Okay, let's take a crack at it!
Overview
In general, Gholdengo is a little unusual in that many of his stats are capable of changing depending on the number of Coins that he has at any time. However, he tends to maintain a relatively slippery nature, being surprisingly mobile even when effectively being a heavyweight. He's got a generally versatile toolkit in spite of the occasional limitations on some of his attacks, with decently effective projectiles - though his attacks are a little on the slower side across the board.
Gimmighoul Coins
Gholdengo's main "gimmick" is that he has a meter continually shown next to his damage meter, which specifically indicates the number of Gimmighoul Coins that he is currently holding at any given time. This meter is deliberately stylised after the
Pokémon Scarlet & Violet Bag menu. Many of his attacks utilise Gimmighoul Coins in order to function - and furthermore, having more Gimmighoul Coins affects your stats in the following ways (and vice versa if you have less):
- Increased Weight
- Increased Fall Speed (slight)
- Increased Attack Power
- Increased Initial Dash Speed
- Increased Defence (slight, takes around 0.9x damage at 999 Coins)
- Tough Guy (passive armour against light attacks when over 900 Coins, similar to Bowser and Kazuya)
- Decreased Walk Speed
- Decreased Dash Speed (slight)
- Decreased Jump Height (slight)
- Increased Starting Lag (slight)
- Increased End Lag
Gholdengo can have up to 999 Coins at a time, but starts at 100 by default. You can gather Coins with the use of his Shield Special (described below.) However, you lose coins when doing nearly any movement, dropping them in the process. This includes walking, running, dodging, jumping, crouching, shielding, and even idle animations - with some attacks even using the Coins as a reservoir of ammunition, and him losing more coins if he's hit by attacks. As such, you'll need to keep your eye on how many you have at any given time, and keep gathering them to maintain the benefits of being a heavyweight.
In order to visually distinguish at a glance how many Coins you have, the meter will colour-code the icon of a Gimmighoul Coin so that you can see at a glance how many you have without having to actively count, though the first number (i.e., the "5" in "500") will be slightly larger than the others to make it a little easier on top of that. Next to the icon, you'll also see the number itself.
- 0-99: A dull, dark grey.
- 100-299: A brighter grey, which then turns into...
- 300-499: Bronze/copper, with a little bit of a shine but not as much as higher numbers.
- 500-699: A polished-looking silver.
- 700-899: A slightly darker gold, but gold nonetheless.
- 900-999: An opulent, bright gold, with a unique "glistening" effect.
Prominent Attacks
Shield Special: Gimmighoul Gathering
Gholdengo manifests a chest next to him, inside of which is a Gimmighoul (in reference to his pre-evolution, Chest Form Gimmighoul.) Whilst holding this input, he'll rapidly gather Gimmighoul Coins from the chest and stuff them into his own pouch, which he wears on his belt. It's possible to cancel out of this with a jump, or a directional input which will have him dodge. The effects of having more or less Gimmighoul Coins are indicated in the section above.
Neutral Special: Pay Day
Whilst this isn't an attack that Gholdengo has access to by default in
Scarlet & Violet, I think it'd be a fitting one that'd lend well to his overall gimmick whilst still working with his overall vibe and concept. In fact, whilst the name's taken from a move from the
Pokémon series, this move is moreso inspired by his
Pokémon Violet Pokédex entry, which states that "Gholdengo overwhelms its enemies by firing coin after coin at them in quick succession." Do tell me if this isn't allowed, but I think it'd be a good fit.
Tapping Neutral Special has Gholdengo rapidly toss coins in front of him with both of his hands - simply tapping it will have him toss 10 coins incredibly quickly. If you hold Neutral Special, he'll continually keep tossing the coins - and it's also possible to change the direction in which the coins are being tossed by holding up or down on the control stick whilst holding the attack input, similarly to Inkling's Splattershot attack in
Super Smash Bros. Ultimate.
These coins have a few unique properties - they're gravity-affected and spread slightly with distance, and whilst each coin does minimal damage, they do inflict flinching and push the opponent backward slightly to prevent infinites. It also stops you by default after you fire a continual 150 coins, but you can hold the button again to get right back to it if you so desire. The main catch to this attack is that it continually uses up your reserve of Gimmighoul Coins, depleting them as a form of ammunition pretty rapidly.
Side Special: Make It Rain
This move's also a projectile, though a little different. Gholdengo can charge this attack by holding down the special button, with from 20 up to 50 Gimmighoul Coins being gathered into it. He'll then toss these tightly-bound Coins forward in an arc, which will detonate akin to a shrapnel bomb upon impact with an opponent, item, or surface. It's possible to slightly aim this arc by holding up or down a little on the control stick whilst inputting it, and even if the "bomb" itself doesn't hit the opponent directly, the coins that bounce outward from the point of impact might do (with minor flinching damage.) The amount of damage and knockback will increase if you use more Gimmighoul Coins, though similarly to Pay Day, this attack directly taps into your supply of Gimmighoul Coins as a source of ammunition. However, you can't detonate it remotely - it'll detonate automatically on contact with an object of some sort, unless it's being reflected.
Up Special: Flash Cannon
Despite being named after an actual move, this one's not pulled directly from that at all. Instead, Gholdengo manifests his surfboard from 25 Gimmighoul Coins. He then "surfs" upward with a trail of (decorative) coins behind him, with the direction in which he surfs being able to be altered by holding forward or backward whilst using the attack in the air. Opponents hit by the attack are dragged upward with Gholdengo and launched away with the final hit, with the final hit having him perform a trick where the board spins under his feet. (You can cancel into this trick at any time by tapping the special button again, but it'll still leave you helpless until you either get hit, touch the ground, or die.)
When used on the ground, this move instead moves along the ground at high speed, with Gholdengo surfing along the ground quickly and again being able to multi-hit opponents he comes into contact with. It works a little like Bowser Jr.'s side special in that inputting the opposite direction to which you move has him fall off the surfboard, but you can also jump, attack, or dodge to cancel the attack. However, whilst using it on the ground, you'll continually use up your supply of Gimmighoul Coins - and if you fall off the edge whilst using it, it won't stop you.
Down Special: Dazzling Gleam
Probably a bit of a weird move overall (but still one that Gholdengo can learn, as either a TM in
ScVio or by default in
GO), Dazzling Gleam works as an AoE attack that surrounds Gholdengo, a little like Hero's Magic Burst (but mechanically very different.) Gholdengo strikes a pose, lying on the ground as a burst of white light with rainbow-like effects emits from his body in the form of a round sphere around him. Opponents who are within this flash of light are stunned and left dizzy, and projectiles that hit it are reflected right back to their sender. Whilst the flash of light is active, Gholdengo is also intangible and invulnerable for a few frames, which can be used to your advantage.
Notably, the actual size of this effect increases depending on how many Gimmighoul Coins Gholdengo currently has, as does the amount of damage the stun effect deals,
and the multiplier on reflected projectiles. However, the move's pretty laggy, so you can't just throw it out at random - it's best used as a hard read. Notably, this move doesn't tap into the Gimmighoul Coins as a source of ammunition, despite being directly affected by how many you have.
Final Smash: Two-Type Tera Blast
Imbued with a Tera Orb, Gholdengo will begin to levitate as the Ghost-type Tera Jewel manifests around him (based on the Generation I sprite of a ghost) and will drag opponents hit by it to the front of him. After a Gen 1-sounding sound befitting of the Ghost, it'll switch to the Steel-type Tera Jewel of a gigantic axe, which will swing in front of him and deal massive damage and knockback (as well as being able to hit opponents who weren't originally drawn into the attack.) Notably, the Final Smash has no effect on his Gimmighoul Coins, mostly because that just feels like it'd be unfair.
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