smashkirby
Smash Hero
From left to right: Goose, Hawk, Kiwi, Lark, Hooter, and Ibis (from Pilotwings 64)
What is Pilotwings, you ask?
Pilotwings is a series of flight simulation games from Nintendo starting as a launch title on the Super Nintendo Entertainment System in 1990/1991/1992, and as a result, has continued the tradition of being a launch title for the Nintendo 64, (Pilotwings 64, 1996/1997) and for the Nintendo 3DS. (Pilotwings Resort, 2011) The games themselves have gotten great reception from many a gamer. Usually, the games normally involve the player flying a variety of flight vehicles and earning your flight license through these flying lessons which are, but not limited to: Planes, Rocket Belts, (Jet Packs) Hang Gliders, and many more.
I don't know... Honestly, It seems all you do is fly around...
As a matter of fact, the series itself is highly acclaimed, but has the unfortunate issue of being released on small occasions, so the series is not well known. That being said, the games themselves have more to do than just "fly around". There are many missions in the series that have specific objectives within the missions that can give more for the player to do, such as skydiving, jumping across an island, firing yourself out of a cannon, etc.
But there isn't even a main character for the series! Sakurai would have a pretty hard time trying to figure out who could rep the series, wouldn't he?
While Pilotwings might not exactly have any ONE person to rep the ENTIRE franchise, don't forget that there are other series that are in a similar situation, such as Rhythm Heaven. That said, Sakurai could probably choose the "Golden Pilot", the main protagonist of the first Pilotwings game for SNES, or even (and this next character is my personal preference) Lark from Pilotwings 64.
Long story short, there are many characters from different series that Sakurai could choose from who are actually unique for Smash, and Pilotwings is no different.
Okay, so why does this series deserve a playable character in Smash?
Pilotwings' cast of characters are known to have some unique designs and a bit of personality to them. I've always thought the Pilotwings games had enough individuality to garner a character from its series, giving the series the recognition it truly deserves.
How would they fight?
Pilotwings is not a fighting game, that much is obvious at first sight. But Sakurai has a history of making creative movesets out of total non-combatants (i.e. Duck Hunt, Mr. G&W, etc.).Yes, I know that's a constantly used "excuse" for "off-the-wall" characters, but it still holds up either way.
I envision a Pilotwings character having the special gimmick of excelling in the air rather than the ground. They'd basically be the opposite of Little Mac's gimmick. Basically, the paragraph below goes more into detail as to how I envision a Pilotwings character:
"A Pilotwings character would be a bit varied, in the sense that in the air, a Pilotwings character's strong points would truly shine since they would be able to combo/juggle in mid-air like it was nobody's business. At the same, they would be a bit weaker on the ground so their power would be a bit decreased, but their speed would be increased by a decent margin, where they could things like rack up damage with their flight suit's "Birdman" wings, doing things such Falco's side smash attack in Brawl and spin along the ground with their wings. Their Up+B could be using the Rocket Belt that has appear in every installment of the Pilotwings series so far to burn opponents before take-off and it could act like Firefox from Fox McCloud."
To get a better idea of how a PW character would fight, here's a moveset I made for my most wanted PW character, Lark! (BTW, I also envision that Kiwi (also from PW 64) will be an alt. skin of Lark, so she will fight identically to Lark, and all of her animations will be the same as well. All differences between the two kids are cosmetic.)
For those who wish to see an ACTUAL moveset, see here:
http://sourcegaming.info/2016/03/31/ds-lark-pilotwings/
The (revised) moveset can be seen in the spoiler below.
Entrance
Lark uses a parachute to float safely down to the ground.
Additional Notes
* With some help from his Birdman suit, Lark can do up to three jumps, rather than two. This allows him to be a master of the skies, and use aerial moves as he sees fit!
* He can also wall jump.
* Due to her relative height being quite similar to Lark, and as an attempt to save on any “over-representation”, Kiwi (fellow pilot of Lark's from Pilotwings 64) would serve as an 'Echo Fighter' of Lark, in the same manner as how characters like Lucina and Richter Belmont are Echoes of Marth and Simon Belmont, respectively. All differences between the two young pilots are purely cosmetic.
Ground Attacks
Neutral:
Lark pokes with the right wing of his Birdman suit, followed by a swipe from the left wing, and ends the combo with a forceful flap from both wings, producing a small windbox from the final strike. This move can be infinitely held, with Lark rapidly “poking” his opponents with the tip of the wings, and ending with the aforementioned forceful flap.
Forward Tilt:
Lark swipes in front of himself with the left wing of his Birdman suit, producing a wind box, and destroying weak projectiles. Not much knockback is dealt from this move.
Up Tilt:
Lark performs an upwards bicycle kick with the Jumble Hopper spring shoes. The final kick does a lot more knockback, but just enough so that Lark can follow up with a multitude of aerial attacks.
Down Tilt:
Lark sweeps the floor with his right wing. It can be used repeatedly and in rapid succession to trip opponents.
Dash Attack:
Lark headbutts the opponent. Does decent knockback.
Smash Attacks
Forward:
After charging up, Lark dives at the ground, sliding into any opponents in his path.
Up:
Lark presses down on his Jumble Hopper spring boots. After releasing the pressure on them, he hops upwards with great force, sending opponents flying straight upwards. This allows him to follow up with an aerial attack if the opponent is at low percentages.
Down:
Lark rapidly spins along the ground, attacking with his right foot and left wing. Does a lot of damage, but the knockback leaves a bit to be desired. The most damaging of all his Smash Attacks, but has the least knockback.
Aerial Attacks
Neutral:
Lark rapidly spins in the air like a top, hitting four times. A good combo move, with each hit connecting well with one another. The last hit launches opponents away.
Up:
Lark rapidly flaps the wings of his Birdman suit above him, doing multiple hits. Produces a small windbox above him.
Forward:
Lark extends the wings of his Birdman suit in front of him, rapidly jabbing at his opponents.
Back:
Lark performs the 'Hurricane Wing" with the wings on his Birdman suit. Five swiveling wing swipes performed in quick succession. This move makes Lark "hover" until the move ends if used right after a jump. Good for building up damage, as opponents will be trapped within the flurry of swipes for the duration of the attack.
Down:
Lark sends himself downwards, head-first. Can meteor smash at any frame, but only if the opponent is hit by the top of his head. The opponent will NOT be meteor smashed if they are hit by the side of Lark’s head or any other part of his body.
Special Attacks
Neutral:
Lark's parachute pops out of his backpack, granting him super slow falling speed if activated in midair. However, the move itself does NOT give Lark extra altitude, but it is great for covering long horizontal distances while falling. (Only damages the second it opens. Afterwards, if you’re not careful, Lark can be gimped from recovering if the opponent were to hit him. If they end up hitting the parachute, the opponent takes damage.
Side:
The only “true” projectile in Lark’s moveset. Lark quickly whips out a remote, and from above him, a toy plane would whiz around. This plane would be useful for gimping characters with recoveries that do not necessarily involve flight of some kind. The toy plane can drop small projectiles that resembles pellet gun bullets that deal 2%. You must also press the standard attack button to have the toy plane drop its projectiles while the toy plane is in use. Press the special move button to cancel the move. Remember, that as long as the toy plane is still in activation, Lark will be left wide open for attack, and will have no way to defend himself.
Up:
Lark activates his Rocket Belt. The thrusters burn opponents behind or below you as it bursts upwards with blazing speed, having greater knockback at takeoff. The move has some of the best vertical recovery, but has little to no horizontal recovery at the same time. If Lark were to damage anyone on the way up, he would score multiple hits that deal little knockback, except for the last hit which deals greater knockback.
Down:
Although not used in the same manner as in the games, this move utilizes the floating rings that are a staple of the Pilotwings games. When used, Lark places a floating ring in front of him which can be passed through to give him an instant momentum boost to dash into opponents, sending them flying from the collision. However, opponents can also go through this ring as well, which can be used to their advantage, rushing into other opponents (including Lark). In fact, if the opponent uses the ring to crash into Lark, he actually takes more knockback.
Depending on the character’s weight, the move could cause less knockback or more. For example: if Kirby goes through a ring, his knockback is very small, so you don’t need to worry about lightweights. If Mario or any middleweights walk through, the knockback is decent, to say the least. If any heavyweights, such as Bowser were to go through, then the opponent would be sent flying. If you happen to place the ring just right, it could be used as a trap to rush an opponent offstage.
Grabs
Pummel:
Lark headbutts the opponent.
Up Throw:
Lark first holds the opponent over his head, then headbutts them upward.
Down Throw:
Lark tosses his opponent downwards, then body slams them.
Forward Throw:
Lark performs a Judo Throw, sending opponents flying headfirst. A very small windbox is produced from this throw.
Back Throw:
Lark swings the opponent behind him, backhand-sucker punching the opponent away. This attack also damages any opponents right next to Lark as he's performing the move.
Miscellaneous Attacks
Getting Up from a Fall: Hops up, kicking out his legs as he does so. Deals 4%.
Ledge Attack: Hops and lands face-first into the ground next to the ledge. Deals 5%.
Taunts
Up:
Lark takes off his helmet and blows on it, wiping the top and then straps it right back on.
Down:
Lark rapidly flaps the wings of his Birdman suit, lifting himself off of the ground for a few seconds. He then gets tired and falls back down onto the ground, huffing and puffing from exhaustion.
Side:
Lark makes a funny face in whatever direction he’s facing, sticking his tongue out at his opposition, making a silly sound as he does so.
Final Smash
Lark uses the iconic plane from Pilotwings. A plane flies in from the background and Lark excitedly hops inside preparing to fire himself at his opponents from the foreground. Be very careful though, as Lark has quite a small window of time to fire himself at his opponents. He has a span of 15 seconds. If he does not fire himself in that window of time, the FS will abruptly cancel itself, and Lark will return to the stage as if nothing had just happened. If he does fire himself however, Lark will deal massive damage and knockback to whoever he manages to hit, to the point where it is almost always going to be a OHKO. NOTE: The color scheme of the plane is based on the silver plane used late into Pilotwings for the SNES.
Lark uses a parachute to float safely down to the ground.
Additional Notes
* With some help from his Birdman suit, Lark can do up to three jumps, rather than two. This allows him to be a master of the skies, and use aerial moves as he sees fit!
* He can also wall jump.
* Due to her relative height being quite similar to Lark, and as an attempt to save on any “over-representation”, Kiwi (fellow pilot of Lark's from Pilotwings 64) would serve as an 'Echo Fighter' of Lark, in the same manner as how characters like Lucina and Richter Belmont are Echoes of Marth and Simon Belmont, respectively. All differences between the two young pilots are purely cosmetic.
Ground Attacks
Neutral:
Lark pokes with the right wing of his Birdman suit, followed by a swipe from the left wing, and ends the combo with a forceful flap from both wings, producing a small windbox from the final strike. This move can be infinitely held, with Lark rapidly “poking” his opponents with the tip of the wings, and ending with the aforementioned forceful flap.
Forward Tilt:
Lark swipes in front of himself with the left wing of his Birdman suit, producing a wind box, and destroying weak projectiles. Not much knockback is dealt from this move.
Up Tilt:
Lark performs an upwards bicycle kick with the Jumble Hopper spring shoes. The final kick does a lot more knockback, but just enough so that Lark can follow up with a multitude of aerial attacks.
Down Tilt:
Lark sweeps the floor with his right wing. It can be used repeatedly and in rapid succession to trip opponents.
Dash Attack:
Lark headbutts the opponent. Does decent knockback.
Smash Attacks
Forward:
After charging up, Lark dives at the ground, sliding into any opponents in his path.
Up:
Lark presses down on his Jumble Hopper spring boots. After releasing the pressure on them, he hops upwards with great force, sending opponents flying straight upwards. This allows him to follow up with an aerial attack if the opponent is at low percentages.
Down:
Lark rapidly spins along the ground, attacking with his right foot and left wing. Does a lot of damage, but the knockback leaves a bit to be desired. The most damaging of all his Smash Attacks, but has the least knockback.
Aerial Attacks
Neutral:
Lark rapidly spins in the air like a top, hitting four times. A good combo move, with each hit connecting well with one another. The last hit launches opponents away.
Up:
Lark rapidly flaps the wings of his Birdman suit above him, doing multiple hits. Produces a small windbox above him.
Forward:
Lark extends the wings of his Birdman suit in front of him, rapidly jabbing at his opponents.
Back:
Lark performs the 'Hurricane Wing" with the wings on his Birdman suit. Five swiveling wing swipes performed in quick succession. This move makes Lark "hover" until the move ends if used right after a jump. Good for building up damage, as opponents will be trapped within the flurry of swipes for the duration of the attack.
Down:
Lark sends himself downwards, head-first. Can meteor smash at any frame, but only if the opponent is hit by the top of his head. The opponent will NOT be meteor smashed if they are hit by the side of Lark’s head or any other part of his body.
Special Attacks
Neutral:
Lark's parachute pops out of his backpack, granting him super slow falling speed if activated in midair. However, the move itself does NOT give Lark extra altitude, but it is great for covering long horizontal distances while falling. (Only damages the second it opens. Afterwards, if you’re not careful, Lark can be gimped from recovering if the opponent were to hit him. If they end up hitting the parachute, the opponent takes damage.
Side:
The only “true” projectile in Lark’s moveset. Lark quickly whips out a remote, and from above him, a toy plane would whiz around. This plane would be useful for gimping characters with recoveries that do not necessarily involve flight of some kind. The toy plane can drop small projectiles that resembles pellet gun bullets that deal 2%. You must also press the standard attack button to have the toy plane drop its projectiles while the toy plane is in use. Press the special move button to cancel the move. Remember, that as long as the toy plane is still in activation, Lark will be left wide open for attack, and will have no way to defend himself.
Up:
Lark activates his Rocket Belt. The thrusters burn opponents behind or below you as it bursts upwards with blazing speed, having greater knockback at takeoff. The move has some of the best vertical recovery, but has little to no horizontal recovery at the same time. If Lark were to damage anyone on the way up, he would score multiple hits that deal little knockback, except for the last hit which deals greater knockback.
Down:
Although not used in the same manner as in the games, this move utilizes the floating rings that are a staple of the Pilotwings games. When used, Lark places a floating ring in front of him which can be passed through to give him an instant momentum boost to dash into opponents, sending them flying from the collision. However, opponents can also go through this ring as well, which can be used to their advantage, rushing into other opponents (including Lark). In fact, if the opponent uses the ring to crash into Lark, he actually takes more knockback.
Depending on the character’s weight, the move could cause less knockback or more. For example: if Kirby goes through a ring, his knockback is very small, so you don’t need to worry about lightweights. If Mario or any middleweights walk through, the knockback is decent, to say the least. If any heavyweights, such as Bowser were to go through, then the opponent would be sent flying. If you happen to place the ring just right, it could be used as a trap to rush an opponent offstage.
Grabs
Pummel:
Lark headbutts the opponent.
Up Throw:
Lark first holds the opponent over his head, then headbutts them upward.
Down Throw:
Lark tosses his opponent downwards, then body slams them.
Forward Throw:
Lark performs a Judo Throw, sending opponents flying headfirst. A very small windbox is produced from this throw.
Back Throw:
Lark swings the opponent behind him, backhand-sucker punching the opponent away. This attack also damages any opponents right next to Lark as he's performing the move.
Miscellaneous Attacks
Getting Up from a Fall: Hops up, kicking out his legs as he does so. Deals 4%.
Ledge Attack: Hops and lands face-first into the ground next to the ledge. Deals 5%.
Taunts
Up:
Lark takes off his helmet and blows on it, wiping the top and then straps it right back on.
Down:
Lark rapidly flaps the wings of his Birdman suit, lifting himself off of the ground for a few seconds. He then gets tired and falls back down onto the ground, huffing and puffing from exhaustion.
Side:
Lark makes a funny face in whatever direction he’s facing, sticking his tongue out at his opposition, making a silly sound as he does so.
Final Smash
Lark uses the iconic plane from Pilotwings. A plane flies in from the background and Lark excitedly hops inside preparing to fire himself at his opponents from the foreground. Be very careful though, as Lark has quite a small window of time to fire himself at his opponents. He has a span of 15 seconds. If he does not fire himself in that window of time, the FS will abruptly cancel itself, and Lark will return to the stage as if nothing had just happened. If he does fire himself however, Lark will deal massive damage and knockback to whoever he manages to hit, to the point where it is almost always going to be a OHKO. NOTE: The color scheme of the plane is based on the silver plane used late into Pilotwings for the SNES.
Say, you do know that the Rocket Belt is an item already, right? It would be Animal Crossing all over again.....
I know that. Villager had a lot of representation in SSBB, and he/she did not show up to be playable in that game himself/herself. Come SSB4, and now he/she is playable with about the same amount of representation the series got in Brawl. My point is, if Sakurai could add the Villager(s) in SSB4, and then have all that showing up in the same game, who's to say Sakurai would pull the same issue he pulled in SSBB, and do the same thing in this game? Don't forget, the Rocket Belt has a different design in each game, and the one in SSB4 does not use any design from the Pilotwings games, so he must have came up with a new design all by himself.
Wow! They sound pretty cool! So can I support them?
Why of course! Here's the support list right below!
Pilotwings' high-flying heroes!
smashkirby
shinhed-echi
StaffofSmashing
Oracle_Summon
bksbestbwoy
Da Black Rabbit
Arcadenik
Hippopotasauce
BillyTheKid
PigmaskColonel
AfroDude
DonkaFjord
Mr.J
8-peacock-8
Yomi's Biggest Fan
BluePikmin11
ϟPlazzapϟ
ClubbyBear
SSBCandidates
Freduardo
Kevandre
POKEMANSPIKA
falcomaster925
BoltDragon
Crap-Zapper
Aussie the Shinobi
SuperSegaSonicSS
King Sonnn DeDeDoo
Nintenzilla
lady_sky skipper
PsychoJosh
DukeNapoleon
Tomatoboxer
kool2419
Captain Shades
SEGAGameBoy
UtopianPoyzin
JadeBladeGamer22
solitonmedic
LoZ00
ninjahmos
smash puffle
SonicSmasher1
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