Scrapped sets

1. Judgement:

Hail 2 U!



Neutral Special:
*Summons a clay doll made of dirt and sand in the image of the nearest potential victim, or someone important to them.

*The clay doll shares a very slightly weaker version of the foe's statistics and abilities... at first. It has 35% stamina, and as it loses stamina, its stats, damage, and reaction time are reduced by a proportionate amount. This is visually represented by the features and shape starting to lose form as they take damage, until they're merely vague humanoid lumps. They also have an ability that most foes lack: they can climb walls with excellent speed, abandoning the foe's mannerisms to scale up the side of solid platforms with sharpened claws in a very primal manner.

*In addition to the foe's attacks, the clay doll has a command grab where it latches onto the victim and begins to drink their blood. Doing so provides it with extra stamina equal to the damage; however, this extra stamina does not count towards its stats. The extra stamina is merely a buffer against further damage, lost before its actual source of stamina. The foe can still move about, if with obvious difficulty, unlike most such grabs. Only one homunculi can grab a foe in this way at a time.

*Only three such dolls can exist at once. Creating a new such clay doll destroys the oldest, which adds to the starting lag due to Judgement having to reduce the original to nothing. If multiple foes exist, the new clay doll will take on the shape of a different enemy from the last, meaning in a FFA there will be one of each.


Side Special:
*Creates a whirlwind of dirt and grit that Judgement sends moving forwards at a gradual pace. Should it touch someone, it will remain swirling around them for a short time.

*The whirlwind acts as a weak, continuous hitbox that slaps around any who approach the beneficiary with multiple low-damage hits. The person themselves are not within range of the hitbox (at least after the first few initial hits, fewer if they DI into it to accept the buff instead of out of it to escape).

*Homunculi who are hit are healed instead of harmed, as are any other constructs Judgement creates. Foes (and Judgement himself if not careful!) are harmed normally. Create a buffer around your homunculi, or grant them what is effectively passive healing as they aggressively chase the foe.

*The whirlwind itself is essentially a grab hitbox in the middle, surrounded by smaller projectile hitboxes. Destroying/reflecting the latter does not end the effect, but reduces the number of hits and can essentially nullify the threat entirely.


Down Special:
*An AoE effect that can be aimed by holding down the special button and moving the control stick. The AoE's location is signified by a small amount of shifting dust, gravel, and dirt where its currently set to be released.

*Summons a large pillar of dirt and clay to act as a wall. It has 25% stamina, and when destroyed, is launched in the direction opposite of the attack that destroyed it as a hail of smaller rock projectiles. Pillars can be placed onto existing pillars, but are destroyed when all the supporting pillars are.

*Pillars can also be angled, if the control stick is held while the pillar is summoned.


Up Special:
*Judgement releases a cloud of smoke and dust, Cameo shouting his catch phrase through the stand as it obscures a large area around itself. The player can input a direction to have Judgement warp itself in that direction, out to the edge of the dust cloud. Judgement defaults to teleporting straight up. ((Make the cloud a standard effect of Cameo's Specials? Alternately, allow Judgement to input another Special while in the start up for this move.))

*If smashed in the direction of an enemy, minion, or ally (in that order for priority), Judgement switches places with them. Smashing two directions (or the same direction multiple times to indicate a different target in that direction) or more has Judgement switch each indicated targets with the one before it (the first being switched with the final chosen target).

*If tilted in the direction of a pillar or other allied destructible construct, Judgement will hide behind it until it is damaged or the player presses an input.

*This effect does not leave Judgement in freefall, though it can only teleport once before touching the ground again. The smokescreen appears at the start of the move, but Judgement does not move until it has cleared, meaning the attack can be interrupted.



*Other attacks would likely involve customizing minions and walls, such as sticking spikes onto them, and terrain effects, like quicksand to slow enemies.

-To expand on the quicksand idea, homunculi can burrow under the surface of these areas, protecting them from attacks as they attempt to strike. Effects like the Side Special can give away their position, but reach far enough above the ground to hurt foes. However, undamaged homunculi will rarely stay submerged for long (and are exposed when they come up to attack), and having a damaged homunculi hanging out in the quicksand means one less meatshield for Judgement, as well as preventing him from healing it- use these pits carefully.

-Maybe the sand effect can be applied to a pillar, allowing the minions to pass through with some lag? Could also act as a point that attacks pass through without harming the pillar, though applying more than one such point destroys the pillar.

*In general, Judgement's abilities involve applying buffs onto friend and foe alike, that would be an excellent boon for its enemies were they fighting anyone but Judgement itself.

-Off the top of my head, one such customization it can apply would be to put spikes on something to make its hurtbox a hitbox (with auto-lose priority, no nullifying attacks for you) that damages would-be grabbers on contact and grabbed foes, which naturally doesn't affect Homunculi or Judgement itself negatively.

-Another would be some sort of armor, which reduces knockback and damage slightly until a certain amount of damage is taken- the issue being the same issue all heavy weights suffer early on in a stock combined with increased fall speed (planting enemies right back on the ground where Judgement's nastiest toys are; it also wouldn't reduce the damage done by pummels, throws, or command grabs)


*A punch that 'blows away' the effects placed on the recipient, such that they act as projectiles in that direction that latch onto the first thing they hit (if any, else they smack into the ground and dissipate)? Perhaps some way to store the effects?

*Attacks tend towards powerful launches and grappler-like throws.

*Grab is to appear behind the foe and restrain their arms.




2. Thomas Mutton:

Warning! A Challenger approaches!

*Picture*

Thomas Mutton has joined the brawl!

Profile:
Owner of the Stray Sheep bar under the alias 'Boss', Thomas Mutton serves his patrons well cooked meals and classy drinks with a side of ...questionable, relationship advice throughout the game. As the player progresses through the game, should they decide to speak to him, he often speaks of his past relationships and infidelities with a fond tone; this being the most likely source of rumors about him wearing sunglasses day and night to hide his face from a scorned woman.

The real reason is less conventional- 'Boss' wears his glasses to hide his demonic eyes from his unwary targets. He works under 'Astaroth' to find men who are unwilling to commit and have children, sentencing them to nightmares where they must climb a constantly crumbling tower with their fellow 'sheep' or fall and die- for real. He was in fact one of the few to climb and survive these nightmares long ago, and agreed to work under Astaroth in exchange for having his wish for immortality granted.

Thomas Mutton is the Final Boss of the unconventional horror-romance game Catherine, only revealing his true nature at the end when he mistakenly assumes Vincent has figured him out. The protagonist challenged him to one final night, in exchange demanding that he help reunite him with the woman he loves and cease his plans. Confident that Vincent can't possibly succeed (and intimidated by the initial threat on his life that would most likely be carried out if he refused), he agreed, only to be soundly defeated that night.

Arrogant, cowardly, and hypocritical describe Mutton to a 'T'- confident until challenged, whereupon he switches to cowering or anger. He never willingly puts himself in harm's way but will swiftly return to being threatening the moment the danger of retribution has passed. He considers his motives noble, believing his efforts will ensure humanity will not be rendered extinct (despite quite a bit of background details implying *over*population is a serious problem in Catherine's universe). He does indeed honor his bet with Vincent once the man wins, and even hosts the wedding in the Katherine True Ending (after some 'persuasion', admittedly).


Stats:
Size: 7.5
Traction: 6
Ground Speed: 5
Aerial Speed: 5
Aerial Control: 5
Jump: 4
Weight: 4
Fall Speed: 4

Boss's stats are mildly disappointing. He presents a large target due to his height, and isn't anything special in maneuverability OR weight. His moveset simply isn't meant for a straight fight. Rather, he acts as an observer, calmly hanging back and creating distractions and obstacles for his opponent to deal with.


Specials:
Neutral Special - Summon Blocks:

Side Special - Mixed Drinks:

Down Special - Summon Sheep:

Up Special - Direction:







Summon Sheep: Creates a sheep that desperately moves blocks around, grabs items, and pushes enemies. As time goes on, they grow more and more violent, switching from pushing to outright striking the opponents and eventually evolving into vicious killers. Exceptional distractions, forcing the player to split their attention between Mutton and the ticking time bombs wrapped in wool.

Summon Blocks: Creates moveable blocks on the stage, ala those from Catherine. They're simple enough to manipulate, though they can clog up terrain and make it difficult to pursue Mutton as he moves about. He can summon a number of different types of his choice, some presenting dangers to both sheep and enemies alike. He'll want to balance normal blocks with dangerous ones to prevent his own sheep from being destroyed while still providing a threat to his enemies.

Drink Offer: Increases the speed of those who consume it up to three times and heals them a decent amount, be they Mutton himself or one of the sheep. He can also hand out drinks that increase the aggression of the consumer, buffing the sheep up one 'step', increasing Mutton's damage, or sending the opponent into a rage that forces them to attack twice for every one input used. He can even drug a sheep or enemy to make them fall asleep, preventing them from moving a short time.

Direction: Mutton jumps onto his director's crane, retrieving his revolver and gavel. He can move about freely and relatively safely, but the crane eventually malfunctions and dumps him back into the fight, also preventing him from using his Up Special again for a lengthy period of time. He can only levitate so high up, and his blocks can be used to reach him- if the opponents want to deal with his sheep. He has two attacks during this effect:

-Snipe Shot: While holding A, Mutton's player can control a red targeting recticle for up to two seconds, the full time passing or the A button being released causing him to fire. It's a high power attack that can destroy blocks in a single hit, or
-Block Change: Banging his Gavel, Mutton changes the special blocks on the stage to a different type.


3. ShadeMan.EXE

Stats
Traction - 10
Size - 9
Jump - 8.5
Fall Speed - 8.5
Weight - 7.5
Aerial DI - 7
Move Speed - 6
Special: Crouch, Hover

ShadeMan.EXE's stats are a mixed bag; he hovers across the ground just high enough to avoid some low-angled hitboxes and effects like the trip mine item, but it only exaggerates what a large target he is, sharing Ganondorf's height with half again the King of Evil's width. 'Crouching' can turn off his hover to let him move normally if desired, though it eliminates the benefits of his hovering. He has good aerial mobility and is fairly durable, but his faster than average fall speed nullifies the former and makes the latter a liability; he's combo bait at its finest.

Of course, that all ignores his actual moveset; suffice to say, a shady character like him has a few tricks up his sleeve.



Specials

Neutral Special

ShadeMan.EXE clenches his hands together. A small purple flash is visible between his fingers when his hands meet, and when he pulls them away, a Dark Hole is left behind.

A prominent part of the Liberation Missions in the two versions of Battle Network 5, 'Dark Holes' were panels that needed to be 'Liberated' in order to approach the Darkloid the player needed to defeat to complete the mission. If left to their own devices, these panels would periodically spawn a 'Guardian', a tougher than normal virus, to serve as yet another obstacle.

In this incarnation, they are Kirby-sized black tears in the air, rips in the fabric of reality itself. A shadowy aura extends from it 2 Brawl Stage Builder Units (abbriviated 'SBU' from here on) out in each direction.

Once every 4 seconds, one of 3 types of Guardians as detailed in the section below will claw its way out of the hole, cycling through each in the order listed. A long wait, but reasonable with ShadeMan.EXE being free to act and attack while it passively supplies reinforcements. ShadeMan.EXE can have up to 3 Guardians under his control at any one time.

Of course, there's another major drawback to the Dark Hole: its own fairly limited stamina of 20. Reducing it to 0 closes the Dark Hole and destroys any of the Guardians it summoned instantly. ShadeMan.EXE can simply summon another at any time, but that resets the timer before it spawns a new Guardian, and only one Dark Hole can exist at any given time; using this special again simply creates a swirling purple square known as a 'Dark Panel': a splotch with the same size and shadowy aura of a Dark Hole, which possesses only 10 stamina.

Last but not least, the shadowed areas around the Dark Hole and Dark Panels has a minor slowing effect on anything in them not allied with ShadeMan.EXE. Enemies have their land and air speeds reduced by 1/5th within the area, as well as their fall speed, making it slightly harder to move about. This effect does not stack when these areas overlap.


Guardians

Guardians as a whole have a few shared traits and rules. Each has a set amount of stamina upon creation that is displayed below themselves for the convenience of players, and if belonging to a certain ShadeMan.EXE in a team brawl, they will have the tinge of their team colors. Reducing their stamina to 0 causes them to disappear in a small explosion (purely for show), as will going over a stage boundary.

They are AI-controlled to fight aggressvely, but are generally uncoordinated with each other or ShadeMan.EXE. Finally and most significantly, Guardians receive a 1.4x modifier to their attack damage and knockback while within a shadowed area.

*Details about the individual Guardians go here, inside of quotes if possible*


Side Special

ShadeMan.EXE summons an image of himself with a lazy gesture to deliver a single attack from afar. The image normally appears next to a foe no more than two SBUs away from the darkloid, but can also appear next to any enemy within the shadowy area generated by a Dark Hole or Dark Panel.

The image defaults to his Forward Tilt (if on the ground) or Forward Aerial (if in the air), but the player can input any non-Special attack during the brief delay to have the image perform that attack instead (with standards and aerials determined by if ShadeMan.EXE is on the ground or in the air).

It can even perform his smash attacks or grab (regardless of ShadeMan.EXE's position), though with no charge on the former and half the duration on the latter. The image will perform his pummel upon a successful grab, passing the benefits onto ShadeMan.EXE.

Regardless of the attack chosen, the image appears positioned perfectly to use the input relative to where the opponent is when it appears, but with a short pause between its creation and actually performing the attack. It vanishes instantly when struck or after finishing its attack, whichever comes first. If summoned to a shadowed area, destroying the Dark Hole or Dark Panel creating it will also dismiss the image.

ShadeMan.EXE is not harmed if his image is destroyed, but he is unable to move for however long his chosen input would have taken (lag, animation, and all) and for a small additional lag afterwards, even if the attack misses or the image was destroyed. In a battle with multiple opponents, ShadeMan.EXE prioritizes enemies by which direction he's facing, followed by whichever is nearest to him.


Down Special

Folding his wings over himself and erupting in a dark aura, ShadeMan.EXE harnesses his dark powers to protect himself from harm. Attacks pass through him without effect, his body shifting into a monochrome black whenever a hitbox passes through him.

The duration of this effect is very limited, linked to the amount of time ShadeMan.EXE spent charging the special. Should the player tap the input, the benefit won't even last for the entirety of his ending lag, simply being a fancy and ineffectual spot dodge more than anything. With a full second of charge, however, it can last 3 seconds past the end lag.

The shadowed areas generated by Dark Holes and Dark Panels have two very significant effects on this effect. First, while ShadeMan.EXE is within a shadowed area, the duration does not expire on this effect until he leaves. Second, counteracting the first, is that any foe within such an area can ignore the effects of this special.

When the effect ends, ShadeMan.EXE's faint aura disperses into a crackling purple energy that lasts a full second. Until it fades entirely, he cannot activate his Down Special again. ShadeMan.EXE suffers a noticeable start up and ending lag from his Down Special, though the latter is mitigated slightly by his protective shadows.


Up Special

-*Shademan.EXE transforms into a bat briefly, granting him free flight for a short period. If struck right before the transformation, he splits into four bats (three fakes with decent AI that last until he reverts and take no damage) instead and suffers no damage or knockback, letting his recovery double as a hard to use counter.








Forward Smash

*Cone-shaped sonic screech. Most of the hitbox is a sour spot that does little damage and pushes the foe back a short distance, while the very end is a sweet spot that deals high damage and knockback; the closer the enemy is/the greater the charge, the more damage they suffer before being launched away. Charging increases the horizontal length of the hitbox.




3.1. Gastly (Take 1)




-Incapacitating and damage over time attacks, taking the form of poisonous fog.
-Alternate form of fog which lacks the ability to deal damage, but can suffocate foes and cause them to pass out.
-The ability to thin out its own body to dodge, possibly as part of the above.
-Smokescreens to hide behind.
-Confuse Ray, upon a successful hit, creates illusionary images of Gastly that act with a simple AI but whose attacks have no effect beyond animations. It can also hit clouds of fog or projectiles.
-Grab is lick/dream eater. If the foe is not asleep, the lick 'grabs' them by stunning them and dealing passive hits (essentially making Gastly's pummel automatic), and either ends when the foe would 'break free' or Gastly's player inputs a direction, performing a throw. Dream eater heals Gastly as it damages the foe and has a longer duration.


-Spite greatly stales the foe's last used move?

-Mean Look surrounds the foe with illusionary eyes, causing Gastly's various lingering effects to essentially move with them (at half the rate of the victim's movement, making it difficult to escape for the duration of the effect and making it difficult to circumvent). Possibly even grants Gastly extra movement speed itself, when moving in the direction the opponent is and within the area of effect.

-Curse damages Gastly depending on its current damage percentage (more the higher its damage is), but causes gradual hits of damage over time based on the damage it inflicted on Gastly at the time, accompanied by flinching that does not break the foe free from sleep or a grab.

-Destiny Bond briefly causes any damage suffered by Gastly to be suffered by the opponent as well, though it is difficult to land. Alternately, make it Gastly's Final Smash and make it so a KO on Gastly counts as a KO on the foe for its duration, allowing the ghost pokemon free reign (though I'd make it so a double KO on each competitor's final stock gives the opponent the win, a reference to Pokemon).

-Sucker Punch allows Gastly to rush forwards, its body acting as a hitbox, similar to Fox's Side Special. If the foe is not in the middle of an attack, however, it has no effect, and either way it has noticeable ending lag- bad news if whiffed.

-Payback works as an inverse of the above; if hit during the start up of the attack, Gastly takes the damage, but not the knockback or hitstun, and it does double damage on a hit. Like the above, it has great lag on the end, but it also suffers a slow and telegraphed start up- making it difficult to spam and a limited use counter.

-Shadow Ball comes in two flavors- tapped input, causing Gastly to create a slow-moving projectile, and smashed input, where it moves very fast. Shadow Ball bounces off of surfaces but stops at the first thing it deals damage to, be it destructable or enemy, and can be made to bounce off the edges of Mean Look's area of effect around a foe.
--Alternately, tapped is a fast but weak version, held can charge it slightly for more damage and a bigger hitbox, but slower movement.

-Night Shade creates an illusion of Gastly or other effects, similar to Confuse Ray, but with two differences: one, the duration is vastly shorter. Two, the illusion can actually deal damage, though with damage, knockback, and hitstun reduced greatly.

-Dark Pulse is a short-range, all-around hitbox that comes out decently fast enough and does above average damage, but has a cooldown between possible uses (differing from end lag in that Gastly can perform other actions during the cooldown).
--Alternately: A long range, horizontal ring that spreads outwards at a gradual rate, maintaining the same altitude as it does so. Though thin, it comes out quick and lingers for a long time. The sole drawback is that Gastly cannot use it again until the first wave has reached the end of its path.

-Hex does more damage the more of Gastly's attack effects are within a specific distance of the foe, starting off very weak but with clever application of Mean Look and its other effects becoming shockingly powerful compared to its other moves. Make it a smash attack, with charge time increasing range rather than damage.

-Nightmare takes effect only when a foe is asleep, but can be inflicted even without. In such a case, the foe's damage rises slowly, and they take longer to wake up? Alternately: the foe can thrash about some while afflicted with sleep (something to add to Gastly's sleep moves), and images akin to Night Shade's will appear intermittently and they must try to evade them or take damage. I prefer the second take, in addition to the change to the 'sleep' status to prevent it from being glorified stun. Note that sleep statuses cannot be stacked, and significant damage or knockback can end it earlier?

-Hypnosis is a short range telekinetic spark, with an effect of dealing increased hitstun the more consecutive hits Gastly makes on the foe in a short time. It does no damage, knockback, or hitstun, but it comes out laglessly, and using the move over and over creates a thin fog effect in the area ahead of Gastly. After X amounts of hits, the foe is lulled into Gastly's version of the sleep effect, with every Y seconds removing a sleep 'count' from the foe if they have not been hit again since, and every type of lingering effect the foe is under reducing the needed counts by 1. The foe cannot accumulate more sleep counts until their sleep effect ends.


-For throws, maybe one is a proper KO attack, and the others focus on status errors? Might be a bit too focused, and a little clumsy.


Animation notes:
-Gastly seems to thin out when hit by something, giving the impression it's less harm from the blow itself and more the movement of the air threatening to carry it away. This is most noticeable in its ledge grab animation, which has it huddling near the ledge for cover as an unseen wind blows harshly on it. It could also apply while airborne, just to give a handwave for why Gastly can't fly and has to 'land' every now and then- wind is too strong up high.
-Whenever a foe is under a lingering effect, such as in a gas cloud, hit with Confuse Ray and/or Night Shade, surrounded by Mean Look, and so on, a blue will-o-wisp appears over them until the effect ends/is removed.


Overall playstyle idea:
-Uses Shadow Ball and the various types of poison smog it can conjure up to force the opponent to attack constantly to keep the damage lead on Gastly.
-Has a large number of various counter/counter-like moves with lingering effects that add up to debilitating consequences.
-Has some power moves, but all are fairly unfeasible for one reason or another, requiring the above to become truly effective. The big payoff of the set to build towards (but is not vital) is Hex, which does poor damage under most circumstances but can inflict a great deal of pain once Gastly has piled on lingering effects.
-Essentially, Gastly enjoys confounding the foe and forcing them into painful guessing games, though it is vulnerable if the foe succeeds or properly circumvents its tricks due to its pathetic weight and middling maneuverability outside of a select few tricks.


Mechanical Thoughts:
-About the air game, should Gastly have 'jumps' like a normal character, or like Kirby/Jigglypuff, or even a glide? One possibility is the jump button toggles its ground and air game- giving it the limited ability to float upwards (usually for X seconds without solid ground less than a set distance below it/nearby before falling down, fluffed as the wind dispersing Gastly too much and it needing to land. It would be able to use smashes in the air, which makes sense given the choices.)
--I'll go with the mechanic.
--If movement is exactly the same in the air as on the ground, that means no back aerial.

-Sleep does not stun foe; rather, it prevents them from dashing or using their mid-air jumps, and limits them to their standards and aerials for the duration. Moves also suffer a bit more start-up lag.


Move Layout:
-Neutral Special: Confuse Ray (Tap)/Night Shade (Hold)
-Side Special: Shadow Ball
-Down Special: Mean Look
-Up Special: Poisonous Fog Trail + Timed Free Flight + Smoke Screen (Entire fog is a hurtbox during this move, and Gastly takes double damage when hit, but no hitstun/knockback until it finishes. Getting hit three times by moves with notable knockback ends the move with Gastly in the spot it started, while letting it run out normally ends with Gastly at the end of the trail. Can press B early to decide where to leave Gastly in a different location at the end of the move, regardless of if Gastly is knocked out of it early or not, and tap a second time to end the move prematurely. Perhaps tapping and holding the input at the start changes the type of gas?)

-Neutral A Combo: Hypnosis
-Forward Tilt: Payback
-Down Tilt:
-Up Tilt:
-Dash Attack: (Phases through the victim to other side, briefly granting Gastly super armor at the cost of double damage, stuns foes hit and creates a temporary patch of poisonous fog ala Up Special; does not apply stun if the foe is already in a fog trail. Usable in the air as well. Perhaps tapping or holding the input changes the type of gas?)

-Forward Smash: Hex (Trio of black firey projectiles, one aimed and two at an angle to the first; Range dependant on charge)
-Down Smash: Curse (Damage to self dependant on charge?)
-Up Smash: Nightmare (Summons an imp-like figure above Gastly's head that hones in on foes, moving at a decent rate but having a poor turn radius. Duration of the projectile/effect when inflicted (one in the same) dependant on charge)

-Neutral Aerial: Dark Pulse
-Forward Aerial: Sucker Punch
-Down Aerial:
-Back Aerial: (No Back Aerial? Gastly would logically be able to turn in mid-air just as easily as on the ground, which would leave very little window to use one)
-Up Aerial:

-Grab/Pummel: Lick (Awake foe)/Dreameater (Asleep foe)
-Forward Throw:
-Down Throw: Spite(?)
-Back Throw:
-Up Throw: (Enters the foe, inflicting its pummel for the duration and allowing the player to influence the opponent's movements slightly until the effect wears off. Note, Gastly exits the foe with a frame disadvantage unless it managed to influence the foe into doing something particularly laggy before it wore off. Last longer the more effects on the foe there are.)


3.2. Gastly (Take 2)

=. . Gastly . .=

=. . Overview . .=

The imaginatively classified 'Gas Pokemon', Gastly is one of the first three Ghost-type pokemon introduced in the series. The Pokedex describes it as an almost invisible predator that envelops its victims and alternately suffocates, poisons, or renders them asleep. Even larger creatures are in danger from its method of attack.

With its form, it can slip through small cracks and seams, but particularly strong gusts can threaten to blow it away, and so it prefers to hide in deserted buildings or under the overhang of a house's roof, and sometimes can be seen gathering in the latter location on especially windy days.

In gameplay, a Gastly is not much to look at, being only the first phase in its evolutionary line and having stats to match. However, it is one of the definitive posterboys for its type, and has surprising charisma in its design despite being a ball of gas.


=. . Stats . .=

Weight . . . 1
Size . . . 4
Gound Speed . . . 6
Aerial DI . . . 6
Fall Speed . . . 1
Traction . . . 10
Special: Hover, Flight

Gastly's stats aren't much better here than in its game appearances; it has basically nothing for weight, is a bit larger than Kirby both in height and width, and its movement speeds aren't even particularly good to make up for it. The most you can say in its favor numerically is that it will never trip, slip, or slide. It hovers a little ways off the ground, which is somewhat nice in that your average down tilt will not strike it, but bad when paired with its size by making it vulnerable to up tilts while 'on' the ground.

Outside of numbers, however? Gastly does have one trick to its innate abilities; flight. Gravity holds no real sway over the ghost type. By pressing the jump button, the player can switch between it hovering a set distance off the ground (and slowly descending until there is a platform that far under it, if knocked into the air or steered off a platform) and free flight in whichever direction they please. It can even 'dodge roll' in the air- fading away like an illusion and reappearing a short distance away- in any direction, and perform Smash Attacks.

Of course, there is a limit to its flight; if it tries to rise more than 2 Ganondorfs in height from the nearest platform below it, the gas forming its body seems to flicker in an unseen wind. It can struggle against it for up to 2 seconds, but afterwards, it falls until it is out of the harsh gust. The only other way to escape is to huddle near a ledge, which works the same for Gastly as holding onto a ledge with any other character outside of the animation.


=. . Mechanic . .=

Due to its nature, Gastly can inflict a variety of lingering effects on its opponent, using debilitating conditions and tricky movements to fight physically superior foes. These effects are visually represented by tiny will-o-wisps that hover around the victim, starting at roughly half a pokeball in size and slowly shrinking away to nothing as their durations near their end.

Every effect means one more ghostly flame; something that comes into play with Gastly's various attacks. On its own, though, it's a simple shorthand to see how many are on the foe and if any are going to wear off soon.


=. . Specials . .=

=. . Neutral Special . . Confuse Ray/Night Shade . .=

Gastly's eyes flicker with energy, and a bright flash of light spreads out over a 45 degree cone in front of it, with a brief pause before which Gastly can choose to aim the attack in a different direction. Confuse Ray extends just shy of a Battlefield Platform away from Gastly and deals no damage or knockback. Foes flinch as if struck by a weak attack, but are otherwise unharmed. Gastly itself suffers some significant ending lag from the move either way.

Confuse Ray's purpose is not damage itself. When the attack hits a foe, a second Gastly will appear on stage, bent on harassing the foe with various attacks and effects. However, this new Gastly is purely an illusion- its attacks deal no damage, it suffers no damage from attacks and does not even register being hit, and it cannot place effects on the foe like another Confuse Ray. It's purely a bluff. The illusion lasts for a 5 seconds and vanishes with a mocking taunt, for all the good it does.

That's what happens when you tap the Neutral Special input. When held, Gastly instead uses Night Shade. The effect seems the same at first, but there is a demonstratable difference. First and foremost: the illusion's attacks will deal damage and apply secondary effects on the opponent. Damage, knockback, and the duration of secondary effects are all halved, and no hitstun is inflicted. Secondly, the Night Shade fake is destroyed by any enemy attack.

Poweful, especially if the foe loses track of the real deal among the illusions. A mixture of the invincible but harmless fakes and the damaging but fragile ones can leave a player jumping at shadows.


=. . Side Special . . Shadow Ball . .=

Gastly forms a shadowy sphere of energy, roughly the size of Kirby, from its own gaseous body. The Shadow Ball requires no charge, instead having variations on its travel speed depending on how the player inputs the attack. A tap causes the Shadow Ball to glide along at 2/3rds the pace of Pikachu's Neutral Special. Smashing the input instead causes it to travel at 2/3rds the rate of Fox's Neutral Special.

Either variant otherwise functions the same. The Shadow Ball deals 15% damage and moderate knockback on contact. It travels up to a whopping four battlefield platforms if not interrupted. By holding the input, the player gains the chance to 'aim' the Shadow Ball up or down in the same way Yoshi can aim its Up Special, the projectile rotating around Gastly so it is directly between its planned path and its maker.

Though the projectile is created reasonably fast, the start up lag extends past the projectile's creation. Gastly and the Shadow Ball hold in place for a brief period before the latter is launched and the former is free to move again. During this brief period, pressing B again allows Gastly to cancel out of the attack- the Shadow Ball remaining in place for the remainder of the start up animation and fizzling out immediately after, while Gastly is free to move upon cancelling the input.


=. . Down Special . . Mean Look . .=

Gastly's trademark smirk stretches so far as to reach from either end of its body, eyes sinking in and glowing red. A faint image of the gas pokemon's expression flies forwards at the speed of Fox's Neutral Special, having its creator's height, but the width of a pokeball item. Its range is very short for a projectile, travelling a single battlefield platform length. It does no damage or knockback.

The purpose of Mean Look is not to attack, but to put foes in a position where they cannot escape. If the image successfully catches a victim, four phantasmal red eyes will appear around them in a box formation that is double Donkey Kong's width in each dimension with each eye at the corner.
Any of Gastly's projectiles and lingering hitboxes or effects that enter this area are pulled along with the victim; when they move, those effects are pulled along at half the movement speed of that victim, and bounce off of the sides of the box once inside it. To add insult to injury, such effects have their range/duration doubled when within Mean Look's area of effect.

Gastly itself is pulled along just like the rest should it enter the box, though it can enter and exit it freely. Mean Look's effect lasts 10 seconds or until either the victim or Gastly is KOed. Though it can be used at the same rate as Fox's Neutral Special, using Mean Look again will not extend or reset the duration, nor count as additional 'effects'.


=. . Up Special . . Suffocate . .=

Gastly's body pulses in and out, its main 'body' thinning out into more of the kind of fog that normally surrounds it. For the next 3 seconds, the player is able to move Gastly about freely, ignoring the usual restrictions on its flight (and switching over to its aerial movement if not already using it).

As it moves about, Gastly leaves a solid trail of the same fog surrounding itself in its wake. This trail lasts for 5 seconds after this move ends, and deals passive hits of 3% damage every second to foes within it, though without knockback or hitstun. The fog hides Gastly and its images within it perfectly, same as any part of its attacks occupying the same space as it. Others are visible in the thin haze as a silhouette, as are any of their attacks or creations.

While Gastly is utiliing this move, the entirety of the gas cloud it is leaving behind is also part of its hurtbox; it takes no hitstun or knockback in this state, but suffers the normal damage for the duration. Getting struck three times while performing this move with attacks that deal at least some knockback ends it early, leaving Gastly briefly stunned and vulnerable to another attack. However, the player can hit the B button again to set Gastly's current location as the spot it'll appear in once the move ends, and a third time to end the move prematurely. No matter how it ends, Gastly enters freefall, and is forced to float back down to reconstitute itself.

The gas it leaves behind has one final quality: for every second spent in within it, an opponent is treated as suffering from an additional effect. These effects end when they leave the cloud for more than two seconds. It means nothing on its own, but when combined with some of Gastly's other moves, it transforms this attack from a nuisance to a genuine threat.



=. . Standards . .=

=. . Neutral A Combo . . Hypnosis . .=

A flash of black covers Gastly's eyes, sparks of light filling a small area in front of it. Hypnosis affects foes within an area half of a battlefield platform of Gastly in the direction its facing and as tall as the gas pokemon itself, and does no damage or knockback. It can cause the foe to flinch, but only if they haven't been hit by it within the last 3 seconds, meaning even its nearly lagless start up and cooldown don't help it as an attack.

Instead, hypnosis is used to lull foes to sleep. Sleep works differently here than when inflicted by Jigglypuff's sing; the foe is not stunned or fully disabled. Gastly's sleep takes away the foe's ability to dash or use their specials for its duration, their aerial DI is reduced by 1/4th, and the lag of their attacks is increased by roughly 1/4th. Each hit inflicts an effect that lasts for 3 seconds and whose symptoms do not stack with others of its kind.

The effect of hypnosis ends when the victim is struck by an attack that deals moderate or better knockback, or the foe is no longer suffering from the effects inflicted on them through hypnosis.


=. . Forward Tilt . . Payback . .=

-


=. . Down Tilt . . ---- . .=

-


=. . Up Tilt . . ---- . .=

-


=. . Dash Attack . . ---- . .=

-



=. . Smashes . .=

=. . Forward Smash . . ---- . .=

-


=. . Down Smash . . ---- . .=

-


=. . Up Smash . . ---- . .=

-



=. . Aerials . .=

=. . Neutral Aerial . . ---- . .=

-


=. . Forward Aerial . . ---- . .=

-


=. . Down Aerial . . ---- . .=

-


=. . Up Aerial . . ---- . .=

-



=. . Grab . .=

=. . Pummel . . Lick/Nightmare . .=

-


=. . Forward Throw . . ---- . .=

-


=. . Down Throw . . ---- . .=

-


=. . Back Throw . . ---- . .=

-


=. . Up Throw . . ---- . .=

-



=. . Final
Smash . .=

-



=. . Playstyle . .=

-











Scrapped:
(From Mean Look/Down Special): There's one last powerful trick up its sleeve, however. When in the middle of a dodge roll, if the player quickly inputs an attack, it will appear inside the nearest Mean Look area, telegraphed by the point along the edge closest to Gastly flickering with purple energy for a full second, the hitbox aimed inward at the foe. Only one such attack can be made through this method at once, with later inputs made during dodge rolls being ignored until the first goes off.



3.3 Gastly (Take 3)

Specials:

*Up Special:

Glowing red eyes and jagged mouth flicker in front of Gastly with a low hum. A wave of ghostly energy that ripples outwards from around Gastly, roughly a battlefield platform in each direction from itself. This ripple inflicts no damage, and merely makes the opponent flinch on hit. It comes out with a mild delay and has a short cooldown, during which an opponent that shielded the wave will have ample opportunity to respond. Otherwise, Gastly will be left frame-neutral with its victim.

The ripple of energy glows at the edge of the area, staying there as a shimmering, dull light. The area within it is tinged a dark and vaguely purple color (with splotches of Gastly's team colors, or black if 1v1). It remains in place very briefly if no foe was within the area when the attack was made, then vanishes. If an opponent was within the area, even if they shielded or dodge the wave, the light stays centered on the opponent nearest to Gastly, moving with them for a lengthy duration. Only one such area can exist at a time, per Gastly.

While active, Gastly can repeat this input to appear at the nearest edge of the area, or any edge by holding it and angling the control stick, dispersing into a fine mist and reconstituting itself within the area with little lag. There is a slight delay between when it can move again and when it can attack using this effect, Gastly's face appearing and slowly growing back to its full size as a visual indication of when it has teleported and can move, and when it can attack, respectively.

Gastly can teleport around this way as much as it likes, but if the effect should end while it is in the air (telegraphed by the lights beginning to flicker at the end of the duration), Gastly will enter free fall.

The light does not hinder movement in or out of the area, but does have an effect on one thing: projectiles. Projectiles within the area treat the light as solid surface, unable to exit, though projectiles from outside the area can enter freely.


*Neutral Special:

An orb of wispy shadow and purple energy forms in front of Gastly's mouth, roughly the same size and shape of a Smash Ball. By holding the input for up to half a second, Gastly can increase the size of the sphere as part of a non-storable charge.

Upon release, the sphere shivers in place for just a second, then shoots off directly forwards. Inputting a direction during this start up allows Gastly to choose which direction the projectile moves in.

This projectile deals 8% damage and light knockback at minimum charge, moving about the speed of Falco's laser up to a battlefield platform away. At full charge, the projectile is the same size of a crate, moving half that speed but up to a whopping 2.5 battlefield platforms, dealing 12% damage and moderate knockback.

This orb is not destroyed on contact with a shield or solid barrier; instead, it ricochets off, allowing Gastly to bank a shot at its opponent with its aim and duration, or create a serious hazard for an opponent by firing it into an area created by its Up Special. The attack will pass through an opponent or ally, and loses its hitbox briefly after touching something to prevent it from rebounding between an opponent and a wall directly next to them over and over. A stronger attack will still destroy it.

Gastly can cancel out of the charging of this move, causing the projectile to hover in place for however long it would've lasted normally before fading away. Outside forces acting on the sphere, such as an opponent with the Up Special area around them attempting to move away or a moving platform, can hit the sphere such that it begins to move with momentum based on the speed of the object that hit it.

Regardless of how it is used, each Gastly can only have a single Neutral Special projectile at a time; any use of the Neutral Special input at all will eliminate its previous one from play.


*Down Special:

Gastly's form billows in an unseen wind, dark fog spreading from its form as it closes its eyes. Dark spikes of energy seem to push into its central form, gas leaking from where they touch. As the Special button is held, it takes damage at a rate of 4% per second in 1% increments, but it can move about and perform non-Special inputs as normal. As it does, small wisps of purple gas, roughly the size of a pokeball, are left in its wake.

These wisps are special projectiles. They do not cause an opponent to flinch, but do not disperse when on contact with a surface or opponent, merely being pushed away at a speed proportionate to the force that touched them. When the foe touches one or more such wisps, they take 1% damage without flinching, and another 1% without flinching for every second they remain in contact.

One is created for every increment of damage Gastly takes from this Special, slowly floating away from itself and gradually descending without anything acting upon them. Each wisp lingers for an extensively long time, around 10 seconds, though they lack much of anything in terms of range or truly dangerous trap-like quality.

With the Up Special active, however, these projectiles will remain within an area and will be pulled along by the opponent as they pursue Gastly, making their life significantly worse as they either suffer noticeable damage or have to spend time cleaning up the area around themselves.


*Side Special:

A flash of light shoots forth from Gastly's eyes, a small ball of wispy energy vibrating where it was created for a second before flying forth. It does no damage and causes whatever is hit to flinch, moving the speed and distance of one of Fox's blaster projectiles. It passes through anything along its way to the end of its range, and creates a transparent double image of anything that it touches, be it projectile or character, which acts like the original (characters copies act with limited and highly defensive AI, acting as if allied with the character they're copies of).

The image appears on the opposite side of the copied component from Gastly an equal distance away, lasing only 3 seconds and dealing no damage, knockback, or hitstun with their hitboxes. However, if the opponent strikes an image, it vanishes in a burst that deals 5% and flinching to anyone within a crate's width of it. These images count as projectiles and are dragged along with an area created by the Up Special, though copies of characters will attempt to 'move' such that they stay within the area.

Like the Neutral Special projectile, this can be aimed with the control stick (though only up and forwards or down and forwards), and bounces off of shields and walls. Similarly, any projectiles created by a character-based image (such as a copy of Gastly itself made by bouncing a shop off of a wall) will count as their own images, though they vanish with the image that created them, and vice-versa. Only three images can exist at once per Gastly, the oldest vanishing first, and character copies avoiding creating projectiles when this limit is reached.



Grab and Throws:

*Gastly lurches forward and envelops the victim for a grab, doing passive damage as it holds the victim in lieu of a normal pummel.


3.4 Gastly (Take 4)

Mean Look creates an area of effect around Gastly, the edge of which acts as solid barriers to opponents and projectiles within it. If no opponents are in the area when it forms, Gastly leaves the area due to knockback or movement, the foe 'falls' through the bottom due to lack of solid ground, or Gastly launches the opponent into one such 'wall' with an attack that deals KO-worthy knockback, the effect fades. Gastly can move freely through this area without the normal restrictions on its limited flight, though the area is not big enough to keep it safe from enemy attacks..

Gastly has three chief tools to take advantage in its other Specials. One creates a poison fog, damaging enemies over time as they remain within it (not causing flinching but climbing rapidly if they stay in the small area for too long).

Another, Shadow Ball, is an aim-able chraged projectile that rebounds off of walls, refreshing its duration with each bounce. Its damage and knockback are dependant on charge, while its duration, move speed, and range are inversely proportional to charge. It can thus fire off weak bursts of damage that stick around to be a nuisance, or pop off a large and powerful killing move that is difficult to dodge in closed quarters.

Lasty, Gastly's recovery sees it teleport about with a delay between its appearance and disappearance. As it slowly reappears, the player can input an attack it will perform when fully manifested. It suffers long ending lag normally, but if the player chooses to attack, it suffers this lag after the ending lag of the move it performs. It only counts as outside a Mean Look area when it reappears fully, giving it the chance to pop off a completely safe projectile right as the opponent's prison drops.



4. Briggs

Stats:
Weight - 8
Gravity - 8
Traction - 8
Size - 7
Fall Speed - 6.5
Jump - 5
Move Speed - 4
Aerial DI - 3.5
Special: Crawl

Briggs' statistics are a tad middling, with some lean towards the heavyweight category, standing somewhere between Marth and Ganondorf's heights with the latter's width. His main advantage is having just enough weight to be useful without becoming combo food, and enough mobility and fine movement to take advantage of his array of disjointed hitboxes.

He's not quite as badly off as his fellow semi-heavyweights were in Brawl, but he still being compared against the legends populating Smash's All-Star roster, 'merely' a fantastic sailor and fighter by normal standards, instead of a Psynergy-using Adept like his son. Of course, he knows perfectly well he's not super human, and isn't afraid to use any method he can to swing the battle into his favor. Speaking of which...



Mechanic: Captain and Crew

Briggs can hardly man a ship on his lonesome, let alone rob a town blind singlehandedly. He is accompanied by a loyal crew of fellow Champa, willing to do whatever it takes to bring home the victory (and more importantly, the edible spoils) for their families.

At the start of each Stock, he is accompanied by a 'Sea Fighter' as he was at the start of his boss fight. The AI-controlled ally is a little dim-witted, being highly aggressive and attacking at the first chance it gets, pursuing foes around the stage to keep them within sword's reach. They prioritize the last enemy Briggs damaged with a non-projectile attack, followed by the last enemy to damage Briggs, ignoring enemies that are invulnerable for whatever reason.

Their enthusiasm does little to compensate for their weakness, having only 15% stamina a piece before being KOed and uniformly worse statistics than Briggs across the board. They are a hair shorter than their captain, and their weight being lower is arguably advantageous with their low stamina, but that's all.

They have only two attacks they will use on their own; the first is a horizontal swing of the sword that does 6% damage and flinching, rendered useless on its own by a strongly telegraphed start up and ending lag that leaves the Sea Fighter at a frame disadvantage, with only decent reach and a disjointed hitbox as redeeming qualities. It stales quickly as well; not losing damage, but instead decreasing the amount of hitstun dealt to nothing at full staleness. Notably, it does have the reach to hit 'through' another Sea Fighter or Briggs, albeit barely.

The second is equivalent to a smash attack, copying Briggs' Forward Smash to much less effect. The powerful horizontal slash deals 12-17% damage and actually decent knockback, should it hit. Its reach in specific is great, the Sea Figher lunging forward as part of the animation, and a blue trail of energy following the path of the blade acts to further extend the hitbox- even lingering for a few frames as the Sea Fighter pulls back into a neutral stance.

The Sea Fighters will only use this move when a foe within its reach is suffering from hitstun or some other form of immobilization, and only when no other Sea Fighter is doing so. It will charge up the attack while the foe is still unable to respond, swinging either just a moment before they recover (if Briggs and the other Sea Fighters aren't nearby to help) or at full charge (if they are).

Briggs can have a total of 4 Sea Fighters assisting him at once. Ultimately, the Sea Fighters exist to provide Briggs openings, and vice-versa; they're individually at a disadvantage against the craziness of the normal Smash cast, but there is power in numbers. Briggs has several inputs that double as attacks and means to direct the Sea Fighters, letting him bring out their potential in the way only an accomplished captain can.



Specials:

Neutral Special:
Briggs retrieves a whistle and blows a loud, sustained note that lasts a full second, calling for aid. Between the noise and the blue music notes that circle around him, it's impossible to miss him using it. Releasing the input has him put the whistle away with next to no lag, and the time spent blowing the whistle across multiple attempts is counted cumulatively.

A short delay after he finishes, another Sea Fighter will appear by his side to assist him, taking up a position right in front of Briggs if it's possible. The exact delay depends on two things- the number of Sea Fighters out and how much the input proper has staled from use. With no Sea Fighters assisting him and no stale on the move, it's barely even possible to notice a delay at all, while three Sea Fighters being present and full staleness makes for a second of delay between input's end and effect, each.

Each input counts towards staleness even if he doesn't complete the summon for that given press, and the input stales twice as fast as normal. Briggs has to make the most of each attempt to summon his allies, and of each ally he gets, as it's impossible to keep a reliable stream of Sea Fighters to lock an opponent down; his countrymen aren't disposable pawns to him, and it pays to play him with that in mind.

This input has no effect when Briggs has reached his limit of four Sea Fighters; he tries to blow the whistle, but no notes appear around him, and he gets nothing out of it but a blowing sound, to his confusion. This does not stale the move any further, just being visual feedback.


Side Special:
Flammable liquid has been a weapon of choice for many raiders before him, and Briggs continues the tradition. He draws a small glass vial of yellow and red fluid, hurling it a stage builder unit ahead of himself in a low arc. The glass shatters on contact with anything, spraying its contents over the next stage builder unit of width ahead of itself, which promptly ignite.

The flames reach up half a stage builder unit from where they originate and burn for 3 seconds, dealing rapid hits of damage and flinching, doing roughly 10% per second of exposure. They also gradually push those caught within them upwards, allowing them to escape even with a high fall speed. A direct hit with the oil or vial before it ignites causes the flames to stick to the victim for a full second, dealing the damage and flinching portion just the same.

Sea Fighters will not enter the affected area, and will do their best to run away from where it will hit when the input is entered. Neither they nor Briggs are immune to the flames, and must be careful about the placement. Only one such fire area can exist at a time; Briggs is a pirate, but he's not keen on torching villages to the ground.


Down Special:
Briggs smashes a black sphere against the ground beside him, billowing smoke pouring out of the sphere and surrounding him. This move creates an area 1.5 brawl stage builder units and one wide centered on Briggs location, those inside being visible only as a silhouette. If attacked during this brief start up, he drops the sphere for a similar effect, and he takes only half the hitstun and knockback (though full damage), letting him respond immediately.

The smoke cloud lingers for three seconds, and he cannot repeat the input until the previous clouds have dispersed entirely. However, Briggs' comrades are happy to make up for that limitation; when Briggs performs this input, so will any of his Sea Fighter allies, their smoke bombs functioning exactly the same as his. They will attempt to capitalize on smoke bombs by staying hidden as they fight, though they will still prioritize avoiding areas of fire and remain aggressive.

Enemies in the cloud suffer 2% damage (with no flinching or knockback) every half a second due to the smoke, and flinch every one and a half seconds.


Up Special:
Briggs rears his sword back and towards the ground, swinging it forwards abruptly and with enough force to carry him a short distance away. His recovery move grants little upwards mobility, but moves him roughly 1.5 brawl stage builder units forwards. A quick directional input after the first swing causes a second that moves him 1 unit in any direction of their choice, and carries a correspondingly angled hitbox that is otherwise identical to the first.

The crescent-shaped arc to the hitbox covers slightly below and behind him, and hits far ahead of him, covering a surprisingly large area. Only diagonally above and behind Briggs is completely safe from the hitbox. Most of the hitbox is a sour spot that deals 10% damage and flinching knockback. The center of the blade, however, deals 14% damage on hit, and pops an enemy straight up with moderate knockback. Difficult to space, but gives Briggs some defense against an attempt to chase him into the air or off stage.

It also plays well with his ledge recovery attacks, each an overhead strike that hits from in front of him, over his head, and ending behind him- letting him get the better of those who try and wait at the edge for him by hitting them up and then batting them away.



Standards:

Neutral A Combo:
This simple three-hit combo is composed of a vertical slash, a horizontal one, and a thrust. Each hit does 3% damage, and the first two leave Briggs with a very slight frame advantage that allows him to follow with the next if he acts quickly, while the final one leaves him frame neutral with the victim.

Simple enough on its own, there are two qualities of note to the hits. Firstly, there is a much larger window for Briggs to continue into the next hit of the combo than there is for other characters. The window closes instantly if he moves from the spot, is hit, or performs a different input, but it allows him to slip in additional attacks with more precise timing, perfect for piling on extra hits or opening up an opportunity for one of his Sea Fighters.

Secondly, to counter that advantage, each hit pushes the opponent up and back slightly, and shares the hitstun staling of the Sea Fighters' main attack. No matter how well Briggs boxes the opponent in and times his hits with the Sea Fighters, the combo will end sooner rather than later. The pushback effect actually builds as the move stales rather than weakens, for the same reason.


Forward Tilt:
Briggs leans into a swift horizontal slash of the sword, trading reach (by the standards of most sword user ftilts) for speed. The hitbox deals 7% damage and moderate horizontal knockback, coming out lightning quick. Its ending lag is nothing to write home about either, letting Briggs quickly flow into another move before the opponent recovers.

The move's lack of reach and solid knockback forces Briggs to get in closer to take full advantage of the opening it creates, but a proper read from Briggs or poor one from his opponent lets him follow with near any move- to say nothing of how easily he can slip in with the aid of his Sea Fighter allies, or with the use of smoke and flame to conceal his exact positioning relevant to the opponent and limit mobility.

However, the attack does have its drawbacks; the motions Briggs uses requires he commit, and an equal blow or solid guard can throw him off kilter- if Briggs' attack clashes or is shielded, he reels back a step, left vulnerable to attack in the same way his foe would. Yet another reason to keep your Sea Fighters on hand- they'll quickly step in with their own swing if Briggs is rebuffed, covering his mis-step.


Down Tilt:
*Low sweep meant to throw an opponent off their feet? Quick move that flings the opponent back and knocks them down, but is lacking in damage and reach. Best used to follow up a Sea Fighter's successful attack.


Up Tilt:
*Quick overhead sword swipe, angled to cover less behind Briggs, but hitting a little further in front such that it can even hit grounded opponents, too. Not capable of juggling.
*Pushes opponents back slightly, letting him counter an enemy trying to escape by jumping if properly predicted.


Dash Attack:
*Briggs charges through an opponent, stunning them, but dealing no knockback and ending with Briggs behind them with his back towards theirs.
*The move has a short bit of super armor at the start that makes it difficult to interrupt, and he moves somewhat quickly for the short distance of the attack.
*Special priority that loses to any other attack, stopping Briggs on the spot if he's hit out of it.
*Briggs can cancel out of the ending lag by turning or performing an attack.
*The most obvious uses of this move are to escape a tight spot and get on the other side of an opponent from Briggs' Sea Fighters.



Smashes:

Forward Smash - Echo Cut:
*Briggs' 'signature move'; the smash attack has a notable wind-up, but is otherwise great by most standards and amazing by Briggs', including surprising reach due to the hitbox going past the sword and Briggs lunging into the swing.
*This horizontal swing leaves a blue, crescent-shaped trail that extends past the sword itself, doing 15-21% damage and high diagonal knockback. The hitbox lingers for just a moment, though this is a sour spot that deals halved damage and significantly reduced knockback. The Sea Fighter version is a much smaller hitbox and always uses the sour spot damage and knockback.
*The sword itself is a separate (weak) hitbox that pushes foes back into the main hitbox without fail.
*If other Sea Fighters are alongside Briggs when he performs this smash, they will perform it with him to pile on extra damage.


Down Smash:
*


Up Smash:
*



Aerials:

Neutral Aerial:
*


Forward Aerial:
*A quick 'chop' swing of the sword that drags Briggs forward slightly (though does nothing to slow his fall). Decent damage and can be repeated quickly.
*Does not cause Briggs to suffer additional lag if he lands during the attack.


Down Aerial:
*


Back Aerial:
*


Up Aerial:
*



Grab and Throws:

Grab/Pummel:
Briggs removes one hand from his blade's grip and swipes his hand out in front of him. He lifts his hand up on contact, enough to hoist all but his taller opponents into the air. This quick grab is held back by poor range and a precise window and for when exactly he can grab someone.

With his pummel, Briggs shakes the opponent back and forth, dealing hits of 2% damage (roughly three times a second). As he does so, his Sea Fighters will gather close and enact an animation (random for each), such crossing their arms or readying their weapons. A foe breaking out of Briggs' pummel catches them off guard and stuns them the same as it does him, so they can't properly trap a foe despite what appears to be going on.

Instead, they're there for his throws. Every one of Briggs' throws has a slight start up lag to them, during which the Sea Fighters will rush to position themselves such that they'll be ready to follow up the throw with their own attacks.


Forward Throw:
*Grabbing onto the opponent firmly, Briggs tosses them forward as hard as he can, putting some distance between them and himself. Not much damage, but good range, resetting distance or finishing a heavily damaged opponent.

Sea Fighters will hurry forward for a second or until they reach the platform's edge (with no platform below or ahead within a single jump's range), stopping if they get within reach of the opponent.


Down Throw:
*Briggs throws the opponent to the ground ahead of them and scrambles back, leaving them relatively close by. Leaves Briggs frame neutral with the prone opponent, and deals poor damage.

One Sea Fighter will interpose themselves between Briggs and the opponent, while the rest will take up positions around them that places as many of them within reach as possible.


Back Throw:
*Turning on his heel, Briggs hurls the opponent behind him harshly, putting some distance between them. Roughly between the Down and Forward throws for distance, this lets Briggs hurl an enemy camping by a ledge off the stage, or throw an enemy he chased towards the middle of his Sea Fighters, smoke, and fire.

Sea Fighters behave similarly to how they did in the Forward Throw, chasing after the opponent until within reach or there is no more ground to cross.


Up Throw:
*



=Final Smash=
==
*



5. Marin Remake Attempt 1

-Neutral Special, rather than just directly spawning bubbles with its own in-built attack, coats Marin's wand with a soapy alchemical mixture she uses to create bubbles.

Whenever the wand is moved, it generates 10 bubbles for every full circle around Marin it makes, with smaller movements creating proportionately less. Marin's own movement generates bubbles as well, leaving a trail behind her for every Kirby's width she travels.

When holding the input and moving the control stick, the player can make Marin wave the wand around as a weak hitbox to direct her existing bubbles from up to 2 Stage Builder Blocks away.


-Side Special does not just encapsulate foes; it 'captures' whatever is caught inside, surrounding them with a faint gold glow that subsides afterwards. Foes can escape this bubble as the original, but what it also does is 'capture' the magic in any bubbles it touches. If Marin performs a spell on the bubbles surrounding her while the capture spell is still in effect, or a projectile strikes the bubbles, that projectile or that spell's effect is sealed into her bubbles.

Upon being struck or touched, the bubble pauses and glows brightly for a second, then gains the effects of a spell that was affecting it for the brief instant before it bursts. Projectiles are fired in the direction of whatever stimuli broke them, or away from Marin if the effect merely wore off. Essentially, Marin can turn any of her bubbles into landmines for the foe to run into.

Only three capture spells can exist at a time. Using this again instantly causes the previous one to end, triggering the affected bubbles directly. A capture spell will eventually wear off, ending the effect without activating the spell. Marin can smash the input to trigger bubbles holding a captured spell and/or projectile near here.


-Down Special can be affected by Marin's special bubble spells same as her normal bubbles, turning her body into an additional hitbox for those effects. It otherwise functions as her original take, but with a few changes to accomodate the change in execution. Captured spells and projectiles that are stored in the Bubble Dress are stored indefinitely. Repeating the input while it is active causes Marin to release the bubbles containing the captured spells, while smashing the input causes her to disperse her Bubble Dress entirely.

Should Marin's Bubble Dress be damaged, it will release one captured spell or projectile (newest first) in the form of a flashing bubble, which will burst and unleash the effect a second after appearing (more than enough time to escape, or for the foe to choose to press the attack and bite the bullet if they so desire). Only one captured spell or projectile is released at a time in this way; if Marin's Bubble Dress is destroyed before releasing the rest, the rest are lost.



-Standards and possibly others will be fairly simple swings of Marin's wand. Rather than triggering on a miss, Marin can manually activate a spell connected to the motion by holding the directional input and tapping A again before the animation of her attack finishes.

--These Spells tend to affect all bubbles in an area around Marin briefly, the magic emenating out from her like a ripple. This benefit even extends to her bubble dress. Some ideas for spells include:
*Causing the outermost layer of the bubbles to harden briefly, the spheres turning a solid gray. Contact pushes them aside, but no longer breaks them, and attacks that pass through them have their damage reduced by 2% per bubble instead of 1%. As an added bonus, the moment the bubbles turn solid is a sweetspot, hitting all foes who touch the bubble or strike it with an attack at that moment as if they walked into a placed bumper.
*Creates a thin beam of light that acts as a projectile, dealing only 1% and flinching upon contact but coming out relatively fast and not disappearing on hit.

Should the beam hit a bubble, it spreads into a small area of sparkling lights that can similarly be spread through bubbles it touches. Each spread stacks damage, though it goes only half as far as the one that made it, to a maximum of five times (for a total of 5% damage and stun akin to a half-charged Zamus Paralyzer).*Change effect? Possibly cause a powerful negative effect from being within the area, such as passive damage over time that eats through shields quickly.

An opponent who attempts to shield this effect is blinded as the light enters their shield and refracts through it like a bubble, knocking them out of it and stunning them for twice the normal duration. The bubbles used for this effect are not destroyed.
*An electrifying spell that causes struck bubbles to create an area of electricty around themselves, bundling them together tightly and dealing damage over time to nearby enemies. Foes who get in the aoe around a bubble will have see the bubbles pull towards them, and if they pop one in the chain, it will make the others pull after them.




6. Scarmiglione Remake Attempt 1

Neutral Special:
*Summons a "Revenant" minion, with some delay between the input finishing and the minion arising from the earth itself. Revenants are very weak and very slow, having a single laggy and low-height jump, but surprisingly middling durability for something so easily summoned.

Their only attack is a clumsy grab with a weak, but spammable pummel that involves biting the victim, healing the Revenant by the amount of damage dealt. If multiple Revenants are nearby, they'll all pile on, increasing the damage and slightly extending the duration. The victim gains grab armor that outlasts the hitstun by a small amount upon escape.

Scarmiglione can have up to 4 Revenants in play at once. They are undead, and thus receive healing from various poison effects; in fact, many of the effects that Scarmiglione uses has the opposite effect on his undead minions. Healing effects, in contrast, will actually harm them.


Down Special:
*Creates a poisonous gas that quickly spreads from Scarmiglione while the input is held. The gas begins to recede 1/3rd as quickly as it spread when the input ends, but Scarmiglione can continue to expand the gas at any point, which ceases its recession.

The gas causes the damage percent of any within it to start climbing in 0.1% increments, at the rate of roughly 4% a second- including Scarmiglione himself. His Revenants, however, are healed by this effect, and those summoned within its area appear with half the normal delay. This damage inflicts no hitstun or knockback, merely being a passive penalty within this area.


Side Special:
*Creates a controlled, decently fast projectile of small size. If it strikes its target, they suffer rapid hits of low damage, and Scarmiglione is healed by the same amount. Scarmiglione cannot move while this effect is active, essentially suffering the stun with his victim (though he can choose to end the effect early by tapping any input other than a direction).

If the sphere strikes a Revenant, it is healed by this effect, and Scarmiglione suffers damage for it.



Up Smash:
*Bolt of lightning that shoots up from Scarmiglione, and targets an enemy's current location nearby coming back down, with some semi-lengthy delay between it targeting and the second hit box coming out (thus any horizontal movement will evade the blast, though minions can restrict that). The bolt briefly stuns whatever is hit, and imbues it with electricity; turning their hurtbox into a hitbox with the same properties against anyone else who would touch them.

Revenants can be struck by this bolt, too, and while they are unaffected by the stun, they carry the electrical hitbox with them.




*statuses that Scarmiglione can inflict:
-Curse (drops damage dealt and increases damage taken, naturally has reverse effect on his zombies)
-Darkness (blindness, essentially; reduces attack speed and move speed, would of course have the opposite effect on Scarmiglione's minions, fluffed as the minions taking the move's effects as a signal to act more aggressively)
-Silence (Prevents the use of Specials? Would need to be a very brief duration to prevent it from being broken. No effect on minions due to them lacking Specials.)

For the sake of simplicity, I'd limit any given target to one status error at a time rather than letting them stack; this balances the effect on Scarmiglione's enemies to make it non-crippling, and gives him some meaningful choices in how he wishes to buffer his minions. I'd also build off of his poison fog by making it so the duration of the statuses don't count down while the afflicted is in his poison fog.

*Can also fade away and reappear elsewhere, I.E. teleporting, going by game appearances.

*When used as a summon in FFL:Crystals of Space-Time, he creates stalagtites to attack. I'm thinking he can create these as part of an attack, which linger as low durability, low-sitting walls that are mediocre obstacles but excellent for keeping his minions and himself from getting knocked off stage easily.

*Not sure how to fit in his second form. I'm currently thinking the transformation is a non-stored charge move that has a ridiculous wait time at low percentages, but trims the time needed by a significant amount as his damage climbs? It would take a 'mere' 1.5 seconds at 100%, I'm thinking, while taking a whopping 6 at 0%, to spitball some numbers.

This might take the form of his Up Special along with the teleport effect mentioned above; while holding, dark energy surges around Scarmiglione, and he shudders as if in pain, taking gradual damage. Upon release, he teleports away with some lag on both ends, fading. The only saving grace is he has super armor while disappearing and reappearing, but he is still left vulnerable before and after the move.

If held long enough to complete the charge, he vanishes... and reappears behind the nearest enemy on stage, if any, performing a brutish swing upon reappearing that can catch them off guard and hit hard.


Smady recommends having the transformation trigger at a set %, so I could go that route as well. Definitely keeping the teleport Up Special with option of appearing behind an opponent and striking.



7. Muk

Muk

Pokedex Entry:
=#86 The Sludge Pokemon=
Living sludge and pollution born from an odd quirk of the moon, Muk is the evolution of Grimer. Its hideous smell and toxic form destroys plant life around it and is hazardous to the touch, leaving infertile ground in its wake and causing intense fevers. It gathers in places where filth is abundant, eating trash and slime to sustain itself and reproduce.

Muk was introduced in the first generation of pokemon games as (naturally) a poison-type, used by the likes of the poison gym's leader Koga and various biker gangs roaming Kanto's southern half. A surprisingly durable pokemon, its disruptive moves make it an apt choice for debilitating the opponent's team.


Stats:
Traction - 10
Weight - 8
Size - 8
Fall Speed - 6
Ground Speed - 3
Aerial DI - 2
Jump Height - 2
Special: Crawl

-


Mechanic: Poison Touch
Comprised of a laundry list of diseases, Muk's very presence is hazardous to one's health. Indeed, many of its preferred methods of fighting involve slinging small bits of itself at the enemy and letting its body do the rest.

When struck by one of Muk's hitboxes, the victim suffers lingering damage after the fact, at a rate of once per second. This damage does not cause the victim to flinch, but grows by continued exposure to Muk and its attacks, ending only after 3 seconds have passed since they were exposed. The damage is 1% * the number of times the opponent has touched Muk or its hitboxes since the timer last ran out, represented by a purple splotch next to the victim's damage counter with the number of hits sumperimposed over it. The splotch shrinks gradually to indicate the passing of time.

Worse still, this is not the only poison effect Muk can inflict; several of its attacks carry a lingering penalty for as long as the counter lasts, with any other attack allowing it to extend the duration. These are noted by different colors being added to the normally purple indicator described above.

Lastly, direct contact with Muk (such as grabbing or hitting it with a melee attack) is hazardous; both inflicting a single hit of poison if the victim doesn't have it already, and doubling as an extenson to Muk's hitboxes while making an attack and for a half-second window afterwards (or until Muk performs another move). This does not reset the timer like all other instances, but the timer on Muk's poison effects on that victim is paused until contact ends.



Specials:

Neutral Special - :


Side Special - :


Down Special - Minimize:


Up Special - :



Standards:



Smashes:



Aerials:



Grab Game:

Grab/Pummel - Sticky Hold:

-



Final Smash:








Attack ideas:
*Not a specific idea, but could have some of the attacks leave a lingering puddle on the ground.


Minimize causes Muk to shrink, becoming more of a middle weight, and leaving a hazardous puddle where it used the attack that lasts until the effect is undone or Muk is KOed. It has the same effects as touching Muk itself, and briefly retains the effects of a hitbox that hits it the same as Muk does after using that attack.


Sludge Bomb is an aimable, high-damage projectile. It move slowly and with an arc, though does good knockback. To add insult to injury, it also inflicts whatever additional poison effect Muk used last.


Acid increases the knockback the victim takes, represented by the color green. Alternately, it causes their shield to drain at double the usual rate? Could make the former the poison effect and the latter a property of the move itself- dealing no hitstun but extremely rapid hits of 1% that can melt through a shield quickly.


Mud Slap and Mud Bomb increases the victims' fall speed and reduces their jump height, represented by a brownish yellow.


Venom Drench increases the victim's attack lag, represented by red.


Disable is a sticky sludge that leaves the victim unable to repeat the input they used last before being hit by this effect, represented by an electric blue.


Grimer's pokedex mentions that sometimes, the small balls of gunk left behind by a Grimer when it moves will eventually become another Grimer. I could see having this be an attack, where the Grimer is just a small mobile hitbox that retains the qualities of the last poison effect Muk applied.


Muk's grab and pummel are fairly sluggish, but has decent reach, double the grab duration, and each pummel hit adds to the poison counter.


Harden can create a temporary barrier that hinders mobility? Alternately, it could work as a counter-type move, with the attacker 'parried' by Muk's hitbox. Has some cooldown between uses to prevent spamming, but allows for short-term stalling to let the poison do its work.


Acid Armor reduces the damage Muk takes briefly and causes it to trail harmful slime that acts like a hitbox with the same properties as its body for its duration. Another possibility is that it doesn't reduce damage, but greatly reduces knockback and hitstun, and causes Muk to 'slosh' when hit in a way that can cause the opponent to suffer poison from unintended contact.


Some sort of immobilizing gunk?



8. Noriaki Kakyoin


Stats:
Traction: 9
Jumps: 6
Size: 6
Weight: 5.5
Air Speed: 4.5
Ground Speed: 3.5
Fall Speed: 3.5
Abilities: Crawl

Kakyoin's own physical abilities are very average, excepting his ability to keep his footing. Rather than physical strength or brute force, he thrives through the use of his stand, Heirophant Green, which grants him a great deal of range and defensive options.

Specials:

Neutral Special - Emerald Splash:

An excellent projectile, with great speed, range, versatility and power. Heirophant Green manifests behind Kakyoin, glowing brightly with one knee bent forward. Luminescent slime seems to leak from its hands, a side effect of amassing the power required for this attack. Thrusting its hands outwards, it fires small green 'emeralds' that appears to be made of the same substance as the stand itself.

Heirophant Green will continue to fire rapid shots at a rate of three 'emeralds' per second so long as the button is repeatedly pressed. The emeralds have a slight spread- the first of a group flying straight forwards while the other two manifest slightly below and above the first and fly at a very slight angle away from its path.

Each emerald travels a bit faster than Fox's blaster shots and does 7% damage and mild knockback on contact. They will travel until they fly off the edge of the stage or they make contact with something, shattering into a Kirby-size cloud of shards that does 5% damage to anything not hit by the emerald itself. The rapid fire of this move stales quickly- each trio of emeralds does 1 less damage per hit and similarly decreased knockback, bottoming out at 3% damage (1% from the cloud of shards) and not even making the foe flinch.

The greater Kakyoin allows this move to stale, the longer it takes to recover from its ending lag. A short burst has very little lag, no more than Fox suffers from his blaster, while a fully staled emerald splash takes over half a second to recover from. During this attack, Kakyoin cannot move, angling the control stick instead allowing him to aim the attack until it ends. If in the air, he will lose the ability to move left and right or jump until he ceases his stand's attack. This immobile state and the cost of using the attack for too long are the only weaknesses of this powerful move.
[Repeated hits of 7~3% and 5~1%]

Side Special - :

Down Special - Uncoil:

Heirophant Green is not a truly physical manifestation, but a collection of interconnected membranes it can stretch and divide into strands so thin as to be invisible. Upon using his down special, Kakyoin has his stand spread these strands in the area around himself. The strands occupy a circular area of the stage a battlefield platform wide, and Kakyoin can cover up to three such areas with this effect, with the fourth use of this move onwards undoing the oldest patch.

There are only two indications this move has been used. Firstly, any attack that requires Kakyoin to summon his stand will reveal part of its body seems to be missing, secretly stretched out over a portion of the stage. Second is a green glow the strands give off once a foe has blundered into one of these areas, highlighting them like a neon sign. The latter is Kakyoin's signal to use one of his stand's attacks.

With pinpoint accuracy and a movement speed equal to Captain Falcon's dash, Heirophant Green will target an attack at that opponent, rushing into melee range if necessary to hit them. Because of the speed and damage of Kakyoin's attacks, this makes the stage a potential minefield where any wrong step will end with severe damage. If multiple enemies are within these areas, HG will target the nearest foe in the direction Kakyoin is facing by default, but moving the control stick can instead direct its attack towards the enemy nearest to the direction indicated.

Utilizing this move within an area already affected by Uncoil will remove the effect from that area, and is essentially lagless. Using the move to lay down an area similarly does not cause lag in a traditional sense, but Kakyoin is unable to attack for a short time after the fact. These fields disappear when Kakyoin is KOed.





Final Smash: 20m Emerald Splash

*Heirophant Green Uncoils enitrely, covering the entire stage in such an area of effect. Kakyoin can have his stand use any and all of its moves in this state, which manifest within half a battlefield platform of the enemy. Most importantly, his moves will not stale while this move is in effect; he can use his Emerald Splash to his heart's content. Kakyoin cannot use his down special while this is in effect. (*replace down special with new move for duration?)