I think i had made my choice, and i will leave Smashboards. Honestly i don't even post in most forums of this site, and my personal circle of friends barely post in the private messages (which is the closest thing we have to Social Threads for Users ever since Smashboards killed them off, yes im still bitter about that)
So after Chronobound posts his final essay, i think im gone for good. This time i may leave for real. I tried to do that back in 2015, then again in 2018, but no with no new Smash game in the horizon and me feeling like i no longer fit in this site (outside of a few threads like this) makes me feel alienated. I guess its in my nature to leave.
There'll be a couple of final thoughts and restructuring of the OP before the lockdown. I'm looking forward to cataloguing ChronoBound's essay if possible, but otherwise everyone, feel free to stick around until the lights go out. see y'all tomorrow.
Thanks for leaving us that wonderful picture of Dixie's moves which you drew with such passion and creativity, I really think that you did a great job with this thread
BirthNote
! If life allows me to, am planning on sticking around for the next Smash, even if I admit I didn't play much Ultimate as I should (I'm not around my Smash playing friends a lot) I'll always be a Smash fan.
I'm also actively sticking around for Dixie since I'd most definitely make her one of the characters I play with a lot. I supported K.Rool more for the fact he's K.Rool than actively wanting to play the character. Always knew that in my heart. Am also pretty confident that if she's at least based around Diddy's move set, she likely will be a High Tier character at least. It's something to look forward to, as I do enjoy winning lol
I'm also looking forward to the closure post of
ChronoBound
, and am happy such a passionate Smash speculate veteran , who's been around as long as I and lead the extremely passionate Roy support thread back between Brawl and Smash 4, here and choose to give Dixie this same level of love and passion. Always respected your input, and am sure it's gonna be a good read.
If we don't here from each other again, I hope life blesses you all with the full riches it has to offer.
Thank you
BirthNote
for the shoutout.
It's hard to believe that the Ultimate speculation period has come to an end. It has been a wild ride for us all to say the least. Though honestly, I'm kinda glad to see the speculation period end because I felt that it was dragging on a lot longer that it had to. My interest in Smash waned a bit as I haven't played the game in months, but I still kept checked on this thread occasionally. It's still baffling that Dixie is still on the outside looking in when there were various opportunities to do so. Though this means that Dixie is among the leading contenders for 1st party newcomers come the next game. We can only hope that the rumored DK Switch title with a major Dixie role can help bolster her popularity.
This thread is easily one of the best ones I've been around. You all share the same enthusiasm and passion for the DKC series and Dixie. I do hope one day Dixie will get her moment to shine on the biggest stage. Like I've said before, Dixie and Waluigi are two of the biggest glaring omissions of the roster. It would feel a lot more complete to have them in. Still, it's hard to believe that we got K. Rool, Ridley, and Banjo & Kazooie, with 3 of them being Rare staples,
all in the same game. I'm so thankful that Sakurai listened to the fans and delivered big time. I'll keeping on advocating for Dixie in Smash as long as I can even though I'm not getting any younger lol. Even though the direction of the DLC went in a direction that I wasn't too big of a fan of, I still always will be a Smash fan.
ChronoBound
, I look forward to reading your in depth analysis one more time. It's always great to see a fellow Smash fan who has been passionate for the series for many years. Thank you for your contributions over the years.
I want to thank Birthnote for running a great thread for the past few years. I couldn't have done it better. I also want to thank all of you fellow Dixie fans in this thread. It was great to see that positivity be consistent without getting toxic or too out of control. I do plan on sticking around because it's great to be around you guys and the support for one of Nintendo's best franchises. So I hope to see you in the new DK thread after this thread closes.
Gonna be poignantly waiting for the final posts from you
BirthNote
and
ChronoBound
- thanks again for mentions. I remember having to write the whole thing in one flow of an evening due somewhat limited time to spend on my own at the camp. Really happy it touched on so many here.
Thank you so much all of you. It really means a lot to me that you are really looking forward to what I have to say. It really, really took me a lot of effort to get this last specific essay pertaining to the closure of the Dixie Kong thread out. I am truly touched that my words really mean a lot to the people in this thread, and I really want to give it the send off it truly deserves.
I apologize that I do not have the time to respond to all of the goodbye posts that were made on this page. Making thoughtful responses to many different posts is extremely time consuming, time that I unfortunately did not have during this very late hour. I am fortunate to have even gotten this last major post out.
- Dark Samus is pretty different though.
- Actually, no. Outside of cosmetics, idles and run animations, Dark Samus fights just like Samus. Idle Animation and Running Animation isn't as important as a moveset in a fighting game, so relying on that for distinction won't work. Dixie's Idle, Run, and most importantly Attack Animations are unique to her in the DKCs. Look up her sprites and animations in her home series.
Very good post. However, on this point I am going to disagree. Dark Samus had very extensive animations differences from Samus, to the point where she might have more unique animations than Ken. Aside from her walk/run animations and idle animations, Dark Samus has unique jumping animations, unique dodge animations, an unique power shielding animation, unique animations for charging and firing her neutral special, unique animations for her side special, and an unique animation for her Smash forward. Dark Samus is a very strange echo in general being negligibly different in gameplay differences, but being very unique in terms of animations. I felt the need to speak out on this because I do not think its right to group her in with Richter and Daisy (both of whom have very few animation differences) despite her negligible gameplay differences. I also wrote an essay on this very topic matter a while ago (pertaining to Dark Samus in Ultimate).
I will also say that if Ken-style echoes were a design basis for more than just Ken, Dixie could work as an "echo". However, even Sakurai's reasoning as to why Ken is still considered an echo despite all of his differences is literally "Because I say so". If Dixie Kong were to even be an echo in the style of Ken, I could easily see Sakurai's reasoning being "Why is Dixie Kong considered an echo fighter despite all these differences? Because I wanted her right alongside Diddy Kong on the character select screen. *laughs"
Source:
https://nintendoeverything.com/sakurai-on-smash-bros-ultimate-why-incineroar-was-chosen-and-more/
The Street Fighter series’ Ken will also be making an appearance in Smash Ultimate. He’s different from Ryu in so many ways, one almost wonders whether or not we should even call him an Echo Fighter… Nope. I said he was, so he is.
n regards to ChronoBound, IDK if you've seen it already but he actually posted his farewell essay here:
I don't know what text to attach to this post.
smashboards.com
I know Valkyrie is looking forward to it as well so I figured I'd link to it.
I was actually going to post the "farewell" essay in this message when I made my final post for this topic. Thank you for linking my essay. For anyone reading this right now, please check out my farewell essay. I have many important things to say in it.
Since I am posting this essay, at such a late hour at this point, I implore anyone that has any comments about it, to please send me a private message if you have anything to say about it to which you would have, if you were able to comment on it.
So now without further ado, here is my farewell to the legendary Dixie Kong support thread:
There seems to be some confusion here. I did post my “farewell essay” (which I was going to also put into this post once I submitted it) but I also promised to make something additional for the Dixie Kong thread. I made my first post here a few days before the formal unveil for Ultimate in June 2018. Now over three years later, I am making my final post here.
There is so much to say, and I have had very limited time to get out everything that I want to say.
A Short Bit of Reflection on Ultimate
When I first began writing my thoughts pertaining to Smash on the internet back in 2001, I could never have imagined the series blossoming into what it has become now. This was a time when characters like Bowser were fresh newcomers for the series, and Nintendo legends like Wario, Diddy Kong, Ganondorf, and King Dedede had yet to be added in. I never could have imagined that one day we would go from 12 playable characters all the way to 89.
I have watched the fanbase go from being extremely skeptical and hostile to third-party additions to going to the point where Nintendo characters being among Top 10 most wanted characters are the exception. Ultimate was the pivotal point to this.
Dixie Kong is a character that many believe could have been added to the Smash series as far back as Brawl. She is a character that had multiple main protagonist roles in her own series. For both Smash 4 and Ultimate, many regarded her as “inevitable” or “very likely”. If there is anything the Ultimate epoch has told us, it is that characters that are considered unlikely can still miraculously make it in, while those considered “very likely” may not make it in the end.
Ultimate in many ways actualized many dreams I had about Smash Bros. going back to my childhood. Ridley finally being added to the roster, the entire roster for the series history returning, most stages returning, the Belmonts and Banjo & Kazooie being added in, it just added so many of my personal desires I had for this series that I felt were unlikely to ever manifest. Even small weird dreams like Pico (my favorite character from the F-Zero series) being given a role beyond being a trophy/sticker/spirit, somehow miraculously ended up happening with this title.
Ultimate in general felt like a personal conclusion to the series for me in many ways. I am someone that had been dreaming and thinking about this series even before the international release of Smash 64, and for Ultimate to have even been made a reality is still surreal to me. From the character roster, to the stage roster, to the music selection, the spirit catalog, Assist Trophy lineup, and full collection of Mii costumes, Ultimate was just an all around legendary title. It was one of the very few games from the past decade that exceeded my expectations. Sakurai has said his design philosophy for each Smash title was to make it as if it were going to be the last installment of the series. I feel for Ultimate he has definitely created something that felt like to me could work as a “conclusion” to Smash. There will be future installments to Smash, and the series is likely to get some sort of overhaul going forward. For myself though, Ultimate works as a personal conclusion.
Did Dixie Kong Get Snubbed?
For many, including myself, Ultimate simply does not seem “complete” without Dixie Kong as part of its legendary roster. Dixie Kong is among the very few Nintendo characters that had multiple main protagonist roles in their series that are not a part of Ultimate’s roster. DKC2 and DKC3 were among the highest selling titles for the SNES/Super Famicom as well.
With all of this being said, was Dixie Kong “snubbed”? I am going to take a look at what she has received in Ultimate.
Dixie Kong has two spirits (Dixie Kong and Dixie Kong & Kiddy Kong). The former is an Ace-class spirit, while the latter is a Legend-class. Having high level spirits is usually reserved for characters that are deemed popular or very important to their respective franchises. The latter spirit (where she is paired with Kiddy Kong) also highlights a title where she was in a starring role without either DK or Diddy. Both of these spirits were also the basis for two online icons you can select for your online profile in Ultimate.
The most notable consolation prize that Dixie Kong received though was her Mii hat, Dixie Kong’s Hat. It has not just her pink beret, but also her hair. The Mii hat itself is very high quality, with playable character level texturing for the beret. Considering that many Mii hats were asset pulls from other titles, this was a very nice consolation prize.
Compare this Bandanna Waddle Dee who simply received an Ace-class spirit and an online icon based on this spirit, and nothing else. Dixie Kong easily could have done a lot worse in Ultimate.
Another thing that needs to be added is that the competition for Dixie Kong to even make the roster was just extremely high. Ultimate had 24 newcomers, more than any other Smash title to date. However, of those 24 characters, 13 of them were actually Nintendo characters, and of those 13 Nintendo newcomers, only FIVE of them debuted prior to 2012 (these were Ridley, King K. Rool, Piranha Plant, Daisy, and Dark Samus). All of them (except Piranha Plant, who was likely a character that was originally intended for the base game) were newcomers for the base game. Legacy Nintendo characters like Dixie Kong, had to compete with titans such as Ridley, K. Rool, Inkling, and Isabelle, all icons for their respective franchises and some of the most well loved Nintendo characters in general.
Given that consideration, it is very understandable why Dixie Kong did not make Ultimate’s legendary roster in the end. As I said, Dixie Kong’s Hat was very well made, and does offer at least a sort of way for Dixie Kong to be a part of the battlefield for Ultimate. I have seen some well made Dixie Kong Mii’s that go well with the hat.
I am thankful that Dixie Kong at least received some sort of acknowledgment outside of spirits. It is also important to keep in mind that the DK series has only a single Assist Trophy (Klap Trap) and only a single Mii hat (Dixie Kong’s Hat). For the Assist Trophy, it was probably already made with an already existing asset (the Klap Traps appear from time to time for both the Kongo Jungle and Jungle Japes stages). For Dixie Kong to have had resources devoted to her at all, given the dearth of DK content in certain parts of Ultimate, should be considered a blessing.
The Dixie Support Thread In General Was a Victory All Its Own
Although Dixie Kong never made it onto Ultimate’s roster in the end. I would still say that we Dixie Kong fans still “won” in the end. I wrote this in my non-Dixie related “farewell” essay to spotlight just what a special community this thread was.
I said this to the Dixie Kong support thread in the past, but I was amazed how a cozy and supportive online community that is actually on topic about it (or relatively on topic since it often talked about the DK franchise in general) could exist on today’s internet. You had artists, all sorts of different and unique takes on how Dixie Kong could be approached as a fighter, and many just bringing up their own personal stories about how or why they were fans of the character. It was not a replacement for a social circle like many other online spaces either, most people usually posted when they actually had something to contribute.
Also, there was a tolerance for differing viewpoints and ideas. The most contentious of these for the Dixie Kong thread was whether she should or could work as an echo fighter. Even then, users generally had respect for one another even if they were in different camps in regards to this. The proprietor to the Dixie Kong thread, BirthNote, would also constantly highlight the contributions that various Dixie Kong supporters put out by changing the topic title. This actually helped foster a sense of community without it being a “social club”. It made everyone feel like their contributions were meaningful and that they put forth something worthwhile.
This sort of environment proved to me that a non-toxic environment in relation to Smash or Nintendo is still possible on today’s internet. This was how an internet community should be. People with unique talents and perspectives coming together and sharing their passion together, and still having a respect for one another even if they have a different opinion on an aspect to that shared interest. Even though Dixie Kong was ultimately never added to Ultimate’s roster I am still thankful for the positive experience I had within that thread during my last few years with the Smash community.
This was truly a tremendous thread. The fact that it managed to exist on today’s internet, had the level of traffic it did, and was such a positive and enriching environment was nothing short of a miracle.
This was arguably the nicest support thread I have ever seen on this site, with the only other one to which I had fond memories of being the Roy support thread during the Smash 4 era (and not even that thread managed to attract as many artists as this one did). This thread also managed to bring together many old time users and fresh faces alike. It was a testament to Dixie Kong’s very special appeal as a character, that she was able to bring together so many people with different backgrounds, talents, and ideas together, and that they seldom ever clashed.
I am truly thankful for this positive experience during my twilight years of involvement with Smash roster speculation and character support. It made me fulfilled and happy even if Dixie Kong did not make it into Ultimate in the end.
That is how it should be in regards to one’s character of choice not making a Smash title’s roster in the end. Sure you can be a bit disappointed, but with the whole journey just being wholesome and a positive experience all around, you are still glad about the good times you had regardless.
I do not want to tag particular users because I do not want to make any of you reading this to feel left out, but I want to say that most of the people who posted in this topic multiple times made valuable contributions over the course of these past three years. Thank you very much for your contributions whether it was making art, contributing ideas on how Dixie Kong could work as a fighter, talking about your personal memories and experiences with the titles that Dixie Kong has starred in, and just sharing why you appreciate Dixie in general.
Thank you to all of you for making this thread a quaint little community, and for things to feel amicable in the end even though Dixie did not make Ultimate’s roster.
Looking To The Future
I said this before, but I must say I feel satisfied with how Ultimate turned out. In general, I have very little desire to do character support and roster speculation for future Smash titles. Ultimate was my dream Smash title come true. I do wish Dixie Kong was a part of this legendary roster, and she really feels like the “last piece of the puzzle” to me. However, as I said before, Ultimate gave me 95% of what my personal desires were.
I am personally really looking forward to the mod scene for Ultimate to further grow. There has already been an excellent Dixie Kong mod made, and like BirthNote said, I hope it is further expanded upon by giving the mod the actions, animations, and abilities that Dixie Kong is known for. There are also still four empty spots on character selection screen to which hopefully one day mods can be created to fill them in, and not have it where modded characters have to share a slot with a character already on the roster.
Aside from that, I also want to celebrate Ultimate and the Smash series as a whole going forward. In my “farewell” essay I talk about the concept of “Everyone’s Stories” to which anyone talks about their own personal story relating to a character that is on Ultimate’s roster (though I would also like to expand it to personal stories someone has about a particular stage, or fondness regarding about even a Mii costume or Assist Trophy).
Aside from this, I also want to present a personal Top 40 of the characters on Ultimate’s roster that have some sort of personal meaning to me. Each character would have several essays that relate to them in some way. I am not sure yet whether this and “Everyone’s Stories” will be presented as a series of forum posts or made into a video series. Regardless of what I end up deciding though, it is going to take me years before I am able to present anything for this project. Ultimate was a legendary title in general, and I really want to celebrate it in the years ahead.
I welcome any and all people reading this to send me private messages about “Everyone’s Stories” or any of the things that I talk about in my “farewell” essay and this post in general.
The journey I feel has ended for me in regards to Smash speculation and character support, but at the same time, I feel another “journey” is about to begin.
On Dixie Kong’s Future
The future is very uncertain for Dixie Kong. There have been multiple times to which the DK franchise had a major new mainline installment without her having any sort of appearance in it (Donkey Kong 64, Jungle Beat, Country Returns). Even if Dixie Kong were to have another important role in a major DK title, it does not necessarily guarantee her a playable role in the next Smash title, and as I said, increasingly both Cranky Kong and Funky Kong are going to be high competition for the fourth playable Donkey Kong character.
The dynamics right now for the Smash fanbase are that things are heavily skewed towards strongly desiring third-party characters (unless your name happens to be Waluigi or Bandanna Waddle Dee). Dixie Kong is going to have an uphill battle going forward to build up her support regardless of her level of prominence in the next major DK title.
However, I have hope that Dixie Kong can potentially build up her support to the level where she is among the Top 10 most wanted characters for the next Smash title. With passion driven by positive and warm experiences of that people enjoyed with her in DKC2, DKC3, Tropical Freeze, and hopefully a new upcoming DK title, as well a plethora of art and creativity, people just might gravitate towards her in the future, especially if the Dixie Kong fanbase is as wholesome and friendly as it was during this epoch.
I hope that if Dixie Kong is ever added to the roster for a future Smash title, and if this website is still around at that point in time, that I will be able to congratulate the Dixie Kong fanbase on her addition. I very likely will not be involved at all in roster speculation and character support in regards to the next Smash title, but I still would like to do it so as to make them feel that something special was finally achieved. I am not sure if there will be anyone from this future Dixie Kong fanbase that will still remember me at that point, but it would be nice to see if there will be few that said that they got usage out of my Dixie Kong essay that I made.
Conclusion
BirthNote correctly said months ago that Dixie Kong is a great game character with or without Smash Bros. Even if Dixie Kong ends up never making a Smash title’s roster, she is still a very special heroine and one of the most endearing characters for not just the DK brand and Nintendo characters in general, but for the medium of video games as whole.
Dixie Kong was among my childhood favorite game characters. She is probably the last personal favorite of mine (that is not a minor or obscure Nintendo character) that is still not a part of the roster. My initial fantasy back in August 2018, was that Dixie Kong would bring my conclusion with the Smash franchise full circle. It was learning of Samus, perhaps my favorite game character from my childhood, being a part of Smash 64’s roster that made me overwhelmingly hyped for the game even before it was internationally released.
Samus making Smash 64’s roster, as I said in my Dixie Kong essay, was extremely miraculous given the circumstances of the Metroid series at the time of Smash 64’s development. Similarly, Dixie Kong also faces extraordinary circumstances facing her. Smash has expanded to be something that is not just about Nintendo characters, but for gaming as a whole. Dixie Kong right now does not have the prominence and esteem as she once did, thus making her face similar circumstances as Samus did back during Smash 64’s development.
My hope was that Dixie Kong would somehow end up making Ultimate’s roster in the end. Regardless of this not happening, I still ended up with a sense of satisfaction in the end. This was all thanks to not just how phenomenal Ultimate ended up being, but also how much of a positive experience my time with the Dixie support thread was.
I am glad to have experienced and contributed to this thread for the past three years, and I am grateful to those that valued my contributions that I made in them.
With this all being said, I want to share a few pictures with this thread, they are certainly not anywhere near in the same league as the beautiful pictures of scenery like Valkyrie has shown, but they do give some nice context to Dixie’s personal meaning to me.
This is a picture of that Dixie Kong figurine from my childhood that I mentioned in prior posts. I got it as a gift for Christmas of 1996. It was one of my favorite childhood toys. I also always had it on my night stand during my childhood. Gaming merchandise, especially toys, was uncommon back during the 1990’s, so I was very thankful that a figurine was made of one of my favorite video game characters.
I did not own another piece of merchandise for Dixie Kong until late 2011. This was from the Super Mario Mini Figure Collection. Seeing this figure in stores and purchasing it out of nostalgia was actually the inception of what made me “remember” what Dixie Kong meant to me during my childhood. I never opened it though.
Next is the Dixie Kong figurine from the World of Nintendo toyline. I got this back in early 2016. This is probably the best looking figurine I own of Dixie Kong. To put into context, the only other figure I own from the World of Nintendo line is that of Samus (which probably would have been my favorite childhood toy had it existed during the 1990’s, haha).
While there has yet to be an Amiibo of Dixie Kong she (my World of Nintendo Dixie Kong figurine in particular) is still there among all of the other Amiibos I own which mostly consist of my favorite game characters. To quote BirthNote again, Dixie Kong is a great character with or without Smash.
Maybe Dixie Kong will be a part of the roster in the future, maybe she will not. Regardless, that does not change what Dixie Kong is and what she means to us. The fact that we were able to have a massive thread that was overwhelmingly positive and wholesome on today’s internet, while also attracting all sorts of people with unique insights, opinions, and talents, is testament to just what a legendary heroine she is.
Thank you to everyone. We managed to win without “winning”. I wish everyone here the best of luck going forward in support of Dixie Kong and truly appreciate what you have given to the Dixie thread. I hope to one day to congratulate you on Dixie making the roster in the future regardless of myself no longer being a part of the Smash roster speculation and character support community.
I do like that I started a sort of trend of using the DKC2 ending screenshot as a way of ending poignant posts in this thread. To put an unique spin on that, I would like to mimic that ending screen with both of my all time favorite heroines, Samus and Dixie Kong.
Dixie Kong For Super Smash Bros.
A Special Heroine. The Ultimate Heroine.
Dixie Kong could maybe use more fans, but she could not ask for a better fanbase. Congratulations, Good Bye, And Best Wishes To All of You.
