Speaking of villains, that brings up something I wanted to talk about.
Here's a list of antagonists we have in Smash.
Bowser
Bowser Jr. + Koopalings
Pirahna Plant
King K. Rool
Ganondorf
Dark Samus
Ridley
Meta Knight
King Dedede
Wolf
Mewtwo
Dark Pit
Wario
Sephiroth
Kazuya
That's 15 characters who could be considered antagonists in their home franchises. Keep in mind, several characters in this list have become heroic (like Meta Knight and King Dedede) or neutral (like Mewtwo, Wario ,and Dark Pit) in recent times. I have some questions for everyone?
- Without regard to their movesets, echo status, or how their franchise has been treated in Smash, what do you think of the antagonists we have in Smash? Do you think the characters chosen are good? Do any stick out in a bad way?
- Do you think 15 antagonists is enough? Are villains/antagonists something that Smash is lacking in?
- Which Nintendo antagonists do you think should be in?
- What 3rd party antagonists do you think should be in?
- Tekken is actually the only franchise that is only represented by a villain. Could any other franchises get away with that?
- Protagonists and heroes seem to be Smash's go to characters. What makes an antagonist so special that they should be also included? What gives them that "it" factor?
- Of the antagonists we have, the far majority were created in the 80s and 90s. We only have three antagonists created after 2000 (Bowser Jr., Dark Samus and Dark Pit). What recent antagonists should be included (defining recent as after 2000.)
- Conversely, what older antagonists should be included?
- Are there any franchises where the lack of an antagonist seems strange?
- And finally, what are some antagonists that you think are so important/popular/etc to be included but can't feasibly be made playable for whatever reason?
As a fan of bad guys, I want to reply to this for my first post.
1. Yeah, I think the antagonists chosen are good. We have iconic characters that everyone knows. Lesser known but important villains within their franchise. Antagonists who have become good guys. Antagonists who have become anti-heroes. Final bosses, recurring bosses and even common enemies...
We have all kinds of bad guys. I think this is the most important thing.
2. 15 is a nice number. But some iconic villains are still missing. I'll come back to that later.
3. King Boo. Of course, there is a purely personal desire behind this idea. But I sincerely believe that he has a chance to get in.
Luigi's Mansion is a series that is still relevant today and Nintendo continues to exploit it even beyond video games as we can see with the Lego Luigi's Mansion. As long as Nintendo continues to put this series forward (and there's no reason for them to stop), King Boo will always be a relevant character since he's the major antagonist.
4. Dr Eggman. He's like the second most famous video games villains of all times. He should be a priority in the next Smash game.
5. Danganronpa with Monokuma, since he's the mascot of that franchise.
6. I think that a good villains always make things more iconic. In video games (especially with final bosses), they are the ones who give the game and the protagonists a reason to exist. Without villains, there's no heroes. They are as important as their arch enemy.
7. Same answer as 3.
8. Same answer as 4.
9. I think Dr Eggman is really too important to just be absent. I always used to see him when Sonic is around.
10. Mother Brain. A boss would be cool though.