chaos_Leader's arguments for Wolf O'Donnell
Super Smash Brothers games have been -in the past at least- a showcase of the latest and greatest of the Nintendo franchises. For 64/Melee that was such hits as Super Mario 64, LoZ Ocarina of Time, StarFox 64, Earthbound, Fire Emblem (for Japan anyway), the ever-present Pokemon series, a few more and some retro classics. Times have changed, More recent titles have been released, many selling like hot-cakes. The SSB franchise will change with it. Already there is evidence: Link in Twilight Princess apparel and gear, Mario's FLUDD, Ike, Samus (it seems to be a hybrid of Prime armor and older. Debatable). Who is to say that the StarFox franchise will remain in the late 90s for Brawl? Already Fox shares several similarities to his SF Command incarnation.
In StarFox 64, Wolf O'Donnell was little more than a boss fight for a few select levels, this fact is not disputed. However, in more recent titles Wolf has stepped-up in his image. No longer is he merely a stand-alone boss fight on a couple select levels. He is now a kind of ever-present
Anti-Villain in the Starfox franchise.
A visual representation may help:
Evil----------------------------------------------------------------------------Good
Morally Explicit----------------Morally Ambiguous --------------Morally Explicit
Villain-------><------ Anti-Villain-----><------Anti-Hero-------><--------Hero
Andross-----------------Wolf O.-------------------Falco-----------------------Fox
Like an Anti-Hero, an Anti-Villain is a far more complex and more intricate character than on one extreme or the other. Often the Anti-Hero/Villain will receive greater interest than the ordinary Villain/Hero, hence Falco's popularity in the StarFox series.
Considering the events in both SF Assault and SF Command, Wolf's character is in a state of moral ambiguity. On the one hand, he has intentions to Kill Fox of a personal nature, naving failed in his contract in SF64 Wolf Seeks revenge. On the other, Wolf saves and assists Fox In SF Assault using the excuse 'I'm only saving you now so I can kill you myself later'. It is akin to the character development of the "Dragon Ball Z" anime characters Goku and Vegeeta. this parallel furthers in SF Command where in one possible plotline, Wolf will actively assist Fox and has "a grudging respect" for Fox. thus further deviating Wolf from the placement of a true Villain.
Which goes to another point. Like it or not, Falco and Wolf supporters are competing. This is not without cause: Falco has had some character developments in the other direction, separating himself from Fox at several points, even taking part in a dogfight between himself and Fox (published in a Manga written by Nintendo, whether you acknowledge it or not is irrelevant for this point). Although Falco is still considered on the side of the heroes, and Wolf still considered on the side of the Villains, they have a common trait: Moral Ambiguity. Moral ambiguity adds a lot of depth to any character and makes them seem more plausible. Rather than the flat, often stereotypical portrayal of pure Heroes or Pure Villains. This Moral Ambiguity is what attracted the original fans of Falco whether or not they were aware depends on the individual. However, Falco has always been slightly morally ambiguous, so his character has not undergone much change between SF64 and the present. Wolf on the other hand has obtained a moral ambiguity recently, and is featured far more prominently than ever before in recent SF titles.
You may not care for all that 'character, story, plotline babble and stick to your bias. Thats ok, we're allowed to have opinions not based on fact or research. This is the internet after all.
Most of the major series appear to be getting some sort of antagonist/villain/rival/whatever. If one was to add an opposing force to the SF representation to the SSBB roster, would you add Andross? no I wouldn't think so. Falco? isn't he Fox's wingman most of the time? Thats where Wolf comes in "The Adventure mode also emphasizes character development. You’ll see many famous characters persevering under the weight of
their personal histories, shouldering their unique burdens..." from the
Smash Bros DOJO As far as SSBB is concerned, Fox is a famous character. I suppose you could fill the Subspace Emissary burden with Andross, but he's already an assist trophy, and this niche is far better filled by Wolf O'Donnell than any other possibility.
For those who cling to the 'clone' argument or 'too similar' argument, I have this to say. Fox's moveset was made by the seam of the developments' pants, they had
nothing to base Fox on for his SSB64 and Melee appearances. Wolf however had his coming-out as a more significant character in StarFox Assault. There are several elements from this game that can be implemented to give Wolf a completely unique moveset from Fox, which would be the probable direction for the development to go when constructing Wolf's moveset. And what better way to showcase the most recent StarFox console game than with one of its most prominent characters using items such as sniper-rifles, machine guns, or whatever else you like from SF Assault.
Super Smash Bros is about the Latest and Greatest of the Nintendo Franchises, where Fox hearkens back to the Greatest that was StarFox 64 (good-old 64 LandMaster FS), Wolf O'Donnell Would show us the Latest from Assault and Command.
@ raul: you may post this on the front page if you like.
