July 29, 2019|

Filed under: Featured, Speculation, Super Smash Bros. Series, Super Smash Bros. Ultimate

Dream Smasher: Taranza

Thanks to Cart Boy for helping with edits.

Back in May, we went over Magolor, one of the most popular Kirby characters, to see how good a fighter he could be in Super Smash Bros. Although him and Bandana Waddle Dee are two of the most requested options for potential newcomers from the Kirby franchise, there are many more fan favorite characters who would be a great fit for the crossover fighting game. Today, we’ll be doing something a little different as we go over a what-if scenario. What if a new Kirby fighter was introduced during the days of Smash for 3DS and Wii U? From the Kirby cast’s increasingly rich cast of characters, who would have been chosen for such a prestigious invitation? Personally, I believe that lucky combatant could have been Taranza, the puppeteer from the land of Floralia.

Who Is Taranza?

(Courtesy of TheRealHeroOfWinds)

Taranza debuted in 2014’s Kirby Triple Deluxe on the 3DS, where he served as one of the game’s primary antagonists. Once a great friend to Sectonia, the queen of Floralia, Taranza gave her a present in the form of the enigmatic Dimension Mirror to express his affection for her. However, unbeknownst to Taranza, the mirror contained a great evil in it that slowly corrupted Sectonia’s mind and body the more she looked into it. Soon becoming a tyrannical conqueror, Sectonia enslaved the inhabitants of Floralia and aimed to take over the rest of the world with Taranza as her reluctant servant. One day, Sectonia tasks Taranza with finding the hero of Dream Land and capturing him to prevent anything from halting her conquest. Mistaking King Dedede for the hero, the arachnid storms his castle and kidnaps the monarch, prompting Kirby to pursue Taranza and save his frenemy. Upon Kirby’s arrival at Sectonia’s palace, Taranza takes control of King Dedede and uses him to fight Kirby, but upon failing and begging for Sectonia’s aid, is mercilessly blasted out of the castle by his former friend for failing to retrieve the hero. Finally accepting that saving Sectonia is a lost cause, Taranza joins Kirby and King Dedede in their effort to destroy her, finally bringing peace to Floralia. Taranza becomes an ally of Kirby’s from this point onward, but still grieves over Sectonia’s fate and searches for a way to bring her back.

Importance to Nintendo/Series

While Taranza doesn’t have the history of classic faces like Meta Knight or King Dedede, he has become one of the Kirby series’ most recurring characters since Triple Deluxe. From his role as a boss in both Team Kirby Clash Deluxe and Super Kirby Clash to a fully playable appearance in Star Allies, Taranza has been making consistent appearances in nearly every Kirby game since his debut. Even in games that don’t feature him prominently, Taranza still makes cameo appearances like as a few stickers in Planet Robobot or as a member of the crowd in Battle Royale. That being said, Taranza is far from the most beloved modern Kirby character. Older faces like Magolor and even newer ones like Susie outpace him in terms of popularity and fan demand for a spot in Smash, so Taranza’s chances to join the crossover in its current state are extremely slim. In fact, 2020’s Kirby Fighters 2, another platform fighter with many queues taken from Smash, excluded the puppeteer entirely in favor of fellow Dream Friends Magolor and Gooey. Furthermore, Taranza was omitted from a spot in Smash Ultimate as a Spirit despite many of his contemporaries being given the honor. However, back in 2014, when Smash for 3DS and Wii U were prioritizing relevance over legacy, Taranza would have made for a great inclusion as a DLC fighter given his role in a major 3DS title the same year those two incarnations of Smash released. After all, a similar situation was what resulted in Corrin infamously making the cut. Taranza may be unlikely as is, but what could he have been like in Smash if things went a bit differently?

Colors and Design

Like most characters from the Kirby series, Taranza’s design has seen little change over the years. As a playable fighter, Taranza would look no different in Smash and closely resemble his HD appearance in Star Allies. As for Taranza’s palette swaps, his first three would reference his alternate colors from Star Allies, his fourth would reference his corrupted form from the Kirby Clash games, his fifth and sixth would reference Magolor and Susie, respectively, and his seventh would be an alternate costume that gave him the appearance of Dark Taranza, an evil doppelgänger from Kirby Clash Deluxe.

(Courtesy of @sky_queen3)

How Would He Play?

Now, let’s have a look at some stats:

Can they crawl? No
Can they wall jump? Yes
How many jumps do they have? 2
Are there any exclusive abilities they have*? No
Weight Class: D+
Height Class: D+
Speed Class: C+
Are they mirrored when they face left? Yes

*Like Peach’s float

In Kirby Clash and Star Allies, Taranza is shown to be less focused on direct combat than other bosses and playable characters in the series. He prefers to fight at a distance and pester adversaries with trickier attacks like spider webs and magic spells, but one notable move of his in Star Allies provides potential for so much more. In the game, Taranza is able to summon a ghostly projection of Queen Sectonia herself, which he uses to attack opponents with a move previously used by the queen in her boss fights. The ability to summon the power of a boss as devastating as Sectonia would give Taranza an interesting duality between his tricky set of abilities and the queen’s explosive attacks in Smash. Of course, the explosive strength at the phantom’s fingertips would be balanced by pitiful speed and frame data in comparison to its caster. That would be where Taranza himself came in, using his speedy techniques to put the opponent in situations that would allow the phantom’s strikes to hit their mark. However, as a light character, Taranza would be susceptible to being knocked out earlier than most, so using the phantom’s attacks would often be risky. Overall, Taranza’s offensive options would vary wildly between disruptive and destructive, providing players with the means to knock foes out deceptively quickly despite the steeper learning curve.

Boxing Ring Title: “The Queen’s Hand”

Series Icon

Stock Icon

(Courtesy of Voyager)

Kirby Hat

Move Type

Description

On-Screen Appearance:

The Dimension Mirror would suddenly appear as Taranza took shape from inside and exited it with a mischeivous grin.

Stance:

Taranza would float in place with three hands at each side.

Idle Animation #1:

Taranza would adjust his scarf with a pair of hands and comb his hair with another pair.

Idle Animation #2:

Taranza would yawn and put one of many hands to his face.

Walk:

Taranza would float in place as his hands trailed behind him.

Dash:

Taranza’s cape would sway in the wind as he floated at a frantic pace.

Jump:

Taranza would bounce upward as he lifted his hands into the air for his first jump, while his second one would have him float higher as he put his hands to his sides to remain balanced.

Damage Animation:

Taranza would recoil as his hands flew in all directions.

Crouch:

Taranza would compress himself and stay close to the ground.

Shield:

Taranza would put three hands over his face to protect himself.

Neutral Attack: Queenly Barrage

Taranza would backhand the opponent twice for the first two inputs and, with a third input, the Sectonia phantom would appear behind Taranza and begin rapidly stabbing forward with its swords.

Forward Tilt: Drone Beam

A flower drone (as seen in Sectonia’s final battle) would appear in front of Taranza and shoot a weak beam of energy forward.

Down Tilt: Drone Zap

Four flower drones would appear around Taranza and shoot bolts of electricity between each other, stunning nearby foes.

Up Tilt: Darling Dreamstalk

Taranza would cause a miniature version of the Dreamstalk to erupt out of the ground. While the attack wouldn’t do much damage, it would come out quickly and apply the flower effect (like Lip’s Stick).

Dash Attack: Roly-Poly

Taranza would jump forward and rotate his body with his arms outstretched, like Corrin’s dash attack.

Forward Smash: Queen’s Slam

The Sectonia phantom would surround both of its swords with dark energy before violently slamming them into the ground. This would be one of Taranza’s strongest, yet slowest attacks.

Up Smash: Queen’s Thrust

The Sectonia phantom would thrust both of its electrically-charged scepters into the air, launching any opponents directly above Taranza.

Down Smash: Queen’s Phantom

The Sectonia phantom would use its scepter to electrocute the floor in front of and behind Taranza, dealing massive damage to compensate for its poor frame data.

Neutral Aerial: Golden Ring

A golden ring would appear around Taranza and remain for a few seconds, protecting him from weak projectiles and repelling nearby foes.

Down Aerial: Gem Drop

Taranza would summon a large purple gem below himself that would immediately fall down and hit anyone in its way, like Mega Man’s Hard Knuckle down aerial.

Forward Aerial: Drone Seed

A flower drone would appear in front of Taranza and shoot a giant seed forward.

Back Aerial: Drone Blade

A flower drone would appear behind Taranza and turn into a blade before slashing downward.

Up Aerial: Taranza Ball

Taranza would create an orb of dark energy above his head and shoot it upward. The orb would become weaker and smaller as it traveled.

Grab:

Taranza would grab the opponent from where their neck would be with one of his hands.

Pummel:

Taranza would slap the opponent with his five free hands.

Forward Throw:

A flower drone would appear next to Taranza and shoot a giant seed at the opponent.

Up Throw:

Taranza would spin and launch the opponent upward with a wave of energy.

Down Throw:

A flower drone would appear above Taranza, turn into a blade, and slam the opponent into the ground.

Back Throw:

Taranza would stick a string of webbing to the opponent and toss them overhead before slamming them into the ground behind himself.

Neutral Special: Web Hold

Taranza would float in place and create an orb of webbing overhead. The player would then take control of the orb for a short period of time, using it to either catch projectiles and shoot them back, stun grounded opponents, or launch airborne opponents upward.

Side Special: Magic String Shot

Taranza would shoot a string of webbing from his fingertips. Upon traveling far enough, the web would unfold and float in midair, slowing down anyone in its vicinity before dissipating after a few seconds. However, if the string hit a foe before unfolding, it would deal slight damage and cling to them, slowing the opponent down for a few seconds. This effect could be stacked up to three times and make landing the Sectonia phantom’s attacks much easier.

Up Special: Friend Bounce

Taranza would create a trampoline out of webbing directly under himself and immediately bounce off of it. The web would remain where it was created for a few seconds, allowing both Taranza and his allies to jump off of it. However, if one of Taranza’s enemies landed on it, it would unfold and put the fighter into free fall, like with Pac-Man’s Pac-Jump up special.

Down Special: Phantom Thrust

The Sectonia phantom would appear behind Taranza as he charged up for a few seconds, allowing for up to three variations of the move depending on how long it is maintained. At one level of charge, the phantom would simply thrust forward with its sword. At two levels, the phantom would slash once with its sword before lunging forward. Finally, at three levels of charge, the phantom would slash three times with its sword before lunging much faster and further.

Final Smash: Moonstruck Blossom

Taranza would chuckle to himself and teleport away as the Dreamstalk rose in the background and the flower atop it opened, revealing Sectonia’s final boss form. The player would then be given control of a reticle, allowing them to choose where Sectonia would fire a massive beam of energy that would one-hit Screen KO any opponents it collided with that had 60% damage or more, like with Bowser’s Giga Bowser Punch. With the attack concluded, the Dreamstalk would fall from its place in the background as Taranza reappeared and resumed the fight.

Up Taunt:

Taranza would put his six arms behind his back before tossing them out in all directions.

Side Taunt:

Taranza would pull out a flower and stare at it longingly.

Down Taunt:

Taranza would put his hands on his chest and laugh to himself.

Victory Animation #1:

Taranza would put his hands together and close his eyes before throwing them to his sides as the Sectonia phantom appeared behind him and did the same.

Victory Animation #2:

Taranza would stare off into the distance before turning to the camera and falling to the ground in surprise.

Victory Animation #3:

King Dedede would be seen running away from Taranza as the latter shot a web of energy at the former and grabbed his paralyzed body.

Victory Fanfare: Taranza’s victory fanfare would be the intro to the boss battle theme from Triple Deluxe:

Outro

In all honesty, it does not look like Taranza will be joining the Smash roster anytime soon. His popularity is unfortunately eclipsed by iconic faces still missing from Smash‘s playable roster like Magolor or Bandana Waddle Dee, so there’s little reason for Taranza to be chosen now that his debut game is more than five years old. That being said, speculating over fun characters regardless of their chances are what “Dream Smashers” are all about. Even if he never joins Smash‘s cast of all-stars, Taranza is an endearing character who’s earned his place as a favorite among Kirby‘s lineup.