Hyper_Ridley
Smash Champion
JONATHAN AND CHARLOTTE
BY
SPADEFOX
BY
SPADEFOX
Oh yes, OH YES! Behold, Spadefox's epic masterpiece that he was willing to bless MYM4 with its pressence. This is easily one of my top 3 favorite move sets in the contest, and I can easily pick out reasons why.
Take one look at this orgasmic team mechanic and tremble.
Yes, Spadefox, that is indeed awesome.Now, how is this system going to work in Smash? It may take a bit time to explain, but the system is at least very interesting, and unique.
Basically, you can do everything you're able to do in the games, as well - except for the "partner comes in, shoots special equipment, leaves again" bit. This means you have the possibility of playing Jonathan, Charlotte, both with Jonathan in the lead or both with Charlotte in the lead. You can always switch the leader character, or if you want to be in team or alone. This works with the help of taunts - everything else would be too space- or time-consuming.
Now, clearly, playing as one of them is easy, but how will it work when you play both? It will be like the Ice Climbers, having both attack with the same move at the same time when you put in the command, and the non-player controlled character being controlled by an AI. ... But Jonathan is mainly a hand-to-hand fighter, though has some ranged moves with his whip. Charlotte primary uses ranged attacks, but also has some with closer range. Won't one character's move outrange the other's? Yes, some will do that. However, both movesets are designed to work in both states. Some move which may look useless in the single moveset can be devastating in the team one. However, some move which is extremely good in the single moveset can be rendered useless if being in the team.
Unlike and though a bit similar to the health system in the game, Jonathan & Charlotte have two damage counters. One for Jonathan, one for Charlotte. Similar to the Ice Climbers, no? The screen shows both counters (just the digits being smaller), Jonathan's being in a red colour, Charlotte's being in a blue colour - even when only one of them is being used. So you can keep track on who might be wiser to use, or if you should stay solo.
The KO system is also different - and absolutely different to the Ice Climbers'. While it doesn't matter for the Ice Climbers if Nana dies (except that their power is lower, then), it does kinda matter for Jonathan & Charlotte.
If you have only one character out and he or she dies, you lose - of course - a stock. The character who respawns is the one who died, so if you use Jonathan, he dies, you will respawn as Jonathan, and only Jonathan's damage counter will be reset - Charlotte's won't be touched.
If you have the team out, it's similar to the Ice Climbers. If your partner is KOed, their damage counter will be reset, however, they won't be able to be called or changed to anymore until the leader dies. They won't take you a stock, however. So, if you play Charlotte as leader and Jonathan - who is AI-controlled - dies, his damage counter is reset and no stock lost, but he won't be able to be called or changed to until Charlotte is KOed, as well. Only when Charlotte is knocked out, you will lose a stock.
Oh, and, by the way... each combination (Jonathan alone, Charlotte alone, team) have their own Final Smashes and Snake Codecs. Awesome, huh?
But of course, a mechanic alone cannot make a move set of this magnitutde. How about we take a look at some of the individual moves.
Simple, but clever and very funny!Cream Pie
Yes, I'm not kidding. It's a Cream Pie. Jonathan throws the cake forward. It goes only a very very small distance - even less than his F tilt, and then quickly falls down. Since he's crouching, the chance you'll hit someone are pretty low, but in case you do, they'll recieve 3-4% damage and flinching knockback, and the Cream Pie disappears. Incredible, isn't it? But there's more than meets the eye to that weapon. As soon as it hits the ground and not an enemy, there's a pond of cream. Anyone who steps on the pie puddle will immediately trip. Jonathan (or Charlotte, for that matter) can be hit by this puddle, as well, so keep out. He also has an infinite storage of these pies, however, there only can be one puddle at once... because he has to bake more of them or something. The puddle stays around for 5 seconds and then will melt away into the ground (yes, even when it's cold!). If someone slips on it, it immediately disappears, though, no matter how long it would've taken until the 5 seconds finished.
Both of the duo's Uairs are really fun to imagine using in Brawl. Especially Jonathan's, a homing attack is a very unique way of using a melee weapon.Up Air:
Nebula Strike
Jonathan whips with the Nebula slightly diagonally upwards. Now, how is this interesting, you ask? Well, I will tell you. The Nebula seeks victims which are trying to hurt you. In other words, this whip strike is homing. The Nebula whip has an odd pattern, snaking through the air. Although it generally goes into the nearest enemy's direction, it still isn't hard to hid with the Nebula. If you suceed, though, you will recieve good straight upwards knockback and 10-12% damage. The attack itself has bad start and ending lag, so if you miss - and if you're not a skilled Jonathan player, you most likely will miss - this will be highly punishable.
Lightning Bolt
Charlotte raises her hand like with her usual summons and shouts "Lightning Bolt!". This will cause a ritual circle appear above Charlotte's head (following her if she moves to a side), about one Mario in range. Then, a lightning bolt (well, duh!) will come out of the circle and shoot down to Charlotte's body, where it ends. The attack has a bit of startup and more ending lag, however, stuns the hit enemy a little in the air and does 8-10% damage. Consider this to be a very great setup for comboing or such, but it's a bit of a tricky move, as it comes from above, not below, like Up Aerials usually do.
Amazing! Sums up my feelings perfectly on this one.Chain Lightning
This move is really odd and can be charged. Now, if you simply tap the Special button, Charlotte will raise her hand, shout "Chain Lightning!" and summon a lightning bolt shooting quickly from her chest forwards. It has the range of a third of Battlefield. The bolt seeks out the closest item, hitable stage hazard (excluding walls and similar stuff!) or enemy, but always goes straight. If the lightning bolt connects with one of these, a second bolt with the same range will emit from this object, seeking out the next target! If an enemy is hit by this, the Chain Lightning deals 4-5% damage and stuns them, the second strike does 2-3% damage. If the Chain Lightning misses its first target, it simply disappears, and if no target is close enough for the further bolt(s) to shoot out, it (or they) just won't.
So, what happens if Charlotte charges the move? Chain Lightning has 3 stages. You can make the levels out with a bar above her head. If it doesn't appear, it's uncharged, if it's completely filled first it's halfly charged and if it's glowing, it's fully charged. If you release a halfly charged Chain Lightning, it will seek out 3 targets instead of 2 (and it's possible for the same target to be hit again!), and the fully charged one even 4! Although the third strike will only do 1-2% and the fourth strike 0-1% damage - making up with the stun, though. You cannot carry around the charged Lightning.
This attack it great for team battles, considering that you easily can stun two (or more) enemies at once as long as your team partner is not around too close.
And of course, that is but a sample of the moves that are in this wonderful piece of movesetcraft.
And let's not forget the extras! Jonathan's Snake Codec is quite lulzy and one of the more creative codecs out there. The stage is really unique in that it essentially has a hazard switch which has never been done in any other move set. The boss fight is also really awesome, and is in fact the only boss I have in my Story Mode not made by me. Let that be a testement to Spadefox's skills at boss designing.
Really, I could go on all day at how sheerly magnificent this move set it, but I think I'd rather you read it yourself. Seriously, vote for it. If you're like me, you'll super-vote it.