As a director, Sakurai is always striving to give fans as much content as possible in his video games. The Super Smash Bros. series is no exception to this and one of the ways that Sakurai has been able to pursue this is via his implementation of clone characters. Clone characters are always a point of contention among fans but they are not necessarily a bad thing. Some characters actually make a lot more sense as a clone rather than having another moveset forced on them that does not fit.
I have talked about this topic prior in a previous article so I won’t spend too much time with it again. Check that article for a proper run-down of what makes a clone and who the previous clones in Super Smash Bros. are. For now, let’s just jump right into looking at even more potential clones for the Smash Bros. series.
Alvis
-Based on Shulk
Xenoblade Chronicles has been increasing in popularity since its debut nearly a decade ago, with a port and two other new games. With this increased popularity many are thinking we will get a newcomer from this franchise, whether it be the latest protagonists Rex & Pyra, the heroine of X, the other series in the franchise, or the heroine of the first game and Shulk’s love interest Fiora. However, there is another potential character who could get in as a clone and this is Alvis. Alvis is one of the few units who wields the monado in the game, along with Shulk and Dunban. The reason Alvis got in over Dunban though is because Dunban only wields it in the tutorial and for the majority of the game has his own fighting style. If he got into Smash it would be with an original moveset instead. Alvis, however, fights exactly like Shulk. There is a story reason for this that I won’t explain as it is a major spoiler so instead let’s think how Alvis could play differently. Unlike Shulk who has to learn how to use the monado on his adventure, Alvis is a master and this could be reflected in his strength. However, as Shulk’s stats change based on his art this doesn’t really matter in the long run so let’s look at how we could change his specials.
Alvis’ alts. are all spoilers from the entire series so I won’t go into them in detail. Just know that they all have some connection to Alvis.
| Standard Special: Arts change | This special is hard to make that unique. You could change or limit which arts he could do but it’s complicated for the sake of it so instead this move remains the same. | |
| Side Special: Cross Ray | The move looks the same as backslash but now does equal damage regardless where you hit. Stronger on the front and weaker on the back. | |
| Up Special: Lost Ray | The first half of this move is the same but then rather than slice forward Alvis does a complete spin. | |
| Down Special: Monado Purge | In the original Alvis teaches this move to Shulk. A green aura that does a bit of damage and blocks an enemy spike. It is still a counter here but paralyzes the opponent rather than damage them. | |
| Final Smash: the Monado’s Power | This move is a clone of Cloud’s final smash. Alvis dashes forward, knocks his foe into the air and then performs a variety of slashes around them before dropping back down. | |
Gooey
-Based on Kirby
Kirby is one of those really unique fighters that many view as hard to clone. This is primarily because of his copy ability being so extensive that doing the same thing for a second character may be too much. Kirby as well is very unique, and even though he had a character based on him in Jigglypuff that was purely aesthetic and not actually a clone. So is there even a candidate for a Kirby clone? Well if the answer was no I would not be writing about it. Introducing Gooey, the player 2 character from Kirby’s Dream Land 3. Gooey is one of Kirby’s friends and is made up of the same material as the Dark Matter enemies. Being a blob, Gooey is a similar shape and has similar properties to Kirby but more importantly, he can also take and use all the copy abilities that Kirby can, he just does not get a hat. So this means we have a character that can work as a perfect Kirby clone. Gooey’s two main attributes to differentiate him from Kirby is that he lacks feet and arms, so could be made slower, and can’t suck in foes, instead licks them with his tongue. In Smash, Gooey could work as a slower but stronger Kirby who does not take the abilities of other Smash fighters. He could be stronger than Kirby in every regard but lacks the versatility of Kirby’s copy ability. Perfect. He would have to have some standard moves change due to the lack of arms and feet though, but it is easily doable if the effect is the same.
Gooey’s alts. are based on single, solid, colors taken from Kirby and his animal friends, as well as a Dark Matter alt and a Game Boy white alt.
| Standard Special: Lick | Rather than sucking in enemies Gooey uses his long tongue to reach out and swallow enemies. He can then spit them out or drop them behind. He also grabs with his tongue rather than hands (that he lacks). | |
| Side Special: Cleaning | Kirby’s side attack uses the Hammer but that ability was actually lacking in Kirby’s Dream Land 3. Instead, Gooey could use the rarely seen Cleaning ability that was introduced in Dream Land 3. He uses the same animation but uses the broom instead of a hammer. The broom is weaker but it causes dust to go into the air and can trip up opponents and reflect projectiles. | |
| Up Special: Cutter | This acts just like Kirby’s but Gooey uses his tongue rather than a blade. | |
| Down Special: Stone | This acts the same as Kirby’s stone but is more octagon shaped and when on hills it will roll down and run over foes. | |
| Final Smash: Dark Matter | Based off of Yoshi and Charizard’s final smash. Gooey turns into his Dark Matter form and flies around, shooting stars instead of fireballs. | |
Glass Joe
-Based on Little Mac.
Punch-Out is a difficult series to get a new character from, as anyone who listened to our Punch-Out character corner may have realised. Everyone is a boxer so unless they have a really unique appearance, like King Hippo, or a unique ability, like Great Tiger, they would all play the same. But one idea that was given to me by SG writer Cart Boy was to use Glass Joe. Glass Joe is the first boxer Little Mac ever faces and is intentionally terrible. He is weak and he goes down easily. This may seem like a bad idea, to have a worse Little Mac, but it would make for a great joke character. Since Brawl, the joke character concept has disappeared but this could be the perfect time to bring it back. Winning as Glass Joe could be an achievement among players and a way to simply show-off. He plays exactly the same as Little Mac but doesn’t not have the star punch or Giga Mac final smash. Glass Joe does have one unique feature and it is RNG. One secret about Glass Joe is that his one victory is against the champion of Super Punch-Out (who is also that boxers one loss). So, Smash can represent this lucky break by having his standard special have a 1/100 (actual chance may vary) chance of exploding in great power, kind of like Jigglypuff’s rest having the potential to destroy.
Glass Joe has all of his colors based on other rival boxers from the series. In this order you: Von Kaiser, Piston Honda, Don Flamenco, King Hippo, Bald Bull, Gabby Jay and Mr. Sandman.
| Standard Special: Fente droite | Glass Joe can charge up and lunge forward like Little Mac but he has no super armour so can be knocked out of it. He is also weaker. | |
| Side Special: Haymaker de désespéré | Pretty much the same as Little Mac’s but a wider hitbox as Glass Joe is taller. | |
| Up Special: Hausse Uppercut | Glass Joe spin is even thinner than Little Mac’s but goes a little higher. | |
| Down Special: Compteur de voyage | Glass Joe performs a counter but it causes him to trip up after he hits his opponent. The attack has great knockback on the opponent though. | |
| Final Smash: Star KO | This is Little Mac’s Star KO move, but it is a final smash. Little Mac can do something normally that Glass Joe can only do on a special occassion. | |
Dry Bowser
-Based on Bowser.
In the last article, I talked about Yarn Yoshi and how, despite being another form of an existing character, would not work as a simple alt due to varying properties. Remember that in Melee Sakurai didn’t think Dr. Mario should be an alt simply because him using fireballs would be weird (the same for Smash For and Dark Pit using the Three Sacred Treasures). So for this edition, I wanted to bring up another of these examples with Dry Bowser. It is debatable if they are the same person anymore, some games call them distant relatives while others show they are the same, but being all bone and no muscle makes them feel very different. Bowser is big and heavy because of all the muscle he has but without it, he would technically be much weaker, but also lighter. That’s what Dry Bowser is. He is the same size as the king of the Kkoopas but has less weight, meaning he is quicker, physically weaker and gets knocked-back easier. However, having no nerves could be a benefit as you could add more super armour to attacks and have him flinch less. Not very strong but can tank types of attacks like projectiles and magic. On the topic of magic his flames could also be stronger or have different properties, just another change to make him distinct.
Dry Bowser’s alts. are based on various types of Dry Bones. You have Dry Bones, Red Dry Bones, Blue Dry Bones, Dull Bones and Dark Dry Bones. The seventh alt is based on fossilised bones which go brown before going black, and the final alt is just a yellow alt as it was different (is also Bowser’s original color).
| Standard Special: Blue Breath | Dry Bowser breaths blue fire rather than red. It lasts longer and does more damage. | |
| Side Special: Dry Drop | Dry Bowser’s attack is the same as Bowser’s but is overall much faster. | |
| Up Special: Drill Spin | Dry Bowser’s shell spin is based on the custom of Bowser’s that launches him straight up. | |
| Down Special: Bone Bomb | Dry Bowser does the same animation as Bowser but when he lands he releases blue flames all throughout his body in a mock explosion. | |
| Final Smash: Giga Dry Bowser | Acts exactly like Bowser’s final smash but a skeleton form instead. | |
And those are just some more examples of potential clones we might see in the future. I don’t know if any of these guys are as likely as the ones before them, maybe Glass Joe as the highest and Dry Bowser as the lowest? It depends if Punch-Out! Gets a new game. Regardless, let me know what you thought of these ideas and tell me about any of the potential clones you would like to see in a future Smash game. Or, alternatively, see if you can convince me these characters could be unique in some way. I am all ears. If you would like to keep reading up on clones and our opinions on them then why not check out what Source Gaming’s favourite clones are, or see what clones we would like to see in the future. If you care more about Sakurai’s opinion (it’s ok, I understand) then why not take a look at his thoughts on the latest batch of clones in Smash for.
Hope you enjoyed reading and have a nice day!
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