Overview:
Merric would be the first Fire Emblem character in Smash to not use a sword whatsoever, being a purely tome-based fighter. As Merric's known as the Wind Mage and wields Excalibur, in Smash he would be an anti-air focused character, specializing in taking out aerial foes, but being a glass cannon who doesn't fight well up close.
Normal Attacks:
Jab: A gust of wind comes from slightly in front of Merric, pushing foes toward him. Another gust pushes foes slightly away from Merric. These can be chained for a bit, until the knock back forces foes away. All the while Merric moves his hands in a back and forth twirling or stirring motion.
Dash Attack: Merric clutches Excalibur to his chest as he lunges forward with one hand outstretched, sending a blast of wind toward the ground in front of him. Visually and mechanically similar to Little Mac's dash attack.
Forward Tilt: Merric sweeps his arm out in front of him as a small slice of compressed wind shoots out in front of him. A multi hit move that travels about half the width of a Battlefield platform.
Up Tilt: Merric lifts his arm quickly in a scooping motion as a razor wind travels from in front of him, to above him, to slightly behind him. This move mimics Marth's Up Tilt almost exactly, due to fitting in with Merric's anti-air theme and referencing his and Marth's friendship.
Down Tilt: Taking out an Elfire tome, Merric crouches. He then snaps his finger and a small ember appears on the ground a small distance in front of him, burning whatever foe he hits.
Smash Attacks:
Forward Smash: Merric creates a wall of razor wind in front of him. He then extends his arm and points, sending the wall of wind crashing into the foe. The wall travels the width of a Battlefield platform and drags the foe with it, not unlike Greninja's Water Shuriken with far less distance. However, there exists a momentary delay on the move before the wall begins to move. Walking into the unmoving wind wall causes no damage, so Merric must be careful of foes approaching quickly.
Up Smash: Merric summons a massive cyclone above him, which includes a suction effect. Foes are rapidly hit with multiple attacks from the cyclone before they are tossed from it. Foes are launched horizontally, similar to Jigglypuff's down smash.
Down Smash: Merric moves his hand in a small circle while holding an Elfire tome. The ground immediately around him flashes with red before erupting in two columns of fire.
Aerial Attacks:
Neutral Aerial: A gust of wind twirls around Merric's body as a multi-hit move, not dissimilar to Mewtwo's or Pikachu's neutral aerial.
Forward Aerial: Merric extends an arm, performing a motion similar to Robin's forward aerial, and launches a small blast of wind a small distance.
Back Aerial: Merric turns around and holds his Excalibur tome open with both hands as a green blast of wind erupts from it. Its range is short, but the move is very potent.
Up Aerial: Merric lifts his hand and launches two rising wind blasts which carry foes slightly upwards.
Down Aerial: Merric shoots a massive crescent of wind downward. If an opponent is hit by the center of the crescent, they are meteor smashed.
Pummel and Throws:
Pummel: Merric grabs the foe as wind magic pulses into them with each pummel.
Forward Throw: Merric hurls a chilling wind using his Blizzard tome, launching foes forward.
Back Throw: Merric tosses the foe back and blasts them with his Shaver tome.
Up Throw: Merric tosses the foe up and bombards them with three razor wind blasts from Excalibur.
Down Throw: Merric launches a fireball at the grounded opponent, causing a ground bounce.
Special Attacks:
Neutral Special: Excalibur - Merric holds his palm face down over the cover of his tome as it pulses with a green glow. After releasing the button, Merric launches a speedy and aimable razor wind blast. Like Pit's neutral special, this move can have its course adjusted as it flies. This move doesn't do a whole lot of damage or knockback, even when fully charged...against grounded opponents. If the opponent is in the air, however, the damage output gets increased significantly and the knockback is greatly expanded, making this a terrifically versatile anti-air projectile.
Side Special: Swarm - Merric takes out a siege tome, Swarm. When the button is held, a small dark energy orb appears about one Battlefield platform's distance away from Merric. By holding down the button and moving the stick, similar to Greninja's Shadow Sneak, you can move the orb further outward, upward to 80% of the length of Final Destination. However, you may not move it closer to Merric than its starting position and Merric cannot move while preparing this attack. When the move is released, a swarm of dark energy bombards any foe trapped in the blast radius in a high-damage, multi-hit move that does more damage the further away the foe is. Because the move isn't restricted to the stage itself, you can also hit foes off stage, so long as they are directly in Merric's line of sight, in an attempt to ruin their recovery. This move shouldn't be used in Free For Alls, however, as Merric is a sitting duck while using it.
Up Special: Shaver - Merric uses a Shaver tome to launch himself upward. This move doesn't cause any damage, but covers a great deal of vertical distance, compensating for Merric's low jumps. As well, as Merric ascends, he gets a wind box around him, pushing away foes that stray too close.
Down Special: Blizzard - Merric stands in place and takes out a Blizzard tome, pointing his hand diagonally downward toward the ground. While holding the move, he can move the control stick both in front of and behind himself, shooting an icy wind blast toward the ground and freezing it. Merric can only have a total amount of ground equivalent to one Battlefield platform frozen at a time. The frozen ground becomes slippery, making foes that step on it likely to trip, allowing for Merric to either counterattack or escape, or forcing them to make an aerial approach. The ground will thaw after a period of time, however. In the air, this move just acts as a chilling wind attack that's launched diagonally downward and doesn't cover a very large distance.
Final Smash: Starlight - In a cinematic Final Smash, Merric traps all foes in range in a magical bind. The background turns into a star-filled void as Merric unleashes a celestial explosion from the Starlight tome, yelling "Divine Starlight, lend me your aid!" and causing massive damage and knockback.
Taunts:
Up Taunt: Merric raises his hand, palm upward, as a small ball of wind forms in his hand.
Side Taunt: Merric begins reading through his tome, lightly chuckling to himself.
Down Taunt: Wind billows around Merric as Excalibur's pages turn and his hood rises up, while saying "Winds, heed me!"
Victory Animations:
Victory 1: Merric tucks Excalibur away into his robe and takes a bow.
Victory 2: Merric descends to the ground, surrounded by powerful gusts of wind and says, "It's been a pleasure."
Victory 3: Merric, with Excalibur drawn and open, says "The magic I've learned must protect everyone."
Victory vs Marth: Victory 3, except the voice line changes to "Don't worry, Marth. I'm sure Elice will be able to patch you up."
Kirby Hat: Kirby gets Merric's hair, hood, and Excalibur tome.
Alternate Costume: His white bishop robes from Mystery of the Emblem.
