With Inktober over and Super Mario Odyssey taking up too much time in my test week if I'd buy it and FEHeroes making me anxious if I ever get Henry I need some distraction, so here's a small analysis on General Flowers in the Mario series.
With Princess Daisy being commonly referred to as the "Flower Princess", it's interesting to determine what creative liberties could be taken to improve the quality of Daisy's playstyle.
Now, there are a few flower-related objects in the Mario series that could add to both Daisy's image as "Flower Princess" and her commonly agreed playstyle as mobility-based trickster/attacker.
Note that I'm not talking about flower-powerups like the Fire Flower or the Cloud Flower, as those are not flower related in use and are generally too extensive in use to properly fit in a moveset.
I'm not talking about the flower powers that Daisy uses herself either, as those are not interesting for this specific discussion.
I'm talking about flower-themed elements in Mario games such as Mario Kart, but also the 3D Mario games, including Super Mario Odyssey (this analysis is spoiler-free, every element I want to include is shown in trailers and demos)
So, here they are. The flower elements in Mario games I'd like to mention in relation with Daisy's possible moveset.
I organise them in three categories:
-Floating
-Jumping
-I'll take "The rest" for 500, Pauline
Floating
Flower Glider
Of course, this one is not much of a stretch compared to the following ideas, as it's useable by Daisy already in Mario Kart.
However, one can easily turn the move into more than just your average Up B when used in conjunction with the rest of the glider mechanics, such as Boost Rings or tie-ing Super Mario Run's double jump and catapult jump to Mario Kart's Tricks.
Floaty Fluff
Super Mario Galaxy 2's new power up is called the Floaty Fluff and it's basically a flower glider as well.
However, this Floaty Fluff has the added advantage of having a bit more to it as with the press of a button, Mario flies up at the expense of falling faster.
One can press the button two times before the Flower completely disappears.
With this mechanic, Daisy can be even more of a mobility trickster, changing between slow and graceful floating and a sudden boost in speed.
Jumping
Flower Trampoline
There are quite a few flowers that acted as trampolines in the Mario series, but each of them have different mechanics.
There are trampolines that act more like platforms, disappearing after Daisy jumps off of them but in Mario Odyssey, there's a trampoline that propels Mario (or Daisy, if she'd use it in her moveset) quite high before Mario slowly comes down with a spin jump.
The rest
Rocket Flower (Pun not intended but definitely noted)
Also new in Super Mario Odyssey is a flower that acts a lot like the Turbo Nozzle from Super Mario Sunshine or the Dash Pepper from SMG2.
Similarily, it allows Mario to dash at tremendous speed.
In Daisy's moveset, it's a good way to let Daisy have a super speed like move, in order to get the Mario Kart feeling going on with all of its momentum based tricks
Fling Flower
This flower in Mario Galaxy acts like a catapult, being able to fling Mario in a certain direction.
In Smash, this move can bring a great way to change Daisy's momentum in order to make her mobility even more unpredictable when combined to the Rocket Flower's boosts and the slowing down floating of the Floaty Fluff, as the Fling Flower will be able to create momentum from what's basically standstill.
On top of that, it could act as a great way to make Daisy's hurtbox retreat before unleashing her own attack, like Captain Falcon's Forward Smash lunges him back in the charge-up
In general, I think Daisy could have amazing and unpredictable movement, based on Mario Kart's boost pads, flier ramps and the movement boosts after tricks and Super Mario Run's double jump and keep-on-running gameplay