Decided to do some theorycraft about 6 without naming names because yesterday was a big day. Mandycan, Markomaro, and now Sakurai himself have all very heavily implied that a Direct will happen the week of the 10th so we're at worst a week away from finally knowing who 6 is. I want to start with the 4chan post that like, no joke, a dozen people have PM'd me and asked me to express my opinions on:
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I feel like this is significant but not for the reasons people expect. Do I believe 6 used Bayonetta as a true base? No. Do I believe 6 shares key properties with Bayo? Yes. This is the takeaway. Contrary to popular belief, Mii Swordsman and Duck Hunt were not bases for Hero and Banjo. Proportion wise, Hero has more in common with Ike and Banjo with Mario so what the heck is going on? These characters share key properties with each other that aided with the creation of new characters. Like MC Hammer, let's break it down:
Mii Swordsman and Hero- What's a big trait that these characters share that nobody else does? It's definitely not the sword. Hero has a shield but so do all three Links. The answer is weirdly obvious but has alluded a lot of people: they're the only two swordsmen that fire multiple projectiles out of their hands. The Links use bows and Robin's projectiles are tied to tomes and a meter. This is why Mii Swordsman is tied to Hero.
Duck Hunt and Banjo: This one is a lot more obvious. In a silly way, Duck Hunt and Banjo are both weapon users. Their "weapons" are a duck and a breegull. Both Ms. Quackers and Kazooie have similar hitbox properties to swords but, obviously, they're not always in Duck Hunt and Banjo's hands. Ms. Quackers rides Duck Hunt's back and Kazooie is in Banjo's backpack. As weapon users, this is totally unique to them. Olimar and Rosalina are technically weapon users too but their "weapons" have hurtboxes and are always out. This is what makes Banjo and Duck Hunt unique.
Simon/Richter and Byleth: Again, pretty obvious. These are the only characters in the game that have multiple whip attacks. ZSS has a whip but it functions much differently and used for fewer attacks. The Belmont Boys use the whip for most of their physical attacks. ZSS uses it as a grab, USmash, and side special. The two physical attacks both have elemental properties. With this in mind, Byleth's whip attacks are significantly more similar to the Belmont's than ZSS.
Bayonetta and 6- As we highlighted, these glitches noticed in the past tie into properties that future characters have. This now makes us ask: what's particularly unique about Bayonetta? Well, she has Bats Within but, as noted in the 4chan post, it's an attack glitch so it's based on an attack. Is it guns? No because Joker uses guns too. Is it Witch Time? No because, despite its unique properties, it's still a counter move. What is it then? Perhaps turning to the past will give us clues.
We know that Bayonetta in Smash 4 was based on ZSS. Both of these characters share a lot of properties so it makes sense. Both are tall, thin, have long legs, and primarily fight with kicks. What separates Bayo from ZSS though? In the last paragraph, we noted a few things but these properties aren't unique to Bayo. What is truly unique to Bayo? The answer is auto-combos, especially with aerials.
Bayonetta has a unique property that for most of her attacks, she will continue to attack as long as you keep holding down a button. This is especially notable with most of her aerials. Her uair and nair have her spinning like a goob and wildly firing bullets. She will do this until she hits the ground. Most aerials are a single attack or a quick flurry of attacks before stopping. Bayo will keep going as long as she's in the air.
The next unique property is, again, string/auto attacks. Most characters only have this as their jab and/or "flurry attack." Bayo's jab, ftilt, Witch Twist, After Burner kick (grounded and aerial), and fair can all do this. One of the reasons people loathed Bayo in Smash 4 was because she was the only character that could literally jab lock characters in the air. Again, these are PHYSICAL attacks. These are auto-combos with her hands and especially her legs.
This is where we get to the center of the arena. What does this analysis tell us? 6 will likely have physical auto-combos (particularly kicks), potentially in the air as well because those are the properties that are totally unique to Bayonetta and no one else. This is why I think it's important to keep this in mind when considering who 6 is. On that note, this practically confirms it's not Geno. Geno's only physical in the sense that he literally launches parts of his body and, given Bayo doesn't have ballistics of any kind, I think it's safe to say that a hypothetical Geno would likely not share unique properties with Bayonetta.
