DARTH VADER

Imperial March

“You underestimate the power of the dark side.”

***

~~~ A SITH LORD…

Darth Vader, perhaps one of the most iconic film villains of all time, has stumbled into the Disney Rumble dimension! It’ll be hard to keep him from taking over the Disney Worlds for the glory of the Galactic Empire. Hailing from the Star Wars franchise, Vader is held together by Sith magic and life-support systems built into his armor. Once known as Anakin Skywalker, Vader was corrupted by Palpatine, as part of the later’s plan to seizer power across the galaxy, and became a powerful figure in Emperor Palpatine’s new regime. Vader is able to tap into the Force, a mysterious wellspring of power, to weild an array of psychic abilities, making him one of the greatest warriors in his time. Though he is redeemed at the end of the series, Vader shall always be remembered as an icon of evil in popular culture. Though prone to direct confrontation, Vader is willing to hang back and rely on his telekinetic abilities to win the day, when necessary.

~~~ SITH BEARING…

Idle Stance
Vader’s cape billows out behind him, giving him an intimidating air. He will occasionally hold his lightsaber in one hand and hold out the other hand forward in a dignified maneuver, as though beckoning towards the foe.

Walk
Vader’s movement on the stage is seem slow and clunky at first; he walks in a slow and very deliberately forceful manner that results in loud, booming footsteps.

Run
Vader retains his dignified movement but speeds up his gait slightly. He still isn’t going to be winning any races.

Crouch
Vader goes down on one knee; this is only marginally lower than Bowser’s crouch, and not useful for dodging most attacks.

Dizzy
Vader struggles to retain his balance as the energy in his lightsaber retracts back into it’s hilt.

Sleep
Vader falls to the ground, pitifully, as he falls asleep while sitting up.

~~~ SITH FORM…

JUMP ~ 10
FALL SPEED ~ 7
WEIGHT ~ 8
RUN ~ 1
HEIGHT ~ 6
RANGE ~ 5
POWER ~ 5
TRACTION ~ 2

Vader’s armor not only serves to keep him alive; it’s also meant to look astonishingly evil and intimidating, which it accomplishes very well. Vader stands just a touch taller than Ganondorf, and his shoulders are broader than the King of Evil’s, giving him a wider frame. His cape, though not a hurtbox, makes him seem to loom even larger over the Disney Rumble cast.  However, The Dark Lord of the Sith walking even more slowly than Ganondorf isn’t going to be doing him any favors. In addition, Vader also turns around awkwardly and slowly, leaving him quite vulnerable to more agile foes.

In the air, Vader falls like a rock, rivaling the likes of Fox in that regard. This, combined with his high weight, makes him an easy target for combo-oriented characters. Fortunately, Vader makes up for this deficiency with Wario-esque aerial maneuvering. Vader’s leap from the stage is impressive, but his mid-air jump is quite terrible. He is also in possession of a “third jump” that can be very useful in escaping juggles. Pressing the jump button again after exhausting the mid-air jump will cause Vader to slow his fall speed to that of Samus for as long as you hold the button, during which time Vader is free to attack and DI normally. This can be used for a maximum of three seconds, and can only be initiated once per airtrip.

***

~~~ SITH SPECIALS…

Special ~ Force Grip
Vader reaches forward with his free hand and makes a squeezing motion. This has the effect of grabbing the nearest foe in front of Vader, with no maximum range. The grabbed enemy will be held in place, still free to attack, but incapable of movement; if they attempt to use a movement attack, they’ll be pinned in place, and will execute the attack without moving. Well, mostly without moving – they aren’t entirely helpless to resist, and will jerk in the direction of the input they give slightly (for instance, a Forward Air would move them slightly forward) If they activate their special fall (helpless state) while being grabbed, or they were in it to begin with, they’ll be instantly pulled out of it. Vader can grab foes as far away as he likes, but the farther away they are, the easier it will be for them to escape. Within a Battlefield platform, they escape at half normal grab difficulty. Beyond that, foes will escape at a quarter of normal grab difficulty. Outside of a three Battlefield-platform range, foes will escape almost instantly, without even mashing. This pulls foes out of their helpless state and restores recoveries, on top of being terribly easy to escape from, so it’s really not a reliable gimping tool, or anything like that. If the foe escapes from the grab, Vader will stumble backward slightly and suffer from some lag, allowing the foe a chance to move without being instantly re-grabbed.

What this attack has going for it is its very own set of throws, which are initiated in the same way you would use throws out of a grab in Smash.

Forward Special Throw ~ Force Push
Vader pulls his free hand back, then launches it forward, directly at the grabbed foe, creating a Bowser-sized ripple of air that ravels directly at the foe at Ganondorf’s dash speed. The foe is released as soon as the attack is launched, and Vader can’t move or attack until the force ripple moves off-screen or hits the stage and disappears. If the ripple effect hits the foe, it’ll carry them along with it until they DI out, which isn’t particularly difficult.

This projectile can be evaded quite easily, but it is almost impossible to airdodge, due to its size and speed. As such, it’s best used as a way of threatening and herding foes, rather than as a direct attack. Be careful with it, as Vader is left open to attack while he uses this.

Back Special Throw ~ Force Pull
Vader gestures towards himself, and the foe begins to move towards him, unable to attack, at Sonic’s dash speed. If they make it all the way to Vader without breaking free of the grab, then they’ll be instantly scooped up in his normal grab. This isn’t really usable until higher percentages, as if the foe breaks free early, Vader will suffer hitstun as he normally would when a foe breaks free, and more importantly, the foe will continue flying right at him, and they’ll be free to attack. Not a situation Vader ever wants to be in.

If the foe slams into the stage en route to Vader, then they’ll take 10% and flinching before being released; Vader is unable to use his Neutral Special for another three seconds.

Up Special Throw ~ Saber Throw
Vader hurls his lightsaber at the foe, impaling them and dealing 8%, plus 2% per second for as long as the saber remains embedded in them. As soon as the saber makes contact, the foe is released and Vader takes his customary bit of lag. The saber can remain stuck in the foe for the whole match; it will only extract itself and (laggily) return to Vader’s grip once he tries to use any of his smashes. Vader’s standards and aerials will be replaced with simple force pushes that deal pushback of half a Battlefield platform, and no damage. This has an excellent damage output, but forces Vader to defend himself with limited attacks. If the saber runs into the stage before it hits a foe, it bounces back into Vader’s grasp, ending the grab with the usual amount of lag.

Down Special Throw ~ Force Choke
One of Vader’s signature moves, he pinches his fingers together as the enemy clutches their throat, in agony and unable to breathe. They take 6% a second in this state, which lasts until they mash out of the grab, at whatever difficulty they would normally have at their range. After using this attack, Vader is unable to use his grab again for another three seconds.

Forward ~ Throw Debris
Vader makes a fist with his free hand, and telekinetically tears a small chunk out of the stage and floats it up to his head level. The stage chunk ranges in size from Pokeball-sized all the way up to Bowser-sized, depending on charge (which isn’t particularly long). After a moment, Vader hurls the chunk of earth in the direction you indicate (forward by default) at Sonic’s dash speed. The stage chunk deals 5-20% damage along with flinching knockback, and will carry foes along with it, forcing them to DI away from it to avoid being smashed into a wall or carried off the blast zone entirely. Stage chunks can also be destroyed; their stamina is equal to the damage they deal on impact. Foes being carried along can smash the offending chunk of stage, if that’s easier than getting around it.

Foes hit with stage chunks will be instantly torn out of a Neutral Special grab. It is possible to hurl a chunk of the stage at the foe, then grab them and yank them into it, however. Also noteworthy is the fact that the stage quickly fills in when Vader takes a chunk out of it; the hole left doesn’t last for more than a moment before it fills in, and is entirely aesthetic, without any real impact on the fight.

If used from the air, Vader will levitate the stage chunk up to his altitude before throwing it in the indicated direction. As one final note, if a foe is standing on the space the chunk is torn from, they’ll be automatically carried along by the projectile, not taking any damage, but being forced to DI away from it as one normally hit would have to.

Up ~ Force Leap
Vader tenses his legs for a moment, then springs upward just as high as Dedede does in his Up Special. It’s easy to maneuver back and forth as Vader rises, and once at the peak of his jump, he goes into his normal aerial stance, allowing him to use his impressive Force-assisted aerial maneuverability or his special slowfall to aid his recovery, as well as his aerial attacks. On the downside, this recovery won’t come back when Vader is struck in the air, making Vader a bit fragile.

This attack can be charged. Charging won’t affect the trajectory of the leap at all, but it will increase the size of the attack’s hitbox. Yes, the move has a hitbox; all foes within a certain range (between a Pokeball-width and a Mario-height, depending on charge) of Vader will be launched upward with him when he leaps, and will follow in the same trajectory as Vader until he reaches the apex of his jump, at which point they are released from the attack, and regain their freedom of movement.

Down ~ Force Burst
Last but not least of Vader’s specials is this, perhaps the most pivotal attack in Vader’s arsenal. This is an attack that charges passively, much like Wario’s Down Special. As it grows more powerful, it tints the air around Vader a dark red color. This aura gradually becomes more opaque and grows larger as the attack nears its full power, a process that takes twenty seconds. Using the Down Special will cause Vader to slam his saber downwards as a burst of telekinetic energy sends anything and everything in his immediate area outward. The attack deals no damage, but the knockback can potentially be very powerful indeed. Though it will rarely KO, it’s among the best GTFO moves in the game, due to its powerful knockback and how quickly it comes out.

What really makes this move so central to Vader’s moveset, however, is that the pent-up energy visible in Vader’s aura is put to use before it’s released. As Vader’s dark side aura grows larger, he grows stronger- all of his standard, smash and aerial attacks will gain a power boost once Vader’s allowed this attack to charge for ten seconds, enhancing the damage on the aforementioned attacks by 2% each. The buff grows stronger as the dark side aura grows, to a maximum of 6% damage buffs all around. His attacks will also come out much faster, though they still tend to have endlag that foes can take advantage of. His dash becomes much more effective; starting at fifteen seconds of charge, he’ll go into a force-powered glide, comparable in speed to Sheik’s dash, rather than his normal march. (His turning is still as clumsy as ever, mind you) Finally, when his aura is at its maximum charge, Vader is consumed with rage, and has difficulty focusing – all of his other Special attacks will have noticeably increased lag on startup.

~~~ SITH OFFENSIVE…

A ~ Overpower
Vader pulls his saber back over his head then swings it downward forcefully, dealing 10% and very low, strictly horizontal knockback. Vader steps forward as he does this, and it can be used consecutively to cause Vader to alternate which side the blows come from as he advances on the foe. This can be used to drive the foe back to an edge, though Vader’s got to be careful not to commit to this attack when the foe will anticipate it and roll behind him. With a strong dark side aura, Vader will advance more quickly, making this a much more menacing attack. His strikes also reach all the way down to the stage, so this can be a good way to threaten, or simply attack, foes who have been knocked to the ground.

Forward ~ Slash
With a lightning-quick wind-up, Vader sweeps his lightsaber forward horizontally for 13% damage and low knockback. Like many forward tilts and smashes, this can be angled up or down. The knockback it deals will always be in the direction the attack was angled; either straight along the stage, into the air, or diagonally downward. If the foe is hit with the downward-angled version of this attack while standing on the stage, it will trip them, while using it from the ledge on airborne foes will cause the victim to take diagonal downward knockback. The attack has a touch more endlag than you’d expect, leaving Vader vulnerable for just a moment.

The downward-angled version of the attack can, at higher percents, leave the foe with enough hitstun to allow you to use your Up Special, blasting Vader and his victim airborne, where Vader can bring his powerful aerial attacks to bear. Alternatively, this can lead into your Jab. Both follow-ups will happen at much lower percentages if you haven’t been using that Down Special often.

Up ~ Saber Twirl
Starting with his lightsaber held at a slight upward angle, Vader quickly swings it downward, then curves back up again to a point over his head and just in front of himself, as if tracing a giant “J” in front of himself. (Though this is of course viewed from the side and doesn’t look like a J to the player) If Vader hits a foe on the downswing, then he’ll smack them down into prone for 9% damage, and if he catches someone on the upswing, they’ll take 14% and low upward knockback. The knockback isn’t really impressive here, but it does a good job of getting foes off Vader’s back, and gets them far enough away to open them up to thrown debris, or a force grip. This is a decent GTFO option if you don’t want to use your Down Special just yet, allowing you to put off expending your pent-up rage for a while.

Down ~ Stage Scrape
Vader drags his lightsaber across the stage as he swings it forward in a small arc, bringing it to rest pointing straight ahead, at waist height. The attack deals 9% and low knockback, a small payoff for an attack with such short range. However, the slash throws up a shower of sparks that reach as far ahead of Vader as half a Battlefield platform’s length, and stun foes briefly, covering up the endlag of the attack and, at higher percentages, potentially comboing into a Forward Tilt or a Jab. This comes out quickly, but because of the stage-scraping motion, the projectile is still somewhat telegraphed.

As you may notice is becoming a common theme, Vader is a bit of an oddball in that he can follow up his attacks more effectively at higher percentages, not lower ones. He’s not quick enough to start chaining strikes together against an agile foe right off the bat, after all; he needs to weaken them up a bit first.

~~~ SITH SMASHES…

Forward ~ Sith Burst
Holding his saber straight forward at chest-height, Vader bursts forward half a Battlefield platform as he unleashes a 360-degree sweep, twisting his torso and pivoting his arms to bring his saber down to the stage, behind him, over his head, and then, just as he reaches the end of his movement, slamming back down into the stage again in a crushing overhand blow that deals 17-24% and high knockback that can kill at around 110%. The initial phase of the attack has a slight, Force-powered suction effect that draws foes within a Battlefield platform toward Vader to be hit by the attack. This suction is much less powerful with a dark side aura, though the blow itself is more powerful to compensate. This is Vader’s most powerful kill method, and thanks to the suction effect, can work wonders on foes outside of Vader’s normal lightsaber range, if timed properly.

Up ~ Saber Trick
Vader hurls his saber diagonally upward at a 60 degree angle. The saber travels one stage builder unit away from Vader at minimum charge, and four times that at the attack’s maximum power. Once it reaches the end of its flight, the saber levitates in place as it begins to spin. The saber will continue to spin until four seconds have passed, at which point it arcs back to Vader’s hand, dealing 9% and low upward knockback en route. If a foe makes contact with the saber while it’s spinning, they’ll take 16% damage as the saber impales them and returns to Vader’s hand. Once the saber is returned to Vader the enemy will be dropped to the ground in front of him, and left in their prone state.

Much like Vader’s Saber Throw, this will replace Tilts and Aerials with simple force pushes which can be used to hold foes off temporarily. This attack can be used as a trap when Vader is trying to hold the foe off, effectively blocking off a certain part of the stage. It also makes for a good way to transition from a long-range to a melee fighting style; blast the foe into it and have them carried back to you for a beatdown.

Down ~ All Too Easy
After raising his saber over his head, Vader swings it diagonally downward in a powerful slash that strikes the stage and throws up a shower of sparks identical to the one created by Down Tilt. The slash itself deals 12-17% and low horizontal knockback. This attack has a strong push effect, sending anyone within a Kirby-width of Vader sliding away as far as a full Battlefield platform. This may seem a bit generic, but it’s one of Vader’s few ways of dealing with foes who get behind him, and also does an excellent job of pushing foes towards the edge.

~~~ SITH AERIALS…

Neutral ~ Dual Slash
With little fanfare, Vader swings his saber diagonally across his body and downward, then raises it and unleashes a second slash identical to the first, but in the opposite horizontal direction. Each slash deals 9% and low forward knockback. They don’t chain together well. . . . normally. However, the second slash is delayed until the attack button is released, allowing Vader to strike once, DI to the foe’s current location, then strike again, if he has careful timing. Alternatively, it allows him to simply have an attack at the ready to spring on foes, though they’ll certainly be expecting it, since the first slash will forewarn them. This doesn’t have too much startlag, and can be used on foes you’ve dragged into the air with Up Special, if you’re quick.

Forward ~ Overhand
Vader raises his saber upward as he prepares for the attack, then slashes it downward in a huge arc. A particularly brutal blow, this spikes the opponent just as powerfully as Snake’s Forward Aerial, on top of dealing 14% damage.

This can be used as a gimping move, but Vader probably won’t be straying too far from the stage (not of his own volition, anyway). A better idea is to use it to slam opponents off the stage and back up towards Vader for a second hit. Once again, this is a combo move that works better at high percentages, not low ones. When stringing this sort of combo together, Vader’s special “float” comes in very handy, as it allows him to adjust his falling speed to make sure he’s at the right altitude at the right time.

Back ~ Reverse Thrust
Vader thrusts his saber under one arm and behind him, dealing 15% and impaling foes directly behind him. After he impales a foe (assuming he manages to do so), Vader swings the saber out in front of him and telekinetically tears the opponent off of it, leaving the two about half a platform apart, and putting them both on even ground in terms of lag. The purpose of the attack is, quite obviously, to get the foe in front of you, should they manage to sneak behind. Vader really does not like foes to start attacking his back, and this can be a great way to get the foe where you want them right before you touch down on the stage, or possibly lead into a Neutral Aerial.

Up ~ Saber Sweep
After whipping his lightsaber to point diagonally upward and behind him, Vader swings it in a 90 degree arc to point forward and upward, dealing 11% damage. Foes he hits along the way will be dragged through the full swing, and will only take knockback at the end of the attack, which sends them downward and slightly in front of Vader, granting the possibility of some follow-ups.

Down ~ Dismissive Strike
Bringing his saber up to head level, Vader slightly slows his falling speed (if he isn’t already using his float) as he slashes in a 270-degree arc, bringing his saber from straight upward to directly ahead of him, dealing 10% and low downward knockback. Like most of Vader’s attacks, this is rather quick to come out, but has more endlag than the average player will want. It can be used to bounce foes off the stage and back to Vader, much like his Forward Aerial, or to ward off the inevitable fighters flinging themselves at Vader’s ankles with their Up Aerials.

~~~ SITH GRAB…

Grab ~ Thrtottle
This isn’t a flashy Force grab like you might expect. You already got that in the Specials, after all. Instead, Vader reaches forward with one hand and physically lifts the foe off the ground, each pummel tightening his grip on the foe’s throat for 1.5%. The pummel can be spammed to your heart’s content (it doesn’t get a buff from a built-up Down Special charge, by the way), and the grab itself is mostly unremarkable, but slightly heavier on endlag than most.

Remember that through his Back Special Throw, Vader can potentially get a free Grab on anyone he can use his Neutral Special on, providing they’ve got enough damage racked up, so yes, this is quite important. Oh, as a brief note, Vader temporarily stows his saber away when he lands a grab, pulling it out again when the foe is released.

Throw ~ Lift
Vader lifts the foe over his head with both hands, and is now free to walk around, much in the style of Donkey Kong’s Forward Throw. With either attack button, Vader can hurl the enemy to the stage ahead of him for 12% damage. Hitting the stage will also leave them in their prone state, allowing Vader the chance to launch into his melee attacks, or send the foe flying away on a stage chunk. Alternatively, Vader can get close to the edge and hurl them into the abyss. A foe trying to recover is a foe open to Force manipulation, or more traditional edge-guarding, depending on just how you’re playing Vader at the moment.

~~~ SITH MAGIC FORCE METER…

FORCE BLITZ ATTACK ~ DEATH STAR
Darth Vader points his saber to the sky, triggering the appearance of the Death Star in the background of the stage. With nothing but a nod from the sith lord, the Death Star fires it’s superlaser down onto the battlefield. While perhaps lacking the planet-destroying power it once had due to being pulled into the Rumbleverse, it still possesses raw destructive ability. The superlaser is a beam that fires into the middle of the stage, before creating a smart bomb-esque explosion as the segment of the stage that it was fired onto is torn apart, sending debris flying everywhere. The explosion lasts about 4 seconds, increasing in size to about the point where it could consume all but the edges of Final Destination with ease. The explosion traps foes in multiple hits of 9% per second before knocking them away at the end of the 4 seconds. Even if foes avoid the explosion, Vader can keep them trapped offstage with dominating melee and the power of the force with ease. All stage transitions/scrolls freeze during this.

At the end of the 4 seconds, the screen is covered in a white flash as the stage is restored to normal.

FORCE BLAST ATTACK ~ HACK N SLASH
Darth Vader makes a grabbing motion in front of himself, looking much more aggressive than usual, if that’s even possible. From here, the attack only works if there is a foe close to him (within the range of 2 Battlefield Platforms), otherwise it’ll be whiffed. Should he be successful, Vader will grab the foe with the force and hoists them up in the air with telekinetic power. While it looks as though Vader might simply finish them off with the force choke, he attacks in a much more…stylish manner. The foe is lifted into the air, as Vader’s lightsaber moves towards them. From here, Vader manipulates his saber to slash and hack at them for about 5 seconds before striking with a killing blow, dealing 25% overall and heavy knockback. Vader remains grounded where he is and is unable to be attacked should there be any other foes who attempt to attack Vader while he stands in place. All stage transition/scrolls freeze during this. If they’re at a decent enough percentage, this is basically an instant KO on a foe – with the downside being that it only works on one foe.

***

~~~ SITH STYLE…
It might seem at first that not all of Vader’s attacks flow smoothly together. The Neutral and Forward Special paint Vader as some sort of mage/camper archetype (his long-ranged attacks that allow him to grab from a distance and keep the foe at bay with projectiles), whereas most of the rest of his moves lend themselves to an aggressive, melee-based playstyle (don’t tell me you missed all that swordplay). The pivotal link here is Vader’s Down Special. The attack allows him to gradually shift from a long-range playstyle to his signature brutal swordplay, and instantly back to the first style. The Smashes can work within the context of either style, if used properly; Vader’s Forward Smash is a powerful killing tool in either mode. The Up Smash meshes slightly better with Vader’s Force-based game, but can also serve as a lead-in to his saber-work. Your Down Smash is quite the opposite – it works best when used in close quarters, but is adept at pushing the foe to, or off, the nearest ledge, which leads very well into Vader’s long-range playstyle.

The last real bridge between the two modes of combat is the grab. Vader’s throw is versatile and allows him to lead into his melee attacks or push the foe farther away. Through his Neutral Special, he even has the option of using his grab at range, allowing his grabgame to neatly transition from one style into the other.

With his various transitions in mind, Vader is extremely open-ended to play, as he has a great degree of freedom in how he mixes his two styles. A straightforward way to go about things would be to keep the foe away from Vader at first, allow the Down Special to build up a charge, then draw them in and go for the throat. But Vader certainly isn’t restricted to playing this way, and he can easily adapt his style to fight the foe wherever they feel least comfortable.

Vader’s greatest limitation is that it takes him a while to build up a charge on his Down Special, which is what really allows him to excel in melee situations. This can prove to be his downfall, as enemies who can pressure him into using his Down Special too often will usually get the better of him.

***

~~~ SITH EXTRAS…

Up Taunt
Darth Vader wordlessly levitates a small bit of debris up to eye level, then clenches one fist as he crushes it.

Forward Taunt
“You underestimate the power of the dark side,” Vader admonishes as he jabs an accusing finger forward.

Down Taunt
“Impressive. Most impressive,” Vader admits as he swings his lightsaber in a lazy arc.

Victory Pose 1
Vader deactivates and puts away his lightsaber as he dismisses his enemies, “All too easy.”

Victory Pose 2
Vader points his lightsaber outward, toward the screen, as he proclaims “The ability to destroy a planet is insignificant next to the power of the Force.”

Victory Pose 3
Vader turns to the losing players and poses the question “Perhaps you think you’re being treated unfairly?”

Victory vs. Mickey, Donald, Darkwing or Goofy
Vader slashes his lightsaber towards his opponent, his side facing the screen, as he remarks “The protectors of this dimension do it no favors.”

Victory vs. Hades
Vader dismisses the ruler of the Underworld with a harsh remark, “Your demeanor is a disgrace to the position you hold.”

Victory vs. Iron Man
Vader looks over Stark, proclaiming “I see that you, too, have intruded upon this dimension. You will watch it fall as well.”

Losing Pose
Darth Vader stands stock still, hands firmly at his belt rather than clapping. His expression can’t be read through his mask.

Shield
Vader extends one hand, palm out, as he blocks attacks with the power of the force.

Costume

Vader gets his unmasked look.

~~~ SITH HADES QUOTE…

HADES/ Dun dun dun, dun, da duh, dun, da duh…

~~~ SITH LEGEND…

Symbol
While a lightsaber would perhaps the most fitting Star Wars symbol, Vader gets the Imperial Crest as he is te only one to represent it.

Entrance
Vader, already present on the stage, draws his lightsaber as he enters his fighting stance.

Selection Sound
Darth Vader’s iconic breathing can be heard momentarily when he’s selected.

Music
Vader’s dark and iconic theme, The Imperial March, is played to signify his victory and serves as his theme in Disney Rumble.

***

I find your lack of faith disturbing.

Special thanks to guest writer, n88_2004, for creating this moveset!

EDGAR BOSS MODE

While one might know Edgar the Butler for many things, his ruthlessness is not one of them. However, pitting him against 3 opponents just might change that, as Edgar goes all out! After all, he knows that if he’s due for millions if he wins! His pesky opponents have got to go!

• Edgar’s weight is changed from a 6/10 to about 13/10.
• Edgar escapes grabs twice as quickly, and shoves his foes away when he does so, giving himself a small amount of breathing room. He has immunity to grabs for about .50 seconds afterwards to keep him from being chaingrabbed.
• Hitstun and stun in general has very little effect on Edgar, with it only being 80% of it’s normal effectiveness. It’s also incredibely hard to keep him locked in multi-hit moves like jabs for this reason. Flinching also hardly works in this state.
• Edgar will not take set knockback until he reaches 100% damage (i.e. moves that don’t deal knockbak but only push him back a certain distance)
• Edgar escapes from status effects such as being pitfalled, frozen and trapped by a grab 4 times as quickly. He is also immune to drowning.
• Magic Meter is built at a slightly slower rate for Edgar’s opponents..
• Edgar has a new ability known as prone prevention, signifying his ability to stay upright and professional as possible at all times. If Edgar gets hit by any attack that will put him in prone, he gains the ability to bounce right up from the ground with a tap of A. Just time the input correctly, and Edgar will use his large belly to propel himself to his feet, not entering prone and falling victim to whatever characters may have in store for him down there. The timing for this is not difficult, due to Edgar’s belly holding him slightly off the ground before he truly becomes prone. This prevents him from proning himself (a constant danger with his normal moveset) and being proned by other foes.
• He takes half as long to put soup down and can place double the amount of soup. Sleeping pills also have more effectiveness – with it only taking two doses to place an opponent in a sleeping state. In addition, magic meter starts to drain from sleeping opponents. Edgar is more focused on disabling opponents while he deals with others in 3v1.
• Edgar can’t be knocked off of his bike by turning too quickly, and it now has 45 HP. The sidecar can scoop up multiple opponents (let’s say…3 of them?) and must take 20% to be knocked off as opposed to being able to be knocked off with any attack.
• Edgar can attach umbrellas by pressing the special input while he has them grabbed, in addition to being able to during the up special. He also has superarmor while attaching umbrellas, and foes must fastfall for 4 seconds to escape.
• Edgar’s A Button attack can now work against regular attacks as well, as opposed to just grabs – essentially transforming it from a grab counter to a regular counter. It also now takes 5 seconds for him to become winded.
• Edgar’s stomp now deals 8% damage and has very little lag, allowing him to spam it on opponents while the others struggle to reach him.
• Up Tilt no longer has any end lag.
• Edgar can move about freely during his dtilt and can cancel it early by pressing it again.
• Edgar now has 3 pitchforks he can place about the stage, meaning he can still use his other smashes so long as he hasn’t placed down the final one.
• Down Smash now needs 2 get-up attacks to escape from by default, increasing to 5 by charge time.
• The size of the shockwave on Edgar’s neutral aerial is increased by 1.5x.
• Edgar now executes fair twice as fast.
• Edgar’s back air now has little lag, allowing him to escape from foes just by tapping extremely quickly.
• Edgar’s down air now longer has the “rubbing in pain” end lag.

If Edgar is fought on his homestage, The Farmhouse, he can access the following abilities as well:

• 2 pitchforks are mounted to the wall on the right side of the stage, and Edgar can walk up to them to immediately gain an extra pitchfork to use with his smashes.
• Edgar is able to use any attack by one of the posts in the background to trigger a devious trap, triggering a bay of hale the size of a crouching Bowser to fall from the top of the ceiling onto the nearest opponent at a very fast speed. Foes must be quick to avoid this, otherwise, they will be forced to take 18% damage and be trapped underneath the bale of hay, being stunned underneath and forced to mash out at 3x grab difficulty. This allows Edgar to build damage on the other foes while he has one trapped. The trap refreshes every 10 seconds and can’t be used between then, and a bay of hale breaks and disappears upon contact with the ground if it doesn’t hit a foe.
• One of the trunks from Edgar’s magic blast attack constantly exists in background of the center of the stage. Pressing grab by it will cause Edgar to grab it and slam it in front of himself identically to his Magic Blast attack, having the same effect if it catches a foe. Edgar can only do this once every 10 seconds. He cannot grab a foe who is trapped under a bale of hay.

BOSS CHARACTERS

The difference between a villain and a hero character on the character select screen might be subtle to newer players, but to any veterans of Disney Rumble, its very clear.

In the top-right corner of every villain’s select portrait lies a small skull. When the skull is pressed, their portrait takes on a more malicious stance as their evil laugh bellows. This event triggers a villain’s boss mode! When a villain has their boss mode activated, the game automatically switches the mode to teams and pits everybody else against them. You may use boss mode villains in any way you wish, but they are meant to be played 3v1 – the only time you have any hope of defeating them.

Once the game begins with a boss mode villain pitted against a team, the stage selection phase is skipped and the players are taken to the villain’s homestage. In many cases, the villain will have special interactions with the stage – Captain Hook will be able to use the cannons on his ship to attack, for example. Villains who don’t have a homestage, like Cruella, will simply be taken to Bald Mountain.

This doesn’t mean you can’t throw out Boss Villains in more casual matches, of course. You can simply turn off the teams in order to throw them into a casual free-for-all or 1v1 or whatever you please. A fun strategy here is to pit Boss Villains against each other. At any time when a Boss Villain is activated and not in a 3v1 situation, you can select stages normally.

Boss Mode can only be triggered in multiplayer modes, unable to be used in minigames and similar forms of gameplay.

“Awww, how sentimental. They’re decorating their tree, and they’re all so festive! Look, even the stupid dog-thing has ornaments around his tail! Yeah, it’s all so friggin swee-“

“OOH, I HATE IT, I HATE IT, I HATE IT! I HATE THIS STUPID FRIGGIN’ CHRISTMAS THING!”

“Okay, okay. I’m good now. Still, these wackjobs are just gonna go around and spread their cheer everywhere like it’s okay to do that! Whatever happened to the friggin’ Krampus, huh? Guy used to come out and eat people on Christmas, and now we’re getting a bunch of loonies spreading around good feelings!”

“Well, I ain’t having that garbage…I’ve got an idea! A wonderful, awful idea! I’m gonna burn down Christmas and their stupid tree!”

“Lemme just call some of my friends, even this is a job too big for one (admittedly handsome) god…”

“…Who’s the weirdo breathing in my ear?“

 

A VILLAIN’S CHRISTMAS

Coming to Disney Rumble!

Hey, guys! I’ve revised the character and stage lists once more according to the poll suggestions, so if you’re interested, please take a look.

On that note, I will be available in the refurbished Disney Rumble chatroom for quite some time if you’re interested in asking me questions or just making conversation. I’m not expecting it to be very busy, but feel free to stop in if you want! http://xat.com/xat211739527

Hey guys! I just figure I’d let you know you guys know that I’ll be rolling out revised character and stage rosters this Wednesday. These will be reflect the results of the polls and involve character cuts and additions, so feel free to continue voting on the polls in order to alter the outcome of the roster.

In addition, on the day I post the revised rosters, I’ll be available in the Disney Rumble Chat from 4:00 EST to 6:00 EST for any questions or conversations you might want to ask. I don’t have admin powers in the chat on the sidebar anymore, so I’ll be posting a link to a new chat in this post later, as well as updating the sidebar chat link. Stay tuned!

EDIT: http://xat.com/xat211739527 – The chat can be found here now.

THE GREAT TIGGER DETECTIVE

“Who is this wannabe detective? Crack the case of Eeyore’s missing tail before he gets the chance to!”

Player: Basil

Opponent: Tigger

Stage: Hundred Acre Woods

Stocks: Basil has 1 stock, Tigger has infinite stocks

Reward: The Tigger, Private Ear costume for Tigger

As you might expect, you must unlock Basil for this event match to be accessible. You play as Basil in this event match, with your only opponent being Tigger in his detective costume. Tigger has rather passive AI in this event match, running across the stage and not exclusively pursuing/attacking you. He will only attack you should you come within one Battlefield of him, meaning you should largely stay out of his way, however. Despite him not attacking you, he will still throw down various traps/scarecrows and whatnot during this time. 10 seconds into the match, the Eeyore assist will spawn on stage and and Tigger will make a beeline for his tail.  You must be the first to return the tail to Eeyore in order to successfully win this match. This forces the Basil player to balance his time carefully between ensuring that Tigger does not lay down enough objects to prevent him from making your way to the tail or it’s owner while buffing his movement speed to order to ensure that he makes it there first! Beating this scene will nab you Tigger’s detective costume for your own use.

As one might imagine, there are many different outfits worn by characters in Disney films. While Disney Rumble features color palettes similar to most fighting games, it also has it’s own specialized outfits. Each Disney Rumble character possesses 6 color palettes in their default appearance. Outfits are alternate garb for characters, each possessing their own 6 color palettes, leaving characters with up to 12 possible costume choices! Each character gets one outfit, and these are divided up into two categories.

COSTUMES

Costumes are simply alternate models for the characters, possessing little to no differences in terms of how the character moves and operates. These are still the same characters as before, but now, they’re simply in different clothing. As pictured above, Beast possesses a “Formalwear” costume while Ratigan’s costume is “Kingly Robes”. They both have 6 color options in their default appearance (i.e. Beast’s cloak and Ratigan’s tuxedo) and 6 color options that apply to these new outfits. Most of the characters in the cast possess these.

ALTERNATES

Alternates follow the same basic line of thinking as costumes in terms of having their own color palettes. However, Alternates are meant to be completely different characters and this is reflected on. They have different names when being called, their animations are changed and they possess different voices/taunts/victory poses. They even have their own Hades Quotes! This are cosmetic differences, however, as there is no change in how they attack or move about. The two alternates pictured are Turbo and Negaduck, alternates of King Candy and Darkwing Duck. They are both referred to by these names by the game, and possess their own animations and quirks to distinguish them from their counterparts. For example, Turbo appears to move about more recklessly than King Candy and talks much differently. On the other hand, while Darkwing might make a heroic quirk upon attacking his enemies and pose heroically, Negaduck will be laughing manically and taunting over his fallen opponents.

Some characters will possess their costumes right at the start, but most will have to be unlocked through milestones and scenes. Stay tuned for what characters’ alts will be, as old character pages will be updated in due time to reflect this new feature while Alternates will be detailed in full in their own pages.

EEYORE

Eeyore hails from the Winnie the Pooh series, being a rather pessimistic toy donkey who often loses his tail, much to his dismay. It’s only natural that when he makes his way into Disney Rumble as an assist character, this is his main calling point.

Eeyore’s a bit glum when he gets summoned, simply sighing and moving about at Bowser’s walking speed, muttering one of several phrases about losing his tail – “Well, looks like I lost my tail again. Not like one of you would care enough to find it.”, that sort of thing. After a short delay, Eeyore’s lost tail appears onstage, being a rather light throwing them that can be thrown at enemies for a rather small 3% damage. As you might expect, the goal here is to get Eeyore’s tail back to the stuffed donkey, which can be accomplished just by throwing it at him or walking up to him while holding it. This is much more difficult than you might expect, however, as any attack will make you drop the item. This is rather annoying for some characters and a godsend for others, as characters with fast projectiles and quick hits benefit highly from this.

Whoever gets Eeyore’s tail to him will be restored back to full health from this deed, with Eeyore simply going “hooray” or “thanks for noticing me” before disappearing. Alternatively, throwing his tail offstage will cause him to respond with “well, I knew that was gonna happen” before disappearing. Characters who can’t who hold on to the tail long enough might resort to that action to spite their faster foes, should it come down to it.

Seeing as how the site’s apparently picking up some new readers, I figured it would be a good time to perhaps get a bit more active with this project in between classes and whatnot.

I’m currently the only one working on the project, but there have been enough new readers on the site that I feel I can run something like this, as I’m interested in cleaning up the roster a bit as well as expanding into possible hypothetical DLC characters. (If you have any interest in helping conceptualize/write some of this stuff, feel free to hit me up in this post or otherwise).

Now, let’s get to this. You get three votes for each of the main polls, so please feel free to vote without restriction of your ideas. The rest of the polls are character and site-specific.