Gengar84
Smash Hero
- Joined
- Dec 9, 2009
- Messages
- 5,987
Why Warcraft?
The only Blizzard character I ever see brought up is Tracer from Overwatch. While she may be the most likely, I feel the other options always get looked over. Warcraft has a pretty big legacy in the history of gaming. The Warcraft franchise has left a really big impact on gaming history. The original Real Time Strategy (RTS) games were very popular back in the 90's and directly influenced several other huge franchises such as League of Legends and Defense of the Ancients. Since then, the Warcraft franchise has gone on to become just as influential in the MMORPG world with World of Warcraft. This was one of the biggest PC games for quite a long time and revolutionized the MMORPG genre. The franchise has even had a massively successful digital trading card game in Hearthstone which again revolutionized these. Even though Magic the Gathering existed as a paper card game long before Hearthstone, Magic the Gathering: Arena draws direct inspiration from Hearthstone in many areas.
Why Illidan Stormrage?
I chose Illidan mostly because I love his design but he also plays a huge part in the games. There are several other great options for characters like Arthas, Thrall, Sylvanis, and many more. Illidan has a really unique look that would stand out from the rest of the Smash cast and has tons of really great moveset options. Illidan is a demonic night elf and one of the major antagonists in World of Warcraft. While he has played the role of an antagonist at one point, Illidan is more of a misunderstood antihero. He always tries to do the right thing but uses questionable means to that end. As a bonus, he also uses a really unique weapon and isn't just another sword user.
Alternate outfits
What could Illidan’s moveset be?
Gimmicks and Traits
Metamorphosis - Illidan has a powerup state similar to Sephiroth’s One Winged Angel mode and Joker’s Rebellion guage. In this mode, Illidan transforms into his demonic form and gains additional jumps. He also is engulfed in an aura called “immolation” which deals slight damage to anyone near him.
Betrayer’s Thirst - Illidan’s glaive and melee attacks drain 15% health of the damage dealt (he drained 30% in his games but I feel like that would be a bit overpowered in Smash so I cut it in half).
By default, Illidan is a fairly fast and lightweight fighter despite his size. While his weight in his normal form is relatively light, he has a bit of added survivability due to his Betrayer’s thirst. His demonic form adds more weight and helps him utilize the draining effect of his attacks.
Weak Attacks
Jab - Illidan performs two quick horizontal slashes followed by a spinning more powerful attack with his glaives. This represents Demon Hunter’s basic combo in WarCraft 3.
Forward Tilt - Illidan slashes his glaives forward in an X pattern.
Up Tilt - Illidan slashes upwards with his glaives similar to Cloud’s up smash.
Down Tilt - Illidan performs a low sweeping attack across the ground with his glaives.
Running Attack - Illidan leaps forward and stabs his glaives downward into the ground.
Smash Attacks
Forward Smash - Illidan throws his glaives forward and they spin in place similar to Pyra’s forward special
Down Smash - Illidan fires a beam of green energy from his eyes diagonally downward at the same angle as Sephiroth’s down smash.
Up Smash - Illidan creates a fire pillar directly in front of him around the same size as Palutena’s up smash.
Specials
Neutral special – Mana Burn – Illidan attacks with a green beam of energy from his hands at a medium range. This deals continuous damage similar to Bowser's flamethrower attack as long as Illidan holds the attack button. On top of dealing damage, it also gradually drains the gauges of any characters that use them like Cloud, Joker, and Steve.
Up Special – Flame– Illidan dives upwards and propels several fireballs diagonally downwards
Down special – Evasion – This is a lot like Lucario’s counter. Illidan evades an attack and teleports behind the opponent to strike them
Forward special – Sweeping strike – Illidan dashes forward and performs two quick slashes at the opponent.
Aerials
Neutral Air - Illidan fires a beam from his eyes diagonally downward. This is essentially Kazuya’s neutral aerial special while holding down.
Forward Air - Illidan creates a short range fiery explosion from his hand similar to Zelda’s up air but forwards.
Up Air - Illidan propels himself upwards in a motion similar to Kazuya’s up special but with less range and power.
Down Air - Illidan dives straight down head first at his opponent.
Grabs, Pummels, and Throws
Grab - Standard short range grab
Pummel - Illidan headbutts his opponent
Up Throw - Illidan flies upwards with his opponent and slams them into the ground similar to Charizard’s up throw.
Down Throw - Illidan slams his opponent’s head into the ground.
Forward Throw - Illidan performs a forward thrust kick similar to Ganondorf’s and Kazuya’s forward tilt.
Back Throw - Illidan tosses his opponent backwards.
Final Smash
Parasitic Shadowfiends - Illidan strikes his opponent and transitions to a cinematic cutscene where he summons an army of shadowy figures that deal massive damage to anyone caught in the attack as well as recovering some health for Illidan.
Metamorphosis - Illidan has a powerup state similar to Sephiroth’s One Winged Angel mode and Joker’s Rebellion guage. In this mode, Illidan transforms into his demonic form and gains additional jumps. He also is engulfed in an aura called “immolation” which deals slight damage to anyone near him.
Betrayer’s Thirst - Illidan’s glaive and melee attacks drain 15% health of the damage dealt (he drained 30% in his games but I feel like that would be a bit overpowered in Smash so I cut it in half).
By default, Illidan is a fairly fast and lightweight fighter despite his size. While his weight in his normal form is relatively light, he has a bit of added survivability due to his Betrayer’s thirst. His demonic form adds more weight and helps him utilize the draining effect of his attacks.
Weak Attacks
Jab - Illidan performs two quick horizontal slashes followed by a spinning more powerful attack with his glaives. This represents Demon Hunter’s basic combo in WarCraft 3.
Forward Tilt - Illidan slashes his glaives forward in an X pattern.
Up Tilt - Illidan slashes upwards with his glaives similar to Cloud’s up smash.
Down Tilt - Illidan performs a low sweeping attack across the ground with his glaives.
Running Attack - Illidan leaps forward and stabs his glaives downward into the ground.
Smash Attacks
Forward Smash - Illidan throws his glaives forward and they spin in place similar to Pyra’s forward special
Down Smash - Illidan fires a beam of green energy from his eyes diagonally downward at the same angle as Sephiroth’s down smash.
Up Smash - Illidan creates a fire pillar directly in front of him around the same size as Palutena’s up smash.
Specials
Neutral special – Mana Burn – Illidan attacks with a green beam of energy from his hands at a medium range. This deals continuous damage similar to Bowser's flamethrower attack as long as Illidan holds the attack button. On top of dealing damage, it also gradually drains the gauges of any characters that use them like Cloud, Joker, and Steve.
Up Special – Flame– Illidan dives upwards and propels several fireballs diagonally downwards
Down special – Evasion – This is a lot like Lucario’s counter. Illidan evades an attack and teleports behind the opponent to strike them
Forward special – Sweeping strike – Illidan dashes forward and performs two quick slashes at the opponent.
Aerials
Neutral Air - Illidan fires a beam from his eyes diagonally downward. This is essentially Kazuya’s neutral aerial special while holding down.
Forward Air - Illidan creates a short range fiery explosion from his hand similar to Zelda’s up air but forwards.
Up Air - Illidan propels himself upwards in a motion similar to Kazuya’s up special but with less range and power.
Down Air - Illidan dives straight down head first at his opponent.
Grabs, Pummels, and Throws
Grab - Standard short range grab
Pummel - Illidan headbutts his opponent
Up Throw - Illidan flies upwards with his opponent and slams them into the ground similar to Charizard’s up throw.
Down Throw - Illidan slams his opponent’s head into the ground.
Forward Throw - Illidan performs a forward thrust kick similar to Ganondorf’s and Kazuya’s forward tilt.
Back Throw - Illidan tosses his opponent backwards.
Final Smash
Parasitic Shadowfiends - Illidan strikes his opponent and transitions to a cinematic cutscene where he summons an army of shadowy figures that deal massive damage to anyone caught in the attack as well as recovering some health for Illidan.
In Conclusion
I will keep this opening post short and sweet for now and plan to update it in the future if there is any interest in this. Judging by my history of unpopular picks like Battletoads and Kerrigan and trying to make support threads around them, I don't really expect this to get much attention either but I thought I'd just give my opinion on this and try to make a case for one of my most wanted characters.
Last edited: