"Come. See what happens when you defy the universe itself!"
The Shogun of Jark Matter
Don Armage
Created from the despair and suffering of the universe itself, Don Armage is an ancient, immortal being, and the lead villain of Uchuu Sentai Kyuranger. He leads the evil empire known as Jark Matter, which controls the entirety of the universe. He remains enigmatic throughout most of the show, only showing up in a Sheev-style cloak. It isn't until the Kyurangers time travel to his first defeat when we find out more about him, including getting to see him for the first time as a brain covered Grim Reaper.
However, that isn't the real Don Armage. Don Armage is capable of cloning himself and uses this power to spread himself through the universe and control it much more effectively. Eventually, after killing him several times, it becomes apparent to the Kyurangers that Don Armage is truly immortal. This is explained by way of his power to possess others when he is close to death, an ability he used on Kuervo, the ranger Phoenix Soldier's old war friend who died protecting him from Don Armage himself. However, this isn't even where this end, as after Kuervo is killed, the Don goes on to possess Phoenix Soldier himself! However, THAT isn't the end either, as Don Armage, the true one, finally appears once he has been separated from Phoenix Soldier.
It's only during the final fight, in his true final form, that we learn what Don Armage truly is. At this point, he absorbs every single living being in the universe, and declares himself to BE the universe itself. It takes all twelve Rangers, their most powerful mech, the power of every constellation, three separate finishing moves, and the power of every living being in the universe in order to take him down, in what might honestly be one of the most extravagant Sentai final battles of all time.
A thing to note is that, despite the possession, there's a strange implication that Kuervo is entirely in control when being possessed by him. Given what we see of Kuervo's motivations, and how different the real Don Armage's are, this just seems to strengthen this possibility even more. And if you can't tell, his name is a terrible pun.
Jark Stats
Weight – 116
Running Speed - 1.2
Walking Speed - 0.73
Air Speed - 0.8
Fall Speed - 1.65
Don Armage enters the battle in his ultimate form, which is rather unwieldy and clunky. As such, he has fairly terrible stats around the board, edging close to just being a heavier Ganondorf. His model is bulky, letting him stand slightly wider than Ganondorf as well. His height is also comparable to Falcon and Ganondorf, but the ring on his back edges him out slightly, and even then, he's also slightly taller counting the head. His run animation is also awkward looking, much like Ganondorf's. His jumps are actually fairly good for his size class as well.
As a note, during idle and running animations, Armage will always carry his two swords. In his left hand he'll carry the sword pointing downwards, and in his right, he’ll carry it pointing upwards. This comes to play, though not in an especially important way, during a handful of moves.
Also, of note, Don Armage’s intro animation has him starting in his “imperfect” form, before swallowing up everyone in the universe in order to shift into his final, perfect form. This does have some relevance to the set.
Jark Specials
Neutral Special - I Am the Universe!
Armage lets out a roar as a swirling, pink and purple vortex surrounds him, centering on his chest. The vortex is around 3/4ths the size of a Smart Bomb explosion, and is instantly created after a bit of lag. This vortex can be held indefinitely, but Armage is incapable of actually doing anything else while holding it. Its start-up lag is slow, but not extremely so, taking around the lag of a Bob-Omb explosion start-up in order to perform. The effect of the move only happens once an opponent steps into the vortex. Instead of being sucked in, they will enter a short stun state as a piece of Planetium is taken from their body and absorbed into Don Armage's. Planetium is one of the most important parts of Don Armage's arsenal.
Planetium is a floating orb of pink energy, which is a common plot device in Kyuranger. Its a force created from planets themselves and is what Armage uses to power his own body. It can also be found within living beings as well, as demonstrated when Armage converts every living creature in the universe into Planetium in order to fuel his final form. When the Don collects a piece of Planetium from the opponents, he will get a slight boost to speed and damage, but not to knockback. This only really becomes noticeable when Armage gains around five stacks of Planetium boosts however, that's how small the boost is. At five stacks, Armage will gain a total of +0.25x boost, but he can gain a total of 20 Planetium stacks in a match, totaling out at a +1x bonus. This might seem like a lot, but its incredibly difficult to get 20 stacks.
The main reason is that this is one of the only moves in Armage's set that lets him collect Planetium, and its a fairly slow and telegraphed attack. The second is that each opponent only has a certain amount of Planetium in them. Specifically, every character only carries two per stock, totaling in six if you're playing a full 3-stock match. Third reason is that, when KOed, Armage will lose the stack as well. The final reason is that Armage will have to use these buffs to power some of his more useful abilities, which we'll get to soon. But don't worry, it isn't possible to run out of Planetium and just be out of it until you manage to KO someone. When KOed, the Planetium will return to the players it was taken from, allowing the Don to potentially steal it again in his next life.
Players aren't the only thing that Don Armage can take Planetium from, however. He can take them from minions as well, who unlike players, WILL get sucked into Armage's body if they enter the vortex. This will transform them into 0.5-3 Planetium buffs, depending on the strength, and also do something else quite special. You see, the minion is kept alive inside of Armage's body, which circumvents the opponent's ability to summon any more of them. For example, if all three of Olimar's Pikmin were to enter the vortex, he would not be able to pluck any more of them because, technically, all three are still on the stage. Just to note, the entire reason the lowest amount of buffs for this is 0.5 is because of the Pikmin. You can indeed take this to mean that Armage is great on the Olimar matchup. Also, if Armage is KOed during this time, then the minions will go out with him, and then the opponents will be able to summon them again. This will also apply if Armage uses a buff, and in the case of Pikmin in particular, will free up two of them for Olimar to use. There is also another way to free minions, but that's for later.
Armage can also take Planetium from the stage itself! When using the vortex, Armage will always suck up one Planetium particle for the first five times. The stage only has these five, which he can get at any time, but Armage will have to work for the rest of his buffs beyond that. These five don't regenerate if he uses them up as well, and only return once Armage has been KOed, letting him gain an easy amount again. You'll still want to take this into consideration, however.
The amount of Planetium he is carrying is shown under Don Armage's icon, and the amount that other players are currently carrying is shown under theirs. Keep in mind your current Planetium amount at all times, and whether you have enough for current plans and such. Planetium is very important, as will be demonstrated in a bit.
Going back a bit, the stun state the opponent is put into is definitely short, not as long as the rest of the attack’s animation, but long enough that Don Armage can definitely take advantage of it. Its easier to take advantage of if the opponent enters Armage’s range during the mid-point of the move. Basically, it’s safe on hit generally, but that’s a bit variable.
Up Special - A Being of Pure Despair
Don Armage takes a short amount of start-up lag to spread his arms out, and then bursts into a cloud of dark energy, red eyes shining in it for a few frames. From this point, Armage can now travel in any direction he pleases at speed far faster than his usual. Armage can actually move from frame one of this state, meaning he can recover very quickly. This is a set speed not affected by the Planetium buffs, meaning he can't zoom around like Super Sonic. The speed makes him a bit slippery at least.
If you can't guess, this is the Don's primary recovery move. He's working on a fairly standard 3 second time limit before he transforms back into his physical form and enters freefall. When he hits the ground, he’ll enter some fairly bad landing lag. In his energy form, Armage is fairly large, around the size of his usual model, but circular and more cloud-like, obviously. Despite being a big target, Armage is completely invincible during this time, due to being, you know, a cloud. That doesn't mean he can infinitely stall, however. After landing, you'll have to wait 3 more seconds to use the attack again, as shown by a burst of dark energy pulsing out of his body.
Even though there's not a whole lot of reason for opponents to attack, they'll probably want to stay as far away as possible from Armage while he is in this form. If they run into him (Or, more likely, he runs into them), Armage will stun the opponent and then proceed to carry them inside him for a short while, all while dealing damage. He can't carry them far, but he can at least mess up whatever they were doing, or even fling them offstage if timed right. He’s also unable to pick them up while they’re shielding.
For the damage, Armage cloud will perform 3 hits, each with a tiny amount of lag between them. Each hit deals 2% and totals up to 6%. The hits will be dealth rapidly, over the course of half a second. On the final hit, the opponent will be flung off, but will regain jumps in case Armage managed to pull then quite a ways off. If the special ends before then, this knockback will kick in automatically. This isn't an amazingly powerful technique by itself, but it gains more importance with the use of a Planetium stack.
If the special button is pressed while the opponent is touching Armage's cloud form, he will use the stack. The Planetium inside of him will be corrupted into Dark Planetium, and then injected into the opponent. This is shown to happen by those shining red eyes appearing again once its used. Once the opponent is freed, they will now have a dark aura hanging over them. This, at first, mainly just acts as a poison status effect, and deal 1% damage to the opponent, with no knockback, for the next 15 seconds. This is all it does... for now, at least. There's far more to this move than just all this.
Side Special - The Shogun's Army
Don Armage pulls his arm towards his chest, now without a sword in his hand, a cloud of purple energy clouding it. He will continue to hold it for as long as the button is held, functioning as a charge. Armage can hold this charge for one full second, with the cloud getting slightly larger the longer its held. He is unable to hold the charge like other characters but will not automatically use the move once it has reached full charge. Once the Don decides to use the move, he will thrust his hand forward, firing the energy out in the form of a cloud.
From the cloud appears 1-3 Indavers, depending on the charge. No charge results in one, and a full second results in three. Indavers are the main foot soldiers of Jark Matter, bred in labs and armed with weapons that double as both swords and guns. Armage is powerful enough to simply summon his minions whenever he wishes, as demonstrated in this move. They also come in an assortment of white, blue, and green, as seen in the above image. The colors don’t mean anything in the show or in Smash, but they are randomized. Armage can only have 3 Indavers on stage at a time, of course.
The cloud of energy actually acts as a weak hitbox as well, and changes size depending on the charge as well. The size is relative to the amount of Indavers summoned, and can cover up to around 2 Battlefield platforms, and is roughly around 2/3rds the height of Armage himself. This isn’t that big of a deal, since the cloud dissipates very quickly, and the actual hitbox is weak, dealing only 4% damage, with knockback that’s only really good enough to knock opponents back slightly. This basically only exists to prevent opponents from instantly attacking the Indavers.
While the cloud vanishes quickly, the start-up lag on the move is definitely not. Excluding the charge, which already tallies on a full second, the entire thing takes around a Falcon Punch to perform. However, as soon as the cloud is out, Armage is allowed to move again, making it not AS painful. However, the Indavers will perform short animations before they get to work. The cloud will cover them during this, and acts as a hitbox until they are ready to move.
When the Indavers are fully summoned, as mentioned above, they will go through a brief animation where they stand up straight and give a quick salute to their leader. This reveals that they’re around as tall as Marth, but once they start moving around they will hunch down, reducing their size to being around a head shorter than Marth’s idle, and well below Don Armage in terms of stature. Stat wise, they’re very average, as you would expect of low ranking fodder. They have middling weight and speed, can only jump once, and have a pretty decent 30% stamina. They can take decent hits, but they aren’t particularly anything special.
As for what they do… well, they aren’t that special there, either. Indavers are rather standard rushdown-type minions, going after opponents as they see fit, and using a few different attacks for a few different purposes. First, they have a standard sword swing combo, which consists of three average ranged sword swing attacks with their main weapon. This is relatively quick, and deals a total of 9% damage, but has lackluster knockback. Indavers will use this attack when they get in close to an opponent and can be a bit of a problem if surrounded.
The second attack is using their weapon as a blaster. For this, they will hold their weapon forwards, and then fire an energy projectile, roughly the size of a medium charged Super Scope shot. It flies around as fast but deals 6% damage with low knockback. Indavers mostly use this when allies, or Armage, are in trouble and they’re too far away. Their final attack is an aerial attack where they swing the sword downwards, dealing 11% damage, with downwards knockback. They use this attack while in the air. Kind of self explanatory. It can be useful if Armage predicts when that will happen, and then follow up with one of his upwards attacks.
Other than the obvious benefits of having minions (Stalling, set-up, extra damage), Don Armage can make use of Indavers in a few other ways. The most obvious way is that he can absorb them into his own body for free Planetium buffs. A single Indaver gives the Don 2 stacks. This is the main way for Armage to keep his Planetium up, specifically when fighting against opponents that lack minions. six free Planetium stacks is pretty considerable and can contribute a lot to Armage’s early plan. But again, those six Planetium stacks still count as the Indavers being on stage, so you’ll be unable to summon any more unless you use the stacks on other moves.
Oh yeah, and remember the Up Special’s Planetium buff effect? You can actually use this on Indavers as well, but with significantly… different results. First, catching an Indaver in the cloud form works exactly the same, complete with Armage doing damage to them, but that’s not the important part. Second, this will only work if Don Armage has 5 Planetium stacks. When Don Armage injects the Dark Planetium into the Indaver, instead of becoming poisoned, they will be freed from the cloud, and TRANSFORM…
Into ANOTHER Don Armage! Or rather, a copy of Don Armage in his “fake” final form, resembling the image above, which is armed with a large scythe. This isn’t just an appearance change, the Indaver has now transformed entirely into an aspect of Armage and is functionally an extension of him… but is still controlled by an AI. The Indaver will transform with a radial explosion of dark energy, dealing 1% damage and weak knockback that’s mostly there to keep opponents away for a short while. Oh yeah, and once the Indaver has been freed from Armage’s cloud form, the Don will continue on with the rest of the attack.
The Copy Armage is as large as normal Don Armage, at least when just comparing head to toe and not factoring in Don Armage’s ring, and about as heavy. In fact, they’re almost functionally the same stat-wise, with the exception of Copy Armage having better air speed and a better jump due to his large wings. These wings also grant him a double jump, putting him above most minions as well. Copy Armage has a rather staggering 50% stamina, which is rather nightmarish, but his speed and weight can definitely put a dampener on that threat if the opponent is more maneuverable.
Copy Armage’s main attack is to swing his scythe forward in a large arc. This has stupidly long reach, just about slightly farther than a full Battlefield platform. This deals heavy knockback capable of KOing at 150%, alongside 9% damage. The major drawback of this attack is that its insanely laggy on both ends, and leaves Copy Armage very open if he whiffs it. If it does manage to hit, it can be devastating.
Copy Armage’s second attack, his ranged one, has him thrust his hand out, and fire out a flurry of yellow lightning. This creates a hitbox half Copy Armage’s height that stretches out 1.5 Battlefield platforms forward, meaning it has A LOT of range to it. Opponents that are caught in it will take 10% damage, alongside heavy hitstun, but won’t take any knockback. The actual attack’s animation, and its hitbox, are very quick, meaning that opponents won’t be trapped for too long… but potentially enough for the actual Don Armage to get a hit off if he wishes.
The final attack is an aerial attack. This is simple, as Copy Armage will just swing his scythe downwards in a large reaching arc. This is similar to the grounded attack, dealing 14% damage and downwards knockback. This also has considerable lag, though it has slightly less than the grounded scythe attack due to being an aerial, and can easily leave Copy Armage open if he whiffs it as well. Also, like the grounded attack, it has considerable range to it, though its slightly shorter.
Overall, the Copy Armage is a considerably powerful minion, though summoning it can come at a great price. As a final note, the copy is completely incapable of being absorbed, as it is immune to the hitbox. Thankfully, Don Armage can only have one of these clones on stage at a time, and aside from it just being so strong… there’s an even more dangerous reason why.
If Don Armage is KOed while a Copy Armage is still on stage, and if Armage himself has 5 or more Planetium stacks on him, it will suddenly explode into a cloud of dark energy, and reform into the true Don Armage! This process is instantaneous, as in literally as soon as Armage has been KOed, with only a short hitbox, the dark energy, to knock nearby opponents away with (Which deals 5% damage), and functionally allows Armage to get right back into the fight, without having to wait to be respawned, though he will still have invincibility frames. This works because Don Armage is still technically on stage, or at least a part of him is, and his essence will reform from the clone’s body when killed.
This is one of Armage's most dangerous abilities, mostly notable for the fact that it doesn't even take a stock off when it activates. That's right, this acts as a way for Armage to fully bypass death itself, fitting his immortal nature. The main problem is, most obviously, that this will take off 10 Planetium stacks off, automatically. Considering Armage will lose his stacks when he dies anyway, this isn't a major price to pay, but can make suicides very painful.
Down Special – Hear Their Pain
From his crouching position (Which looks even more awkward than his run), Armage lets out another roar as a pulse of dark energy is expelled from his body, shooting out in a circular area similar to his NSpec, but considerably smaller. This only reaches out around half a Battlefield Platform away from Armage and has a fairly quick hitbox that traverses the total distance in only a handful of frames. It has very little starting or ending lag as well.
That’s mostly because this doesn’t actually deal any damage, instead simply acting as a quick push that knocks the opponent out of the Don’s path. This still gives hitstun, but has no damage factor (This isn’t changed by any buffs, 0 times 100 is still 0), and has set knockback of the attack’s distance, which gives it plenty of purpose in terms of punishing opponents that come near... But Armage WANTS opponents to be near him in a lot of cases, so it's something to really only use at the right moments.
But, of course, this isn’t the only use of the move. Like with other attacks, Armage requires a Planetium stack in order to get the real use out of this move. With the use of a Planetium stack, Armage will let out a roar as he unleashes a field of darkness from his body, represented by the area graying out and black energy pressing downwards. Screams of pain and pleas for help can also be heard while inside the field. This animation actually takes a fairly long time, around a Falcon Punch worth of time, though the actual field will be created and active before the animation finishes. The end lag is much more manageable, consisting of only a few frames.
The size of the field changes depending on how many Planetium stacks you decide to use, which can be measured by holding the button (Standard input for one, 1 seconds for five, and this can be activated during the starting animation). This changes the amount of field, from being the Down Special’s normal range, to the same size as his NSpec’s range with five stacks used. This is almost, if not basically the exact same, size as his NSpec’s range, which makes it fairly dangerous, considering what it can do.
This is a field of absolute despair and pain, created from the souls Armage has absorbed into his body. This is a hideous attack that can cause some incredible damage if used right. The entire field acts as a hitbox, but only the first time an opponent enters it. This can activate while Armage is summoning it, or once it has become idle afterwards. When an opponent enters, they will instantly enter a special stun state where they’re pushed towards the ground (Even in the air they will practically instantly be pushed down) and remain there for the state of a trip. This deals 20% to the opponent, but obviously no knockback.
After that, the opponent will return to their normal stance, but will quickly find out that the field has an incredible gravitational force pushing down on it. This basically means that the gravity, while someone is inside the field, is doubled, practically making jumping and the like impossible. Obviously, this does not affect Don Armage. This even affects knockback… but only specifically OTHER player’s knockback, not the knockback Armage himself takes, or the amount of knockback Armage's attacks deal. This means that other players are more likely to use the low gravity to some advantage rather than Armage (In team matches, Armage’s immunity extends to his partner’s).
The field of despair can last indefinitely… but only while Armage is inside the field. Once he leaves, the field will remain on stage for 1.5 seconds before vanishing. Don Armage, being the only one not affected by the gravity, also takes normal knockback, making knocking him out of the field a priority if he manages to get off a maximum sized one. Also, Indavers aren’t immune to the effect, but Copy Armage’s are. On smaller sizes, it’s much more limiting, but they aren’t useless. The most obvious use of this is to keep opponents within your grasp, at least for a short time, so you can suck up their Planetium. There’s also general set-up uses.
Finally, as an easter egg, if you use this while having absorbed a minion, instead of generic screams and cries, you will get unique ones. For instance, the Pikmin death sound for Pikmin, terrified gibberish screaming from Indavers, etc. This can range from generic sounds if the minions are generic minions, to full quotes if the minions end up being actual characters.
Jark Grab Game
Grab & Pummel
Don Armage juts hit hand forward, now not carrying one of his swords, as a quick flash of purple energy appears in front of him. The flash has a rather large hitbox but lasts for only a few frames. If the opponent is hit, then Armage will shoot out a burst of dark smoke, which will envelop the opponent and leave them hanging in the air in their usual grabbed animation. Unlike the start of the move, this takes longer than most grabs to pull off. This acts like a “disjointed” grab, like Mewtwo’s, though obviously the animation itself is very different.
The pummel is also fairly standard. Armage will shoot a pulse through the dark energy, causing the opponent to take 3% damage. This is a fairly slow animation, meaning you won’t be able to get it off more than a few times before the opponent manages to escape. The Don’s grab game isn’t meant to be built around delivering consistent damage, however odd that might sound. No, Don Armage likes to make his opponents suffer.
Forward Throw – Never-ending Despair
Armage lets out a laugh as he thrusts his other hand (Now not carrying a sword either) towards the opponent. A sudden grey image of a crow appears around the opponent, covering them in a circular grey field. Both then disappear as the opponent becomes greyscale. Armage then thrusts his arm forwards again, causing the opponent to fly off, dealing a surprisingly low 5% damage, though with fairly decent knockback to compensate for it.
With this attack, Don Armage, picking up a trick from his former host Kuervo, has used the power of the Corvus Kyutama to inflict a never-ending despair onto his victim. What this means, aside from the greyscale visual effect, is that they will now be slower, by around a one-fourth on the ground, and by one-eighth in the air, and all their damage output will be halved. Knockback, however, will remain the same, which will be important in a second. Also, whenever idling, the character will enter a unique “depressed” animation.
On Don Armage’s side, this is a very obviously good status effect to have on hand at any time. It lets him nab their Planetium easier, and combined with a despair field, practically destroys movement options. It’s a rather devastating effect, and one that lasts a shockingly long 15 seconds. Armage can make excellent use of this, especially in the late game.
However, there are some rather easy ways for the opponent to get over this hump. Despite long timer, the opponent can manage to overcome this despair far earlier than intended. The way to do this is via attacking, and not just attacking Don Armage either, but attacking anything with a hurtbox will help. Hitting things that aren’t Armage will cause the timer to lower by 1 seconds, while attacking the Don himself will result in a full 3 seconds being taken off the timer. And yes, individual hits of a move count as multiple hits in this case. By playing an aggressive game, the opponent can dwindle the timer down to nothing in no time. KOing Don Armage will undo the entire thing in general. If the opponent manages to do this before the timer expires naturally, then the image of the crow will appear around them again, and then shatter, showing them to be free.
In addition to that, once they’ve broken from this despair, the opponent’s next smash attack on Armage will deal 1.5x knockback and damage, which is definitely a problem. This is shown by the opponent gaining a white light around them, and will stick around until Armage is actually hit by one. If Armage wants to make the best of this, he’ll need to hit equally fast as well, which is why mixing it with a despair field works well. There is another downside with this as well, in that this only works once per stock… at least, it only works for free.
If Don Armage tries to use the throw again on an opponent, the crow image will appear, and then shatter. Armage will let out a frustrated grunt before finishing the throw as normal. However, if Armage is willing to pay up another Planetium stack, then he can use it on the opponent again, though with 5 seconds reduced every time. This is reset once the opponent moves on to their next stock, however.
Overall, this throw has some considerable strength to it, mostly due to the status effect being so powerful, but Armage will want to use it sparingly still in order to avoid his plan backfiring and getting him killed. If Armage manages to take advantage of it well, this can be devastating for the opponent, but devastating for him if he doesn’t.
Down Throw – Become Part of Me!
Armage lets out another growl as he spreads his arms out, creating another suction effect in front of him. The opponent is then sucked directly into Armage’s body, much like how minions are when they are hit by the NSpec. With the opponent fully absorbed into his body, Armage is free to move around and attack as he pleases – At least until the opponent he trapped breaks free. Instead of being a terrifying attack like it is on minor characters, this instead acts as a DK style cargo grab. The main difference is that Armage is fully capable of doing other things but has no other throws to use on the opponent.
Being a cargo grab, the opponent can obviously escape… but it’s a bit harder to break free from an almighty being of pure darkness than it is with a gorilla. This requires 1.5x the amount of struggling that a normal grab would have, which makes this especially painful at higher percents. This does in fact mean you can Armagecide, and in tandem with the recovery use with the Copy Armage, it can prove to be a pretty dangerous maneuver.
When the opponent breaks out of this, Armage will take 2% damage, along with some hitstun, similar in length to the stun DK takes, except more painful because somebody is bursting out of his chest. While this is all there is to the throw by itself, there are some fun combos you can pull off by using other attacks.
The first is the NSpec. By using it while the opponent is inside Armage, they will still technically be within the attack’s range, and thus be able to get an easy Planetium stack from them. Of course, this can only be done once at a time, which is the cost of convenience. When this is used, the opponent inside Armage will be stunned and unable to perform any struggling until Armage finishes the animation, but to prevent Armage from being able to infinitely stall, the amount of struggling needed is halved once it has been used, making it easier for opponents to escape. The throw in general gets weaker as its used on a single opponent as well.
The other main attack to use is the DSpec, but only when a Planetium stack is available. When this is used while a player is inside Armage, they will be forcibly ejected from Armage’s body, dealing a ridiculous 25% damage, with knockback that can KO at 160-80% depending on the amount of Planetium used up. This is arguably one of the Don’s best KO attacks but unlike with the NSpec, this is something the opponent is able to break out of easily thanks to the horrible start-up lag, especially if Armage goes for a full charge. If the opponent breaks out during this time, the entire attack will be cancelled.
This is the first move we’ve covered that Armage can use, on his own, to truly KO his opponents. It has one of his strongest attacks, barring one other we’ll get to, but it comes at the cost of potential punishment on Don Armage’s end.
Up Throw – Die in the Void
Armage once again pulls the opponent towards him, though this time he grasps them in his open hand rather than absorbing them. From this point, Armage will let out a laugh, and then transform into his dark energy cloud form, which dashes upwards, dragging the opponent along with it. The cloud retains its look from the Up Special, but in this case is incapable of hitting any other opponents that might get in the way.
This is entirely focused on the grabbed opponent, being a throw and all. The hitbox of the attack consists of several different hits over a short distance upwards. Don Armage will dash upwards around 2 Ganondorf’s high, before the opponent is flung off. This deals 5 hits of 2% to the opponent over the course of the travel, with the final hit being the one that deals knockback. The knockback is directly upwards, but is fairly weak, only KOing past 200%... from the main Battlefield platform, obviously it changes depending on the altitude. Once the attack ends, Armage will return to normal and enter freefall.
Like with the USpec, the Don is able to infect the opponent with the poison effect by using up a Planetium stack. It behaves exactly the same, so there’s not much else worth noting on that front. The other interesting part of the attack is that this throw behaves slightly like Fox’s USpec, in that Armage is capable of changing the direction of the launch based on a directional input during the starting lag. However, in this case, Armage is limited to either diagonally upwards directions instead of the full eight. The attack remains the same despite the direction,but this does have some significant uses to it.
Back Throw – Begone, Insect!
Armage lets out a scoff as he looks at the opponent. In a quick movement, he spins around, lifting the opponent up into the air and then slamming them into the ground behind him. This slam launches the opponent. This is, if you can’t tell, Armage’s most normal throw, and is mainly used for spacing purposes, something it actually excels at thanks to there already being some considerable space between Armage and the opponent just from the grab alone.
This is also arguably the Don’s “kill throw”, though it’s less powerful than the DThrow’s effect with the DSpec. It will deal 8% damage, while bouncing the opponent off the ground, the knockback being able to KO at around 150%. Overall, this is a fairly standard throw, but one that Armage will probably use often in order to get opponents off his tail.
To note, the knockback will act the same if the throw ends up going over an edge. Slamming the opponent down really hard on thin air might not make sense, but he’s Don Armage, he can do what he wants.
Jark Standards
Jab – Jark Combo
Armage performs a fairly standard combo, first slashing his downwards-pointing sword up, then slashing his upwards-pointing sword down, then slashing the downwards-pointing one to the side, and finally finishing off by jutting his upwards sword forwards. The slashes are slow, but not too slow, on the level of Link, and flow into each other fairly quickly. Each hit will deal 3% damage, totaling up at 12%. The final hit will deal knockback, which is capable of KOing at fairly late percentages. This isn’t really meant to be one of Armage’s kill moves.
The reach of the jab is fairly standard, though Armage’s sword have less reach than they would seem to, thanks to them being short swords. Overall, this is just a standard jab, doing what a jab needs to have in order to be viable… but there is a tiny bit more to it than that. If the special button is rapidly pressed during any time the move is active, the Don will shift into a much more different attack, specifically one more resembling an infinite jab rather than a standard combo. As one might expect, this costs a Planetium Stack in order to actually use it.
This version of the jab has Armage rapidly slashing his swords in front of himself, each slash leaving behind a trail of dark energy that resembles a black hole. This is a rather large, circular hitbox directly in front of Armage, which has a suction effect that can draw opponents in if they get too close. Like most infinite jabs, this can go on for however long the button is rapidly pressed, but in this case, it must be the special attack button instead of the standard attack button. Each slash deals 2% damage and is capable of locking opponents slightly longer than most other infinite jabs.
The finishing blow of the jab is far more powerful, as Armage will cause the energy he has created to explode, dealing 10% damage and knockback that can KO at 150%. This is remarkably powerful, but you need to also consider that this uses up a Planetium stack. This is a great kill move, but if somethings goes wrong, then that stack has been used up. The best course of action is to use it when you know it will work, rather than just using it whenever.
Forward Tilt – Feathers of Destruction
Don Armage just his downwards-pointing sword forwards as the hilt begins to glow. As Armage sticks his arm out all the way, the hilt will fire out a flurry of blue energy projectiles that are vaguely shaped like feathers. The projectiles will spray out in a cone shaped area in front of him, which acts as the hitbox. But before we cover that in more detail, we have to cover the first part of the hitbox, which is actually the sword itself.
This is a very small hitbox, and is only active as the Don is jutting his sword out. The animation itself is one of Armage's faster attack animations. However, there is a tiny bit of start-up lag as he pulls back to punch the blade forward, but it isn't that much. This is a very weak attack nonetheless, dealing weak flinching knockback, and 2% damage. However, this means that it perfectly combos into the second hitbox of the move, the aforementioned feather projectiles. This is another trick he picked up from Kuervo. This hitbox is, obviously, a bit larger than the small sword one, reaching out to around 2/3rds the length of a Battlefield Platform.
The feathers have a very compact height, however. They’re fairly well spread out, but not enough to hit shorter characters who are right in front of Armage, or jumping characters. Basically, you’ll reliably hit standard sized characters and short characters who are a bit farther away, but the starting lag to the attack makes it unfortunately telegraphed, though the feathers come out practically instantaneously. Anyway, the actual behavior of the hitbox. When the feathers hit, they will lock the opponent in it, dealing rapid flinching damage, each dealing 1%. The maximum amount that the attack can hit for is 10%. This actually doesn’t deal that much knockback, only being able to KO at the late 200%s but has enough hitstun to make it safe on hit. This can also help it follow into combos.
The final thing to note is that, like some other FTilts, Armage can aim this up and down. The interesting thing to note is that the starting animation of the attack will always remain the same, no matter which direction is inputted. This can be a good way to trick advancing opponents into a jump, or shorter ones into a duck, and then hitting them with the projectile burst.
Up Tilt – Grovel at my Feet
Armage quickly thrusts his upwards-pointing sword up into the air at a diagonal angle. This has some considerable reach to it and is fairly quick as well. Though, it also has some ending lag that makes it hang for a brief moment. The hang doesn’t act as a hitbox, so it’s mostly just ending lag… kind of. If the attack manages to hit, it will deal 7% damage, and knockback that can KO past 230%. And it is an IF this hits, since its angle makes it very, very awkward.
Basically, the diagonal angle is high enough that it will only really hit the tallest characters and will fly right over the heads of middle to small sized characters. About its best application is as an anti-air attack. This is, of course, not exactly that great, but that isn’t all there is to this attack. By quickly pressing the attack button again during the end lag, Don Armage will quickly swing his blade downwards. This acts as a different hitbox, dealing 4% damage, and weak downwards knockback. In most cases this will mostly make the opponent slam into the ground, but it has uses in edge guarding as well.
This part of the attack is much faster, and has less ending lag to it, making it fairly safe to use. Its main use, as you might be able to tell, is to keep opponents grounded. If the first part of the attack actually manages to hit an opponent while jumping, the second part can be activated to drag the opponent down to the ground. The hitstun on this part of the attack, combined with its short ending lag, lets it easily combo into other attacks, punishing the opponent even more. Of course, if it doesn’t hit, that will leave Armage open for punishment himself.
This is only activated if Armage doesn't input another direction, however. If he inputs back and the attack button during the end lag, he will then sweep his blade over his head, in a quick animation that acts far more like a normal UTilt. This only deals 3% damage, but like the downwards slash, can combo directly from the first hit. This actually has decent knockback, KOing at 180% with backwards knockback. Also of note is that Armage will automatically turn around after the animation, which can be useful considering the quick animation.
Down Tilt – Spiraling Madness
From his, admittedly wonky looking, crouching position, Armage sweeps both of his swords on the ground, one going behind him and the other swinging in front of him. A burst of dark energy will fly up from the swords as he does so, forming a circle of dark energy around the Don. This acts as the hitbox of the move, stretching out to the side around 1/3rd of a Battlefield Platform away from Armage. This swirl of darkness is fairly powerful, dealing 9% damage, and knockback capable of KOing at 180%.
The main downside with this attack is that its very slow, as the animation itself looks slightly awkward for Don Armage to pull off. The other problem is that the hitbox doesn’t last for an incredibly long time either, and with bad lag on both ends of the attack, this can be a problem when actually trying to use it. This still isn't the slowest set in Armage's set, however, though it borders on Smash Attack levels of slowness. To make up for this, a bit, the attack also has a suction effect that can pull in nearby opponents, but they need to be very close in order for it to affect them, and it’s very weak besides that.
That isn’t all for this, as, at the cost of two Planetium stacks, Armage can activate a special effect. By pressing the special attack button during the attack, Armage will spin around much faster, with both swords sticking out and leaving a trail of darkness behind him. This will pull Armage out of his ending lag instantly, though this is still obviously slightly laggy… but it also completely cancels out the hitbox of the attack as well.
In exchange for that, Armage has now created a swirling void of dark energy on the stage, taking up Armage’s total width, plus the standard range of the move mentioned above. This will remain on the stage for 10 seconds, and while it’s completely incapable of dealing damage, it still retains its suction effect. Only now, it’s far more powerful, and is capable of dragging lighter characters in from nearly 2 Battlefield Platforms away. This is an effect that can obviously be used for a lot of practical purposes, such as bringing them into a despair field, or into Armage’s range so he can eat their Planetium. However, the expense of some Planetium can be a detriment as well, so it should be used wisely.
Dash Attack – Darkness’ Reach
From his dashing animation, Armage quickly transforms into his darkness cloud form, and gains a burst of speed as he flies forwards. The speed here isn’t scaled to the buffs, and remains the same at all points, which means that this speed burst might actually make Armage slower by some point. The attack itself is fairly standard, with his cloud form having a similar, though smaller, size compared to the USpec and UThrow.
The speed burst itself is considerable at Armage’s base speed, pushing him to at most Bowser’s run speed as he flies forwards 1.5 Battlefield Platforms. It has very little starting lag, though once the attack ends Armage will be put into bad ending lag. As the actual hitbox, it behaves like Armage’s other energy cloud-based attacks, dragging the opponent along for several hits. In this case, he will deal a maximum of 12% damage, with 6 hits each dealing 2% damage. The final hit deals knockback capable of KOing at 190%.
Like with the USpec, this is less effective on shields, though this is less of a detriment than on the USpec since Armage probably isn’t in the middle of recovering. And like the other ones based around this form, Armage can cough up some Planetium in order to inflict the poison status effect, though he has much less time to do this than on others. And as this is the last of Armage's cloud based attacks, its time to bring up one last feature.
Being as he is already in an amorphous cloud shape, the Don is perfectly capable of segueing into another one of his cloud based moves directly from another. More specifically, he can instantly go from either UThrow or Dash Attack directly into his USpecial by simply using the input, though there are a few catches. For one, his time in the form will be cut down by half, and second, he'll automatically let go of any opponents he currently had trapped in his body. The timing for this is tight, but it can allow for some excellent escape OR chase opportunities from Armage.
Jark Aerials
Neutral Air – Cycle of Despair
While in the air, Armage turns towards the screen and spreads his limbs out, before the large ring on his back suddenly starts to glow. It quickly detaches from his body and then grows as it starts to spin around rapidly. The ring will encompass the entirety of Don Armage’s body once it reaches its maximum radius but will quickly retract back to its normal position on his back once it has remained there for a few frames. This is a relatively fast attack, though it is laggy for an aerial, which means it can’t be used out of short hop.
The hitbox is a simple radial circle, acting like most other attacks similar to this, like Kirby’s Nair, except with some ludicrous reach to it thanks to Armage’s size. This makes it easy to hit with when it comes out, but its starting lag impedes making it incredible. The ring will deal 13% damage with knockback shooting the opponent in the opposite direction they were hit. The knockback can KO at around 160%, making it fairly powerful. This is a good “get away” attack, as most move of this type generally are.
There's another additional feature, one which, surprisingly, doesn't include Planetium stacks. By pressing the attack button again right before the attack ends, Armage will shoot out a ring of light from his ring. This functionally just increases the range of an attack with incredibly good range, and even deals the same damage as the base attack. It cannot hit someone who has already been hit by the initial hit, though. The second use of this is that will completely halt Armage's momentum while in the air, as well as push him up slightly when used. This can be used for a number of reasons, especially considering Armage's lackluster air game.
Down Air – Rain of Darkness
Armage turns to face the screen again, though this time he juts both of his swords downwards (This time both of them being held upside down), with a brief pause beforehand, so that the hilts are the ones pointing towards the ground. Like with the FTilt, they will start to glow as this happens, and spray out a flurry of feather-shaped projectiles. The starting lag is faster than on the NAir, but still too slow to use out of short hop. Not that using it out of short hop would be advised, due to this having a hitbox similar to the FTilt as well.
The main difference between this and the FTilt is that the feather shots are sprayed downwards, both at diagonal angles, and are slightly wider. This allows them to cover more ground, though they’re still in a cone shaped trajectory. The actual speed of the attack takes a while to fully finish, and Armage is more likely to actually land before the attack finishes from a normal double jump. The attack itself behaves similarly to the FTilt damage wise as well, though the damage is a bit different. The projectiles don't reach down that far, only around half a Ganondorf away from Armage.
While it still deals multiple hits of 1%, it now deals 12% maximum, rather than 10%. The final hit still deals knockback, this one being downwards, and capable of KOing at 180% off the ground. It is obviously better at KOing while off-stage. This is a good ambush attack, though it is fairly telegraphed, and as stated in the last sentence, is pretty good for off-stage attacks. Like the FTilt, these feather projectiels can also be aimed in certain directions, though it is only one direction, rather than two other ones.
During the brief pause at the start of the attack, the control stick can be inputted to either the right or left in order to make Armage jut both of his swords to the sides, rather than downwards. This functions exactly the same as it would normally, but the feather projectiles now reach out as far as they do on FTilt. This is a good fakeout tactic, as you can very easily convince opponents to jump directly into your stream of fire.
Forward Air – Sharp Pain
While in the air, Armage swings both of his swords, this time with both of them in their original positions. He will swing the upwards sword down, and the downwards sword upwards, creating a hitbox directly in front of him. This is actually one of Armage’s quicker moves, more comparable to a standard swordsman character speed-wise, rather than a heavyweight. It’s fast enough that it can be used out of short hop effectively, even.
The hitbox of the attack is, overall, very simple, forming a large arc shape in front of the Don thanks to the sweep from both of the swords. This has mediocre range for a sword-based move, like most of Armage’s other sword-based attacks, due to them being shorter than normal swords by a bit. Hitting with the swords will deal 12% damage, with knockback that can KO at 210%, making it fairly weak for Armage.
This is the Don’s go-to attack for when he’s in the air, alongside the NAir. With it being faster, though, this allows it to be used far more often, and far more recklessly than the previous two aerials. There isn’t much else to it, but it’s useful nonetheless.
Upward Air – Meteoric Impact
Armage pulls his sword back, and then swings it in an arc over his head. This sounds like a very standard swordsman animation, but it has an added bit of oddness to it, thanks to it being VERY slow. While it isn’t even the slowest of Armage’s aerials, it is slower than the animation would suggest. It can be used out of short hop, but will be cancelled out by the midway point. The swing is very deliberate, and actually stretches out a bit farther than usual via a purple blade of energy extending from the sword itself. This puts it more on the level of one of Marth’s sword swings, rather than Armage’s shorter ones.
With this heavier swing, that means that the Don is putting a lot more effort into making this one hurt. This is shown by the attack dealing 14% damage, and upwards knockback that can kill at 160%. This swing also has an added effect, but it only comes during the last few frames of it. If Armage manages to hit an airborne opponent during the period where the sword is just about to finish its arc, ending with it directly in front of Armage, a sweet spot will activate.
This sweet spot instead deals 18% damage, and incredibly heavy downwards knockback, rather than upwards knockback. This is great during air game, but obviously has the downside of being hard to hit with. This is mostly just another good aerial attack for Armage to use whenever he actually needs to be in the air, with an added kick to help KO airborne opponents more effectively as well.
Back Air – Strike from the End
Armage spins his body around and jabs both of his swords behind himself, with a very direct, sharp hitbox. This attack is very fast, comparable, or even faster than, a standard sword attack. The endlag is also very short, but more on the level of Mario’s NAir. The swords retain their short range, but the swords are held out for a while, and the hitbox remains active as well, giving it some added time to hit the opponent.
While this may seem like one of Armage's simplest attacks, and it kind of is, there is a bit of a layer here. The attack functions as a sex kick, dealing 13% damage and knockback that can KO at 170% as it comes out. As mentioned above, it can be held out for a bit longer, and like most sex kicks, will become slightly weaker as it continues. This equals to around 10% damage and KOing past 210%. However, this attack is very fast, and has at all decent range to it, which makes it definitely worth using, especially for the initial hit.
Jark Smashes
Down Smash – Unleashing Evil
Armage turns to face the screen, and then raises both of his swords, both pointing down. He then jabs them into the ground, causing bursts of dark energy to rise up on both sides of him. This is fairly laggy on its own, even when uncharged, as Armage simply jabbing the swords down takes a bit of effort. The ending lag, comparatively, is much faster, though still fairly slow, fitting for a heavyweight character like Armage. The speed, overall, is still more on the level of a standard heavyweight. While the two explosions are the main hitbox, Armage’s swords are hitboxes as well, and are far apart that he can easily hit with them, though the opponent has to be right next to him for them to actually hit.
The sword hitboxes are simple, dealing a consistent 5% damage, no matter the charge, and knockback that isn’t really that powerful. This is mostly because this combos directly into the explosion hitboxes. The explosions resemble standard, circular explosion clouds, except colored purple. They’re fairly large, all things considering, reaching out a decent ways out from Armage. Both of them are a slight distance away from Armage as well, and both cover around half a Battlefield Platform in individual length. Height wise, they are around the size of Armage as well.
These are very strong on their own, dealing 13-21% damage depending on the charge, with heavy knockback that can KO at 180-165%. This is a very powerful Smash but isn’t actually the strongest of them. But that’s for a bit later. Anyway, there’s not much else to this, it’s just a very good killing move, and a standard heavyweight one at that. Well, that’s still not all there is to the move!
If the special button is pressed during the start-up lag (Or any part, including the charge), then Armage will use some of his Planetium stacks, specifically 3 of them, to send dark energy coursing through the two blades. He will then stab them into the ground like normal, but instead of causing two explosions, two cracks will form in the ground. These cracks will start to slither across the ground, purple light emitting from them as they continue along the ground.
These cracks can continue across the ground for as long as they want, up until they reach the edge of the platform the attack was used on. Once they do reach their maximum distance, Armage will remove his swords from the ground, before all of the ground that the cracks covered explodes into large, purple explosions. These act as fully charged versions of the normal explosion hitboxes, dealing 21% damage and such. The other big thing to note about this is that this has even worse lag to it than the normal move, mainly on the end lag, as Armage will take a moment to pull his blades back. And as you might be able to tell, the initial animation is slow as well, and can easily take up more time than a Warlock Punch on some stages. The cracks do move fairly fast, but they have to cover the entire stage, which is a massive range.
Thankfully, Armage can cancel out of this at any time by pressing the special attack button again. Well, it will still put him into the ending lag, but will also prematurely explode the cracks. This can be used for tricking or trapping opponents in the blasts, rather than just cancelling out of the move entirely. Again, like other Planetium effects, its all about knowing the right time to use them, as a wrong use can simply waste Planetium rather than help the Don out in any way.
Up Smash – Wings of Destruction
Contrary to the title, instead of anything involving wings, Armage will pull his blades down to his sides for the charge animation, before slashing them upwards. The animation is similar to a few other sword-based USmashes, like Link’s, but with two swords. This part of the move is rather basic, acting similarly to others of its kind, being fast and having some extra range due to some added effects, in this case Armage’s swords will extend slightly thanks to dark energies, as mentioned in the UAir.
This is a fast attack and is probably the most similar to a standard sword attack in Armage’s arsenal. Just because its fast doesn’t mean its weak, however, as this will deal 14-22% damage depending on the charge and is capable of KOing at 180%. The hitbox starts off around Armage’s waist, and then continues upwards in an arc until both swords meet right above the Don. The ending lag is this attack’s main downside, as its fairly heavy, with Armage scraping his swords together as he brings them back down.
Of course, this isn’t all there is to the move. By pressing the special attack button during the charge, Armage can use up 2 Planetium stacks in order to activate a new move. For this, he’ll rise up into the air a slight bit, all while glowing a holy light, and then create a burst of darkness around him, dark crow wings appearing behind him for a moment. This is another radius-based attack, with the hitbox being completely circular. This is a very large radius as well, nearly comparable to a fully sized Smart Bomb explosion, which is terrifying.
This isn’t a charged move and will instantly happen once the button is pressed and the Planetium is used. Opponents caught in the blast will receive 25% damage instantly and be forced into a stunned state that lasts for 2 seconds. This leaves them open for Armage or his minions to attack, or for the Don to get some extra Planetium. The main drawback is that the starting lag is tremendously terrible, potentially the worst in his set, and he can be knocked out of it. However, pressing the special attack button again at any point before the end will cause Armage to cancel directly into the attack, though in these cases it will only deal 18% damage. Like with other moves, this will use up the Planetium.
The main way to use this is to mix it with the despair fields, or a slowed opponent. This will leave them far more vulnerable to the attack, and lead to lots of damage in a best-case scenario. 3 Planetium is still a lot to give up for a potentially missed attack, so it’s best to use it wisely. The wings in the animation don’t do anything and are purely aesthetic.
Forward Smash – Ultimate Despair
For the charging animation, Armage will cross his swords in front of himself as dark energy starts to gather into them. Once the charge is let go, he’ll lift the swords up, still coursing with dark energy, and then slam them into the ground. This has a very slow start-up, and the animation is slow as well, definitely comparable to most heavyweight smashes. The swords don’t get any increased range, instead the hitbox being directly in front of the Don. Like how the attack is slow, the ending lag is as well, making a whiff very punishable.
The endlag actually changes depending on the charge, with it only reaching absolutely terrible at full charge. The attack has some good damage values, as you might expect, 18-32% damage depending on the charge, with knockback that can KO at around 80%. Hitting with a fully charged FSmash is something nearly impossible to do, but its one of the most satisfying things to pull off. It has the risk-reward factor of a reverse Warlock Punch, and can be just as fun. The same can be said about what happens when Armage decides to put some Planetium into the attack.
Like before, this is activated by pressing the special attack button at any point during the starting animation. This will completely change the animation, as Armage’s blades will vanish, being replaced with dark energy, which he starts to charge up in between his hands. This doesn’t have a standard charge period, instead it takes one second, plus the time it took for you to press the special button. The ball of Dark Planetium will grow, before he fires it out as a massive laser beam.
This works almost exactly like the Zero Laser, with the beam having infinite range and dealing rapid hits to whoever gets caught in it. In this, case it will deal many hits of 2%, ultimately totaling at 44% damage. The last hit deals knockback, KOing at around 50%. The beam itself isn’t as wide as the Zero Laser, covering only around Armage’s neck to his ankles, meaning less than a Ganondorf in height. Armage can also angle it up and down slightly as well.
You might be thinking that this is absolutely insane, and yeah, it is, but there’s one major downside to it. Using this attack requires 10 Planetium stacks. This is already a remarkably difficult thing to do by itself, but, like with others, you need to consider whether sacrificing enhanced movement is the right choice at the moment. There are obvious more advantageous situations, like near the end of a match, or when you’re at an advantage and the opponent is down to one stock, but if it misses, you’re down by 10 buffs.
Gathering Planetium stacks, being as difficult as it is, means you won’t be likely to see this in a standard match. This requires some incredible playing in order to do. But we aren’t done yet, as this has something even more special to it if you manage to get all 20 stacks. Using all 20 stacks will happen automatically if you press the special button, meaning you won’t be able to get two of these off… but that isn’t much of a downside.
With all 20 stacks, the beam will be fully upgraded to Zero Beam levels, with slightly better movement speed. This is practically a one-hit kill if you manage to get it off, as it will deal 444% damage, and will KO at… well, you can probably tell when this KOs. This is entirely a bonus, however, because the chance of actually getting 20 stacks is a near impossibility, especially with most of the in-Smash characters. The easiest way to get it is to fight three Olimars at once, and that isn’t going to happen.
The base version of the Smash is what it is, a heavy hitting, slow Smash for a heavyweight character. It works perfectly fine as usual. It’s boosted effects, while rare to ever actually see, are monstrous in nature and will terrify opponents if you manage to get them off. As a universal dictator and being of pure despair, Don Armage is perfectly willing to use his full strength to deal with the insects that bother him.
Final Smash
End of the Universe
Armage has the Smash Ball! Using its unlimited power, he will fly up into the sky and off screen, entering a cinematic style Final Smash. Armage will appear in space, hovering above a planet that looks like Earth (Though it likely isn’t considering Smash’s stages, but let’s be simple here). He then holds out his hands as Dark Planetium starts to course through him. He will then fire the Dark Planetium at the planet, covering it in the dark energy.
The planet will then start to crack, purple aura shining through the cracks. Finally, it will explode in a massive burst of dark energy. This blast of Dark Planetium is strong enough to wipe out the entirety of the universe right then and there, reducing it to a simple black slate… from which Armage’s red shining eyes appear. He lets out a laugh… and then the match returns to normal.
Despite this incredibly over the top animation, this acts as functionally a guaranteed kill against every opponent on stage, similar to Final Smashes like Shulk or Captain Falcon’s, except there’s no hitbox to avoid and basically no way to escape it. Unlike other nonsensical full screen wipe moves, this actually doesn’t technically affect everyone, only active players. So yes, while a Giant Metal Giga Bowser WOULD be killed, a Giant Metal Giga Bowser on a respawn platform would NOT be killed.
Also of note is that this actually affects everything else on stage as well. Items, minions, anything that was on the stage beforehand will be killed, and the stage will be wiped completely clean. This, unfortunately, also applies to Armage’s own minions. Finally, if this is used to end a match, then the “GAME!” splash will appear before the cinematic ends, though it will follow up directly to the standard results screen afterwards.
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