjoy playing as the character, either, or maybe knowing something about the game(s) they come from.

Haha your life being at stake is always a variable when I propose a situation. I mean if you werent going to take it seriously you would just take your "favorite to play" character, not your "most likely to win with" character. For some people these are two different characters, i'll take Shiek if my life is on the line, but Lucario is so much more fun for me to play.

 

[K-45]

Well you don't pick your main
The main picks you.

Anyway my mains are

And my secondarys are
If people start playing characters with reflectors I will pick these guys and crush you.
When playing with friends for fun

 

[RespawningJesus]

I think 2-4 mains are ideal. With 4 pushing it.

For me, a main character is a character that you nor only enjoy playing, but also a character you put most of your time and effort into. In other words, you know your main character's strengths and weaknesses, and how to excel with them.

Right now, I have three mains: Shulk being my primary, and the ZSS and Marth as my secondaries. (Used to be Lucina instead of Marth, but Marth is just the better character. I still use Lucina, but I use Marth for being serious.)

 

[AlexAnthonyD]

Haha your life being at stake is always a variable when I propose a situation. I mean if you werent going to take it seriously you would just take your "favorite to play" character, not your "most likely to win with" character. For some people these are two different characters, i'll take Shiek if my life is on the line, but Lucario is so much more fun for me to play.

Sure i'l quote myself, I don't think i've ever done that in using an internet forum. But with my last line being said, I think this current situation of my best being Sheik but my favorite being Lucario means that for me Sheik was easiest to pick up automatically and learn. However a year from now once I am more familiar with Lucario and I have gotten a better feel of his move set (and his slower move speed, i'm usually a fan of faster players) he may take top place in every situation.

This is likely the reason people have so many mains, they just don't have enough experience with the game yet, so being that the US version isn't even a month old yet I think it is reasonable for people to consider themselves uncertain for now. In a couple years people should know definitively which characters they are 1st 2nd 3rd best with.