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Here's a little tier list that shows why piranha plant belongs in smash

VexTheHex

Smash Ace
Joined
Mar 30, 2018
Messages
567
Zelda, Wario, and Dr. Mario can be argued lowered than Piranha Plant.

Zelda is often mistaken as Link by most parents. Wario would be on similar footing as Bowser Jr as someone who has had some spotlight but never really fully grew to huge iconic status since they came later. Dr Mario? Who cares about that game anymore?

Meanwhile I'd say Pokemon Trainer should be moved above. Even Pokemon Go only parents that got into it for their kids would likely understand what he is.
 
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YoshiandToad

Smash Hero
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Still up Peach's dress.
Ryu is above the plant. Face of the number one fighting game of all time beats the plant I feel. Street Fighter is HUGE to the point I'd say Ryu's more famous than Megaman even.

Not sure if Mewtwo is more famous than the plant either but they're comparable. Apart from those I agree with all of this.
 

Zapp Branniglenn

Smash Lord
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Miis and Wii Fit Trainer should be above. Check out the sales figures for Wii Fit, and every other Wii ______ game and cry about how your favorite games don't measure up. Furthermore, ROB should be above due to a technical error in which people point and say WALL-E, and I think all the Links need to be together since its the same character.
 

Rayleigh

Smash Journeyman
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Messages
296
Like others have said, there would be some alterations. This is all taking into consideration that you're talking about 'people who play games, be it a variety or otherwise' versus those who don't. After all, Those people who don't 'know sports' are not going to recognize any names outside of those trending (this would apply to non-gaming individuals, or those who only play a close few, as well).

More Recognizables:

-Ryu is the face of fighting games. Even if you don't play Street Fighter, he's a known face.
- If you look at one Link, you'll look at the others and recognize them as Link.
- In the defense of Zelda? She is more recognizable in that her appearance i largely consistent...contrasting with Ganondorf/Ganon/Pig Ganon/Demise/ETC.
- In the defense of Dr. Mario? If you see Mario, you'll recognize Dr. Mario as Mario dressed as a Doctor.
- In the defense of Gen One Reps? It's Gen One. We're always seeing them.
- If you've played a Nintendo Home Console in the past three generations, you know what the Miis are, even if you don't like them.
- Cloud is the face of the Final Fantasy Franchise, which has been all over the place and for a while now. Even if you don't know Final Fantasy (or remember the days when it didn't involve four kids driving a mercedes and fighting dragons), you likely recognize this spikey boi.
- Pac-Man is borderline, depending on how old you are, how many games you play, and the variety in age and genre (as is any character here).
- Squirtle is borderline, but still prominent enough that the placing works.
Less Recognizables:

- If Wario is in his classic attire, you'll at least recognize him as a mario character from the various party games (or Wario Land if you're a little old school), otherwise he's borderline.
- Pokemon trainer, as an individual, is a dime-a-dozen character that you could recognize as being a pokemon character. As a package though, arguably more recognizable (being carried by Charizard, naturally).
- Everyone else makes sense. Otherwise, the tier is accurate.
 

Gameboi834

Smash Lord
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Gameboi834
Like others have said, there would be some alterations. This is all taking into consideration that you're talking about 'people who play games, be it a variety or otherwise' versus those who don't. After all, Those people who don't 'know sports' are not going to recognize any names outside of those trending (this would apply to non-gaming individuals, or those who only play a close few, as well).

More Recognizables:

-Ryu is the face of fighting games. Even if you don't play Street Fighter, he's a known face.
- If you look at one Link, you'll look at the others and recognize them as Link.
- In the defense of Zelda? She is more recognizable in that her appearance i largely consistent...contrasting with Ganondorf/Ganon/Pig Ganon/Demise/ETC.
- Cloud is the face of the Final Fantasy Franchise, which has been all over the place and for a while now. Even if you don't know Final Fantasy (or remember the days when it didn't involve four kids driving a mercedes and fighting dragons), you likely recognize this spikey boi.
Strong gamer bias here. Parents and kids would *not* recognize Cloud or Ryu and many people confuse Link for Zelda.
 

Arcadenik

Smash Legend
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Jun 26, 2009
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Jessie, James, and Meowth definitely would have been above Piranha Plant if Team Rocket actually got in Smash as a playable fighter.
 

Alsyght

Smash Journeyman
Joined
Jun 20, 2018
Messages
245
Said it once and I’ll say it again: Piranha Plant for SS Tier
 

Xigger

Smash Lord
Joined
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I love how people are debating where other characters go, but everyone agrees where the plant is.
 
D

Deleted member

Guest
No idea why Ryu and Ken are below PP. When they're more recognizable than a good number of the characters above PP. He's definitely more recognizable than Megaman at least.
 
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Xevious 1

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More Iconic

Mario/Dr.Mario
Luigi
Peach
Bowser
Donkey Kong
Link, YL,, TL
Zelda
Yoshi
Pikachu
Pokemon Trainier
Ryu (people definately regonize street fighter moves)
Sonic
Pac Man

I'm debating on putting Snake, Samus, Wario, Kirby, Duck Hunt, Mewtwo, and Cloud there.

I'd definitely put Mega Man under though, he is less iconic than all the other third partys besides the Belmont's and Bayo.

I try to look at it from the perspective of a parent who has barely played video games in their life. Anyone mildley into gaming would regonize Wario, Samus, Kirby, Cloud, Snake, Mewtwo, Duck Hunt, and Mega Man but I don't know if a parent would.
 
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Snorkel the dolphin

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I'd definitely put Mega Man under though, he is less iconic than all the other third partys besides the Belmont's and Bayo.

I try to look at it from the perspective of a parent who has barely played video games in their life. Anyone mildley into gaming would regonize Wario, Samus, Kirby, Cloud, Snake, Mewtwo, Duck Hunt, and Mega Man but I don't know if a parent would.
Megaman has been pretty popular lately among kids because of the TV show.
 

Erimir

Smash Lord
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Sakurai said:
On surprising fans with unexpected characters like Piranha Plant…

I’m actually not paying too much focus on the surprise element when we introduce a new fighter. The surprise element quickly fades once the announcement has been made.

Rather, I believe it’s important to have a good balance as a game. In the past titles in the series, Mr. Game & Watch, R.O.B. and Duck Hunt Dog were some of the examples we offered outside of people’s typical expectations. However, if we don’t have these types of fighters, and we only had typical “hero/heroine” type fighters in the lineup, there’s not much difference. It’s probably not very interesting. Correct?

Also, unlike some main characters from some (not widely known) franchises, Piranha Plant is a character everyone knows well. And, I want to make sure to remind everyone that it is a limited-time offer fighter everyone can get for free as an early-purchase bonus.
Seems like Sakurai agrees with the OP.

Sakurai was basically like "yeah but Piranha Plant is more famous than Bayonetta and Chrom and Shulk, so...".
 
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Super Flygon

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I agree with most of these. For the ones listed below Piranha Plant, it's not that those characters aren't unrecognizable to most people (although a lot of them are). It's just that Piranha Plant is more recognizable. A lot of people might recognize Ryu, but it's possible that more recognize Piranha Plant.

That being said, I do feel like some on the bottom should be on the top though. Maybe Duck Hunt and Little Mac due to how popular their games were in the 80's. Maybe also Wii Fit Trainer and the Miis, due to how popular Wii Fit and the Wii itself were. Would probably also put Ivysaur, Pokemon Trainer and the Links above Piranha Plant.
 

Fell God

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(Yes I know this thread is old, but) Honestly, the only inaccuracies are Mega Man and Zelda being too high. And arguably Miis being too low but then again, I doubt they stay in the long term memory of people who aren't big fans of video games considering that they're being phased out (er, well at least they're not as common anyway) these days. Overall though it really is pretty accurate and shows the power of Piranha Plant...please release my leafy overlord soon, Sakurai...
 

$.A.F.

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I agree with most of these. For the ones listed below Piranha Plant, it's not that those characters aren't unrecognizable to most people (although a lot of them are). It's just that Piranha Plant is more recognizable. A lot of people might recognize Ryu, but it's possible that more recognize Piranha Plant.

That being said, I do feel like some on the bottom should be on the top though. Maybe Duck Hunt and Little Mac due to how popular their games were in the 80's. Maybe also Wii Fit Trainer and the Miis, due to how popular Wii Fit and the Wii itself were. Would probably also put Ivysaur, Pokemon Trainer and the Links above Piranha Plant.
Duck hunt and little Mac? I highly doubt that. Mario was played way more even in the 80’s than them. And most people who did play the game aren’t going to really recognize a character who they last played 30-40 years ago. Wii fit should be above, minis should be above, Pokémon Trainer should be above, but Link stays below IMO, though BOTW makes it tough to decide. Mega Man should be nowhere near the top. He’s no one compared to our leafy boi. Kirby honestly sells pretty poorly compared to what you may think. Is he recognizable to non gamers? To an extent yeah. Do more people know him than Piranha Plant? Eh, I doubt it.
 

DelugeFGC

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Duck hunt and little Mac? I highly doubt that. Mario was played way more even in the 80’s than them. And most people who did play the game aren’t going to really recognize a character who they last played 30-40 years ago. Wii fit should be above, minis should be above, Pokémon Trainer should be above, but Link stays below IMO, though BOTW makes it tough to decide. Mega Man should be nowhere near the top. He’s no one compared to our leafy boi. Kirby honestly sells pretty poorly compared to what you may think. Is he recognizable to non gamers? To an extent yeah. Do more people know him than Piranha Plant? Eh, I doubt it.
Duck Hunt was bundled alongside the first Mario Bros. game on the NES and that game sold hella copies like you wouldn't believe, so I'd say at the very least Duck Hunt is more recognizable or at least as-recognizable. You'd be surprised how many people, even if not born then, had siblings / parents / etc. that would've owned a copy of that. Plus the hatred for that dog extends well outside of the sphere of people who would've been the target demographic way-back-when in the 80's for some reason.. to the point where I've met several people who claimed to despise DHD even though they've never played Duck Hunt to see him laughing at you for failing.

Little Mac I definitely wouldn't say is more recognizable, though. People know Punch Out! the game FAR more than they know Little Mac, even though he's the PC.
 

Arthur97

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This list shows that you could kind of make an entire roster out of Mario characters.
 

DelugeFGC

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This list shows that you could kind of make an entire roster out of Mario characters.
Pretty much, though I'm unsure why Daisy is on the lower tier. I know people don't know Daisy like they know Peach, but given Daisy is literally just a palette swap I'd be willing to bet that most people who could recognize Peach would still be able to associate her with Mario and Nintendo to some degree.
 

Wiziliz

Smash Journeyman
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Person from Fortnite, Steve from Minecraft and Waluigi from Mario belong in Smash, guys!
 

Arthur97

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Pretty much, though I'm unsure why Daisy is on the lower tier. I know people don't know Daisy like they know Peach, but given Daisy is literally just a palette swap I'd be willing to bet that most people who could recognize Peach would still be able to associate her with Mario and Nintendo to some degree.
Problem is, a lot would probably just call her Peach, and that doesn't count.
 

Mogisthelioma

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Just curious, what makes you think Squirtle and Charizard are more recognizable but not Ivysaur? Personally I would just throw in the trainer since he looks almost identical to Ash.
 

Luigifan18

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Just curious, what makes you think Squirtle and Charizard are more recognizable but not Ivysaur? Personally I would just throw in the trainer since he looks almost identical to Ash.
Yeah, but he's not Ash, so that would be mistaken identity.
 

DelugeFGC

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Yeah, but he's not Ash, so that would be mistaken identity.
I'd say that still counts for something, being able to associate something with its franchise is better than the good old 'huh?' a lot would give.

All this being said, I've never understood the anger over PP making it in. Yeah I know it seems, cheap, but it's a (basically) free DLC character.. one that I actually like so much I might main him now that I've really played him. But he works, and he doesn't feel out of place. I'd still say Snake is less-fitting for Smash, though I'm not upset at his inclusion or anything. At the end of the day as long as whatever character makes it in isn't done poorly (like Melee G&W with his worthless shield or Melee Pichu.. or 4 Bayo on the reverse end) I'm happy to have another option should I ever want it.. plus it keeps matchups interesting.

The big WL may not have made it in, but the Plant can be my homeboy any day. Thing has zoning/space control in spades with good air game, which speaks to me on a spiritual level as a Richter main.
 
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Arthur97

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Mistaken identity is still bad if not worse. It's probably a big reason as to why Daisy wouldn't make it higher, because she could be mistaken as Peach and doesn't have enough notoriety for the layman to separate the two just seeing Mario style princess in a dress and therefore assuming Peach. I would say to be truly recognizable, people need to know who the character actually is.
 

Luigifan18

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Mistaken identity is still bad if not worse. It's probably a big reason as to why Daisy wouldn't make it higher, because she could be mistaken as Peach and doesn't have enough notoriety for the layman to separate the two just seeing Mario style princess in a dress and therefore assuming Peach. I would say to be truly recognizable, people need to know who the character actually is.
And then there's Rosalina, who a lot of non-gamers will mistake for Elsa...
 
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DelugeFGC

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Mistaken identity is still bad if not worse. It's probably a big reason as to why Daisy wouldn't make it higher, because she could be mistaken as Peach and doesn't have enough notoriety for the layman to separate the two just seeing Mario style princess in a dress and therefore assuming Peach. I would say to be truly recognizable, people need to know who the character actually is.
I'm not denying that, simply asserting that being mistakenly identified (but still associated with the series they're from) is better than an outright 'huh?' from someone who doesn't recognize them on any level.

That being said, the same COULD be said about PP. People know it from Mario, but how many people truly know its name and what it is? A lot of older folks might also recognize the old school 8-bit PP but not recognize the more new-school design PP began to take from the late 90's onward. Compare the old, greenish PP to the new one and it's not hard to think people who haven't seen both to know could think they're entirely different.
 
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shiver_motion

Smash Rookie
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when they revealed piranha plant no one said out loud "who?" they said "piranha plant?" . This is why. He's recognizable even when he's not your immediate personal choice.
 
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