Sephiroth Announced for Smash Ultimate

This year's installment of The Game Awards started off with a bang with the reveal of Final Fantasy VII's Sephiroth as Smash Ultimate's next DLC character.

A new Super #SmashBrosUltimate fighter approaches! pic.twitter.com/xSYGDqeRtx

— Nintendo of America (@NintendoAmerica) December 11, 2020

The trailer starts off with several characters about to face off against Galeem and his army of Master Hand clones, only for Galeem to be bisected by a vertical slash, the two halves splitting apart to reveal Sephiroth as One Winged Angel plays in the background.

Currently it's hard to tell much about Sephiroth's gameplay from the footage we've seen. We can tell that he has several moves that make use of his sword's length—including a move that can be used to pin himself to walls, a la Corrin side-special—as well as Firaga, a counter and another projectile. We also see footage of him sprouting a single wing, though it's unknown what function this serves in-game. It should also be noted that while a shot of Sephiroth cutting Midgar's main platform in half is shown, this is just some creative staging, as Midgar splits in half on its own as part of a stage hazard.

During the trailer, we can also see a new stage, seemingly based on the Lifestream from Final Fantasy VII. The layout for the stage seems to be the most promising one yet for competitive play, though the use of third-party music may cause streaming rights issues that prevent its use in tournament rulesets.

Towards the end of the trailer, we also see that Cloud has a new alternate Final Smash against Sephiroth, using Omnislash Ver. 5 instead of the normal version of Omnislash.

Sephiroth is set to release sometime in December 2020.

UPDATE: A full presentation showing off Sephiroth's moveset has been announced for December 17th, 2020

The one-winged angel, Sephiroth from the @FINALFANTASY series, joins #SmashBrosUltimate as a DLC fighter later this month! Tune in at 2pm PT on 12/17 for a presentation from director Masahiro Sakurai all about the DLC fighter, including the release date! pic.twitter.com/zRaZCSZkrn

— Nintendo of America (@NintendoAmerica) December 11, 2020

Author's note: What were your thoughts on this reveal? Who were you expecting? Were you as caught off guard as I was?

Credits:
Social: @Zerp
Graphics: @Zerp

 

Not that I really had any idea as to who was gonna be the next DLC character, but Sephiroth's not really as an unexpected, crazy ass pick as some people might think. We're kind of talking about one of the most well-known antagonists in gaming history, who comes from a series often regarded as one of the best ever, from one of its most well liked entries. On top of that, said game got its remake this year, and Cloud being in both this game and the previous one meant that the devs had reason to believe that they could successfully negotiate more.

It's just that many people get so caught up in their baseless speculation and the made-up rules of representation and character inclusion that anything not on their wishlist/shortlist is wildly unexpected to them. What really would've been crazy would've been bringing in some obscure character or some not major character from an established series.

Yeah Sephiroth is very famous, he did beat Bowser and Ganon for spot of Video Game Villain of the year.

Also...I saw you in a video that talked about Smash. So when I saw that pfp I was like omg its Nah from the video.

 

FIRST 3RD PARTY CHARACTER

What about Steve...

 

I think this is close to the best possible outcome as far as a character reveal goes. I haven't heard much of any backlash over Sephiroth being added, whereas most other options in people's minds seem to split the fanbase in some way (Jonesy, Crash, MC/Doom Guy, etc).

 

I think this is close to the best possible outcome as far as a character reveal goes. I haven't heard much of any backlash over Sephiroth being added, whereas most other options in people's minds seem to split the fanbase in some way (Jonesy, Crash, MC/Doom Guy, etc).

I haven't seen anyone really complain that Sephiroth is in.
Most of the complaints I have seen have been that this means Sora, Geno, Terra, Crono, that guy from The Bouncer, or whoever people were hopping for isn't in.

And since nobody ever guaranteed they were going to be in anyway, it's no big deal.

 

Square Enix had been very strict with the Final Fantasy series, so seeing Sephiroth as the next fighter was one heck of a shocker. But his inclusion does give us our very first DLC villain fighter in the Smash Bros. series; Mewtwo is neutral, while the Piranha Plant is merely an enemy.

 

3 slots left, I will never stop hoping for my boy that Min Min paved the way for, being a base game spirit just like him!

Spoiler

 

3 slots left, I will never stop hoping for my boy that Min Min paved the way for, being a base game spirit just like him!

Spoiler

He would be cool.

 

The challenger packs needed more villains anyway.

 

The challenger packs needed more villains anyway.

Allow me to introduce myself...

 

First third party character villain and what an iconic villain let's bring King K Rool, King Dedede and Bowser what's truly means to be a villain.

 

They already gave us two characters that we really wanted, so now let's bring in a final boss that's pretty iconic.

 

Thoughts..

His neutral-b which spawns 3 orbs around his opponent looks interesting. It isn't clear what triggers the orbs making them explode, it could be Sephiroth or it could be the opponent.

His up-b looks bad in terms of distance covered, but his recovery might be decent anyway because he seems to be able to use his fair to do a kind of walljump without needing to be next to the wall. There's also the possibility that he could have a third jump since he has a wing.

His side-b looks like a chargeable dancing blade that covers more distance horizontally. Not a very exciting move.

His counter looks visually underwhelming, very boring move. Really weird that they would waste one of Sephiroth special's on such a standard swordie move when we have way too many standard swordies already. From how the move looks I would reckon it reflects projectiles.

His tilts look slow but still good because of their huge coverage, the f-tilt he does looks angled. The utilt looks like it will cover him completely in a half circle, it looks too slow to be used as an OOS option which beats crossups though.

Can't really say anything about his smashes.

His most interesting move was the backdash he uses near the end of the in game footage, its essentially a dodge roll without invincibility but with armor. It's unclear what move it is, is this backdash there in place of a dodge roll? If not how is it performed?

About the backdash, I believe they gave him a super armour spirit to make him look more menacing. Could be wrong, though.

 

I wonder what reactions would've been like if Crash was also revealed later in the TGA show?

 

I wonder what reactions would've been like if Crash was also revealed later in the TGA show?

I would be happy, and still try to clean up the mess that currently is the Geno thread.

 

What about Steve...

I forgot the word villian

 

Any popular character we don't see isn't the result of fans being ignored, but rather, it not being possible this time around.

Pfft... what? There were definitely possible characters more popular than Terry, Byleth and Min Min (and even Sephiroth in terms of fan chatter).

On a personal note, I have no attachment to the FF serie, and over the eight downloadable characters it's the seventh that doesn't interess me at all, the sole exception being Banjo & Kazooie. So I can't help but have this sad feeling that Smash isn't for me anymore. It's no surprise at all, but still...

I relate to this so damn much.

 

I think this is close to the best possible outcome as far as a character reveal goes. I haven't heard much of any backlash over Sephiroth being added, whereas most other options in people's minds seem to split the fanbase in some way (Jonesy, Crash, MC/Doom Guy, etc).

lmao take a look around this website if you want to see backlash. Look at the posts above mine. Honestly that’s where the complaining ends though, the reception everywhere else has been overwhelmingly positive. And for good reason! Sephiroth is awesome, and super iconic. Sakurai said himself that smash is a celebration of gaming history.

 

Pfft... what? There were definitely possible characters more popular than Terry, Byleth and Min Min (and even Sephiroth in terms of fan chatter).

Terry's debatable. Also, that wasn't my point. Fact of the matter is that us not seeing the fan favorites isn't a result of fans being ignored.

 

I was expecting Crash, Sora, Ryu Hayabusa, or Geno. I was expecting but dreading the possibility of Jonesy. Steve was a character I didn't want, so had we gotten Jonesy back to back with him, I'd be feeling pretty sour right now. Instead, I was relieved to see Sephiroth! He's the character I didn't know I wanted. I've been waiting for a character I truly loved to come along in this pass, and here he is. I love Incineroar and Joker too much to drop either of them, so I'll just have to have a third main now. Such is life.

 

First third party character villain and what an iconic villain let's bring King K Rool, King Dedede and Bowser what's truly means to be a villain.

1st. Dedede is not a Villan
2nd. Dedede is maybe as strong as Sephiroth (Im serious he is really storng)


3rd.for everyone saying he is a swordsman he doesnt use a western sword but a Katana (first Katana user[at laeast as main weapon])

 

1st. Dedede is not a Villan
2nd. Dedede is maybe as strong as Sephiroth (Im serious he is really storng)


3rd.for everyone saying he is a swordsman he doesnt use a western sword but a Katana (first Katana user[at laeast as main weapon])

I could only see Dedede being as strong as Sephiroth if he is as strong as his buddy Kirby. Because if Dedede can't suck in the universe like Kirby than I think in a canon fight he would lose to Sephiroth.

 

I could only see Dedede being as strong as Sephiroth if he is as strong as his buddy Kirby. Because if Dedede can't suck in the universe like Kirby than I think in a canon fight he would lose to Sephiroth.

Kirby suck ability is by far not his strongest without Hypernova its pretty weak his strongest abilitys are his final Boss forms

Also sephiroth was beaten by 6-8 normal Humans ands a Dog and a cat and a Vampire

so if Dedede is as strong as Kirby who defeated the creator of all matter in his multiverse than Sephiroth would lose

And dedede is at least the stongest warrior on popstar aside from Meta-knight and Kirby

 

Kirby suck ability is by far not his strongest without Hypernova its pretty weak his strongest abilitys are his final Boss forms

Also sephiroth was beaten by 6-8 normal Humans ands a Dog and a cat and a Vampire

so if Dedede is as strong as Kirby who defeated the creator of all matter in his multiverse than Sephiroth would lose

And dedede is at least the stongest warrior on popstar aside from Meta-knight and Kirby

Only if Dedede is as strong as Kirby.

 

Only if Dedede is as strong as Kirby.

if not than its 50-50 i guess both are the strongest on their respective Planets

 

Two or three things about that trailer really irk me. First being that Sephiroth one shot Galeem. Something he should not be able to do. He's strong, sure, but he lost to Cloud more than once who couldn't one shot Galeem not to mention others on the roster that range from could probably stand up to him (if you look at RPGs, Mario himself potentially being in that crowd) to the ones that beating Seph is just another Tuesday (like Sonic for one). Needless Seph stroking.

Then there's the continued use of Mario as a punching bag. And not just him, having Link be rescued by the oh so great Hero. Really irks me. Edit: Okay, Mario is more of a joke it seems, but still, it makes the roster look fairly incompetent to not be able to take down one final boss with only the mighty Cloud able to stand a chance. In addition to Seph taking out the thing kicking their butts.

Third, but this is more about Seph himself is that they once again didn't/couldn't localize.

As for his inclusion in general. Eh, could have been worse. Might have been nice if they at least picked from another FF game though. Or at least a franchise that isn't so stingy. Or the classic middle finger game to Nintendo, but at least that's on Switch in some capacity now.

 

Loved it! Anyone believe it could be possible that we could get Barrett too? I mean, it is not enough with megaman and Samus to have a weapon for an arm!

 

When will the next Smash reveal be?

 

3rd.for everyone saying he is a swordsman he doesnt use a western sword but a Katana (first Katana user[at laeast as main weapon])

He is a swordsman. "Sword" is a broad category of weapons, and a katana is a type of sword.

 

Ah, what a great time to be a FF7 fan!

When will the next Smash reveal be?

Next year.

 

Ah, what a great time to be a FF7 fan!

Next year.

I know it will be next year. If E3 2021 isn't cancelled, then we might get another double reveal.

 

I'll be honest, O would've preferred a Square Enix character from a different series...

.... But Final Fantasy was my teens.
And 7 is still my fave.
And Sephiroth is still among if not the most badass villain.

So I'm very happy about his inclusion.
I finally get another villain I care about.
We finally get more FfVII music.
The stage looks fantastic.
And if he opens the gates to more villains DLC, then great.

And of course he's freaking Sephiroth!
It's still unreal. I worry about his moveset and balance, but we shall see.

Maybe he'll be defense focused, slow, strong type, but made in a way that he forces people to approach (eg: a limit bar that sprouts his one wing, which makes him fast among other changes).

 

Was hoping for either Dante, Sora, or Adol, but I am excited for Sephiroth. Never got a character I like in Smash Brothers. Man, it feels good.

 

How about Ark from Terranigma?