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Add a new character in an existing franchise in smash to better represent its overall image

Jellybat

Smash Rookie
Joined
Jan 16, 2011
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22
Taken straight from the smash switch discussion thread as it did not really gain any real traction.



When i generally look at a character in smash. I like to understand what exactly is the character specifically representing about that franchise and the image of the franchise as a whole if i assumed the first contact with the franchise for me would smash...

Lets just quickly look at the zelda franchise pool

Link: The main guy. the protagonist

Zelda. The longrunning princess /damsel of the series.

Ganon: The villain of most entries

Toon link: The other style of zelda series:

Shiek: Alter ego of zelda



Now ill assume i have never heard anything about the zelda series and form an image of the franchise from these characters alone and how they look and work:

Link gives me the idea of a fantasy hero in most cases with a weird pool of tools.

Zelda definately gives the vibe of a magical princess(what else can i say..)

ganon gives this menacing and powerful feel that you know he is probably the bad guy

Shiek: ninja guy

Toon link: link with a different look.





The overall image i would get from these about the franchise is a serious fantasy world that also seems to have 2 different styles (toon link)

Now the question. how do you feel like this specific franchise's image could be clearer to someone who does not know much about the series?

My answer to this would be a character that represents the goofier sides of Zelda, that always show in its side-casts, which the current representation is not clearly showing. Only giving the idea of a more serious fantasy franchise.



So who would be the best character to fix this?

The character i feel that would best fit this role would be Tingle. reasonings:


*you will certainly not see him as a serious fantasy character
* has been in multiple entries
* has 2 games in his own name. thus representing them too
* is decently popular(at least in japan)

Adding tingle into the pool would give a better image on what the zelda franchise truly is. a fantasy world that has times when its serious and times when its just outright weird.




Now the challenge to you people:

Pick a franchise that is currently represented in smash

Try to create an idea about the franchise and its history with just the knowledge you get from the roster alone

What do you feel is lacking in the current image?

What character could possibly improve this image to give a better idea to new people on what the franchise truly is?
 

Kirby Dragons

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I'll go with Kirby.

The series is focused on aliens from another planet, which features a nice variety of species. These species are normally quite colorful and fun. Kirby often takes down baddies who are never seen again after their first defeat.

:4kirby::4dedede::4metaknight: are the series' most recurring characters, so no one-time baddies. Meta Knight also isn't a baddie, and many fans won't say Dedede's one either. Meta Knight is also super serious and dark for a colorful, fun series.

Before he came back, Bandana Waddle Dee would fit as a colorful one-time baddie. Since it can't be him I'll say Drawcia or Magolor.
 

SirCamp

Smash Ace
Joined
Apr 15, 2014
Messages
709
I'm actually really down with that reasoning for Tingle tbh. I've always thought he deserves a spot, but I've never really explore why I felt that way. And you're right, he definitely represents a side of Zelda that currently is not represented in a smash game.

I will say another potential character that could also represent the goofy side of LoZ could be Beedle, who I feel like is showing up more often now. Now that I think of it I've not seen anyone actually suggest him. I suppose because he would fill a similar role as Tingle while also being less iconic.

I'll have to think about if I have other idea for other franchises. The obvious one is K Rool repping the villain for DK. But that's not a terribly interesting one.
 

osby

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Toon link: The other style of zelda series:

Toon link: link with a different look.

*you will certainly not see him as a serious fantasy character
Nothing against Tingle but I think Toon Link also shows a very goofy part of the Zelda series with his hilarious expressions and comedic explosion effects. I really don't think him as a serious fantasy character in Smash, even if his games have serious sides.
 

Zeox

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Ness: the cheerful and hopeful side of the childhood, optimistic and brave. A kid with a mother that loves him.
Lucas: the sad side of the childhood, keeps fighting for the things he love because he doesn't want anyone to suffer anymore. A kid that had a mother that loved him.
Porky: the bad, negative part of the childhood, corrupted and hungry for power. What happen when you have ****ty parents.
 
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Jellybat

Smash Rookie
Joined
Jan 16, 2011
Messages
22
Just reposting my mario take from the discussion thread as it still fits here as well. This time looking at the mario pool


The mario character pool at its current point is fairly covered in my opinion spanning from its main characters from multiple series and their villains mostly with some missing(k rool, kamek), but i feel it has 2 glaring flaws that are completely lacking in its representation

1: The lack of representation of the RPG style of mario
2: The lack of representation of the large miscellaneous spin-off games pool of mario



Number 1 has a pretty easy pick to fix it in paper mario, as the other rpg series(mario & luigi) kinda has this issue of just being another mario and luigi for the roster and the original mario rpg is kinda the ancestor to both the current rpg series with many shared gameplay aspects.

HOWEVER in my opinion paper mario has to have a move to reference mario & luigi in some way to represent the legacy of this series be it final smash with mario&luigi or just anything obvious about that series for paper mario to truly represent rpg's of mario series well.





Now for number 2 which is is a bit trickier for most series to fulfill well, but in my eyes there is a perfect character to represent these games, and its the guy who is seen ONLY in these games. Waluigi.

Waluigi has his entire legacy built up on all the mario spin-off games from sports to mario party, no other mario character( or a gaming character in general i know) has this very special situation of not having even a single entry in any more mainline type of mario game, yet still having a good amount of popularity and multiple appearances spanning across multiple different games.



So considering Waluigi as the spin-off man. I feel the most fitting smash moveset for Waluigi would be a very mish-mash set filled with references to all of his different appearances in all these games. As an example of moves:


neutral B:

Hits/throws a dice block similar to those of Mario party, giving a minor boost depending on the number that comes out of the block.

f-smash:
the classic tennis racket

down-smash:
kicks a foot ball acting both as smash and a pseudo projectile that snares the enemy on hit with Vines, referencing his vine ivy powers of strikers.


I think you get the idea now.

I would be REALLY disappointed if Waluigi would come it with references to only his first appearance of tennis. I really hope it truly takes off the many gameplay aspects of these spin-off games that would never otherwise see an appearance in smash otherwise. As this form of Waluigi would be the Waluigi i would be hyped to see in this game, and not those generic but well made fan-made Waluigis that just give off this mundane feeling in their moveset design.





Nothing against Tingle but I think Toon Link also shows a very goofy part of the Zelda series with his hilarious expressions and comedic explosion effects. I really don't think him as a serious fantasy character in Smash, even if his games have serious sides.
Its certainly true that its very unlikely for Toon link to be ever really be interpreted as a serious character by a newcomer. The problem with me seeing toon link representing the goofy sides of zelda is that the feel and look of Toon link in the game is just so similar to link, that it leaves the entire image of the toon series overall vague , which is why i also left my interpretation of the character fairly vague. As the only real solid image i can get from toon link is that he is just a different interpretation of the character link.

opinions are always subjective though. Just glarifying my own reasoning on the interpretation here.
 
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TOVL

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Ice Climber.

Instead of Ridley, bring in the Condor to be the Ice Climber's antagonist. Then all will make sense.
 

TMNTSSB4

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Kid Icarus: The comedic yet sometimes serious enough to be perfectly balanced anime that is somewhat the original God of War hand vice versa...not really but why not)

:4pit:- the greatest hero of all time who is a fanboy to most and underdog who’s willing to sacrifice himself to save everyone...also can’t fly on his own
:4palutena:- the leader of most and the best waifu you can possibly have (also cares for Pit a lot...and will gain depression if he died)
:4darkpit:- edge

Viridi- the 10 year old Nature loving equivalent to Thanos
 

Idon

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I'd put in Anna from Fire Emblem to better represent that franchise.

Like Robin she'd have a durability system except she'd use all weapons and magic, not just a sword and some tomes.
 

MoonlitIllusion

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Obviously Ridley, he would represent all the big, bad, space creatures you fight in the Metroid series

For Kid Icarus, Medusa would be a great choice, not only is she a villain, she'd complete the original Kid Icarus trinity.

For Xenoblade, Elma would represent an entirely different part of the Xenoblade franchise which is likely to continue with future installments.
 

Zinith

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Kamek for the Yoshi franchise

People often forget that Yoshi's Island had some pretty high stakes. Kamek was a persistent enemy throughout and the further and further you got into the game, the more bat**** insane and loony he got. Capturing Baby Mario wasn't fun and games for him (which is the impression many people have of Yoshi games), he meant business!!!
 

Wouldo

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Mar 25, 2018
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Guess who I’m going to choose as a new Kirby character Embarrass

Yep, that’s right. Whispy Woods.
He walks. He jumps. He’s not too big.

In my opinion, he’s the perfect candidate for the Kirby team.

Kirby: kawaii
King Dedede: goofy
Meta Knight: edgy
Whispy Woods: whimsy

He represents the many magical boss encounters throughout the Kirby series and is arguably the most memorable one.

He’s the first ever boss encounter and has remained just as prominent as Kirby, King Dedede, and Meta Knight.
 

CodakTheWarrior

Smash Ace
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Jun 7, 2017
Messages
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Alright I'll give out a few short explanations here.

Ridley for Metroid is an obvious one, he would definitely showcase the incredibly menacing, yet also incredibly cool, villains and space monsters Samus encounters in space.

As in the example, Tingle would be a great pick for Zelda to showcase its more humorous side. However, I also think Skull Kid would work to show off the enemies in Zelda and the overall feeling of despair present in the series. Pig Ganon could also work as well to showcase the old Zelda games.


K. Rool for DK would be perfect to show the comedy of the series as well as the original Country series as a whole.

Both Captain Toad and Geno would be great for Mario, as the Capn would represent the overall adventure theme of the series, while Geno would serve as a Mario rpg rep.

These are just some of my ideas, if you have any questions let me know, otherwise I'll probably add some more at a later point.
 

MrRoidley

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Xenoblade: Shulk represents the main series, Elma would represent the "X" subseries
Mario: Waluigi could finally be big spinoff representation
Zelda: I feel Zelda only has the big guns while I feel it could get some of the lesser/flavor of the month/one timers/etc. Like how Mario got Rosalina and how Pokémon always get what's current. Skull Kid is my ideal choice
 

Jamisinon

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Ridley from Metroid. You only have two characters represented with Samus and Zero Suit Samus. So if I knew nothing about the series I could surmise that they are the same character just one with armor and one without. The armor suit makes me think futuristic kinda like the Mjolnir armor in the Halo series screams future tech or high tech like Iron Man's suit.
So the smash representation makes me think of of sci fi but I don't get a foreign alien far from Earth vibe. Ridley represents Samus' fears and more of an Alien (as in the movie) vibe which is something Metroid originally sought out. So I think Ridley could create that almost horror but at least suspenseful vibe that Samus alone doesn't portray.
 

Roberk

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Leif from FE: Thracia 776

A completely different design than other FE characters while still keeping the aesthetic of lords/nobility. Leif is someone who struggles and doesn't have any hidden/innate power or weapon that the other FE characters in Smash usually have, he has to work for his strength. He has flaws and can mess up at times, but that what develops his character and personality. With his brown poofy hair and bright white armor, Leif would definitely stand out from other FE characters with the usual blue hair/armor look. Something that he is notable for is his promotion class, the Master Knight class. This provides Leif with a horse and the ability to use every weapon in the game bar dark magic, giving him an insane amount of moveset potential compared to other lords. Even his signature weapon, the Light Brand, is a sword that can be used to cast light magic which isn't in Smash yet. The Dismount mechanic present in Thracia 776 would allow Leif to dismount from his horse, making him even more unique as an FE character and a Smash character since he'd be a pseudo-transformation character and giving more strategic depth and moveset potential.

The Jugdral series of FE games are argued to be some of the best of FE and are even said to be impactful games for Sakurai, yet it isn't repped in Smash while Archanea/Awakening, Elibe, Tellius, and Fates are. The two other Jugral lords from Genealogy of the Holy War, Seliph and Sigurd, are too much like the usual lord stereotype by being blue-haired and sword-based. Leif will rep mounted units, almost every weapon type, and a set of games not repped in Smash yet.
 
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Planet Cool

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I would add Ganon (as in, classic/pig Ganon, as seen in games like ALttP and ALBW) to better represent Zelda. It bugs me that we have Link and Toon Link, and we have Zelda and Sheik, but we have Ganondorf with no Ganon. Besides, the main villain of the series deserves an original move set and Sakurai doesn't seem to want to de-clone Ganondorf.
 
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