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Filed under: Guest Article, Speculation, Super Smash Bros. Series, Super Smash Bros. Ultimate

Dream Smashers – Azura

This guest article was written by Jamesser445. If you wish to contact him you can find him on Smashboards under the same username or at the Virtual Dojo, his own moveset creation thread.

I know what you’re probably thinking. Really, a Fire Emblem character, didn’t we get enough of them in Smash for already? And one from the same game as Corrin no less. But, before his official reveal, several fan polls (including Source Gaming’s individual character polls) saw his placement often tied with the other main character of Fates, Azura. Today I’d like to go over a potential moveset for Azura and to hopefully answer one question. What if Azura was picked to represent Fire Emblem Fates, in Super Smash Bros for Wii U/3DS.

Who is Azura?

Aqua_portrait

Gimmick- Dragon Vein (two part specials)
Niche- Waterbending Spear Dancer

Azura is the deuteragonist of Fire Emblem Fates. Corrin meets her early in the game and discovers her origins as a Nohrian princess kidnapped by Hoshido in retaliation of Corrin’s kidnapping. She believes Corrin will find the path to peace and follows him/her lending her talents to the cause.

To say anymore would give away major spoilers for Fates.

 

History & Importance to her series/Nintendo.

Aqua_White(FE14)

Azura represents the following…

Fates. While one could say Corrin represents the game currently, I believe he primarily represents himself. What I mean is that all moves and animations are based on his unique ability of Dragon Fang, which allows him to transform parts of his body or his entire being into that of a dragon. Fates is currently the only game in the series to grant certain units the unique ability of Dragon Vein. Dragon Vein allows it’s users to manipulate environmental elements to aid their arm. Examples include burning or freezing bodies of water so that units can cross through, wind storms to disorient flying units, and creating a bridge out of rocks. Corrin does NOT incorporate this ability in his Smash move set. Azura being a Nohrian princess is able to utilize Dragon Veins. For my move set she uses them as a secondary action for her specials, I’ll elaborate more on that below when we get to her specials.

Lance. As of now, the current roster of Smash Bros features no spear fighters. There are several sword wielders but no lance fighters. Azura fills that niche while also representing spear fighters from Fire Emblem.

Dancer. While technically her class is that of Songstress, Azura is more or less a dancer. Dancers are categorized as support units that invigorate units for extended actions. Dancer’s themselves are categorized as fragile speedsters capable of dodging most attacks but suffering fatal wounds when caught. Azura would also be the first dancer since Blazing Sword’s Ninian to play a major role in the game’s story.

In terms of importance to Nintendo I already mentioned that she was the other protagonist of Fire Emblem Fates, which is Nintendo’s most recent Fire Emblem title so relevancy is playing a big role here.

 

How Will She Play?

azura palletes

(From left to right; Default, Tethys, Sylvia, Leanne, Ninian, Feena, Olivia, Nohr)

Azura’s colors are based on various dancers from across the series, the exception is her final color which is based off her Nohrian dress from Conquest complete with veil. Now before I jump into the main part of how she plays here are some statistics:

  • Can they crawl: No
  • Can they wall jump: No
  • How many jumps do they have: 2
  • Is there any exclusive abilities they have*: Unarmed Combat
  • Weight Class: 2/5
  • Height Class: B
  • Speed Class: A
  • Are they mirrored when they face left: No

Dancers are primarily support units. With very few exceptions, they can’t even fight. So sending them too deep into enemy lines usually means a dead dancer. They boast very low defence and resistance only surviving thanks to their high speed. Proper use of dancers adds a layer of strategy by refreshing a unit, enabling a second action. This can either further offences or rally defences. Azura is the only dancer that wields a lance, giving her access to ranged weapons like Javelins. But perhaps Azura’s greatest weapon is her necklace. In conjunction with her song, the necklace is able to pacify raging dragons, as well as entire armies. She can also weaken and exorcise foreign spirits. Finally the necklace gives Azura the ability to water bend. Azura also has the ability of Dragon Vein, an ability that manipulates the environment to suit the user’s needs.

To translate all of that into Smash is fairly simple. Azura is a lightweight, she’s launched easily and her overall recovery is limited to say the least. However, she’s by no means weak, she’s also very fast. That combined with the range of her lance makes her a formidable fighter on her own. She’s capable of using her water bending abilities to grab and throw enemies as well as push opponents away with her down special. Then there’s her Dragon Vein that allows a secondary action for her specials (for example, pressing B while using a neutral special), such as a gust of wind for recovery or a barrier that keeps enemies away while she sings. On that note, she can sing to give herself a boost in between skirmishes. All in all Azura would be a fighter that gets in for quick skirmishes and retreats before taking significant damage.

Untitled-3

Kirby will wear Azura’s coif.

Action Description
Entrance She falls gracefully from the sky
Stance WVW69jJy79IOgqcml_

Taken her battle stance from Fates

Idle WVW69jJzArwWuQbWFq

Azura stand similarly to her victory 1 stance.

Walking Azura carefully walks forward, trying to remaing in her stance,
Running WVW69jJy-KkRT9dK11

Taken From Fates

Jump Azura’s jump is similar to Palutena’s standard jump.
Falling/ Damage More or less taken from Fates
Jab WVW69jJbD9cyB551kuWVW69jJbE3MzoUO8BnWVW69jJbFyAaJkzbGv

Her jab starts with a horizontal slash in front, then follows up with a rising slash, concludes her jab combo with an overhead slash

F Tilt WVW69jJbH7MyO24nuJWVW69jJbIegNkQlgqF

Azura takes a step forward and delivers a spinning slash. Maybe the player can control the distance she travels?

U Tilt WVW69jJbXo0s2jZN5VWVW69jJbYCM6dUdjf1

Taken from Master of Arms, Azura quickly slashes upwards, attacking those in front and above her.

D Tilt WVW69jJdOsArOhQZBz

Taken from Great Masters, Azura quickly slash diagonally down while crouched.

Dash WVW69jJbLbU4KDgez_

Azura performs a Ballerina’s Jete while delivering a diagonal cut. Launches foes above her.

F Smash WVW69jJbM6UWtCjJbYWVW69jJbOJ8-b5gQ1a

Azura spins once before dropping her lance for a powerful downward slash.

U Smash WVW69jJbV4UERhUs3q

Taken from Spear Masters Critical, Azura launches foes in front of her with a powerful rising slash.

D Smash WVW69jMkVU8NdPbo2Z

Very loosely based off the Master of Arm’s critical animation of a horizontal slash but on both sides.

N Air WVW69jJbu5EEaCmXcIWVW69jJbwVISw5feSG

Based on a Basara’s animation, Azura spins in the air once striking anyone close to her.

F Air WVW69jJbn-8Ei11-37WVW69jJboWcldGXQL_

Based off a Spear Master animation, Azura brings her spear down for a possible Meteor Smash. Otherwise it could still be an effective combo tool.

B Air WVW69jJbl4g3deBHAiWVW69jJbmRgCrALT9d

Based off a Spear Fighter’s jump in, Azura turns around to deliver a wide horizontal cut.

D Air WVW69jHAn9ox_KSTYbWVW69jHAovsDiCQP7-

Based off the Great Lord’ jump in attack, Azura delivers a wide downwards slash.

U Air WVW69jHVbTkIFsT7bk

Based off the Sky Knight’s finisher, Azura delivers a rising slash.

Grab Screen Shot 2016-04-26 at 2.10.18 PM

Azura creates a circle of water directly in front of her to ensnare anyone in front of her. It has good range but less range than a tether grab. Her throws would see her using the water to push and pull her victim away.

Pummel Her pummel would see her “purify” her opponent using the water circle but it would be rather slow similar to Robin’s pummel.  
F Throw WVW69jMk8d0-GKE2ri

Azura simply stabs forwards

B Throw WVW69jMk3nwuJPDGnYWVW69jMk4CgOeegtPZ

Based off the Spear Fighter finisher, Azura takes a step and strikes her opponent behind her.

D Throw WVW69jMk6yk19SbCpBWVW69jMk7FIz36KIxn

Loosely based off the Spear Master finisher, Azura raises her lance and brings it down in a downward slash.

U Throw WVW69jMkdbQynKIYpg

Based off the Great Master finisher, Azura backflips while slashing launching her opponent upwards.

Neutral Special WVW69jJbencuOzlFsa

Inspiring Song- Azura begins singing a high note for a full 3 seconds. If completed Azura will heal a small amount of percentage (10 % of current percentage ex 90 % will heal as 81%). In team battles allies close to Azura can heal as well but it will be divided between them and Azura. Repeated uses will lower the effects of Inspiring Song as well (Think Witch Time and how repeated uses stops time for less seconds each time it’s repeated).

Neutral Dragon Vein Screen Shot 2016-04-26 at 2.01.22 PM

Dragon Vein creates a barrier around Azura that bursts keeping foes away. Naturally this interrupts the song and prevents Azura from receiving the benefits of the song.

 Custom 1  The first custom for this move will see Azura and team get a buff to their overall stats for a temporary amount of time. Similar to the effects of Wii Fit Trainers down-special.
 Custom 2  The second custom for this move will require double the amount of singing time from Azura but in exchange she gets both a buff and heal, although not to the same percentages as if doing one.
Side Special WVW69jJbfqwuBEeeKv

Javelin- Azura throws her lance a set distance. A projectile that’s capable of earning knock outs at high percentages. Can also be used in edge game as a sniping tool. But this leaves Azura completely unarmed with only water bending to defend for herself. Azura can reclaim her lance if she touches it. If it falls off the stage it will eventually respawn in her arms. Should Azura fall while unarmed, she will respawn with a new lance.

On side effect of this move is that it can leave her temporarily unarmed. More of a handicap than an ability, Azura can lose her lance forcing her to fight bare handed with only her water bending. She loses almost all of her damage output and her range.

Side Dragon Vein Dragon Vein creates a shockwave where the lance is planted. The lance will be launched into the air and drops where Azura called the Dragon Vein regardless of whether or not Azura is still there. The earthquake can launch any foes standing by the spear. 
 Custom 1  For Azura’s first custom she can now throw her lance at a much greater distance however it does less damage overall.
 Custom 2  For Azura’s second custom she will throw the lance more skyward and in an arc, similar to the arc Sheik and Zero Suit Samus jump in with their down specials.
Down Special Untitled-4Using_FLUDD

Azura charges water in a stance, When fully charged, she will stab forwards damaging enemies while pushing foes away with water. This only has one level of charge but if Azura rolls out, shields, etc then she can save that charge.

Down Dragon Vein
Untitled-6Untitled-7

Dragon Vein can be activated during the charging phase.  Azura will twirl once with the water she charged, pulling her enemies in.

She then raises her lance towards the sky freezing the water into a pillar of ice that freezes and launches her opponents.

 Custom 1  Azura’s customs for this move actually change how her Dragon Vein works instead. Instead of pulling people in with her spin, the spin will cause a wave of ice around her that’s size is proportional to how long she was charging the attack.
 The second custom will bring people in with her spin but instead of a damaging ice attack it is a blast of water. The water has the same effect as Mario’s F.L.U.D.D. and her normal down special but knocks people skywards instead.
Up Special Untitled-1

Pole Vault- Azura uses her spear as a pole to jump like an Olympian. It doesn’t put Azura into a special fall allowing her one air action. It isn’t very effective for horizontal recovery in the air.

Up Dragon Vein Untitled-2

Dragon Vein summons a gust of wind that launches Azura horizontally and then into special fall.

 Custom 1  Again, this custom will effect the Dragon Vein and not the standard attack. The first has the wind spin Azura as she rises. She won’t travel as far horizontally but can damage opponents on any side.
Custom 2 This custom will have the wind push Azura into another Pole Vault. This means she will travel in the same arched angle that she normally does however she does not get the additional attack.
Her Final Smash is a mid-game spoiler. You have been warned.
Final Smash: Dark Song Screen Shot 2016-04-27 at 11.01.53 PMScreen Shot 2016-04-27 at 11.06.18 PM

Based on the Opera scene. Azura sets her lance down and begins to sing and dance for about a minute.

Each motion of her arms and legs leaves behind a trail of water that grows as the song goes on.

The water deals damage to those caught in her field of influence, represented by airborne drops of glowing water.

With the final motions creating giant rings of water that push enemies off stage, with those at higher percentages being launched farther than others.

Up Taunt She spins her lance and strikes a pose similar to her official art, “Time for your final bow”
Side Taunt Stands tall like in her Portrait and says, “Look me in the eyes”
Down Taunt Does her battle entrance animation and says “Let us begin”
Victory 1 WVW69jJzArwWuQbWFq

Victory animation from Fates “I had no choice”

Victory 2 Spins once and flicks her hair (Map sprite dance) “My heart is singing”
Victory 3 Screen Shot 2016-04-27 at 11.11.31 PM

Dances similar to Fates opening

As for Azura’s victory theme, she keeps the standard Fire Emblem fanfare used by Corrin.

And that is how Azura could play in Super Smash Bros. Keep in mind that she will probably never see playable status in Smash Bros. But I hope this gives a good indication of what we could’ve seen on December 15th, if Azura chose to dance on the battlefield.

Nantendo

 

Joshua 'NantenJex' Goldie
32 comments
  1. I was surprised by how in-depth the article was, I liked the visual aids! And, I especially liked the alternate outfits presenting throwbacks to series’ dancers such as Tethys and Ninian : )

    xkan on May 21 |
    • I try, I’m bad with words and a picture is worth a thousand words after all. I think the Ninian color turned out the best in my opinion, it’s atleast my favorite.

      jamesster445 on May 21 |
  2. Pretty great moveset overall! I don’t hate Corrin, but if I had to be honest, I would have preferred Azura over them….

    smashkirby on May 21 |
    • Me too :]

      jamesster445 on May 21 |
  3. This was a good one! I was really rooting for Azura, as I felt she’d be more unique than Corrin. You definitely captured her character well, and hopefully she’ll join the battle one day.

    Slow (@SlowDragon_) on May 21 |
    • I’m sad to say but Azura will probably never join Smash officially. But yeah I would;ve definitely preferred her over Corrin. Still kinda do.

      jamesster445 on May 21 |
  4. Please, no more Fire Emblem!

    Arthur 97 on May 21 |
    • And that’s one!

      jamesster445 on May 21 |
      • Of course, it’s over represented, and it’s pretty hard to argue against that.

        Arthur 97 on May 21 |
        • No it’s not. It made it’s comeback and earned it’s spot. You may not like it but you have to respect it: Fire Emblem is a thing now. It isn’t just some Smash only thing like Captain Falcon and Ness.

          Peridot Gem on May 22 |
          • It hasn’t earned being on par with Mario and Pokemon. Even Sakurai says that there are too many. Being overrepped is not the same as deserving none.

            Arthur 97 on May 22 |
          • C’mon dude

            Peridot Gem on May 22 |
          • https://mynintendonews.com/2016/04/28/fire-emblem-is-now-considered-a-major-ip-for-nintendo/

            now Sakurai don’t have to worry about that anymore since it’s a major IP

            Fates nearing 2mil and Awakening already past 2mil 2 years ago likely at 2.5mil right now. i say it deserved what it got.

            lurker on May 22 |
          • Sure he does since he tries not to overdo Mario which has sold much more or Zelda which has fewer characters.

            Arthur 97 on May 22 |
          • Mario is the main IP and is the king of video games in general. He already has like 9 characters total. 11 if you count the Kongs. Zelda has the 4th most character in the franchise. How is that fewer?

            Peridot Gem on May 22 |
          • Fire Emblem has more than Zelda, and yes Mario is the king so using it to justify Fire Emblem’s representation, which just recently broke away from being a niche series, is ludicrous. Mario deserves the most plain and simple. Not to mention that most FE protagonists are one-offs, and become relatively unimportant after their game, Marth and Ike not including.

            Arthur 97 on May 22 |
          • That’s inaccurate Roy showed up in a major role in two or three. One of them was an japanese exclusive. Lucina showed up in Project X Zone alongside Chrom who shows up in everything so she really isn’t just an one-off that wasn’t gonna show up again like Robin. Robin. Robin is an special case. I’m 100% she/he was the first customizable avatar to the FE series. So really, it’s understandable why he/she made it. Robin is technically on a lord status since they are basically your avatar and the most focused character in Awakening. Y’know the game that saved FE? Corrin = Advertisement. I thought we got that clear. Corrin is advertising just like Roy did. And now he/she’s becoming an fan favorite if not already one just like Roy who was badly wanted over Ike. https://mynintendonews.com/2016/04/28/fire-emblem-is-now-considered-a-major-ip-for-nintendo/ FE isn’t just some random minor IP. It’s a classic nearly if not just as old as Zelda and it’s even selling more than Zelda in Japan. Not by a crazy amount but it’s still selling more. Fire Emblem would’ve been an major IP sooner maybe even an front runner if Nintendo hadn’t kept kicking it away and refusing to localize the series until Melee but even then like a game or more didn’t make it past localization. And it’s a shame too because lots of people love the older games and hate the newer ones. Now Nintendo embraced it after Awakening and it quickly became an major IP not even that long. It really proves how much potential FE had and now it’s being recognized for it.

            I’m not trying to use Mario to justify FE. Mario no question is the king. But with something like Zelda that’s filled with one-off characters to the bone it’s understandable why there isn’t as many as Mario in Smash.

            Peridot Gem on May 23 |
          • Sigh, Roy was only important to one, do your research ( http://fireemblem.wikia.com/wiki/Roy ). He had a minor cameo at the end of 7. The Robins do represent the series and it’s mechanics the best, but they are still a one-off character, and that’s coming from someone with way too many hours sunk into Awakening. As such, most of the main characters, especially the ones not in Smash, are not as recognizable as Link and perhaps even Zelda. Besides, this article is talking about yet another character which definitely doesn’t need to happen and especially not from the same game.

            Arthur 97 on May 23 |
          • So? That means he showed up in another game. Cameo or not. He’s a fan favorite from Melee anyways And about Robin. Since Awakening actually SAVED an dead series it should deserve these two characters.

            Peridot Gem on May 23 |
          • There are a lot of cameos, doesn’t make them important. Besides, you said he had a major role in 2 or 3 which just isn’t the case. And, yes, Awakening is probably the single most deserving game in the franchise (plus I’m a bit biased in its favor) still doesn’t mean that Roy (who I do like by the way) and the Corrins were necessary. Especially if you consider that it is the only franchise to get more than one DLC character. Look at DK, another Nintendo icon, which only has two.

            Arthur 97 on May 23 |
          • Dude shut up about Corrin. Corrin was dumb luck. End of story. Roy was only added in to promote once and by the looks of it honestly he was most likely planned to never be used again until DLC which Roy got back in due to being the only reasonable DLC Melee option left.

            Peridot Gem on May 24 |
  5. Shouldn’t Azura’s color palette be more based on the girls from Fire Emblem Fates instead of the other Fire Emblem games (Like how Lucina’s is based off of most of the girls from Fire Emblem Awakening)?

    Bob on May 22 |
    • That was an option. I just liked my idea better.

      Jamesster445 on May 22 |
  6. Tfw you’re still waiting for a Dream Smashers on Isaac 🙁

    Isaac: Venus Adept on May 23 |
    • I”m playing Golden Sun now, so maybe in the future.

      jamesster445 on May 23 |
  7. The sooner you guys realize that there is no actual meaningful correlation between series total sales and # of playable reps, the better. We know this because we know what criteria Sakurai does use to select characters and total series sales is not among them. The entire argument is outdated and has little basis in fact.

    Anonymous SG Fan on May 23 |
    • I’m saying that FE lacks the iconicness that many others have.

      Arthur 97 on May 23 |
      • I’m sorry but I fail to see how ‘iconicness’ is any less subjective a measurement of who does/does not belong in Smash bros, let alone an article called ‘Dream’ smashers. Might be something to think about before commenting again, don’t you think?

        Anonymous SG Fan on May 23 |
      • Fire Emblem is considered a major Nintendo IP now. Also the main reason it can have so many characters is because the series has a much deeper pool to pull from that can be translated into Smash. Just look at how many moveset ideas the author was able to pull screenshots for. That’s not something you can do for other characters like pre-HW Impa (though I really want her), Groose, Daisy, etc.

        JavelinR on May 23 |
        • Exactly

          Peridot Gem on May 31 |
  8. While I didn’t personally find Azura to be all that interesting while playing Fates (granted I still have yet to finish it, Conquest is hard), I wouldn’t mind seeing her in Smash. The moveset you’ve come up with is pretty interesting, and I like the callback to other dancers in the series. The option of modifying her specials with Dragon Veins is also a really nice touch. There are just a few problems I have.

    First, her neutral special seems too strong. Compare it with other healing moves, as a start. Wii Fit Trainer’s Sun Salutation and Deep Breathing both take roughly two seconds to charge, and can only ever heal 2%. As soon as Azura hits 30%, she’s already healing more for just one extra second of charge time, and it only scales better from there. Robin’s Nosferatu is probably closer on terms with how much it can heal, but that has the disadvantage of being a grab and having durability to balance it. To be fair, those moves do have offensive components to them, while this is just a heal, so maybe they’re not that comparable. The other issue I have is that having the Dragon Vein cancel the move and push enemies back makes the move too safe to throw out, since opponents without a projectile can’t do much to challenge the move if they’ll just get pushed back.

    Second, I feel like the Dragon Vein for her side special doesn’t give her an option, as much as it replaces it. I do think it’s an interesting mechanic that she could lose her spear and be forced to fight hand-to-hand until she gets it back, but if the Dragon Vein returns it to her current position, then why not do that always? Even if you move away from it before it returns, it’ll still be closer to you than when you first threw it, if I’m picturing this move correctly, and it sounds like you would rather have the spear than fight without it. Perhaps as a different option, the Dragon Vein could cause the spear to burst into water, dealing damage to or pushing back anyone near it, but then Azura will have to wait an extended period of time before she gets a new spear.

    Criticism aside, I really like this article. Even if I’m not a fan of Azura, I think she could make an interesting fit in Smash, and I’m always for characters with unique mechanics.

    Spiral on May 26 |
    • On a second look, I do feel that Neutral B is too strong. I originally had it about 20% at first but that seemed too strong. I think I might have to cut it down to 5%. just remember if Azura literally has 10% of health, her song would only heal 1%. As for the Dragon Vein, think a burst from any Arc System Works Fighting game, they can be guarded resulting in serious punishes.

      As for her side special Dragon Vein, I was thinking that you could create a metagame using the Dragon Vein’s Earthquakes and use it to set traps. But I suppose it would be easier if the spear simply came back to her regardless of whether or not she’s on the move.

      I’m glad you like my work though, even if you don’t like the character in question. That tells me I’m doing something right.

      jamesster445 on May 26 |