Character Exploration Thread - Day 79: Axel Stone (Streets of Rage)

[Cutie Gwen]

Do you think they'll reference the... spoilers with Masked Man?

They already did with the codec call and Sakurai's secrecy on spoilers is notoriously awful

 

[SharkLord]

I never played any of the Earthbound games before, but I think they deserve a new character, since they haven’t had one since Brawl.

Also, how do nominations work here?

Just drop 'em in your first post in a day. Asking questions, posting big writeups, and submitting concepts for stuff like movesets and stages will help you get more noms for the next day.

 

[amageish]

I'd wait for amageish to add up the noms for this extension, but I'm not sure we've even gotten any more nominations anyways. Still, it's best to double-check. Aside from that, there's also ahemtoday and the extra noms to submit for next round.

I'll add the 2-3 nom sets that happened post-extension when posting the full list tonight! Sorry, I will be MIA for a lot of the days (I imagine I won't check SmashBoards every lunchtime), so don't wait up for me!

Masked Man, eh? Well, should Claus be one of his alts? Hey, Smash bros. already spoiled Porky Minch.

I only accept this if they call the character "Unmasked Man."

How similar would Mask Man's playstyle be to Ness/Lucas? I imagine he'd have different specials but would he still be floaty, light, have the psychic double jump, etc.?

I don't think he'd have to be light. You 100% could justify it if you wanted to, but, like, he has metal attached to him and I think there's symbolic benefits to having him be physically weighted down.

As for stages... I'm not 100% sure what they'd do, honestly. There are plenty of other options for Mother 3 stages, some of which tie into famous scenes with Masked Man, but nothing makes me go "Oh, yeah, we totally need that place in Smash right now," especially with New Pork City being such a big and generally-themed stage...

Cadence x5

 

[Technomage]

Okay, I'm going to list some spirits for MM's spirit board:

Porky Minch (not the Absolutely Safe Capsule)
Fassad (evolves into Miracle Fassad)
Mother 1 Giygas (evolves into Mother 2 Giygas)
Ness's Mother
New Age Retro Hippy
Leder
Magypsies
Devil Car

 

[GolisoPower]

Here's an interesting thing we should explore: Masked Man's Spirit Board.

We've already got more than a few Mother 3 Spirits in Smash, just enough for a Spirit Board by itself. Now I'm not too well-versed in Earthbound lore, but honestly, I can't think of a whole nother set of Mother 3 Spirits to fill up a whole Board.

EDIT: LOL, Technomage already answered my question before I got to ask it.

 

[chocolatejr9]

Okay, I'm going to list some spirits for MM's spirit board:

Porky Minch (not the Absolutely Safe Capsule)
Fassad (evolves into Miracle Fassad)
Mother 1 Giygas (evolves into Mother 2 Giygas)
Ness's Mother
New Age Retro Hippy
Leder
Magypsies
Devil Car

Only if Porky evolves into the Absolutely Safe Capsule so people will finally get the joke.

 

[Technomage]

Should the Porky boss return as part of MM's CP?

 

[Paraster]

They already did with the codec call and Sakurai's secrecy on spoilers is notoriously awful

I'm convinced the only reason the Masked Man spirit wasn't an enhanced form of Claus is that Sakurai wanted both of them to be Legend spirits.

Should the Porky boss return as part of MM's CP?

I don't see them adding a full-on boss for a single CP. Maybe if Masked Man was earlier on and they could add Porky to other CP's Classic Modes, but even that seems unlikely given DLC fighters don't appear in other DLC fighters' Classic Modes.

 

[AirMac1]

Just drop 'em in your first post in a day. Asking questions, posting big writeups, and submitting concepts for stuff like movesets and stages will help you get more noms for the next day.

Okay. Thanks!

How many noms do we get?

 

[SharkLord]

Okay. Thanks!

How many noms do we get?

Five by default. Every time you do something nom-worthy, that's five more each, capping out at 30 noms total.

 

[AirMac1]

Five by default. Every time you do something nom-worthy, that's five more each, capping out at 30 noms total.

Thanks!

Noms: Axel (Crazy Taxi) x5

 

[SharkLord]

Thanks!

Noms: Axel (Crazy Taxi) x5

Oh yeah, generally characters should have a support thread before they're rated. I'd suggest making a Crazy Taxi support thread if you wanna rate someone from there, since there doesn't seem to be a support thread for them at the moment.

 

[PeridotGX]

I'm gonna be real, the entire reason I want the Masked Man in Ultimate is because there's a cool Brawl mod that has a version of Masked Man that's really fun to play. Here's a video of it (not mine)

 

[PeridotGX]

busy day...

 

[Technomage]

busy day...

Yeah, this thread is slowing down. So here's a question: What would his costumes be? I suggested Claus as one of them.

 

[GolisoPower]

How would a Masked Man trailer go down? Would it be like a contrast to Lucas's trailer from Smash 4 where instead, Ness and Lucas are happily fighting together?

Yeah, this thread is slowing down. So here's a question: What would his costumes be? I suggested Claus as one of them.

I think maybe he could have alt colors based on the various Pigmask Army members?

 

[Perkilator]

What would the Masked Man's Classic Mode be like? The obvious answer seems like masked characters but I feel like that would be kinda redundant since already has that.

 

[Paraster]

How would a Masked Man trailer go down? Would it be like a contrast to Lucas's trailer from Smash 4 where instead, Ness and Lucas are happily fighting together?

I'm thinking something with a bit of a darker tone, where Lucas and a few other Smash fighters are coming up to the end of some kind of grueling journey only to find the Masked Man as the final obstacle. Over the course of both CGI and gameplay, the Masked Man takes out every opponent one by one until the only one standing is Lucas, who stands in turmoil while the Masked Man slowly advances. Trailer ends before we see what happens between them.

...now that I'm thinking of it, the Seventh Needle Mines would be a good Masked Man stage.

 

[PeridotGX]

How would a Masked Man trailer go down? Would it be like a contrast to Lucas's trailer from Smash 4 where instead, Ness and Lucas are happily fighting together?




I think maybe he could have alt colors based on the various Pigmask Army members?

I feel like it would be somewhat similar to the Sephiroth/Ridley trailer, with a bunch of fighters trying (and failing) to beat the Masked Man. It's not revealed to be the Masked Man until Lucas tries to stop the mystery fighter, which makes him freeze up.

What would the Masked Man's Classic Mode be like? The obvious answer seems like masked characters but I feel like that would be kinda redundant since already has that.

Perhaps the battles could be refrences to the needles of Mother 3 (which is why the Masked Man exists, to destroy them). The boss battle would be against Lucas, simmilar to at the end of the game.

 

[Merengue]

To be honest, I preferred if Porky was the fighter instead of Claus. Porky has the link between Ness and Lucas. Masked Man is more of Porky's minion.

 

[AirMac1]

Oh yeah, generally characters should have a support thread before they're rated. I'd suggest making a Crazy Taxi support thread if you wanna rate someone from there, since there doesn't seem to be a support thread for them at the moment.

Oh, sorry. I made a 9-Volt support thread, but it sucks.

 

[ahemtoday]

So the overarching concepts of the Masked Man's moveset are pretty clear, right? He's got PSI, a sword, and I think he has a jetpack. But like I said on Adol's day, what really excites me about a character is a couple of fun specials. Is there anything the Masked Man could have on that front?

If you ask me, PK Thunder needs to be in there. It just stands out to me because it actually gets fully animated in a cutscene when he kills himself with it, so I feel like we have to include it somewhere. It doesn't have to be interpreted the same way as Ness's or Lucas's - in fact, it probably should just be a bolt from the sky like in the cutscene.

 

[SharkLord]

I'm gonna be real, the entire reason I want the Masked Man in Ultimate is because there's a cool Brawl mod that has a version of Masked Man that's really fun to play. Here's a video of it (not mine)

I'm beginning to realize I should probably start looking into Brawl mods a bit more...

Anyways, based on what I know and the video, I'd imagine the Masked Man would be emotionless and militaristic in their movements. No flashy, wild swings just quick and straightforward strikes. Would be an interesting take on the swordfighter archetype.

 

[PeridotGX]

So the overarching concepts of the Masked Man's moveset are pretty clear, right? He's got PSI, a sword, and I think he has a jetpack. But like I said on Adol's day, what really excites me about a character is a couple of fun specials. Is there anything the Masked Man could have on that front?

If you ask me, PK Thunder needs to be in there. It just stands out to me because it actually gets fully animated in a cutscene when he kills himself with it, so I feel like we have to include it somewhere. It doesn't have to be interpreted the same way as Ness's or Lucas's - in fact, it probably should just be a bolt from the sky like in the cutscene.

Here's a rundown of the Masked Man in the PM mod I keep mentioning. I haven't played M3, so I don't know if these are references to anything or not.

Neutral B - He stabs and charges forward, which is a slow but very strong attack. It's kinda like Wonderwing, I guess.

Side B - He throws an electrical projectile forward (it might be a PK thunder? He doesn't have voice clips in the mod). It works like Corrin's Neutral B, stunning foes in place. It can't be charged, and it's kinda slow to come out. Side B into neutral B is a great kill combo.

Up B - He flies upwards with his jetpack. Not much to be said here.

Down B - He throws a bomb forwards, which explodes upon contact with anything. I don't use the attack much, but it's probably a good move.

Final Smash - T-Pose (Masked Man, as well as a few other characters, don't have a final smash. It's a competitive based mod)

 

[ahemtoday]

Here's a rundown of the Masked Man in the PM mod I keep mentioning. I haven't played M3, so I don't know if these are references to anything or not.

Neutral B - He stabs and charges forward, which is a slow but very strong attack. It's kinda like Wonderwing, I guess.

Side B - He throws an electrical projectile forward (it might be a PK thunder? He doesn't have voice clips in the mod). It works like Corrin's Neutral B, stunning foes in place. It can't be charged, and it's kinda slow to come out. Side B into neutral B is a great kill combo.

Up B - He flies upwards with his jetpack. Not much to be said here.

Down B - He throws a bomb forwards, which explodes upon contact with anything. I don't use the attack much, but it's probably a good move.

Final Smash - T-Pose (Masked Man, as well as a few other characters, don't have a final smash. It's a competitive based mod)

Well, that's... a little boring,

I have to say, I took a look at the video you posted, and there are a couple things in it I like - there's this grounded jetpack attack that I think is his dash attack and that's an interesting one, and he has a salute animation, I think. But overall, his attacks feel fairly nondescript, and most of his animations look way too lively for a brainwashed zombie cyborg. I can't speak for the gameplay design of it without playing it, but aesthetically I think it's a bit of a miss.

 

[PeridotGX]

Well, that's... a little boring,

I have to say, I took a look at the video you posted, and there are a couple things in it I like - there's this grounded jetpack attack that I think is his dash attack and that's an interesting one, and he has a salute animation, I think. But overall, his attacks feel fairly nondescript, and most of his animations look way too lively for a brainwashed zombie cyborg. I can't speak for the gameplay design of it without playing it, but aesthetically I think it's a bit of a miss.

that's a fair assessment, I guess. For as much as I like playing as him, I'll admit that Masked Man is one of the most poorly animated characters (I don't want to say lazy, because 3D animation is very difficult anyways) in the mod. He only has the one taunt, the aforementioned lack of final smash, etc. I wouldn't be surprised if some animations were ported from other characters (which isn't necessarily a bad thing, but in this instance it might not work). I could see a canon version of him being quite different.

 

[Gengar84]

Do you guys think Masked Man would have an alternate outfit that reveals his true identity or would that be too much of a spoiler? Sakurai did make Zelda and Shiek transform initially which was technically a spoiler itself so there is precedence. On a related note, I’m also kind of curious about the same thing if the Black Knight ever made it in.

 

[Commander_Alph]

Do you guys think Masked Man would have an alternate outfit that reveals his true identity or would that be too much of a spoiler? Sakurai did make Zelda and Shiek transform initially which was technically a spoiler itself so there is precedence. On a related note, I’m also kind of curious about the same thing if the Black Knight ever made it in.

That would be odd considering Claus doesn't have any power and would look out of place having a gun for a hand in his Lucas 2nd recolor or are we talking about him without a mask?

 

[SharkLord]

that's a fair assessment, I guess. For as much as I like playing as him, I'll admit that Masked Man is one of the most poorly animated characters (I don't want to say lazy, because 3D animation is very difficult anyways) in the mod. He only has the one taunt, the aforementioned lack of final smash,etcetera. I wouldn't be surprised if some animations were ported from other characters. I could see a canon version of him being quite different.

Yeah, I'm pretty sure I recognized Link's dash attack and Marth's down air. Granted, Smash tends to reuse animations quite a bit, but some of them don't feel like they fit him that well.

Do you guys think Masked Man would have an alternate outfit that reveals his true identity or would that be too much of a spoiler? Sakurai did make Zelda and Shiek transform initially which was technically a spoiler itself so there is precedence. On a related note, I’m also kind of curious about the same thing if the Black Knight ever made it in.

THE MASKED MAN

WITH NO MASK

 

[Gengar84]

That would be odd considering Claus doesn't have any power and would look out of place having a gun for a hand in his Lucas 2nd recolor or are we talking about him without a mask?

I was mostly talking about him without the mask but I don’t really know enough about the game to know if his normal form would have worked.

As far as the Black Knight goes, I just remembered that his spirit already spoiled his identity so I kind of doubt Sakurai is concerned with that kind of thing. I’m not sure how people feel about Sakurai doing that so much in Smash.

 

[PeridotGX]

This is somewhat off topic, but relates to the reason I nominated MM: does anyone else here play, or have experience in, Smash mods? I only really got into playing them this year with PMEX, and I know Gengar84 did some model swap mods a while back, but has anyone else played them?

 

[SharkLord]

Ooh, question: Would Masked Man have any references to the Mother 3 mooks? I know Ness and Lucas take from their party members, so would MM do something similar?

 

[GolisoPower]

Ooh, question: Would Masked Man have any references to the Mother 3 mooks? I know Ness and Lucas take from their party members, so would MM do something similar?

As said earlier, I'd say he should have some alts based on the other Pigmask Army enemies. Maybe one based on the Ultimate Chimera and one based on a Fierce Pork Trooper, or something.

 

[amageish]

A Noms List Blocked the Way!

Spoiler: The Noms List

50+ noms
Freddy Fazbear - x102
Battletoads - x80
Imperial (Etrian Odyssey) - x80
Crash Bandicoot - x80
Magus (Chrono Trigger) - x75
Neku Sakuraba - x75
Chosen Undead - x70
Gran/Djeeta - x70
Amaterasu - x60
Cadence - x60
Maxwell - x50
Amiya - x50

26-50 noms
Estelle Bright - x45
Endo Mamoru - x45
Frisk - x44
2B - x40
Saber - x40
Elma - x38
Sarah Kerrigan - x35
Maxwell - x35
Filia (Skullgirls) - x35

11-25 noms
Octoling - x25
Black Mage - x20
Master Hand - x20
Laharl - x20
Mega Man X - x15
Isaac (Golden Sun) - x15
Shovel Knight - x15
Trauma Center Content - x12

5-10 noms
Hearthstone Innkeeper - x10
Daitoryo - x10
Saber - x10
Ryza - x10
9-volt x5
Gunvolt - x5
Jill Stingray - x5
Astral Chain rep - x5
Nathan Drake - x5
Ryza - x5

I love the randomness in the top set here. I do currently have the top 8 highlighted due to a tie for 7th place.

 

[Commander_Alph]

So what would be the perfect stage for Masked Man? We already got New Pork City which actually the only Mother 3 stage in the game and probably not fitting for Lucas and should be given to Masked Man, the other stage that I could think of is Tazmily or something.

How about Classic Mode route? We already got mind control/evil counterpart/artificial creation theme in the form of Mewtwo and Dark Samus.

 

[SharkLord]

So what would be the perfect stage for Masked Man? We already got New Pork City which actually the only Mother 3 stage in the game and probably not fitting for Lucas and should be given to Masked Man, the other stage that I could think of is Tazmily or something.

How about Classic Mode route? We already got mind control/evil counterpart/artificial creation theme in the form of Mewtwo and Dark Samus.

Maybe top enforcers? Then again, I'm not sure how many villains fit that. Perhaps just leaders and followers in general?

 

[Paraster]

So what would be the perfect stage for Masked Man? We already got New Pork City which actually the only Mother 3 stage in the game and probably not fitting for Lucas and should be given to Masked Man, the other stage that I could think of is Tazmily or something.

How about Classic Mode route? We already got mind control/evil counterpart/artificial creation theme in the form of Mewtwo and Dark Samus.

Tazmily would be a good idea, but I'm partial towards the Seventh Needle Mines as I brought up earlier; I like the aesthetic and you could argue it works for both Masked Man and Lucas.

For the Classic Mode, I'm leaning towards a theme of "characters who use both magic/projectiles and melee weapons" reflecting Masked Man using both PSI and a sword.

 

[Technomage]

So, do we have a list of characters we already discussed in this thread? I ask so I'll know who not to nominate again.

 

[Perkilator]

Okay, lemme try a Classic Mode for Maksed Man themed around the Seven Needles.

Round 1: Giant (Color 8) on Gerudo Valley
Round 2: (Color 2), Giant (Color 3), and x2 on
Round 3: Giant (Color 6) on Summit
Round 4: (Color 6) on
Round 5: x3 (Color 6) on Windy Hill
Round 6: Masked Man on Magicant
Final Round: on Ω

 

[SharkLord]

Seems like it's slowing down. Tagging ahemtoday to send in the extra noms.