Gengar84
Smash Hero
- Joined
- Dec 9, 2009
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Who is Zegram Ghart? (spoilers from Rogue Galaxy)
Zegram Ghart is a badass bounty hunter from the planet Zerard. Though he is employed by the the space pirate captain Dorgengoa, he has no loyalty to the crew or the main protagonist Jaster Rogue. He prides himself on being a lone wolf and gives off the appearance that the only thing he cares about in life is getting paid. Fairly early on in the game Zegram betrays the party when it is revealed that he had been spying on your team and reporting back to the enemy as part of a deal to bring back his deceased wife. Zegram eventually turns on the villain as well as he suspects that they were never going to hold up their end of the deal. Eventually, Zegram joins back up with the party and redeems himself as he helps save the galaxy.
Why should Zegram be in Smash?
Truthfully, Zegram has pretty much no chance at all to ever make it into Smash. He has never been on a Nintendo console, and wasn’t the main character of his game. On top of that, Rogue Galaxy was a pretty niche game despite being created from a beloved company with ties to Nintendo (Level 5). He would likely never be chosen over the likes of Professor Layton, a Ni-no-Kuni rep, or a Yokai Watch rep, but he does have a lot to offer in his own right.
While Zegram isn’t the main character of his game, I believe he fits the pirate theme of the game better than the protagonist Jaster Rogue. He is also my personal favorite video game character of all time so that goes a long way. It doesn’t hurt that he also happens to be voiced by one of my favorite voice actors ever in Steve Blum. I have nothing against Jaster and I think he is a pretty cool protagonist, but he is simply outclassed in my eyes.
What can he do?
Every character in Rogue Galaxy has a main weapon and a sub weapon. In most cases, the main weapon is a melee weapon and the sub weapon is some kind of projectile. Zegram’s main weapons are a giant cutlass and a shuriken. He has a variety of skills including Fire Sword, Parry, Drunken Burst, Lightning, Twin Sword, Death Break, and Gates of Hell. Here is a quick rundown of what each of his skills do in the game:
Fire Sword - Infuses the sword with the power of flames, increasing its attack power. Continuous/ Unblockable/ Guard Break/ Fire.
Parry - Uses a warrior's wisdom to increase the enemy evasion rate. Continuous.
Drunken Burst - The power of grog increases all allies' attack power! Instant.
Lightning - Calls down violent lightning bolts to attack all enemies. Instant/ Electric.
Twin Sword - Unleashes the legendary twin-sword technique. Twice the swords, twice the attack power! Continuous/ Ice/ Wind/ Daze
Death Break - Sends enemies to their deaths with a cursed sword dance. Instant/ Electric/ Holy.
Inferno Vortex – Zegram and Simon’s wind and fire combination attack. Instant/ Fire/ Wind.
Gates of Hell – Zegram, Jaster, and Lilika’s ultimate combination attack. Instant/ Wind/ Holy.
Burning Strike - Enables activation of 5/7/9-hit Burning Strike attacks.
Showcase of Zegram’s skills
Here is a completed moveset showcasing what Zegram could be in Smash:
General Play Style and Gimmicks
Zegram is a slower, more powerful sword user compared to most of the cast. His power and attributes would be very similar to Ike. Like Ike, Zegram also uses a huge sword with only one hand. The biggest thing separating himself from Ike is the fact that he has a stronger focus on projectiles and area attacks.
In Rogue Galaxy, Zegram has several skills that temporarily buff either himself or his teammates. These include Drunken Burst, which raises his team’s attack power, Parry, which increases evasion, Fire Sword which temporarily infuses his sword in flames, and Twin Sword , which spawns a secondary sword adding a second hit to all his attacks. I think the most interesting one here is Twin Sword. In Smash, this will be represented as a temporary powered up state akin to Joker’s Arsene. This will only apply to Zegram’s A moves and his specials will be unaffected.
Weak Attacks
Neutral - Zegram Attacks with four quick horizontal slashes followed by a stronger spinning slash. If the A button is held instead, Zegram charges up and performs a single stronger spinning leaping downward slash. This is a great shield breaking move. This represents both Zegram’s basic combination attack in Rogue Galaxy as well as his charge up shield breaking move.
Forward tilt - This one is very similar to Ike’s forward tilt. A slightly overhead, downward angled horizontal slash.
Up tilt -Zegram thrusts his sword directly upward similar to Marth’s up smash.
Down tilt - Zegram performs a quick downward stab into the ground. This represents Zegram’s normal attack on downed enemies in Rogue Galaxy.
Smash attacks
Forward smash – Fire Sword – When Twin Sword isn’t active, this attack is similar to Ike’s forward smash but infused in flames. When Twin Sword is active, Zegram slashes forward in an X pattern with two swords.
Up smash –Fire Sword – Zegram infuses his sword in flames and thrusts his sword upward in a sweeping motion. The animation for this attack would look a lot like Cloud’s up smash.
Down smash – Death Break – Zegram carves a spell circle in the ground with his sword and stabs the ground dealing considerable damage to a fairly wide range. This attack has a fairly long startup but the damage and knockback is very strong.
Specials
Neutral special – Shuriken - Zegram throws a shuriken that travels in a straight line in the direction the opponent was at the time of throwing it up to 45 degrees upward or downward. This is about the speed and power of Falco’s blaster. After throwing a set number of these, there is a cooldown before he can throw another. The cooldown can be greatly reduced by shielding. This represents Zegram’s standard ranged attack in Rogue Galaxy.
Up special – Inferno Vortex - Zegram summons a flaming tornado that damages enemies traps them in it while propelling Zegram upwards
Forward special – Burning Strike – A 5 hit combination attack in the same vein as Marth’s forward B chain. The first strike is a downward overhead slash. The second is a powerful upward slash. The third is a sweeping horizontal slash. The fourth strike is another powerful upward slash. For the final strike, he throws a flaming shuriken that drags the enemy upward in an arc as the shuriken turns into a flaming phoenix. This would be a slower but more powerful attack compared to Marth’s chain.
Down special – Lightning – Zegram thrusts his sword in the air and summons a lightning storm that damage enemies in range. Unlike Pikachu’s thunder, Zegram’s Lighting is a fairly weak move that hits a wider range. Although it does mild damage, it does stun all enemies struck by the lighting similar to Zero Suit Samus’ blaster.
Running Attack
Running attack - This one is kind of similar to Link’s running attack where Zegram performs a strong leaping strike.
Aerial attacks
Neutral air - Zegram Performs two horizontal slashes followed by an overhead downward slash. This is his aerial combo from Rogue Galaxy.
Forward air - This one is pretty similar to Ike’s forward air. Zegram performs a slow powerful overhead slash with two hands.
Up air - Zegram performs an arching overhead slash. This is a lot like Ike’s up air but with an additional fire element.
Down air - Zegram stabs his sword downward, which can spike.
Throws
Pummel - The standard knee strikes most characters have work well here.
Forward throw - This is a cargo throw similar to Donkey Kong. He lifts his opponent over his head with both hands and can move around with them before tossing them. This represents Rogue Galaxy’s toss mechanic.
Up throw - Zegram tosses his opponent upwards and follows up by tossing two shurikens at him or her.
Back throw - Zegram tosses his opponent backwards.
Down throw - Zegram slams his opponent into the ground then stabs them with his sword.
Final Smash
Gates of Hell – This is based on Zegram’s ultimate triple team attack from Rogue Galaxy which he performs with the protagonist, Jaster Rogue and one of their partners, Lilika. To initiate the attack, Zegram thrusts his sword in a sweeping motion and anyone caught in range is teleported to a cutscene. Here, Jaster carves a spell circle in the ground while Lilika uses it to summon a huge otherworldly gate from the ground. Zegram slices the gate open with his sword and releases a huge wave of cursed energy which deals massive damage to anyone caught in the initial activation.
Another option for Zegram’s final smash is Jaster’s triple tech, Supernova, that he performs with Zegram and Kisala. In this move, all three dash into the sky and form a giant laser beam with their swords that explodes the planet. Even though this isn’t Zegram’s move specifically, it does feature him as well as the main heroine, Kisala, rather than Lilika, who is more of a side character.
Taunts
Taunt 1 - Zegram points his sword forward and then makes the “bring it on” motion with his hand as he says “Come on, try me!”. This is he animation for his Parry skill.
Taunt 2 - Zegram takes a drink from his gourd, wipes his mouth, and hiccups. This is the animation from the first part of his Drunken Burst skill.
Taunt 3 - Zegram temporarily infuses his sword in flames as he says “This is gonna hurt!”. This is the animation from his Flame Sword skill with the quote from his Death Break skill.
Victory quotes
“Don’t ever try to show off in front of me you damn beast.”
“Huh, why did they even bother jumping us?”
“Let’s just leave it at that for now.”
“What a waste of time!”
“Was that it?”
Zegram is a slower, more powerful sword user compared to most of the cast. His power and attributes would be very similar to Ike. Like Ike, Zegram also uses a huge sword with only one hand. The biggest thing separating himself from Ike is the fact that he has a stronger focus on projectiles and area attacks.
In Rogue Galaxy, Zegram has several skills that temporarily buff either himself or his teammates. These include Drunken Burst, which raises his team’s attack power, Parry, which increases evasion, Fire Sword which temporarily infuses his sword in flames, and Twin Sword , which spawns a secondary sword adding a second hit to all his attacks. I think the most interesting one here is Twin Sword. In Smash, this will be represented as a temporary powered up state akin to Joker’s Arsene. This will only apply to Zegram’s A moves and his specials will be unaffected.
Weak Attacks
Neutral - Zegram Attacks with four quick horizontal slashes followed by a stronger spinning slash. If the A button is held instead, Zegram charges up and performs a single stronger spinning leaping downward slash. This is a great shield breaking move. This represents both Zegram’s basic combination attack in Rogue Galaxy as well as his charge up shield breaking move.
Forward tilt - This one is very similar to Ike’s forward tilt. A slightly overhead, downward angled horizontal slash.
Up tilt -Zegram thrusts his sword directly upward similar to Marth’s up smash.
Down tilt - Zegram performs a quick downward stab into the ground. This represents Zegram’s normal attack on downed enemies in Rogue Galaxy.
Smash attacks
Forward smash – Fire Sword – When Twin Sword isn’t active, this attack is similar to Ike’s forward smash but infused in flames. When Twin Sword is active, Zegram slashes forward in an X pattern with two swords.
Up smash –Fire Sword – Zegram infuses his sword in flames and thrusts his sword upward in a sweeping motion. The animation for this attack would look a lot like Cloud’s up smash.
Down smash – Death Break – Zegram carves a spell circle in the ground with his sword and stabs the ground dealing considerable damage to a fairly wide range. This attack has a fairly long startup but the damage and knockback is very strong.
Specials
Neutral special – Shuriken - Zegram throws a shuriken that travels in a straight line in the direction the opponent was at the time of throwing it up to 45 degrees upward or downward. This is about the speed and power of Falco’s blaster. After throwing a set number of these, there is a cooldown before he can throw another. The cooldown can be greatly reduced by shielding. This represents Zegram’s standard ranged attack in Rogue Galaxy.
Up special – Inferno Vortex - Zegram summons a flaming tornado that damages enemies traps them in it while propelling Zegram upwards
Forward special – Burning Strike – A 5 hit combination attack in the same vein as Marth’s forward B chain. The first strike is a downward overhead slash. The second is a powerful upward slash. The third is a sweeping horizontal slash. The fourth strike is another powerful upward slash. For the final strike, he throws a flaming shuriken that drags the enemy upward in an arc as the shuriken turns into a flaming phoenix. This would be a slower but more powerful attack compared to Marth’s chain.
Down special – Lightning – Zegram thrusts his sword in the air and summons a lightning storm that damage enemies in range. Unlike Pikachu’s thunder, Zegram’s Lighting is a fairly weak move that hits a wider range. Although it does mild damage, it does stun all enemies struck by the lighting similar to Zero Suit Samus’ blaster.
Running Attack
Running attack - This one is kind of similar to Link’s running attack where Zegram performs a strong leaping strike.
Aerial attacks
Neutral air - Zegram Performs two horizontal slashes followed by an overhead downward slash. This is his aerial combo from Rogue Galaxy.
Forward air - This one is pretty similar to Ike’s forward air. Zegram performs a slow powerful overhead slash with two hands.
Up air - Zegram performs an arching overhead slash. This is a lot like Ike’s up air but with an additional fire element.
Down air - Zegram stabs his sword downward, which can spike.
Throws
Pummel - The standard knee strikes most characters have work well here.
Forward throw - This is a cargo throw similar to Donkey Kong. He lifts his opponent over his head with both hands and can move around with them before tossing them. This represents Rogue Galaxy’s toss mechanic.
Up throw - Zegram tosses his opponent upwards and follows up by tossing two shurikens at him or her.
Back throw - Zegram tosses his opponent backwards.
Down throw - Zegram slams his opponent into the ground then stabs them with his sword.
Final Smash
Gates of Hell – This is based on Zegram’s ultimate triple team attack from Rogue Galaxy which he performs with the protagonist, Jaster Rogue and one of their partners, Lilika. To initiate the attack, Zegram thrusts his sword in a sweeping motion and anyone caught in range is teleported to a cutscene. Here, Jaster carves a spell circle in the ground while Lilika uses it to summon a huge otherworldly gate from the ground. Zegram slices the gate open with his sword and releases a huge wave of cursed energy which deals massive damage to anyone caught in the initial activation.
Another option for Zegram’s final smash is Jaster’s triple tech, Supernova, that he performs with Zegram and Kisala. In this move, all three dash into the sky and form a giant laser beam with their swords that explodes the planet. Even though this isn’t Zegram’s move specifically, it does feature him as well as the main heroine, Kisala, rather than Lilika, who is more of a side character.
Taunts
Taunt 1 - Zegram points his sword forward and then makes the “bring it on” motion with his hand as he says “Come on, try me!”. This is he animation for his Parry skill.
Taunt 2 - Zegram takes a drink from his gourd, wipes his mouth, and hiccups. This is the animation from the first part of his Drunken Burst skill.
Taunt 3 - Zegram temporarily infuses his sword in flames as he says “This is gonna hurt!”. This is the animation from his Flame Sword skill with the quote from his Death Break skill.
Victory quotes
“Don’t ever try to show off in front of me you damn beast.”
“Huh, why did they even bother jumping us?”
“Let’s just leave it at that for now.”
“What a waste of time!”
“Was that it?”
Outfits
Zegram’s primary outfit is a classic pirate coat and red eyepatch. This would serve as his default outfit in Smash. Throughout the game, he gets several other outfits, though his next most iconic one is a red and black samurai outfit. Since Smash tends to only have one alternate outfit per character, this would likely be the one they would go with.
The obvious choice for his stage would be aboard the airship, the Dorgenark as is travels through the galaxy. It is a very iconic location that you return to several times throughout the game. The primary battlefield would probably be on the dock of the ship, but you could also possibly fight in the interior as well.
What kind of music could he bring?:
Planet Zerard
The Crisis
Brave Heart
Exploder
Exploder 2
Severe Voyage
Hidden Insanity
Prison
Enormous Threat
Dreaming My Way Home
How about Spirits?
This one should be easy as well. For starters, it would probably include each of the other playable characters as well as the major antagonists and Desert Claw.
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. I had a lot of fun back then making custom mods for Brawl. I’d love to someday try an updated version of Zegram for Ultimate using Sephiroth as a base and possibly giving him Snake’s head and editing and building him from there. I’m not sure if I’ll ever get around to that since working full time has kept me pretty busy.