Porky's Strongest Slave - Masked Man for Smash Switch

[BlazGreen]

Who might this be?
With immense PSI powers, a lightning sword and an arm cannon, the Masked Man is the formidable final boss of Mother 3. Originally Lucas' twin brother Claus, he left Tazmily Village after the death of their mother in order to become stronger but was later found dead or near death by Porky's Pigmask army. After his capture he was transformed into a 'human chimera' with forcefully repressed memories and began to act as Porky's strongest subordinate. However, he gradually recovers his memories when he encounters Lucas until he eventually remembers his true self and then...

How does he fight?
As I mentioned before, the Masked Man has PSI powers similar to Lucas but he is also outfitted with various other equipment to make him a versatile fighter. His arm cannon packs a punch much like Megaman's, his lightning sword can summon bolts from the sky as well as act as a traditional short sword. He even has a jetpack with wings to use as a recovery option.

Spoiler: Moveset ideas

Neutral B - PK Love Omega

My idea for this move is to have the Masked Man use a similar looking attack to Lucas' Up Smash but angled forwards instead of upwards and have it move at a relatively slow speed across the screen. Obviously the knockback and damage would be different because a moving projectile version of Lucas' Up Smash would be hilariously broken.

Down B - Lightning sword

A three hit sword combo that causes a thunderbolt to drop down from the sky on the final hit. This move can be cancelled during the first two slashes.

Up B - Jetpack

The Masked Man launches himself vertically to recover. There is some horizontal movement but it won't get you too far if you're in the side blast zones.

Side B - Arm Cannon

(As far as I can remember he doesn't actually use his arm canon in cutscenes so no gif here )

A multishot projectile attack where the Masked Man fires three small projectiles consecutively. This attack can be aimed at various angles by holding the joystick up or down.

Dash Attack - Lunging Strike

Self explanatory really.

And that's all for now. I have other ideas in my head for the rest of his moveset but since I'm out of gifs, I'm going to need to come up with better descriptions.

Does he have a chance?
If I'm being completely honest this is nothing more than a pipe dream but I still wish to raise awareness of this character and his potential. Mother is a dead series and the third installment came out a long time ago at this point however it does have a loyal fanbase who would love to see more representation in Smash. In terms of competition from his own series, Ninten and Porky are probably the other likely candidates but I feel Claus has enough going for him to be the most unique new Mother character in Smash.

 

[FrozenRoy]

Oh man, YES. I was actually going to make him a thread later today, because he was THE newcomer I wanted for Brawl. Is he likely? NO, not at all, there's like 3 Mother characters who would get in before him, but he is still very central, very plot important, and of course is big in some of the best moments in the game. I love him.

Something I think this post undersells is just how unique Masked Man could be in Smash 5. Who else not only has psychic powers which could be expanded, or FINALLY bring PK Love to Smash, an Arm Cannon which could easily be used like Samus or Mii Gunner AND a sword which also has elemental prowess? He has a crazy amount of smash things he could do!

Put me on as a support. Sakurai, if you're listening, LETS GO AND GET HIM IN!

 

[Awakining]

I'm a huge fan of the EarthBound franchise in general, but I've always considered the Masked Man specifically to be a fantastic character with amazing potential for creating a unique and memorable Super Smash Bros. fighter. You can count on my support.

 

[PsychoJosh]

Hmm.

Pretty hard for me to support a character who is a massive spoiler in of himself.

Spoiler

Even if it is a little obvious who he is.

Would be nice to have him as an assist trophy, but as a playable fighter might be going too far for people who have not yet played the game.

 

[Fire Emblemier]

Its not like Smash is no stranger to character spoilers. I like the idea of him, but don't expect him.

 

[TCT~Phantom]

Hmm.

Pretty hard for me to support a character who is a massive spoiler in of himself.

Spoiler

Even if it is a little obvious who he is.

Would be nice to have him as an assist trophy, but as a playable fighter might be going too far for people who have not yet played the game.

But sheik tho and Lucina tho. Also spoilers for a 10+yr game seems ok.

I support, one of the three “likely” mother characters.

 

[EmceeEspio]

One of my favorite Nintendo characters in general, I'm in.

 

[Morbi]

But sheik tho and Lucina tho. Also spoilers for a 10+yr game seems ok.

I support, one of the three “likely” mother characters.

To be completely fair, it is not as though I can actually play the game legally. Despite people more or less begging Nintendo to localize it. If I did care about spoilers, and they just put him in Smash and spoiled the game, I would be fairly upset. if it was a readily available game for ten years, sure. My only hope is they announce the Switch VC at e3 with Smash, I could care less if they added a character from Mother 3. Unless it was Porky... Or Gigyas?

 

[EmceeEspio]

Personally I think cross-promotion with finally getting a release of Mother 3 could be the way Masked Man becomes a possibility in the first place.

 

[Awakining]

Personally I think cross-promotion with finally getting a release of Mother 3 could be the way Masked Man becomes a possibility in the first place.

It could also happen in reverse. We've all seen what Super Smash Bros. can do for a dying or dead franchise, so the inclusion of a character who looks and functions in a distinctly different way than Mother's existing representatives, at least to the casual player, might spark the necessary "boom" in interest (and potential profit) that Nintendo needs to finally localize Mother 3.

Well, one could hope, at least.

 

[Diddy Kong]

First a localised MOTHER 3, then I will believe.

For now, I think we would be considered lucky if we can get Lucas on the base roster...

 

[Morbi]

I definitely know people hate to hear this; however, he could legitimately work as a costume for Lucas. I mean, Claus was. He absolutely could be different. But if I was a fan of his character, I would personally just want him in. One way or the other.

 

[Diddy Kong]

I definitely know people hate to hear this; however, he could legitimately work as a costume for Lucas. I mean, Claus was. He absolutely could be different. But if I was a fan of his character, I would personally just want him in. One way or the other.

*ahem* Not to spoil anything...

But he already IS.

Spoiler: Yo it's saying SPOILERS, click at own risk

 

[FrozenRoy]

First a localised MOTHER 3, then I will believe.

For now, I think we would be considered lucky if we can get Lucas on the base roster...

Mother 3 localization leading to Masked Man in Smash 5, the ideal timeline. (Maybe Porky too?)

 

[EmceeEspio]

I definitely know people hate to hear this; however, he could legitimately work as a costume for Lucas. I mean, Claus was. He absolutely could be different. But if I was a fan of his character, I would personally just want him in. One way or the other.

I think the arm cannon, lightning control, wings, sword, and use of PK LOVE properly could potentially separate him enough as a character from Lucas enough to justify not being a costume.

In addition, I think he looks visually distinct enough that it wouldn't make sense.

Spoiler: MOTHER 3 SPOILERS

At least in the Masked Man form. Claus is fine as an alt for Lucas. The best alt for Lucas.

 

[UserKev]

You dudes got me hooked on supporting Masked Man/Claus again. Haha Claus is the only other Mother rep that would be fun to play as since Pokey is depressing, him and Giygas just making you feel powerful. No sense of balance. Smash could use more badass characters.

I support.

 

[Zeox]

But this character would be overpowered against Lucas mains, since Lucas cannot fight against him.
Ok, jokes aside, I don't think I want Masked man, not because it wouldn't be cool, but because I couldn't bring myself into fighting against Claus one more time... when I did it in mother 3 it left me a scar.

 

[Megakoopax]

Not a bad choice, I really like the Masked Man. I mostly like the unique moveset potential he can have.

 

[CharM3D]

yes please. mother 3 is the best game ever and needs way more representation in smash. that and an official english translation. preferably one that doesnt censor it too much. idk i guess the days of nintendo censoring every reference to death seem to be over so there's that. anyways masked man for smash PLEASE

 

[Xebenkeck]

What the hell..... like 4-5 years ago before smash 4 was released he was among the most requested characters.

He was usually in the same discussion as bowser jr, toad, krool, krysral, dixie, ridley, little mac etc. Its kind of disheartening and sad that this thread doesn't have a whole lot more support or why his popularity has fallen off so much.

He can easily be a character with traits of lucas, samus, metaknight, all ravelled into one unique moveset/ character. I have always supported his inclusion ever since lucas was included. The characters almost seem incomplete/insincere without each others presence.

 

[Thirdkoopa]

What the hell..... like 4-5 years ago before smash 4 was released he was among the most requested characters. He was usually in the same discussion as bowser jr, toad, krool, krysral, dixie, ridley, little mac etc. Its kind of disheartening and sad that this thread doesn't have a whole lot more support or why his popularity has fallen off so much. He can easily be a character with traits of lucas, samus, metaknight, all ravelled into one unique moveset/ character. I have always supported his inclusion ever since lucas was included. The characters almost seem incomplete/insincere without each others presence.

Honestly, he deserves in - he's an easy semi-clone that can use multiple movesets as a base (Samus, Diddy's Jetpack, Meta-Knight, and Lucas) and he would easily attract a lot of people into the series. We have 6 Fire Emblem characters - I think we should start rallying up that support for DLC.

 

[GaminGryff]

As cool as the moveset could be, knowing just what Porky did to Claus, to Lucas, to Flint's whole family, I don't know if my heart could take Masked Man as a character. I'd almost rather see him as just Claus, but I guess we kind of already have that...

...maybe if I could just lay the beatdown to Porky as a boss with Masked Man, that would make it alright.

I support.

 

[ThoughtfulWanderer]

I will always support more Mother characters. One of the series' most tragic characters especially when you consider the mental struggle in the final battle and the unused battle backgrounds. He'd probably become a fan favorite in Smash with how much he's equipped with: an arm cannon, a lightning sword, a jetpack, PSI, wings, etc. He's got a very sleek design.

He'll almost certainly never get in. I think we'd be lucky to get even an AT, but I will support.

 

[Scicky]

I've never actually played through all of Mother 3 but the characters story really appeals to me and the design is perfect. Like Megaman and Metaknight combined, would probably be super fun to play and I remember them having a lot of support back in the day. Would be nice to have a new wholly unique Mother rep too. (Ironic given who the character is, but yeah)

 

[SEGAGameBoy]

Never played it before. I support!

 

[Lisbon Mapping]

I definitely support. Masked Man is one of my most wanted newcomers.

 

[SkullKidKing]

you have my support for Masked Man

 

[MainJPW]

I support Masked Man for Special.

 

[Sølid]

I’ve been wanting Claus in for a while now, I’ll join this party for him in Ultimate!

 

[GoodGrief741]

Well, I can’t believe I haven’t come here to give my support yet. One of the largest moveset potentials I’ve ever seen, great character, great game, let’s go!

 

[Ninten DS]

Masked Man would be one the best Earthbound villain addition for Ultimate, and although I think Porky Minch would be the ideal one, I can see Masked Man being the newcomer, while Porky turns out to be a boss in a possible story mode. I don't really have interest in Masked Man, but I'd be pleased to see another playable Earthbound rep after all this time, specially a villain, not like Ninten, which is other possibility.

 

[TCT~Phantom]

Thinking about it, Masked Man could worm as a Lucas echo, and would help fill the villain quota. I support.

 

[BlazGreen]

You could justify giving him the moves of several characters, he is a chimera after all.

- Metaknight's tilts
- Diddy's jetpack (slightly tweaked)
- Samus' Charge Shot
- Pikachu's Thunder (slightly tweaked)
- Lucas' aerials
- Ness' throws
- Link's dash attack

Funny thing is I can actually see this working.

 

[Gran-Rojo]

You could justify giving him the moves of several characters, he is a chimera after all.

- Metaknight's tilts
- Diddy's jetpack (slightly tweaked)
- Samus' Charge Shot
- Pikachu's Thunder (slightly tweaked)
- Lucas' aerials
- Ness' throws
- Link's dash attack

Funny thing is I can actually see this working.

I think Masked Man as a Chrom-like echo for Lucas would be great and is somewhat likely. The only things that they would absolutely HAVE to change would be his up-b being similar to Diddy's jetpack and his grab/throws being similar to Ness' like you suggested. Everything else could be Lucas' moves with neutral b being a pk love reskin, side b being an arm cannon reskin, the stick being reskinned to a sword, and the aerials and tilts staying the same.

If they don't keep his moves mostly similar to Lucas' he might not qualify as an echo.

 

[Deleted member]

Earthbound's a weird one in the realm of newcomers. There are certainly options, but with the series having ended with Mother 3, it does kind of make sense why they haven't added anyone aside from Ness and Lucas.

But of the options that are there, Masked Man is one of my favorites. Count me in as a supporter.

 

[Mogisthelioma]

I totally wish Masked Man was in. Earthbound/Mother is super cool and deserves more reps.

 

[PK-remling Fire]

I totally wish Masked Man was in. Earthbound/Mother is super cool and deserves more reps.

I second this. Mother is such an underrated series and deserves more love. Even if we can't get Porky or Masked Man, even Ninten as a Ness echo would be good for me

 

[Inoj]

If I take the mask off, will you die?

 

[Majora's Visage]

Add me to a list of supporters. Never played Mother 3 but I would love to see him in and have the Earthbound series more represented

 

[FalconFire93]

The more Mother/Earthbound characters the merrier, would love to see him make an unexpected appearance.