History Creator / MasahiroSakurai

-->-- '''Masahiro Sakurai''', WebVideo/NintendoDirect for ''VideoGame/SuperSmashBrosForNintendo3DSAndWiiU'' (Apr. 8th 2014) [[note]]Said right after saying that [[VideoGame/MetroidZeroMission Zero Suit Samus]] wouldn't be returning to the battle[[/note]]

* StartMyOwn: After squaring off against a couple during a round of ''The King Of Fighters 95'' and noticing their struggles with playing, this gave him the idea to pursue his own fighting game that anyone could play without much difficulty, which would later become ''Super Smash Bros.''.

* FanNickname:
** The English-speaking ''VideoGame/SuperSmashBros'' community calls him "Daddy Sakurai", to the point that the nickname was adopted/translated by other language-speakers as well (for instance, part of the Japanese community calls him "Sakurai-papa").
** Jokingly-created [[LadyMondegreen Mondegreens]] of his actual name, such as "Mashpotato Samurai" and "Massive Hero Soccer Guy".[[invoked]]

* FiveSecondForeshadowing: During the final video presentation for VideoGame/SuperSmashBrosForNintendo3DSAndWiiU, Sakurai says it's "finally the climax" of DLC fighter releases. And sure enough, VideoGame/Bayonetta was revealed just seconds later.

-->-- '''Masahiro Sakurai''', WebVideo/NintendoDirect for ''VideoGame/SuperSmashBrosForNintendo3DSAndWiiU'' (Apr. 8th 2014) [[note]]Said right after saying that Zero Suit Samus wouldn't be returning to the battle[[/note]]

[[caption-width-right:350:Never ask him for anything ever again.]]

** The ''VideoGame/SuperSmashBros'' community calls him "Daddy Sakurai".

* BigNameFan:
** Of ''Manga/JoJosBizarreAdventure''. He's listed ''[[Manga/JojosBizarreAdventureBattleTendency Battle Tendency]]'' as his favorite arc in the series, and even [[http://i0.wp.com/sourcegaming.info/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/Screen-Shot-2016-03-12-at-3.48.43-PM.png?w=192 mimicked]] the MemeticHandGesture commonly used throughout the series during an interview in 2006. His fondness of the series even led to a few [[ShoutOut shoutouts]] to it in promotional material for ''[[VideoGame/SuperSmashBros Super Smash Bros. 4]]''.
** Of ''VideoGame/Persona5''. [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E7q81s5RyOM During an interview with Atlus]], he stated that he found the game to be "something truly remarkable", praising the game for its dynamic user interface in particular. Sakurai also mentioned that, despite his own heavy schedule, he played through the entire game while attempting OneHundredPercentCompletion.[[note]]He almost succeeded, managing to get his RelationshipValues to maximum with every Confidant except one - Yusuke.[[/note]] He would later ascend to AscendedFanboy status when he was able to make Joker a playable character in ''VideoGame/SuperSmashBrosUltimate''.
** Of ''Franchise/StreetFighter'' and ''VideoGame/TheKingOfFighters''. Sakurai has said that back in TheNineties, he would do things like achieving a ''fifty-win streak'' in ''Street Fighter II'' (he was a Guile main, in case if anyone was wondering), and that he was good enough at ''The King of Fighters'' that he ended up kicking the asses of a young couple on a date night at the arcade, albeit unintentionally. It is the latter event that influenced him to create a fighting game that would be accessible to casual players (as both ''Street Fighter II'' and ''The King of Fighters'' are known for their utilization of command inputs), which ended up being ''Super Smash Bros''. Sixteen years after [[VideoGame/SuperSmashBros64 the original game]], Sakurai got to add Ryu in ''VideoGame/SuperSmashBrosForNintendo3DSAndWiiU'', with Ken arriving as an [[MovesetClone echo fighter of Ryu]] in ''Ultimate'', and Terry Bogard of ''VideoGame/FatalFury''/''The King Of Fighters'' fame joining ''Ultimate'' as DLC. Additionally, the RunningGag of fighters like [[VideoGame/AnimalCrossing Villager, Isabelle]], and [[VideoGame/Persona5 Joker]] receiving wax-sealed envelopes as invites to ''Smash'' is a ShoutOut to ''The King of Fighters'', where [[BigBad Rugal Bernstein]] does the same exact thing. It came full circle with Terry's reveal trailer, which imitated the intro to ''The King of Fighters'', and featured a number of different Creator/{{SNK}} characters fighting for the envelope.
** Of the ''VideoGame/FireEmblem'' series. Sakurai stated in [[https://gamnesia.nintendoenthusiast.com/sakurai-is-a-big-fan-of-the-fire-emblem-series-and-believes-awakening-is-th/ an interview]] that he has played practically every game in the series, and even beat most of them. ''VideoGame/FireEmblemAwakening'', in particular, is among his favorite entries in the series, which he described as being the "definitive" ''Fire Emblem'' game. The love of the series has seemed to bleed over into ''Smash'', with each game since ''Melee'' adding more ''Fire Emblem'' characters to the cast -- for some ''Smash'' fans, to the point of oversaturation (see TrollingCreator below).

** During the reveal trailer for [[VideoGame/FireEmblemThreeHouses Byleth]], Sothis [[LampshadeHanging lampshades]] the popular argument of ''too many swordsmen'' (to which their solution was to become a swords''[[GenderBender woman]]'' and get the [[BladeOnAStick three]] [[AnAxeToGrind Sacred]] [[BowAndSwordInAccord Weapons]]) and the perceived over-representation of the ''Fire Emblem'' series in Smash. Following the reveal trailer, the Mr. Sakurai presentation would cut back to Sakurai taping a poster of both Byleths, before [[https://twitter.com/theSirToasty/status/1217827022304694272 turning towards the camera]] to deliver a [[SmugSmiler smug grin]]. That being said, the DLC choices for Ultimate aren't his, so he just rolled with it.

* NotMeThisTime: The vast majority of the fighters in the first Fighter Pass for ''VideoGame/SuperSmashBrosUltimate'' being related to franchises that he likes led to fans assuming he picked them (especially once Byleth was revealed). However, [[https://twitter.com/bk2128/status/1225086628772765701 he specified that this is not the case]], as Nintendo was ultimately responsible for choosing fighters meant for Fighter Pass DLC.

[[quoteright:325:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/Sakurai_745.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:325:Never ask him for anything ever again.]]

** In Hero's presentation, he mentioned that it would be a shame if they could include only two songs from ''Franchise/DragonQuest'' - a very obvious jab at Creator/SquareEnix, the franchise's owner, who previously only allowed two songs from the [[RunningGag eye-blindingly popular]] ''Franchise/FinalFantasy'' games in ''Smash'', in comparison to Creator/{{Konami}} allowing thirty-four songs from ''Castlevania'', Creator/{{Capcom}} allowing over thirty songs from ''Franchise/MegaMan'' and ''Franchise/StreetFighter'' each, Creator/{{Sega}} allowing seventeen from for ''Franchise/SonicTheHedgehog'' and 8 from the first ''VideoGame/{{Bayonetta}}'', and later on, Creator/{{SNK}} allowing fifty tracks from their entire library of songs.
** In Terry's presentation, Sakurai made note of how out of the twenty SNK characters making cameos in the King of Fighters Stadium stage, Mai Shiranui wasn't amongst them. He said in the video that it way because "Smash is for good boys and girls of all ages", but an interview shortly after had him confirming that he was being sarcastic when he said that, because [[MoralGuardians CERO]] (Japan's ESRB counterpart) objected to a Mai Shiranui cameo despite both Sakurai and SNK wanting her to appear. It's not the first time either, as Sakurai butted heads with CERO several times through ''Smash for 3DS/Wii U's'' development cycle over numerous revisions of Palutena and a Wonder Pink trophy, and his response when interviewed during that time was to call CERO's censorship practices "juvenile".

** The [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ANutje9nHAE reveal trailer]] for the long-anticipated announcement of [[VideoGame/DonkeyKongCountry King K. Rool]] started with a silhouette of the character... only to be revealed as [[VideoGame/{{Kirby}} King Dedede]] trolling the Kongs. Six months later, the [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I67pPXS96UI reveal trailer for]] [[VideoGame/BanjoKazooie Banjo and Kazooie]] uses the ''exact same gag,'' with the VideoGame/DuckHunt Dog and Duck as the trolls.

** In Hero's presentation, he mentioned that it would be a shame if they could include only two songs from ''Franchise/DragonQuest'' - a very obvious jab at Creator/SquareEnix, the franchise's owner, who previously only allowed two songs from the [[RunningGag eye-blindingly popular]] ''Franchise/FinalFantasy'' games in ''Smash'', in comparison to Creator/{{Konami}} allowing thirty-four songs from ''Castlevania'', Creator/{{Capcom}} allowing over thirty songs from ''Franchise/MegaMan'' and ''Franchise/StreetFighter'' each, Creator/{{Sega}} allowing seventeen from for ''Franchise/SonicTheHedgehog'' and 8 from the first ''VideoGame/Bayonetta'', and later on, Creator/{{SNK}} allowing fifty tracks from their entire library of songs.

** In Hero's presentation, he mentioned that it would be a shame if they could include only two songs from ''Franchise/DragonQuest'' - a very obvious jab at Creator/SquareEnix, the franchise's owner, who previously only allowed two songs from the [[RunningGag eye-blindingly popular]] ''Franchise/FinalFantasy'' games in ''Smash'', in comparison to Creator/{{Konami}} allowing thirty-four songs from ''Castlevania'', Creator/{{Capcom}} allowing over thirty songs from ''Franchise/MegaMan'' and ''Franchise/StreetFighter'' each, and later on, Creator/{{SNK}} allowing fifty tracks from their entire library of songs.

** During the reveal trailer for [[VideoGame/FireEmblemThreeHouses Byleth]], Sothis [[LampshadeHanging lampshades]] the popular argument of ''too many swordsmen'' (to which their solution was to become a swords''[[GenderBender woman]]'' and get the [[BladeOnAStick three]] [[AnAxeToGrind Sacred]] [[BowAndSwordInAccord Weapons]]) and the perceived over-representation of the ''Fire Emblem'' series in Smash. Following the reveal trailer, the Mr. Sakurai presentation would cut back to Sakurai taping a poster of both Byleths, before [[https://twitter.com/theSirToasty/status/1217827022304694272 turning towards the camera]] to deliver a [[SmugSmiler smug grin]].

** During the reveal trailer for [[VideoGame/FireEmblemThreeHouses Byleth]], Sothis [[LampshadeHanging lampshades]] the popular argument of ''too many swordfighters'' and the perceived over-representation of the ''Fire Emblem'' series in Smash. Following the reveal trailer, the Mr. Sakurai presentation would cut back to Sakurai taping a poster of both Byleths, before [[https://twitter.com/theSirToasty/status/1217827022304694272 turning towards the camera]] to deliver a [[SmugSmiler smug grin]].

** ''VideoGame/KirbyAndTheAmazingMirror'' (UsefulNotes/GameBoyAdvance) (Special Advisor}

->''"[[TrollingCreator Nah, I'm only kidding]]."''

* MemeticBadass:
** "Never ask me for anything ever again". Despite the fact that he never [[BeamMeUpScotty said it]].
** After it came to light that Sakurai had once utterly [[CurbstompBattle defeated]] a couple on a date night at ''VideoGame/TheKingOfFighters'' and have a win streak of fifty in ''VideoGame/StreetFighterII'', both the ''Smash'' community and the greater [[UsefulNotes/FightingGameCommunity FGC]] have given him a reputation for being insanely good at fighting games, which some people even jokingly comparing him to ''The King of Fighters'' BigBad Rugal Bernstein.
** His skills at fighting games extends to his own works as well: in a video where he showed off Terry in ''Ultimate'', [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PZCztFsi9RM he effortlessly hit 9.9 intensity]], the highest possible difficulty rating in the game, his only regret being that he didn't finish with a flashy Super Special.

** In Terry's presentation, Sakurai made note of how out of the twenty SNK characters making cameos in the King of Fighters Stadium stage, Mai Shiranui wasn't amongst them. He said in the video that it way because "Smash is for good boys and girls of all ages", but an interview shortly after had him confirming that he was being sarcastic when he said that, because [[MoralGuardians CERO]] (Japan's ESRB counterpart) objected to a Mai Shiranui cameo despite both Sakurai and SNK wanting her to appear.

** ''Anime/KirbyOfTheStars'' (Anime)