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Agent X

Agent X (Real Name: The Executioner) is a recurring villain from Yo-Kai Watch 3, acting as the main antagonist until the game's final act. At first, X takes the form of a shadowy Men in Black-style agent, and appears near areas where a mysterious UFO has crashed. He encounters the main character Nate as he and his new friend Buck attempt to figure out the truth behind said UFO. Every time Agent X would be defeated, he reveals his true form as The Executioner, a monstrous version of his quasi-human disguise.

In actuality, the whole MiB thing that Agent X has going on seems to be a coincidence, as he is actually the head lackey for the head honcho of the Yo-Kai World mafia, The Ghoulfather. Agent X proves himself to have undying loyalty to The Ghoulfather, having waited 555 years for Ghoulfather to return after being banished to space. Even as he comes to the realization that his boss is evil, X's loyalty never falters, and he ends up dying (again?) while protecting him in a final fight.

Agent X, as one might EXpect from a franchise like Yo-Kai Watch, talks almost entirely in puns related to the letter X.

X Stats
Weight - 104
Walk Speed - 0.80
Run Speed - 1.5
Air Speed - 1
Fall Speed - 1.45

Agent X is a fairly standard heavyweight, which comes with the EXpected EXcrutiating stats. He's very slow, even in the air. He's very comparable to Ganondorf, but with a few tweaks. Model wise, X is about as tall as Ganondorf as well, and takes up roughly the same space. Overall, X isn't a particularly interesting specimen of a character. His jumps are also mediocre, but around the mid-tier of heavyweight jumps, meaning he's definitely better than Ganondorf in that department

X Specials
Neutral Special - EXplosive EXcisions
Agent X holds up his hand while gripping the brim of his hat, producing a large ball of green flames in his palm. This is a charging state, with the ball starting off slightly larger than a Pokeball, before growing to 2/3rds the size of a Party Ball. Agent X can store this charge like most other charge characters can, rolling out of it when left or right is tapped. The charge takes as long as a Charge Shot to complete. On release, X does what one might EXpect, and throws the ball forwards. The flame ball will fly forward 3-6 Blocks depending on charge, before EXploding into an X-shaped blast.

The blast’s size depends on the charge, again, a rather obvious notion. At the lowest charge, the EXplosion will only reach a width of 4 Blocks, and a height of 3 Blocks, with dead zones between the points of the X, as there are no hitboxes there. At maximum charge, the blast will reach 5 Blocks in width, and 4 Blocks in height, with the dead zones being more apparent. The blast will linger on screen for a second and a half, before vanishing. Damage scales as well, with the blast being able to cause multiple hits of 1% every fifth frame at lowest charge, equalling 12% damage. Maximum charge will boost it to 2% every fifth frame, boosting overall damage to 24%. These numbers are only accurate when an opponent gets trapped from the start, of course, which is something that will happen if the opponent is struck by the ball first. In addition to this, there is a final hitbox that deals an extra 5% and knockback, boosting the damage more. Said knockback also scales, KOing at 150% at lowest charge, 90% at highest.

This move is very powerful if it manages to actually get every hit off, as it covers a vast range, deals heavy damage, and can kill fairly early. But of course, with these upsides comes some crippling downsides. The biggest is that this has the slowest starting lag of any projectile in the game, with X taking his time to throw the ball as hard as he can. Endlag is bad as well, though not the worst on a projectile move, with Agent X pushing his hat back up as it tilted down slightly during his throw.

The ball’s speed is also pretty bad, moving at roughly the same speed as Mario’s fireball, a speed that isn’t EXpecially great when combined with the starting lag. Now, slow projectiles are obviously not a bad thing, but with Agent X’s already slow nature, this definitely does put this at a disadvantage, even for approach reasons. Heck, it’s hard to even knock opponents into it, thanks to its very brief EXistence. So, at this moment, it’s a bit difficult to pin a good use for this EXcision. Fortunately, that won’t be an issue for much longer.

Down Special - Eye of the Executioner
Agent X grabs at his coat, and then pulls it open, revealing a bulging yellow eye on his stomach. The eye pops out of his chest with some considerable lag, before it starts floating in place. After a second, the eye will quickly lock on to a random opponent (Random only in free for all, obviously). After that, it proceeds to… not actually do anything. EXciting! Agent X regains control the second before the eye locks on to an opponent, giving him some time to potentially prepare for some upcoming shenanigans.

The eye itself is rather large, being at least as large as Piranha Plant’s spike ball. It has a fairly obvious yellow glow around it as it remains on stage, making it a very appetizing target for opponent attacks. Making it even more of a focus for opponents is that, well, the eye is still a part of Agent X, and as such hitting it will transfer any damage it takes directly to him. Fortunately, the eye can’t transfer knockback, and in fact doesn’t take knockback at all. After taking 30%, the eye will zoom back to X’s body, putting him into a brief bit of lag. This will also happen once 15 seconds pass.

When the move is initiated, as mentioned before, Agent X is put into a bit of bad lag, making him vulnerable. This vulnerability only comes from the back, however, as when the eye is revealed, it will unleash a burst of purple gas that both trips and pushes opponents backwards. The trip doesn’t last long enough for X to take any advantage of it, but it does give him enough time to go through the rest of the animation. This effect can be reversed as well, like with Ganon’s Warlock Punch, though there’s no stat boosts. The gas itself will only reach forward 1.5 Blocks and pushes the opponent to the edge of that if they were close.

So, we haven’t discussed what the eye actually does yet. When the eye locks on to an opponent, this means that all of Agent X’s fire/projectile attacks will home in on the opponent that was unfortunate to be afflicted with this. This is actually telegraphed by three aiming reticles appearing and spinning around the opponent. This effect has different applications with the rest of the applicable attacks, but this obviously factors a lot into Agent X’s NSpec.

Instead of being a slow projectile that travels forward, the flame ball now becomes a slow projectile that homes in on opponents, making it excellent for pressuring an opponent. This also allows X to play around with it better, since the ball will now just naturally be in the way of the opponent, allowing him to knock or throw them to their EXtermination. Its use is still slightly marred by the fact the ball has limited range, but it is a major improvement.

The only things that can stop the ball from homing are solid walls, or the eye returning back to X. Solid walls are only a semi-solution, however, as the explosion itself will go through solid walls, meaning that the only way to consistently avoid it is to go off stage – a viable strategy for Meta Knight, not so viable for Little Mac. When the eye returns, the homing will stop instantly, and leave the ball drifting in the direction it was last travelling for the rest of its lifespan. This in and of itself can be fun to use, since you can’t usually get the EXcisions into those kinds of directions normally.

The eye is the most important part of X’s Specials, as it boosts all of his most powerful attacks to stupidly dangerous levels. The downsides are mainly that it’s a massive, massive open target for opponents, and there isn’t much Agent X can really do about it outside of protecting it himself – maybe not even something he wants to do. Though, that isn’t to say he doesn’t have good ways of protecting it.

Side Special - EXpect this to Hurt
Agent X thrusts his hand out, palm first, causing a burst of green flame to appear in front of him, roughly half a Block away from him. The flame itself takes up around one full Block on its own when created, acting as a hitbox. On hit, the flame will deal 10% damage with heavy knockback that can KO at 90%. The starting lag of the attack is fast, with only a slight delay at the start. This might make it seem a bit strong, but the hitbox only lasts a handful of frames before it vanishes, making it harder to hit than it would seem.

Once the flame hitbox ends, it won’t completely vanish, instead turning into a small green wisp of flame, a third of the size of the EXplosion that created it. The wisp will then float upwards and around for a bit, floating anywhere within a 3x3 square. The flame is a different hitbox at this point, though it deals a wimpy 1% damage and barely any knockback. It is completely invulnerable, so there’s at least that. Agent X can put out three of these flame wisps out at once, with an attempt to create a fourth simply replacing the oldest one (Something that you may or may not want to do, depending on the situation). These are weak stage control constructs, not very effective at it but not the worst, potentially best on edges. That is, until 6 seconds pass.

After 6 seconds, the flames will EXplode again, creating a similar hitbox from when the move is first used, only now dealing 8% damage and KOing at 110%, making it significantly weaker, but still pretty strong. Placing the wisps around the stage in anticipation of this effect is a major part of Agent X’s controlling playstyle, as the EXplosions take up a lot of space and are fairly strong. This placement will never be completely accurate, due to the fact that the wisps roam about, and only stop once they EXplode. This unpredictability can also work in X’s favor as well, making it difficult for opponents to accurately DI away from them if knocked in their direction.

Being a flame move, the Eye of the Executioner works with it, and gives the attack even more stage control capabilities. If the eye is out, then instead of EXploding the flames will shoot out a large stream of fire in the direction of the locked-on opponent, half a Block in size and reaching out 4.5 Blocks away from the wisp. The flames shoot out practically instantly, making a last second dodge not really a viable option. These flamethrowers act like the other flamethrowers in Smash, dealing rapid hits over a brief time. The flames only deal 5 hits of 2%, but this isn’t factoring in the fact that you can have three of them out at once, and their damage stacks. If done correctly, you can easily score 30% damage on the opponent in an incredibly quick moment.

Of course, a smart opponent won’t be standing still long enough to face all three flames, since simply jumping away at the right time can deal with them. But Agent X still has more tricks up his sleeves, including one we’ve already covered. This move works particularly well with X’s EXcisions, allowing him to potentially play the opponent directly into the homing orb. After all, dodging several homing attacks can be EXtremely difficult. This can work in reverse, as X can potentially pressure an opponent into a vulnerable state for the flamethrowers, giving him quite a bit to work with.

Up Special - X-Pungement
For Agent X’s generic recovery, he quickly spins around as his hands burst into flames and grow larger, turning into the arms of The Executioner (Something he will be pulling off with some regularity). The generic spin, like most other generic spins in Smash Bros., will propel him upwards a bit. At the end of the move, X’s arms will turn back to normal as he thrusts his limbs out with a yell, a quick burst of green flame (In the shape of an X, of course) appears behind him. This attack behaves like Wario’s Up Special, meaning that it will only launch Agent X directly upwards (with slight left and right movement), though in this case it is significantly better as it sends him upwards 5 Blocks, making it great recovery on a heavyweight like X. It, unfortunately, has a bit of noticeable start-up.

The attack is split into a few different hitboxes. The spinning hitbox reaches the same range as DK’s generic spin, with the flaming hands acting as a sweetspot that deals 12% damage and can KO at 100%. The inner arms, however, will deal a much weaker 7% damage with knockback that acts more like a pop. The hands are very large, and fairly easy to hit with, but the attack’s trajectory generally makes it less valuable as an attack then the hitboxes would make it sound. That isn’t to say these aren’t good hitboxes, but with the bit of start-up lag and how long the attack lasts, actually using it to attack is generally only recommended if you can find a way to combo into it.

The final explosion hitbox is a lot easier to hit with than either the arms, having decent range and stretching out about 2/3rds of a Block away from X on either side (Despite its appearance, the hitbox is actually more of an ovular shape). There’s a bit of a delay between the spin and the actual explosion, but it’s equivalent to the gap between the Mario Tornado’s spin and finisher. The blast will deal an Excruciating 15% damage and can KO at 110%, making it almost as powerful as the fist sweetspots. Unfortunately, as you might surmise, it isn’t easy at all to combo from the arm hits into the explosion. The only way to do that is to hit the opponent with the inner arm hitbox near the absolute end of the attack, which will always pop them directly into the explosion. This is very hard to do, and you’re better off just trying to hit with it separately.

Despite how the move has been described, this can still be used for crowd control purposes, on top of being a good recovery tool. The move takes up a lot of real-estate, and while its best not to use it too often, it can be a good way to send opponents back where you want them or distract them for a crucial moment. But this is still mainly to be used as a recovery.

X Standards
Jab – Take That!
In probably Agent X’s most simple move, he throws a single straight punch forward. This is the Ganondorf style of Jab, a single, strong hit that doesn’t have much else to it. The punch deals a fairly ridiculous 10% damage, especially for a single hit, with some light knockback. The attack has a quick start-up, but some minor ending lag as Agent X adjusts his hat. The punch has decent range, too, equivalent to the reach of a standard starting combo punch, and not like Ganon’s pathetic Jab.

The interesting part of the attack is actually the knockback itself. Emulating how critical hits would knock Yo-Kai to different panels in YW3, the punch has directly backwards knockback, despite being considerably weak. This, combined with the starting speed, can be used to help knock opponents into place, push them into the range of your flamethrowers or directly into the EXcisions. There’s a decent amount of utility to this simple punch.