Speed Weed
Smash Master
Cross-posting from the Next Smash thread
Alright....it's time.
My Bandai Namco fighting game roster is now complete!
I'd do a roster image but it's proving to be kind of a pain in the ass, so instead I'll list out the 30 characters, separate them in chunks, and explain stuff along the way.
So here....we.....go!
Fighting Game People
1. Heihachi Mishima (Tekken)
2. King II (Tekken)
3. Nina Williams (Tekken)
4. Nightmare (SoulCalibur)
5. Taki (SoulCalibur)
So yeah! Tekken and SoulCal! Tekken has the most characters on this roster. I picked Heihachi out of all the Mishima bloodline because while yeah, he probably is gonna stop being relevant next time around cause Story Stuff, I just think he's awesome. King and Nina, two popular mainstays, a grappler and a female character. As for SC, Nightmare is an obvious one, and for the second rep, I wanted another female character. Ivy and Talim were both very much in consideration, but I went with Taki mainly to fill the obligatory ninja fighter niche, and also cause I just think she's really cool.
Other Popular Series
6. Yuri Lowell (Tales of Vesperia)
7. Velvet Crowe (Tales of Berseria)
8. Malenia (Elden Ring)
9. Soul of Cinder (Dark Souls)
10. Agumon (Digimon)
11. Wizardmon (Digimon)
This is where the other stuff with multiple reps goes: Tales, Souls and Digimon. As for Tales....I'll be honest, I don't like Yuri very much lol. But I know how popular he is, and thus I know that if Bamco picked out a somewhat older Tales character, he'd stand a good chance, so whatever. I guess he goes in. For that second slot, I do honestly think at this point in time they'd go for an Arise character, but Velvet is just too *ing cool. She probably wouldn't get in, but tough *, it's my roster. As for Souls, I wanted an ER rep and a classic DS rep. The ER slot went to Malenia, cause I think she's a cool character who'd stand out. As for the DS pick, I knew Solaire was the big popular one, so I looked into him and I......wasn't terribly inspired. After looking into some other options, one I really vibed with was the Soul of Cinder, being a beloved boss who kinda represents the Chosen Undead in a way. And yeah for clarification I did want to go for NPCs or bosses with the Souls reps. The second Digimon rep was a doozy. Agumon needed to be in of course, but picking out a second one was tough. I looked into it, and one option I loved was Beelzemon, but idk. I just felt he didn't quite match what I was looking for, as extremely cool as I found him to be. After looking through several articles listing the best or most popular Digimon or what have you, I landed on Wizardmon, cause I really like his design and I think he'd stand out in a really nice way.
80's Arcade Reps
12. Pac-Man
13. Taizo Hori (Dig Dug)
14. Mappy
15. Gilgamesh (The Tower of Druaga)
16. Valkyrie (The Legend of Valkyrie)
17. Tobi "Kissy" Masuyo (Baraduke)
18. Momo Kanda (Wonder Momo)
19. Taira no Kagekiyo (Genpei Touma Den)
20. Rick Taylor (Splatterhouse)
I don't feel I have to explain those, tbh. Very cool characters, all of whom with their own styles and niches and whatnot. This was a huge era for Namco, one that birthed a ton of super cool characters, so I want to treat it properly. Honorable mentions go to Tarosuke and Bravoman, who probably would've made it on a larger roster. Other classic arcade picks I considered included Hiromi from Burning Force, Paco from Marvel Land, Makoto from Mach Breakers and a character from The Outfoxies cause that game is absolutely ****ing insane. Ton of picks you could go for though.
Relatively modern choices
21. Reiko Nagase (Ridge Racer)
22. Wild Dog (Time Crisis)
23. KOS-MOS (Xenosaga)
24. Alisa (God Eater)
25. Don-chan (Taiko no Tatsujin)
26. Kite (.hack)
27. Sanger Zonvolt (Super Robot Wars)
28. Klonoa
Alright! Reiko is the coolest. Straight up. She may not be a conventional fighter, but I think you can come up with a cool moveset that still fits her character and doesn't just rely on "uhhh she summons cars!" I see her having a lot of smooth, dance-ish moves. She has that vibe. I went with Wild Dog as the Time Crisis rep, I think he's a cool less conventional pick with legacy in the franchise. KOS-MOS was obvious, Alisa seems to be a popular character and she's from a big relatively recent Bamco franchise. Don-chan is my boy so you know he goes in. Kite is neat, Sanger is a really cool character from a franchise I don't see a lot in Bamco rosters despite how big it is. Klonoa is probably the single least historically important character in my roster, but he's cute so it evens out. Shoutouts to Mr. Driller, Code;Vein, Summon Night, Yumeria, prolly a couple others I'm forgetting.
Weird/Joke Picks
29. The King of All Cosmos (Katamari Damacy)
30. Haruka Amami (The IDOLM@STER)
These are the two haha lol picks. People have long struggled with putting a Katamari rep in rosters, cause it's kinda hard to do a moveset revolving around the Katamari. My solution? Just add the King. "BUT WEED", I hear a nonexistent strawman say, "isn't he too big?". His size changes depending on mood, he's shown at various different sizes throughout the series, **** you, he goes in. He'd have the best moveset ever. As for Haruka, IDOLM@STER is huge, and also I think "idol singer" is an easy concept for a unconventional/noncombatant fighter.
So er yeah! That's it! That's my Bandai Namco fighting game roster!