Takamaru Unsheathes His Victory!
from The Mysterious Murasame Castle
First Appearance: The Mysterious Murasame Castle
Alts: Blue,
Red,
Green,
Pink,
Grey,
Black,
Classic.
Alt References:
Blue: Based on the colours of Aosame Castle.
Red: Based on the colours of Akasame Castle.
Green: Based on the colours of Ryukosame Castle.
Pink: Based on the colours of Momosame Castle.
Grey: Based on the colours of Murasame Castle.
Black: Resembles the colour of the black ninjas Takamaru frequently fights.
Classic: Directly based on Takamaru's in-game sprite.
Entrance Animation.
Takamaru begins the battle while kneeling with his hand on his katana. He then unsheathes his katana and stands up getting ready for battle.
Properties
Yuri has a weight value of 93, a falling speed value of 1.9 and has a running speed of 1.87.
Special Mechanics: Tipper / Passive Counter Stance
Takamaru’s katana like Marth’s Falchion is strongest at the end of the blade and weakest at the hilt.
If Takamaru attacks an opponent performing a counter attack with his katana with the sweet spot of his katana, time will slow down and he will slide back a little bit dodging the counter altogether. Takamaru then enters a defensive stance with his katana pointed straight downwards where he will automatically counter any physical attack for x1.5 damage.
This stance can be exited immediately upon performing any action and any attack out of the stance will come out faster than normally using it otherwise. This property of Takamaru’s is a solid safeguard that makes him immune to surprise counter hits.
Takamaru is not completely immune to counterattacks however as hitting with the entire blade will result in him taking damage like normal and Counter Stance will not be activated.
Regular Attacks
Jab: Swipes his katana up and then back down. Can be rapidly used when button mashing. If the button is held instead of pressed, Takamaru will hold his sword up and enter a stance where he will hold his sword up with the blade facing outwards. He can walk back or forward by slowly sidestepping while he faces the same direction either way.
During this stance, he can use any of his grounded attacks and they will come out with half the startup they would normally have and will deal 1.2x their usual damage. He will also automatically counter and reflect any attacks that come his way but only from the side he is facing and only for x1.1 the initial damage dealt. You can exit the stance by letting go of the A button and not inputting an attack.
Forward Tilt: Swings his katana outstretched from the side. This move is a little slow to come out making it not great for starting combos but is a solid edgeguarding tool and a KO option.
Up Tilt: A quick slice attack from his waist directly upwards. A quick move that can chain into his aerials.
Down Tilt: An extended swipe similar to his jab but with longer reach and covers the entirety of his body from the top of his head to below.
Dash Attack: Runs forward and slashes the katana across the side.
Aerials
Neutral Air: An outward slash similar to Marth’s neutral air.
Forward Air: A slash reaching from his head to around his waist. A decent KO option but not as strong as forward tilt.
Back Air: Pokes his katana behind him similar to a sheathing animation except the blade is being used to attack and not being put away.
Up Air: A giant but slow overhead slash with his katana. Another good KO option and its wide range makes it a sufficient anti-air.
Down Air: Swipes his sword up and then down while bringing himself slightly lower acting similarly to a stall and fall attack but the falling portion of the attack lasts much shorter than most attacks of the same archetype.
Smash Attacks
Forward Smash: Raises his katana upwards and then brings it down and slices to the side. When timed right, it can reflect any incoming projectiles.
Up Smash: A strong upwards strike with his blade pointing behind him above his head as if he were about to deliver a blow to someone below him.
Down Smash: Sheathes his katana and delivers a mighty blow across the ground with an extended hitbox from a burst of fire balls that erupt from his blade referencing the fireball he can find and use against his foes.
Grab/Throws
Grab: A short grab with his hand that isn’t very outstretched,
Pummel: A weak shake with his grabbing fist.
Forward Throw: Throws the opponent forward slightly in front of him.
Back Throw: A throw behind him weaker than his forward throw.
Up Throw: A rising throw that sends the opponent far above him.
Down Throw: Sets his fists ablaze and roughly drops them.
Special Attacks
Neutral Special (Windmill Sword): Like his prior Assist Trophy, Takamaru will throw the same windmill sword items he can find and use in his home game. The windmill swords are weak but they come in fours and will fly directly in each direction, left, right, up and down. While they are incredibly weak with little launch power to boot, they come out extremely fast letting them chain into other attacks if the opponent is close to Takamaru.
Additionally, the attack functions as a great spacing tool being able to hit from every direction except for diagonal angles but because of how quick it is to attack from Windmill Sword, Takamaru’s faster normal attacks can cover his weak spots easily. The attack cannot be used again until the original windmill swords have all disappeared.
Side Special (Blinding Strike): Similar to Ike’s Quick Draw, Takamaru’s Blinding Strike functions much the same way but is overall based on the Iaijutsu. Takamaru will sheathe his katana and take a deep breath while looking down. After 3 seconds, he will move forward at blinding speeds slicing outward with his katana. This is by far Takamaru’s most dangerous move and also his most telegraphed.
Unlike Ike’s side special, it does not have a player controlled charging period and will always be set to a 3 second timer before Takamaru strikes and he will be left vulnerable afterwards. However, Takamaru will go slightly farther than Ike and his attack’s entire hitbox will come out all at once. Visually, Takamaru will almost appear as if he teleported leaving afterimages behind him.
Up Special (Leaping Katana): To keep the classic feel of his moveset, Takamaru will leap into the air slashing his katana in an arch that reaches overhead. After the attack is over, Takamaru will simply be sent into freefall. The longer the attack, the weaker it is but is a decent KO move for opponents at high percentages close to the upper blastline.
Down Special (Counter Stance): Takamaru will enter the defensive stance from his Passive Counter Stance ability. Similar to most counter-based moves, it will absorb any attack that hits him and strike back for a whopping x1.7 the amount of damage originally dealt to him, unlike his passive stance. What’s unique about this attack is that when used, Takamaru doesn’t leave his stance right away. This gives Takamaru by definition the longest lasting counter.
However, Takamaru can’t exit the stance quickly if activated using this attack. Instead, any button press will have him slowly sheathe his katana back in before being able to fight again. Additionally, Takamaru is left vulnerable from behind. The counter’s unbridled strength and opportunity to strike is very rewarding but failure to use this counter properly will result in a humbling punishment.
Final Smash: Ninja Attack!
Takamaru attempts to perform a giant and powerful slashing attack starting by raising his blade into the air but oh no, the evil ninjas have joined the fray of the battle and have interrupted his attack! Takamaru is a powerful fighter and a fair one at that and he will do anything to keep the battle as fair as possible to keep his honor. Takamaru performs his iconic slashes as several blue ninjas attack him from all over the screen focusing mostly on where Takamaru is located.
The ninjas will deal damage to any players that they touch while trying to attack Takamaru as he diligently swats them away and launching them possibly even KO’ing them. When Takamaru is finished slaying all the ninjas, the alien that invaded Murasame Castle appears from above and attempts one final attack with a deadly laser beam.
Takamaru attempts to deflect its raw power and is successful at sending back the alien but not enough to keep his opponents safe. I guess we will never learn what his true final smash was meant to be.
This attack is loosely based on the animation that can appear in Super Mario Maker 2 where he cameos in and as such, the original 8-bit Castle Town theme will play while the Final Smash is ongoing.
Taunts
Side Taunt: Two blue ninjas attack from both sides which Takamaru swiftly slices down. The ninjas have small hitboxes that can lightly tap a close by opponent.
Up Taunt: Takamaru holds its katana outwards to hone his stance. Its shine gleams among the entire blade.
Down Taunt: Takamaru kneels with his sword katana and gets back up.
Victory Animations
Victory Theme: The opening tune of Castle Town
Victory 1: Takamaru performs a flurry of slashes and strikes forward with his katana.
Victory 2: Takamaru fends off attacking ninjas by swatting them off with his iconic slashing attack.
Victory 3: Takamaru sheathes his katana and looks upwards with a dignified look on his face.