Call me unoriginal, but I've always liked the idea of a Mega Man boss in Smash... so let's toss an idea in here.
Whilst some may think it's more logical to do a character who was more original (such as, say, Proto Man or Bass,) I imagine most would be better suited as characters. Even so... Mega Man is quite famous for having a lot of Robot Masters we could use. With Elec Man being an Assist Trophy in the last game, we should maybe retool how this would work, so... let's look at some of the most popular in the series, starting with:
Boss:
Pharaoh Man
Game of Origin:
Mega Man 4 (1991)
A truly menacing opponent... Pharaoh Man is arguably one of the most popular Robot Masters in the Mega Man series, mostly because of his hella cool design, not to mention his infamous difficulty. Unusually for bosses in the Smash series, Pharaoh Man is interesting in that he's relatively small, of a similar size to most fighters - but in comparison to other bosses like Galleom, Ganon or Giga Bowser, he's pretty fast - and has a lot of aerial control, with his various abilities not just being based on his appearance in Mega Man 4, but in extended media such as Mega Man 2: The Power Fighters, and the Ruby Spears cartoon.
Introduction: Unlike other bosses, Pharaoh Man has an interesting and unique intro. A sort of remake of the traditional "Robot Master Intro" screen will occur, a little like we saw in Mega Man's reveal trailer back in Smash 4. This will have the model of Pharaoh Man - who then leaps from the Intro screen onto the stage. Notably - he's actually wearing the green cape he had in the Ruby Spears cartoon, though upon landing on the stage, he tosses it off a little like M. Bison, and then the match itself begins.
Stage: A battle arena based on the appearance of Pharaoh Man's original battle arena, though touched up with quite a lot of detail. For example - I imagine there's a possibility that instead of being in a small room, it would be the cavernous inside of Pharaoh Man's pyramid of residence - and, interestingly, the battle would take place on a large "block", with a blast zone on either side. The "block," as in the original arena, has a small pyramid in the centre. Maybe some 3D appearances of enemies could be cool too, such as Sniper Joes and the like.
Attacks: Pharaoh Man, as with other bosses in this game - has a healthbar - although his boss battle always takes place in Stamina Mode. Upon reaching half health or lower, his attack pattern will change.
For the first half of his fight, Pharaoh Man's attack pattern is identical to that of Mega Man 4, with some tweaks. His first gameplay is that he will randomly pick between one of these two moves, either:
- Jump to your fighter's position, throwing a small energy projectile whilst doing so. (This is done twice in succession).
- Charge up and release a large wave of energy (the Pharaoh Shot.) He gains super armour whilst in this state.
Notably, Pharaoh Man can't jump in any way to end up offstage - but he can still harass you with projectiles in the process, so camping offstage Jigglypuff style isn't a valid strategy. You'll have to go in head on.
Now, when Pharaoh Man's health is taken down to half or less, his attack pattern changes significantly, indicated by him suddenly having a slight purple aura around him at all times (though purely cosmetic.) - notably, with the addition of:
- His Eye Shield from Mega Man 2: The Power Fighters, which acts a little like a counter - nullifying physical attacks that hit it, and also nullifying projectiles in a similar way to Link/Hero's shields. This, however, can only be used on the ground.
- A new "levitation" move also based on Mega Man 2: The Power Fighters, in which Pharaoh Man surrounds himself in an even bigger burning purple aura and begins to levitate upward into the air, before halting his vertical momentum and beginning to glide horizontally with his arms folded - during which time, he'll toss a couple of those small energy projectiles in the process. He is, however, vulnerable after this animation - dropping to the ground in the process.
- The ability to use a new form of his Pharaoh Shot, the Pharaoh Wave - which he'll now use in place of the original. It takes slightly longer to charge than the original, but moves both forward and backward simultaneously. This is, once more, in reference to Mega Man 2: The Power Fighters.
- The ability to occasionally summon Astro Zombiegs (an enemy found in his stage, as well as an ability of his in Mega Man 2: The Power Fighters.) Snapping his fingers when on the ground, a metallic sarcophagus will rise from the earth in front of him, opening to reveal this dishevelled, damaged machine. The machine itself stubles forward in a zombie-like manner, and will grab you if you wind up making contact with it. If you don't mash fast enough - it'll explode with you attached to it!
I'd say it's unarguable that Pharaoh Man would be a difficult boss due to his large amount of movement options - but notably, he does have weaknesses. His attacks often have periods of lag or other weakness attached to them - for instance, his Pharaoh Shot leaves him vulnerable whilst charging, allowing you to get some quick damage in there - and it's quite possible to reflect his projectiles back at him with certain characters. However, most notably, his nature as a smaller fighter allows him to be launched by particularly powerful attacks (though he does have particularly strong super armour) - and whilst he is able to use his levitation move in both phases of his boss fight to his advantage in order to get back onto the stage - it is, in fact, possible to K.O. him due to his surprising level of weight.
Other Stuff: Pharaoh Man, upon being K.Od, will explode with the same effect as Mega Man. Notably - there's a couple of things you could use for his actual boss theme. Whilst some might say a remix of his stage could be cool, or a remix of the Mega Man 4 boss theme, my own personal pick is a sort of remix/medley of all of the boss themes in the classic Mega Man titles.
Interestingly, if you do manage to trip or knock over Pharaoh Man, his get-up animation has him fall downward into a portal, before deftly stepping to the floor from a portal above him - as in Mega Man 2: The Power Fighters.
Anyways, I know I don't have like exact damage values here, but this is just my rough idea of how it could work!
