Everything was beautiful, and nothing hurt
Alright. I'm ready for my second shot at this. Here goes nothing.
First off, Kurt Vonnegut is one of my favourite authors of all time. I'm a big fan of the distinctly human way that he writes, with no real good or bad. Only jokes and satire about everything in existence and drabbles about how the human race has no hope and deserves to die horribly. He also died on my birthday.
So it goes.
Kilgore Trout is one of Kurt's most iconic characters, appearing in a variety of books he has written. While initially he was based on another author, Theodore Sturgeon, he eventually evolved to become Kurt's link to the universe of his postmodern fiction.
This is my 'fancy' character, where I work my hardest to make every single move relate back to the character himself, like what I did with Johnny Turbo back in MYM2, and what I tried to do with Strago. A lot of the earlier movesets tended to have bonus points for having a lot of references, so I was kind of used to that facet. So here's my last hurrah for the idea, and it's one big Super Smash love letter to the character and style of Kilgore Trout. I'll do my best.
The main part of the moveset is complete. It is mostly extraneous things that I still have to fill in(animations, mostly).
My next character will my first shot at a 'flow' character, so keep an eye for that one.
Here it goes.
Appearance: Appears almost exactly like Kurt Vonnegut, because Kilgore is essentially Vonnegut himself. Perhaps.
He is a man in his 50s or 60s, jaded with the world around him, and having fun at others' expense to make up for it.
Kilgore also wears a thick, beige trenchcoat, almost hiding from the world around him, as it frightens and fascinates him.
Size: 4/5
Kilgore is the size on an average man, more or less. Probably around Captain Falcon's height, if not a little shorter.
Speed: 3/5
Even if Kilgore was a svelte, strong athlete when he was younger, age has slowly taken its toll on him.
Weight: 3/5
Kilgore is of average weight, and as such, gets KO'd at an average rate.
Jump Height: 2/5
Referring back to speed, age does have profound effects on a person.
Fall Speed: 3/5
There really is little to say on the subject of the rate of falling, when it comes down to brass tacks, but Kilgore has an average one of those, I suppose.
Traction: 4/5
Kilgore can stop fairly easily, though not without the laws of physics applying to him.
Can he...
Crawl?: Yeah. Can't everyone?
Walljump?: No. He's not as strong as he used to be...
Wallcling?: No. See above.
Glide?: No. He's not much of a flyer.
Beige trenchcoat(default)
Dark red trenchcoat(Red Team)
Baby blue trenchcoat(Blue Team)
Dark green trenchcoat(Green Team)
Black trenchcoat
Entrance: Kilgore appears and creeps towards his spot on the field, seemingly not wanting to be noticed, but perhaps no one wanted to notice him...
Series: Kurt Vonnegut
Logo: A Tralfamadorian head. You'll see one soon, I promise.
Wiimote Sound: "Now, it can be told."
Trivia: Kilgore will say "So it goes." When he is KO'd.
Like Strago Magus and Johnny Turbo before him, every single one of Kilgore's moves make some reference to his own universe. Specifically, his vast collection of short stories.
Much of Vonnegut's writing style focuses on non-sequiturs and absurd situations, oftentimes with a description of a Trout short story integrated in the book, so I try to stay true to that universe.
Most of Kilgore's movelist derives from his short stories from the book 'Breakfast of Champions', as he is one of the main characters in that novel. The idea for maintaining the non-sequitur nature of his moveset not only derives from Vonnegut's own postmodern writing style, but also from a concept in Breakfast of Champions, where Vonnegut is the god of his own personal universe, explored in his fiction.
Of course, this does raise the question on whether Kilgore Trout was the one who actually wrote about the concept of Super Smash Brothers, but try not to think too hard about that.
Thanks to the wonders of Internet research, I can now relate most of Kilgore's moves to their respective story without having to find the book I have which has them. Quotes from each short story of note(if applicable) appear to familiarize the reader with each one.
Kilgore is a fairly balanced character, with moves for most types of situations at hand. He has some moves suited for racking up damage, and others suited for the final blow. He is only limited by the power of his imagination, which he keeps hidden through his links to the universe. Like Billy Pilgrim and his time doors for Slaughterhouse-Five, or like how Kurt Vonnegut left the world of Breakfast of Champions through a warp at the end of that book, Kilgore's trenchcoat allows him to conceal the paths to the universe of his stories.
One of Kilgore's main strengths is his unpredictability. Schrodinger Fu, TVTropes might say. His home literature(And home universe) is riddled with all sorts of strange and magical things taken for granted. Just like Kurt Vonnegut is the god of his stories and can conjure and change things as needed,(Particularly noted in Breakfast of Champions) Kilgore is the god of his own imagination, it being open to all sorts of concepts and possibilities.
Just like Kurt, Kilgore's stories focus on satirical tirades against society while integrating it with his characteristic surrealism.
However, while conjuring up images and symbols for his books does allow Kilgore the power he needs to take on enemies, they are also his weakness in a way.
Conjuring up these images for each time he attacks prevents him from being on his guard and aware at all times. Therefore Kilgore must be very careful with using his imagination. One mistaken story for one mistaken situation, and Kilgore will be back to his forgotten state.
As a result, Kilgore Trout is a character best-suited for mind games, and taking advantage of times where his opponent is off-guard, and punishing their mistakes.
Jab:
How You Doin'?
"Trout wrote a novel one time which he called How You Doin'? and it was about national averages for this and that. And advertising agency on another planet had a successful campaign for the local equivalent of Earthling peanut butter.
...
The ad went on to say that superior and inferior people alike ate such and such brand of peanut butter. Except that it wasn't really peanut butter on that planet. It was Shazzbutter."
Kilgore Trout hits the opponent in the jaw with a jar of Shazzbutter he takes out of his coat.
On the average smasher, like Mario, the move can be good for sending the enemy away for a certain distance, functioning almost like Ganondorf's Thunder Punch. Due to the fact that Kilgore must conjure and remove the Shazzbutter from his coat, there is a little bit of lag associated with this attack, and it takes about 1 second to perform completely. Does 5-8%
Dash Attack:
Asleep At the Switch.
Kilgore falls and briefly sleeps onto his enemy, face-first. The enemy is essentially trapped under him at this time.
He wakes up soon afterwards. Since he sleeps regardless of whether he hits or not, most Kilgore players advise to avoid this move. Does 4-6%
Forward Tilt:
2BR02B.(To be or not/naught to be)
"Everything was perfectly swell.
There were no prisons, no slums, no insane asylums, no cripples, no poverty, no wars.
All diseases were conquered. So was old age.
Death, barring accidents, was an adventure for volunteers."
Kilgore slides ahead and briefly ages, his hands flailing ahead of him like an imbecille, before reverting back to normal.
The move starts and ends fairly quickly, and has an acceptable amount of knockback ahead of Kilgore. It can work as a kill move at high enough percents, such as 150%.
The attack also sends Kilgore forward. 4-8%
Up Tilt:
Dog's Breakfast.
Kilgore fist-pumps a can of dog food above his head, presumably it being the breakfast of a dog. The move has a small bit of knockback upwards, and can juggle at lower percents. The move is also very quick to start and end. 5-9%
Down Tilt:
The Big Board.
"These fictitious people in the zoo had a big board supposedly showing stock market quotations and commodity prices along one wall of their habitat, and a news ticker, and a telephone that was supposedly connected to a brokerage on Earth. The creatures on Zircon-212 told their captives that they had invested a million dollars for them back on Earth, and that it was up to the captives to manage it so that they would be fabulously wealthy when they were returned to Earth."
Kilgore quickly does some stock taxes, which print out of a calculator he brought out while crouching. Contact with the taxes does 6-11% damage.
The startup is somewhat slow, due to the calculations having to be made, though the taxes have okay reach, printing out a small amount across the floor. Perhaps opponents are damaged not just by the action of calculating the stocks, but also by the collective greed inherent in the rat race...
Forward Smash:
The Smart Bunny.
"The leading character was a rabbit who lived like all the other wild rabbits, but who was as intelligent as Albert Einstein or William Shakespeare.
It was a female rabbit. She was the only female leading character in any novel or story by Kilgore Trout.
She led a normal female rabbit's life, despite her ballooning intellect. She concluded that her mind was useless, that it was a sort of tumor, that it had no usefulness within the rabbit scheme of things."
Kilgore foists a large-headed rabbit ahead of him to maul the opponent. The rabbit is essentially thrown onto the enemy, but it doesn't stick to the opponent. Rather, after its purpose is served, is simply disappears, the bunny knowing it is unable to function in its environment. Kilgore, knowing what the bunny knows, simply removes it from existence. 15-23%
The bunny is actually a projectile, which doesn't travel too far. About the same distance as a Pikmin from Olimar's fsmash. Regardless, it still can serve the function of a projectile, and cancel out another one heading towards Kilgore.
Upward Smash:
The Money Tree.
"Trout, incidentally, had written a book about a money tree. It had twenty-dollar bills for leaves. Its flowers were government bonds. Its fruit was diamonds. It attracted human beings who killed each other around the roots and made very good fertilizer. So it goes."
A money tree lunges upwards from where Trout stands, as he faces the player, arms crossed, before retracting into the ground. Hitting the actual trunk of the tree causes massive knockback, while hitting the dollar-bill leaves does not. 16-26%
The money tree itself is slightly higher than Kilgore's height, so approximately the height of Bowser or Donkey Kong. It is about the same width as well.
Since hitting the wooden part of the tree is where the damage comes from, the move is best executed when the opponent is in close range of Kilgore.
Downward Smash:
The Dancing Fool.
"A flying saucer creature named Zog arrived on Earth to explain how wars could be prevented and how cancer could be cured. He brought the information from Margo, a planet where the natives conversed by means of farts and tap dancing.
Zog landed at night in Connectitut. He had no sooner touched down than he saw a house on fire. He rushed into the house, farting and tap dancing, warning the people about the terrible danger they were in. The head of the house brained Zog with a golf club."
A multi-legged alien, the size of Kilgore Trout, appears and dances and farts around him when the attack is charging, doing damage to anyone it encounters as Kilgore charges the smash.
Kilgore eventually brains it as it moves behind him with a golf club, doing more damage to anyone in the way. Contact with the alien causes 3-6% damage,
while contact with the golf club does 17-26%. If the smash is released immediately, Kilgore will simply turn around bring the golf club down on an enemy behind him.
Neutral Aerial:
The Fourth Dimension.
"The book was called Maniacs in the Fourth Dimension, by Kilgore Trout. It was about people, whose mental diseases couldn't be treated because the causes of the diseases were all in the fourth dimension, and three-dimensional Earthling doctors couldn't see those causes at all, or even imagine them.
One thing Trout said that Rosewater liked very much was that there really were vampires and were-wolves and goblins and angels and so on, but that they were in the fourth dimension. So was William Blake, Rosewater's favorite poet, according to Trout. So were heaven and hell."
Trout briefly phases in and out of the fourth dimension, similar in appearance to television static, doing electric damage.
The entire attack takes about half a second. Kilgore is invincible when he turns to static very briefly, even to projectiles.
He remains stationary in his jump pose as he does the move.
Does 9-15%.
If one is in direct contact with Kilgore as he performs this attack, they are taken into the fourth dimension as well, complete with static effect, and are knocked back from the shock.
Knockback is fairly high in this situation, and can kill at relatively low percents off the side for light characters(75%-80%).
If one goes into contact with Trout as he is phasing, they will still be hit back, but not nearly as much. The damage will also be lower. (Halved)
Forward Aerial:
Golden Wedding.
Trout hits the enemy similar to the way Shiek does, only holding a golden top hat. Since Kilgore conjures the hat as he attacks, the startup is very fast.
The knockback is fairly weak, not being nearly enough to KO the enemy at any percent, but can be good for stopping recovery. 5-9%
Backward Aerial:
My Ten Years on Automatic Pilot.
Kilgore pretends to shoot backwards like on a war plane, launching his hands back and forth as he does so. However, on contact with Kilgore's hands,
the opponent is lit on fire, as if they were actually shot from a plane. It does several small hits, each doing 3-5%. This builds up to become 15-25% if all hits connect, though.
Upward Aerial:
Venus On the Half-Shell.
Trout takes the planet Venus, which he has conjured above his head and in his hands, and tears it apart. Hitboxes are on either side of Kilgore's hands with part of the planet on them. The attack has fairly little lag upon landing, due to being in an almost standing pose, making it a good choice for an aerial to use or spam. It can work as a kill move at high enough percentages(115-140%) Does 9-15% damage.
Downward Aerial:
This Year's Masterpiece.
"The name of the planet where Trout's book took place was Bagnialto, and a "Barring-gaffner" there was a government official who spun a wheel of chance once a year. Citizens submitted works of art to the government, and these were given numbers, and then they were assigned cash values according to the Barring-gaffner's spins of the wheel."
Trout sits in a giant wheel of chance, which spins into the ground, similar to Bowser's dair. Each little hit does 2-4%. It does multiple hits,(Up to 10, so it can do 20-40% if all hits connect) but it cannot spike, and has much lag when he returns to earth.
(picture of a roulette wheel)
Standard Special Move: Hail to the Chief.
"Trout couldn't tell one politician from another one. They were all formlessly enthusiastic chimpanzees to him. He wrote a story one time about an optimistic chimpanzee who became President of the United States. He called it "Hail to the Chief."
The chimpanzee wore little blue blazer with brass buttons, and with the seal of the President of the United States sewed to the breast pocket.
Everywhere he went, bands would play "Hail to the Chief." The chimpanzee loved it. He would bounce up and down."
Kilgore summons a chimpanzee in a presidential blazer and hat. Since the chimp is a curious type of animal, it will, obviously, explore the stage and/or engage in wacky hijinx. But, for the sake of it not being an Assist Trophy or anything, the chimp will just jump around Kilgore, shielding him forwards then backwards then forwards again. If hit, the chimp screeches and hides behind Trout into the background, so as not to be seen by the player.
Contact with the chimp does 3-5% damage. Hitting the chimp with anything, though, even a projectile, will cause it to shriek and hide.
Side Special Move: Plague on Wheels.
"The words in the book, incidentally, were about life on a dying planet named Lingo-Three, whose inhabitants resembled American automobiles.
They had wheels. They were powered by internal combustion engines. They ate fossil fuels. They weren't manufactured, though. They reproduced.
They laid eggs containing baby automobiles, and the babies matured in pools of oil drained from adult crankcases.
Lingo Three was visited by space travelers, who learned that the creatures were becoming extinct for this reason:
they had destroyed their planet's resources, including its atmosphere."
Trout conjures and enters a old car and drives ahead. The function of the move is similar to the Wario Bike. Contact with the car does 10-16%(A bit lenient, considering it's a two-ton death machine) and knockback ahead of Kilgore Trout. Kilgore can exit the car at any time by pressing either A or B, where he will close it, and it will remain on the stage until he wishes to drive it again, or until it eventually fades away.
Like the Wario Bike, Kilgore can accelerate and decelerate the car to suit his needs. He can also taunt from there. (He will offer a V for victory sign to the player.)
Despite the fact that it's a car we're talking about here, Plague on Wheels has surprisingly little knockback, and can actually be destroyed once it sustains 20% damage.
It's not recommended to be a kill move.
Unusually, if the attack is used in the air, in an odd display of realism, the car will simply drive downwards and crash.
The crash does 20% if it hits an enemy, and leave a burning hunk of garbage on the stage should it land on it, which can be broken into pieces, or eventually fade away.
However, Kilgore should never use this move when trying to recover, as it will send him careening down to his demise.
Only one automobile will remain on stage at a time.
Up Special Move: This Means You.
"It was set in the Hawaiian Islands, the place where the lucky winners of Dwayne Hoover's contest in Midland City were supposed to go. Every bit of land on the islands was owned by only about forty people, and, in the story, Trout had those people decide to excercise their property rights to the full.
They put up no trespassing signs on everything.
This created terrible problems for the million other people on the islands. The law of gravity required that they stick somewhere on the surface. Either that, or they could go out into the water and bob offshore.
But the Federal Government came through with an emergency program. It gave a big baloon full of helium to every man, woman and child who didn't own property.
There was a cable with a harness on it dangling from each baloon. With the help of the baloons, Hawaiians could go on inhabiting the islands without always sticking to things other people owned."
A cable exits from Kilgore Trout's coat sleeve, with a balloon on the end of the cable. In an instant, the balloon quickly inflates to full size, allowing Kilgore to float freely up in the air, preventing him from touching any property the other Smashers may have on the ground.
Floating on the balloon, Kilgore can change his direction easily by moving back and forth, as stated earlier. The opponent can push onto the balloon as well, influencing its movement ever so slightly, although the opponent cannot actually stand on top of it.
Trout can potentially float infinitely high(but he can get KO'd from the top of the screen, like the Wario Waft), but if he or the balloon is attacked, the balloon pops and he goes flying down, a slave to the binding law of gravity once more. He can stop the move at any time by pressing any non-directional
button.
Startup and endtime is very fast. Does no damage.
Down Special Move: Tralfamadorian.
"they were two feet high, and green, and shaped like plumber's friends. Their suction cups were on the ground, and their shafts, which were extremely flexible, usually pointed to the sky. At the top of each shaft was a little hand with a green eye in its palm. The creatures were friendly, and they could see in four dimensions. They pitied Earthlings for being able to see only three. They had many wonderful things to teach Earthlings about time."
Kilgore picks a Tralfamadorian out of the ground, like Captain Olimar. The Tralfamadorian hops and follows him around until an opponent is in sight.
At that time, the alien lunges at them, hitting them several times with their hand-like head. The Tralfamadorian flails around 3-5 times, each flail doing 1-3 damage.(9-15%) The Tralfamadorian disappears after attacking.
Like Olimar's Pikmin, or the chimp from Hail to the Chief, the Tralfamadorian can take one hit before it must return to its native planet. Only one Tralfamadorian will accompany Kilgore at a time, so be careful with them.
Grab:
Simple. Kilgore grabs the enemy with both hands.
Grab Hit:
Simple again. Kilgore headbutts the opponent, like Mario, Luigi, or anyone else with a headbutt throw attack. 1-3%
Forward Throw:
"The story began with a big party in honor of a man who had wiped out an entire species of darling little panda bears. He had devoted his life to this.
Special plates were made for the party, and the guests got to take them home as souvenirs. There was a picture of a little bear on each one, and the date of the party. Underneath the picture was the word:
GILGONGO!
In the language in the planet, that meant "Extinct!""
Gilgongo!
Trout hits the enemy with a toast to the elimination of wild animals and destruction of the ecosystem, saying 'Gilgongo!' as he does so. The toast sends the enemy ahead and upwards, although it cannot kill until higher percents such as 175% or so. Does 6-10%.
Backward Throw:
Mouth Crazy.
Trout brings the enemy behind him before doing the attack. Bringing out a dirty magazine, which contains one of his short stories, he swats at the enemy behind him several times, sending them sliding on the ground backwards. The move has set knockback, justifiable, as it's just a magazine. It does 4-7%.
Upward Throw:
Empire State.
A small replica of the Empire State Building comes out of the ground and hits the opponent upwards. This is probably Kilgore's most powerful throw, particularly on especially light enemies, due to the high knockback. Walking into the building while it is conjured sends the
opponent upward as well. 6-11%
Downward Throw:
The Dirty Movies.
"The humanoids told Don that if he went home with a *****, she would cook him a meal of petroleum and coal products at fancy prices.
And then, while he ate them, she would talk dirty about how fresh and full of natural juices the food was, even though the food was fake."
Trout force-feeds the enemy coal and tells them about how it`s actually delicious, juicy fruit. The digestion of the foul rock causes damage.
Further use of the move on the same opponent does less and less damage overall, as their body gets used to the idea of coal as food. 3-12%
"The premise of the book was this: Life was an experiment by the Creator of the Universe, Who wanted to test a new sort of creature He was thinking of introducing into the Universe. It was a creature with the ability to make up its own mind. All the other creatures were fully programmed robots.
The book was in the form of a long letter from The Creator of the Universe to the experimental creature. The Creator congratulated the creature and apologized for all the discomfort he had endured."
Upon the start of this Final Smash, Kilgore enters a rocketship to search for the one creature with this ability to make up its own mind...
Due to not actually finding him, he must substitute this creature with mentally unstable car salesman Dwayne Hoover.
Kilgore makes Dwayne read his book, knowing previously that the effect of doing so was total chaos, and now using that to his advantage.
Swiftly going mad, Dwayne jumps out of the rocketship into the Smash arena!
Dwayne runs around the field, jumping around like a loon, and harassing the other fighters.(10% on contact)
However, that's not all he will do.
Dwayne will also grab a random Smasher and shake them repeatedly, giggling and grinning as he tells them that they are actually a machine.(Shaking adds up to 20% damage, building up like poison from a Lip's Stick)
He will then punch them offstage.(15% with enough knockback to KO at 60% or so)
Afterwards the police catch up with him.
He is placed in an ambulance, and with a cry of "GOODBYE BLUE MONDAY!" the ambulance will drive off the stage, sending Dwayne off to a mental hospital and doing heavy damage to any Smasher in its path.(45% with enough knockback to kill immediately)
The only downside of the ambulance is that it is relatively easy to dodge.
"He also programmed robots to write books and magazines and newspapers for you, and television and radio shows, and stage shows, and films.
They wrote songs for you. The Creator of the Universe had them invent hundreds of religions, so you would have plenty to choose among. He had them kill each other by the millions, for this purpose only: that you be amazed. They had commited every possible atrocity and every possible kindness unfeelingly, automatically, inevitably, to get a reaction from Y-O-U."
This last word was set in extra-large type and had a line all to itself, so it looked like this:"
"Y - O - U"
Any man would go mad upon this revelation.
Rolling(Forwards)
Kilgore leaps to the ground and rolls on his side.
Rolling(Backwards)
Kilgore jumps back to roll on his side again.
Idle Animation 1
Kilgore uses his right hand to scratch behind his ear.
Idle Animation 2
Kilgore will take a small book out of his coat, toss it once in the air, and put it back.
Idle Animation 3
Kilgore will cross his arms in a confrontational way, and look suspiciously on either side.
Tiptoe
Kilgore moves on his toes, softly without a sound, taking on step at a time.
Walk
Kilgore puts his hands in his pockets and walks at a leisurely pace.
Fast Walk
Kilgore leans his body forward, hands still in his pockets, and walks briskly.
Run
Kilgore pumps his arms from front to back while he dashes ahead.
Cliff Attack(Under 100%)
Kilgore will quickly get on the stage while forcing his right leg ahead of him. 7-8%
Cliff Attack(Over 100%)
In a fit of exhaustion, Kilgore climbs up the cliff onto his knees, before slapping the opponent across the face. 8-10% damage.
Waking(Face-First)
Kilgore gets on his knees, and slaps with his right hand in front of him, and then behind him. Each hit does 6-8% damage.
Waking(Face-Up)
Kilgore kicks ahead with both legs while lying on the ground. He will then get up while hitting backwards with his left palm. Each hit does 4-6% damage.
Credits Music: "Hail, Hail, the Gang's All Here"
Up Taunt: Kilgore takes out and looks at a letter from his biggest fan, Eliot Rosewater. He comments, "It's just a kid."
Side Taunt: Kilgore brushes off his trenchcoat. "Sorry about that, fungi."
Down Taunt: Trout looks down and walks around in circles, fulfilling his one true fantasy, footprints appearing as he does so, and constantly shouting "I am here! I am here! I am here!" as he does so. The taunt continues for as long as the button is held. Man's First Printing Press never looked better.
Victory Theme: Kilgore's victory theme is not actually music, but an audience, going from a slow buildup to few claps to a raucous applause.
Kilgore sneaks across, holding a mirror suspiciously under his arm. "I'm taking a leak! Don't bother me!"
Kilgore holds his pet parakeet, Bill, and talks to him, opening the cage for him to exit. Bill is frightened and re-enters the cage as Kilgore shuts it again. "Good job, Bill. You've still got something to wish for..."
Kilgore crouches to the ground, raises his hands to the air, and cries to his god, "I won, now make me young!"
Kirby Hat: Kirby gets Kur... Kilgore's hairstyle. Hail to the Chief has slightly smaller reach, due to Kirby's size.
Snake Codec: (With Colonel)(To be completed)
S: Colonel. There's a weird guy in a trenchcoat fighting. Do you know who he is?
C: Who?
S: Just some strange guy, in a trenchcoat... with curly hair. Know anything about him?
C: Hmm... they say that his name is Kilgore Trout, at least.
S: Huh. That's a start. Know anything else?
C: Other than the fact that he's from Bermuda and he calls mirrors leaks, no.
S: Colonel, how do you know these random things, but not know what he does?
C: There were some reports from a trucker. But again, he seems like a mysterious character. Watch your back.
Kilgore Trout: Kilgore Trout is a satirical science-fiction writer who had been exposed to many new concepts throughout his life. Although time had not been kind to this washed-up writer, he was rediscovered by the eccentric billionaire Eliot Rosewater, and eventually found his way to success.
Kilgore's short stories are known for their surrealism, along with their serious political commentary.
Now It Can Be Told: When Kilgore learns the great truth of the world, people had better run! Kilgore enters a spaceship to return to his home dimension and returns with one who thinks everyone is a machine, Dwayne Hoover. Dwayne treats everyone on stage as a machine, and as a result, believes that he can hurt them as he pleases! But afterwards, when he is placed in an ambulance, it drives off, causing damage to all who run into it! Who knew this
controversial statement could cause so much chaos?
Hey.
Hey. Hey.
Don't worry. It's not that Navi person. Now.
Listen.
Spam Fourth Dimension and you'll be fine, people say. But that will only get you so far. Many of Kilgore's moves can be divided into moves that are strong but inconvienient, and moves that are weak but quick.
Kilgore's best kill moves are as follows:
The Money Tree
Uncharged The Dancing Fool
The Fourth Dimension
Empire State
2BR02B
Plague On Wheels(Air)
Kilgore's quickest moves are as follows:
Dog's Breakfast
The Fourth Dimension
Golden Wedding
Venus on the Half-Shell
Some moves fall in neither category, and as a result, you would have to be a total egghead to use them:
Asleep at the Switch
The Big Board
This Year's Masterpiece
Kilgore's specials, unlike most of his normals, are very defensively based. Hail to the Chief offers protection from a single attack or projectile.
Plague on Wheels gives Trout a small fortress to drive around in. The Tralfamadorian can also take a hit before disappearing back into their own world.
This Means You doesn't even do damage, instead providing a way for Kilgore to infinitely fly in the air to avoid trepassing on enemy territory.
The key to using Kilgore efficiently is to take advantage of each group of moves in a situation where it demands.
Since Kilgore's strongest moves tend to be ground-based, it is wise to stick to the ground when you are in a situation where the enemy is weak.
Landing The Money Tree is the key, as it has high knockback and great range. However, Fourth Dimension can also work in a pinch, and is difficult to telegraph as well. 2BR02B and Empire State work best at higher damage percentages, and when the opponent is close by. Each of these moves has enough power at a given time to kill off an enemy. So it goes.
Some of Kilgore's other ground moves have interesting properties. The Dancing Fool can damage as Kilgore is charging, although the strongest hitbox is behind Kilgore, as he turns to bean someone in the head with a golf club. The Smart Bunny can work as a unique projectile substitute, if you can call it that.
Kilgore can also work wonders in the air. Although his KO options are mostly limited to Fourth Dimension, he can do some unique things, such as juggling with Dog's Breakfast and leading into an aerial once they are highly damaged. Golden Wedding can work as a Shiek-like maneuver to interfere with recovery for those who remain vulnerable when recovering.
Perhaps one of Kilgore's biggest problems, though, is against projectiles. While he has some measures to perform defensively against them, he has a problem actually trying to get close to snare the kill. Since more of Kilgore's moves are close range, he has problems trying to deal damage as well. Plague on Wheels can be used as an option to get in close, and jump-in Fourth Dimension is always worth a shot, although it's hard to time against certain projectiles.
Disjointed hitboxes, such as characters like Marth or Ivysaur, also pose a problem for Kilgore. Unlike against projectile users, his options tend to be fairly limited. It's tough to get in, or give yourself a brief meatshield if they are trying to get close to you. Kilgore has to be patient, and take advantage of any time where they are recovering from an attack.
Alright. I'm ready for my second shot at this. Here goes nothing.
Kilgore Trout
First off, Kurt Vonnegut is one of my favourite authors of all time. I'm a big fan of the distinctly human way that he writes, with no real good or bad. Only jokes and satire about everything in existence and drabbles about how the human race has no hope and deserves to die horribly. He also died on my birthday.
So it goes.
Kilgore Trout is one of Kurt's most iconic characters, appearing in a variety of books he has written. While initially he was based on another author, Theodore Sturgeon, he eventually evolved to become Kurt's link to the universe of his postmodern fiction.
This is my 'fancy' character, where I work my hardest to make every single move relate back to the character himself, like what I did with Johnny Turbo back in MYM2, and what I tried to do with Strago. A lot of the earlier movesets tended to have bonus points for having a lot of references, so I was kind of used to that facet. So here's my last hurrah for the idea, and it's one big Super Smash love letter to the character and style of Kilgore Trout. I'll do my best.
The main part of the moveset is complete. It is mostly extraneous things that I still have to fill in(animations, mostly).
My next character will my first shot at a 'flow' character, so keep an eye for that one.
Here it goes.
Appearance: Appears almost exactly like Kurt Vonnegut, because Kilgore is essentially Vonnegut himself. Perhaps.
He is a man in his 50s or 60s, jaded with the world around him, and having fun at others' expense to make up for it.
Kilgore also wears a thick, beige trenchcoat, almost hiding from the world around him, as it frightens and fascinates him.
Vital Statistics:
Size: 4/5
Kilgore is the size on an average man, more or less. Probably around Captain Falcon's height, if not a little shorter.
Speed: 3/5
Even if Kilgore was a svelte, strong athlete when he was younger, age has slowly taken its toll on him.
Weight: 3/5
Kilgore is of average weight, and as such, gets KO'd at an average rate.
Jump Height: 2/5
Referring back to speed, age does have profound effects on a person.
Fall Speed: 3/5
There really is little to say on the subject of the rate of falling, when it comes down to brass tacks, but Kilgore has an average one of those, I suppose.
Traction: 4/5
Kilgore can stop fairly easily, though not without the laws of physics applying to him.
Can he...
Crawl?: Yeah. Can't everyone?
Walljump?: No. He's not as strong as he used to be...
Wallcling?: No. See above.
Glide?: No. He's not much of a flyer.
Alternate Costumes
Beige trenchcoat(default)
Dark red trenchcoat(Red Team)
Baby blue trenchcoat(Blue Team)
Dark green trenchcoat(Green Team)
Black trenchcoat
Entrance: Kilgore appears and creeps towards his spot on the field, seemingly not wanting to be noticed, but perhaps no one wanted to notice him...
Series: Kurt Vonnegut
Logo: A Tralfamadorian head. You'll see one soon, I promise.
Wiimote Sound: "Now, it can be told."
Trivia: Kilgore will say "So it goes." When he is KO'd.
Like Strago Magus and Johnny Turbo before him, every single one of Kilgore's moves make some reference to his own universe. Specifically, his vast collection of short stories.
Much of Vonnegut's writing style focuses on non-sequiturs and absurd situations, oftentimes with a description of a Trout short story integrated in the book, so I try to stay true to that universe.
Most of Kilgore's movelist derives from his short stories from the book 'Breakfast of Champions', as he is one of the main characters in that novel. The idea for maintaining the non-sequitur nature of his moveset not only derives from Vonnegut's own postmodern writing style, but also from a concept in Breakfast of Champions, where Vonnegut is the god of his own personal universe, explored in his fiction.
Of course, this does raise the question on whether Kilgore Trout was the one who actually wrote about the concept of Super Smash Brothers, but try not to think too hard about that.
Thanks to the wonders of Internet research, I can now relate most of Kilgore's moves to their respective story without having to find the book I have which has them. Quotes from each short story of note(if applicable) appear to familiarize the reader with each one.
Playstyle:
Kilgore is a fairly balanced character, with moves for most types of situations at hand. He has some moves suited for racking up damage, and others suited for the final blow. He is only limited by the power of his imagination, which he keeps hidden through his links to the universe. Like Billy Pilgrim and his time doors for Slaughterhouse-Five, or like how Kurt Vonnegut left the world of Breakfast of Champions through a warp at the end of that book, Kilgore's trenchcoat allows him to conceal the paths to the universe of his stories.
One of Kilgore's main strengths is his unpredictability. Schrodinger Fu, TVTropes might say. His home literature(And home universe) is riddled with all sorts of strange and magical things taken for granted. Just like Kurt Vonnegut is the god of his stories and can conjure and change things as needed,(Particularly noted in Breakfast of Champions) Kilgore is the god of his own imagination, it being open to all sorts of concepts and possibilities.
Just like Kurt, Kilgore's stories focus on satirical tirades against society while integrating it with his characteristic surrealism.
However, while conjuring up images and symbols for his books does allow Kilgore the power he needs to take on enemies, they are also his weakness in a way.
Conjuring up these images for each time he attacks prevents him from being on his guard and aware at all times. Therefore Kilgore must be very careful with using his imagination. One mistaken story for one mistaken situation, and Kilgore will be back to his forgotten state.
As a result, Kilgore Trout is a character best-suited for mind games, and taking advantage of times where his opponent is off-guard, and punishing their mistakes.
Normal Attacks
Jab:
How You Doin'?
"Trout wrote a novel one time which he called How You Doin'? and it was about national averages for this and that. And advertising agency on another planet had a successful campaign for the local equivalent of Earthling peanut butter.
...
The ad went on to say that superior and inferior people alike ate such and such brand of peanut butter. Except that it wasn't really peanut butter on that planet. It was Shazzbutter."
Kilgore Trout hits the opponent in the jaw with a jar of Shazzbutter he takes out of his coat.
On the average smasher, like Mario, the move can be good for sending the enemy away for a certain distance, functioning almost like Ganondorf's Thunder Punch. Due to the fact that Kilgore must conjure and remove the Shazzbutter from his coat, there is a little bit of lag associated with this attack, and it takes about 1 second to perform completely. Does 5-8%
Dash Attack:
Asleep At the Switch.
Kilgore falls and briefly sleeps onto his enemy, face-first. The enemy is essentially trapped under him at this time.
He wakes up soon afterwards. Since he sleeps regardless of whether he hits or not, most Kilgore players advise to avoid this move. Does 4-6%
Forward Tilt:
2BR02B.(To be or not/naught to be)
"Everything was perfectly swell.
There were no prisons, no slums, no insane asylums, no cripples, no poverty, no wars.
All diseases were conquered. So was old age.
Death, barring accidents, was an adventure for volunteers."
Kilgore slides ahead and briefly ages, his hands flailing ahead of him like an imbecille, before reverting back to normal.
The move starts and ends fairly quickly, and has an acceptable amount of knockback ahead of Kilgore. It can work as a kill move at high enough percents, such as 150%.
The attack also sends Kilgore forward. 4-8%
Up Tilt:
Dog's Breakfast.
Kilgore fist-pumps a can of dog food above his head, presumably it being the breakfast of a dog. The move has a small bit of knockback upwards, and can juggle at lower percents. The move is also very quick to start and end. 5-9%
Down Tilt:
The Big Board.
"These fictitious people in the zoo had a big board supposedly showing stock market quotations and commodity prices along one wall of their habitat, and a news ticker, and a telephone that was supposedly connected to a brokerage on Earth. The creatures on Zircon-212 told their captives that they had invested a million dollars for them back on Earth, and that it was up to the captives to manage it so that they would be fabulously wealthy when they were returned to Earth."
Kilgore quickly does some stock taxes, which print out of a calculator he brought out while crouching. Contact with the taxes does 6-11% damage.
The startup is somewhat slow, due to the calculations having to be made, though the taxes have okay reach, printing out a small amount across the floor. Perhaps opponents are damaged not just by the action of calculating the stocks, but also by the collective greed inherent in the rat race...
Smashes
Forward Smash:
The Smart Bunny.
"The leading character was a rabbit who lived like all the other wild rabbits, but who was as intelligent as Albert Einstein or William Shakespeare.
It was a female rabbit. She was the only female leading character in any novel or story by Kilgore Trout.
She led a normal female rabbit's life, despite her ballooning intellect. She concluded that her mind was useless, that it was a sort of tumor, that it had no usefulness within the rabbit scheme of things."
Kilgore foists a large-headed rabbit ahead of him to maul the opponent. The rabbit is essentially thrown onto the enemy, but it doesn't stick to the opponent. Rather, after its purpose is served, is simply disappears, the bunny knowing it is unable to function in its environment. Kilgore, knowing what the bunny knows, simply removes it from existence. 15-23%
The bunny is actually a projectile, which doesn't travel too far. About the same distance as a Pikmin from Olimar's fsmash. Regardless, it still can serve the function of a projectile, and cancel out another one heading towards Kilgore.
Upward Smash:
The Money Tree.
"Trout, incidentally, had written a book about a money tree. It had twenty-dollar bills for leaves. Its flowers were government bonds. Its fruit was diamonds. It attracted human beings who killed each other around the roots and made very good fertilizer. So it goes."
A money tree lunges upwards from where Trout stands, as he faces the player, arms crossed, before retracting into the ground. Hitting the actual trunk of the tree causes massive knockback, while hitting the dollar-bill leaves does not. 16-26%
The money tree itself is slightly higher than Kilgore's height, so approximately the height of Bowser or Donkey Kong. It is about the same width as well.
Since hitting the wooden part of the tree is where the damage comes from, the move is best executed when the opponent is in close range of Kilgore.
Downward Smash:
The Dancing Fool.
"A flying saucer creature named Zog arrived on Earth to explain how wars could be prevented and how cancer could be cured. He brought the information from Margo, a planet where the natives conversed by means of farts and tap dancing.
Zog landed at night in Connectitut. He had no sooner touched down than he saw a house on fire. He rushed into the house, farting and tap dancing, warning the people about the terrible danger they were in. The head of the house brained Zog with a golf club."
A multi-legged alien, the size of Kilgore Trout, appears and dances and farts around him when the attack is charging, doing damage to anyone it encounters as Kilgore charges the smash.
Kilgore eventually brains it as it moves behind him with a golf club, doing more damage to anyone in the way. Contact with the alien causes 3-6% damage,
while contact with the golf club does 17-26%. If the smash is released immediately, Kilgore will simply turn around bring the golf club down on an enemy behind him.
Aerial Attacks
Neutral Aerial:
The Fourth Dimension.
"The book was called Maniacs in the Fourth Dimension, by Kilgore Trout. It was about people, whose mental diseases couldn't be treated because the causes of the diseases were all in the fourth dimension, and three-dimensional Earthling doctors couldn't see those causes at all, or even imagine them.
One thing Trout said that Rosewater liked very much was that there really were vampires and were-wolves and goblins and angels and so on, but that they were in the fourth dimension. So was William Blake, Rosewater's favorite poet, according to Trout. So were heaven and hell."
Trout briefly phases in and out of the fourth dimension, similar in appearance to television static, doing electric damage.
The entire attack takes about half a second. Kilgore is invincible when he turns to static very briefly, even to projectiles.
He remains stationary in his jump pose as he does the move.
Does 9-15%.
If one is in direct contact with Kilgore as he performs this attack, they are taken into the fourth dimension as well, complete with static effect, and are knocked back from the shock.
Knockback is fairly high in this situation, and can kill at relatively low percents off the side for light characters(75%-80%).
If one goes into contact with Trout as he is phasing, they will still be hit back, but not nearly as much. The damage will also be lower. (Halved)
Forward Aerial:
Golden Wedding.
Trout hits the enemy similar to the way Shiek does, only holding a golden top hat. Since Kilgore conjures the hat as he attacks, the startup is very fast.
The knockback is fairly weak, not being nearly enough to KO the enemy at any percent, but can be good for stopping recovery. 5-9%
Backward Aerial:
My Ten Years on Automatic Pilot.
Kilgore pretends to shoot backwards like on a war plane, launching his hands back and forth as he does so. However, on contact with Kilgore's hands,
the opponent is lit on fire, as if they were actually shot from a plane. It does several small hits, each doing 3-5%. This builds up to become 15-25% if all hits connect, though.
Upward Aerial:
Venus On the Half-Shell.
Trout takes the planet Venus, which he has conjured above his head and in his hands, and tears it apart. Hitboxes are on either side of Kilgore's hands with part of the planet on them. The attack has fairly little lag upon landing, due to being in an almost standing pose, making it a good choice for an aerial to use or spam. It can work as a kill move at high enough percentages(115-140%) Does 9-15% damage.
Downward Aerial:
This Year's Masterpiece.
"The name of the planet where Trout's book took place was Bagnialto, and a "Barring-gaffner" there was a government official who spun a wheel of chance once a year. Citizens submitted works of art to the government, and these were given numbers, and then they were assigned cash values according to the Barring-gaffner's spins of the wheel."
Trout sits in a giant wheel of chance, which spins into the ground, similar to Bowser's dair. Each little hit does 2-4%. It does multiple hits,(Up to 10, so it can do 20-40% if all hits connect) but it cannot spike, and has much lag when he returns to earth.
(picture of a roulette wheel)
Special Moves
Standard Special Move: Hail to the Chief.
"Trout couldn't tell one politician from another one. They were all formlessly enthusiastic chimpanzees to him. He wrote a story one time about an optimistic chimpanzee who became President of the United States. He called it "Hail to the Chief."
The chimpanzee wore little blue blazer with brass buttons, and with the seal of the President of the United States sewed to the breast pocket.
Everywhere he went, bands would play "Hail to the Chief." The chimpanzee loved it. He would bounce up and down."
Kilgore summons a chimpanzee in a presidential blazer and hat. Since the chimp is a curious type of animal, it will, obviously, explore the stage and/or engage in wacky hijinx. But, for the sake of it not being an Assist Trophy or anything, the chimp will just jump around Kilgore, shielding him forwards then backwards then forwards again. If hit, the chimp screeches and hides behind Trout into the background, so as not to be seen by the player.
Contact with the chimp does 3-5% damage. Hitting the chimp with anything, though, even a projectile, will cause it to shriek and hide.
Side Special Move: Plague on Wheels.
"The words in the book, incidentally, were about life on a dying planet named Lingo-Three, whose inhabitants resembled American automobiles.
They had wheels. They were powered by internal combustion engines. They ate fossil fuels. They weren't manufactured, though. They reproduced.
They laid eggs containing baby automobiles, and the babies matured in pools of oil drained from adult crankcases.
Lingo Three was visited by space travelers, who learned that the creatures were becoming extinct for this reason:
they had destroyed their planet's resources, including its atmosphere."
Trout conjures and enters a old car and drives ahead. The function of the move is similar to the Wario Bike. Contact with the car does 10-16%(A bit lenient, considering it's a two-ton death machine) and knockback ahead of Kilgore Trout. Kilgore can exit the car at any time by pressing either A or B, where he will close it, and it will remain on the stage until he wishes to drive it again, or until it eventually fades away.
Like the Wario Bike, Kilgore can accelerate and decelerate the car to suit his needs. He can also taunt from there. (He will offer a V for victory sign to the player.)
Despite the fact that it's a car we're talking about here, Plague on Wheels has surprisingly little knockback, and can actually be destroyed once it sustains 20% damage.
It's not recommended to be a kill move.
Unusually, if the attack is used in the air, in an odd display of realism, the car will simply drive downwards and crash.
The crash does 20% if it hits an enemy, and leave a burning hunk of garbage on the stage should it land on it, which can be broken into pieces, or eventually fade away.
However, Kilgore should never use this move when trying to recover, as it will send him careening down to his demise.
Only one automobile will remain on stage at a time.
Up Special Move: This Means You.
"It was set in the Hawaiian Islands, the place where the lucky winners of Dwayne Hoover's contest in Midland City were supposed to go. Every bit of land on the islands was owned by only about forty people, and, in the story, Trout had those people decide to excercise their property rights to the full.
They put up no trespassing signs on everything.
This created terrible problems for the million other people on the islands. The law of gravity required that they stick somewhere on the surface. Either that, or they could go out into the water and bob offshore.
But the Federal Government came through with an emergency program. It gave a big baloon full of helium to every man, woman and child who didn't own property.
There was a cable with a harness on it dangling from each baloon. With the help of the baloons, Hawaiians could go on inhabiting the islands without always sticking to things other people owned."
A cable exits from Kilgore Trout's coat sleeve, with a balloon on the end of the cable. In an instant, the balloon quickly inflates to full size, allowing Kilgore to float freely up in the air, preventing him from touching any property the other Smashers may have on the ground.
Floating on the balloon, Kilgore can change his direction easily by moving back and forth, as stated earlier. The opponent can push onto the balloon as well, influencing its movement ever so slightly, although the opponent cannot actually stand on top of it.
Trout can potentially float infinitely high(but he can get KO'd from the top of the screen, like the Wario Waft), but if he or the balloon is attacked, the balloon pops and he goes flying down, a slave to the binding law of gravity once more. He can stop the move at any time by pressing any non-directional
button.
Startup and endtime is very fast. Does no damage.
Down Special Move: Tralfamadorian.
"they were two feet high, and green, and shaped like plumber's friends. Their suction cups were on the ground, and their shafts, which were extremely flexible, usually pointed to the sky. At the top of each shaft was a little hand with a green eye in its palm. The creatures were friendly, and they could see in four dimensions. They pitied Earthlings for being able to see only three. They had many wonderful things to teach Earthlings about time."
Kilgore picks a Tralfamadorian out of the ground, like Captain Olimar. The Tralfamadorian hops and follows him around until an opponent is in sight.
At that time, the alien lunges at them, hitting them several times with their hand-like head. The Tralfamadorian flails around 3-5 times, each flail doing 1-3 damage.(9-15%) The Tralfamadorian disappears after attacking.
Like Olimar's Pikmin, or the chimp from Hail to the Chief, the Tralfamadorian can take one hit before it must return to its native planet. Only one Tralfamadorian will accompany Kilgore at a time, so be careful with them.
Throws
Grab:
Simple. Kilgore grabs the enemy with both hands.
Grab Hit:
Simple again. Kilgore headbutts the opponent, like Mario, Luigi, or anyone else with a headbutt throw attack. 1-3%
Forward Throw:
"The story began with a big party in honor of a man who had wiped out an entire species of darling little panda bears. He had devoted his life to this.
Special plates were made for the party, and the guests got to take them home as souvenirs. There was a picture of a little bear on each one, and the date of the party. Underneath the picture was the word:
GILGONGO!
In the language in the planet, that meant "Extinct!""
Gilgongo!
Trout hits the enemy with a toast to the elimination of wild animals and destruction of the ecosystem, saying 'Gilgongo!' as he does so. The toast sends the enemy ahead and upwards, although it cannot kill until higher percents such as 175% or so. Does 6-10%.
Backward Throw:
Mouth Crazy.
Trout brings the enemy behind him before doing the attack. Bringing out a dirty magazine, which contains one of his short stories, he swats at the enemy behind him several times, sending them sliding on the ground backwards. The move has set knockback, justifiable, as it's just a magazine. It does 4-7%.
Upward Throw:
Empire State.
A small replica of the Empire State Building comes out of the ground and hits the opponent upwards. This is probably Kilgore's most powerful throw, particularly on especially light enemies, due to the high knockback. Walking into the building while it is conjured sends the
opponent upward as well. 6-11%
Downward Throw:
The Dirty Movies.
"The humanoids told Don that if he went home with a *****, she would cook him a meal of petroleum and coal products at fancy prices.
And then, while he ate them, she would talk dirty about how fresh and full of natural juices the food was, even though the food was fake."
Trout force-feeds the enemy coal and tells them about how it`s actually delicious, juicy fruit. The digestion of the foul rock causes damage.
Further use of the move on the same opponent does less and less damage overall, as their body gets used to the idea of coal as food. 3-12%
Final Smash: Now It Can Be Told.
"The premise of the book was this: Life was an experiment by the Creator of the Universe, Who wanted to test a new sort of creature He was thinking of introducing into the Universe. It was a creature with the ability to make up its own mind. All the other creatures were fully programmed robots.
The book was in the form of a long letter from The Creator of the Universe to the experimental creature. The Creator congratulated the creature and apologized for all the discomfort he had endured."
Upon the start of this Final Smash, Kilgore enters a rocketship to search for the one creature with this ability to make up its own mind...
Due to not actually finding him, he must substitute this creature with mentally unstable car salesman Dwayne Hoover.
Kilgore makes Dwayne read his book, knowing previously that the effect of doing so was total chaos, and now using that to his advantage.
Swiftly going mad, Dwayne jumps out of the rocketship into the Smash arena!
Dwayne runs around the field, jumping around like a loon, and harassing the other fighters.(10% on contact)
However, that's not all he will do.
Dwayne will also grab a random Smasher and shake them repeatedly, giggling and grinning as he tells them that they are actually a machine.(Shaking adds up to 20% damage, building up like poison from a Lip's Stick)
He will then punch them offstage.(15% with enough knockback to KO at 60% or so)
Afterwards the police catch up with him.
He is placed in an ambulance, and with a cry of "GOODBYE BLUE MONDAY!" the ambulance will drive off the stage, sending Dwayne off to a mental hospital and doing heavy damage to any Smasher in its path.(45% with enough knockback to kill immediately)
The only downside of the ambulance is that it is relatively easy to dodge.
"He also programmed robots to write books and magazines and newspapers for you, and television and radio shows, and stage shows, and films.
They wrote songs for you. The Creator of the Universe had them invent hundreds of religions, so you would have plenty to choose among. He had them kill each other by the millions, for this purpose only: that you be amazed. They had commited every possible atrocity and every possible kindness unfeelingly, automatically, inevitably, to get a reaction from Y-O-U."
This last word was set in extra-large type and had a line all to itself, so it looked like this:"
"Y - O - U"
Any man would go mad upon this revelation.
Animations:
Rolling(Forwards)
Kilgore leaps to the ground and rolls on his side.
Rolling(Backwards)
Kilgore jumps back to roll on his side again.
Idle Animation 1
Kilgore uses his right hand to scratch behind his ear.
Idle Animation 2
Kilgore will take a small book out of his coat, toss it once in the air, and put it back.
Idle Animation 3
Kilgore will cross his arms in a confrontational way, and look suspiciously on either side.
Tiptoe
Kilgore moves on his toes, softly without a sound, taking on step at a time.
Walk
Kilgore puts his hands in his pockets and walks at a leisurely pace.
Fast Walk
Kilgore leans his body forward, hands still in his pockets, and walks briskly.
Run
Kilgore pumps his arms from front to back while he dashes ahead.
Cliff Attack(Under 100%)
Kilgore will quickly get on the stage while forcing his right leg ahead of him. 7-8%
Cliff Attack(Over 100%)
In a fit of exhaustion, Kilgore climbs up the cliff onto his knees, before slapping the opponent across the face. 8-10% damage.
Waking(Face-First)
Kilgore gets on his knees, and slaps with his right hand in front of him, and then behind him. Each hit does 6-8% damage.
Waking(Face-Up)
Kilgore kicks ahead with both legs while lying on the ground. He will then get up while hitting backwards with his left palm. Each hit does 4-6% damage.
Credits Music: "Hail, Hail, the Gang's All Here"
Extras
Up Taunt: Kilgore takes out and looks at a letter from his biggest fan, Eliot Rosewater. He comments, "It's just a kid."
Side Taunt: Kilgore brushes off his trenchcoat. "Sorry about that, fungi."
Down Taunt: Trout looks down and walks around in circles, fulfilling his one true fantasy, footprints appearing as he does so, and constantly shouting "I am here! I am here! I am here!" as he does so. The taunt continues for as long as the button is held. Man's First Printing Press never looked better.
Victory Poses:
Victory Theme: Kilgore's victory theme is not actually music, but an audience, going from a slow buildup to few claps to a raucous applause.
Kilgore sneaks across, holding a mirror suspiciously under his arm. "I'm taking a leak! Don't bother me!"
Kilgore holds his pet parakeet, Bill, and talks to him, opening the cage for him to exit. Bill is frightened and re-enters the cage as Kilgore shuts it again. "Good job, Bill. You've still got something to wish for..."
Kilgore crouches to the ground, raises his hands to the air, and cries to his god, "I won, now make me young!"
Snake Codec: (With Colonel)(To be completed)
S: Colonel. There's a weird guy in a trenchcoat fighting. Do you know who he is?
C: Who?
S: Just some strange guy, in a trenchcoat... with curly hair. Know anything about him?
C: Hmm... they say that his name is Kilgore Trout, at least.
S: Huh. That's a start. Know anything else?
C: Other than the fact that he's from Bermuda and he calls mirrors leaks, no.
S: Colonel, how do you know these random things, but not know what he does?
C: There were some reports from a trucker. But again, he seems like a mysterious character. Watch your back.
Trophy Data:
(Written in the classic cheesy SSBM/SSBB trophy description style as I always have)
(Written in the classic cheesy SSBM/SSBB trophy description style as I always have)
Kilgore Trout: Kilgore Trout is a satirical science-fiction writer who had been exposed to many new concepts throughout his life. Although time had not been kind to this washed-up writer, he was rediscovered by the eccentric billionaire Eliot Rosewater, and eventually found his way to success.
Kilgore's short stories are known for their surrealism, along with their serious political commentary.
Now It Can Be Told: When Kilgore learns the great truth of the world, people had better run! Kilgore enters a spaceship to return to his home dimension and returns with one who thinks everyone is a machine, Dwayne Hoover. Dwayne treats everyone on stage as a machine, and as a result, believes that he can hurt them as he pleases! But afterwards, when he is placed in an ambulance, it drives off, causing damage to all who run into it! Who knew this
controversial statement could cause so much chaos?
Kilgore Strategy:
Hey.
Hey. Hey.
Don't worry. It's not that Navi person. Now.
Listen.
Spam Fourth Dimension and you'll be fine, people say. But that will only get you so far. Many of Kilgore's moves can be divided into moves that are strong but inconvienient, and moves that are weak but quick.
Kilgore's best kill moves are as follows:
The Money Tree
Uncharged The Dancing Fool
The Fourth Dimension
Empire State
2BR02B
Plague On Wheels(Air)
Kilgore's quickest moves are as follows:
Dog's Breakfast
The Fourth Dimension
Golden Wedding
Venus on the Half-Shell
Some moves fall in neither category, and as a result, you would have to be a total egghead to use them:
Asleep at the Switch
The Big Board
This Year's Masterpiece
Kilgore's specials, unlike most of his normals, are very defensively based. Hail to the Chief offers protection from a single attack or projectile.
Plague on Wheels gives Trout a small fortress to drive around in. The Tralfamadorian can also take a hit before disappearing back into their own world.
This Means You doesn't even do damage, instead providing a way for Kilgore to infinitely fly in the air to avoid trepassing on enemy territory.
The key to using Kilgore efficiently is to take advantage of each group of moves in a situation where it demands.
Since Kilgore's strongest moves tend to be ground-based, it is wise to stick to the ground when you are in a situation where the enemy is weak.
Landing The Money Tree is the key, as it has high knockback and great range. However, Fourth Dimension can also work in a pinch, and is difficult to telegraph as well. 2BR02B and Empire State work best at higher damage percentages, and when the opponent is close by. Each of these moves has enough power at a given time to kill off an enemy. So it goes.
Some of Kilgore's other ground moves have interesting properties. The Dancing Fool can damage as Kilgore is charging, although the strongest hitbox is behind Kilgore, as he turns to bean someone in the head with a golf club. The Smart Bunny can work as a unique projectile substitute, if you can call it that.
Kilgore can also work wonders in the air. Although his KO options are mostly limited to Fourth Dimension, he can do some unique things, such as juggling with Dog's Breakfast and leading into an aerial once they are highly damaged. Golden Wedding can work as a Shiek-like maneuver to interfere with recovery for those who remain vulnerable when recovering.
Perhaps one of Kilgore's biggest problems, though, is against projectiles. While he has some measures to perform defensively against them, he has a problem actually trying to get close to snare the kill. Since more of Kilgore's moves are close range, he has problems trying to deal damage as well. Plague on Wheels can be used as an option to get in close, and jump-in Fourth Dimension is always worth a shot, although it's hard to time against certain projectiles.
Disjointed hitboxes, such as characters like Marth or Ivysaur, also pose a problem for Kilgore. Unlike against projectile users, his options tend to be fairly limited. It's tough to get in, or give yourself a brief meatshield if they are trying to get close to you. Kilgore has to be patient, and take advantage of any time where they are recovering from an attack.
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