Characters / Super Smash Bros. Ultimate - 76 to 82

aka: Super Smash Bros Pyra Mythra

Super Smash Bros. characters index
Playable characters:
64: 01–04 (Starting Roster 1) | 05–08 (Starting Roster 2) | 09–12 (Unlockable Fighters)
Melee: 13–17 (Starting Newcomers) | 18–22 (Unlockable Fighters 1) | 23–26 (Unlockable Fighters 2)
Brawl: 27–31 (E3 2006) | 32–39 (Smash Bros. DOJO!! 2007) | 40–44 (Smash Bros. DOJO!! 2008)
For 3DS and Wii U: 45–49 (Pre-Smash Direct) | 50–55 (Smash Direct and E3 2014) | 56–59 (Remaining Roster) | 60–63 (DLC Fighters)
Ultimate: 64–69 (Initial Release) | New Echo Fighters | 70–75 (DLC Fighters 1) | 76-82 (DLC Fighters 2)
Mii Costumes
Individual Characters: Joker | Sephiroth
Non-playable characters:
Poké Ball Pokémon | Assist Trophies | Enemies | Bosses | Others

All six/seven fighters of the pass.

This page lists the six (technically seven) Downloadable Content fighters that were added to Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, as part of Fighters Pass Vol. 2. Much like before, Nintendo were the ones that decided these fighters.

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76 – Min Min

The Ramen Bomber

Voiced by: Haruna Takatsu

MIN MIN ARMS HERSELF!

Home Series: ARMS

Debut: ARMS [Nintendo Switch], 2017

Creator: Nintendo

Publisher: Nintendo

Playable in: Ultimate

Specials: Punch, ARMS Jump/ARMS Hook, ARM Change

Final Smash: ARMS Rush

"Wǒ ài lāmiàn!"^Translation"I love ramen!"

One of the playable characters from ARMS. An ARMS fighter was initially teased in the March 26, 2020 Nintendo Direct. Min Min was then revealed to the ARMS character on June 22, 2020, as the first new combatant of the second Fighters Pass. She was released on June 29, 2020 as part of the 8.0 update.

Min Min is a ramen cook from the world-famous Mintendo Noodle House, as well as a martial artist of great renown. Her fighting skills are further enhanced by her special "ARMS" abilities, which allow her to extend her arms like springs, striking her opponents over vast distances. In conjunction with special ARMS weapons, she is a feisty fighter who is not to be underestimated.

Even in a roster as large and as varied as Smash, Min Min is a Mechanically Unusual Fighter par excellence: rather than having traditional neutral or side special attacks like other characters, the special attack button is dedicated to attacking with her right hand, while the normal attack button controls her left hand. This allows her to pummel her opponents with barrages of punches, as well as attack in two directions and angle her punches up or down. While her strikes have range, they leave her vulnerable to foes who can evade them to get in close or from above, so spacing is the name of her game. She can also use ARM Change to swap between three different ARMS weapons for her right hand: Dragon, a well-balanced weapon that can follow up with lasers for more range; Ramram, which has reduced damage in exchange for a wide attack radius; and Megawatt, which trades off speed and range for overwhelming power.

See the ARMS character page for more information on the character in her origin series.

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• Adaptation Deviation:
  • In ARMS, the ARMS phenomenon is a permanent effect of turning a part of the body (usually limbs) into a stretchy, soggy, spirally mess. They develop spiral eyes and need to wear control masks provided by the ARMS Institute to be able to control this effect. In Super Smash Bros. Ultimate however, we see that Min Min has a regular human "form" complete with regular arms and eyes, before performing a transformation into her familiar look, treating the fighting appearance as more like a superhero form. In Smash's defense, the official ARMS Twitter account has posted conflicting tweets in support of both concepts prior to Min Min's fighter appearance.
  • In ARMS, Min Min was generally portrayed as a Perpetual Frowner with only a couple of images showing her smiling. In Smash, she smiles much more often.
• Alternate Company Equivalent: To Capcom's Chun-Li, a young female Chinese martial artist who is very proficient in lighting-fast kicks.
• Animal Motifs: The dragon, which is her default ARMS.
• Anime Chinese Girl: Wears a traditionally Chinese outfit, uses Kung-fu moves, loves ramen, and speaks in Chinese.
• Arm Cannon: Her Dragon ARMS can fire a mid-range laser.
• Ascended Extra: Went from a spirit in the base game to a DLC fighter.
• Assist Character: Spring Man, Ribbon Girl, Ninjara, Master Mummy, Mechanica, and Twintelle show up to deliver a barrage of punches in her Final Smash.
• Attack Reflector: Min Min's up smash somersault kicks can reflect projectiles.
• Badass Adorable: Min Min is a cute teenage ramen shop proprietress who also happens to be a skilled Boxing Battler.
• Bait-and-Switch: The reveal trailer shows Spring Man grabbing the Smash invitation, making viewers believe he has become an Ascended Extra from his role as an Assist Trophy... then he gets sucker punched by Ribbon Girl and it becomes a Battle Royale Game for the rest of the ARMS cast, before Min Min grabs it and secures her place as an official fighter to Smash Bros..
• Bare-Fisted Monk: On top of being a Boxing Battler, she's also skilled in Kung Fu.
• Barely-Changed Dub Name: Minor one, but her name is spelled as MinMin in Japanese, removing the space.
• Battle Intro: Min Min jumps onto the screen while spinning like a corkscrew, does the Horse Stance from the Wushu sport as she lands, then assumes the same pose to her official render from ARMS.
• Big Ol' Eyebrows: Of the "short but extremely thick" variety. Also, they're green.
• Bilingual Bonus:
  • Her Chest Insignia is a stylized version of "麺", the traditional Chinese character for noodles.
  • During her reveal trailer she says "Wǒ ài lāmiàn!" — "I love ramen!"
• Bilingual Dialogue: She's the first character in Smash history to speak a language other than English or Japanese; in her case, it's Chinese.
• Blown Across the Room: The Megawatt ARMS weapon can easily send opponents flying. With a Smash attack charged to full power, it can even One-Hit KO some opponents!
• Boxing Battler: She's a competitor in what amounts to a Boxing League.
• Chef of Iron: She's an accomplished ramen cook who is also a contender in the ARMS League.
• Clothes Make the Superman: While her ARMS abilities are natural to her, she needs to wear her regulator mask to properly use and control them, otherwise they'll randomly coil and uncoil against her will. In her reveal trailer, she's shown briefly as a regular human with no ARMS or spiral eyes before her mask slides down from beneath her headscarf and she transforms into her usual appearance. This is actually pretty at odds with the canon of her home series, where the ARMS power and all its effects are always visibly "on" after they first manifest independent of the mask for good or ill, but it also looks really cool.
• Competitive Balance: Min Min is a very close approximation of her original ARMS self, but has a few differences to help her work in a 2D space.
  • In ARMS her grabs could go as long as her standard punches whereas in Smash, where Shielding is a weaker option with more counters, her grab goes about the standard distance a ranged grab does.
  • Because Smash doesn't work on a rounds system, Min Min can change her ARMS at any point in the match.
  • Her dragon ARM loses charge over time instead of persisting until she is damaged.
• Confusion Fu: Since Min Min can fire off her arms separately and swap between three different weapons for her right ARM, she can mix up her opponent and trick them into letting their guard down before following up with a strong attack.
• Crippling Overspecialization: In her introductory presentation, Sakurai noted that she was designed first and foremost as a ground-based Long-Range Fighter. As such, Min Min is good at fighting Mighty Glaciers, but suffers when fighting Close Range Combatants or Fragile Speedsters that can outpace her attacks or come at her from above.
• Cutlass Between the Teeth: Due to how both her hands are ARMS during battle, her unchangeable Dragon ARM holds items in its jaw.
• Diving Kick: Her down-air attack sends her kicking towards the ground.
• Domino Mask: Wears an orange one. It is justified as a regulator device created by Arms Labs and issued out to any people known to have the ARMS gene in order to help keep their super-powered limbs from extending and contracting uncontrollably.
• Downloadable Content: The first member of Fighters Pass Vol. 2, released on June 29th of 2020. Buying this fighter also comes with the Spring Stadium stage, 18 songs from ARMS, and a unique DLC Spirit Board, where ten Spirit Battles for ARMS characters await (two returning, eight new).
• Dragons Up the Yin Yang: Min Min is Chinese, and while she can switch between a number of different ARMS, the Dragon one (which resembles a Chinese dragon) is always on her left arm, which also powers up after a grab-throw to make her whole left ARM resemble a Chinese Dragon.
• Energy Weapon: With the Dragon ARMS. The beams get more powerful when charged.
• Epic Flail: The Megawatt is essentially an electrified Morning Star.
• Exotic Eye Designs: She has a distinct "vortex" design to her eyes, as all humans with the ARMS power do. Interestingly, she somehow switches it off and has regular eyes briefly in her reveal trailer.
• Extendable Arms: This is the main gimmick of ARMS, so it's a given that she has them here. Min Min's arms allow her to attack and grab from a very long-range, even able to use Smash attacks in midair.
• Glacier Waif: Min Min has stupendous range, as well as great power and surprisingly high weight, but contrary to what her appearance suggests, she is downright sluggish in the air and her ground-based movement isn't much better. In addition, while her kicks are generally quite speedy, her actual ARMS attacks carry significant windup to compensate for the ability to move while doing them.
• Grappling-Hook Pistol: An improvised version. When in midair, Min Min's up special has her launch her arm upward. While this has potential for attacking opponents above her, it's best used as a tether recovery.
• Honor Before Reason: Min Min takes her role in her family's ramen shop very seriously. She keeps standing with a smile on her face as Captain Falcon savors his noodles, only leaving to join the fight for the invitation when she's sure he's satisfied with his meal.
• Home Stage: Ultimate: Spring Stadium, the home stage of Spring Man from ARMS.
• Idle Animation:
  • She hops on both feet and briefly brandishes her left ARM above her whilst her other ARM is held behind her.
  • She raises her left ARM and lowers it in front of herself in a fighting stance.
• In a Single Bound: ARMS Jump involves Min Min launching herself high up into the air using her arms, with her being able to charge it to increase the height.
• Kick Chick: While her primary means of attack is with her ARMS, she can perform various kicking attacks, from lightning-fast kicks that would make Chun-Li proud to a backflip kick that can reflect projectiles.
• Leitmotif: Her reveal trailer uses a new remix of the ARMS main theme. In-game, there is also a remix of her original Leitmotif, Ramen Bowl. Her victory theme is a flourish from ARMS's main theme, with vocals from Ribbon Girl's stage.
• Limit Break: Spring Man, Ribbon Girl, Ninjara, Master Mummy, Mechanica, and Twintelle perform an ARMS Rush on the opponents before Min Min finishes them off with the Dragon.
• Long-Range Fighter: Min Min excels at fighting from a distance with her extending arms, but suffers at close range due to a lot of her attacks having a slow wind-up and having very few options when it comes to attacking directly above or below her. By extending both arms in opposite directions, Min Min can cover the horizontal length of a Battlefield/Omega stage, but she has few ways to deal with opponents that can get in close or take advantage of her weakness to aerial moves.
• Mechanically Unusual Fighter: Min Min has a lot of unique features and borrows a lot of other character's deviations as well.
  • Min Min's standing regular attack, forward tilt, neutral air, back air, and forward air is considered the same attack. This makes her similar to Mega Man in that regard, as he uses the Mega Buster similarly.
  • Her neutral and side special attacks are the same as her normal attacks for the corresponding inputs; they both launch her ARMS. The normal attack button releases her left ARM while the special attack button releases her right ARM. Tilting them makes her move while punching instead. The only distinction the two have is that the right ARM can cycle three different ARMS with ARM Change, while her left ARM is always using Dragon ARM, but can be powered up when her throws connect. To make this even more visible, she can perform her ground neutral jab Kung Fu combo with the special attack button as well. As such, she has the tap or held attack difference found in Ryu and Ken, albeit only for her neutral normal attack and neutral special attack buttons.
  • One could say that she has only two specials because Punch, the neutral and side special, is merely an extension of her normal attacks. She does, however, have two different up specials.
  • She can attack with her opposite ARM while still in the middle of the first one's attack animation, even being able to attack behind her.
  • Similar to Ness and Lucas, one of her non-special attacks can function as a projectile reflector.
  • Her up-special changes depending on whether she's on the ground or in the air, being a massive leap from the ground and a tether recovery in the air.
  • After grabbing, her left arm gets engulfed in flames, and attacks with it are powered up until a certain amount of time has passed.
  • Like Robin, her forward and back aerials can be performed as smash attacks.
  • Her ranged punches can be slightly steered up and down to provide an unusual angle when attacking. This is especially notable with her Dragon ARMS because of the laser.
• Mythology Gag:
  • Making A and B buttons for attacking with ARMS is practically one of the controller configurations for the original ARMS game, the one if the player doesn't want to use motion controls. Similarly, it's why Min Min can move around while launching her ARMS, as the player can move around while firing their respective ARMS. And it's why Min Min can fire either ARM independently from each other.
  • Her up smash being able to reflect things is an interpretation of her unique ability to kick back incoming ARMS attacks when dashing in any direction in midair or backwards when grounded.
  • Her left ARM becoming a large dragon after landing a throw is another interpretation of her unique ability to gain a powerful charge for that ARM. In ARMS, if she lands a throw or charges a bit longer than usual, her left ARM gets souped-up, turning it into a scaly dragon body, while making the charge last indefinitely until she's stunned or knocked down. In Ultimate, she can only trigger it with a throw and the charge goes out after time. And because she cannot change her left ARM, the effect can only be seen through the Dragon ARM.
  • Her ARMS Rush Final Smash references the end of the original ARMS reveal trailer where Ribbon Girl, Ninjara, Master Mummy, and Mechanica try to punch Spring Man out of the sky. Unlike Spring Man, who is able to avoid their punches, the unfortunate victim is not as lucky.
  • The finishing hit of the Final Smash ends with Min Min firing a laser and smacking the enemy to a virtual gong. This is a reference to the gong in her home stage, Ramen Bowl. The player can interact with it by firing ARMS towards it or even launching the enemy towards it.
  • Min Min's reveal trailer has her playing a volleyball game with Wii Fit Trainer, Zelda, and Isabelle. Volleyball is one of the mini-games found in ARMS.
• No-Sell: Of a sort. Because her arms contain no hurtboxes, Counter attacks to her arms do not affect her. She will still take damage at short range if the counter hits her actual body, however.
• Our Dragons Are Different: Not a dragon herself (unlike all the other dragon-themed fighters), one of her default ARMS is the Dragon ARM. Also as in her home game, she can transform her left arm into a form resembling a body of a Chinese dragon to boost the power of attacks she launches with it.
• Playing with Fire: Both her Dragon and Ramram ARMS are of the Fire attribute.
• Promoted to Playable: For the first two years of the game, it was a popular belief that anyone who was given a Spirit in Ultimate wouldn't be eligible to become a playable character, and there actually wasn't anything from in the game, from official sources, or even rumors in the community to prove this theory wrong. Min Min getting turned into a DLC fighter set a rather significant precedent that characters who have a Spirit may indeed become playable.
• Rings of Death: Alongside the usual extending aspect, the Ramram ARM also releases its ring during an attack, with it continuing to deal light damage until it returns to Min Min. It also functions as a very effective recovery denial move.
• Rubber Man: She can stretch her arms so far that spreading them both out covers the entire distance of a Battlefield/Final Destination stage.
• Shock and Awe: With the Megawatt ARMS.
• Shout-Out:
  • She has a rapid kick attack for her quick-tap normal attack similar to a certain Chinese cop. Seems familiar? Even Sakurai name-dropped Chun-Li.
  • Hilariously incidental, but when Sakurai stated that by searching Springman^note that is, in Japanese, so スプリングマン in the internet will result in a different character unrelated to ARMS - Springman from Kinnikuman. Guess who defeats Springman? Ramenman.
• Stance System: Min Min can use her down special to change her right ARM and its properties:
  • The Ramram is the fastest and has the best range, but is also the weakest.
  • The Megawatt is the strongest, but it's also the slowest and least maneuverable.
  • The Dragon is the most balanced one, with the additional perk of being able to fire lasers.
• There Is No Kill Like Overkill: Her Final Smash involves her calling upon her fellow ARMS fighters to beat the living hell out of the foe and then finishing them off with a Dragon beam.
• Trademark Favorite Food: Ramen, natch. Her mother's ramen, in particular, is her favorite variety.
• Transformation Sequence: After grabbing the invitation in her waitress uniform, Min Min goes through a full transformation sequence into her fighting gear, activating her ARMS.
• Unexplained Recovery: Unlike her fellow DLC fighters, Min Min suffers from a rather odd case of this trope, as she was shown to be one of the many victims of Galeem's onslaught upon the universe. One could interpret it in that with the Golden Ending to World of Light depicting the slain populace (she herself among them) returning to their own worlds, it could be implied that her joining Smash may take place after the events of the story. Then again, the spirit battle for Kid Cobra has him possessing a Min Min Puppet Fighter.
• Weapon Specialization: The Dragon, Megawatt, and Ramram ARMS, as they're the ones that she has by default in her home game. For her Smash appearance, the former even more so, as her left arm always has it equipped, while her right arm can switch between the three.
• Wrestler in All of Us: While the rest of her throws are fancy kicks, Min Min's back-throw has her wrap her ARMS around the enemy's waist and suplex them into the ground.

77 – Steve

World Crafter

^Alex World Crafter

^Zombie Night Roamer

^Enderman End Dweller

STEVE ROCKS THE BLOCK! / ALEX SWAPS IN! / ZOMBIE SPAWNS IN! / ENDERMAN STEPS FROM THE SHADOWS!

Home Series: Minecraft

Debut: Minecraft [Windows / Macintosh], 2009 (Enderman, 2011; Alex, 2014)

Nintendo debut: Minecraft [Wii U], 2015

Creator: Mojang

Publisher: Xbox Game Studios

Playable in: Ultimate

Specials: Mine/Craft/Create Block, Minecart, Elytra, TNT

Final Smash: House of Boom

"Even I didn't think this day would come."

— Masahiro Sakurai

Various characters from the block-building Wide-Open Sandbox game, as well as the best-selling video game of all time, Minecraft. The game was developed by Mojang, which was later bought by Microsoft's Xbox Game Studios. This makes them the fifth character to have been created by a non-Japanese developer^note After Diddy Kong, King K. Rool, Dark Samus, and Banjo-Kazooie., the second character to come from an entirely non-Japanese IP after Banjo and Kazooie, the first character to be created by a Swedish developer, and the second Microsoft fighter, also after Banjo and Kazooie, and could be argued to be the first playable indie character, when taking into account Minecraft's origin as an indie game. They were announced in a brief livestream on October 1, 2020 with additional details made available in a livestream on October 3, 2020 ahead of the Minecraft Live event. They were released on October 13, 2020 as part of the 9.0 update.

Steve is the default appearance. The other skins are based on Alex, the default female avatar; the Zombie, a common undead enemy; and the Enderman, a bizarre humanoid being, which also respectively makes them the second and third common enemies to be playable after the Piranha Plant.

Steve's fighting style borrows heavily from Minecraft, giving him a whole new way of fighting in Smash. He is reliant on materials mined from the stage to craft into tools and weapons for his attacks, with the materials he can gather depending heavily on the stage he is on: heavily wooded stages such as Kongo Jungle will yield lots of wood, while a metallic stage such as the Great Fox on Corneria or Venom will provide a lot of iron^note Battlefield and Omega stages will instead provide materials in a static order, regardless of the stage it is based on. His weapons also have limited durability and will need to be repaired or replaced to keep up with his opponent, which he can do at a crafting table which he can summon, if need be. His ability to place blocks also opens up whole new strategies, from blocking attacks to edge-guarding by placing blocks in the path of an opponent attempting to recover. A Steve player who can maintain their arsenal and make the best use of his crafting skills and block-placing abilities is a true force to be reckoned with.

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Special Moves^{Click to show}
Neutral Special: Mine/Craft/Create Block

By default, when used on the ground, Steve's neutral special mines the ground beneath his feet for materials. On regular stages, the materials gathered are dependent on the nature of the stage (wooded stages yield wood, rocky stages yield stone, metallic stages yield iron, etc.). When used in front of a crafting table (which appears next to him at the start of a match and can be summoned to him by holding shield+B), the neutral special crafts new tools for Steve to use, in order of ascending power: wood, stone, iron, gold, and diamond. In midair, the neutral special places a block underneath Steve's feet, creating makeshift floors and walls. The materials used in these blocks are placed in order of ascending strength and value: soil, stone, and iron.

Side Special: Minecart

Steve uses a unit of iron, he crafts and rides a minecart that he can use to ram opponents. Hopping out of the minecart and letting it hit opponents will not deal damage, but trap them in the minecart for a few moments instead. If Steve has wood, he can lay down tracks in front of him to increase the minecart's movement range. If he also has redstone and gold, he can create powered rails that increase the minecart's speed and ramming power.

Up Special: Elytra

Steve equips the Elytra, a pair of wings, and uses a firecracker to propel himself into the air. After the firecracker burns out, the player can use the control stick to change Steve's gliding trajectory. The Elytra falls off after a few seconds, which will leave Steve vulnerable until he touches the ground.

Down Special: TNT

If Steve has soil, he crafts a TNT block and sets it up directly in front of him. Holding the special attack button while moving will allow Steve to use redstone to create a fuse, and releasing the button creates a wooden pressure plate that remotely detonates the TNT. The TNT will also explode after a few seconds or if hit by a fire attack.

Final Smash: House of Boom

Steve places a giant piston in front of him. Any opponents hit by the piston are thrown into a crafted house filled with TNT and Creepers. The house blows sky high as Steve turns to the camera and eats some steak.

See the Minecraft character page for more info on Steve, Alex, and Enderman in their origin series.

See Minecraft: Overworld: Hostile Mobs for more info on Zombie in its origin series.

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• Adaptational Badass:
  • The Zombie is able to wield weapons in Minecraft itself, but uncommonly. It cannot place blocks, sprint, or even jump outside of jumping up one-block inclines, and it even catches fire in sunlight. Here, it can do everything Steve can do without issue. Similarly, the Enderman's traditional weakness to water is no longer an issue. Justified in that they're really skins rather than the mobs in question.
  • In general, the ability to place blocks gets a step-up to being able to place blocks mid-air without needing to place it first on a floating support block. They can also double-jump, grab onto ledges and negate Fall Damage without any modifications like enchanted armor or mods.
• Adaptational Wimp: The Enderman is capable of a lot more in its home series, where it can be a fairly dangerous enemy. Here, it trades the ability to teleport and take blocks out of the ground for being the same as the other fighters. Justified in that it's really a skin rather than an actual Enderman.
• Adaptation Name Change: Downplayed; while Steve is the character's canon name, official sources usually spell it with a question mark (as in "Steve?", referencing a tweet Minecraft creator Notch made in response to a follower asking what the player character's name was). The same goes for Alex, also.
• And Your Reward Is Edible: One of Steve's Victory screens shows him noshing on a Steak.
• Anti-Frustration Features: Despite Steve's extremely different functions as a playable character, many aspects of his moveset are streamlined so that it's still fun to use without it being anger-inducing or overly complicated. To wit:
  • When crafting weapons, he will always use the highest-quality materials out of what he currently has on him. Conversely, when creating blocks, he will always use the lowest quality material available first. This is so he doesn't have to manually shift through what he has in order to use what would be most efficient in the middle of a hectic match.
  • Additionally, in order to reduce the materials needed and frequency in which the player has to craft new tools, upgrading automatically affects all tools rather than just one. So if the player makes a diamond sword, that means they also get the diamond axe, shovel, and pickaxe.
  • He can spawn the crafting table to his current position by pressing Shield + Special Attack, similar to the ink recharge input for Inklings. This allows him to craft his weapons without worrying about an opponent camping where the table is initially spawned. It does cost some materials to do this, though (but it will prioritize using less-valuable materials first).
  • Regardless of terrain features, there's still a consistency on the frequency of materials to be mined. Eventually, the player will get a diamond, along with some iron and the other materials necessary to make their moveset function^note Steve can't use his down air at all without iron, so he needs to have access to it in order to have a complete moveset. Battlefield and Omega-type stages in particular will always give materials in a set order and ratio regardless of the stages' terrain or original form, removing any potential RNG-shenanigans from messing up a match, especially in a more competitive setting.
  • The rails spawned while riding the Minecart and the TNT can be made with and will prioritize using lesser materials, but both can be crafted purely with iron, allowing Steve to fully use his moveset even on "iron-only" stages.
  • The Elytra uses no materials at all, ensuring that Steve can always use it as a recovery move even if he is completely empty of materials.
  • Anyone hit by a TNT explosion will have reduced knockback if they triggered the explosion themselves by stepping on the pressure plate. This is so that Steve has a better chance of survival if he decides to step on the plate himself to blow up someone else.
  • Losing a stock will not cause a loss of materials. This means that rare gold or diamond you found won't be wasted if you get knocked out right after mining it. Additionally, upon respawning they'll be given three iron ingots if they don't have any. However, you will always reset back to wooden tools upon respawning.
• Anvil on Head: Steve's Down Air has him dropping and riding an anvil as it falls straight down. It can be canceled partway through, and requires one piece of iron to use, otherwise the attack won't go through. It's also used in the down throw, but once again requires one iron, so if you don't have one, the attack simply pushes a fighter into the ground.
• Bad Guys Do the Dirty Work: Steve's Final Smash involves sending the target into a structure filled with hordes of hostile mobs (namely Creepers and Zombies) and blocks of TNT and trapping them there.
• Barrier Warrior: He can use blocks to create walls of material to block recovering opponents, or to control where they're going.
• Battle Intro: Steve mines some blocks in front of him.
• Big Eater: One of Steve's taunts is to eat a steak. Spamming it makes him eat it repeatedly. He'll also eat a steak at the end of his Final Smash and as one of his Victory Screens.
• Black Eyes of Evil: The Zombie's eyes are a soulless black, a reflection of its undead state and it is one of the prime hostile mobs.
• Boring, but Practical: One of Steve's abilities is to place blocks below his feet, which is an aspect of Minecraft gameplay that's considered iconic enough for the Smash team to have to rework every single stage to allow for it. Placing blocks sounds rather boring on paper, but it allows him to alter the battlefield to his whim, blocking movement and attacks as well as creating platforms to assist in recovery. Likewise, since they count as platforms, a quick-fingered player can use them to recover their double jump and extend combos all the way to the top of the screen. Is it fancy or flashy? Not in the slightest. Is it efficient and versatile? Absolutely.
• Breakable Weapons: All of the weapons have a durability limit, just like the original game. However, once you've broken a weapon, there's no swapping to an older weaker weapon, so you'll be stuck with using your fists until you craft a new one. Thankfully, if you have the materials available, you can restore the durability without having to wait for them to break.
• Competitive Balance: A lot of Minecraft mechanics are carried over faithfully, but are modified for the sake of balance.
  • All blocks, once placed, disappear over time. Any block they're standing on deteriorates faster to prevent camping.
  • They can create blocks offstage; however, there is a limit how far you can go before you are unable to make more blocks. Blocks closest to the blast zones will also disappear quicker.
  • TNT is made out of dirt and cobblestone instead of gunpowder to reduce the amount of resources that players need to keep track of.
  • The materials mined from stages are generally determinate from which kind of surface it is, such as sand being mined from sandy floors or cobblestone being mined from rocky structures, but on Battlefield and Omega stages, the materials are miscellaneous and pre-determined no matter the stage to prevent Steve from having any advantage or disadvantage in a more competitive setting. Plus, metals like iron and gold are conveniently mined as ready to use ingots instead of as Ore blocks/Raw materials which need to be smelted.
  • The crafting cost of items is generally much lower than Minecraft. For example, an iron block is made of a single iron ingot instead of 9 and anvils are made of one iron ingot instead of a total of 31.
• Difficult, but Awesome:
  • The vast majority of Steve's moveset revolves around Resources Management Gameplay, making him incredibly complex at a first glance. Even some of his basic attack moves rely on the use of Breakable Weapons and, by association, a destructible Item Crafting table to upgrade or reconstruct said weapons once discarded (both actions require the player to gather materials around the stage beforehand, with the nature of the stage itself dictating which substances you are most likely able to collect). This potentially gives the character some glaring weaknesses, but also innumerous tools that utilize collected resources for match control, like blocks that can alter the battlefield's landscape, stronger weapons, explosive traps, a versatile vehicle, and so on.
  • The "TNT" move takes a while to set up and is highly visible as a physical entity in the arena, but has a large blast radius and does tremendous damage and knock-back to whoever it hits (and unlike the Villager's "Timber!" move, will automatically detonate itself after a short period). However, it can also damage (and even KO) Steve himself.
• Downloadable Content: The second member of Fighters Pass Vol. 2, released on October 13th of 2020. Buying this fighter also comes with the Minecraft World stage, 7 songs from Minecraft, and a unique DLC Spirit Board, where nine Spirit Battles for Minecraft characters await.
• Expy: On top of Enderman's appearance being a dead ringer for Slender Man, it is also shown in its debut trailer sneaking up on Steve while he's asleep and ominously peeking into Snake's box, which also fit Slender Man's modus operandi.
• Falling Damage: While that's obviously not a thing in Smash, it is subtly referenced as an audio cue. If Steve lands on the ground after being airborne for long enough, the same damage "crunch" noise plays.
• Freeze-Frame Bonus: During the "House of Boom" Final Smash, once the perspective switches to the first person view, you can see the Zombie on the left side fall into a cobweb and get stuck for a brief moment before the camera looks away.
• Geo Effects: Steve's "Mine" special provides different resources based on what terrain he mines from, similar to how Olimar's Pikmin Pluck functioned in Brawl. For example, using Mine on Corneria, which takes place atop the spaceship Great Fox, will almost always result in large quantities of iron, which can be converted into durable blocks and weapons. Conversely, a place like Kongo Jungle that entirely consists of wooden platforms will only hand out weak, basic wood. This gameplay aspect is averted in the Omega and Battlefield variations, where every material type is accessible in a preset order, keeping things fair.
• Gold-Colored Superiority: Zigzagged. Gold is one of the materials that can be used to craft tools; however, golden weapons are actually weak and fragile (much like gold is in real life), but they are light enough to allow a faster rate of attack, making them ideal for combos.
• Good Old Fisticuffs: If ever you find yourself without a weapon, such as breaking your starting wood weapons before you can get the materials to craft new ones, Steve will fight using his fists. It's not as effective as when using a weapon, but they're still capable of dealing some damage.
• Guest Fighter: The 15th third-party character in Smash, originally created by Mojang. Mojang was later bought by Microsoft, making this the second character to come from the latter.
• Hammerspace: In true Minecraft fashion, while their inventory space is still limited, the Minecraft crew can carry a ton of materials and items without being slowed down in the slightest, pulling them out of nowhere when needed. By default, outside of their block inventory and tools, they carry a flint and steel, a bucket of lava, one regular-sized piston and a giant one for their Final Smash, a minecart, a fishing rod along with 8 fence posts, as well as a Cooked Beef and a bed.
• Hitbox Dissonance: Some of Steve's "barehanded" attacks are much larger than they look. This isn't unlike players' attack range in Minecraft, however.
• Home Stage: Ultimate: Minecraft World, a stage with randomly generated elements between its layout, season, and background characters.
• Idle Animation: In an aversion to a series standard since Melee, Steve is the only character to not have an idle animation as another nod to Minecraft, where the player character is equally non-expressive while idling. The closest he and Alex have to one is blinking, a feature only found in Minecraft Earth and Minecraft Bedrock Edition.
• Improbable Weapon User: Similar to the Villager/Isabelle, Steve/Alex use many non-combat tools in their moveset, like buckets, fishing rods, pistons, anvils, and even flint stones to create fire.
• Inventory Management Puzzle: Just like their home game, there is a maximum limit to how much crafting material you can carry. In this case, once the limit is reached, any newly mined materials will simply be chucked behind them and disappear. Unlike the original game, however, this limit doesn't include crafted weapons.
• Item Crafting: One of the main aspects to Steve's character is crafting and upgrading weapons, which he does by acquiring resources from his other main aspect — mining. For the sake of simplicity, weapon-crafting is streamlined to only take a few seconds and craft all weapons at once, while every other craftable object is simply spawned instantly. As his tactics depend on gathering materials, stage terrain determines what attacks are usable and how strong you can make your weapons. The available material types, in order of strength, are: wood, stone, iron, gold, and diamond. Redstone can also be mined for use with the Side and Down Specials.
• Lean and Mean: The Enderman alt, true to the mob in question, has the skinniest limbs of the four variants (though not quite as long as they are in Minecraft, mind you).
• Leitmotif: Their reveal trailer featured a remix/medley of "Halland" and "Dalarna" from Minecraft Dungeons. His victory theme is the sound that plays when completing a challenge achievement in Minecraft Java Edition.
• Lightning Bruiser: When equipped with diamond equipment, Steve has speed and durability close to a Jack of All Stats, but hits like a Glass Cannon. Balanced by the fact that he has to mine a lot of materials before he strikes diamond (about 30 for Final Destination, Battlefield, and their variants, for example).
• Limited Animation: Similar to Mr. Game & Watch, the gang retain the very stiff and minimal movements of their origin game. Animation quirks include:
  • Complete lack of visual emotion and joint movement.
  • A grab that traps an opponent in a tiny fenced off corral that suddenly appears rather than holding them physically.
  • Their "roll" has them simply shift forward while standing up.
  • Their animation when launched matches their normal air animations. That is, staying completely upright flailing their limbs based on their horizontal movement, rather than tumbling like everyone else, even in a Star KO.
  • The climbing animation is exactly the same as in Minecraft, which is to say, there isn't one. Steve just floats up vertically while pressed against the ladder.
• Luckily, My Shield Will Protect Me: Performing a Perfect Shield will have Steve bring out a special shield to block the attack, just like in his game.
• Magikarp Power: Steve starts out with a set of wooden equipment that does the job but breaks quickly. He must take time to mine material and craft it into more effective and durable weapons with rarer material making for better tools.
• Man in a Kilt: One of Steve's alternate costume is the Scottish Steve skin, where he wears a kilt.^note Because all Minecraft player characters use the same model, however, it appears bifurcated like pants.
• Mechanically Unusual Fighter: Thanks to taking mechanics almost wholesale from Minecraft proper, Steve is one of the most differently functioning fighters to exist in the game. Sakurai notes that Steve's moveset is so unusual, that he and his team had to rework every single stage in the game to accommodate the new mechanics.
  • His Neutral Special has three different versions depending on where Steve is.
    • If he's on the ground, he'll start mining/digging for materials, either from the ground below him or a wall he's next to. These materials are shown on a gauge above his character icon, and are required to use the majority of his moveset. What materials are more likely to be gathered depends on the terrain of the stage that Steve is on. For example, if Steve is on a wooden platform like those in Kongo Falls, he's much more likely to gather a lot of wood, whereas if he's on a metal surface such as on the Great Fox spaceship in Corneria or Venom, he'll gain a lot of iron. Battlefield and Omega form stages are exempt from this rule, and will provide materials in a set order and ratio to avoid any RNG from messing up a match.
    • In the air, Steve can place blocks directly below his feet. These blocks serve as temporary obstacles and platforms that break either after a set amount of time or from attacks, with their durability depending on the material used to make them. This gives Steve the unique ability to essentially alter the stage to his whim, and he can potentially use these blocks to recover by building a bridge back to the stage, make a wall to trap or ledge-guard foes, and much more. These blocks, however, cannot be placed offscreen, and the closer to the blast line they're placed, the faster they'll break.
    • Finally, when used near a Crafting Table, Steve will create new weapons and tools from the best materials he has on hand. Said Crafting Table initially appears where Steve spawns at the start of a match, and can potentially be destroyed by foes, but it can be summoned to his current position by pressing the Shield and Special Attack buttons, so opponents can't just camp where the Table is placed to stop Steve from using it. In a Mirror Match, players can also use Crafting Tables for themselves regardless of who owns them.
  • All of Steve's weapons and tools are breakable, and will be unusable after a set amount of uses, whether from material gathering or attacking. Unlike Robin with their Levin and Bronze Swords, if his stronger tools break, he'll have nothing to fall back on, leaving him with just a weak punch until he creates new ones at a Crafting Table.
  • Steve can additionally move around while attacking with his sword, quite like Mega Man with his Mega Buster. Unlike Mega Man, this attack will function entirely while the button is held down. This allows Steve to move forward and backward while swinging the sword, and he can even do so while jumping.
  • He has another variation of his forward and back air if buffered out of a short-hop, being a sword swing that behaves like the neutral air but with the animation of the former two aerials.
  • His Up Special sees the return of gliding from Super Smash Bros. Brawl, albeit in a more limited and balanced fashion: while it is effective at recovering horizontally, even allow for mix-ups with the ability to manuver around attacks, but can only go so far vertically until it stalls. In addition, the Elytra wings will break at some point if it goes on too long, forcing Steve into freefall.
  • His Down Special places a block of TNT. Simple enough, except doing it again near the TNT places a pressure plate that automatically detonates the TNT when pressed. It can be activated not only by any player but also by certain rolling objects such as Steve's own Minecart. Additionally, if Steve has redstone he can make a redstone circuit between the TNT and pressure plate, allowing him (or someone/something else) to trigger it from a safer distance.
• Meteor Move: Steve's forward aerial uses the pickaxe and will send struck opponents downwards.
• Minecart Madness: Steve's side-special has him bring out a minecart and place tracks as he goes. The cart and tracks require materials, with how much you can move around determined by the amount available to place. If you have the right materials, you can also place a powered rail to start off your ride, which causes you to speed off in a chosen direction while the character frantically places rails along the way, à la Wallace & Gromit. While you are free to exit the cart at any time, if you exit and the cart runs into another fighter, they get pulled in for the ride, potentially off the stage edge, with them needing to struggle to break out, their damage percentage determining the difficulty of doing so.
• Mook: The Zombie and the Enderman are based on common enemies in their game of origin, and are collectively the second and third playable mook characters after Piranha Plant. Their Final Smash traps the opponent in a structure with a bunch of them, along with a few Creepers.
• Mythology Gag:
  • In the character debut trailer:
    • The Zombie skin reveal has it breaking a door, in reference to how they do so in the base game on harder difficulties.
    • The appearance of a Zombie shrunken by a Poison Mushroom is a reference to the rarely spawning baby Zombies.
    • The Enderman being shown lifting up a crate references its tendency to pick up and hold random blocks.
    • The Enderman staring at Snake through the hole in his box references how the player is capable of avoiding angering them by wearing something that obscures their face, which in the original game are pumpkins.
    • The Enderman is seen standing under a leaf on the Distant Planet stage that shields it from the rain. In the original game, Endermen are harmed by water from any source, including rain.
    • Wolf launches the Zombie, which causes a steak food item to appear, referencing how Zombies can drop Rotten Flesh when killed. Also, wolves are typically protective companions players can tame in Minecraft.
    • The scene with the Flint and Steel has a cooked chicken appear when the flame vanishes, referencing how you can get fully-cooked food drops by burning to death mobs that have cookable drops.
    • The official name of the reveal trailer is "A New Seed!". "Seeds" are strings of integers within Minecraft's coding that the game uses to pseudo-randomly generate its worlds. In other words, the trailer's name can be meant to describe that the world of Smash Bros. is entirely unique and new for Steve and company.
  • In Minecraft proper, Steve can only sleep when he's laying on a bed. This comically remains true in Smash; if Steve is inflicted with the Sleep status, rather than laying on the ground like every other fighter, he quickly deploys a red-colored bed to sleep on, which he puts back into his pockets when he wakes up. Also, just like in Minecraft, Steve doesn't actually close his eyes when sleeping.
  • Steve's Forward Smash is a sweeping-slash attack with the sword, which, as noted by Sakurai, is only seen in the Java Edition of Minecraft, rather than the Bedrock Edition that people who only play the console versions are familiar with.
  • Sakurai himself notes that it's quite common for Minecraft players to create Death Traps involving TNT to use against mobs and fellow players alike. The "House of Boom" Final Smash takes this to its logical conclusion, tossing the target into a giant structure filled with TNT and Creepers, which promptly detonate. The building uses an Iron Door, which only opens when it receives a signal from a button, switch, pressure plate, or Redstone. If you watch the Final Smash slowed down, you can see that there's a pressure plate right outside the door (which the opponent hits on the way in), but there's no such device on the inside, meaning they really are trapped inside.
  • One of their taunts has them repeatedly crouch towards the camera, a common form of visual communication among players. Another common visual communication is performing a series of short hops while punching the air, which also appears as a taunt here.
  • Whenever launched by a powerful attack, such as their own TNT, they'll stay completely upright while their limbs move based on the horizontal distance they travel, much like in Minecraft whenever hit by knockback that sends players and entities airborne. This even extends to their Star KO.
  • They use an axe for their Up-Tilt, which as stated by Sakurai during their demonstration, players would typically aim upwards when using their axes to cut trees down in Minecraft.
  • Each stage has a border limit for blocks to be placed towards, much like the World Border in Java Edition, and a white "No" sign appears when reaching the border in Smash, similar to the Barrier block mapmakers can use in Minecraft to prevent those in Adventure or Survival mode from moving to out-of-bounds play areas.
  • Their Classic Mode route is called "The Journey to the Far Lands". The Far Lands was an Eldritch Location spawned by a glitch if the player gets to the edge of the world in the early beta versions of Minecraft.
  • Steve's ledge balancing animation has him crouched down on the ledge looking downward. This is a reference to how the sneaking mechanic in Minecraft would prevent you from walking off ledges.
  • Steve and Alex have skins from Bedrock Edition's Default Skin Pack as alts: while both get their Tennis skins, Steve also has his Scottish skin.
  • When picking up an item, it briefly floats towards them, just like when picking up dropped items in Minecraft. If eating food items, they eat them with the same chomping and burping sound effects like their Cooked Beef taunt.
• No Knees: Or elbows, for that matter. True to their character designs, none of their limbs bend, resulting in a lot of their animations being reduced to comical flailing in true Minecraft fashion.
• Non-Standard Character Design: Whereas most characters in Smash have their designs tweaked so they don't look too out of place, Steve, Alex, and the Zombie stand out since they retain their character models directly from Minecraft. Coupled with their Limited Animation, it's almost as if they genuinely stumbled from their home series into the world of Smash Bros.
• Norse by Norsewest: Alex's third costume is Swedish Alex, with her having blonde hair, a bonnet, and a Sverigedräkten. Additionally serves as a reference to Minecraft's country of origin.
• Not Quite Flight:
  • Steve's up special uses an Elytra, which he combines with fireworks to glide long distances very quickly for a short time reminiscent to Brawl's gliding mechanic. After launching, you can move up and down, but are unable to turn around outside the first few seconds before the fireworks go off, and if the wings stall out, you are unable to hover or jump, plummeting down.
  • His block-placing ability can also function like this, since you can place them in midair, allowing the creation of temporary platforms to stay high up in the air or prevent Steve from falling into a pit. The major caveat being that Steve can't place any blocks past a certain point far from the stage, in order to prevent camping far from the main platform.
• Not the Intended Use:
  • Shield + Special Attack summons the crafting table near Steve so that he can have easy access to crafting tools. However, the crafting table itself has a hitbox — and he can use it to take a few hits from incoming attacks.
  • The anvil stays on stage for a little bit after it is summoned. This is meant to stop Steve from spamming the move while he's close to the ground, but it has the advantage of not contributing to a block's accelerated decay, meaning that Steve can place a block off stage and then immediately down air on it to extend his time off stage.
  • Outside Final Destination or Battlefield variants, the anvil has the properties of Iron surfaces when mined, which means it can be used to mine Diamond quickly.
  • It's incredibly Awesome, yet Impractical, due to massive amounts of setup needed, but the fact that Steve's standing on the anvil when it drops means you can drop a block, drop the anvil on the block, and use Steve's grab on the opponent to initiate a Taking You with Me.
  • Combining the anvil and either a dirt or wood block allows for a potent shield break.
• Our Zombies Are Different: In Minecraft, Zombies are standard monsters that walk at a slow shuffle, can only fight by biting when close enough, and burst into flames when exposed to sunlight. In Smash, the playable Zombie is another skin for Steve, and as such can run, mine, use weapons and tools, and is unaffected by sunlight.
• Palette Swap: The classic blue-shirted Steve is the default look, and his Distaff Counterpart Alex is an alternate option, with alternate costumes including other skins for each of them, along with a zombie and an Enderman.
• Perpetual Expression: Unlike every other fighter with a visible face, the Minecraft gang's neutral facial expressions never change beyond blinking no matter what they do, whether it's while attacking, getting damaged, or celebrating a victory. Steve even sleeps with his eyes open when he enters a sleep state.
• Playing with Fire: Steve's Down Tilt has him use a Flint and Steel to create a fire, his Down Smash utilizes a lava bucket to create two small pools on either side of him, and his Up Smash places a Magma Block overhead before breaking it.
• Powerful Pick: Steve uses the iconic pickaxe for the dash attack and forward/back air attacks, along with the traditional use of it to mine stone-and-rock-type blocks. The forward air attack in particular can be a Meteor Move when aimed correctly.
• Pragmatic Adaptation: The TNT's recipe is changed to involve dirt and cobblestone rather than gunpowder to keep fights fair and simplify Steve's already complex playstyle a bit.
• Promoted to Playable: Downplayed, due to the fact that their skins can be used by the player avatar, but this game has a Zombie and an Enderman officially playable outside of a mod.
• Purely Aesthetic Gender: Just like their home game, there is no difference to playing as either Steve or Alex, not even variations in voiced dialogue, due to them not having voice acting in the first place.
• Ridiculously Cute Critter: Sakurai calls the Enderman skin this, as it's unusually short for its race. Fans have taken the same appeal.
• Ridiculously Fast Construction: One of Steve's victory screens has him build a small but decently-constructed house in a matter of seconds.
• Rod And Reel Repurposed: Steve's grab involves the use of a fishing rod, just like Isabelle's side special.
• Screw This, I'm Outta Here: In their trailer, Steve finds Mario in a cave, but quickly hightails it out of there when he spots a Creeper sneaking up.
• Second-Person Attack: Steve's Final Smash, "House of Boom", shows an impending Creeper attack through the eyes of the target.
• Shovel Strike: When mining for materials on dirt and similar terrain, the tool used is the shovel. Unlike the original game where you can attack with it, here it's limited to just digging.
• The Silent Bob: As Sakurai pointed out in the reveal stream, Steve and Alex don't speak, and the Mook skins are missing their environmental sounds. They express themselves through actions instead, such as Steve jumping in panic when seeing a Creeper behind Mario in the reveal trailer, and their taunts having them jump around and punch the air energetically, crouch repeatedly, or eat a steak.
• The Snack Is More Interesting: Players can invoke this trope by using Steve's "eating steak" taunt in the middle of a match, while the end of his Final Smash has him also eating a steak, not paying attention to the massive explosion behind him.
• Stone Wall: An unconventional one compared to King K. Rool, actually. While Steve's weight is slightly below average, he has quite a lot of zoning options, amazing recovery as long as he has materials, and his kit is extremely good for edgeguarding.
• Stuff Blowing Up:
  • Steve's down special has him place down a block of TNT. Using a melee, firearm, or fire attack will ignite it, causing it to explode in a few seconds, while attacking it again will make it explode immediately. You can also set up some redstone and a pressure plate to detonate it nearly-instantly from a distance, with how far the plate is placed being determined by how long you hold the down special button.
  • His Final Smash, "House of Boom", has him trap the opponent inside a structure with a bunch of Creepers and TNT that blow themselves up.
• Stylistic Suck: The stiff, jerky Limited Animation from their home game is recreated perfectly here, contrasted by the detailed animations of all the other fighters.^note Save for Mr. Game & Watch, obviously. This is even extended to their official render; while other Ultimate renders are energetic and posed dramatically, the Minecraft crew are just… standing there.
• Temporary Platform: Steve using his neutral special in the air creates a platform using materials from his inventory. It will quickly disappear depending on what was used, how close the platform is to the stage's bondaries, and whether or not someone is standing on it.
• Trademark Favorite Food: Frequently seen eating a steak, such as in his reveal trailer, in a taunt, at the end of his Final Smash, and in one of his victory screens.
• Trap Master: Steve is capable of harassing enemies with his various tools, especially those who are trying to recover. For example, his Down-Special can lay a trap in the form of a TNT block, and with some redstone, he can place a pressure plate to detonate it from afar… or right next to the block, so that a foe can step on it and accidentally set it off.
• Unusually Uninteresting Sight: In Steve's Final Smash, as a building behind him is leveled by Creepers with his victims in it, he simply turns towards the camera while casually eating a steak.
• Villain Protagonist: A couple of the costumes are a Zombie and an Enderman, which are mooks in the original game.
• Violation of Common Sense: Directly mining the TNT block you spawn gives plenty of iron, as it is categorized as an "iron" surface, making it a good source for resources other than dirt, wood and stone.
• Visual Pun: In Steve's trailer, there's a quick scene of the Minecraft characters building a house around Pichu. A Pokémon Home, if you will.
• The Voiceless: Steve and Alex don't have any actual voices to speak of, not even for grunts.
• Walking Armory: Steve has access to swords, axes and pickaxes, plus a shield in his Perfect Shield animation and explosive TNT. And those are only the tools that are actually combat-oriented...
• Weak, but Skilled: Aside from a fast jab, Steve doesn't have the most offensive options, has below average weight, and needs to constantly gather resources to do most of what he can do, including attacking with anything stronger than a weak punch. That said, on top of diamond equipment being powerful, Steve can alter the layout of the battlefield to his will, and control the crowd with block mazes, walls, bomb traps, and such, and has complex gameplay that rewards creativity.
• Wrestler in All of Us: Steve's down throw is a quick chokeslam. If you have any iron to spare, Steve will follow it up by dropping an anvil on the victim.
• You Don't Look Like You: Downplayed. Here, Steve uses the old "beard" skin^note which players notoriously and universally mistook for his mouth, which doesn't match with his appearance in Minecraft, but does match his appearance in promotional art and trailers for Minecraft.
• Your Size May Vary: The Endermen, in Minecraft proper, are much taller and more slender than the player. Here, the Enderman's proportions are shortened to be a proper costume for Steve. Properly scaled Endermen can be seen in the Minecraft World stage at night.
• You Will Not Evade Me: Steve's grab has him utilizing a fishing rod to pull fighters to him, before placing a fence around the fighter to keep them in place.

78 – Sephiroth

See his page here

79 / 80 – Pyra / Mythra (Homura / Hikari)

The Aegis

^Pyra

^Mythra

Pyra and Mythra voiced by: Shino Shimoji (Japanese), Skye Bennett (English)

Rex voiced by: Hiro Shimono (Japanese), Al Weaver (English)

PYRA BLAZES INTO BATTLE!
MYTHRA AWAKENS!

Home Series: Xenoblade Chronicles

Debut: Xenoblade Chronicles 2 [Nintendo Switch], 2017

Creator: Monolith Soft

Publisher: Nintendo

Playable in: Ultimate

Specials: (Pyra) Flame Nova, Blazing End, Prominence Revolt, Swap to Mythra

Specials: (Mythra) Lightning Buster, Photon Edge, Ray of Punishment / Chroma Dust, Swap to Pyra

Final Smash: Burning Sword / Sacred Arrow

"Together, nothing can stand in our way!"

The deuteragonists of Xenoblade Chronicles 2 and the second and third fighters from the overall Xenoblade Chronicles series, they were revealed during a Nintendo Direct on February 17th, 2021. A "Mr. Sakurai Presents" video detailing the duo aired on March 4, 2021, with the fighters being made available later that same day as part of the Version 11.0 update.

In the vast and mysterious world of Alrest, where life thrives on the backs of giant Titans, there exist Blades, Living Weapons who are born from Core Crystals and symbiotically bond themselves to other living beings, who become known as Drivers. Blades provide their Drivers with a weapon and enhanced physical abilities via channeling Ether energy, while the Drivers keep the Blades corporeal and alive. Should a Driver die, their Blade dies with them and returns to slumber within their Crystal. The creator deity of Alrest, known simply as the Architect, created many Blades, but none as powerful as the Aegis. Many Drivers would desperately try to claim the Aegis for themselves, and the Aegis itself was highly volatile and destructive. After a great war, the Aegis was sealed away beneath the Cloud Sea, where hopefully none would be able to find it.

This Aegis Blade was known as Mythra, who would also create a Split Personality, known as Pyra, shortly before her containment in order to further suppress her own calamitous power. Hundreds of years later, the Aegis would be rediscovered by the adventurous, Cloud Sea-diving treasure hunter named Rex. After bonding with Rex in order to save his life after he was betrayed by his shady co-workers that had hired him to help them unearth her, the Blade gave him a task in return: take her to Elysium, The Promised Land at the World Tree's peak where she was forged. So began the duo's (or rather, trio's) long and increasingly complicated journey across Alrest and its many Titans, joining forces with other similarly gifted Drivers and battling villains along the way who also wish to obtain the Aegis's might.

As two personalities within a single Core Crystal, Pyra and Mythra are counted as two separate fighters, but share a single slot in the roster, much like Zelda and Sheik (pre-3DS/Wii U), Samus and Zero Suit Samus (pre-3DS/Wii U), and Pokémon Trainer's three Pokémon. While they have the exact same basic movesets between them, they also have Multiform Balance between each other: Pyra violently crushes foes with the brute strength of her flames, while Mythra gracefully blindsides opponents with her light speed. While each character is capable of holding her own and can be played separately without any need to switch between them, the best players can take full advantage of both of their strengths, blitzing opponents with Mythra's speed and blowing them away with Pyra's raw power.

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Special Moves^{Click to show}
Pyra Neutral Special: Flame Nova

Pyra spins the Aegis around her in a fiery spinning attack, hitting enemies in close range around her. Its attack power can be increased by holding the Special Attack Button.

Pyra Side Special: Blazing End

Pyra throws the Aegis forward a short distance, whereupon it spins in place for a moment, repeatedly hitting opponents until returning to her hand. While Blazing End is in effect, Pyra can move, jump, and guard, but cannot attack until the Aegis returns to her.

Pyra Up Special: Prominence Revolt

Pyra performs a rising sword strike before hurtling back down, thrusting the Aegis into the ground in a mighty explosion that inflicts heavy damage. This move has excellent vertical recovery, but its lateral recovery is lacking.

Mythra Neutral Special: Lightning Buster

Mythra performs a series of fast-hitting sword strikes directly in front of her with the Aegis. Holding the Special Attack Button adds an additional strike and increases its damage.

Mythra Side Special: Photon Edge

Mythra performs a series of high-speed slashes, moving so quickly at to almost look like Teleport Spam, as she makes her way forward. This move is an excellent lateral recovery move as well.

Mythra Up Special: Ray of Punishment/Chroma Dust

Mythra leaps into the air before firing a projectile from the Aegis at a downward angle. The nature of the attack changes depending on whether the Special Attack button is tapped or held. Tapped, Mythra performs Ray of Punishment, which fires a single projectile that creates a small explosion. Held, Mythra performs Chroma Dust, which fires multiple non-explosive projectiles over a wider area.

Mythra Fighter Ability: Foresight

If Mythra dodges an enemy attack at the right moment, she activates "Foresight", slowing down her opponent temporarily as she evades their attack and gaining an advantage while they are impaired.

Down Special: Swap

Pyra changes form to Mythra, and vice versa. Pyra/Mythra are briefly invulnerable during the instant that they are changing form.

Pyra Final Smash: Burning Sword

Pyra summons Rex to perform a combination attack. If the initial hit lands, Pyra and Rex hold the Aegis together and perform an upward slash, conjuring a mighty column of flames. Up to three enemies can be affected by the initial hit, but additional opponents can be affected by the flame column. Of Pyra and Mythra's Final Smashes, Burning Sword deals less overall damage, but has more launching power.

Mythra Final Smash: Sacred Arrow

Mythra summons Rex to perform a combination attack. If the initial hit lands, Mythra and Rex hold the Aegis high as they summon a rain of laser blasts directly in front of them. Up to three enemies can be affected by the initial hit, but the laser rain can hit additional opponents. Of Pyra and Mythra's Final Smashes, Sacred Arrow has less launching power, but deals more overall damage.

See Pyra and Mythra's page for more information on the duo in their origin series.

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• Achilles' Heel:
  • Similarly to Cloud and Chrom, they have a poor recovery compared to other sword characters. Pyra's is short, covers almost no horizontal distance, and will send her into the void if she misses the platform. Mythra, at least, has some more mobility and a recovery mix-up, but both her approach angles are very easy to read.
  • To a lesser extent, grabs and unblockable attacks for Mythra. Mythra possesses a Counter-Attack mechanic called Foresight that enables her to slow down and punish opponents if she dodges right before being hit by a move. However, the nature of this mechanic also gives her the slowest dodges in the game. On blockable attacks this normally isn't a problem, since she will activate Foresight instead, but to grabs and unblockable attacks Mythra is more vulnerable.
• Adaptational Modesty: Matching with Mythra's Spirit from World of Light and in contrast to how they look in their source game, their outfits are altered to cover up more skin, their legs in particular.^note (although Pyra has sheer pantyhose, so her skin can still be seen) Mythra's more modest outfit became a costume called "Massive Melee Mythra" in Xenoblade Chronicles 2 before she became playable.
• Adaptation Personality Change: Not Mythra, who is as cocky as ever, but rather Pyra. She is much less timid and more upbeat and energetic here than in her original game; her English voice actress, Skye Bennett, elaborated in a tweet that this reflects her character growth in her source game.
• The Artifact: In a similar vein to Fire Emblem fighters with Marth's Falchion, being from the Xenoblade universe, they use Shulk's Monado as their symbol, but unless you get the Monado through DLC, it plays no part during their adventure. Not on their side of reality, anyway...
• Ascended Extra: Both Pyra and Mythra appeared as Spirits in Ultimate's base game before being Promoted to Playable via DLC. This also applies to Rex, as he started out as a base game Spirit and DLC Mii Fighter costume before appearing as their Assist Character.
• Ascended Meme: Mythra's down taunt is "Think you can take me?!" and one of her swap in lines is "You're done!", referencing two of the memetic lines repeatedly spoken by Ardainian Soldiers when fighting them in Xenoblade Chronicles 2 (the former being patched out of their game of origin due to an update).
• Assist Character: In a similar vein to Chrom for Robin in 3DS/Wii U, Rex is relegated to showing up in Pyra/Mythra's intros, up taunts, Final Smashes and most of their victory screens.
  Rex: What?! I thought I was gonna be in Smash!
  Pyra: Just sit back and leave it to me, Rex!
• Awesome, but Impractical: Photon Edge is quite possibly Mythra's flashiest move that has her doing a series of slashes while teleporting about in a straight line, and also deals a fair bit of damage. Unfortunately, Mythra's hurtbox doesn't actually follow her afterimages and instead follows the straight line. As such, the linearity of this move combined with its noticeable start up and end lag makes it one of her most unsafe moves to throw out and leaves her quite vulnerable should it miss. Crosses over into Difficult, but Awesome because how and when to use it properly is an important part of her playstyle.
• Badass Adorable: The Aegis is powerful enough to defeat legions of foes with burning fire and shining light, yet it also took on the appearance of two beautiful women. Pyra is especially considered this, seeing as she's more happy and outgoing than Mythra is, while Mythra prides herself on her cuteness.
• Bait-and-Switch:
  • The reveal trailer was made by the Xenoblade Chronicles 2 developers, actually making viewers believe at first there was going to be more DLC for the game. Eventually, it becomes a reveal trailer as soon as Pyra presents her invitation for Smash to Rex, with Mythra appearing later, though traces of the Final Destination would be seen as a hint for some.
  • Viewers who immediately saw this as a reveal trailer right away thought Rex was finally playable. While that's not the case, he ends up an Assist Character for both Pyra and Mythra's Final Smash.
• Battle Intro: Rex drops down onto the stage, then throws the Aegis Sword to Pyra or Mythra (depending on the one the battle starts with) as she jumps in from the side.
• BFS: Wields the Aegis Sword, a giant futuristic technology-infused sword, that takes on different appearances corresponding with their own changes of form. However, they also are the Aegis as well.
• Blade Spam: Mythra's Lightning Buster and Photon Edge deliver a rapid series of slashes upon the opponent. The former is stationary, the latter moves her forward, similar to Sephiroth's Octaslash.
• Blood Knight: Mythra is quite eager to join the fray, as she may say "Let me at 'em!" when tagging in.
• Blonde, Brunette, Redhead: Mythra, Rex, and Pyra respectively.
• Breakout Character: They join Robin, Lucina and Min Min as fighters chosen to join Smash before or instead of the mascot/main protagonist of each of their respective games, and proved to be so popular that they caused physical copies of Xenoblade Chronicles 2 to become a rare commodity and were voted the most popular fighters in the entire game in Japan shortly after their release and once again even after Sora was added. That said, Mythra was playable in the prequel DLC Torna ~ The Golden Country, and both have acted as mascots for Xenoblade Chronicles 2 in general despite not offially being so.
• Breather Episode: The tone of Pyra and Mythra's announcement for the game, being heroes from the bright world of Xenoblade Chronicles 2, contrasts heavily with being sandwiched between villains Sephiroth and Kazuya.
• Bring It: At the end of their trailer, Shulk finds them and expresses his delight on them joining, but declares he wouldn't go easy on them. Both are then quick to retaliate with a "You forget... we're fighters, too!" before locking blades.
• Calling Your Attacks: They call out the names of their Specials when they use them, as per Xenoblade tradition. During their Final Smashes, Rex joins in too since the attacks are his as well. They yell the attack's name at the same time, though not quite in perfect unison.
• Canon Welding: They recognize Shulk when he appears as the end of their trailer, implying that the Land of Challenge DLC for Xenoblade Chronicles 2 (which may or may not be canon to its base game) is canonical to Smash.
• Character Exaggeration: In terms of mechanics. In Xenoblade Chronicles 2, Mythra was more powerful than Pyra story- and gameplay-wise, but it could mostly be chalked up to her focusing on rapid DPS and evasion compared to Pyra being slower but focusing more on burst damage. Here, Mythra is a semi-Fragile Speedster, while Pyra is a Mighty Glacier.
• Charged Attack: Pyra's Flame Nova and Mythra's Lightning Buster can both be charged for extra power, but the charges can't be stored. Charging Flame Nova increasing the amount of times the sword spins around Pyra's body, while charging Lightning Buster increases the length of the sword and the amount of slices that are performed.
• Combat Clairvoyance: Mythra's Foresight ability is how she can see her enemies movements in the future and then counter. In the game, it's represented as a combination of Bat Within and Witch Time. Sonic's Spin Dash seems to completely ignore it however.
• Competitive Balance: In their home game, Mythra is famously faster and stronger than Pyra- which makes sense seeing as how she's the more experienced Blade and Pyra describing her flame powers as being simply excess droplets of energy that trickle out of Mythra's far stronger light/plasma powers. However, since this would obviously make for an extremely broken character, in Smash all the power is given to Pyra while Mythra keeps her speed. Regardless, this is still mildly reflective of their original roles; both in Ultimate and in Xenoblade Chronicles 2, Mythra focuses more on DPS while Pyra focuses more on burst damage with her Specials (and launch power isn't really a factor in XC2 aside from Driver Combos).
• Color-Coded for Your Convenience: The fire user Pyra bears shades of strawberry red, while the light-oriented Mythra mostly wears gold and white. No matter which Palette Swap is used, their Aegis Swords are always these colors.
• Confusion Fu: Costume 3 has Pyra and Mythra swap color palettes, meaning Pyra wears white and gold and Mythra wears red; Sakurai even points out players could pick this costume on purpose just to confuse their opponents who are using the default costume.
• Counter-Attack: Though it doesn't inflict damage, Mythra has an ability called Foresight, which is activated when she dodges an attack with the correct frames, similar to Bayonetta's Bat Within. This has quicker recovery than a normal dodge and slows the opponent down, letting her attack back faster.
• The Dividual: Unlike Zelda and Sheik or Samus and Zero Suit Samus, where both duos had major differences that made them function well as separate characters even while acting as a Multiform Balance before becoming Decomposite Characters, Pyra and Mythra are pretty much inseparable in terms of their duality, having everything about them be a complete case of a "Syndividual" pairing, being half-similar and half-contrasting. Rather fitting for a duo that are literally inseparable until the end of Xenoblade Chronicles 2, anyway, being a case of Split Personality that acts more like Sharing a Body.
• Distaff Counterpart: Within Smash they're one to Shulk, both being Xenoblade Chronicles characters that operate on a Stance System. In fact, Shulk functions as a Blade when in Alrest himself, heightening the similarities.
• Death from Above: Mythra's Final Smash, the Sacred Arrow. She's actually controlling a giant mech named "Siren" located up in orbit to fire a beam weapon down on her enemies.
• Downloadable Content: The collective fourth members of Fighters Pass Vol. 2, released on March 4th of 2021. Buying these fighters also come with the Cloud Sea of Alrest stage, 16 songs from Xenoblade Chronicles 2 (which can be played on Gaur Plain), and a unique DLC Spirit Board, where eleven Spirit Battles for Xenoblade characters await (6 returning, 5 new).
• Dub Name Change: They're known as "Homura" and "Hikari" in Japanese.
• Elemental Hair Colors: The fire-wielding Pyra is a redhead, while the light-wielding Mythra is a blonde.
• Expy:
  • They're basically the new Zelda and Sheik, being two different fighters, whom happen to be the same person, that you can switch between on the fly depending on your needs. Marketing-wise, they also loosely fill the same archetype among the cast that Lucina did in 3DS/Wii U, as the Breakout Character sword-wielding female lead of an Eastern RPG that isn't the main protagonist, meant to introduce their game to a wider audience via their Ms. Fanservice Badass Adorable appeal.
  • Their dynamic with Rex has echoes of Pokémon Trainer, with Rex being the one "in charge" of the duo and being present for their on-screen appearances, up taunts, Final Smashes and one of their victory poses. Thus, Pyra and Mythra are also this to Ivysaur, Charizard and Squirtle, with Rex in the Trainer's role.^note In particular, Pyra's role is directly analogous to Charizard's, as the fire-using hard-hitting member of the group. However, since Rex does have combat capabilities and Drivers in XC2 use their Blades (Mons) to provide themselves with weapons instead of commanding them entirely, naming the character "Rex" and having him stand in the background without fighting would be awkward, so Pyra and Mythra take the spotlight here.
• Flying Weapon: As their Aegis Swords are merely extensions of themselves, Pyra and Mythra can move them freely even without contact. They do so in many of their animations to extend attack range (e.g. Blazing End), manipulate the weapons more quickly (e.g. neutral aerial, up smash), or simply free up their hands (e.g. most throws, climbing ladders).
• Force and Finesse: Pyra is the Force, Mythra is the Finesse. Pyra's heavy (and literal) firepower serves as a contrast to Mythra's grace and speed. Pyra hits extremely hard and her Smash attacks can KO at very low percentages, but she moves much slower, can't jump as high, and her attacks have longer windup and recovery times. Mythra moves quick and can attack much faster, but her atttacks have far less launch power and damage than Pyra's.
• Forged by the Gods: They were created by the Architect, who created the world of Xenoblade Chronicles 2.
• Fragile Speedster: Downplayed by Mythra, as Mythra's attacks do the least the damage out of the two in exchange for some of the best mobility in the game, with only very few characters being faster than her on the ground and in the air, for example Mythra is faster than One-Winged Sephiroth in both inital dash and run speed. However Mythra isn't actually that fragile, as her weight is still a middleweight even if her weight is lower than Pyra's.
• Gameplay and Story Integration: Pyra's Blazing End can be pocketed by Villager and Isabelle. Instead of losing her sword until they throw it back, she just creates a new one as blades can always reproduce more copies of their weapon in case they lose it or it is destroyed.
  • A possibly accidental one regarding Mythra’s Foresight: In her game, it can be negated if by anyone fast enough to attack faster than she can react, such as Jin. Sonic, normally the fastest character in the game, can get around Foresight with his Spin Dash.
• Gameplay and Story Segregation:
  • In Xenoblade Chronicles 2, Mythra cannot safely use Sacred Arrow indoors because it's actually a weapon being fired from her Artifice Siren, a giant mech up in orbit. This is not the case in Smash (likely because several stages are located entirely indoors).
  • In Xenoblade Chronicles 2, Pyra was created by Mythra specifically to temper the power of the Aegis, and in-game, the latter boasts much higher destructive power. Additionally, while Mythra was much faster than Pyra, Pyra wasn't slow either. In Smash, for balancing purposes, Pyra is made the stronger, slower one while Mythra is faster but does less damage. It's technically somewhat accurate to the gameplay of the original game, but only if Pyra had somehow gotten 100 percent critical hit rate to take advantage of a damage boosting skill Mythra doesn't have and Mythra is faster in the sense that Pyra lacks the skill that allowed Button Mashing.
• Glacier Waif: Pyra handles, plays and hits like a super-heavyweight despite having the frame of a lithe young woman.
• Graceful Loser: Both clap politely to the victor when they lose. Yes, including Mythra.
• Heart Drive: Blades are lifeforms that are born from Core Crystals, which serves as their "true form" that they retreat into when they die. In the case of Pyra and Mythra, their Core Crystal is visible on their chest, and they share half of it with Rex in order to revive him after he was (literally) backstabbed by the crew that hired him to find the Aegis.
• Hitbox Dissonance: Mythra still has a hitbox when using Photon Edge despite her zipping around at ludicrous speeds — not that an average close-range fighter would ever be able to hit it. Projectiles are good at halting the attack however.
• Home Stage: Ultimate: Cloud Sea of Alrest, a traveling stage where the fighters battle on Azurda as they traverse the world of Xenoblade Chronicles 2. Rex's fellow party members and their respective Blades (Nia and Dromarch, Tora and Poppi, Morag and Brighid, Zeke and Pandoria) make cameo appearances, while various Titans can be seen in the background.
• Humanoid Abomination: They aren't Human Aliens like Shulk because Alrest exists above the ruins of what was once the Earth, a.k.a. the Land of Morytha, but are life forms born from the "Pneuma" Core Crystal and the Aegis is an extension of them.
• Hu Mons: Funnily enough, Pyra and Mythra qualify as this, as Blades are collectible creatures that grant different weapons and power boosts to their Drivers and have a Gotta Catch Them All mechanic to them. This means that the first mons to join the roster besides the Pokémon Trope Codifiers are two of the most human-looking and -acting fighters in the game.^note Unless you count how all the Fire Emblem fighters have been available in Fire Emblem Heroes, though not originally conceived as such.
• Idle Animation
  • Pyra:
    • She holds her free hand up to her chest, inhales and exhales.
    • She pumps her fist excitedly.
  • Mythra
    • She brushes her hair aside with her free hand.
    • She turns her body to the side while shifting her foot forward, and grins.
• Irony:
  • The way they fight in Smash is the exact opposite of how combat works in Xenoblade Chronicles 2. In the original game, the Drivers were the playable characters and Blades served as Support Party Members who would chime in for their own Blade Specials. In Smash, Pyra and Mythra (the Blades) are the playable characters, and Rex (their Driver) is the supporting party member who chimes in for their Final Smashes (which are based on their Lv. IV Blade Specials).
  • Mythra's censored Smash outfit is available in her game of origin via an Aux Core, but it gives her a boost to her critical hit rate. As an actual fighter, her moveset is much weaker than Pyra's and focuses on speed instead. Furthermore, the Nopon NPC's that gift the Aux Core ask "did it improve power of Launch?"; aside from the fact that Mythra cannot cause the "Launch" status on foes in the original game, launch power is one of her weaker aspects in Smash, with the specialty being given to Pyra instead.
• Jiggle Physics: Their breasts jiggle slightly during some of their animations, a first among the female cast and totally unique to them.
• Lady of War: As in their main game, Pyra and Mythra are quite graceful and feminine with their movements and flips, especially considering Pyra's focus on strength and Mythra's own brash personality.
• Late-Arrival Spoiler:
  • Just like Sheik being Zelda all along or Samus being a woman, the fact that the two are alternate forms of each other is out in the open. In their original game, this was a plot twist.
  • The very existence of Mythra in general is considered a spoiler in the original game, since at first and for a while it is presented that Pyra was a single entity.
  • Their trailer and stage also spoils some of their game as well; in particular that Mòrag & Brighid and Zeke & Pandoria end up as allies, when they start the game as enemies.
  • One of their palette swaps is based on Pneuma, who doesn't make an appearance until about 3/4 of the way through their game. There's also a spirit battle against them as well.
• Leitmotif: During their reveal trailer, Pyra's is the standard battle theme from Xenoblade Chronicles 2, while Mythra's is "You Will Recall Our Names", the theme for various bosses and unique enemies which also plays during Mythra's first-ever fight in the original game (against Akhos and Malos). Their shared credits theme is the "Xenoblade Chronicles 2 Medley", while their victory theme is a riff from the main battle theme from Xenoblade Chronicles 2.
• Lightning Bruiser: In theory, Mythra has very weak attacks and relies on Pyra for finishing blows and high damage. In practice and in skilled hands, Mythra's combo game and mobility are absolutely insane, putting her in the same league as Sheik, Fox and Squirtle, who are Glass Cannons due to their own combo abilities; however, Mythra is a middleweight (and is quite heavy for her frame, but don't tell her that), making her not nearly as fragile. Just like in the original game, Mythra's focus on rapidly throwing out moves churns out much greater DPS than Pyra's single-hit burst damage, though in Smash she relies on Pyra's launch power as well.
• Light 'em Up: Mythra's signature element is light. Her Sacred Arrow Final Smash shoots a beam of holy light directly into the sky and down upon her enemies which is actually a Wave-Motion Gun from her Humongous Mecha, and her up-special shoots either a single large bolt or five small bolts of light energy down at the ground. As seen in the original game, her light abilities are more energy-based and scientifically-minded than mere "light magic" like what Palutena uses.
• Limit Break: For their individual Final Smashes, Pyra and Mythra use their respective Level 4 Blade Specials from their home game: Burning Sword (for Pyra) and Sacred Arrow (for Mythra). Both Final Smashes start with the Aegis summoning Rex for help, with Burning Sword having Pyra and Rex create a single pillar of flames from below, and Sacred Arrow having Mythra and Rex rain down a multitude of light beams from above. Burning Sword deals less damage than the average Final Smash, but it has an incredible amount of knockback power, making it ideal for finishing off weakened foes. In contrast, Sacred Arrow deals a ton of raw damage, but has much less knockback power, making it better for bringing healthier opponents into kill-percent range.
• Literal Split Personality: Mythra is the pair's original personality and Pyra is the off-shoot that was created before she was sealed away to ensure that on the off chance that the Aegis was discovered, her new wielder would not immediately have access to her incredibly destructive powers. On the other hand, both think of each other as sisters despite sharing a Core Crystal and get along well, and Pyra's personhood is never called into question in their home game.
• Living Weapon: They are Blades, sapient weaponized life forms derived from Core Crystals that take on appearances similar to regular organic life (mainly humans), with these two specifically being the Aegis. The actual Aegis Sword that they use is actually an extension of themselves. These Blades need to symbiotically bond themselves to a Driver (in this case Rex) to be active, only bringing out their true power when acting by the side of their "wielder". Or at least most of them do, with a few exceptions, one of which is the Aegis itself.
• Meaningful Name: Pyra is a feminized version of "Pyro", befitting her fiery attacks, while Mythra's name is based on "Mithra", a Zoroastrian divine being associated with light (as well as being derived from Mythril, a mythical material said to be more powerful than metal). This extends to Japanese as well, with Homura being Japanese for "flame", and Hikari being Japanese for "light".
• Mechanically Unusual Fighter: Pyra and Mythra aren't the only characters in Ultimate to have a Switch-Out Move, with the other one being Pokémon Trainer, but their Multiform Balance is punctuated more by their movement and power stats rather than their movesets, which are pretty similar outside of their Specials and Final Smashes. Mythra is much faster and more movement-oriented, and Pyra is much stronger, which is a dynamic similar to Zelda and Sheik or Samus and Zero Suit Samus before those pairs were separated. In a sense, its more like switching between two Echo Fighters like Ryu and Ken than two characters with more different movesets.
• Meteor Move: Pyra's down aerial will spike opponents if sweetspotted, but only Pyra's.
• Mighty Glacier: Pyra's attacks are very strong; they not only deal a lot of damage, but a fully-charged Smash attack can KO someone at as low as 20%. In addition, several of her special attacks have a wide range and allow her to ever-so-slightly shift her position to land hits. However, Pyra moves pretty slowly, and her jumps have less speed and less height than Mythra's do. She plays and handles similarly to super-heavyweights like Bowser and Donkey Kong, but is a middleweight with the same weight as Mario, making her heavier than other female fighters aside from Samus (armored).
• Mood Whiplash: The reveal trailer shows a somber atmosphere with Rex looking high and low for Pyra after she seemed to disappear. Things get brighter and a bit more comedic when she reveals that she has been invited to Smash.
• Ms. Fanservice: Both of them are played up for their sex appeal, with pretty shapely legs, hourglass figures, and far and away the largest bust of all female characters in the game - so large in fact, they have slight, but dedicated jiggle physics. That said, their bust size is slightly smaller in this game compared to Xenoblade 2 (though you'd have to stare hard to notice, and the gainaxing make them look bigger than they are), and both characters have minor costume alterations that make them slightly more modest in design from their Stripperific originals (Pyra wears sheer pantyhose under her boots that extend to the red straps on her hips, and Mythra has a black bodysuit on instead of having her legs and back bare, and loses her Cleavage Window). Even then, the pantyhose and bodysuit are considered to be fanservicy to other audiences.
• Multiform Balance: Pyra and Mythra each have their strengths and weaknesses, with Pyra having high power and low speed while Mythra has low power and high speed. Their rapid mid-battle switch mechanic allows players to better decide which form is necessary for a situation, even being able to combo abilities between each form.
• Mythology Gag:
  • During their trailer, there's a moment where a tiny green Squirtle walks up to Pyra while Chrom is pointing his sword outward in the background. This is a call back to their first encounter with Zeke in Xenoblade Chronicles 2, where his pet turtle, Turters, similarly walks up to her, only for Zeke to get upset at her for "handling a man's turtle".
  • Also in their trailer, Pyra/Mythra and Shulk recognize each other when they meet. This follows from the Land of Challenge DLC for Xenoblade Chronicles 2, where the Alrest crew could meet and team up with Shulk and Fiora.
  • Their poses in their splash screens match that of their Good Smile Company scale figures, as this tweet points out.
  • One of Pyra's alternate colors is based on her hooded disguise from the original game.
  • Their P5 alt colors "give them a villainous look", per Sakurai. Pyra's color scheme puts her in line with Malos, the Big Bad of Xenoblade Chronicles 2, but Mythra's design borrows more from the general colors of the Weltall, the main Gear that Fei uses in Xenogears, the spiritual predecessor to Xenoblade whose intellectual property rights still legally belong to Square Enix. Mythra also bears a (possibly coincidental) resemblence to Poppi QTπ.
  • Mythra's down taunt is, "Think you can take me?!" and one of her swap in lines is "You're done!" referencing two of the lines repeatedly spoken by Ardainian Soldiers when fighting them in Xenoblade Chronicles 2.
  • The arm-pumping gesture from Rex when he appears during up-taunts is the same one he does when Pyra or Mythra are independently performing a Blade Art.
  • Their dynamic with Rex is this for those who played their home game, as it's the complete inverse. Whereas he was the main player character in Xenoblade 2 with Pyra and Mythra supporting him and taking the lead for special attacks, this time Pyra and Mythra are the main playable characters with Rex supporting them and taking the lead for the Final Smash.
• One-Handed Zweihänder: In the original game, the Aegis sword was a BFS that took Rex two hands to wield effectively. Here, Pyra/Mythra is able to wield her Aegis sword with one hand, as a display of how powerful she is.
• Palette Swap: Several are based on characters from their home game:
  • P2 is based on Pneuma.
  • P3 swaps their color schemes around, AKA "Myra and Pythra" as the fandom calls them.
  • P4 is based on Pyra's cat-ear disguise and Nia.
  • P5 is a "villainous look". Pyra's colors somewhat match up with Malos, but Mythra shares closer colors to Weltall from Xenogears. Both of them vaguely resemble Poppi QTπ as well.
  • P6 matches close with Rex's Master Driver outfit.
  • P7 is their standard appearance but with more contrasting colors.
  • P8 is gold and silver.
• Power Creep, Power Seep: Similar to Shulk and the capabilites of the Monado, their abilities have been rebalanced to fit Smash Bros. In their home game, Mythra was far more powerful than Pyra in both story and gameplay. Here, Pyra is slower but hits harder, while Mythra is the faster, more combo-oriented fighter.
• Power Floats: The Aegis is the Alrest equivalent to the Master Sword, the Monado, and so on, being an amazingly powerful weapon of legend that grants the wielder great power. Appropriately, as the Anthropomorphic Personification of the Aegis, Pyra and Mythra float when using their Dash.
• Playing with Fire: Pyra's signature element. Pyra uses fire magic and even lights her sword on fire for many of her attacks, including her "Smash Flare" forward smash attack.
• Promoted to Playable: Following Min Min's precedent, Pyra and Mythra became the second and third characters made playable after initially being introduced as Spirits. In addition, while Mythra was directly controllable in the expansion Torna — The Golden Country, this marks the first time Pyra has been extended the same courtesy and is directly playable herself.
• Red and Black and Evil All Over: The P5 alt color gives Pyra and Mythra a "villainous look", as Sakurai describes it. Both characters wear shades of black and dark grey with red highlights. However, both of them (especially Mythra) also resemble the unquestionably heroic Poppi QTπ.
• Red Is Heroic: Pyra wears red armor, which contrasts with Rex's blue.
• Red Oni, Blue Oni: Ironically enough, the flame-wielding Pyra is the Blue Oni, being the nice, calm and collected of the two. The angelic-looking light-user Mythra, on the other hand, is the Red Oni, being much more confrontational and argumentative with people. Inverted when Rex is summoned for their up taunt, as Mythra plays it cool with her wave while Pyra is much more excited to see him, bending towards him and waving energetically.
• The Rival: Both their reveal trailer and newcomer artwork depict them as friendly rivals to Shulk, with Pyra and Mythra having (possibly) gotten to know him through the Land of Challenge in their original game and having fought alongside him there. This would mean that Smash would be their first time facing off against him.
• Shotoclone: Pyra, specifically, is as close as a Smash swordfighter gets to this archetype aside from Corrin. She has the projectile (Blazing End), the spin attack (Flame Nova) and the anti-air dragon punch-esque move (Prominence Revolt). Mythra doesn't fit in as neatly because her up-special is a combination shoryuken and downward projectile.
• Sibling Team: Even though they are technically the same person, Pyra and Mythra regard each other as sisters and are quite a deadly duo.
• Simple, yet Awesome: Unlike the Pokémon Trainer with their three mons each with wildly different and unique archetypes, both Pyra and Mythra have simple and easy-to-understand movesets similar to Marth, Lucina, and other basic swordfighters, which makes them much easier to handle as a transforming character. Pyra's strength and Mythra's speed also provide a very easy understanding of which identity is best to use in different situations and allow the player to adapt very easily.
• Smug Super: Mythra is as totally confident in her own power as ever. This is best reflected in their victory animations with Rex, as while Pyra is all about basking in the moment with and beside him, Mythra is showing off in front of him.
  Mythra: Cutting it close, huh? Oh hey, were these guys planning on winning? Gee, I feel kinda bad now. Comin' through!
• Statuesque Stunner: Similar to Lucina, while Pyra and Mythra were on the short-to-average side in their game of origin, in Smash they're both marginally taller than Zero Suit Samus and tower over many other characters the same way they tower over Rex in the original game.
• Sudden Name Change: Pyra's enhanced forward smash attack is called "Flare Smash" in the move list menu, but Pyra herself will always shout the reverse "Smash Flare" when using the move.
• Suspiciously Similar Substitute: With Zelda and Sheik now being fully separate fighters, Pyra and Mythra fill the void they left from Melee and Brawl as a female fighter who transforms between two alter-egos using a Switch-Out Move. Like Zelda/Sheik in Brawl, they along with Pokémon Trainer are the only fighters with this mechanic.^note While Samus and Zero Suit Samus could also transform into each other in Brawl, it was more convoluted and was done either via Final Smash or a secret button combination that only worked to transform Samus into ZSS and not vice-versa.
• Switch-Out Move: Just like the Pokémon Trainer's starter Pokémon, Pyra and Mythra are different movesets that can switch mid-battle with their down-special. This is also similar to Zelda and Sheik filling the same character slot in Melee and Brawl before being made into separate characters.
• Tiny Guy, Huge Girl: As Pyra and Mythra appear to be even taller here, this is pretty notable whenever they're next to their partner and driver Rex whenever he appears. Pyra even bends down just to get closer to Rex when she happily greets him if he's summoned with the up taunt.
• Tomboy and Girly Girl: Neither one has any qualms about getting into scraps, but they certainly have this dynamic; the calmer and demure Pyra contrasts the more boisterous and outgoing Mythra in their interactions, especially when interacting with Rex. Pyra greets him with a wave excitedly, while Mythra waves at him a more haughty manner. Design-wise, it's the other way around, with Pyra having Boyish Short Hair and wearing short shorts while Mythra has very long hair and wears a minidress. Pyra being themed with Red and Fire (despite her calmer personality) while Mythra being themed with White and Light also invert the stereotype as a girly girl tends to be more angelic while tomboys are fiery. Regardless, both are still overtly feminine by showing off their hourglass figures, while maintaining a Lady of War fighting style thanks to their graceful movements, flips and twirls.
• Throwing Your Sword Always Works: Blazing End, one of Pyra's attacks. She throws her sword in front of herself like a projectile, which then spins in place before it boomerangs back to her. It's great for stage control due to how the sword lingers where it's thrown, and Pyra can still move around and shield (but not attack) while the sword is out of her hands.
• Tron Lines: Being Blades, glowing green lines appear on their bodies whenever they perform their special moves, just like in their home games.
• Unexplained Recovery: Similar to fellow DLC fighter Min Min, Pyra and Mythra suffer from a rather odd case of this trope, as they were both shown to be just two of the many victims of Galeem's onslaught upon the universe. The addition of DLC spirits from Xenoblade Chronicles 2 confuses the situation further with Pneuma, who is a fusion of the two of them and possesses puppets of them in her Spirit battle.
• You Have GOT to Be Kidding Me!: Occasionally, when Mythra gets KO'd, she will say a deadpan "Seriously?"
• Your Size May Vary: Just like Lucina, they seem to be slightly taller here; they're 5'2" in their game of origin, but in Smash, they're the same height as Zero Suit Samus (even with heels), who is herself highly subject to this trope.

81 – Kazuya

The Iron Fist of Darkness

^{Business Suit}

Voiced by: Masanori Shinohara

KAZUYA GETS READY FOR THE NEXT BATTLE!

Home Series: Tekken

Debut: Tekken [Arcade], 1994

Nintendo debut: Tekken 3D: Prime Edition [Nintendo 3DS], 2012

Creator: Namco

Publisher: Bandai Namco

Playable in: Ultimate

Specials: Devil Blaster, Devil Fist, Devil Wings, Heaven's Door / Rage Drive, Crouch Dash (Follow-ups: (Electric) Wind God Fist, Dragon Uppercut, Spinning Demon to Left Hook)

Final Smash: Final Blaster

"This will be your burial ground!"^note (Translated from Japanese)

The Cold-Blooded Oppressor of G Corporation and first champion of the King of Iron Fist Tournament, Kazuya Mishima is one of the cornerstone characters of the Tekken series by Bandai Namco, making him the company's second fighter after Pac-Man. He was introduced during the 2021 E3 "Nintendo Direct" on June 15, and details on how he plays were revealed in a "Mr. Sakurai Presents" video that aired on June 28, 2021. He was then released on the following day, June 29, 2021, as part of the Version 12.0 update.

Kazuya is the son of Heihachi Mishima, an ambitious master of Mishima-ryu Karate and president of the Mishima Zaibatsu. As a child, he was thrown from a cliff by his abusive father in a Die or Fly training exercise, daring his son to climb out from the ravine if he wished to live. This traumatizing event not only instilled Kazuya's lifelong hatred for his father, but it also awoke the latent "Devil Gene" in him, which granted him the powers of a demon while feeding off of his anger. When Heihachi later held the first King of Iron Fist Tournament - a competition between the world's greatest fighters and more with the offer of control over the Zaibatsu for the winner, Kazuya entered and exacted his revenge, setting into motion a multi-generational family feud that, in time, would force the entire world to pick sides.

Like his Street Fighter and Fatal Fury contemporaries, Kazuya borrows heavily from his home series; but unlike them, Tekken is a 3D fighting game series with a stronger emphasis on combos. This shows in his unique fighting style, which boasts the largest number of normal attacks out of the entire cast, giving him a wide array of tools to attack opponents with barrages of blows. His special attacks let him tap into the Devil Gene for even more powerful attacks. He is on the slower and heavier side, and not all of his attacks will work against all opponents or in every situation, but players who master his deep intricacies can adapt to any situation and even turn a losing battle around and make a comeback.

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Special Moves^{Click to show}
Neutral Special: Devil Blaster

Kazuya transforms into his Devil form and fires a laser beam which can pierce through multiple opponents. He can angle the beam before firing it, and performing this move in the air causes him to temporarily stall in place.

Side Special: Devil Fist

Kazuya dashes forward with a lunging fist strike. While risky, performing this move up close causes the opponent to enter into a crumple state, leaving them open for further combos.

Up Special: Devil Wings

Kazuya uses his Devil form wings to launch himself upwards, damaging anyone directly above him.

Down Special: Heaven's Door / Rage Drive

Kazuya transforms and grabs the opponent while flying upwards, and slams them down. Much like Bowser's side special, the opponent can influence where both they and Kazuya land if they are at low enough percentages. The move can also be used as a suicide attack, although Kazuya will be KO'ed first and the opponent will be given time to recover if they can. While Kazuya is under the influence of Rage, Heaven's Door is buffed into his Rage Drive, dealing more damage but at the cost of ending his Rage. In addition to its Smash input, Kazuya can perform a Rage Drive with a grab or by performing its original input (Crouch Dash + hold A button) - doing the latter method increases its damage output.

Input Special: Crouch Dash

By performing the Shoryuken motion, Kazuya can perform the Tekken series' stable wavedashing mechanic. The dash allows him to bypass projectiles and some attacks due to his lowered height while he advances forward. Kazuya also has access to three different follow-ups after the dash is complete, outside of chaining them together. Pressing A has him perform a Wind God Fist, an uppercut that launches enemies in the air. As in Tekken, pressing A at the exact same time as the down-forward input is done leads to the stronger Electric Wind God Fist, which stuns the opponent and can lead to further follow-ups. Pressing B leads to the Spinning Demon to Left Hook, a string which leaves Kazuya temporarily invulnerable and deals good damage. Holding A normally yields the Dragon Uppercut, a powerful kill move with some invulnerability, but doing it while under the effects of Rage leads to the aforementioned Rage Drive with increased damage.

Final Smash: Final Blaster

Kazuya fires a short-ranged laser; if it lands, he transforms into his true Devil form from Tekken 7 and unleashes a massive barrage of lasers from his eyes and wings.

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See Kazuya's page for more information on the character in his origin series.

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• Adaptation Personality Change: Downplayed. Kazuya remains as arrogant and brutal as ever, but he notably lacks most of the banter that characters in Tekken are famous for, with the only full sentence he speaks being a Pre-Mortem One-Liner for his Final Smash (quoted above).
• Ambidextrous Sprite: Averted. Unlike his fellow traditional fighting game representatives, Tekken uses a control system that assigns a button to each limb. As such, in Smash as well as in Tekken, Kazuya's stance does not change in relation to which direction he faces. This means that all his attacks contain a consistent limb for whatever moves he's using; for example, he will always use his right hand to perform his signature Wind God Fist, while his left hand is for his Dragon Uppercut. His fixed stance in Ultimate goes in direct contrast to the last 2D fighting game he was in, which played this trope straight.
• Anime Hair: Being part of the Mishima family, he possesses some wicked hairdo, having his hair upswept into a spike at the back of his head.
• Anti-Frustration Features:
  • He jumps more slowly than the rest of the cast, so that those who play with tap jump on will have an easier time performing his multiple up tilts.
  • The timing for the Electric Wind God Fist is more forgiving than it is in Tekken. Wavedashing's execution was also made slightly easier, as the player does not need to return the left stick to neutral, making it closer to performing a Shoryuken input.
  • His portrait in the character select screen is smaller, so his waist can be seen, allowing players to have some way of distinguishing his pants alts.
  • In Tekken 7, missing a Rage Drive or a Rage Art would automatically end Rage for the user. Here, Kazuya can attempt and miss it several times before it ends.
• Arrogant Kung-Fu Guy: Very. As any character in Tekken can attest to, Kazuya is far from modest.
• Ascended Meme: His "crouch dash" move is a reference to the Wavedashing technique in Tekken, which the infamous technique from Melee got its name from. He's also shown performing and cancelling successive back dashes, referencing a famous technique dubbed "Korean Backdashing" by Tekken players.
• Attack Reflector: Kazuya's Left Splits Kick attack can send projects back at the opponent.
• Awesome, but Impractical: His Jab Combo is his 10-Hit Combo, a No-Holds-Barred Beatdown that looks cool, and does a lot of damage, like its Tekken self. Also like its Tekken self, it's not a True Combo^*A True Combo, as the name implies, is a combo the character can not escape without some sort of Combo Breaker., and an opponent can use Smash's Directional Influence mechanic^*The ability to drift in midair while in a Disadvantage State, in order to avoid further damage, among other uses. to easily escape it.
• Badass in a Nice Suit: His alternate costume gives him his suave business suit and long leather jacket ensemble from Tekken 7.
• Battle Intro: Based on one of his intros in Tekken 7, Kazuya decends in his Devil Form arms crossed, back facing his oppoent, looks back and takes his stance while coming out of his Devil Form.
• Big Ol' Eyebrows: Got them from his father.
• Big, Screwed-Up Family: The Mishima family as a whole is very screwed up, to the point of a full-on war^note This isn't an exaggeration either: Kazuya's son, Jin Kazama, arguably the "nicest" Mishima, started World War III with the specific goal of wiping out his entire family and luring out the precursor of the Devil Gene so the world would be freed from their destructive influence.
• Bilingual Dialogue: Speaks in Japanese in every language track, which fits Tekken - many of its characters speak their native languages. As of Ultimate, this makes him one of three fighters to speak in Japanese regardless of region - the other two being the FFVII fighters.
• Boring, but Practical:
  • His normal moves aren't that flashy compared to other fighters (they're basic martial arts moves with only an ember effect to emphasize the impact), and even his moves which have him turn into his Devil form don't really have him do things that haven't already been done by other fighters (firing a laser beam, using wings to elevate, punching, dunking people into the ground, etc.). However, he has a lot of moves in his arsenal, arguably making him the most versatile fighter in the series due to how many options he has at his disposal, and on top of that he is very strong. Put into the hands of a player who understands his particular characteristics and skillset, he becomes an absolute beast to fight against.
  • More specifically, his Flash Punch Combo is this compared to his 10-Hit Combo. The latter is longer, more damaging, and cooler (the former just being two jabs, and a straight). That said, the latter can be escaped, and the former is generally more reliable if you get the timing down, not to mention the stronger knockback makes it much more viable to score a KO with.
• Breaking Old Trends:
  • He's the first fighter to neither have a victory theme nor have the Smash announcer declare his victory. The announcer from Tekken 7 does this instead.
  • While Ryu, Ken, and Terry take inspiration from their original (or second) games for their Smash appearances, Kazuya instead takes inspiration from the (then) most recent game in his series, Tekken 7. This is evident in how his Tekken 7 outfit has a Fighter Spirit while his original outfit doesn't.
• Close-Range Combatant: While he does have some ranged attacks through his Devil Blaster and Final Blaster, both of them are slow and clunky to execute while lacking sheer damage-racking potential, working best as launching finishers. The vast majority of his moveset absolutely needs him to get close to an opponent in order to truly damage them, with his strongest attacks requiring him to be practically staring them in the face before executing, which is already hard enough due to how utterly slow his movement speed is normally, but the tradeoff for this is that every one of his melee moves have high damage potential, and several on their own have strong launch power, so being good enough to close the gap will ensure you will be laying the hurt.
• Comeback Mechanic: He brings in Tekken 7's Rage mechanic, which triggers when he's at least 100% or has 25% stamina left. It increases his damage by 1.1 times, and, if he chooses, he can sacrifice the Rage Mode for a powerful Rage Drive which is done with his throw, his down special, or Crouch Dash Hold A (which is based on the original input). However, while just like Sephiroth's One-Winged Angel Super Mode in that it won't decay over time, unlike it which specifically requires a KO (of Sephiroth or by him) to be lost, the Rage charge can also be lost by taking enough extra damage or whiffing an attempted Rage Drive repeatedly.
• The Comically Serious: Much like Sephiroth, the cold-blooded, no-nonsense villainous bastard Kazuya is also susceptible to the comical shenanigans given in Smash via its environment and background, and it also has a similar hilarious effect. The difference is that Tekken already subjects Kazuya to this environment, mainly due to the non-canonical endings for Tekken's fighters like Kazuya's dad Heihachi for prime examples. Heihachi's ending in Tekken 5 sees him launch a rocket with Kazuya, Jin, and Jinpachi tied against its surface. And his ending in Tekken 6 has him binding Kazuya and Jin within astronaut suits before sending them off of a shuttle into outer space... unfortunately for Heihachi, however, Kazuya is able to drag Heihachi (also wearing an astronaut suit) into space with him, leaving the three to crash back down to Earth like shooting stars.
• Competitive Balance: As noted by Sakurai during Kazuya's character showcase, Tekken is a grounded 3D fighter with a huge emphasis on frame data and micro-spacing, in contrast to Smash being a fast-paced 2D fighter with more emphasis on aerial movement and vertical positioning. If Kazuya were imported directly into Smash as he was in his home series, he wouldn't be a very powerful fighter as even the fastest moves in Tekken are considered "okay" at best and "slow" at worst compared to the rest of the Smash roster, requiring a lot of concessions to be made for his moveset, not just for accessibility, but also for viability. One result of these changes is that all of his moves were changed to have some of the fastest attack speeds in the game, since otherwise he'd have great difficulty actually executing most of his moves against other fighters.
• Corrupt Corporate Executive: After dethroning Heihachi, he took over the Mishima Zaibatsu and began several illegal operations within the company. He would later gain control over G Corporation to counter his son Jin Kazama's takeover of the Mishima Zaibatsu, gaining the support of the masses due to his son starting a global war, when in reality, he wishes to use G Corporation to take out Jin and his rivals to Take Over the World himself.
• Demon of Human Origin: Kazuya inherited the Devil Gene from his mother, which allows him to transform into a powerful demon known as Devil Kazuya, or just Devil. For his Smash attacks and Specials, he undergoes a Partial Transformation, and unleashes the Devil Gene's full power in his Final Smash.
• Difficult, but Awesome:
  • He has an utterly massive movelist, even moreso than Ryu, Ken, and Terry. He has a built-in wavedash, diagonal tilts, "while rising" moves (performed when getting up from a crouch), and Electric Wind God Fist, one of the hardest Just Frame attacks in the game. He's also a Close-Range Combatant with a Mighty Glacier build. Said moveset makes him a very versatile character with many answers for various situations, and several of the moves are designed to make up for his slow movement, whether through bursts of speed or stunning moving opponents. It should be noted that this iteration of Kazuya is easier than in his home game — where he also embodies this trope, with the 10-Hit Combo simply being his standard jab combo, his Electric Wind God Fist having a more forgiving frame window, and all of his Devil Moves being assigned to his Smash Attacks and Specials, and he's still an incredibly difficult to truly master fighter due to just how many moves he has that all have their specialties for combat.
  • In terms of individual moves, the 10-Hit Combo is incredibly powerful, and if Kazuya is able to land the full string on an opponent at a decent percentage, it's enough to kill them outright. However, the move has slow startup, many gaps in which a faster player can dodge or shield (he can even pass through his opponent while maintaining the combo if he starts too close), and it requires Kazuya to commit to the entire string, leaving him unable to defend himself if his opponent escapes.
  • Devil Fist, despite being a move that propels Kazuya forward, is best used at point-blank range to an opponent, placing them in a crumple state, and creating a cross-up that allows for free attacks. While the move otherwise has decent damage and knock back, it has poor frame data on block and can only crumple enemies close to the ground, making it very situational to use effectively.
  • As noted by more competitive players, for him to stay on top of the tier list, his combo game and overall neutral option is heavily reliant on the Kazuya player being able to perform the Electric Wind God Fist consistently. Said move, while having a slightly more lenient input (having 2 frames allowance in between the directional input and the A button instead of simultaneous input), overall still requires the strictest timing out of all the moves in the whole game. That said, like how it performs in Tekken proper, mastering it gives one of the best whiff punishers in the entire game, and an effective combo starter or kill confirm.
  • Left Splits Kick (→→+A) acts as an Attack Reflector, letting Kazuya literally kick projectiles back at his opponent. Its input makes it awkward to use for spacing due to Kazuya dashing forward, and the short duration of its hitboxes make it harder to actually reflect things with it, but players who can pull it off consistently are rewarded with the strongest reflect in the game, causing the returning projectile to deal more than twice its original damage.
• Downloadable Content: The fifth member of Fighters Pass Vol. 2, released on June 29th of 2021. Buying this fighter also comes with the Mishima Dojo stage, 39 songs from Tekken, and a unique DLC Spirit Board, where ten Spirit Battles for Tekken characters await.
• Expy Coexistence: He's Tekken's equivalent of Virtua Fighter's Akira Yuki, who appears in Ultimate as an Assist Trophy. An official screenshot◊ shows the two about to face off.
• Eye Beams: His Devil Gene gives him the ability to fire beams out of a third eye that grows on his forehead. His Final Smash has him tapping into his Devil Gene power to unleash Beam Spam upon his enemies from eyes that grow on his torso and wings.
• Face–Heel Turn: His transformation from a hero to a villain in the Tekken series is referenced in his reveal trailer, first tossing Ganondorf off of a cliff and into a volcano, much like how the first Tekken game saw him do the same to his abusive father Heihachi... followed by throwing other heroic characters afterward, paralleling how later Tekken games show him growing more power-hungry and at odds with other Mishima family members who are nowhere near as evil as Heihachi.
• Flanderization: Played for Laughs. Within Tekken's canon, Kazuya throwing Heihachi off a cliff was simply a repayment in kind to Heihachi doing it to him as a child, and had only done this twice over the series; however, in his introduction trailer, he does this to (presumably) every character he defeats, despite lacking a similar history with these characters.
• Graceful Loser: Applauds the winner, even though he clearly doesn't look too pleased about losing.
• Guest Fighter: The 17th third party character overall and the second fighter from Bandai Namco. He's also the second third party villain after Sephiroth.
• Heartbeat Soundtrack: While he's in Rage, the controller will begin to rumble in rhythm to a heartbeat.
• Home Stage: Ultimate: Mishima Dojo, a mountain-side dojo where Heihachi Mishima is fought as the sub-boss in Tekken 7.
• Knight of Cerebus: The second villain introduced as DLC after Sephiroth, and he is also especially this after the more light-hearted Pyra/Mythra. He is first seen tossing Ganondorf into a volcano (after some suspense), before battling the rest of the cast and visually throwing other heroic characters into the same volcano, including Captain Falcon, Pit, Min Min, Marth, and Kirby.
• Leitmotif: A new remix and the arcade version of his boss fight theme from Tekken 2, "Kazuya Mishima, Devil Kazuya", can be heard in his trailer. These are also included along with the console version, "Emotionless Passion". Also contained in the Tekken music list is a remix of "Desperate Struggle", the final theme which plays for the battle between Heihachi and Kazuya in the ending of Tekken 7.
• Lightning Bruiser: He's a bit of a Zig-zagged example. In terms of general stats, he's a Mighty Glacier, being a slow-moving heavyweight fighter who doesn't launch easily and has all his attacks have high damage and launch potential at the cost of generally slow move start-up speeds, but unlike the average mighty glacier, the actual attack speed of those moves are so high, combined with having decent flinching effects, that once he gets going, he can perform combos faster and harder than a straightforward lightning bruiser. Likewise, he has a pretty decent recovery, with it being, on average, better than Mario if you count his double jump & up special.
• Limit Break: Final Blaster; Kazuya performs the Rage Art he can perform as Devil in Tekken 7, from the Beam Spam, to the volcanic background, and down to the Pre-Mortem One-Liner exclaimed on its activation quote as Kazuya prepares to open fire!
• Mechanically Unusual Fighter:
  • Just like Ryu, Ken, and Terry, he brings with him a plethora of combo-input-based attacks that grant a higher number of attacks than is normal for Smash. Unlike those three, who as 2D-game fighters are limited to combos based on four direction keys and 2 attack buttons, Kazuya originates from a 3D fighting game that utilizes an eight-directional movement stick and four attack buttons, giving him an utterly massive selection of potential moves, moreso than any other character in Smash. While his Devil Gene powers are restricted to acting as super moves through his Specials, Smash Attacks, and Final Smash to make things a bit simpler, that still leaves a large selection of the nearly 100 base moves usable in his original game, including diagonal inputs, two extra crouch attacks, and "while rising" inputs.^*It's done by putting an input while going from a crouching state to a standing state.
  • He technically has two sets of specials; his devil moves which are performed with regular B-button inputs, and his crouch dash specials which require a dragon-punch input on the movement stick. These include his Wind God Fist, Spinning Demon, and Dragon Uppercut.
  • He is the sole exception to the standardization of jumpsquat frames in Ultimate, having 7 frames of jumpsquat instead of 3.
• Mighty Glacier: Kazuya is a very powerful fighter whose versatile moveset allows him to rack up a significant amount of damage in relatively few hits. His attacks are faster than most examples to make up for how many he has; however, he is still a heavyweight and he uniquely has the slowest jumpsquat in the game, taking more than double the time to jump compared to every other character.
• A Molten Date with Death: As seen in his trailer, he disposes of all his opponents (sans Kirby) by tossing them off a volcano.
• Mythology Gag:
  • The reveal video begins with Kazuya throwing Ganondorf off a cliff and into a volcano and, later into the video, various Smash characters off of the same cliff. This is a reference to Kazuya's ending in Tekken 1 where, after defeating his father Heihachi, subjects him to the same fate he performed on him as a child. Then in Tekken 2, Heihachi pays him back for it by throwing Kazuya into a volcano, and finally in Tekken 7, Kazuya finishes off Heihachi and finally ends it all by throwing him into another volcano after their climactic final battle. Kazuya's Psychotic Smirk also harkens to his Tekken 1 ending, where he gives a look of smug satisfaction after throwing Heihachi.
  • Kazuya's splash text GETS READY FOR THE NEXT BATTLE is written in the same typeface and metallic style as it appears in Tekken 7 after both players have selected their fighter; contrasting the usual font of the splash text for other fighter reveals. It is even accompanied by that game's announcer reciting the original line "Get ready for the next battle!" — a series staple which was introduced in 4 but was not vocalized by each game's announcer until 5.
  • The first gameplay clip starts with the camera focused on Kazuya as he makes a pose, similar to his pre-battle intro, an element introduced in Tekken 4. Afterward, there is an overhead view of two Kazuyas before quickly transitioning into the normal camera view, just like how the camera marks the start of a new round in Tekken.
  • Before they start exchanging blows, both Kazuyas are seen repeatedly crouching and dashing back-and-forth. This is a reference to high-level Tekken matches where players control the spacing of their characters.
  • Kazuya and Ryu's fight has the camera rotate to a side view, another way Tekken starts a round.
  • There's a shot of Kazuya and King K. Rool about to clash on an overhead shot of the Boxing Ring, as a recreation of the cutscene of Bandai Namco's logo in Tekken games of Kazuya clashing with Jin. The fact that Kazuya happens to be fighting a large reptile wearing boxing gloves also doubles as a nod to the Tekken character Alex, a boxing velociraptor.
  • Kazuya's Final Smash takes inspiration from the Rage Art he can perform as Devil from the story mode of Tekken 7, down to his activation quote being reused. For a brief moment, the background of the Brimstone & Fire stage — where he and Heihachi have their final battle — can be seen as Kazuya readies his lasers.
  • As with his fellow fighting game compatriots, his sound effects are taken directly from his home series, and even implement the exaggerated hitsparks of Tekken as well.
  • If Kazuya wins a match, Josh Keller — the announcer of Tekken 7 — substitutes Xander Mobus' regular Smash announcer in declaring Kazuya's victory. He even carries over Tekken's usage of Full-Name Basis when announcing a character's name, as opposed to Smash mostly remaining on a First-Name Basis with its roster members. He also has no music attached to his victory, much like in Tekken which lets the music fade out during the victory screen.
  • Unique to Kazuya is the cinematic camera movement when he performs a throw, which are a staple in Tekken, harkening back to the first 3D fighter series, and the Tekken series' old rival, Virtua Fighter. This only occurs in a one-on-one match.
  • On the banner, Kazuya is standing back-to-back with Byleth. Byleth's nickname in their home game is "The Ashen Demon".
  • To demonstrate his wavedash mechanic, Kazuya is seen attacking Ken by wavedashing underneath a Hadouken, mirroring a similar scenario from the first CGI trailer of Street Fighter X Tekken.
  • One of the screenshots uploaded to the website shows Kazuya facing off with Ryu, Ken, and Terry◊. Besides all being characters from traditional fighting games, it also calls to mind how Tekken 7 has Guest Fighters from both Street Fighter and Fatal Fury, not to mention the other crossovers the Tekken series has had with them.
  • His Spinning Demon move causes his body to distort the same way it would in Tekken.
  • His home stage, the Mishima Dojo, has a carving on the floor that shows the Heihachi and Kazumi marking shown in Tekken 7, both in story and in stage. It should be noted that Kazuya's name is a combination of theirs in kanji.
  • The mechanics of the Mishima Dojo brings to mind Wall Breaks and Ground Breaks introduced in Tekken 6. While there are no Ground Breaks in the stage, there is a ceiling that breaks in the same vein. Also, the Mishima Dojo itself in Tekken 7 does not have either mechanic, but a pre-fight cutscene that plays in Arcade Mode against Heihachi shows him parrying a Jack unit into destroying one of the walls in the arena, making it visually similar to the destroyed areas seen in Smash.
  • The lighting of the Mishima Dojo stage closely resembles that of Honmaru from Tekken 4, which returns in 7 as a story-exclusive stage that shares the same dimensions as the Mishima Dojo.
  • His alternate palette swaps have a good amount of references hidden:
    • For his primary outfit, his P3 alt turns his pants red, similar to the primary colors it had in Tekken 5: Dark Resurrection. His P5 alt turns it blue, bringing to mind his denim jeans from Tekken 1. Lastly, while his black P7 alt is one he has not used yet, it was designed to be a reference to his son, Jin — even down to being used by the Kazuya representing Jin for the latter's Spirit battle.
    • As for his suit, his P4 alt colors it white, similar to — again — the primary colors of his suit from Dark Resurrection. His P6 alt returns the purple colors of his original suit from 2 to 6, while his gold P8 alt references golden customization options in 7.
  • The Super Armor on his Smash attacks can be considered a reference to the Power Crush mechanic in Tekken 7, where one or two attacks in a character's movelist contain similar properties.
  • His Left Splits Kick can reflect projectiles, likely a reference to a scene in Tekken 7 where Heihachi knocks away missiles with his bare hands.
  • A good amount of Kazuya's tilts are performed by tilting the stick in the same direction the move would normally be performed within Tekken proper. Could also count as a reference to Street Fighter X Tekken, where most of the command normals/non-special moves for the Tekken roster retain similar inputs from their source material.
  • When showing off the Wind God Fist, Sakurai chains two together. In competitive Tekken, chaining multiple Electric Wind God Fists is not only considered a staple combo for Kazuya players, but it is also a good way to practice getting the timing down.
  • If an opponent blocks an Electric Wind God Fist, they are pushed back and forced out of shield, with Kazuya being able to act first between the two. This references one of the EWGF's core strengths in Tekken: not only pushing an opponent back, but also being plus on block — an attack which cannot be punished directly out of a block and allowing Kazuya to keep his momentum going by being able to move first.
  • Kazuya's Classic Mode route has him battling opponents who specialize in hand-to-hand combat, bringing to mind how much emphasis is placed on it in his home series. Most of his opponents play with this by acting as stand-ins for other Tekken representatives, like Little Mac being a stand-in for Steve Fox. Ryu's presence is a reference to Street Fighter X Tekken where he served as Kazuya's rival, while Lucario likely references Pokkén Tournament. The final opponent of this route is Kazuya himself in the final area of Castle Siege, with an added gimmick that he respawns as Metal Kazuya upon being defeated; the choice of stage and music act as a reference to the final battle of Tekken 7 (and to a lesser extent, 2) where Kazuya and his Devil form are the Final Boss.
  • Kazuya's jumps somewhat harken to how Tekken has handled its jumping mechanics; his initial jump being incredibly close to the ground is closer to how games from Tekken 3 onwards handled them, while the more substantial height he gets off his double jump looks a lot closer to how jumps looked like in the first two games of the series.^note An early issue with 3D fighting games including Tekken is that the jump physics are not necessarily on point. Affectionately called the Moon Jump, many characters would jump extremely high, often making it hard to hit for both players.
  • One of the only lines of dialogue he has in this game is "Begone." (played when performing Heaven's Door), which is a quote used for some of his win poses from Tekken 4 onwards.
• No-Sell: Has permanent light armor that nullifies knockback from weak attacks, though not to the same extent as Bowser's.
• One-Winged Angel: The presence of the Devil Gene in his body allows him to transform into a devil himself, complete with wings and a third eye capable of shooting lasers. In Smash, this is used to enhance his Smash attacks and his special moves. His true Devil form appears as his Final Smash, taking inspiration from its appearance in Tekken 7.
• Overly Long Gag: His introduction video shows him repeatedly tossing various Smash characters off a cliff into the volcano below. By the time he drops Min-Min, her right arm snags on his leg and he has to shake it off. The video ends with him trying to throw Kirby down, only to look down in confusion while Kirby floats off in the background.
• Practical Taunt: Kazuya's Side Taunt is Demon's Wrath, a four hit combo that is the most powerful taunt attack in the game. That said, it has very little actual practical applications in the game, but it can be good for mind games.
• Pre-Mortem One-Liner: As quoted at the top of the page, "This will be your burial ground!" (used in one hell of a Mythology Gag before his Final Blaster). Notably, where other characters usually declare a Pre-Asskicking One-Liner (including Sephiroth, whose one-liner^note "Return to the Planet." (Hoshi ni kaere.) doesn't tell the opponent to outright "die"), Kazuya differs from them by averting Never Say "Die"; he doesn't just want to win the fight, he genuinely wants his opponent dead!
• Psychotic Smirk: Kazuya displays an impressively evil grin after tossing Ganondorf off the cliff in his reveal trailer. This is also a Shout-Out to his ending from Tekken 1 where he smirks at the camera after dropping his father off a cliff.
• Purple Is Powerful:
  • Kazuya's body radiates with violet energy when he taps into his Devil Gene.
  • Kazuya also comes with his signature purple color of his suit.
• Red and Black and Evil All Over: His Devil Form and Business suit are black, his gloves, left eye, and tie are red, and he's one of the Big Bad Ensemble in his home series.
• Red Eyes, Take Warning: After being resurrected by G-Corp, Kazuya's left eye turned red. It can also give off a menacing glow (which it does in his render).
• Recurring Element: Within Ultimate, Kazuya marks the third consecutive time (after Ken in the base game and Terry in Fighter Pass 1) that a traditional fighting game character marked the second-to-last reveal for their respective "set".
• Rugged Scar: Kazuya is covered from head to toe in scars, including a massive scar on his chest from his fall down a ravine, and various others across his body from when he was brought Back from the Dead by G-Corp.
• Signature Attack:
  • Wind God Fist, which is performed with the same crouch dash input as in Tekken. It also has a more powerful variant, Electric Wind God Fist, which requires frame-perfect timing on the button input, but has increased damage, speed, invincibility frames, plus on block, and sets up for KO confirms. This is a staple of high-level Kazuya play both in Tekken and in Smash, and is widely considered to be the signature move for the Mishima clan.
  • As Devil Kazuya, he uses the infamous Devil Blaster, a laser beam fired from his third eye.
• Sean Connery Is About to Shoot You: One of his win poses is a recreation of his Tekken 5: Dark Resurrection one, where he punches the screen after a jumping sidekick. He even briefly transforms into Devil Kazuya for extra emphasis.
• Suicide Attack: Heaven's Door can be used to grab the opponent and dive both of you off the ledge, which is helped by the fact that you can move forwards or backwards during the animation. Though as Sakurai warns the viewer during the presentation, Kazuya will be the first one to lose a stock if he attempts to do this, so doing this if you're at even stock or at stock disadvantage is not a good idea. In addition, a character with a good recovery game can survive the attempt if they act quickly enough.
• Super Mode: Devil Kazuya, a version of Kazuya that's tapped into the Devil gene, transforming him into a part human, part demon with purple skin, horns, and bat wings. He assumes this when using specials and smash attacks, as well as minor actions like his double jump and up throw.
• Super Special Move: Kazuya's "Final Blaster" is an even stronger version of his standard Devil Blaster, a laser beam fired from his eyes. Final Blaster has him transform into the Devil first, and several other beams across his wings fire in unison with the one from his eyes.
• Token Minority: He's one of the scant few characters on the roster who hail from Earth; in his case, he is the third Japanese-born fighter playable following Ryu and Joker.^note Fun fact: Kazuya actually renounced his Japanese citizenship; in a similar vein, Heihachi actually had his revoked by the government.
• Villain Protagonist: While other villains have become heroic, are put into Enemy Mine situations, and/or faced with Eviler than Thou threats when they've become playable, Kazuya is notable to Smash as an unusual villainous protagonist who is still a villain in recent Tekken installments. He also made a bit of history by being the second third-party villain in Smash history, debuting in the same pass as the first one, Sephiroth.
• Villain with Good Publicity: In the events of Tekken 6 and Tekken 7, he takes control of G Corporation and is seen as the savior from Jin Kazama and his takeover of the Mishima Zaibatsu, which Jin uses to start World War 3. Though once Heihachi spread pictures of Kazuya in his Devil form, the credibility dropped significantly (though he got the Mishima Zaibatsu's public image to also take a hit after sending their satellite crashing down to Earth, leading to them being held responsible for the collateral damage and thus could have allowed people to believe that his Devil form is just an illusion by the Zaibatsu).
• Walking Shirtless Scene: His default outfit leaves his ripped scar-covered torso uncovered.
• Wrestler in All of Us: Heaven's Door is basically a Chokeslam.
• The Worf Effect: Inflicts this onto Ganondorf in his reveal trailer, one of the canonically most powerful villains in Smash next to Sephiroth.
• Would Hurt a Child: In his reveal trailer, Kazuya drops Kirby off the cliff with one hand. A short while after, Kirby flies up from the fall, while Kazuya is unaware of him.

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82 – Sora

Chosen by the Keyblade

^{Kingdom Hearts II}

^{Kingdom Hearts 3D: Dream Drop Distance}

^{Kingdom Hearts III}

^{Timeless River}

Voiced by: Miyu Irino (Japanese), Haley Joel Osment (English)

SORA IS FINALLY HERE!

Home Series: Kingdom Hearts

Debut: Kingdom Hearts [PlayStation 2], 2002

Nintendo debut: Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories [GBA], 2004

Creator: Squaresoft, Disney Interactive

Publisher: Square Enix

Playable in: Ultimate

"Let's go!"

Sora, the legendary Keyblade Master of Kingdom Hearts was announced in the last "Mr. Sakurai Presents" livestream on October 5, 2021 as the final character added to the roster of Super Smash Bros. Ultimate. He is the first fighter from a not predominantly gaming company: in his case, from the world-famous media group, Disney.^note While Kingdom Hearts is a joint effort between Square Enix and Disney, Disney owns the series' copyright, making its characters Disney's property. He was released on October 18, 2021 as part of the Version 13.0 update.

Hailing from the idyllic Destiny Islands, Sora lived a carefree life of mirth and whimsy with his Childhood Friends, Kairi and Riku, until the dreaded monsters known as The Heartless laid siege to it, driving him and his friends apart as the world he called home was torn asunder. With a mysterious weapon known as a "Keyblade" in his hands, Sora joins forces with the short-tempered yet quick-witted mage Donald, and the clumsy yet stouthearted knight Goofy, to find his friends, along with King Mickey, and save reality as they know it from utter oblivion — a grand adventure that would take Sora on a journey through countless other worlds that defy imagination as he fought to defend Kingdom Hearts, the source of all hearts, from the dark forces of the Heartless, the Nobodies and Organization XIII, and the machinations of Master Xehanort and his many incarnations, making many friends in the process. He's even met and fought alternate versions of Cloud and Sephiroth.

Living up to his name, Sora is a nimble and tricky fighter whose forte is aerial combat and combos: in addition to his light weight and excellent mobility while airborne, Sora is capable of executing Three Strike Combos for his normal and forward-tilt attacks, on foot or in the air. In conjunction with special attacks that increase his aerial mobility, Sora is the king of the skies who can offset his otherwise low defenses that see him easily launched with a variety of attack options that can keep his opponents off-balance and open them up to big damage.

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Special Moves^{Click to show}
Neutral Special: Magic

Sora casts a magic spell with his Keyblade. The move rotates between one of three spells when used: in order, Firaga (summons a Fireball), Thundaga (summons three lightning bolts in front of Sora), and Blizzaga (summons a hail of ice that will freeze the opponent).

Side Special: Sonic Blade

Sora dashes forward at a target with his Keyblade up to three times. He can also perform this special immediately after performing Aerial Sweep.

Up Special: Aerial Sweep

Sora propels himself in the air with a spin attack, knocking anyone caught in the attack away.

Down Special: Counter-Attack

Sora blocks with his Keyblade and immediately counters against any attack in front of him.

Final Smash: Sealing the Keyhole

Sora uses his Keyblade to trap his opponents in a key-shaped portal, trapping them behind a Smash-adorned door, and locks the door with his Keyblade, causing it to explode.

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See Sora's page for more information on the character in his origin series.

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• Achilles' Heel: His biggest weakness is his weight, or rather, his lack thereof. He's lighter than even Isabelle and Young Link, making him exceptionally vulnerable to being launched off stage.
• Adapted Out: Nothing originating from other Disney works appears in Smash. Hollow Bastion^note Itself one of the few Kingdom Hearts worlds that's not based on another Disney property only features music that originates from Kingdom Hearts, and no non-Kingdom Hearts-original Disney characters make cameos or appear as Spirits. The only thing obviously from Disney is the Mickey Mouse keychain on the Keyblade.
• All-Loving Hero: His amount of compassion and understanding for others is nearly limitless, fighting for the sake of protecting those he cares for. As such, rather than antagonizing any other fighter like many characters before, his trailer focuses on him bringing light and hope to the cast, closing out the game with a confident handshake with Mario accompanied by every other fighter cheering him on.
• Anime Hair: His hair is distinctly spiky, enough to give Cloud a run for his money.
• Arc Number: The Kingdom Hearts games' most prominent Arc Numbers are 13 and 7, and Sora brings both motifs with him.
  • For 13, the time between his reveal and his release is 13 days, in version 13.0.0 of Ultimate, and including Piranha Plant and counting Pyra and Mythra separately, he's the thirteenth DLC character. 13 Kingdom Hearts spirits are also included: 5 fighter spirits of Sora himself plus 8 spirits of various Kingdom Hearts characters exclusive to his DLC Spirit Board.
  • For 7, he's the seventh character in Fighters Pass Vol. 2, again counting Pyra and Mythra separately, and his home stage, Hollow Bastion, has seven different Dive to the Heart portraits.
• Art Shift: His P5 costume is a stark contrast to his other costumes, as it makes him look straight out of an old-timey Disney cartoon, complete with monochrome colors. The costume is based on his change in appearance while exploring "Timeless River", a world in Kingdom Hearts II that is based on early Disney animated shorts, such as Steamboat Willie.
• Ascended Extra: In the original games, Aerial Sweep and Counterattack are just generic resource-less combo modifier abilities unlike his more powerful and flashier Magic and Limits. However, in Smash, they've been upgraded to being part of Sora's Special repertoire alongside his spells and Sonic Blade.
• Attack Reflector: Subverted; his Counterattack block will change ownership of projectiles, but they'll maintain their current trajectory and fly behind him (dangeous in a free-for-all, less so in a one-on-one). This makes him the opposite of Mewtwo in Melee, whose Confusion reflector would turn attacks around but keep their original ownership.
• Audience Participation: Much like with Bayonetta, Sora's inclusion was due to the Smash Ballot. However, Bayonetta was included as the highest-ranked fighter that could actually be included at the time — Sora was the most requested newcomer, but he couldn't be included in 3DS/Wii U due to not having the legal issues around him worked out in time. As a result, the developers set out to include him in Ultimate instead.
• Badass Adorable: His default appearance is based on the first Kingdom Hearts, and he's just as cute and cheerful as he was there. His "Timeless River" costume is also adorable, being a pie-eyed rubberhose cartoon character.
• Banishing Ritual: His Final Smash, Sealing the Keyhole, has him fire a beam that creates a keyhole-shaped portal, and opponents unfortunate enough to be sucked into it are locked behind a door with the Smash logo on it; Sora then fires a second beam towards the door's keyhole, twists his Keyblade as if to lock the door, which then explodes. The move itself is derived from the moment following the final boss battle against Ansem, Seeker of Darkness in the first game, where Sora and Mickey both seal the Door to Darkness together.
• Battle Intro: Flies in with some pixie dust, poses with his Keyblade, and takes his idle stance.
• Big "NO!": Does this when he's KO'd and his KO quote.
• Book Ends: His reveal trailer is a bookend for every other Smash trailer. The initial teaser trailer for Ultimate in March 2018 showed a burning Smash logo, reflected in the eyes of the Inkling Girl, with all of the characters standing in a dark void. At the beginning of Sora's reveal from October 2021, the burning Smash logo and the dark void reappear, complete with the Inkling Girl's eyes reflecting the logo once again.
• Boring, but Practical: His Counterattack isn't as flashy as Shulk's Vision, Ryu's Focus Attack, or Bayonetta's Witch Time, but it can counter a wide variety of projectiles, attacks, and even recovery moves, in addition to causing opponents who hit it to stagger, thus making it one of the most powerful counters in the game.
• Call-Back: Much as Mario took on the basic role of King Mickey in Sora's reveal trailer, Sora himself plays a role similar to Sonic in The Subspace Emissary, being the last huge surprise of a third-party character and showing up at the last minute to let everyone live and fight another day when everything looked to be over, against a near-unstoppable force (Tabuu or simply The End itself) threatening to sap the imaginative life force out of everyone and turn them back into lifeless trophies.
• Calling Your Attacks: He exclaims "Fire!", "Thunder!", and "Freeze!" when casting Firaga, Thundaga, and Blizzaga respectively.
• The Cameo: Sora can appear in the background in the "Dive to the Heart" portion of the Hollow Bastion stage if he isn't partaking in the battle.
• Combos: Sora's Keyblade fighting style allows him to switch up his attacks depending on how he reacts during the combo, including movements and delaying attack timing for different results.
• Composite Character: His default appearance is the one from the first Kingdom Hearts and his moveset is largely composed of attacks originating from that entry (with most of them reappearing at least once in the series except for Counterattack), but his alternate costumes use his outfits from Kingdom Hearts II, Kingdom Hearts 3D [Dream Drop Distance], and Kingdom Hearts III, while his voice is the deeper, mature variant used in those later entries. His face also resembles the older look used from II onwards instead of his younger self as seen in I and 3D.
• Cool Sword: The Keyblade is part Cool Key, part Cool Sword, and part Magic Wand. In spite of its blunt appearance, Sora's Keyblade is perfectly capable of cutting through just about anything thanks to its potent magic. It is also capable of locking and unlocking any kind of physical, magical, or even metaphorical lock; demonstrations of this ability range from opening simple treasure chests to sealing "Keyholes", portals that lead to a world's Heart, to protect it from the Heartless.
• Counter-Attack: Sora's aptly named Counterattack down special interrupts and stuns an attacking enemy before slashing them in return, unlike most counters which tank the attack damage before paying it back. It also works on projectiles, but they'll be deflected upon unsuspecting opponents behind Sora instead of being bounced back to their user. Do note, however, that, being based on the Guard technique in his home games, it works best if he is attacked from the front instead of from behind, so don't leave yourself open when using it!
• Crosshair Aware: His Sonic Blade can lock onto nearby opponents, marking them with the same Lock On targeting reticle from his home games.
• Dash Attack: Sonic Blade serves as his Side Special. He can dash up to three times in a row, with the second and third dashes in any direction of the player's choosing, akin to Greninja and Pikachu's Up Specials, and it can be canceled from his own Up Special for recovery purposes. If he's near a foe, he can also automatically lock onto them for the attack.
• Deliberately Monochrome: Sora's "Timeless River" costume features no colors, much like the level from where this costume originates, based on early Mickey Mouse cartoons.
• Dimensional Traveler: His involvement alone in Super Smash Bros Ultimate is similar to his source game series, where he travels to numerous worlds outside his own. The reveal trailer shows him fighting and interacting with the rest of the roster.
• Downloadable Content: The final member of Fighters Pass Vol. 2 and Ultimate's DLC fighters as a whole, released on October 18th of 2021. Buying this fighter also comes with the Hollow Bastion stage, 9 songs from Kingdom Hearts^note with an additional song included if you own Kingdom Hearts: Melody of Memory, and a unique DLC Spirit Board, where eight Spirit Battles for Kingdom Hearts characters await.
• Easter Egg: When Sora holds another item, Sora will use his Valor Stance from Kingdom Hearts II.
• Fire, Ice, Lightning: His neutral special allows him to cast Firaga, Thundaga, and Blizzaga in that order.
  • Firaga is a fireball that shoots straight forward. Repeatedly pressing the button will have Sora keep shooting off fireballs until the button is no longer pressed.
  • Thundaga shoots three thunder bolts down from above. Using it in the air will decrease its range, however.
  • Blizzaga shoots a small cone of ice forward, with the potential to freeze whomever it hits.
• Glass Cannon: He has high combo potential with decent power and KO potential, and is very quick and has a high jump and strong recovery options. However, he's extremely light, even lighter than Isabelle, which makes him very vulnerable to being KO'd himself, and some of his attacks have a start-up or lag to them that leaves him open for punishment.
• Grand Finale: Holds the honor of being the very last character added as DLC. This is emphasized in his reveal trailer, which opens with the burning Smash logo that introduced Inkling and the game fading away and leaving the other characters as lifeless trophies before Mario uses the final small flame to conjure the Kingdom Key. And the "Mr. Sakurai Presents Sora" gameplay presentation is explicitly noted to show Sora fighting every other character in Ultimate at least once.
• Guest Fighter: The 18th third-party character in the series. While Sora is the fourth character to hail from Square-Enix, he notably holds the distinction of being owned by the major media conglomerate Disney, making him also the first character to hail from them.
• High-Altitude Battle: A major motif of his gameplay focuses on Sora's superior aerial mobility. Sora boasts an amazing recovery and his gameplay heavily favors launching his opponents into the air for aerial combos. Sora is also one of the few characters who's granted additional recovery potential after using his Up-Special.
• History Repeats: According to development info after Sora was released, Fighters Pass #2 was meant to only have five^note Technically six with Pyra/Mythra fighters, with Sora's inclusion being desired but thought of as an impossibility. It was only due to a chance encounter between Sakurai and a Disney representative during an awards show that negotiations made ground and eventually resulted in Ultimate's last newcomer. Incidentally, a SquareSoft developer having an unlikely encounter with a Disney representative is how Kingdom Hearts came into existence to begin with.
• Home Stage: Ultimate: Hollow Bastion. Based on its appearance in the first Kingdom Hearts, this Disc-One Final Dungeon starts from the Rising Falls before traveling to the main castle, with platforming areas in the background recreated directly from the game. When a match is drawing to a close (either from the timer, low stamina, and/or low stock counts), it visually transforms into the famous "Dive to the Heart" tutorial sections from the original games, complete with stained glass visuals depicting other Kingdom Hearts original characters^note Characters that can appear on said stained glass visuals: Sora, Riku, Roxas, Xion, Ventus, Aqua, or Terra. Functionally, it's a simple stage that has one auxiliary platform above the middle of the main one.
• Homing Projectile: Sonic Blade has homing properties on its second and third dashes, automatically slashing through a nearby opponent regardless of angle. However, as Sakurai notes, one should be careful doing this near a falling/self-destructing opponent, as activating the special prevents using Aerial Sweep, meaning that after it ends, Sora will be sent plummeting to his death with little chance of recovery.
• I Believe I Can Fly: The ability to fly is a commonality among Keyblade wielders, and Sora is no exception: his Up and Side specials grant him increased aerial mobility along with his already excellent jumping height and speed, and his trailer shows him soaring as gracefully in the air as Peter Pan (which makes sense, since he first gained the ability in Neverland).
• Kid Hero: He is 14 years old in the first Kingdom Hearts game, which his Smash appearance is based on. Even when he grew up by the time of the events of Kingdom Hearts III, he's not yet 16.
• Leaning on the Fourth Wall: The fact that he's "finally here" reflects the fans' requests for him to enter the game for years. According to Masahiro Sakurai in Sora's October 2021 reveal, Sora was the most requested character for Smash since the Smash Bros. Fighters Poll was used back in the days of 3DS/Wii U, though he — and presumably other highly-requested characters — couldn't be implemented without their respective company's permissions, and Bayonetta was chosen as the last fighter for that game.
• Leitmotif: His trailer uses the orchestral version of "Simple and Clean", but it isn't available in the game. During the gameplay section of his trailer, "Fragments of Sorrow" plays, which under default settings, is also the song that would play the most often in Hollow Bastion, despite its theme being also in the game.
• Light Is Good: In contrast to Galeem, whose light is shown to bring ruin to the characters of Smash, Sora's light is filled with life, returning the fighters back to normal from their figurine forms after the flames of the Smash Ultimate logo dies out. His fighter color is also a bright white.
• Magic Knight: Sora is a key-sword user who incorporates Firaga, Thundaga, and Blizzaga spells in his arsenal to keep opponents at bay. Sakurai mentions in Sora's presentation that Thundaga in particular is a good anti-recovery spell that will thwart an opponent's attempt to get back onto the stage.
• Master Swordsman: Acknowledged as being a "Keyblade Master". This is reflected in his gameplay as his down special allows him to parry and counter any attack with the correct timing. While he may not be as refined as other sword fighters, he's just as capable as any of them.
• Meaningful Name: His name is Japanese for "sky", and fittingly, he excels in fighting in the air. His reveal trailer even put special emphasis on his ability to fly, obtained from Peter Pan.
• Mechanically Unusual Fighter: Downplayed. Unlike most other DLC characters, his controls are specifically noted by Sakurai to be rather straightforward, making it easy for anyone to play as him. He still has a few odd quirks, though, such as rotating automatically through magic spells and his three-hit combo system.
• Mythology Gag:
  • The way that Mario throws the Keyblade (wreathed in flame) in the reveal trailer heavily resembles the iconic Strike Raid attack seen in virtually every Kingdom Hearts game except Kingdom Hearts III.
  • His reveal trailer has Sora replicating the iconic "Dive to the Heart" sequences as he enters the scene from the Keyhole, which also mirrors the opening cinematic for Kingdom Hearts 3D. Shortly after appearing (and also in his appearance in the "EVERYONE IS HERE!" mural), he is shown flying around with golden sparkle effects, just like how he does with Peter Pan's pixie dust in Neverland.
  • His default pose in his P1 costume recreates the pose from his character art in the original Kingdom Hearts with one minor change. The teeth of the Keyblade facing up instead of down. Sora strikes this same pose for the splash screen in his reveal trailer. His poses in his P2, P3, and P4 costumes are based on some of his official renders for Kingdom Hearts II, Kingdom Hearts 3D: Dream Drop Distance, and Kingdom Hearts III respectively, which are used for his Fighter Spirit artworks.
  • At one point in his trailer, he slowly falls headfirst with the background of Galeem and Dharkon's stage behind him, a nod to the conflict between light and darkness that Kingdom Hearts is characterized by. It could also easily reference two things: his Dive to the Heart and his pose in the cover of Kingdom Hearts 3D [Dream Drop Distance], which symbolizes his temporary fall into the slumber of darkness.
  • He's shown fighting Shulk on the Battlefield form of New Donk City Hall, a big sprawling open-world metropolis, just like San Fransokyo in Kingdom Hearts III.
  • His down and up smash attacks are inspired by Finishing Leap and Magic Flash from II and III respectively, though they lack the visual effects that make it obvious. Alternatively, it's been pointed out that due to the pose Sora makes during his up smash, it could also be Ripple Drive as seen from the first game's Final Mix.
  • While his Counterattack uses the Guard animation from I, his pose while shielding evokes his blocking pose in II and III when an enemy attack has come in contact with his guard.
  • In a Stamina Battle, if he gets the game-winning KO, time dramatically slows down as the final blow is dealt before the screen fades to white, much like when major bosses are slain in the Kingdom Hearts series ever since II.
  • His Final Smash is based on the ending of the first Kingdom Hearts where Sora uses his Keyblade to seal the Door to Darkness. Here however, the door has the Smash logo on it; in effect, Sora seals the "Door to Smash", symbolizing that he's the final character to be added to Ultimate.
  • Sora's Magic Neutral Special cycles between Firaga, Thundaga, and Blizzaga automatically instead of being manually selected. This is similar to the Command Deck system in several Kingdom Hearts games, where equipped spells and so forth automatically cycle to the next one after one is used and goes into cooldown.
  • The ability to spam cast Firaga by Button Mashing alludes to a common tactic in the first Kingdom Hearts game where the Fire family's low MP cost and Boring, but Practical properties made spam casting it easily abusable. Thundaga's appearance in this game also resembles the Thunder spell in 358/2 Days, in which Thunder comes down in three bolts directly in front of the user.
  • The non-standard properties of his Down Special Counterattack reflect the unique blocking/parrying system of the first Kingdom Hearts game, in which deflecting an enemy's physical attack with either your own physical attack or a Block would cause both Sora and the opponent to stagger backwards and cancel their attacks. The ability that the move is based on allows Sora to immediately retaliate with a backhand uppercut with the Keyblade upon deflecting an opponent's physical move.
  • If he holds a battering item, he will do his Valor Form's dual-wielding pose and attacks from II, such as his Sonic Strike aerial finisher as his dash attack.
  • His reveal trailer has a scene of him fighting Sephiroth, alluding to the latter's status as a recurring superboss in the Kingdom Hearts series. The specific attacks they use during the confrontation also reflect the boss fights directly; for example, Sora opens with an aerial attack, which is considered the optimal way to start attacking Sephiroth in the original Kingdom Hearts, and Sephiroth attempts to use a Blade Dash only for Sora to block it, just like the Reaction Command used for Sephiroth's opening attack in Kingdom Hearts II. The use of the Find Mii stage references both of the places Sephiroth is fought, a rocky outcropping like the one overlooking Villains' Vale in II, but with the brown terrain and dark purple sky of the dark version of Olympus Coliseum in I.
  • Sakurai's gameplay demonstration of Sora ends with him battling both Cloud and Sephiroth, both of whom are recurring characters and optional bosses in Kingdom Hearts.
  • Towards the end of this trailer, Sora is seen staring onto the sunset in Kongo Jungle alongside a female Villager (who stands in for Kairi), referencing the signature shot of Sora and Kairi staring into the sunset at Destiny Islands.
  • One of Sora's official screenshots shows him accompanied by Duck Hunt, who stands in for Donald and Goofy, another duck and dog duo.
  • Sora's first victory pose is taken from his victory animation from the Olympus Coliseum tournaments in the first game, while his second victory pose is adapted from the animation of Sora unlocking the gateways between worlds in Kingdom Hearts II.
  • One of Sakurai's daily pictures shows Sora, in his 3D outfit, jumping in Final Destination. The way the picture is framed, with Final Destination's background converging into the center, calls to mind the Dive Mode minigames in 3D, where Sora/Riku has to fall through the sky in order to enter a new Sleeping World.
  • A battle in his Classic Mode route has him fight Cloud in the Coliseum. This is a call-back to Cloud's boss fight in Olympus Coliseum.
  • His Classic Mode picture is a recreation of him holding a paopu fruit (a Star Rod in this case) from Kingdom Hearts III's main menu.
• Non-Standard Character Design: Sora's P5 costume is based on how he appears in "Timeless River", giving him an Inkblot Cartoon Style design that fits right in with the world of Steamboat Willie.
• Original Generation: Not to Smash per se, but Kingdom Hearts' own nature as a Massive Multiplayer Crossover makes Sora the first fighter whose home series is a crossover in itself, rather than a completely original IP.
• Palette Swap: His are based on his different costumes from throughout the Kingdom Hearts series:
  • P1 is his original Kingdom Hearts design.
  • P2 is his Kingdom Hearts II design.
  • P3 is his Kingdom Hearts 3D [Dream Drop Distance] design.
  • P4 is his Kingdom Hearts III design.
  • P5 is his Timeless River design.
  • P6 is his Valor Form from Kingdom Hearts II.
  • P7 is his Wisdom Form from Kingdom Hearts II.
  • P8 is his Ultimate Form from Kingdom Hearts III.
• Rule of Three:
  • Sora's Neutral and Neutral Air Combos, as well as his Side Special attack, Sonic Blade, can hit an opponent three times.
  • His Neutral Special Attack loops Firaga, Thundaga, and Blizzaga, in that order.
• Shockwave Stomp: By slamming his Keyblade downward for his down smash, it can make a shockwave with a hitbox that has widened range. Because he jumps up a bit before the slam, it can be used to dodge low attacks, and even attack opponents while they're in the middle of their ledge attack animation.
• Shown Their Work:
  • Sora has floaty and long-lasting aerial movement on par with Jigglypuff and Kirby, which seems strange for someone that isn't a literal balloon like them — but it's completely accurate to the Kingdom Hearts games, where Sora and other Keyblade wielders can stay airborne for quite a while so long as they have combos to maintain and targets to lock onto. To a seasoned Keyblade user in the Kingdom Hearts universe, the law of gravity is but a mere suggestion.
  • Sora's Counterattack being a powerful one fits into his source material. Especially on Critical Mode, Sora can easily be defeated by more powerful foes if a mistake is made; well-timed counters become an important part of winning.
• Slide Attack: His Dash Attack is, fittingly, his Sliding Dash ability from Kingdom Hearts Final Mix.
• Spin Attack: His Up Special, Aerial Sweep, propels him upwards in a similar fashion to Link's Spin Attack; unlike Link, however, Sora is propelled into the air regardless of if he's on the ground or midair at the time of using the attack.
• Stock Audio Clip: His voice lines in both English and Japanese are taken directly from KH2, Re:coded and Dream Drop Distance.
• Stuff Blowing Up: His Final Smash, Sealing the Keyhole, has Sora locking his enemies behind a Smash version of the Door to Darkness, which then somehow spontaneously explodes upon doing so.
• Sword Plant: He has both of his hands placed at the top of his Keyblade in his Kingdom Hearts III design render.
• Vocal Dissonance: Despite his default design and his series' representation being almost entirely being based on the first Kingdom Hearts, Sora uses Haley Joel Osment's deeper voice from Kingdom Hearts II that has been codified for all his appearances since then, even when he would reappear in spinoffs as his KH1 self.
• Weapon Across the Shoulder: He casually hoists his Keyblade around his left shoulder (similar to Cloud's pose) for his original appearance in his Smash Bros artwork. He also does this pose for his Timeless River incarnation.
• Weapon Specialization: The Kingdom Key Keyblade, commonly referred to as the "true power" of the Keyblade. While it's the most basic and typically weakest Keyblade, it's also the most recognizable in the series since it's the one that Sora starts his journey with at the start of the first game. It also happens to sport a Hidden Mickey for a keychain, which is as much Disney representation as Sora gets in Smash.

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