Erotic&Heretic
Smash Master
Thanks to
Wolfie557
for remaking the thread for Smash Ultimate and updating it in the first place!
Queen of the Underworld: Medusa's Support Thread!
Watch out, the underworld is full of nasty spoilers!
Who is that gorgeous Lady?
Medusa, the Queen of the Underworld. She is the main antagonist in the original Kid Icarus for the NES, and the first antagonist in Kid Icarus Uprising.
And so, what is her story?
According to Kid Icarus booklet, Palutena and Medusa once ruled over Skyworld. While Palutena was kind toward humans, Medusa showed hatred toward them, turning people to stone and drying up crops.
In anger, Palutena transformed Medusa into a cyclopic monster, and banished her into the Underworld.
In the first Kid Icarus, Medusa gathered an army in the underworld to overthrow Palutena, and took position in the Palace in the Sky. Ultimately, she is defeated by Pit. After 25 years passed since her defeat, however, Medusa comes back and led her army again. Protected again by her faithful commanders, she is eventually defeated again, to be revealed she was revived by Hades, Uprising's main antagonist.During the final battle against Hades, while Pit is about to be defeated by Hades, Medusa makes a surprise comeback and stop Hades final attack.
"It hardly matters HOW I returned. What matters is WHY. To exact revenge on you!"
What can she do?
In one boss battle, Medusa proved she was worthy to be an original Smash Bros fighter.
First of all, her "never shown in game main trait": The ability to turn people into stone. Being inspired by the mythological gorgon, Medusa can transform her foes into a statue, something never seen in Smash.
But wait, there's more! She is able to summons various things, like a floating eyeball shooting energy balls, or floating mines. Of course she is able to shoot many projectiles from her own eyes. You think she is not potent in close combat? She have claws, a tiny, poison spitting mouth in the palm of her hand and an uppercut powerful enough to disintegrate Hades head. Finally, her Monsterous Form simply yell "Final Smash".
But what if she actually was an Echo of Palutena?
It is true that Medusa fans spend a lot of time talking about what's different during the Smash 4 era. But with the concept of echo fighters, let's take a look at what's similar.
First of all, the design: Medusa isn't an evil clone, but her dress and overall look is made as a dark version of Palutena's design. Obviously, Medusa's dress is dark compared to Palutena's white clothes, but they share the same kind of jewelry on the belt, as well as on their arms. They also have the same build, Medusa seems to be as tall as Palutena. They do have another difference: Palutena is right-handed, while Medusa is left-handed.
Now the roles: as said previously, Medusa was a ruler of Angel Land before being banished to the underworld. They both are the two goddesses of the first game, so they have a lot in common actually.
Finally, about the moveset and general animations: Medusa wield a staff in the same manner as Palutena, and having the same build, animations can be easily ported over Medusa. Being a goddess, it's not far-fetched to see her using abilities granted by both Palutena and Viridi in KI.
What can be different for Medusa as an echo?
Being an echo fighter doesn't mean being a carbon copy. First, the obvious change is giving Medusa dark effects to replace Palutena's light magic. Many animations can be altered. Not only everything would be mirrored, thanks to Medusa being a lefty, but she could have more aggressive looking animations. Punching instead of hitting with a shield, shooting projectiles from her eyes instead of the staff, doing a big uppercut during the counter...
She could also attack with her snakes during her Up-Air, and as her pummel when performing a grab. Her idle pose can be different as well.
The wings during the Smash Attacks even have a convenient replacement thanks to Thanatos, who summons dark wings on a chariot.
More importantly, Chrom has shown that we can borrow moves from other characters, so she could even borrow Mewtwo's disable, with a unique flair to it, transforming people into stone instead of stunning them (giving the alteration the same properties, of course.)
Arguments and Counter Arguments
"If Ridley is too big, Medusa is super too big!"
"Who are you calling huge, you insignificant little thing?"
It's clearly seen through the game that Gods have various size. Palutena appears both gigantic and normal sized, why other gods couldn't do the same? Also, Pit defeated Medusa in the first game. Yet he is surprised of Medusa's size through the whole battle in Uprising.
One last thing, seeing Medusa's being redimensionned wouldn't be shocking, due to her "human" shape. The same happened to Ganondorf, who is bigger in The Legend of Zelda (not as big as Big Medusa, of course).
Ridley is now an official Smash Bros fighter, so, to quote Sakurai himself: "Smash Bros. doesn't always stay true to scale"
"Medusa is not an important character, Hades should get in!"
Hades may speak a lot through the game, but look at the chapters. Although considered to be a great threat, Palutena's Army really care about Hades at the end of the game. Yeah, the heroes care about the big boss only during the last three chapters, and one of them is simply a boss battles rush.
Medusa, on the other hand, takes 9 chapters to be defeated. It's more than 1/3 of the game. It's more chapters than Hades and Viridi combined. Heck, even the Chaos Kin takes more chapters than Hades. And, more important, Medusa is the main antagonist of the first game. She is tied with the heroes. She represent one part of the "Triforce" of Kid Icarus.
"Palutena already has a Medusa alt color!"
Many characters have colors referencing others, or that are close to others. Mario's Wario colors didn't prevent Wario from being a newcommer in Brawl. If you can tell apart two Robins because of the twintails, Mario & Luigi both in Waluigi's colors, and can easily differentiate the normal Pac-Man to the Yellow Pac-Man in 8 players Pac-Man battle, there's no problems with Palutena having a Medusa alt. Palutena also has a Dark Pit alt
Finally, Marth's with Roy's coloration didn't prevent our boy from coming back as a DLC!
Keep in mind that even if Samus lost her Dark Samus color in favor of her new echo fighter, the Palutena's Medusa alt color (that is not seen yet) doesn't automaticaly prevent Medusa. For example, Pit's dark color now have black wings, making him look actually closer to Dark Pit. Peach and Daisy also share a white alt color.
Movesets
[
Medusa - Grappling Goddess
B Fang Spell – Medusa thrusts her staff forward, and a blast in the shape of viper a viper head appears. The neon blast zig zags up across the field, making it relatively pesky to avoid. She can shoot up to two out at a time.
B > Twinbellows – Medusa barely lifts her staff, and effortlessly summons a large fiery dog head. This twinbellows esque attack opens its mouth and chomps hard. If chomped, Medusa can choose which direction the mouth throws you. When doing so Twinbellows mouth fills with fire and he spits it out, launching the opponent whichever direction Medusa chose
B^ Astral Projection – Medusa is engulfed in a white aura and is almost instantly transported to whichever area you aimed your control stick towards. (Think Zelda’s B^, but smaller range, and much much quicker). If you don’t project into the air, you’ll become helpless of course.
BV – Gatekeeper – The Goddess of Darkness kneels, and opens a hell mouth, releasing the great (albeit MINI) Gatekeeper. This little monster will shoot lazers at anyone who gets near it. There is a rhythm to the lasers, so you can figure out how to get up close, attack, and destroy it. In the air a hell mouth opens midair and he hovers. If you come below him he drops a turret. He is best used as a sort of “assured KO”. Leaving him in a spot where you can throw an enemy, and he will use a lazer / turret to give them that extra bit of percentage. Twinbellows comes in handy here.
Medusa’s playstyle focuses on grapples, and utilizing gatekeeper. She is on the heavier side, and her attacks are on the slower, but stronger side. Her walking animation is her sitting upon a dark cloud. She doesn’t need to walk. But when she needs to run, Medusa’s feet transform into the body of a snake. She transforms into a naga and swiftly slithers across the stage.
Pictures and Fanarts
Watch out, the underworld is full of nasty spoilers!
Medusa, the Queen of the Underworld. She is the main antagonist in the original Kid Icarus for the NES, and the first antagonist in Kid Icarus Uprising.
According to Kid Icarus booklet, Palutena and Medusa once ruled over Skyworld. While Palutena was kind toward humans, Medusa showed hatred toward them, turning people to stone and drying up crops.
In anger, Palutena transformed Medusa into a cyclopic monster, and banished her into the Underworld.
In the first Kid Icarus, Medusa gathered an army in the underworld to overthrow Palutena, and took position in the Palace in the Sky. Ultimately, she is defeated by Pit. After 25 years passed since her defeat, however, Medusa comes back and led her army again. Protected again by her faithful commanders, she is eventually defeated again, to be revealed she was revived by Hades, Uprising's main antagonist.During the final battle against Hades, while Pit is about to be defeated by Hades, Medusa makes a surprise comeback and stop Hades final attack.
"It hardly matters HOW I returned. What matters is WHY. To exact revenge on you!"
In one boss battle, Medusa proved she was worthy to be an original Smash Bros fighter.
First of all, her "never shown in game main trait": The ability to turn people into stone. Being inspired by the mythological gorgon, Medusa can transform her foes into a statue, something never seen in Smash.
But wait, there's more! She is able to summons various things, like a floating eyeball shooting energy balls, or floating mines. Of course she is able to shoot many projectiles from her own eyes. You think she is not potent in close combat? She have claws, a tiny, poison spitting mouth in the palm of her hand and an uppercut powerful enough to disintegrate Hades head. Finally, her Monsterous Form simply yell "Final Smash".
It is true that Medusa fans spend a lot of time talking about what's different during the Smash 4 era. But with the concept of echo fighters, let's take a look at what's similar.
First of all, the design: Medusa isn't an evil clone, but her dress and overall look is made as a dark version of Palutena's design. Obviously, Medusa's dress is dark compared to Palutena's white clothes, but they share the same kind of jewelry on the belt, as well as on their arms. They also have the same build, Medusa seems to be as tall as Palutena. They do have another difference: Palutena is right-handed, while Medusa is left-handed.
Now the roles: as said previously, Medusa was a ruler of Angel Land before being banished to the underworld. They both are the two goddesses of the first game, so they have a lot in common actually.
Finally, about the moveset and general animations: Medusa wield a staff in the same manner as Palutena, and having the same build, animations can be easily ported over Medusa. Being a goddess, it's not far-fetched to see her using abilities granted by both Palutena and Viridi in KI.
Being an echo fighter doesn't mean being a carbon copy. First, the obvious change is giving Medusa dark effects to replace Palutena's light magic. Many animations can be altered. Not only everything would be mirrored, thanks to Medusa being a lefty, but she could have more aggressive looking animations. Punching instead of hitting with a shield, shooting projectiles from her eyes instead of the staff, doing a big uppercut during the counter...
She could also attack with her snakes during her Up-Air, and as her pummel when performing a grab. Her idle pose can be different as well.
The wings during the Smash Attacks even have a convenient replacement thanks to Thanatos, who summons dark wings on a chariot.
"If Ridley is too big, Medusa is super too big!"
"Who are you calling huge, you insignificant little thing?"
One last thing, seeing Medusa's being redimensionned wouldn't be shocking, due to her "human" shape. The same happened to Ganondorf, who is bigger in The Legend of Zelda (not as big as Big Medusa, of course).
Ridley is now an official Smash Bros fighter, so, to quote Sakurai himself: "Smash Bros. doesn't always stay true to scale"
"Medusa is not an important character, Hades should get in!"
Hades may speak a lot through the game, but look at the chapters. Although considered to be a great threat, Palutena's Army really care about Hades at the end of the game. Yeah, the heroes care about the big boss only during the last three chapters, and one of them is simply a boss battles rush.
Medusa, on the other hand, takes 9 chapters to be defeated. It's more than 1/3 of the game. It's more chapters than Hades and Viridi combined. Heck, even the Chaos Kin takes more chapters than Hades. And, more important, Medusa is the main antagonist of the first game. She is tied with the heroes. She represent one part of the "Triforce" of Kid Icarus.
"Palutena already has a Medusa alt color!"
Many characters have colors referencing others, or that are close to others. Mario's Wario colors didn't prevent Wario from being a newcommer in Brawl. If you can tell apart two Robins because of the twintails, Mario & Luigi both in Waluigi's colors, and can easily differentiate the normal Pac-Man to the Yellow Pac-Man in 8 players Pac-Man battle, there's no problems with Palutena having a Medusa alt. Palutena also has a Dark Pit alt
Finally, Marth's with Roy's coloration didn't prevent our boy from coming back as a DLC!
Keep in mind that even if Samus lost her Dark Samus color in favor of her new echo fighter, the Palutena's Medusa alt color (that is not seen yet) doesn't automaticaly prevent Medusa. For example, Pit's dark color now have black wings, making him look actually closer to Dark Pit. Peach and Daisy also share a white alt color.
Normal Attacks
Side-Tilt: Poisonous Gas
Medusa spray a poisonous gaz from the palm of her hand, poisoning foes.
Side-Smash: Claw
Medusa claws the ennemies in front of her.
Up-Tilt: Snake bite
The snakes on her head protect her by biting in several directions above her.
Up-Smash: Final Uppercut
A powerful uppercut.
Grab: Orange the snake grab foes. Good range, but not a tether (similar to Olimar's Grab).
Pummel: Snakes bites the opponent.
SPECIAL MOVES
Neutral-B: Stone Gaze
(not the actual animation)
Medusa sends a laser from her eyes that transforms foe into a statue. Makes the character heavier and unable to move, and can be picked up like crates. Limited range, but chargeable for more range and stun duration.
Side-B: Eye Turret
Medusa summons en eye that send projectiles. Only one at a time, and easy to destroy.
Down-B: Dark Mine
Medusa blows a mine that float in Mid-Air. She can set 3 at a time. Good for controlling the space. Not a great killing potential, but poison foes upon explosion.
Up-B: Teleportation
Nothing particular, a recovery move where Medusa teleport. Maybe a poison effect at the start of the teleport?
FINAL SMASH: Monsterous Medusa
Medusa turns into a monster and detach her head. Of course the body stay on stage, but can't be harmed.
The floating head sends huge poisonous clouds and killing lasers.
The head then returns to Medusa's body, and she turns back to her normal form.
Side-Tilt: Poisonous Gas
Medusa spray a poisonous gaz from the palm of her hand, poisoning foes.
Side-Smash: Claw
Medusa claws the ennemies in front of her.
Up-Tilt: Snake bite
The snakes on her head protect her by biting in several directions above her.
Up-Smash: Final Uppercut
A powerful uppercut.
Grab: Orange the snake grab foes. Good range, but not a tether (similar to Olimar's Grab).
Pummel: Snakes bites the opponent.
SPECIAL MOVES
Neutral-B: Stone Gaze
Medusa sends a laser from her eyes that transforms foe into a statue. Makes the character heavier and unable to move, and can be picked up like crates. Limited range, but chargeable for more range and stun duration.
Side-B: Eye Turret
Medusa summons en eye that send projectiles. Only one at a time, and easy to destroy.
Down-B: Dark Mine
Medusa blows a mine that float in Mid-Air. She can set 3 at a time. Good for controlling the space. Not a great killing potential, but poison foes upon explosion.
Up-B: Teleportation
Nothing particular, a recovery move where Medusa teleport. Maybe a poison effect at the start of the teleport?
FINAL SMASH: Monsterous Medusa
Medusa turns into a monster and detach her head. Of course the body stay on stage, but can't be harmed.
The floating head sends huge poisonous clouds and killing lasers.
The head then returns to Medusa's body, and she turns back to her normal form.
Neutral Special: Serpent Eye: Medusa emits a pair of eye-shaped projectiles that strongly track opponents. Moderate damage with almost no killing power. A damaging move, rather than a killing blow
Side Special: Dark Mine: Medusa throws a spiked purple sphere that flies forward, and then stops to hover in midair. The distance it goes depends on whether Medusa was tilting or smashing the stick, and the trajectory can be altered by slightly having the stick tilted up or down. SImilar aiming mechanics to Samus's missiles. If the enemy touches the hovering mine, it explodes, dealing heavy damage.
Down Special: Stone Gaze: Medusa glares at her foe, emitting a short-range beam that turns them to stone if they lock eyes. So, in execution, similar to Mewtwo's old Disable attack. However, to make it not useless, it would have a bit more range, and paralyze for a bit longer. However, a petrified foe has their weight multiplied to Metal Box standards. This applies for the first hit delivered to them, which also breaks them out of the stone. So, Medusa can either use this opportunity to just deal damage, or throw them. Landing Stone Gaze in the air doesn't petrify the enemy, but instead spikes them straight down.
Up Special: Shadow Warp: Medusa steps into shadows and moves unseen for a couple of meters. Upon returning, she performs a shadow-enhanced clawing attack directly in front of her. The move is based on one of her attack patterns in the first phase of her fight in Uprising, where she warps away from Pit, then surprises him with a claw attack.
AAA: Medusa claws at the enemy with the sharpened nails on her right hand, three times
Forward Tilt: Medusa performs a leaning swipe with the serpent-headed staff in her left hand
Up tilt: Medusa makes a clawing swipe upward
Down tilt: two-hit swipe with both hands (claws and staff)
Dash attack: Performs a decapitatingly-powerful hook punch with her right arm
Neutral Air: A horizontal 360 spin with her staff outstretched
Forward Air: An arcing swipe from top to bottom in front of her with the staff
Up Air: A (very slightly) rising uppercut
Back Air: A clawing motion behind her
Down Air: a diving kick
Forward Smash: A haymaker with her right arm.
Up Smash: A rising uppercut worthy of the true ruler of the Underworld
Down Smash: A pair of kicks; forward, then backward
Grab: Medusa snares the foe by the scruff of their neck with her right hand and holds them face to face
Grab attack: The snakes on her head bite at the enemy, hits three times for 1-2% each
Forward throw: Medusa backhands the foe with her staff and sends them flying, similar to how she opens the first phase of her fight with Pit
Up Throw: Medusa flings the enemy straight up, and fires a thin laser from two of her snake heads at them to send them flying further up.
Back throw: Medusa, with an almost bored motion, chucks the enemy behind her.
Down throw: Medusa, without letting go, slams the enemy into the floor, and then lets go after they hit the dirt.
Final Smash: True Medusa: Medusa grows to titanic proportions. Her head becomes a cycloptic monstrosity, and she decapitates herself. Her head then goes flying about the stage, under the player's control. A fires an array of homing lozenge-shaped bullets, and B generates a sweeping laser with launching power. Touching the enemy causes damage. Upon the end of the Final Smash, her head returns to her body and she shrinks back down
Taunts:
1. She holds a lightly clutched hand up to her lip, and gives a low, evil chuckle
2: Projects a larger image of herself behind her (like almost all the gods in Uprising do at one point)
3: Looks right at the camera, eyes flash gravel-grey.
Alternate costume: Medusa with her face already in True Medusa form. No change in gameplay, it just makes her hideous the whole time
Kirby Hat: A mass of snake-hair
Pros:
A slew of heavy attacks
Decent range with Serpent Eye
Trap potential with Shadow Mines
Recovery move goes through opponents
Strong throws
Medium-heavy weight
Cons:
Slow
Very little direct kill potential with projectiles
Hard to recover from great distances
Side Special: Dark Mine: Medusa throws a spiked purple sphere that flies forward, and then stops to hover in midair. The distance it goes depends on whether Medusa was tilting or smashing the stick, and the trajectory can be altered by slightly having the stick tilted up or down. SImilar aiming mechanics to Samus's missiles. If the enemy touches the hovering mine, it explodes, dealing heavy damage.
Down Special: Stone Gaze: Medusa glares at her foe, emitting a short-range beam that turns them to stone if they lock eyes. So, in execution, similar to Mewtwo's old Disable attack. However, to make it not useless, it would have a bit more range, and paralyze for a bit longer. However, a petrified foe has their weight multiplied to Metal Box standards. This applies for the first hit delivered to them, which also breaks them out of the stone. So, Medusa can either use this opportunity to just deal damage, or throw them. Landing Stone Gaze in the air doesn't petrify the enemy, but instead spikes them straight down.
Up Special: Shadow Warp: Medusa steps into shadows and moves unseen for a couple of meters. Upon returning, she performs a shadow-enhanced clawing attack directly in front of her. The move is based on one of her attack patterns in the first phase of her fight in Uprising, where she warps away from Pit, then surprises him with a claw attack.
AAA: Medusa claws at the enemy with the sharpened nails on her right hand, three times
Forward Tilt: Medusa performs a leaning swipe with the serpent-headed staff in her left hand
Up tilt: Medusa makes a clawing swipe upward
Down tilt: two-hit swipe with both hands (claws and staff)
Dash attack: Performs a decapitatingly-powerful hook punch with her right arm
Neutral Air: A horizontal 360 spin with her staff outstretched
Forward Air: An arcing swipe from top to bottom in front of her with the staff
Up Air: A (very slightly) rising uppercut
Back Air: A clawing motion behind her
Down Air: a diving kick
Forward Smash: A haymaker with her right arm.
Up Smash: A rising uppercut worthy of the true ruler of the Underworld
Down Smash: A pair of kicks; forward, then backward
Grab: Medusa snares the foe by the scruff of their neck with her right hand and holds them face to face
Grab attack: The snakes on her head bite at the enemy, hits three times for 1-2% each
Forward throw: Medusa backhands the foe with her staff and sends them flying, similar to how she opens the first phase of her fight with Pit
Up Throw: Medusa flings the enemy straight up, and fires a thin laser from two of her snake heads at them to send them flying further up.
Back throw: Medusa, with an almost bored motion, chucks the enemy behind her.
Down throw: Medusa, without letting go, slams the enemy into the floor, and then lets go after they hit the dirt.
Final Smash: True Medusa: Medusa grows to titanic proportions. Her head becomes a cycloptic monstrosity, and she decapitates herself. Her head then goes flying about the stage, under the player's control. A fires an array of homing lozenge-shaped bullets, and B generates a sweeping laser with launching power. Touching the enemy causes damage. Upon the end of the Final Smash, her head returns to her body and she shrinks back down
Taunts:
1. She holds a lightly clutched hand up to her lip, and gives a low, evil chuckle
2: Projects a larger image of herself behind her (like almost all the gods in Uprising do at one point)
3: Looks right at the camera, eyes flash gravel-grey.
Alternate costume: Medusa with her face already in True Medusa form. No change in gameplay, it just makes her hideous the whole time
Kirby Hat: A mass of snake-hair
Pros:
A slew of heavy attacks
Decent range with Serpent Eye
Trap potential with Shadow Mines
Recovery move goes through opponents
Strong throws
Medium-heavy weight
Cons:
Slow
Very little direct kill potential with projectiles
Hard to recover from great distances
http://professorfandango.deviantart.com/art/SMASH-Medusa-352275526
Stone Stare: Maybe it's because I'm awesome at the game (I'm not) but I never got turned to stone by Medusa. Does she do it in the game? Either way, in mythology that's her John Hancock so it's also her main special here. Just like Mewtwo's Disable really, short range, requires facing an opponent and incapacitates them for a short time.
Kiss of Death: This one's ripped straight from the game. Medusa will blow out a little red polyp which will hang in the air for a while, damaging anybody who makes contact with it. This was originally going to be a snake hair bite but I rather like the idea of the snakes being a part of her standard arsenal, maybe her smash attacks.
Viper Strike: I felt I had too many tether recoveries so rather than a snake assisted ascent I took her teleportation ability but gave it more of a form, wherein Medusa shoots upwards in a snake shaped bolt of black magic.
Cursed Palm: From a totally gross mouth on her hand, she spews a cloud of poison gas. Not dissimilar to the Ice Climbers Blizzard, I think it would make sense for Medusa to be a generally poison themed character.
Serpent Storm: This one was just made up, I didn't want to be too contrived. Adopting her more monstorous form, the snakes in Medusa's hair shoot out to a great length and flail around wildly for a while OR (now that I think of it) they shoot out directly at the current opponents in play. This would probably require them to have a limited range.
Stone Stare: Maybe it's because I'm awesome at the game (I'm not) but I never got turned to stone by Medusa. Does she do it in the game? Either way, in mythology that's her John Hancock so it's also her main special here. Just like Mewtwo's Disable really, short range, requires facing an opponent and incapacitates them for a short time.
Kiss of Death: This one's ripped straight from the game. Medusa will blow out a little red polyp which will hang in the air for a while, damaging anybody who makes contact with it. This was originally going to be a snake hair bite but I rather like the idea of the snakes being a part of her standard arsenal, maybe her smash attacks.
Viper Strike: I felt I had too many tether recoveries so rather than a snake assisted ascent I took her teleportation ability but gave it more of a form, wherein Medusa shoots upwards in a snake shaped bolt of black magic.
Cursed Palm: From a totally gross mouth on her hand, she spews a cloud of poison gas. Not dissimilar to the Ice Climbers Blizzard, I think it would make sense for Medusa to be a generally poison themed character.
Serpent Storm: This one was just made up, I didn't want to be too contrived. Adopting her more monstorous form, the snakes in Medusa's hair shoot out to a great length and flail around wildly for a while OR (now that I think of it) they shoot out directly at the current opponents in play. This would probably require them to have a limited range.
Medusa - Grappling Goddess
B Fang Spell – Medusa thrusts her staff forward, and a blast in the shape of viper a viper head appears. The neon blast zig zags up across the field, making it relatively pesky to avoid. She can shoot up to two out at a time.
B > Twinbellows – Medusa barely lifts her staff, and effortlessly summons a large fiery dog head. This twinbellows esque attack opens its mouth and chomps hard. If chomped, Medusa can choose which direction the mouth throws you. When doing so Twinbellows mouth fills with fire and he spits it out, launching the opponent whichever direction Medusa chose
B^ Astral Projection – Medusa is engulfed in a white aura and is almost instantly transported to whichever area you aimed your control stick towards. (Think Zelda’s B^, but smaller range, and much much quicker). If you don’t project into the air, you’ll become helpless of course.
BV – Gatekeeper – The Goddess of Darkness kneels, and opens a hell mouth, releasing the great (albeit MINI) Gatekeeper. This little monster will shoot lazers at anyone who gets near it. There is a rhythm to the lasers, so you can figure out how to get up close, attack, and destroy it. In the air a hell mouth opens midair and he hovers. If you come below him he drops a turret. He is best used as a sort of “assured KO”. Leaving him in a spot where you can throw an enemy, and he will use a lazer / turret to give them that extra bit of percentage. Twinbellows comes in handy here.
Medusa’s playstyle focuses on grapples, and utilizing gatekeeper. She is on the heavier side, and her attacks are on the slower, but stronger side. Her walking animation is her sitting upon a dark cloud. She doesn’t need to walk. But when she needs to run, Medusa’s feet transform into the body of a snake. She transforms into a naga and swiftly slithers across the stage.
N Special: Gorgon's Eye, with a stare, Medusa petrifies her opponent for several seconds, similar to Mewtwo's Disable, but it lasts a second or two longer. It freezes an opponent in place, making the vulnerable for punishment. The one drawback is, while petrified the target is immune to knockback, a nod to the petrification status effect in Kid Icarus: Uprising that increases the target's defense. However, this also means although it's harder to do killing blows on a petrified target, you can also get a bit more damage on them, and possibly set them up for a nasty attack if you time it just right.
F Special: Goddess Claw, Medusa rakes her claws across the area immediately ahead of her with such force she temporarily rends space itself. The attack itself has incredibly short range, but is quite strong, cleaving an opponent and able to KO at mid-levels. Also, the three streaks of red from the claws linger a second or so after the attack, creating a defensive barrier as space repairs itself. The spacial rend can block projectile attacks, giving the move a double usage, as an attack and as a defensive strike. Can be chained very well with Gorgon's Eye for easy damage.
D Special: Summon Reaper, similar to Dedede, Medusa as the goddess of darkness can call upon her minions to aid her in battle, unlike Dedede however, instead of lesser troops Medusa goes right for the big guns and summons a Reaper to battle! The Reaper walks calmly from side to side for several seconds, although if they catch an opponent in their sight they will speed up and slash at them insanely. The drawback to this move, however, is Medusa can only call one Reaper at a time, similar to how Wario's motorbike worked. Until her Reaper is destroyed or vanishes on it's own, she cannot summon another one.
U Special: Toxic Teleport, Medusa teleports as her recovery, although her overall teleportation range is a bit shorter than Mewtwo's. However, in exchange when Medusa teleports she leaves behind a nasty surprise, a cloud of toxic gas lasting several seconds that will automatically poison anyone unfortunate enough to come in contact with it, doing damage over time. It can be used as a recovery move, or as a nasty trap, punishing an enemy looking to attack the dark goddess, leaving them only with poison to contend with!
Final Smash: Goddess of Darkness, Medusa disappears and reappears giant-sized in the background, in her full goddess glory. She will sweep once with her right claw, then with her left, before she fires several beams from her eyes that carpet bomb the stage, causing minor explosions. Claw swipes have more KO power but are easier to dodge, whereas the eye lasers are harder to dodge but don't have as much KO power, instead raking up damage for Medusa's return to the battle once her smash is complete.
F Special: Goddess Claw, Medusa rakes her claws across the area immediately ahead of her with such force she temporarily rends space itself. The attack itself has incredibly short range, but is quite strong, cleaving an opponent and able to KO at mid-levels. Also, the three streaks of red from the claws linger a second or so after the attack, creating a defensive barrier as space repairs itself. The spacial rend can block projectile attacks, giving the move a double usage, as an attack and as a defensive strike. Can be chained very well with Gorgon's Eye for easy damage.
D Special: Summon Reaper, similar to Dedede, Medusa as the goddess of darkness can call upon her minions to aid her in battle, unlike Dedede however, instead of lesser troops Medusa goes right for the big guns and summons a Reaper to battle! The Reaper walks calmly from side to side for several seconds, although if they catch an opponent in their sight they will speed up and slash at them insanely. The drawback to this move, however, is Medusa can only call one Reaper at a time, similar to how Wario's motorbike worked. Until her Reaper is destroyed or vanishes on it's own, she cannot summon another one.
U Special: Toxic Teleport, Medusa teleports as her recovery, although her overall teleportation range is a bit shorter than Mewtwo's. However, in exchange when Medusa teleports she leaves behind a nasty surprise, a cloud of toxic gas lasting several seconds that will automatically poison anyone unfortunate enough to come in contact with it, doing damage over time. It can be used as a recovery move, or as a nasty trap, punishing an enemy looking to attack the dark goddess, leaving them only with poison to contend with!
Final Smash: Goddess of Darkness, Medusa disappears and reappears giant-sized in the background, in her full goddess glory. She will sweep once with her right claw, then with her left, before she fires several beams from her eyes that carpet bomb the stage, causing minor explosions. Claw swipes have more KO power but are easier to dodge, whereas the eye lasers are harder to dodge but don't have as much KO power, instead raking up damage for Medusa's return to the battle once her smash is complete.
Character: Medusa
First Appearance: Kid Icarus (1986)
Recent Appearance: Kid Icarus Uprising (2012)
Key Character Traits
· Medusa’s design is monstrous since her various elements, including snakes, staff, magic, and sharp nails would give her an arsenal of attacks
· Because she can detach various body parts, she becomes a more gruesome villain, especially for a female
· Because Medusa packs more muscles, she would be heavier with jumping power as equal to Bowser or Dedede in total height, but does double jump like other fighters.
Character Play-style
Key Traits
· Unlike Palutena, which she is lightweight and uses more defensive and ranged moves, Medusa would be heavier with more offensive play-style closer to melee with some ranged attacks and stage control
· For staffs, Palutena uses it as her main weapon, Medusa can treat it as her secondary weapon since she packs a bigger punch with her body parts and fists
· Since she can summon minions, she would have elements of stage control, but her opponents can use them against her
· Detaching body parts allow Medusa to have some moves that are ambush-like, bringing in a risky-rewarding element to the character
Cannon aspects from main series, list and analyze each element one by one
Key Traits
· Claws – can be suited to a melee attack. Could be multi-tap standard attack with wide vertical slash as a finisher. Could also be used for a side attack, albeit with slightly longer horizontal reach.
· Staff – Focuses more as an offensive item with some degree of stage control. She can physically use it as a quick long range melee attacks suited either in the air and/or ground for charged up smash attacks. It can also be used to summon certain minions that are most likely small enough for balance purposes. It can also be used for a few post-grab attacks, with one that involves down-thrusting her staff against the laid opponent for high damage with low knockback
· Teleportation – Can be used as an evasion-based recovery, but it can be retooled as an offensive type at a cost of having a shorter range and longer delay compared to Palutena’s recovery. For offensive types, it could have a small explosion, based on her previous location, which damages opponents with weak-medium knockback. Another variant of teleportation would be to travel 1.5 times the distance with a poison mist, instead of an explosion, to give a small damage build to opponents that last 2 seconds, giving 1% damage every 1/5 of a second.
· Floating Eyeball – Can be used as an ambush-type special attack, which her eyeballs can burst out and attack the opponents with weak knockback and shoot small projectiles. Can be charged to give a longer distance and slightly more powerful projectiles.
· Eye Shooting – While can be delegated to a special with the floating eyeballs, it can also be treated as one standard attack in the air, shooting weak shots with little knockback
· Dark Mines – Can be treated as another variant of the eye-ball special attack, but the eyes travel less distance. The mines deals medium-level damage with weak knockback.
· Uppercut – Although an upper-cut move can often be applied as a standard attack or a special for various fighters, it can be treated as one of the moves when Medusa successfully grabs an opponent when pressing up. There would be slight starting and end lag to make an illusion as a strong attack.
· Poison Gas – Can be used as a quick damage builder, but must be well-timed when opponents are close. Although I have explained one variant of teleportation that uses poison, another could be used as a different special which she blows poison at her opponents by creating one small cloud equal to her height. The poison gas from her breath may have less range than the teleportation variant, but deals more damage in a shorter amount of time of 1 second, 2% damage for every 1/6 of a second, plus small bonus when used directly at the opponents.
· Minions – Medusa has plenty of minions to for combat, and the most suitable ones would be small enough size for balance purposes. Minion summoning can be treated as a special attack, but requires great planning and timing since opponents can use them against her from successful attacks. The minions would be released for a short time and disappear afterwards.
o Nettler – one-eyed creatures that pack a bunch of weight. They plop down to give a minor shockwave, dealing low damage with medium-low knock back. However, if opponent is underneath the Nettler, it will be sent upwards with medium damage and medium-high knock-back. If hit/reflected and sent to Medusa, the caster will fly horizontally with medium damage with medium knockback.
o Zik and Zak – two of the snake like creatures will travel a small distance before doing a shock attack. As long as the two are not hit, the electric line would be produced, dealing 1% damage every 1/10 of a second lasting for 1 second to a caught opponent, sending them up with medium-low knockback afterwards. If one of the snakes get hit, they both do a short-ranged shock attack, instead of an electric line, dealing 2% damage every 1/7 of a second for 1 second with medium knockback afterwards.
o Tempura Wizard – the only minion that cannot be sent back (however, reflect moves work), but has the most delay for opponents to evade. It will appear like a ramen bowl, but after ½ of a second, the Tempura Wizard’s head pops out and attempts to bite. If opponent gets bitten, will take medium damage with medium-high knock-back horizontally.
· Cyclops Head Form – People often clamor this as a final smash since it represents her powerful form. There are at least two different ways to treat Medusa’s Cyclops Head: A powerful instant-attack or a free-moving form. For Medusa’s Cyclops head to be treated as an instant attack, there are various interpretations to how to treat it like one. One form of instant attack would be to petrify opponents based on Medusa’s direction, much like stoning foes on her sight, followed by a series of powerful bites from her snake hair to send opponents flying with high knockback, nearly taking them off the screen. The same final smash could happen with Medusa facing the screen but the radius would be more limited based on the visual sign of the shock-wave. If the final smash would be free-form then she can move in any direction, but her facing direction would be the one delivering attacks. In her free-form final smash, she can use her eye to petrify an opponent, with slightly longer range, compared to her eye gaze special, as well as extending petrification state to 2 seconds. When Medusa’s head collides with an opponent, the victim will be given medium damage with medium-high knockback, but the petrified opponent will suffer from an increased damage and knockback.
Other aspects, same rule as cannon
Key Traits
· Greek Mythology – Medusa is based on a creature called Gorgon who also have the same name, The aesthetic design represented from Kid Icarus series matches with common perception of the mythology
· Snake hair – A primary element for many interpretations of Medusa. Her snakes can be used for various normal attacks as well as grabbing since the snakes can stretch quite far. One possible use of a normal attack is upward charge, which her snake hair can give a few weak bites, following with one strong bite with medium-high knockback. There will be significant end-lag between two phases to allow escape and surprise, making the move a double-edged sword.
· Petrification – A common element used in stories involving various interpretations of Medusa. It can be treated as a special move best suited at close range. It can be charged up for a stronger effect against opponents. When successfully used on the opponent, it will remain paralyzed for a short time period, from 0.5 to 1 second, depending on charging time.
· Detached head – For some stories, the powers of certain versions of Medusa will still be active even when without a body. It can serve a great deal of ideas for unique attacks. One possible idea is to make it a unique recovery move by throwing her head in upward direction, decent vertical range but with little to no horizontal movement. With the tossed head, the body will fall down to act as powerful weight against fighters below. However, once the head reaches midair, the body teleports back to her head and becomes helpless.
General/Miscellaneous
Key Traits
· Her Staff and arms can provide an additional number of attacks, mostly delegated to standard attacks in air and ground along with post-throw
Potential Mechanics
Key Traits
· While her moves involving the staff, arms, and snake hair can be fleshed out further, she becomes a more unique character when using elements that involve summoning, magic, and body-detachment.
· If Medusa’s head is thrown from her body for a recovery, her head can be moved slightly faster to ensure she recovers despite her falling down faster from her heavy weight when attached with the body.
· Medusa’s petrification moves against opponents, if applied successfully, would allow her to deal more damage and knock-back compared to opponents at their normal state.
· It can also be possible to use petrification move even when the eyes are far apart from Medusa’s head, but has to be done quickly before the eyes retreat to their sockets.
I envision Medusa as a Heavy character with a few moves with killing potential, but great ability to rack up damages through poison and spacing moves.
First Appearance: Kid Icarus (1986)
Recent Appearance: Kid Icarus Uprising (2012)
Key Character Traits
· Medusa’s design is monstrous since her various elements, including snakes, staff, magic, and sharp nails would give her an arsenal of attacks
· Because she can detach various body parts, she becomes a more gruesome villain, especially for a female
· Because Medusa packs more muscles, she would be heavier with jumping power as equal to Bowser or Dedede in total height, but does double jump like other fighters.
Character Play-style
Key Traits
· Unlike Palutena, which she is lightweight and uses more defensive and ranged moves, Medusa would be heavier with more offensive play-style closer to melee with some ranged attacks and stage control
· For staffs, Palutena uses it as her main weapon, Medusa can treat it as her secondary weapon since she packs a bigger punch with her body parts and fists
· Since she can summon minions, she would have elements of stage control, but her opponents can use them against her
· Detaching body parts allow Medusa to have some moves that are ambush-like, bringing in a risky-rewarding element to the character
Cannon aspects from main series, list and analyze each element one by one
Key Traits
· Claws – can be suited to a melee attack. Could be multi-tap standard attack with wide vertical slash as a finisher. Could also be used for a side attack, albeit with slightly longer horizontal reach.
· Staff – Focuses more as an offensive item with some degree of stage control. She can physically use it as a quick long range melee attacks suited either in the air and/or ground for charged up smash attacks. It can also be used to summon certain minions that are most likely small enough for balance purposes. It can also be used for a few post-grab attacks, with one that involves down-thrusting her staff against the laid opponent for high damage with low knockback
· Teleportation – Can be used as an evasion-based recovery, but it can be retooled as an offensive type at a cost of having a shorter range and longer delay compared to Palutena’s recovery. For offensive types, it could have a small explosion, based on her previous location, which damages opponents with weak-medium knockback. Another variant of teleportation would be to travel 1.5 times the distance with a poison mist, instead of an explosion, to give a small damage build to opponents that last 2 seconds, giving 1% damage every 1/5 of a second.
· Floating Eyeball – Can be used as an ambush-type special attack, which her eyeballs can burst out and attack the opponents with weak knockback and shoot small projectiles. Can be charged to give a longer distance and slightly more powerful projectiles.
· Eye Shooting – While can be delegated to a special with the floating eyeballs, it can also be treated as one standard attack in the air, shooting weak shots with little knockback
· Dark Mines – Can be treated as another variant of the eye-ball special attack, but the eyes travel less distance. The mines deals medium-level damage with weak knockback.
· Uppercut – Although an upper-cut move can often be applied as a standard attack or a special for various fighters, it can be treated as one of the moves when Medusa successfully grabs an opponent when pressing up. There would be slight starting and end lag to make an illusion as a strong attack.
· Poison Gas – Can be used as a quick damage builder, but must be well-timed when opponents are close. Although I have explained one variant of teleportation that uses poison, another could be used as a different special which she blows poison at her opponents by creating one small cloud equal to her height. The poison gas from her breath may have less range than the teleportation variant, but deals more damage in a shorter amount of time of 1 second, 2% damage for every 1/6 of a second, plus small bonus when used directly at the opponents.
· Minions – Medusa has plenty of minions to for combat, and the most suitable ones would be small enough size for balance purposes. Minion summoning can be treated as a special attack, but requires great planning and timing since opponents can use them against her from successful attacks. The minions would be released for a short time and disappear afterwards.
o Nettler – one-eyed creatures that pack a bunch of weight. They plop down to give a minor shockwave, dealing low damage with medium-low knock back. However, if opponent is underneath the Nettler, it will be sent upwards with medium damage and medium-high knock-back. If hit/reflected and sent to Medusa, the caster will fly horizontally with medium damage with medium knockback.
o Zik and Zak – two of the snake like creatures will travel a small distance before doing a shock attack. As long as the two are not hit, the electric line would be produced, dealing 1% damage every 1/10 of a second lasting for 1 second to a caught opponent, sending them up with medium-low knockback afterwards. If one of the snakes get hit, they both do a short-ranged shock attack, instead of an electric line, dealing 2% damage every 1/7 of a second for 1 second with medium knockback afterwards.
o Tempura Wizard – the only minion that cannot be sent back (however, reflect moves work), but has the most delay for opponents to evade. It will appear like a ramen bowl, but after ½ of a second, the Tempura Wizard’s head pops out and attempts to bite. If opponent gets bitten, will take medium damage with medium-high knock-back horizontally.
· Cyclops Head Form – People often clamor this as a final smash since it represents her powerful form. There are at least two different ways to treat Medusa’s Cyclops Head: A powerful instant-attack or a free-moving form. For Medusa’s Cyclops head to be treated as an instant attack, there are various interpretations to how to treat it like one. One form of instant attack would be to petrify opponents based on Medusa’s direction, much like stoning foes on her sight, followed by a series of powerful bites from her snake hair to send opponents flying with high knockback, nearly taking them off the screen. The same final smash could happen with Medusa facing the screen but the radius would be more limited based on the visual sign of the shock-wave. If the final smash would be free-form then she can move in any direction, but her facing direction would be the one delivering attacks. In her free-form final smash, she can use her eye to petrify an opponent, with slightly longer range, compared to her eye gaze special, as well as extending petrification state to 2 seconds. When Medusa’s head collides with an opponent, the victim will be given medium damage with medium-high knockback, but the petrified opponent will suffer from an increased damage and knockback.
Other aspects, same rule as cannon
Key Traits
· Greek Mythology – Medusa is based on a creature called Gorgon who also have the same name, The aesthetic design represented from Kid Icarus series matches with common perception of the mythology
· Snake hair – A primary element for many interpretations of Medusa. Her snakes can be used for various normal attacks as well as grabbing since the snakes can stretch quite far. One possible use of a normal attack is upward charge, which her snake hair can give a few weak bites, following with one strong bite with medium-high knockback. There will be significant end-lag between two phases to allow escape and surprise, making the move a double-edged sword.
· Petrification – A common element used in stories involving various interpretations of Medusa. It can be treated as a special move best suited at close range. It can be charged up for a stronger effect against opponents. When successfully used on the opponent, it will remain paralyzed for a short time period, from 0.5 to 1 second, depending on charging time.
· Detached head – For some stories, the powers of certain versions of Medusa will still be active even when without a body. It can serve a great deal of ideas for unique attacks. One possible idea is to make it a unique recovery move by throwing her head in upward direction, decent vertical range but with little to no horizontal movement. With the tossed head, the body will fall down to act as powerful weight against fighters below. However, once the head reaches midair, the body teleports back to her head and becomes helpless.
General/Miscellaneous
Key Traits
· Her Staff and arms can provide an additional number of attacks, mostly delegated to standard attacks in air and ground along with post-throw
Potential Mechanics
Key Traits
· While her moves involving the staff, arms, and snake hair can be fleshed out further, she becomes a more unique character when using elements that involve summoning, magic, and body-detachment.
· If Medusa’s head is thrown from her body for a recovery, her head can be moved slightly faster to ensure she recovers despite her falling down faster from her heavy weight when attached with the body.
· Medusa’s petrification moves against opponents, if applied successfully, would allow her to deal more damage and knock-back compared to opponents at their normal state.
· It can also be possible to use petrification move even when the eyes are far apart from Medusa’s head, but has to be done quickly before the eyes retreat to their sockets.
I envision Medusa as a Heavy character with a few moves with killing potential, but great ability to rack up damages through poison and spacing moves.
^check this out ladies.
"Hades keeps reviving me, but I won't play the puppet anymore!"
Erotic&Heretic
R.O.B.
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KatKit
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Wurmple for smash
Sideboob
R.O.B.
8-Peacock-8
Shortiecanbrawl
Kon
majora_787
AncientTobacco
ThatWasPeachy
HylianHeroBigBoss
Cobalsh
KingShadow
TeamFlareZakk
iam8bit
Mang@Tortle
APC99
DustyPumpkin
Popo Nana Power
Rockaphin
Spazzy_D
Freduardo
Andimidna
IsmaR
bksbestbwoy
Gengar84
majorasmaskfan
buci01
loganhogan
Enlong
RIDLEY is too SMALL
Mega Bidoof
Freaky Mutant Man
Rockaphin
Synesthe-sia
Laniv
JaidynReiman
DarkMask
Oracle_Summon
Steelia
Afrodude
FyrianFate
Bunny8093
KimmotMan
Souldin
RidleyKraid187
Eternium
Speed
JDogindy
YoshiandToad
Gooper Blooper
SonicTeam765
WhiteEaglePL
DevaAshera
Hockeyfan44
POKEMANSPIKA
Arcadenik
Aussie the Naturist
Yomi's Biggest Fan
tjdmhem
Russell_SSB
TheSquishiestManatee
Luminario
Zebei
PF9
Crap-Zapper
Kirbeh
Planet Zeb(es)~
Jason the Yoshi
lordvaati
shinhed-echi
PrinceGal3n
kool2419
Onua
Scipion3
Gemini-Gene
Takasmash
Pizza Robo
lightdasher
SEGAGameBoy
Arsh99
GoodShepperd
MoveMan1
KMDP
Kumashock
John Dylan Smith
AwesomeCauliflower68
AtomTrap
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lurxy
meleebrawler
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zferolie
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