Category: Zelda

Welp, Super Smash Bros for 3DS has been out for half a week in Japan now, and I’m sure that that’s half a week more than Japan needed to entirely unravel the game and learn all of its secrets. But I’m going to try to avoid spoilers as best I can, and truth be told, it’s still August as I’m writing this.

~ Ravio ~

I know that I’ve already done two Zelda characters for this silly feature, but A Link Between Worlds is quite possibly the best Zelda game of them all, and I think it deserves more representation than a handful of trophies. So I present to you today: Ravio the item salesman.

Ravio is an inhabitant of the alternate world of Lorule. He shows up in Link’s house one day and requests to set up shop there while Link is on his big adventure. Link is then able to rent as many of the game’s tools as he can afford. For a steeper price, he can even purchase them permanently. Ravio plays a role during the ending of the game too, but I won’t spoil that as A Link Between World is still less than a year old.

Ravio would probably be a mostly hand-to-hand fighter, but he should also have access to the few tools that Link doesn’t use in Smash. The doesn’t leave a whole lot, and the bulk of them would be reserved for special attacks, natch. The one I didn’t place on a special, the Hammer, could be his forward smash attack. It’s basic enough that it could be used for more than that though, and I think it’d be fun if he used the hammer to knock away his enemies for his throws.

His up smash, on the other hand, would be swinging his big bag of rupees over his head. The rupee bag is a pretty important part of Ravio’s character, and it’s gotta be in there somewhere. Down smash could have Ravio’s little pet bird, Sheerow, fly in a loop around Ravios’s legs. I’d like to work Sheerow in there a little more, maybe for some standard attacks. It’d likely be a part of Ravio’s taunts as well.

As for specials, Link took all the usual tools, so all Ravio is left with is the magical rods. That’s alright by me, as they actually fit really well into a Smash moveset. Neutral special is the Ice Rod. Just like in ALBW, it’d create a block of ice in the air in front of Ravio which would then smash down. How fast it moves is up for debate, but I see it as a pretty damaging move, so it’d probably leave a pretty good window for getting out from under it.

Forward special is the Fire Rod, which creates a small pillar of flame that moves forward along the ground. I haven’t thought a lot about how the custom special moves would factor into my character suggestions, but the Fire Rod is easy. One alternate is the Nice Fire Rod, which shoots out the bigger pillar, which is slower and doesn’t travel as far. The other is the Classic Fire Rod, which just shoots a little fireball straight ahead. It’s faster than the pillars, but doesn’t do as much damage.

Up special is obviously the Tornado Rod. Seriously, this character profile just writes itself. This one makes a little tornado around Ravio which lifts him upwards. It does minimal damage to enemies, but will blow them away, which could be really handy if you and a foe are both trying to get back onto the stage.

The Sand Rod is the down special, and the only one that I had to think about at all. On the ground, it works similarly to the Fire Rod, in that it creates a pillar of sand in front of Ravio. The pillar will rise out of the ground, and become a solid part of the environment for a few seconds. It’ll hurt anyone it hits as it’s rising, and knock them straight upward. If used in the air, it does pretty much the same thing, but the pillar will rise directly below Ravio.

Ravio’s final smash is a tough one, because I’m out of obvious choices. I’m on the fence between two ideas though. The first is that he somehow combines the powers of all his magic rods. I’m not sure how it would work exactly, but I am sure it would be quite the spectacle. The second idea is summoning the Mother Maiamai to inhale his foes and shoot them right off the screen. Or maybe something involving the horde of baby maiamais. Who knows?

It’s not the most imaginative character out there, but I really like the idea of having a Zelda character who wields all of the magic rods. And Ravio fits into that role quite snugly, you know? I can see a reason why player might take issue with Ravio being included on the roster, but I think that he’d be great. As long as he’s not another Link clone.

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We’ve seen a handful of alternate version characters that I’d like to see, and while I hesitate to suggest an outright character replacement, I have a very good reasoning behind making such a suggestion:

~ Toon Ganondorf ~

Here’s the thing: Ganondorf, in his current Smash incarnation, is boring as all heck. He’s the slowest guy on the roster, and he’s an outright copy of Captain Falcon. Also, Ganondorf just isn’t overly interesting to begin with. Not the beefy, realistic Ganondorf anyway. He’s so one-dimensional that it offends even me. Toon Ganondorf though? Now we’re talking.

The thing that makes Toon Ganondorf appealing to me is the way that he was portrayed in The Wind Waker. He was the same Ganondorf as in one or more of the previous games, and he was old and weary. He’d been beaten and sealed away at least once, and maybe had even turned into a pig monster for a brief moment in time. He was sick and tired of getting bested by the Hero of Whatever, and he knew what he had to do to finally seize victory.

Of course, that didn’t quite work out, but his backstory and demeanor in Wind Waker certainly make him the deepest and most interesting incarnation of Ganondorf. So let’s put that guy in. Give him a fresh set of moves, give him a slick new look, and make him a character worth playing as. I guess you’d have to give him a little more speed too. Ganondorf as-is is just too slow to bother with.

Obviously, this guy is going to be the real deal. No more Captain Falcon moves. TG will come boasting his dual blades as well as a few magical attacks. There are already a lot of sword users on the Smash lineup, but TG will be unique as the only one who wields two at once. He’ll have to put one away to pick up items and grab people, but that’s not really an issue. I think that all of his normal attacks would utilize the swords, and that his specials would be where his magic powers come into play. He doesn’t use much in the way of magic in Wind Waker, so it’s fitting that he relies mostly on physical strength here.

The smash attacks might differ a little too. You could go with the swords and make them generic big hit moves, but why not draw a little from his own physical strength. He gives Link a brutal beatdown with just his fists just before the final fight in Wind Waker, so make his forward smash a triple punch combo with a little forward momentum. Kinda like Link’s forward smash, but with three hits instead of two. Up smash is an uppercut or something, I guess. There isn’t a specific precedent to draw from, so we’ll just slot a generic move in there. Down smash should be a low forward kick, which TG uses in Wind Waker to knock Link on his butt if he’s blocking too much. Down smashes usually hit on both sides of a character, but this one can be one-way. It fits, trust me.

Down special is the easiest, it would be the somewhat overused counterattack; let’s call it Parry. To date, nine characters have some variation of a counterattack as one of their special moves. But it fits here! Parrying is an advanced technique in Wind Waker, and it’s the only game in the series that uses it. Not to mention that you must parry Ganondorf to strike the final blow against him in that game, so it’s also a bit of an ironic inclusion. Plus, TG is a swordfighter, so it only makes sense. I don’t know that it really needs any special attributes to make it stand out from the other counterattacks, but for fun, let’s just say that it works even against attacks that are normally unblockable.

Up special, I don’t know. We could give Toon Ganondorf his own version of the spin attack, which could have a wider attack range thank Link’s, but it would have slightly less power and maybe wouldn’t be as good for recovery. Maybe it moves better horizontally than vertically? On the other hand, perhaps he could have an upward sword thrust move more akin to Mario’s super jump punch. Coat the swords in magical flame or bolts and call it a day. Since there are variable special moves, you could even choose between giving the attack a fire, electric, or ice element.

Side special is a magic blast. Make it like Ganon’s, I guess. I really doubt that both of these characters would make it into the game, so I’ll let them share a special move. If you didn’t read the last entry, for whatever reason, basically it’s a magic ball that can be reflected back and forth, increasing in power each time it’s knocked back. You know, the tennis ball magic that’s in so many Zelda games. It works just fine with Toon Ganondorf, as his phantoms use it in Wind Waker.

For the neutral special, I want to use those phantoms again. Zelda has actually taken this attack for herself in Smash 4, where she summons a phantom to rush forward and attack. But Zelda summons an armored phantom from the DS games. TG would summon the ghostly phantom from Wind Waker (natch), which would function essentially the same. Since TG’s phantom floats though, you could direct it upward (and downward if using it in midair), rather than having it move on a strictly horizontal path.

Toon Ganondorf’s final smash was easy to think up. He summons the Helmaroc King (the huge bird from Wind Waker) and it swoops across the stage a few times. If it manages to grab any of the other combatants, it’ll immediately chuck them off the screen. Instant KO final smashes aren’t necessarily the greatest, but I like this one. It works with the character and it’s not a sure thing, so it’s fair enough.

So yeah, there you go. Ganondorf completely rebuilt with his very own moveset for a new generation of Smash. As much as I’d like to see Pig Ganon show up as a fighter, I think that giving Ganondorf an overhaul is the much more plausible situation. Even if he doesn’t get the Toon treatment, I’ll be happy if he’s able to move out of that clone ghetto and get some more fitting attacks. It’s not very becoming of the baddest guy on the roster.

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Smash Bros is a fighting game that pits many of Nintendo’s beloved heroes against each other in brutal combat. But why is it all about heroes? To date, there is one villain character confirmed for the new games. Two if you consider Dedede a villain (he’s not). Three if you assume that Ganondorf will be making a return. What I’m saying here is: Smash needs more bad guys!

~ GANON ~

Who better than the original villain of the Zelda series, the evil wizard Ganon? Nintendo has sort of brushed this piggly form off to the side to give his human form, Ganondorf, the spotlight. I don’t like this trend. While they’re essentially the same baddie, I find Ganon to be the more interesting and threatening version. Ganondorf is just a regular old power-hungry sociopath. When Ganondorf claimed the Triforce for himself, it reflected his evil nature and twisted his physical form into the blue pig version that you see above.

Ganon carries a massive trident, but he’s always been more keen on ranged combat. His original incarnation fought by teleporting around the room (while also being invisible) and chucking fireballs at Link. When he got his trident in A Link to the Past, he still only fought by throwing it and warping around his chamber. When that proved to be an unsuccessful tactic, he ditched the trident and went back to magical attacks. This isn’t to say that Ganon wouldn’t use the weapon for close-range combat. No, he’s got to have some physical skills to stay in the game, but I think that his slow speed and preference for magic attacks would make him weaker in the physical department.

So what about smashes? Forward smash is the easy one: Ganon throws his trident out slightly in front of him (think Falco’s reflector in Brawl) and it spins around for a second. Down smash could be a low trident swipe at both sides, or maybe Ganon plunges the trident into the ground and it creates a small lightning field on the ground around him. Up smash is the one where I’m stuck. I like the idea of having Ganon send out a flaming keese though.

Neutral special is the most interesting one here. Ganon fires off a ball of magic straight ahead, though potentially it can be curved like Link’s arrows or Zelda’s fireball. The magic ball can be reflected by a sword or similar attack. Ganon can then strike the returning ball to reflect it again, and this cycle will repeat until it flies away or hits someone. Each reflect would increase the magic ball’s power, and it would have an electrical effect upon hitting a target. This attack is taken from A Link to the Past, where it is Agahnim’s signature move, and the only way to defeat him. Agahnim, if you weren’t aware, is Ganon’s Light World alter ego.

Ganon’s side special would also be pried from Agahnim’s repertoire: a simple lightning bolt. Or maybe multiple bolts fanning out at a shallow angle. I can’t think of any especially interesting mechanics for this move, maybe it could cause a small amount of damage through shields, but not be able to break them? Anyway, it’s not a super long-distance attack, only going maybe three or four body lengths away from Ganon, but it’ll get the job done.

Down special is a difficult one to peg, but at first, I like an earthquake move. Say it’s based on the Quake Medallion for A Link to the Past. Ganon thrusts his trident into the ground (again) and creates a quake effect in a decent radius around him. Obviously it doesn’t affect fighters in the air, and if Ganon himself is airborne, he’ll throw the trident straight down and create the same effect, only the weapon itself would now be able to cause damage if it hits someone. If you don’t like that, maybe he gets a warping move where he vanishes, shows up a few lengths away, and then attacks in the opposite direction. Or maybe he warps directly behind the nearest fighter to attack.

Up special I had to think about for a while, but I like the idea of drawing a little from Ganon’s appearance in Four Swords Adventures, and giving him a tornado attack. In that game, he does manipulate Vaati the wind mage, so why not have a wind-based attack. He also uses a jump move while twirling his trident above his head, so just mash that all up together and you’ve got a special attack. Basically what I’m thinking here is Ganon conjures up a tornado around him and then floats up through it with the twirling trident. The tornado will suck up any fighters who get too close, and if they get hit by the trident, they’ll go flying away.

Ganon’s final smash is, as usual, where I’m getting stuck. We could just go with the obvious callback, where Ganon becomes invisible and teleports around the stage launching fireballs at the other fighters. We could go a little more creative and have him summon up a bunch of monsters to attack. We could have him do a line-of-sight attack like Zelda and Link, invoking his Triforce of Power to stun an opponent while he lobs magic attacks at them, and finishes with a big hit (perhaps he throws the trident at them and a bolt of lightning strikes it?).

I definitely need to workshop this one a little more before it’s a good idea, but I think there’s a solid base there. I honestly believe in my heart that Ganon has a good chance of joining the roster. For the longest time he was the second-most iconic villain in Nintendo’s stable, supplanted only by his less interesting human form. All the kids are clamoring for Ridley, but there’s another Nintendo monster that I’d much rather see.

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