Dream Smasher: Fawful

Thanks to Tris for helping with edits.

As the most iconic franchise in all of gaming, Super Mario has naturally received its fair share of attention in the world of Smash. From its diverse cast of fighters to its extensive lineup of stages and items, Super Mario is undoubtedly Smash’s most well-represented series. Mario’s unique in that, on top of Smash representing its main series installments, it also represents plenty of its spin-offs, including series like Mario Kart and Paper Mario with stages and Dr. Mario with the titular character as a fighter. With all the unique content Super Mario has offered in Smash over the years, fans naturally request the inclusion of even more. Some of these most popular requests are Waluigi, Geno, and Paper Mario, all three of which hail from Mario spin-offs. Today, we will cover one such spin-off character who isn’t discussed nearly as much in the context of Smash as I think he should be despite his home series’ significance and popularity: the fan favorite villain from the Mario & Luigi series, Fawful.

Who Is Fawful?

(Courtesy of Voyager)

Debuting in 2003’s Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga, Fawful serves as the game’s secondary antagonist and assistant to the evil witch Cackletta. Throughout the game, Fawful helps the villain in her attempt to conquer both the Mushroom and Beanbean Kingdoms, the latter of which being the pair’s homeland. Fawful proves himself to be a powerful enemy throughout the game, constantly getting in the Mario Brothers’ way and being an invaluable part of Cackletta’s army. Near the end of the game, Fawful confronts the Bros. as the penultimate boss after realizing that he could be much more than a mere lackey, only to be defeated and launched out of Bowser’s Castle. Fawful later appeared in 2006’s Mario & Luigi: Partners In Time, but only as a shopkeeper. In this installment, Fawful can be found in the sewers of Peach’s Castle and, upon meeting Baby Mario and Baby Luigi (whom he does not recognize as the younger versions of his enemies), talks about how he was defeated by the Bros. and plans to return in the future. In 2009’s Mario & Luigi: Bowser’s Inside Story, Fawful lives up to that goal, appearing as the game’s main antagonist. After putting the Mushroom Kingdom into a state of unrest by spreading the blorb disease, Fawful invades Bowser’s Castle and seizes control of the Koopa king’s army. Planning to obtain the Dark Star and make its immense power his own, Fawful steals the artifact from its chamber underneath Toad Town and takes Peach’s Castle for himself. However, Bowser, intent on stopping Fawful, invades the castle and disrupts Fawful’s plan, but fails to stop the Dark Star from awakening. Fawful manages to absorb half of the Dark Star’s power before Bowser’s interruption, though, transforming him into Dark Fawful. When Fawful later reunites with the Dark Star (which takes on Bowser’s appearance and strength after having entered his body), the two beings merge and become an even greater threat, leading to a final battle between the Dark Star (with Fawful in its body) and Bowser (with the Mario Bros. in his body). Following Fawful’s defeat by the Bros., Bowser destroys the Dark Star for good, leaving Fawful on death’s door. In a final attempt at revenge, Fawful blows himself up in order to take the Bros. out with him, but fails, ending Fawful’s conquest…for now.

Importance to Nintendo/Series

Having appeared in three out of five Mario & Luigi games, Fawful is naturally one of the series’ most important characters and a fan favorite antagonist. Known for his mechanical genius, eccentric personality, and constant use of food metaphors, the Beanish villain left a big impression on players as they saw his story unfold throughout the first three installments. That being said, Fawful hasn’t really had a presence at all outside of the first three Mario & Luigi games, making him a relatively niche character overall.

Even though Fawful’s not as well known as other Mario characters, his home series is the most relevant and long-running of the Mario RPGs. Having received a fifth installment back in late 2015 and 3DS remakes of Superstar Saga and Bowser’s Inside Story back in late 2017 and early 2019 respectively, Mario & Luigi has been extremely active over the past few years. Given the series’ relevance, if Smash were to ever include a Mario RPG character, one from Mario & Luigi would be a sensible option. While Fawful didn’t appear in Mario & Luigi’s two most recent installments, since the two games that prominently feature him have since been remade, Fawful is more relevant than ever and has a decent shot at becoming a Smash fighter. In fact, Smash has already referenced him numerous times, both through his name as a random nickname option in Brawl and 3DS / Wii U and as a Spirit in Ultimate.

Colors & Design

Throughout the three games Fawful appears in, the maniacal mechanist takes on many designs, such as his tattered cloak in Superstar Saga and his white jumpsuit in Partners In Time. However, Smash would most likely use Fawful’s design from Bowser’s Inside Story, the game where Fawful has his biggest role. In this game, he wears a red and grey cloak that covers his black suit, black gloves, and grey sandals. Fawful’s palette swaps would both reference other outfits he’s worn and villains across the Mario & Luigi series. His second color would reference his pink jumpsuit from Superstar Saga, his third one would reference his white jumpsuit from Partners In Time, his fourth one would reference his Goodwill Ambassador disguise from Superstar Saga, his fifth one would reference Cackletta, his sixth one would reference Partners In Time’s Shroobs, his seventh one would reference Dream Team’s Antasma, and his eighth one would be an alternate costume that gave him the appearance of Dark Fawful, the form he takes upon absorbing half of the Dark Star’s power.

(Courtesy of @Codename_Y__)

How Would He Play?

Now, let’s have a look at some stats:

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

*Like Peach’s float

Throughout the Mario & Luigi series, Fawful is shown to be very quick on his feet, but extremely weak physically. To make up for his lack of strength in Smash, he would wear his signature Vacuum Helmet at all times. This device would, in many ways, resemble Bowser Jr.’s Junior Clown Car. Like the Clown Car, the Vacuum Helmet would perform certain attacks for Fawful and have a separate hurtbox from his. If the helmet were to be attacked instead of him, he would take less damage than usual, but Fawful himself would take more damage than usual when attacked to counterbalance this. Like in Fawful’s boss battles, the Vacuum Helmet would do most of the heavy lifting while its wearer contributed using various weapons and other inventions. Fawful would be an effective zoner thanks to the various disjoints and projectiles at his disposal and have relatively high movement speed, but most of his attacks would be fairly telegraphed and easy to punish, just like those of the enemies in every Mario & Luigi game. By keeping their opponents at bay and overwhelming them with various attacks from all angles, Fawful players would be able to deal plenty of damage in a very short amount of time. However, if their opponents dodged all of their projectiles, approached carefully, and aimed for the Beanish villain instead of his helmet, Fawful would be the one getting knocked out instead.

Boxing Ring Title: “The Mustard of Your Doom”

Series Icon	Stock Icon (Courtesy of Voyager)	Kirby Hat (Courtesy of @Codename_Y__)

Move Type	Description
On-Screen Appearance:	Fawful would drop onto the stage and begin waving his arms around as a spotlight fell on him.
Stance:	Fawful would bounce in place while keeping his arms and legs inside his coat.
Idle Animation #1:	Fawful would put his hands on his hips and move his torso from right to left.
Idle Animation #2:	The Vacuum Helmet would turn into its radar form and quickly survey the area before turning back to normal.
Walk:	Fawful would walk forward at a fast pace as he kept his arms and legs inside his cloak.
Dash:	Fawful would use the Vacuum Helmet to hover over the ground and charge forward.
Jump:	Fawful would jump into the air with his arms and legs extended for his first jump, while his second one would have the Vacuum Helmet lift him higher into the air.
Damage Animation:	Fawful would hold his hands out and give a pained expression.
Crouch:	Fawful would simply put his head closer to the ground as the Vacuum Helmet did the same with its nozzle.
Shield:	The Vacuum Helmet would encase Fawful in a ball using its nozzle, protecting him from attacks. The ball would act as Fawful’s shield and get darker and darker as it depleted.
Neutral Attack: Jawbreaker	The Vacuum Helmet’s nozzle would display fangs and begin viciously biting in front of Fawful as he laughed to himself. This attack would be a rapid jab with above average range.
Forward Tilt: Meatball Bonk	The Vacuum Helmet’s nozzle would turn into a ball and shoot itself forward. While this attack would do very little damage, it’d launch opponents relatively far, even at lower percents.
Down Tilt: Gundrop	Fawful would pull out his laser pistol and shoot a beam of energy at the ground in front of him that would briefly stun opponents, like Zero Suit Samus’ down smash, but faster and weaker.
Up Tilt: Snack Basket	The Vacuum Helmet would bite directly above itself a few times using its nozzle’s fangs.
Dash Attack: Sweet Roll	Fawful, while still hovering above the ground, would roll into a ball to damage opponents before landing on the ground. While this attack wouldn’t do much damage, it’d carry Fawful farther than most dash attacks.
Forward Smash: Gobble Gobble	The Vacuum Helmet’s nozzle would lunge forward with a powerful bite using its fangs. While the attack was charging up, the Vacuum Helmet would attempt to bring nearby opponents closer to Fawful by vacuuming them towards him.
Up Smash: Fiery Fondue	The Vacuum Helmet’s rockets would come out and face the ground before shooting a stream of fire directly upward. Opponents above Fawful would be stuck in the attack before being launched out of it with a final blast of fire from both rockets.
Down Smash: Gumball Barrier	Fawful would lift his hand into the air, causing four pink energy orbs to briefly appear and revolve around him. While the orbs wouldn’t do much damage and Fawful wouldn’t be able to move until they disappeared, they would protect him from most attacks. As an extra visual detail, the orbs would be dark purple instead of pink if used with the Dark Fawful costume.
Neutral Aerial: Tornado Potato	Fawful would simply spin around a few times, slightly damaging anyone he came into contact with.
Down Aerial: Turkey Flap	Fawful would rapidly flail his arms and legs up and down, keeping him suspended in midair for a short time and hitting foes below him multiple times.
Forward Aerial: Gumball Blast	The Vacuum Helmet’s nozzle would fire a pink energy orb forward that would launch opponents upon contact. Like with the down smash, the energy orb would be dark purple instead of pink if used with the Dark Fawful costume.
Back Aerial: Baked Burst	The Vacuum Helmet’s rockets would come out and blast Fawful forward a short distance while launching opponents behind him, like R.O.B.’s back air.
Up Aerial: Triple Decker	The Vacuum Helmet’s nozzle would simply bite upward three times with its fangs as Fawful laughed to himself.
Grab: Tasty Tether	Fawful’s grab would be a tether and involve the Vacuum Helmet’s nozzle lunging forward to grab either opponents or the ledge with its fangs.
Pummel: Nibble	The Vacuum Helmet’s nozzle would bite down on the opponent in its grasp.
Forward Throw: Lemon Laser	Fawful would pull out his laser pistol and shoot the opponent with a burst of energy, launching them forward.
Up Throw: Main Course	The Vacuum Helmet’s nozzle would throw the opponent upward before rapidly gnawing at them with its fangs.
Down Throw: Dinner and a Show	The Vacuum Helmet’s nozzle would slam the opponent onto the ground as Fawful jumped on top of them and began skipping in place, hitting the opponent multiple times before launching them.
Back Throw: Gumball Spit	The Vacuum Helmet’s nozzle would toss the opponent backward before firing a pink (or dark purple if the Dark Fawful costume was being used) energy orb at them.
Neutral Special: Laser Pistol Surprise	Fawful would pull out his laser pistol and begin charging it up. The attack would have three variations, each based on when the player pressed the special button during the charge up and telegraphed by the color of the pistol’s tip. The first variation (telegraphed by the pistol glowing yellow) would be three laser beams fired in succession. Like Fox’s Blaster, the beams wouldn’t make opponents flinch, but they would come out very fast. The second variation (telegraphed by the pistol glowing cyan) would be a slow, but far reaching beam of ice. The ice beam would be the strongest zoning tool of the three, freezing grounded opponents upon contact and launching airborne ones. Finally, the third variation (telegraphed by the pistol glowing purple) would be a barrage of energy stars that would loop upward before moving a short distance forward. While this beam would do the most damage and be the hardest one to dodge at a short distance, it would also be the slowest one to come out.
Side Special: Portal Purée	Fawful would create a portal in front of himself and shoot a pink (or dark purple if the Dark Fawful costume is being used) energy orb into it. Another portal would then appear a certain distance in front of Fawful and shoot the energy orb back out. The orb would either be shot toward Fawful if the special button was tapped or away from him if the button was held.
Up Special: Bean Launcher	A miniature hovercraft would appear below Fawful before launching into the air with him in tow. At the height of its ascent, the hovercraft would explode and put Fawful into free fall. However, Fawful would be able to jump off of the hovercraft at any time before the explosion, preventing himself from going into free fall, but making the explosion much weaker.
Down Special: Fawfulized Fleet Supreme	Fawful would deploy one of three enemies seen in Bowser’s Inside Story that would act independently and help him attack. The first enemy would be a Fawflant that would slowly walk backwards with its drill pointing forward. It would explode after a few seconds, but it could be destroyed prematurely by jumping on top of it. The second enemy would be a Snawful that would throw freezing snowballs forward. While it would only throw three snowballs before melting, it could be attacked and destroyed as well. Finally, the third enemy would be a Fawfulcopter that would float directly above where it was deployed and attempt to shoot nearby enemies with a laser beam. It would disappear after a few seconds, but it could also be destroyed with a few attacks. Like Duck Hunt’s Wild Gunman, which enemy Fawful deployed each time the attack was used would depend on a certain order: Fawflant first, Snawful second, and Fawfulcopter third.
Final Smash: Super Peach’s Castle of Fury	The Vacuum Helmet would begin emitting a beacon before lifting Fawful out of sight. Peach’s Fawfulized castle would then appear in the background and begin charging up a beam of energy. The player would then be given control of a reticle, allowing them to aim where the castle would fire its laser. Any opponents with a damage percentage of 60% or higher who were hit by this attack would be one-hit Screen KO’d, while those with less than 60% would simply be launched, like with Bowser’s Giga Bowser Punch.
Up Taunt:	Fawful would laugh hysterically as a speech bubble reading “I HAVE CHORTLES!” appeared above his head.
Side Taunt:	Fawful would strike various poses before falling to the ground in exhaustion.
Down Taunt:	Fawful would spin in place before waving a hand at the screen.
Victory Animation #1:	Rockets would come out of the Vacuum Helmet and begin hovering Fawful into the air as he crossed his arms and grinned at the camera.
Victory Animation #2:	Fawful would be seen celebrating atop his hovercraft as the Dark Star floated above him and gave off a dark aura.
Victory Animation #3:	A spotlight would fall on Fawful as he put his hands to his ears, making an unseen crowd cheer for him. Fawful would then excitedly skip in place.

Victory Fanfare: Fawful’s victory fanfare would be the intro to Tough Guy Alert!, the boss battle theme from Bowser’s Inside Story:

(Courtesy of @MayMarig0ld)

Outro

While Fawful’s far from the most iconic Mario character, his eccentric personality and role in some of the franchise’s most beloved spin-offs has made him a fan favorite character who many wish to see in more games. However, despite his popularity with those who’ve played the games he hails from, Fawful is rarely brought up as a potential Smash candidate. But given his resurgence thanks to Superstar Saga and Bowser’s Inside Story’s remakes, as well as his vast moveset potential, I think Fawful would make for one of the most exciting first party inclusions in a long time and should be considered more often when discussing potential Mario fighters. That being said, given AlphaDream’s recent declaration of bankruptcy, the fate of Mario & Luigi, as well as its characters, are currently unknown. Whatever happens to the series going forward, let’s hope we’ll get to see it and its outstanding developers make a comeback in the near future.

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Hamada

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