Shinra (Ikaruga)
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Shinra is the protagonist of the hit Treasure arcade shoot 'em up, Ikaruga. First appearing on the Gamecube, and later ported to consoles like the Switch, Ikaruga is widely beloved title. According to Wikipedia, it is often regarded as one of the best games ever made. It was included in Nintendo Life's list of the 50 best Gamecube games, and IGN voted it the 3rd best 2D shooter of all time.
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The ties don't stop there, though. Treasure also made Sin and Punishment, so it'd be nice for Saki to have a friend in Infinite Beyond. And, as I just learned today, Treasure's gotten to like, Square Enix and Sega-levels of being "close to Nintendo". Name a better Wario game right now.
Shinra is a battle-worn, yet unwavering freedom fighter who pilots the titular ship, the Ikaruga. Ikargua has the ability to shift between light and dark polarities, matching the colors of enemy ships and their bullets. Bullets of the same color as the player's ship willbe absorbed, while bullets the opposite color will destroy the ship - so for instance, if an enemy sprays you with light bullets, Shinra would shift Ikargua to the white polarity. This results in a frantic, fun, and fair gameplay loop which further tightens the tight gameplay of a bullethell and really helps put the player in that dreamlike flow state.
In Smash, Shinra would fight on foot, much like Captain Falcon and Fox. I'm not sure what his weapon could be - perhaps a large blaster, ripped straight off of the Ikaruga. He should also have some kind of stance-change ability inspired by his game's polarity mechanic. We could dedicate a special to this stance change, which could give him higtened defense to certain attacks - like, Light resists grabs and tilts, but Dark resists aerials and smashes.
Shinra's stance change could be visually represented by a change of clothes, a different-colored aura, or - my personal choice - having him swap out for
Kagari, his partner and the Player 2 of Ikaruga's multiplayer mode. Shinra could represent light polarity and Kagari could represent dark polarity, as that's usually how they are depicted in artwork. They've been fighting alongside each other ever since Shinra saved Kagari's life, so I think having that powerful bond present in the actual fighter would be really cool and heartwarming.
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Additional content would partially feature Ikaruga, but would mostly be comprised of other Treasure games like Gunstar Heroes, Mischief Makers, Dynamite Headdy, the aforementioned Wario World, and we could even add a bit more Sin and Punishment content if we wanted.
I understand the concern that we just added Saki, another Treasure shoot-'em-up character. But I feel this criticism would also be applicable to say, Hero and Sephiroth in the same Fighter's Pass. Sin and Punishment and Ikaruga, like Final Fantasy and Dragon Quest, are equally great inclusions that have their own individual merits.
In conclusion, Shinra from Ikaruga being in Smash would be a unique stance-change fighter who could represent a really popular shoot-'em-up, and give a second fighter to Treasure, a very important game developer. I also really love the idea of characters who have to have stuff made up for them, like Fox and Falcon once were. Shinra is one of those characters, so I think it would be an awesome and fun collaborative project if we all came together to brainstorm how he should fight.
