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

[Perkilator]

How about a classic mode? I’m not sure what has or hasn’t been done yet but a route against duo characters, avatars, or sci-fi characters like Xenoblade and Metroid could be cool.

Maybe something representing each Legion? Here's mine:

Legion of Legions
Round 1: on
Round 2: on Venom
Round 3: on Corneria
Round 4: on
Round 5: on Moray Towers
Round 6: The Howard of the opposite costume
Final Round: Galleom

 

[Schnee117]

How about a classic mode? I’m not sure what has or hasn’t been done yet but a route against duo characters, avatars, or sci-fi characters like Xenoblade and Metroid could be cool.

They're a cop so criminals like Wario, Ridley, Wolf, K Rool, Bowser Jr and Ganondorf could play a part, you could even go for characters who have canonically been locked up in prison which would then entail Mario and Sonic. The boss could probably be Marx. If DLC characters could be in other classic modes then Joker and Kazuya are also obvious choices.

Oh and of course, they'll finally get Yoshi for tax evasion

 

[Gengar84]

Maybe something representing each Legion? Here's mine:

Legion of Legions
Round 1: on
Round 2: on Venom
Round 3: on Corneria
Round 4: on
Round 5: on Moray Towers
Round 6: The Howard of the opposite costume
Final Round: Galleom

They're a cop so criminals like Wario, Ridley, Wolf, K Rool, Bowser Jr and Ganondorf could play a part, you could even go for characters who have canonically been locked up in prison which would then entail Mario and Sonic. The boss could probably be Marx. If DLC characters could be in other classic modes then Joker and Kazuya are also obvious choices.

Oh and of course, they'll finally get Yoshi for tax evasion

These are both awesome ideas. It makes me wish they used Galeem and Dharkon in at least a few classic modes instead of limiting them to just World of Light.

 

[jamesster445]

If Officer Howard was in Smash I would like them to go all in on the Sci fi Anime Cop schtick.

Mix of baton and blaster strikes for their normals while using legions for specials. If they had to be limited to 1 legion it should absolutely be the dog aka a K9 unit. I actually wrote a moveset concept for this character Here

Their stage should be the cool sci fi city.

Their classic mode should be about catching criminals.

 

[Idon]

Not yet; If you want you're free to start nominating it. You have five noms by default; By posting stuff related to a game's content (Movesets, stage concepts, etc.), you can gain more for the next character.

Great!
Beyond the moveset, I also have extraneous content for other aspects of Astral Chain:

Spoiler: Miscellaneous Features

Introduction: Exit Gate
A portal from the astral plain opens up and the sword legion flies in from it. It then yanks the astral chain, pulling out Ofc. Howard, who readies to fight while putting away the sword legion.

Stance: Police Training
Does his default battle stance from the game.

Down Taunt: Legionis
Calls Legion and spirals the chain around himself in a stylish pose yelling "LEGION!"

Up Taunt: Respect
Salutes the enemy yelling before resuming battle stance.

16 Taunt 3
holds his Legatus up to his face, activating it briefly and making his eyes and hair go blue, exclaiming "YOU'RE UNDER ARREST"

1st Victory: Awakening
Leaps into frame with the Sword Legion and slashes downward in an X shape

2nd Victory: Legion Capture
Sends out Legion who who is flung around in a circle by their astral chain before settling behind Officer Howard.

3rd Victory: Case Accepted
Turns around and walks to the camera swiping by a "CASE ACCEPTED" hologram.

Victory Fanfare: Savior
Plays the first few notes of "Savior"

Spoiler: Defensive Moves

Shield: Axe Defense
Holds their legatus up.
N/A
With Legion active, the Sword Legion crosses its arms as the shield becomes a permanent full shield similar to Yoshi's egg and can only be broken and not shield poked.

Parry: Interception
Does a stylish pose that shows off the legatus

Sleeping: Vacation Day
Sits on the floor leaning on his knee while mumbling "5 more minutes..." During this time, a hologram will pop up saying that someone is calling them. If they manage to wake up in time, they'll act shocked, deny the call, and resume fighting.

Backroll: Backflip
Does a backflip backwards

Forward Roll: Cartwheel
Does a side roll forwards

Spot Dodge: Lean back
Does a little lean back

08 Dodge Air: Air Spin
Twists his body to dodge out of the way of attacks:

Get-up attack: AED defibrillator
Unleashes a shockwave from the AED, shocking Ofc. Howard back to life and pushing away any enemy close.

Tech: Legion Assist
Unique to Ofc. Howard, when they have their legion out, they are not only capable of teching in back, forward, and neutral, they can also tech upwards by launching themselves off their Sword legion

Spoiler: Specials

Neutral Special: Call Legion
Ofc. Howard holds up his Legatus and calls the Legion forth, modifying his entire moveset temporarily. It'll only last ~10 seconds before disippating and having to recharge for another 30 seconds. However, it can be turned on and off at will with almost zero lag. However, any turn off will burn the entire gauge and always force a recharge. A new spin on the "power boost" modes of Cloud and Joker. Moments of power must be chosen carefully and deliberately instead of just being hit and given the power.

While in this form, tendrils of blue will streak across Ofc. Howard's face, their eyes will glow blue, and so does their hair. On top of that, their X-baton gains a blocky digital appearance. He'll have blue light trails instead of white ones and any hit with the baton will have an "electric" effect which is purely superflous. Using the Raven costumes will instead make the effects red colored.

Also it has a single frame of invulnerability, which when activated, calls the legion out to immediately counter

Side Special: Send Legion
A multi-part special move that begins with Ofc. Howard sending out their legion a set distance along the same vein of Luma. However, instead of mimicking attacks, it will simply do a followup attack depending on which input is done next, similar to Marth's Dancing Blade.

Side Special; Up followup: Upperslash
Pressing Up and B will make the sword legion do an uppercut with his 2 blade arms, launching the enemy into the air.

Side Special; forward followup: Chain Jump
Pressing forward will have the sword legion yank the chain, pulling Howard forward while he does a flying knee. This also serves well as a recovery option and strikes anyone between the legion and Howard.

Side Special; backward followup: Triple Sword
Pressing back has the legion summon 3 swords that travel the length of the chain

Side Special; downward followup: Round Swords
Pressing down will summon a set of flying blades that hover around the legion which then dissipate when the legion does a spinning attack launching enemies up and away.

Regardless of the action, the Legion then returns to Howard.

Down Special: Slash Stance
A risky maneuver that instantly uses all of the legion gauge. Using it enters into a special stance wherein an additional attack button will make a vertical slice downwards. It doesn't do much damage or knockback, however if the opponent is doing any kind of attack while getting hit, they will automatically get shield broken. This attack is canceleable with shield, but it takes a while to deactivate, making it a risky all-or-nothing attack either way. pressing left or right will do a little repositional hop, but it has no invincibility, making it purely for spacing.

Up Special: Chain Recover
Throws legion into the air who flies up and then yanks Ofc. Howard towards themselves. As this move is vital in general smash gameplay, it is usable without any legion meter, however doing so, will cause 15% damage, punishing desperate recoveries and said feature is also accurate to the games.

Spoiler: Normals

Jab Combo: Baton Rush
Does a 4 hit combo consisting of a left jab, an inwards baton swing, an outwards baton swing, and then a stab upwards.

With Legion active, an additional jab finisher is added wherein the legion does an uppercut slash that launches the opponent upwards.

Forward Tilt: Assault Attack
Launches themselves in a flying kick at the enemy.

With Legion active, it will do a kick side by side with Ofc. Howard.
N/A

Down Tilt: Disarming Sweep
Does a low sweep which sets the enemy up for a combo.
With legion active, a second input throws out the legion who spins across the floor in the z-axis, elongating the range of the sweep.

Up Tilt: Evasive Anti-air Combination
Does a high kick while balancing themselves with their hand before following up with an aerial dropkick. A bit of a difficult angle, but does a ton of damage and knockback.

With Legion active, the sword legion does a drop kick back-to-back with Ofc. Howard increasing its power.
N/A
Dash Attack: Sliding Rush
Football slides into the enemy, going so fast as to create sparks across the ground.

With Legion active, the legion flies above and flies forward along spinning with its blades outstretched, increasing the vertical hitbox of the move as to not just hit the feet.

Spoiler: Smashes

Forward Smash: Charge Attack
Throws the X-baton up and catches it backhanded before rushing forward and doing a horizontal slash forwards.
Howard rushes towards the opponent at lightning speed so while the startup is high, the range and speed of the attack is unparalleled.
Due to how fast he rushes forward, he is completely invulnerable mid-slash and has little endlag after so punishes must be made before he catches the X-baton.

With legion active, the first part of the attack only stuns, while a new second part has been to the smash which involves him holding the baton normally and stabbing forward with Legion stabbing simultaneously. This version is much more powerful, combos from the first part, and launches at a lower angle making recoveries hard and kills early.

Down Smash: Gladiator Kick
Does a spinning axe kick that causes a shock wave on the ground, spiking opponenets hanging on ledge.
N/A
With Legion, the legion stabs the ground, causing an explosion and giving the move some AOE damage and hitting behind

Up Smash: Shine Kick
Does a flip kick. If hit with the front side of the attack, it will launch the opponent straight up. If hit at the apex, it will instead launch the enemy behind.

With legion active, the legion does a flip kick along with Ofc. Howard increasing the power of the attack.
N/A

Spoiler: Aerials

Neutral Aerial: Circular Kick
Does a spinning horizontal kick that hits front and then backwards. Slower than the average nair, but more powerful for it.

With Legion active, the legion stands upside down back to back with Ofc. Howard, completing the circle and making the attack hit both sides at once, twice.
N/A

Forward Aerial: Baton Barrage
Three part forward air which starts with a diagonal right to left down swing, diagonal left to right down swing, finished with a horizontal right to left swing, knocking opponents away.

With Legion active, he fills in the gaps between the attacks with his own attacks, making it truly a 6 hit aerial attack

Back Aerial: Hammer Kick
Ofc. Howard raises his foot over his head in a circular manner and slams his heel over the enemy, spiking them. It's quite a slow move, but that's where the legion comes in

With legion active, the legion does a vertical spin hitting the opponent twice locking them into position for the kick.

Down Aerial: Skull Smasher
Ofc. Howard raises the baton up and then rushes to the ground slamming it to the floor.
N/A
With Legion, the legion mirrors the action increasing its damage.

Up Aerial: Baton uppercut
Ofc. Howard backhands the X-Baton and does a short range upper slash with decent killing power.
N/A
With legion active, he repeats the action from the opposite direction increasing the power even further.

Spoiler: Throws

Grab: Judge
Reaches out with his off-baton hand.
N/A
With Legion active, the grab is enhanced into a tether where the Sword Legion rushes out and grabs the enemy, pulling them in, and binding them to the floor with the astral chains.

Pummel: Jury
Hits the opponent with the back of the baton like Link and the Master Sword
N/A
With Legion active, they are full baton swings mixed with the legion doing swings as well.

Up Throw: Executioner
Howard does a diagonal flip kick, knocking the opponent into the air.

With Legion active, the kick launches a set distance into the Legion who then does a bicycle kick, launching the opponent at an aggressive angle downwards horizontally, making it extremely difficult for most characters to recover, while also killing earlier if facing the right direction.

Forward Throw: Convict
Howard slashes away while jumping back.

With legion active, he will followup by throwing the legion forward via the chain which stabs the target.

Back Throw: Pardon
Leaps past and does a circular horizontal kick to the back of the enemy's head.

With legion active, the legion ducks under the kick and does a horizontal slash in the opposite direction.

Down Throw: Retrial
Ofc. Howard slams the opponent with the X-baton downwards, bouncing them up.

If Legion is active, the legion leaps over and slams the opponent again, bouncing them a second time.

Spoiler: Final Smash; WARNING SPOILERS

When Close: Prime Execution
The Sword Legion lets out a loud roar shockwave. Anyone hit is transported to the Astral Plain wherein Ofc. Howard does a complex combination attack featuring all the Legions that were not included. First Howard rides on the Beast Legion, impaling them on the Gladius X-Baton. Then he flips them up and calls forth the ARMS Legion which juggles the opponent in a flurry of punches. Afterwards, while the opponent is still in the air, Howard summons the Arrow Legion wherein they simultaneously shoot a light arrow at them. Then, the Axe Legion is summoned who slams the opponent back on the floor. Finally, he summons the original Sword legion who wraps the opponent up in the astral chain, finishing with a simultaneous stab, which inexplicably causes a giant explosion knocking them away

When Far: Legionic Fusion
If no one is near, Ofc. Howard instead rips out the legion core of the legatus and slams it into his chest, the core dissolving into his heart. This activates his fusion with the legion and transforms him into a giant beast that rushes forward in a flash of light slamming the first person or people with an uppercut claw slash that knocks them to the center of the stage wherein they are assaulted by a barrage of claw slashes, kicks, and energy blasts. When finished, the fusion claws them downwards, bouncing them off the floor of the stage, and into the sky above.

01 Savior
02 Emergency
03 Awakening
04 Central City (Combat Phase)
05 Invaders from Another World
06 Astral Plane (Combat Phase)
07 Maison Forest (Combat Phase)
08 Ark Mall (Combat Phase)
09 Homonculus A
10 Harmony Square Station (Combat Phase)
11 Legion Assault
12 Zone 09 Daytime (Combat Phase)
13 Suspense
14 Holy Order of the Digital Hermit
15 Hermit training
16 Chimera Takedown
17 Homonculus B
18 Homonculus Y
19 Jena Anderson
20 Jena (Rebellion and Salvation)
21 Jena (Catastrophe)
22 Grand Avenue (Combat Phase)
23 Rush!!
24 Zone 09 Night (Combat Phase)
25 Ark Sewer Mangement (Combat Phase)
26 Madness
27 Sector V Night (Combat Phase)
28 Case Trial
29 Dark Hero (Male)
30 Dark Hero (Female)
31 Aegis Research Institute (Combat Phase)
32 The Only One
33 Yoseph Calvert
34 Noah Core
35 Noah Prime
36 The Answer

The Ark and Astral Plane
A shifting stage that starts on the neon blue city rooftops of the Ark which then transitions to the somber red tones of the Astral Plane:

Nominations: Shin Megami Tensei Rep x (However many this stuff gets me)

 

[SharkLord]

Nominations: Shin Megami Tensei Rep x (However many this stuff gets me)

Quick note, the noms kick in during the next day (In this case, for Illidan). As of current you have the default five noms, since this is your first time here

 

[Gengar84]

Great!
Beyond the moveset, I also have extraneous content for other aspects of Astral Chain:

Nominations: Shin Megami Tensei Rep x (However many this stuff gets me)

That is an extremely impressive move set. I love all the work you put in making a GIF for each attack. It is a bit of a shame it is limited to just the sword legion but I totally get why. The Sword Legion is the first you obtain and is most prominently featured in promotional art. Their move set is already very complex with just one legion, never mind trying to incorporate all of them in one set.

Here’s a question inspired by this move set: How would everyone feel if Officer Howard could only summon the Sword Legion? Does anyone have any other ideas how to incorporate the other Legions?

 

[Idon]

That is an extremely impressive move set. I love all the work you put in making a GIF for each attack. It is a bit of a shame it is limited to just the sword legion but I totally get why. The Sword Legion is the first you obtain and is most prominently featured in promotional art. Their move set is already very complex with just one legion, never mind trying to incorporate all of them in one set.

Here’s a question inspired by this move set: How would everyone feel if Officer Howard could only summon the Sword Legion? Does anyone have any other ideas how to incorporate the other Legions?

That's right. I wanted to avoid a Byleth situation where it was just the most basic attacks of every weapon in order to cram them all in a moveset where there's only 23 potential slots at minimum. Any more and you'd just... be making multiple characters and cramming them into one person.

I'd personally be down with just sword legion as they are my favorite design-wise and the one associated with the protagonist specifically since that was the first legion that was theirs only.

 

[SharkLord]

Let's shift over before it's too late. ahemtoday , take it away

 

[Gengar84]

Not sure what’s up today but…

- YouTube

Enjoy the videos and music that you love, upload original content and share it all with friends, family and the world on YouTube.

m.youtube.com

 

[ahemtoday]

Lots of new faces today. Welcome welcome!

Spoiler

Rie Sonomura x10 (15 Total)
Cutie Gwen x5 (10 Total)
GolisoPower x10 (15 Total)
amageish x15 (20 Total)
Schnee117 x15 (20 Total)
Perkilator x10 (15 Total)
SharkLord x10 (15 Total)
Gengar84 x25 (30 Total)
Dan Quixote x5 (10 Total)
@airConditioner x15 (20 Total)
Jocario Zero x5 (10 Total)
jamesster445 x5 (10 Total)
Idon x15 (20 Total)

 

[Speed Weed]

Alrighty then, assuming we've shifted over by now, I'll start things off with the big question: just who is Illidan Stormrage? I'm not familiar with the character at all, tbh

Noms: Axel Stone x5

 

[GolisoPower]

So...Illidan.

For those who don't know, Illidan Stormrage is an anti-hero Demon Hunter who is basically demonic Night Elf Lu Bu. He served as the main antagonist of World of Warcraft: Burning Crusade, and was a highly important collaborator in Legion. He was once a sorcerer, but he basically betrayed his own race to join a massive army of demons called the Burning Legion but was actually forming a secret rebellion from the inside. He leads a faction of demon hunters known as Illidari, sending forces of corrupted elves to slay whole hordes of demons that attempt to invade Azeroth. I am skipping over a lot of details because I'm a little headache-y at the moment and can't be bothered to spend too much energy to write down his whole backstory at the moment.

Now although a Demon Hunter like Illidan is a really interesting idea, I can't help but ask: why him over Arthas? Death Knights are just as much unique as Demon Hunters, if not more, and Arthas himself is by far one of THE most popular characters Blizzard has ever created. So why Illidan? What else does he have that Arthas doesn't appeal-wise?

Noms:
All in on Geolyte.

 

[Perkilator]

Noms:
Sakura Shinguji x10
Alm x5

 

[Dan Quixote]

So...Illidan.

For those who don't know, Illidan Stormrage is an anti-hero Demon Hunter who is basically demonic Night Elf Lu Bu. He served as the main antagonist of World of Warcraft: Burning Crusade, and was a highly important collaborator in Legion. He was once a sorcerer, but he basically betrayed his own race to join a massive army of demons called the Burning Legion but was actually forming a secret rebellion from the inside. He leads a faction of demon hunters known as Illidari, sending forces of corrupted elves to slay whole hordes of demons that attempt to invade Azeroth. I am skipping over a lot of details because I'm a little headache-y at the moment and can't be bothered to spend too much energy to write down his whole backstory at the moment.

Now although a Demon Hunter like Illidan is a really interesting idea, I can't help but ask: why him over Arthas? Death Knights are just as much unique as Demon Hunters, if not more, and Arthas himself is by far one of THE most popular characters Blizzard has ever created. So why Illidan? What else does he have that Arthas doesn't appeal-wise?

Noms:
All in on Geolyte.

I didn't nominate Illidan but I can answer your question because I've had this exact conversation with a friend before. We were discussing dream Smash fighters and she says Illidan and then I says the same thing you said, "why not the Lich King who is one of the biggest villains in gaming?" The answer was that Illidan has a better capability for a fighting game moveset. Especially in terms of the up special, which almost any Warcraft representative would struggle with. The other main point she gave was Illidan's more interesting weapons of choice, compared to the Lich King using a fairly normal sword by Smash standards.

That all said, as a WoW fan myself I have come to the conclusion a while ago that there is no "perfect" Warcraft representative for Smash. There's hardly a protagonist, and the people important to the story change wildly by the year. I tend to like putting in the player character in before side characters in my dream Smash rosters, but that doesn't work with Warcraft when the player character varies super wildly. There's just a lot who'd work just as well as each other. The Lich King is one of the most important villains in gaming, like I said, and the ice aesthetics would be kind of unique. Illidan has a good moveset potential and his importance in the series lasted quite a long time. I'd also like to throw Thrall in there because orcs specifically are very important to the Warcraft franchise. That guy has slowly become my main squeeze pick for Warcraft rep over the time I've been a fan, mostly because Thrall would probably play the most like an actual player character.

Anyways, tiny Greninja team as the Murloc spirit battle has to happen. #LeeroyJenkins4LegendSpirit

(my 10 noms to Black Mage pls pls)

 

[Eldrake]

Reminder that Illidan is blind, not deaf!

Here's some abilities he had in Warcraft III. Mana Burn, which burns an enemy target's mana, removing it while also doing the same amount of damage to them. Since Smash don't really do mana (Hero notwithstanding) Mana Burn would have to work a tad differently. There's also Immolation, which would deal damage to nearby enemies for as long as it's in effect. That'd have some interesting gameplay potential actually. Evasion, which gives him passive, well, evasion chance against attacks, and wouldn't really work as a Smash special move because everyone can already dodge. His ultimate WC3 ability, Metamorphosis, transforms him into a demon with a ranged attack and extra hit points. If translated directly to Smash, I assume it'd change his neutral attacks and buff his weight, but could just as easily be a final smash instead.

I can't speak about any possible gameplay potential from him in World of Warcraft because I only reached level 20 or so before I decided that WoW didn't really hook me.

 

[Gengar84]

So...Illidan.

For those who don't know, Illidan Stormrage is an anti-hero Demon Hunter who is basically demonic Night Elf Lu Bu. He served as the main antagonist of World of Warcraft: Burning Crusade, and was a highly important collaborator in Legion. He was once a sorcerer, but he basically betrayed his own race to join a massive army of demons called the Burning Legion but was actually forming a secret rebellion from the inside. He leads a faction of demon hunters known as Illidari, sending forces of corrupted elves to slay whole hordes of demons that attempt to invade Azeroth. I am skipping over a lot of details because I'm a little headache-y at the moment and can't be bothered to spend too much energy to write down his whole backstory at the moment.

Now although a Demon Hunter like Illidan is a really interesting idea, I can't help but ask: why him over Arthas? Death Knights are just as much unique as Demon Hunters, if not more, and Arthas himself is by far one of THE most popular characters Blizzard has ever created. So why Illidan? What else does he have that Arthas doesn't appeal-wise?

Noms:
All in on Geolyte.

That was an excellent summary, I don't think I could have said it any better myself. It's a bit funny that I was the one who nominated Illidan but I've never played World of WarCraft. Because of this, I don't think I'm even the most knowledgeable person about Illidan on these threads since most of what I know came from WarCraft III. I was a huge fan of WarCraft III back in high school and used to play that all night during my summer vacations. I was never really very good at it but I just loved the lore and characters so much. I played through the campaign multiple times and I used to spend countless hours on fan games like Hero Arenas.

Honestly, Arthas would probably be just as good a fit for Smash as Illidan and would be awesome in his own way but I mostly picked Illidan out of personal bias. I love Arthas as well but Illidan has been one of my favorite video game characters ever since I was in high school. There's something about his design that really appeals to me. I think it would be great if Smash were to get some more nonhuman characters, and Night Elves like Illidan really stand out. Illidan also has very unique weapons where Arthas is another heavy sword wielder, although a very unique one at that. That being said, you can't really go wrong with any character from WarCraft since they are all awesome in their own way.

Illidan Stormrage

Art by Jeremy Sun​

As far as Illidan goes, I came up with a moveset for him recently that I'd love to share here:

Moveset

​

Spoiler

Gimmicks and Traits

Metamorphosis - Illidan has a powerup state similar to Sephiroth’s One Winged Angel mode and Joker’s Rebellion guage. In this mode, Illidan transforms into his demonic form and gains additional jumps. He also is engulfed in an aura called “immolation” which deals slight damage to anyone near him.

Betrayer’s Thirst - Illidan’s glaive and melee attacks drain 15% health of the damage dealt (he drained 30% in his games but I feel like that would be a bit overpowered in Smash so I cut it in half).

By default, Illidan is a fairly fast and lightweight fighter despite his size. While his weight in his normal form is relatively light, he has a bit of added survivability due to his Betrayer’s thirst. His demonic form adds more weight and helps him utilize the draining effect of his attacks.

Weak Attacks

Jab - Illidan performs two quick horizontal slashes followed by a spinning more powerful attack. This represents Demon Hunter’s basic combo in WarCraft 3.

Forward Tilt - Illidan slashes his glaives forward in an X pattern.

Up Tilt - Illidan slashes upwards with his glaives similar to Cloud’s up smash.

Down Tilt - Illidan performs a low sweeping attack across the ground with his glaives.

Running Attack - Illidan leaps forward and stabs his glaives downward into the ground.

Smash Attacks

Forward Smash - Illidan throws his glaives forward and they spin in place similar to Pyra’s forward special

Down Smash - Illidan fires a beam of green energy from his eyes diagonally downward at the same angle as Sephiroth’s down smash.

Up Smash - Illidan creates a fire pillar directly in front of him around the same size as Palutena’s up smash.

Specials

Neutral special – Mana Burn – Illidan attacks with a green beam of energy from his hands at a medium range. This deals continuous damage similar to Bowser's flamethrower attack as long as Illidan holds the attack button.

Up Special – Flame– Illidan dives upwards and propels several fireballs diagonally downwards

Down special – Evasion – This is a lot like Lucario’s counter. Illidan evades an attack and teleports behind the opponent to strike them

Forward special – Sweeping strike – Illidan dashes forward and performs two quick slashes at the opponent.

Aerials

Neutral Air - Illidan fires a beam from his eyes diagonally downward. This is essentially Kazuya’s neutral aerial special while holding down.

Forward Air - Illidan creates a short range fiery explosion from his hand similar to Zelda’s up air but forwards.

Up Air - Illidan propels himself upwards in a motion similar to Kazuya’s up special but with less range and power.

Down Air - Illidan dives straight down head first at his opponent.

Grabs, Pummels, and Throws

Grab - Standard short range grab

Pummel - Illidan headbutts his opponent

Up Throw - Illidan flies upwards with his opponent and slams them into the ground similar to Charizard’s up throw.

Down Throw - Illidan slams his opponent’s head into the ground.

Forward Throw - Illidan performs a forward thrust kick similar to Ganondorf’s and Kazuya’s forward tilt.

Back Throw - Illidan tosses his opponent backwards.

Final Smash

Parasitic Shadowfiends - Illidan strikes his opponent and transitions to a cinematic cutscene where he summons an army of shadowy figures that deal massive damage to anyone caught in the attack as well as recovering some health for Illidan.

Alternate Outfits​

Illidan has some options for alternate outfits from Heroes of the Storm, although I think just the default model with palate swaps would work fine. Here are some examples:

Stage - The Frozen Throne​

Speaking of the Lich King, Arthas, I think the Frozen Throne area from the Icecrown Citadel would make an awesome stage regardless of which character is chosen. It is definitely much more closely tied to Arthas than Illidan but I think it is a great stage to represent WarCraft overall. I think it would be really cool to have Arthas sitting atop the throne watching the battle similar to Shao Khan in Mortal Kombat 2. Potentially, Arthas could occasionally rise up from his throne and launch an attack.

 

[Paraster]

I used to be really into WoW, but fell off it for multiple reasons of varying severity. As someone who pretty much only played Enhancement Shaman (using melee weapons alongside the four elements), I'd prefer Thrall as a fighter, but Illidan seems pretty neat too.

If Illidan was playable, I assume Outland would be the stage? Or would they want to stick to something on Azeroth to better reflect Warcraft as a whole?

 

[Eldrake]

If Illidan was playable, I assume Outland would be the stage? Or would they want to stick to something on Azeroth to better reflect Warcraft as a whole?

The Black Citadel would be a pretty good fit I believe, as it's the final map of the Blood Elves campaign in The Frozen Throne.

 

[Dan Quixote]

The Black Citadel would be a pretty good fit I believe, as it's the final map of the Blood Elves campaign in The Frozen Throne.

Knowing Smash they'd pick the log in screen portal as the stage.
(I know that gate has a name but I've called it the log in portal for years now)

 

[Gengar84]

Yeah, for the stage, I opted to represent WarCraft as a whole rather than Illidan specifically. There are a ton of really great locations to choose from. Since I'm almost equally interested in Arthas as a playable character, I decided to at least give him some spotlight in the stage.

I'm also fine with other characters being chosen instead of Illidan. While Illidan is my personal favorite, I just love the character designs overall from most of Blizzard's games so you can't really go wrong no matter who you choose. Arthas would be amazing with his ice powers and necromancy and Thrall would really stand out with his brute strength and massive size. Sylvanas is another cool option for a villain with her focus on archery.

 

[GolisoPower]

I could imagine Illidan being more of an opposite to Sephiroth than Kazuya in a way as far as the reveal goes: despite being a man with relatively evil powers birthed from the Legion, he's still fighting for a good cause. He's also more demonic than Kazuya as well, arguably, and is extremely powerful, to boot. Seeing Illidan do to Dharkon as he did to Gul'dan in a similar trailer would be hella badass.

 

[Gengar84]

Does anyone have any good recommendations for music that could come with a WarCraft character? Despite playing it a ton as a teen, I don't remember a whole lot of the music and haven't really heard any music from WoW. I'm more familiar with StarCraft music, especially the amazing Terran themes.

Oh and before I forget, I'll list my nominations:

x20 Fulgore
x10 Velvet Crowe

 

[Paraster]

I could imagine Illidan being more of an opposite to Sephiroth than Kazuya in a way as far as the reveal goes: despite being a man with relatively evil powers birthed from the Legion, he's still fighting for a good cause. He's also more demonic than Kazuya as well, arguably, and is extremely powerful, to boot. Seeing Illidan do to Dharkon as he did to Gul'dan in a similar trailer would be hella badass.

Unless you're talking about a different incident, it'd be kinda weird to choke out a floating eye.

Who would Illidan's Spirits be? Would it stick only to RTS characters, or would they pick from the enormous cast of WoW?

 

[Gengar84]

Unless you're talking about a different incident, it'd be kinda weird to choke out a floating eye.

Who would Illidan's Spirits be? Would it stick only to RTS characters, or would they pick from the enormous cast of WoW?

I think it would make sense to just pick the most iconic characters, regardless if they came from the RTS games or World of WarCraft. Some examples I'd love to see are Arthas, Thrall, Sylvanas, Garrosh, Jayna, Uther, Deathwing, and Kil'jaeden.

 

[Schnee117]

All I really know for Warcraft stuff these days beyond the Horde and Alliance thing is that Sylvanas does a whole bunch of stuff and now they're trying to redeem her or something
Also that Illidan would always show up as the first custom character whenever I was browsing other people's Create a Soul in Soul Calibur 6 until a couple months ago.

I guess Illidan would also have a really damn cool trailer if they decide to emulate how Blizzard does them too.

Anyway

20 noms on Master Chief

 

[Gengar84]

All I really know for Warcraft stuff these days beyond the Horde and Alliance thing is that Sylvanas does a whole bunch of stuff and now they're trying to redeem her or something
Also that Illidan would always show up as the first custom character whenever I was browsing other people's Create a Soul in Soul Calibur 6 until a couple months ago.

I guess Illidan would also have a really damn cool trailer if they decide to emulate how Blizzard does them too.

Anyway

20 noms on Master Chief

I'd love to see an Illidan vs Sephiroth battle in a reveal trailer. A battle between a heroic demon and a villainous angel just seems epic to me. They are both among my favorite video game characters ever and would make for an amazing cinematic fight. Kazuya would fit right in too since the two are so similar in many ways.

 

[SharkLord]

Y'know, Illidan would be interesting because I don't think we really have a proper "Western fantasy" series in the vein of Lord of the Rings and Dungeons and Dragons represented in Smash. It's all either Eastern fantasy drawing from (And including) Dragon Quest or science fantasy of varying degrees. I think the closest to a Western fantasy style would be Zelda, but I'm not sure if it fully fits the feel. I've kinda been eyeing more Western-styled games lately but haven't really jumped in yet, so characters like this are kinda interesting.

Nomination: Ryza x15

 

[Lionfranky]

They can also pull moveset from Illidan raid boss fight. Not to mention Demon Hunter class skills. I think his Final Smash should be Metamorphosis. We can finally get another transformation type Final Smash.

If it's Illidan, the stage would most likely be the top of Black Temple. Still, it's hard to pinpoint to Warcraft location for stage. While Stormwind and Ogrimmar are iconic locations, they don't belong to Illidan.

Nom: Ryza x Max

 

[ZelDan]

The only thing about WoW I have any familiarity with is LEEEEEERROOOOOOY JEEENKIIIINS!

So...yeah...

I guess I'll ask a question. What could iIlidan's final smash be?

 

[Gengar84]

They can also pull moveset from Illidan raid boss fight. Not to mention Demon Hunter class skills. I think his Final Smash should be Metamorphosis. We can finally get another transformation type Final Smash.

If it's Illidan, the stage would most likely be the top of Black Temple. Still, it's hard to pinpoint to Warcraft location for stage. While Stormwind and Ogrimmar are iconic locations, they don't belong to Illidan.

Nom: Ryza x Max

I had Metamorphosis as a temporary power up state similar to One Winged Angel and Arsene. Most Final Smash attacks these days are either cinematic or just a single attack. I like the idea of actually controlling his demon form. Check out my move set if you haven’t seen it yet.

Since I haven’t actually played WoW myself, I had to get a little creative with the Final Smash. I ended up going with Parasitic Shadowfiends, a cinematic attack where Illidan summons a horde of shadow warriors to attack his opponents and drain health.

Here’s my full set again for anyone who hasn’t seen it. I’d love to hear some feedback on it to see how accurate it portrays him since I haven’t played WoW:

Spoiler

Gimmicks and Traits

Metamorphosis - Illidan has a powerup state similar to Sephiroth’s One Winged Angel mode and Joker’s Rebellion guage. In this mode, Illidan transforms into his demonic form and gains additional jumps. He also is engulfed in an aura called “immolation” which deals slight damage to anyone near him.

Betrayer’s Thirst - Illidan’s glaive and melee attacks drain 15% health of the damage dealt (he drained 30% in his games but I feel like that would be a bit overpowered in Smash so I cut it in half).

By default, Illidan is a fairly fast and lightweight fighter despite his size. While his weight in his normal form is relatively light, he has a bit of added survivability due to his Betrayer’s thirst. His demonic form adds more weight and helps him utilize the draining effect of his attacks.

Weak Attacks

Jab - Illidan performs two quick horizontal slashes followed by a spinning more powerful attack. This represents Demon Hunter’s basic combo in WarCraft 3.

Forward Tilt - Illidan slashes his glaives forward in an X pattern.

Up Tilt - Illidan slashes upwards with his glaives similar to Cloud’s up smash.

Down Tilt - Illidan performs a low sweeping attack across the ground with his glaives.

Running Attack - Illidan leaps forward and stabs his glaives downward into the ground.

Smash Attacks

Forward Smash - Illidan throws his glaives forward and they spin in place similar to Pyra’s forward special

Down Smash - Illidan fires a beam of green energy from his eyes diagonally downward at the same angle as Sephiroth’s down smash.

Up Smash - Illidan creates a fire pillar directly in front of him around the same size as Palutena’s up smash.

Specials

Neutral special – Mana Burn – Illidan attacks with a green beam of energy from his hands at a medium range. This deals continuous damage similar to Bowser's flamethrower attack as long as Illidan holds the attack button.

Up Special – Flame– Illidan dives upwards and propels several fireballs diagonally downwards

Down special – Evasion – This is a lot like Lucario’s counter. Illidan evades an attack and teleports behind the opponent to strike them

Forward special – Sweeping strike – Illidan dashes forward and performs two quick slashes at the opponent.

Aerials

Neutral Air - Illidan fires a beam from his eyes diagonally downward. This is essentially Kazuya’s neutral aerial special while holding down.

Forward Air - Illidan creates a short range fiery explosion from his hand similar to Zelda’s up air but forwards.

Up Air - Illidan propels himself upwards in a motion similar to Kazuya’s up special but with less range and power.

Down Air - Illidan dives straight down head first at his opponent.

Grabs, Pummels, and Throws

Grab - Standard short range grab

Pummel - Illidan headbutts his opponent

Up Throw - Illidan flies upwards with his opponent and slams them into the ground similar to Charizard’s up throw.

Down Throw - Illidan slams his opponent’s head into the ground.

Forward Throw - Illidan performs a forward thrust kick similar to Ganondorf’s and Kazuya’s forward tilt.

Back Throw - Illidan tosses his opponent backwards.

Final Smash

Parasitic Shadowfiends - Illidan strikes his opponent and transitions to a cinematic cutscene where he summons an army of shadowy figures that deal massive damage to anyone caught in the attack as well as recovering some health for Illidan.

If we are going with a stage to represent Illidan specifically, I think the Black Temple is a great choice. Here are a few images that can help people get an idea of what it looks like:

 

[cashregister9]

Illidan wouldn't be my first choice for a Warcraft rep, That would be Arthas, but Illidan would still be based.

I was thinking about a stage and the Black Temple or Argus could be Cool

The Black temple could either take place on the peak where you fight illidan or it could travel through the building and you see the other bosses and buildings

Argus could be another travelling stage where you see the many different places in Argus from the Antoran Wastes and Mac'aree to the Argus the Unmaker boss room.

Azeroth as a whole could be another fun stage, you travel between the most iconic zones on each continent like The Barrens to Elwynn Forest to the Vale Of Eternal Blossoms etc. etc.

Nominations: Estelle Bright x5

 

[GolisoPower]

Now let's get some things out the window: the Spirit Board and the Classic Mode.

Illidan's Classic Mode could probably be about betrayer characters, probably. Though, I don't know how many base roster characters fit that description.

Meanwhile, the Spirit Board could probably involve other Raid Bosses in WoW (Like Ragnaros, the Old Gods, the Lich King, etc).

 

[Neosonic97]

I think there's one thing we can all agree on: If Illidan were to get in, there is exactly one line that must be quoted.

Say it with me now:

"YOU ARE NOT PREPARED!"

 

[amageish]

I'm not going to lie, in spite of playing Heroes of the Storm quite a bit when I was younger, my very dumb brain somehow mixed up Illidan with Sylvanas. I have 0 idea how, but I was prepared to discuss Sylvanas today...

So, uh, Illidan! Who is not Sylvanas...

So, how far would people want Illidan content to go? We can cover all of Warcraft, but do we include stuff from Hearthstone? Have a couple non-Warcraft spirits a la how SNK was handled? Do we get a Diablo stage cameo? Is Raynor a Mii Costume? Do we get to throw back to that day Tracer became the #1 topic on Twitter as people were pre-emptively salty about the idea of her being included?

 

[chocolatejr9]

I'm not going to lie, in spite of playing Heroes of the Storm quite a bit when I was younger, my very dumb brain somehow mixed up Illidan with Sylvanas. I have 0 idea how, but I was prepared to discuss Sylvanas today...

So, uh, Illidan! Who is not Sylvanas...

So, how far would people want Illidan content to go? We can cover all of Warcraft, but do we include stuff from Hearthstone? Have a couple non-Warcraft spirits a la how SNK was handled? Do we get a Diablo stage cameo? Is Raynor a Mii Costume? Do we get to throw back to that day Tracer became the #1 topic on Twitter as people were pre-emptively salty about the idea of her being included?

Better count your blessings on that one. I've heard nothing but bad things about Sylvanas's recent characterization...

 

[amageish]

Hey, does anyone have any tips to improve my build's RDPS? I'm currently just throwing noms at things.

Spoiler: The Noms List

50+ noms
Fulgore - x90
Madeleine - x75
Sakura Shinguji - x75
Black Mage - x75
Filia (Skullgirls) - x70
Laharl - x70
Octoling - x70
Hearthstone Innkeeper - x65
Saber - x65
Axel Stone - x65
Heavy - x60
Chibi-Robo - x55
Ichiban - x55
Shovel Knight - x55

26-50 noms
Bubsy - x50
Isaac (Golden Sun) - x50
Estelle Bright - x50
Endo Mamoru - x45
2B - x40
Geolyte (Meteos) - x40
Rintarou Okabe - x35
Wilfre - x30
Wadanohara* - x30
Zero Escape Rep - x30
Sly Cooper - x28
Trauma Center Content - x27

11-25 noms
Rivals of Aether rep - x25
Chun-Li - x25
Klonoa - x25
Meowth - x25
Ryu Hayabusa - x20
Master Hand - x20
Mega Man X - x20
Morrigan - x20
Ori - x20
Master Chief - x20
Brian - x15


5-10 noms
Velvet Crowe - x10
Crypto - x10
Daitoryo - x10
Gunvolt - x10
Darkest Dungeon Content - x10
Doomguy - x10
Alm - x5
SMT Content - x5
Frogger - x5
Jonesy - x5
Ezio - x5
9-volt - x5
Nathan Drake - x5
Spyro the Dragon - x3
Tracer - x3
Chell - x3

Nom: Ryza x Max

Nomination: Ryza x15

It feels weird to say this to the person in charge of the thread, but Ryza's already locked in for discussion! Where shall we put your noms instead?

 

[Lionfranky]

It feels weird to say this to the person in charge of the thread, but Ryza's already locked in for discussion! Where shall we put your noms instead?

Then, switch my nom to Master Chief.

 

[Gengar84]

I'm not going to lie, in spite of playing Heroes of the Storm quite a bit when I was younger, my very dumb brain somehow mixed up Illidan with Sylvanas. I have 0 idea how, but I was prepared to discuss Sylvanas today...

So, uh, Illidan! Who is not Sylvanas...

So, how far would people want Illidan content to go? We can cover all of Warcraft, but do we include stuff from Hearthstone? Have a couple non-Warcraft spirits a la how SNK was handled? Do we get a Diablo stage cameo? Is Raynor a Mii Costume? Do we get to throw back to that day Tracer became the #1 topic on Twitter as people were pre-emptively salty about the idea of her being included?

I would be totally welcome to content from other Blizzard IPs getting in with a WarCraft character. I think the majority would focus on WarCraft properties like the RTS games, WoW, and Hearthstone but the other games could totally have music and Miis. I would love to see a Tracer and Jim Raynor Mii Gunner along with an Arthas and Diablo barbarian Mii sword fighter. I would also love some StarCraft music, namely the awesome Terran themes, along with some of the top songs from other games.

The funny thing about WarCraft is, despite being Blizzard’s biggest IP, it is also the only one never to appear on a Nintendo console. It’s hard to say which property Blizzard would choose for a playable character in Smash since they all have a strong case.

WarCraft - Blizzard’s oldest and biggest major IP but has no Nintendo presence. It has revolutionized multiple genres including RTS, MMORPGs, online TCGs, and even has a movie.

StarCraft - Hugely popular in Korea and revolutionized competitive gaming. It was also Blizzard’s first major IPto appear on a Nintendo console. It is the only one notcurrently active however.

Diablo - Almost as old as WarCraft and has been getting new games. It made an appearance on the Nintendo Switch and the remaster of Diablo II will as well.

Overwatch - Blizzard’s newest IP and was hugely popular. It is also on the Switch. However, being the newest also means it doesn’t quite have the legacy and history of the others.

 

[SharkLord]

Hey, does anyone have any tips to improve my build's RDPS? I'm currently just throwing noms at things.

Spoiler: The Noms List

50+ noms
Fulgore - x90
Madeleine - x75
Sakura Shinguji - x75
Black Mage - x75
Filia (Skullgirls) - x70
Laharl - x70
Octoling - x70
Hearthstone Innkeeper - x65
Saber - x65
Axel Stone - x65
Heavy - x60
Chibi-Robo - x55
Ichiban - x55
Shovel Knight - x55

26-50 noms
Bubsy - x50
Isaac (Golden Sun) - x50
Estelle Bright - x50
Endo Mamoru - x45
2B - x40
Geolyte (Meteos) - x40
Rintarou Okabe - x35
Wilfre - x30
Wadanohara* - x30
Zero Escape Rep - x30
Sly Cooper - x28
Trauma Center Content - x27

11-25 noms
Rivals of Aether rep - x25
Chun-Li - x25
Klonoa - x25
Meowth - x25
Ryu Hayabusa - x20
Master Hand - x20
Mega Man X - x20
Morrigan - x20
Ori - x20
Master Chief - x20
Brian - x15


5-10 noms
Velvet Crowe - x10
Crypto - x10
Daitoryo - x10
Gunvolt - x10
Darkest Dungeon Content - x10
Doomguy - x10
Alm - x5
SMT Content - x5
Frogger - x5
Jonesy - x5
Ezio - x5
9-volt - x5
Nathan Drake - x5
Spyro the Dragon - x3
Tracer - x3
Chell - x3

It feels weird to say this to the person in charge of the thread, but Ryza's already locked in for discussion! Where shall we put your noms instead?

Aight, let's move the noms over to Klonoa