Over a year ago now I was working with a previous guest poster and fan of Source Gaming, Jamesster on a Wonder Red Dream Smasher article. Unfortunately, this kind of fell through back then due to a cut off of communication but with E3 and the Smash reveal fast approaching I wanted to tackle this wonderful hero once more. While the moveset more towards how I feel it should go, Jamesster did provide the images and some of the moves. You should all go follow him on twitter and see more Smash concepts when he makes them. Anyway, let’s begin operation: Wonder Smash.
Who Is Wonder Red?
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Will Wedgewood is an elementary school teacher, but when the Guild of Evil Aliens Terrorizing Humans with Jiggawatt bombs, Energy beams, Rayguns, and Killer Lasers (or GEATHJERK for short), invades Will dons his mask and becomes the special combat agent of Blossom City, leader of the Wonderful 100, Wonder Red. A true and noble hero, Wonder Red isn’t above democracy but when it is required he will let his fists do the talking.
Importance to Series/Nintendo
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Wonder Red is the first character players control in the Wonderful 101 and the primary protagonist of the game. Due to his excellent leadership skills he is appointed the commanding officer of the Wonderful 100 and spends a big portion of the game earning the respect of his comrades.
The Wonderful 101 was a big early title for the Wii U, launching in the systems first year, and showing the beginnings of a partnership between Nintendo and developer Platinum Games in that era. While the Wonderful 101, unfortunately, failed to be a commercial success it did develop a cult following and may have a future on Nintendo’s current system, the Nintendo Switch. Platinum have been teasing this for a while and while nothing confirmed it does feel like a ‘when not if’ situation.
Design
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There are seven key members of the Wonderful 101 and so naturally it makes sense that Wonder Red’s alts are based on these allies. The default is Red but the others follow Blue, Green, Pink, Yellow, White and Black which is the order they join. The last colour is based on the games primary rival, Prince Vorkken, who shares some visual similarities to Wonder Red.
How will he play?
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While many movesets give Red a combination of moves from all his allies this doesn’t quite make sense for the character. His weapon is Unite Hand and that is all he uses so in Smash this is all he will use as well. This doesn’t mean he doesn’t have alternate attacks though. There are a handful of moves that every member of the Wonderful 100 can use – such as Wonder Rocket and Wonder Guts – so he can also implement these into his moveset.
The main gimmick of Wonder Red is his Unite Morph ability. By holding down the special button Wonder Red performs Unite Morph on his hand and it increases in size and strength. this unfortunately means he gets slower as well. The amount of Unite (which is what I will call it for convenience sake) he has can go up to 100 like in the original title and nearly every attack will cause him to lose some. Special attacks cost more Unite than Smash attacks, which cost more than tilts and aerials. Now, Unite is not needed to attack at all so Wonder Red will never be defenceless, and sometimes having speed over power will be better, but it is up to the player what to focus on.
In order for Unite to be spent the player must make contact with the opponents. The only exception to this rule is Wonder Rocket as it is a recovery and is useful even if no contact is made.
- Can they crawl: No
- Can they wall jump: No
- How many jumps do they have: 2
- Is there any exclusive abilities they have*: No
- Weight Class: D
- Height Class: D+
- Speed Class: C (By Default)
- Are they mirrored when they face left: No
When Kirby absorbs Wonder Red he will wear a Wonder Mask. Due to the unique nature of Wonder Red’s neutral special, and how it affects Red’s move set as a whole, Kirby’s copy ability will see him first summon and charge the Unite Hand, upon release Kirby will then proceed to perform Red’s Side Special, Wonderful Stinger.
| Action | Description | ||
| Entrance/ |
Red falls from the Virgin Victory/Sky, like the opening of any Operation. |
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| Stance/ |
Red stands “tall” striking his signature pose. |
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| Idle/ |
Red puts his dukes up and strikes a Fighting stance |
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| Idle 2 |
Based slightly on Red’s official art as Will Wedgewood. Red adjusts his Wonder Mask. |
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| Crouch | Wonder Red ducks down. | ||
| Walk / | Wonder Red walks forward cautiously in a fighting stance. | ||
| Run/ |
Taken from In game, runs forwards fairly normally. |
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| Jump/Double jump |
Taken from in-game complete with a flip for a second jump. |
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| Damaged | Wonder Red gets knocked back and winces. | ||
| Shield | Wonder Red ducks his head down a little and puts his arms in a cross shape. | ||
| Roll |
Cartwheel, reminiscent of his fight with Blue. |
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| Jab Combo |
Red does a straight left, a straight right, punches up and then one final punch that launches. The first three don’t lose any Unite but the last loses 5. |
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| F Tilt |
Using a Unite Morph, Red performs a Right hook. Uses 5 from the unite gauge. |
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| U Tilt/ |
Using a Unite Hand, Red performs an Uppercut. Uses 5 from the unite gauge. |
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| D Tilt/ |
Using a Unite Hand, Red performs a Left Hook along the ground. Uses 5 from the unite gauge. |
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| Dash/ |
While running, Red forms a Unite Ball and perform a quick roll. Uses 10 from the unite gauge. |
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| Ledge Attack | Red gets up with a quick punch using a Basic Unite Hand. No unite is used. | ||
| Wakeup Attack | Red uses a Basic Unite Hand to punch in front and then behind him. No unite is used. | ||
| F Smash |
Using a Unite Morph slightly larger than the ones seen on tilts, Red Wonder Punches straightforward. Uses 20 unite. |
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| U Smash/ |
Red Performs his best impression of a Shoryuken and performs Wonderful Rising, minus the jump, dealing multiple hits. Uses 20 unite. |
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| D Smash/ |
Red performs Wonderful Cyclone, Red’s lariat carries foes back and forth with multiple hits. Uses 20 unite. |
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| N Air/ |
Red performs a single spin of Wonderful Cyclone. Uses 10 unite. |
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| F Air |
Red punches forward with the Unite Hand. Uses 10 unite. |
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| B Air |
Red turns around and delivers a devastating punch. Uses 10 unite. |
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| U Air |
Red performs an aerial uppercut. Uses 10 from unite. |
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| D Air |
Red forms Unite Tombstone, dropping to the ground as a weight, spiking opponents if hit at the right time. At Maximum Charge, a short shockwave trips nearby opponents. Uses 20 unite. |
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| Grab |
Red reaches out with one hand to grab. |
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| Pummel |
Based off the Red v Blue scene, where the two pummel each other. |
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| F Throw | Red uses his Unite Hand to throw the opponent forwards. Uses 5 unite. | ||
| B Throw | By using a twisting motion with the Unite Hand, Red throws enemies “Snake CQC” style. Uses 5 unite. | ||
| U Throw/ | Red Uses his Unite Hand to throw the opponent upwards. Uses 5 unite. | ||
| D Throw | Using the Unite Hand, Red Slams the foe to the ground. Uses 5 unite. | ||
| Neutral Special – Unite Charge |
By holding the button down, Red will grow his Unite Hand in increments resulting in larger more powerful attacks at the cost of speed and mobility. There are three sizes between 0 and 100. These go 0-40, 40-70, 70-100. Nearly all attacks will cause the arm to shrink depending on the strength of the attack. |
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| Neutral Custom 1 – Speed Charge | Speed Charge Red gets to 100 much faster however each attack loses double the amount of unite. | ||
| Neutral Custom 2 – Focused unite | Charging is a little longer but sometimes you won’t lose any of you unite. The effect is random | ||
| Side Special – Wonderful Stinger |
Red quickly performs a punch that charges forward dealing damage to anyone in his path. In the base form it doesn’t deal a lot of damage, but at higher percentages, it can be used as a kill option at the cost of slower movement and increased end lag. It can also be used for recovery purposes. Uses 30 from the unite, essentially bringing it down a level. |
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| Side Custom 1 – Wonder Punch | Red delivers a single, powerful punch. He does not charge forward though. Uses 30 from the unite. | ||
| Side Custom 2 – Wonder Launch | Similar to the first side special but goes up in a diagonal from the ground and diagonal down from the air. Uses 30 unite. | ||
| Up Special – Unite Rocket |
Red forms a Rocket that flies straight up. The Rocket will need to charge prior to lift off. There is a hitbox on top of the rocket which functions like the Hocotate Bomb. The distance travelled is dependent on the unite gauge. Uses 50 from the unite. |
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| Up Custom 1 – Unite Missile | Red forms a Rocket that flies straight up. Unlike the first one that plows through foes this one explodes as soon as it hits a foe. However it does go a set length every time. Uses 50 from unite. | ||
| Up Custom 2 – Unite Corkscrew | Red performs a “Witch Twist” like move for a quick recovery that doesn’t get a lot ground covered but does considerable damage. Uses 50 from unite. | ||
| Down Special – Unite Guts |
A counter special with the capability of reflecting physical projectiles. What sets this counter apart from others is that Unite Guts reflects “force” (knockback) and deals 0% of damage. For example compare countering Roy’s jab vs Roy’s fully charged Flare Blade. With a countered jab, Roy will barely be moved vs the Flare Blade Roy will be KOed by the “force” of his Flare Blade which is a one hit kill. But remember, in both cases Roy will be dealt absolutely 0% of damage. Uses 75 unite. |
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| Down Custom 1 – Unite Spiked Guts | This Counter deals damage at the cost of knockback. Uses 75 unite. | ||
| Down Alt 2 – Unite counter | This acts like a middle between the first two. Uses 75 unite. | ||
| Final Smash – The Won-Stoppable 101 |
It’s a cinematic Final Smash that begins with Wonder Black appearing and delivering a Unite Bomb. Anyone caught in the explosion will be transported to a cinematic where the victim is assaulted by all members of the Wonderful 101 specifically the other main Wonderful ones. |
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| Up Taunt |
Red strikes a pose |
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| Side Taunt |
Red taps his medallion and states, “Diplomacy has failed”. |
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| Down Taunt |
Red attempts to introduce an enemy with his trademark “If it isn’t…” but is interrupted partway, Red could possibly have a hidden taunt where he has a full introduction for each playable character. |
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| Victory 1 |
A beam of green energy warps Red to the Victory screen. |
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| Victory 2/ |
Red forms a Unite Hand and imitates the Gold Statue seen on the results screen. |
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| Victory 3 | Wonder Red strikes a pose and then gives a thumbs up and a smirk as the camera zooms into his face. |
Wonder Red’s victory theme is a rendition of Wonderful Finish:
Wonder Red may not fit the usual Smash role as there has only been one game in the series so far, however it all depends on how Sakurai decide the roster. There hasn’t been many new IP between 2012 (when Smash For began) and 2016 (when Smash Switch likely began) and so if Sakurai wants to add new franchise this era may be where he puts his focus. If so, Wonderful 101 and Wonder Red may very well be likely. Sakruai is also friends with director Kamiya from Platinum Games and worked with them on Bayonetta in Smash For. Wonder Red may be Won-stoppable for Smash but hopefully, we find out at the upcoming E3. Unite Fingers crossed.
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