On the subject of puppet characters, I remember thinking up a special moveset for Vespiquen once (not sure why tho). It's been a while and I didn't write it down at the time, but I think it went something like this:
Vespiquen has three Combee that follow her around like Arsene follows Joker. In this state, players can't interact with them, and I didn't really think about whether or not they factor into Vespiquen's normals. They are, however, vital to her special move set.
Her side special is Attack Order: She sends out a Combee in a similar (but not identical) manner to Luma Shot. Once the Combee has finished moving, they are considered "active" and will fly in place, waiting for commands. In this state, they can be hit, and dealing enough damage to them makes them go back to Vespiquen, and unusable for a few seconds. She can do this for each of her Combee, and if she uses it next to an active Combee the Combee will perform their tackle attack a second time, moving forward slightly.
Her down special is Defend Order, which summons all the Combee back to Vespiquen in a defensive formation. Having the Combee further away makes the counter active much slower, but if the counter is triggered, the Combee will use Bug Buzz to knock opponents away.
Her up special is Gust Order, which has Vespiquen and her Combee use Gust centered on themselves. The active Combee will pop opponents up for combos on hit, and Vespiquen will launch herself up a little similar to Hero's Woosh attack. The more Combee that are around Vespiquen, the more effective it is as a recovery.
Her neutral special is Pollen Puff, a simple straight shooting projectile that's kinda weak, but if you hit an active Combee with it, it will heal them. If the Combee isn't injured, they will toss it to the nearest active Combee. This goes in a chain until the last one, who throws it at the nearest opponent. Each consecutive toss makes the projectile faster and stronger. Using Defend Order while a Combee has a Pollen Puff gives it back to Vespiquen, who will have the powered up puff at the ready.
It's more of a trap/puppet hybrid, but I think it's a cool, if rough, idea.