Just sending my good vibes to everyone and saying hello.
Can I just say
Fatmanonice
thank you so much for all of your hard work on the essay. It really shows just how different and special a spot Geno is in. We get so lost in the day to day motions of spec we sometimes miss not only minute details, but the bigger picture.
You exemplify how much I love Geno and the community everyone has built here.
Confession, I didn't grow up with the character the way I did Banjo. I had friends who had SNES and were only limited to what they had. My favorite games growing up before Smash were Super Mario World and Kirby Superstar. But unfortunately, I missed the boat on Mario RPGs in general. Though I've loved the Mario franchise as a whole for as far back as I can remember.
Playing FF games, I fell in love with JRPGs, and even still, much like DQ, SMRPG floated just outside of my peripherals. It was always there, but never fully explored.
Met my gf at 13 (am 31) and she had a similar relationship to the game, but Secret of Mana was her FF analogue. She had a SNES but again I suppose SMRPG was just too esoteric at the time.
Fast forward to a few years back, she adored Vinesauce's play through and wanted me to see it. At the time I'd only heard of Geno through spec and wanted to know why he'd been wanted so long. Having swore I would play it myself before watching, I went ahead and acquired the game via emulator. Within minutes I became enchanted. And during a dark moment of my life, Geno literally became my light. He resonated to me in a way video game characters hadn't in a while, probably not since Meta Knight for me.
He was a character emboldened by a singular purpose, and entire raison d'etre was saving his home, but for the sake of everyone else via their wishes. I was touched in a way other things hadnt in a very long time and inspired me to forward with my dreams.
Now and I'm with my gf after years apart (she had moved away some time ago) and Geno being in Smash and essentially revived is something I am so passionate about.
Sorry for the tangent, but joining this community, and learning of its history well after its origins has been an eye opening experience. And everyone here has been so kind. I've learned more from watching the Geno fanbase push forward than I ever imagined I would. Thank you all so very much.
((If this need condensed, could a mod put spoiler tag on it? My phone sucks and I still get confused by spoiler tag functionality ;;^_^))