In 2008, when Super Smash Bros. Brawl was released, a new figure in the roster appeared. No, it wasn’t a newcomer, but quite the opposite: it was the figure of absent characters. Despite bringing a whole bunch of newcomers, nobody could hide the fact that there were certain characters that were nowhere to be seen.
When Smash 4 released, however, another new figure appeared: the figure of a returning veteran, characters that did not appear in onegame but came back to duke it out once again. Only three such characters exist, namely, Dr. Mario, Mewtwo, and Roy, thelast two being DLC.
However, there are still certain characters that are missing from both Meleeand Brawl, and they not only left a hole in their fans’ hearts butalso a hole in the metagame.
Let’s start by analyzing the characters that debuted in Melee but are absent in Smash 4:
Ice Climbers
Many Smash advocates remember Popo and Nana and are pretty wounded by their absence in the latest installment. However, it wasn’t always like this. The Ice Climbers were at some point going to appear in Smash 4; in fact, in the first versions of Super Smash Bros.for the Nintendo 3DS, a glitch could be triggered that made the in-game audience chant the names of the ICs.
Despite us not knowing whether wobbling would be back, what does their absence mean for the current meta? For starters, the viability of many characters. Their amazing stage presence caused some characters to drop in the tier list or simply stop being used by players in favor of other characters with more options.
Another effect is the “neutrality” of the starter stages. Their stage control abilities always made stages like Final Destination less fair in some MUs. Characters with less stage control struggled because of the lack of escape options like platforms and had difficulties KOing because of the relatively wide blast zones.
Despite us not knowing whether wobbling would be back, what does their absence mean for the current meta? For starters, the viability of many characters. Their amazing stage presence caused some characters to drop in the tier list or simply stop being used by players in favor of other characters with more options.
Another effect is the “neutrality” of the starter stages. Their stage control abilities always made stages like Final Destination less fair in some MUs. Characters with less stage control struggled because of the lack of escape options like platforms and had difficulties KOing because of the relatively wide blast zones.
Pichu
Always considered an inferior version of Pikachu, Pichu was never seen in high levels of play. Suffering from poor control options, low combo potential, and little KO power, Pikachu was always preferred in competitive play.
Pikachu is currently one of the top 10 characters in the tier list, and although we cannot know how things would have turned out if he reappeared, many of his attributes made him very inferior, such as his recoil damage from most of his attacks, which limited his optimal options to just a few moves, or his incredibly below-average weight, which made him vulnerable to most kill moves.
Pikachu is currently one of the top 10 characters in the tier list, and although we cannot know how things would have turned out if he reappeared, many of his attributes made him very inferior, such as his recoil damage from most of his attacks, which limited his optimal options to just a few moves, or his incredibly below-average weight, which made him vulnerable to most kill moves.
Young Link
Young Link’s absence was somehow filled with his googly-eyed counterpart, Toon Link, and even more so in the latest installment, as Young Link’s Fire Bow is one of Toon Link’s custom special moves. With similar stats and an almost identical moveset, Young Link’s substitution has pretty much filled the hole that this childversion of Link left.
Not only do these characters have similar movesets, but they are also akin in their relationship with Link: both of them have placed higher than Link in various tier lists.
Not only do these characters have similar movesets, but they are also akin in their relationship with Link: both of them have placed higher than Link in various tier lists.
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Although the three returning veterans covered some of the absences from Melee, others werestill left behind from Brawl: Snake, the Metal Gear protagonist; Wolf, the leader of StarWolf; and Squirtle and Ivysaur, the Generation 1 Pokémon starters (and evolution).
Snake
Another absent character with amazing stage control tools. He can place mines, grenades and C4 strategically to catch careless fighters. Snake, accordingly to his military nature, is tough to kill and excels on the ground, although his air mobility is among the poorest in thegame.
Both playing as and against Snake requires many outside factors, includingmemory and awareness, or at least a good eye and a good TV to locate Snake’s traps, of course without deviating your attention from the battle at hand.
As a mentally exhausting character, it may relieve some people to hear he’s not back, but by the same token, Snake mains may not be very happy with his absence.
Both playing as and against Snake requires many outside factors, includingmemory and awareness, or at least a good eye and a good TV to locate Snake’s traps, of course without deviating your attention from the battle at hand.
As a mentally exhausting character, it may relieve some people to hear he’s not back, but by the same token, Snake mains may not be very happy with his absence.
Wolf
Wolf’s appearance in Smash 4 seemed like a sure thing. Brawl veterans like Zero Suit Samus, Toon Link, Pit, and Wario that returned sure made it look like everyone was coming back, and when that did not immediately seem to be the case, DLC also provided hope that he was coming back.
Currently, heis only present in a similar fashion as YoungLink, withcustom special moves that resemble his moveset. However, his absence is one of the most memorable among fans.
Squirtle & Ivysaur
These two, alongsideCharizard, formed the Pokémon Trainer trio, who had two main unique mechanics: Type Effectiveness and Stamina.
The former works quite similarly to how it works in the home series, in which a Rock-Paper-Scissors-like cycle works among the three types of Pokémon: Fire beats Grass, which beats Water, which beats Fire. In Brawl, anattack that is not very effective deals 10% less knockback, while an attack that is super effective it deals 10% more knockback. By simple math, Ivysaur was affected widely by this mechanic because of hisvulnerability to fire attacks, which were more common than water and grass attacks. Obviously, thismechanicaffectedmatchups, giving Ivysaur several disadvantageousMUs as 19 characters could use fire attacks, and balancing Squirtle’s light weight due to hisresistance to fire attacks.
The second mechanic was more complicated. All Pokémon started with 120 Stamina Units, and they lost 1 unit per second and1 unit perfailed attack; Pokémon gained 2 Stamina Units per second when on the sidelines. Also, all Stamina was refilled when a Pokémon was KO’d. When Stamina reached a certain point, the Pokémon would change its stance, aesthetically looking tired, and as a little advantage, having a smaller sprite, hitbox, and hurtbox. However, this seeming advantage came as a warning, as it meantthey were running low on Stamina andthat their attacks would soon deal less damage and knockback.
Obviously, these limitations were a burden to PT mains and, as a direct effect of Ivysaur and Squirtle’s absences, these mechanics are gone, releasing Charizard from some of his disadvantages. This has balanced some of Charizard’s MUs, but not many, as the only characters with water-type attacks (which would be super effective against Charizard in Brawl) are Mario and his F.L.U.D.D., Greninja, and Kirby having previously inhaled Greninja (impossible unless in a Team Match, which was also irrelevant when the Pokémon were together because a Kirby could absorb one Pokémon and keep his Copy Ability if PT switched Pokémon). Also, Charizard’s fire attack effectiveness is now irrelevant due to Ivysaur not being in the game.
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So what do you think? Were you expecting some of these characters to return? Whose absence do you think had the biggest impact? Let us know!
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