BANDANA WADDLE DEE FOR DEE-L-C
*Ahem* Pardon the pun. The good king's right-hand dee, at your service.
Bandana Dee, the next most important Kirby character after the big three. He's no K. Rool or Isaac, but I'll be damned if I can't say he still isn't big to his series, viable for a unique playstyle, and worth being pushed as Smash DLC.
Part 1 - The History of Bandana Waddle Dee
Appearances:
- Kirby Super Star (March 21, 1996) - Extremely minor character as first opponent in the mini-game Megaton Punch
- Kirby Super Star Ultra (September 22, 2008) - Minor character with the same role as the original, in addition to being King Dedede's sole cheerleader in the Masked Dedede fight, as well as a mini-boss in The Arena
- Kirby Mass Attack (August 4, 2011) - Extremely minor character as a cheerleader for Meta Knight in the mini-game Strato Patrol EOS
- Kirby's Return to Dream Land (October 27, 2011) - One of the four playable characters alongside the series' big three
- Kirby's Dream Collection (July 19, 2012) - Featured on the title screen and various artwork of the game
- Puzzle Swap (November 7, 2012 & December 26, 2013) - Featured in the Kirby's Return to Dream Land and Kirby Triple Deluxe puzzles, the latter only able to be seen once completed
- StreetPass Mii Plaza (June 18, 2013) - Available as a "Waddle Dee" hat as a trade-in for one of the plaza's tickets
- Kirby Triple Deluxe (January 11, 2014) - Major character as Kirby's/Dedede's companion throughout the game/manager of the game's StreetPass function and makes a few cameo appearances... Also worth noting that he is finally given the official name "Bandana Waddle Dee"
- Kirby and the Rainbow Curse (TBA 2015) - Multiple Bandana Waddle Dee being featured on a variation of the game's main artwork implies they will have a playable role in the game's multiplayer, and would not seem unlikely to have a role similar to his one in Triple Deluxe in the game's single-player story
Bandana (which is the nickname I'm going to say from now on to speed things up) had a role like that of being a cameo in the original Kirby Super Star, before fading into obscurity for over the next decade. However, at the release of the game's remake, Bandana had some boosted air-time, being featured in one of the game's main modes of "Revenge of the King" as well as replacing the nameless Waddle Dee that once acted as a mini-boss in The Arena. While by no means a full-fledged character yet, Bandana was at least within people's radar by this point. In Kirby Mass Attack, also known as the Kirby game to have a cameo of everything ever in the Kirby series, Bandana appeared once again in the game as a cameo alongside the Sailor Waddle Dee in one of the game's many mini-games. Again, while Bandana did not have a notable role, it was included nonetheless.
However, come Kirby's Return to Dream Land later that year, and Bandana is immediately upgraded from minor character to full-fledged playable character. It is worth noting that before Bandana were various other notable characters within the series: Gooey, Adeliene, Daroach, and Prince Fluff. However, despite many other more notable characters being choices for the game's fourth protagonist, Bandana was the one selected to be a playable main character in the game's story. Short of the Helpers in Kirby Super Star and Gooey in Kirby's Dream Land 3, this was a rare opportunity that not even Meta Knight had the privilege of yet (assuming we don't count the "play through the entire game again as THIS character" bonus modes that existed in Nightmare in Dream Land/Canvas Curse/Super Star Ultra). This became the turning point in the series that turned Bandana from something of a cameo into a character that consistently remains as a recurrent minor character in every game in the series thereafter.
Kirby's Dream Collection immediately kicked this off, showcasing Bandana all
throughout the game's artwork and
title screen. While he was by no means the centerpiece of the art, he's shown consistently alongside Meta Knight and King Dedede, the two biggest characters of the series behind Kirby himself. That alone should speak for how far he's come from. StreetPass Mii Plaza further cements this by giving Bandana various more appearances in the form of a hat and two puzzles. Considering Magolor, Dedede, Meta Knight, and Bandana each appear in two out of the three Kirby puzzles, this puts him on equal representation with all the other current major characters of the series.
Kirby Triple Deluxe, the most recent game in the series as of writing this, featured only four main characters: Kirby, Dedede, Taranza, and of course, the now properly named Bandana Waddle Dee. Bandana played a major, though not pivotal, role in Triple Deluxe as Kirby's ally that appears in most levels of the game. He additionally appears in several cameos, namely as one of Kirby's stone transformations alongside Dedede and Meta Knight, having his own key-chain, and appearing in the game's 100% complete cinematic. Between being the first main Kirby game after Kirby's Return to Dream Land and getting the various bits of Bandana we've gotten since, this game has solidified Bandana's presence in the series as here to stay. The upcoming Kirby and the Rainbow Curse will feature Bandana in a minor or major role as well, as the
game's demo title screen features multiple Bandana Waddle Dee on it. Even before we learn about the game's story, we still know that Bandana will have a role in it.
Bandana Waddle Dee had an insignificant start in the Kirby series, but after an entire decade, became the series' biggest darkhorse character. From one-screen appearance to recurrent major character, Bandana has had the most dramatic change in importance of any character in the series, and possibly any character of most series for that matter. It seems nowadays that after Kirby, King Dedede, and Meta Knight, Bandana Waddle Dee is by far the series' most important. As far as we can tell, that won't be changing for quite some time.
Part 2 - Gameplay Potential
We've all heard this one before.
He's a spear user! He'd be unique! What else do you need?!
But honestly? That's not doing Bandana any justice in terms of what he's capable of. Let's break this all down.
Before we get to the interesting stuff, I just want to start with the basics about Bandana Waddle Dee. Unlike the other three Kirby characters, Bandana clearly lacks aerial mobility the way they do, which immediately sets him apart from the other characters as a grounded-fighter moreso than an aerial fighter. His body-type is much like that of Kirby's, meaning he would be lightweight, somewhat fast, and small. If I were to guess, he would be in the middle-ground of Kirby and Meta Knight in regards to the former two, and being around their exact size for the latter.
Moving on, the spear he wields screams fighting ability. Unlike the various other Waddle Dees that merely waddle and jump their way into death by contact, Bandana has shown extremely viable fighting prowess with the spear. Speaking beyond a moveset that can almost directly translate from Kirby's Return to Dream Land into Smash Bros., Bandana's use of the spear heavily emphasizes on quick thrusts that rely on speed and precision. In this way, Bandana could have moves with long hitboxes, but are extremely narrow and are easy to avoid in the air as a result. This would create a sort of difficulty curve for Bandana that focuses more on the moves themselves rather than any type of mechanic like Rosalina's or Little Mac's. By playing with the positioning, timing, and precision of attacks rather than the frequency of them in mind, Waddle Dee would fulfill the role as a small character that requires patience above all else compared to the beat-down and spammy characters like Pikachu, Kirby, Olimar, Little Mac, and Meta Knight.
Another idea comes to mind to make Bandana a character that can easily ground opponents. As a sort of antithesis to the other Kirby characters, Bandana's long reach and viability on the ground could create the dynamic of moves that do well at beating aerial characters without being an aerial character himself. Having a spike effect at the end of his spear would further promote the positional and patient style of play mentioned before, as doing this can send characters like Jigglypuff and Wario flying down so that he can proceed to combo on the ground. Contrarily, while Bandana would be the better grounded fighter than the aerial opponents he's intended to pick off, he could be a less-than-amazing ground fighter compared to other characters in order to create an interesting spectrum of match-ups for Bandana Dee. While the aerial characters of higher-tiers like Meta Knight and Captain Falcon find themselves having difficulty against a counter-pick Bandana Waddle Dee, other grounded fighters from lower-tiers such as Ness and Donkey Kong will immediately find a niche in being able to counter the alleged metagame's counter. In having a playstyle like this, Bandana Waddle Dee not only keeps the game's balance in check, but creates a smaller distance between character tiers and thus would bring more viability to other characters if Bandana himself is viable.
In other words, in terms of gameplay, Bandana Waddle Dee would:
- Be easy to implement with a moveset that fits perfectly within Smash Bros.
- Be a character with a low difficulty curve and a high skill ceiling
- Create a new playstyle that other lightweight characters are not used to
- Balance the roster in its match-ups
If that doesn't sound like a solid contribution towards gameplay in Smash 4, then I don't know
what you're smoking and it's probably bad for your health. Don't do drugs. Do the Dee instead.
Part 3 - Why We Should Support Bandana Waddle Dee
So, we've learned that Bandana is a notoriety in the Kirby series, and we know that his gameplay potential would have meaning. The only thing left is to say why he fits in the context of Smash 4 and DLC.
Looking at what we know about Smash 4, we can confirm several things:
- King Dedede no longer throws Waddle Dees
- Smash Run features Waddle Dees as enemies of a different hue from Bandana in his Triple Deluxe appearance
- Smash 4 will receive Return to Dream Land content, based on Kirby's change of Final Smash into Ultra Sword
- Wii Fit Trainer and Greninja confirm that a character does not have to be a big name like Mega Man or Little Mac to be added
- Fire Emblem's current 4 characters indicate that there is no tangible limit on how many characters a series can get
Based on all of this, many of Bandana's potential barriers for being added to Smash 4 have been erased. Without a predetermined role in sight thus far, not being "sort of" part of someone's moveset, and not having any "you must be at least this public knowledge" quotas to wade through, nothing really stands in the way of Bandana being added into Smash Bros. Even if it becomes confirmed that trophies are not eligible to become playable DLC, we've yet to receive even so much as that in the way for Bandana Waddle Dee. In fact, the closest thing to a threat for Bandana thus far is the Waddle Dees in Smash Run, and even then, none of them use spears while Bandana's initial playable appearance
had Waddle Dees as enemies in the first place. Unlike Snake who is 3rd-party and Wonder Red who has a chance of being casted aside, literally nothing about Bandana would clash in what Smash Bros. already has set up.
With this being said, you might be wondering why I'm not putting full investment into Bandana Waddle Dee being a character in the base game in the first place. The main reason for this is that there is always the chance that Bandana will not be confirmed, same as any other DLC candidate not yet a shown trophy like K. Rool, Mewtwo, and Isaac. For all we know, there is the possibility of Bandana not appearing whatsoever. Support for Bandana Waddle Dee before the outcry of all the other characters for DLC would do well to help his chances at a spot in the roster. Thus, worst case scenario, Bandana gets confirmed as a character/assist trophy/stage hazard/etc. and we can select a different candidate. Best case scenario, we save the character from falling into obscurity amongst all the cries for Geno and Groose. It would do us no harm to try either way.
It should also be said that Bandana Waddle Dee is by no means obscure to the public. Bandana Waddle Dee has sizable support here in Smashboards, with somewhere between 52 likes and 400+ votes for support on the Bandana Waddle Dee thread alone. If we expand this to various other Kirby community forums, Kirby Triple Deluxe's Miiverse, and the Smash Bros. community populace as a whole, Waddle Dee definitely has the potential to gain a lot of ground for DLC. At the very least, if Ridley can keep a positive face despite his detractors, surely Bandana isn't in worse position, no?
In conclusion, Bandana Waddle Dee is a character with a myriad of reasons to be included in Smash Bros. DLC: growing importance to his series, unique gameplay potential, congruent material for the Smash games to work with, popularity--the list goes on. He's by no means an essential addition to the roster, but Bandana definitely offers more good to being included than bad.
Thank you for your time, budds. Bandana Waddle Dee for DLC!