AdmN30
Smash Apprentice
- Joined
- Jul 28, 2012
- Messages
- 109
- NNID
- AdmiralN
- Switch FC
- SW-2324-3227-3622
Image taken from my deviantART page: AdmiralN30
Ninten is the main character of the very first Mother game titled: EarthBound Beginnings. In this game, he is joined by Ana, Lloyd, and Teddy as they fight off an invading army led by Giegue (Giygas). As their journey progresses, Ninten discovers their connection to his great grandparents.
Why should he join the roster?
If Ninten was added in Smash Bros, then all the primary protagonists of all three games can be represented. So far, all that Smash Bros had to represent the first Mother game was one stage and several songs. Ninten so far had only a couple of cameos on the Magicant stage on the 3DS and a sticker in Brawl. Admittedly, at the time of Super Smash Bros for the 3DS and Wii U, his chances seemed kind of slim. Since then however, Nintendo officially released the English translation of the first Mother game and re-titled it to EarthBound Beginnings. If Ninten was included, it could spread awareness of the character and his game to a wider audience, like what the Fire Emblem characters did in Melee or even what Ness and Lucas did when they were brought to the roster. In fact, one could argue that Super Smash Bros is partly responsible for helping to spread the popularity of these franchises.
B: PK Beam:
Ninten fires a chargeable beam of energy which inflicts combo damage to opponents. The longer B is held down, the longer the beam will be.
B →: 4-D Slip:
A circle of light forms in front of Ninten as the player controls a second one with the analog stick. When B is released, he jumps into a portal in front of him and emerges from another at the spot the spot the circle was when B was released. Any opponent caught at the two spots where the portals form will receive electrical combo damage. To an extent, the move is kind of like Greninja’s Shadow Sneak, except it doesn’t happen in a flash.
B ↑: PK Teleport:
Ninten rapidly spins on the ground or in midair and teleports into the direction in which the analog stick is held. Any opponent caught within range of his teleportation will receive a burning damage effect.
B ↓: PK Hypnosis:
Ninten releases rings of light from his eyes which lulls an opponent in front of him to sleep briefly. It’s kind of similar to Mewtwo’s disable as it works when the opponent is facing him, except it’s slightly slower to activate and covers a wider range.
Final Smash: Brain Cyclone:
Ninten creates an aura around himself which telekinetically lifts any surrounding characters and rapidly spins them around him in a spiral. This has enough power throw the opponents off screen. Whoever isn’t KO’d will have their controls jinxed briefly as if they are confused or “feel strange”.
Ninten fires a chargeable beam of energy which inflicts combo damage to opponents. The longer B is held down, the longer the beam will be.
B →: 4-D Slip:
A circle of light forms in front of Ninten as the player controls a second one with the analog stick. When B is released, he jumps into a portal in front of him and emerges from another at the spot the spot the circle was when B was released. Any opponent caught at the two spots where the portals form will receive electrical combo damage. To an extent, the move is kind of like Greninja’s Shadow Sneak, except it doesn’t happen in a flash.
B ↑: PK Teleport:
Ninten rapidly spins on the ground or in midair and teleports into the direction in which the analog stick is held. Any opponent caught within range of his teleportation will receive a burning damage effect.
B ↓: PK Hypnosis:
Ninten releases rings of light from his eyes which lulls an opponent in front of him to sleep briefly. It’s kind of similar to Mewtwo’s disable as it works when the opponent is facing him, except it’s slightly slower to activate and covers a wider range.
Final Smash: Brain Cyclone:
Ninten creates an aura around himself which telekinetically lifts any surrounding characters and rapidly spins them around him in a spiral. This has enough power throw the opponents off screen. Whoever isn’t KO’d will have their controls jinxed briefly as if they are confused or “feel strange”.
Objections:
Argument #1: He looks the same as Ness.
This is easy to fix. Redesigns are not uncommon in media, let alone in video games. A lot of fan art seems to base the way they show Ninten off of the original commercial for Mother on the Famicom in which he wore a red bandana and a shirt with different colored stripes.
Even I designed the image provided at the very top of is thread. Of course, I don’t expect him to look exactly like that, but it is just an example. If Ninten does make it into Smash for the Switch they may very well could redesign him.
Argument #2: He will just be another Ness clone.
It is assumed that his moveset would just be a copy of Ness and Lucas, which is not necessarily true. Just because Ninten is a PSI user, that doesn’t mean he is guaranteed to be a clone of the other two characters. There were several moves from EarthBound Beginnings that weren’t used by characters in the later games like PK Beam and the 4th Dimensional Slip. Plus, there were moves in the other two Mother games that weren’t in the first like PK Flash and PK Starstorm.
However, I understand that some wouldn't mind having him as a clone. As a personal preference, I would prefer for him to have a unique moseset.
Argument #3: Ness IS Ninten.
This is a blanket statement. Just because they looked similar doesn’t mean they are the same exact character. They both have different settings, different friends and family, different weaknesses, as well as different stories. With the different plot points and character traits, the differences outweigh the similarities.
Argument #4: Adding another Mother character is over-representation.
There were only two playable Mother characters in Super Smash Bros so far. I don’t see how adding one more would be over-representation. The roster can still be diverse if one more Mother character was added.
Don’t forget, the previous Smash game had three Kid Icarus characters and six Fire Emblem characters (which includes DLC), while The Legend of Zelda and Donkey Kong Country had only the veterans and zero newcomers. This gives me the impression that there is no set-in-stone rule that states “this series deserves x amount of characters”. So, I think it’s a fair compromise to have at least a maximum of three characters to represent the Mother series.
Argument #5: Neither Ninten nor EarthBound Beginnings are popular enough.
Popularity doesn’t always guarantee a character’s inclusion. Again, most people were expecting new characters to represent the Legend of Zelda and Donkey Kong Country for Smash 4 but didn’t get any. While popularity is important, it's not the final deciding factor.
Besides, you want to talk about popularity? For over two decades fans have been demanding the release of the first Mother game to the west, thanks in part to Starmen.net. They eventually got their wish in 2015 when Nintendo released it to the Wii U’s virtual console. That might not have happened if it wasn’t for so many people demanding the game (we are still demanding Mother 3, but I digress).
Argument #6: The first Mother game isn’t relevant.
You know, the Virtual Console publication in 2015 technically marks the first time that the game was officially released worldwide. Are you just going to pretend that it didn’t happen?
Argument #7: Ninten should just be an alternate skin for Ness.
In my opinion, making him an alternate skin for Ness would be like if they decided to make Elma from Xenoblade Chronicles X an alternate skin for Shulk. Just because they can, doesn’t mean they should. I mean, Alph being an alternate skin for Olimar made sense because he didn't have much to work off of from Pikmin 3 (aside from maybe Rock Pikmin like they originally planned). As for the seven Koopalings, they were made into skins for Bowser Jr. as a minor bonus as he was a last-minute addition anyways. That and most of Bowser Jr.’s moves were either not specific to one Koopaling or just made up altogether (except for the Shadow Mario Final Smash, but that's just one move). Ninten deserves better than that, especially when he has plenty of distinct moves and abilities to exercise.
Argument #8: Is he plausible?
Technically yes. Ninten is a Nintendo character (if his name didn’t make it obvious enough) who does fit the guidelines of Super Smash Bros. At the time of Smash 4, it seemed that his chances were low. But with EarthBound Beginnings finally out on the Wii U Virtual Console that anyone with said system can access, I think his chances are better than before. Maybe not to the extreme, but still sufficiently to say he has a fair shot. As the first hero of the Mother series, I think he deserves the spot well enough after all of this time.
If you want Ninten in the next Smash game, feel free to show your support. And don’t forget to spread the word!
"Ninten for Smash" Twitter Account
Last edited: