Job #4: Submit a Metroid Assist Trophy
Hmm... okay, there's some personal bias from me here, but let's do this!
Character Name: Trace
Character Origin: Metroid Prime: Hunters (2006)
Character Alignment: Kriken Empire
Photo Origin: Super Smash Bros. Brawl (SSBWiki)
Who?
Trace is one of the six new characters introduced in the DS title
Metroid Prime: Hunters. A new instalment of the Prime series, it introduces six Hunters from across the universe, all of whom are drawn by an unknown force to acquire a source of infinite power in the Alimbic Cluster. Trace is one of these Hunters.
Trace himself is a bounty hunter of the Kriken Empire, a major faction in the universe that is allied against both the Galactic Federation and the Space Pirates (both factions agreeing that the Kriken ought to be destroyed, despite not as of yet working in unison to achieve this goal). The Kriken Empire is known for its exceptionally violent nature, with Trace himself being a young Kriken sent to find planets to conquer as part of his role as a bounty hunter, as a rite of passage for their people.
What?
In this game, I think it'd be a good idea to really play into the various abilities that Trace specifically possesses. Whilst many concepts for arguably
Hunter's most prominent new character, Sylux, suggest that he'd act as a representative of all of these characters, Trace alone possesses quite a lot of unique skills and abilities that would make him a frightening force - such as his use of the Imperialist, a long-range, sniper-like weapon with zooming capabilities, the Triskelion, an alternate form for him that has him biomorph into a three-legged version of himself, and the ability to become invisible seemingly at will.
How?
In terms of Trace's nature, he'd be allied with the fighter that summons him. During this process, he'll act in one of two ways in relation to an opponent. Firstly, he's able to turn invisible at will, and doing so will allow him to move freely and position himself as needed. Now, he'll be able to set up one of two attacks.
The first is his use of the Imperialist, during which he'll act to move away from the opponent and attack with ranged hits from across the battlefield. The shots fired have a stunning effect and quite high damage, but low knockback due to the nature of their distance and the like. This does allow the fighter summoning him to take this opportunity to attack, however. If approached closely whilst in this mode, he'll try and slash opponents away with his other arm. Notably, the shots fired from this weapon can be intercepted by walls, items, or other fighters, and it'll have a unique visual effect in the form of a laser sight, indicating from across the field as to where he's going to fire.
The second is his use of the Triskelion, during which he'll fold into that form, crawling toward the opponent. Notably, he's able to crawl up vertical surfaces and even onto ceilings in order to hunt them down, moving at quite a rapid pace before activating his Jump Strike attack on them, which deals quite high damage and knockback. However, if he misses the jump, he'll be locked in that arc until he lands. He'll attempt a Jump Strike twice before reverting to the Imperialist as a method of attack.
Why?
Aside from my own personal biases toward Trace specifically, I find him to be a quite interesting presence in the canon of
Metroid Prime as a whole. A representative of the Kriken Empire, one of the only forces destructive enough to have come even close to uniting the Space Pirates and the Galactic Federation, he acts well as a sort of third-party. Not only this, but he's vital representation for the DS console, which you have to remember is Nintendo's best-selling console of
all time. He represents a quite experimental, but important title -
Hunters - notable particularly due to it being the full version of
First Hunt, a demo included as a launch title for the system. Not only this, but he leaves open characters like Sylux to get a playable role in hypothetical DLC or anything of the like - a character more notable in the Prime series as a whole. Lastly... I think his abilities, appearance, and overall vibe fits the role well. Trace is a cold and calculated emissary of a violent and horrifying presence that we barely know in the Prime series, and I think that idea of representing the wider universe of the Metroid series is a good place to go with a concept such as this.
