Project M/Characters/Brawl Newcomers

Come back to the main article here.

Information on the Melee veterans could be found here.

Charizard
""Roooooooaaaaaaaarrrrrrr!""

In order to further develop Pokémon Trainer's pokémon (specifically, give them actual down-special moves), they were split to function as individual characters. Charizard is an aerial powerhouse that can punish foes on both land and sky,


 * Call Back: His up-throw is Seismic Toss.
 * Elemental Rock-Paper-Scissors: Averted in that Charizard, like the other PT pokémon, no longer have the elemental weakness mechanic from Brawl.
 * Everything's Better With Spinning: Fire Spin (up-special).
 * Fan Nickname: Zard.
 * Lightning Bruiser: Charizard has several attacks that come out quick, and boasts overall good attack power. His down-B, Fly, allows him to quickly assault airborne opponents.
 * Meteor Move: Up-throw is the Seismic Toss. Down-air is a meteor smash.
 * Mon
 * Playing With Fire

= Voiced by Masahiro Sakurai
= ""Wa ha ha!""

The menacing penguin is packed with a few tweaks to make a devastating fighter.


 * Drop the Hammer
 * Early-Bird Cameo: He appears in the background of the Dream Land stage in both N64 and Gamecube games. He also appears as a trophy in Melee.
 * Everything's Better With Penguins
 * Ground Pound
 * Mighty Glacier
 * Royals Who Actually Do Something
 * Stout Strength
 * The Cavalry: Grounded Waddle-Dees can be picked up via wavedash, thus improving Waddle Toss (side-special) to be an even better spacing tool.

= Voiced by Michihiko Hagi (Japanese) / Jason Adkins (English)
= ""I fight for my friends.""

The powerful leader of the Greil Mercenaries enters the battlefield with greater speed and recovery options.


 * Badass Cape
 * BFS: Ragnell
 * Calling Your Attacks: "Aether!"
 * Easter Egg: If the player presses the B button right as he goes through an opponent with a fully-charged Quick Draw,.
 * Fingerless Gloves
 * Flash Step: Quick Draw (side-special). It differs from its Brawl incarnation in that the attack component is optional; Ike will only swing his sword if the player is holding the attack button while the target is in range.
 * Lightning Bruiser: He is a fairly fast character in P:M, unlike his Brawl incarnation.
 * Meteor Move: Down-tilt, down-aerial, and Eruption (neutral-B) are meteor smashes.
 * Playing With Fire
 * Wall Jump: He can wall jump out of Quick Draw (side-special).
 * You Gotta Have Blue Hair

Lucario
""Huuuuurrrraaaa!""

Lucario's new fighting style is heavily inspired by Street Fighter. His "Magic Series" (a.k.a. the On-Hit Cancel) system allows him to combo extremely quickly. Also, his aura system was revamped to give Lucario power as he deals damage; for every 50% damage he deals, he gains a charge, (much like how the meter in traditional fighters works). He can expend a charge to power up one of his moves. He can hold up to two charges at once.


 * Bare-Fisted Monk
 * Battle Aura: His aura charge is now based on dealing damage, rather than having been hurt (the Brawl mechanic).
 * Energy Ball: Aura Sphere. He also has a super version, The Aura Bomb.
 * Expy: His fighting style is much like Ryu's, earning him the nickname "Lucaryu".
 * He's even more like Goku than before with the Spirit Aura Bomb.
 * Fan Nickname: Lucaryu.
 * Kamehame Hadoken: Aura Sphere and Aura Bomb.
 * Flash Step: What was called "Double Team" in Brawl (down-B) is now a command dash that's used for cross-ups, combos, and approaches. (In Brawl, it was a counter attack.)
 * Extreme Speed (up-special), which is now a damaging move.
 * Ki Attacks
 * Lightning Bruiser
 * Limit Break: He charges his Super Meter by dealing 50% damage per aura charge. He can hold up to two charges at once. The charges allow him to use alternate versions of his specials that are either more powerful or are cancelable.
 * Meteor Move: Aerial Force Palm is a meteor smash.
 * Aerial Force Blast (the super version of Force Palm) is a spike.
 * Mon
 * Practical Taunt: Lucario's gains one-tenth of an Aura charge near the end of his Up Taunt. Much like other moves in his arsenal, this was inspired by Street Fighter, specifically Akuma's taunt.
 * Rapid-Fire Fisticuffs
 * Shotoclone: Kamehame Hadouken Neutral Special? Check. Shoryuken Up Smash? Check. Hurricane Kick Neutral Aerial? Check. Combo system that is actually inspired by Street Fighter? Check mate.
 * Shout-Out: Lucario's playstyle is very much like that of a Street Fighter character's, since it's focused on attack cancels and cross-ups. He has Tastumaki, Shoruyken, and a Spirit Bomb as attacks.
 * Signature Move: His magic series system
 * Stealth Pun: He's a Fighting type Pokemon that plays like he's in a traditional fighter.
 * Supernatural Martial Arts
 * Telepathy: How he talks.
 * Took a Level In Badass: His fighting style is much more brutal now than it was in Brawl.
 * Turns Blue: Lucario's hands glow with aura when he gains a Super Meter charge.
 * Wall Jump

Lucas
""PK Thunder!""

Now with PK-charged offensive abilities. Like Ness, he can use Project M's new version of the double-jump cancel from Smash 64 and Melee.


 * Call Back: Offense Up is a move from the Mother series.
 * It's the only one of Lucas's specials that he actually learns in Mother 3.
 * Calling Your Attacks: "PK Thunder!"
 * Averted with the calls for PK Freeze and PK Fire, which have been removed. Lucas's Side-B is now PK Freeze, and he doesn't say its name.
 * Energy Absorption: PSI Magnet. Doubles as an attack.
 * Charge Meter: Offense Up allows Lucas to use stronger versions of his smash attacks, which either have more power, more range, or both, depending on the move.
 * An Ice Person: PK Freeze.
 * Kill Streak: The Offense Up charge is retained if Lucas hits the opponent with the powered smash move. This property allows Lucas to continuously unleash the stronger versions of his smash moves, as long as he lands the hits.
 * The Mario: Although his attacks have decent power and speed, the ranges of most of his attacks are pretty low.
 * Pint-Sized Powerhouse: With his incredibly strong powered-up smash attacks. The rest of his moves are average-powered.
 * Psychic Powers

= Voiced by Minami Takayama (Japanese), Lani Minella (Engish)
= ""The fight is on!""

The hero of Kid Icarus. He disappeared from games for awhile, but he was brought back in Brawl (and again in Kid Icarus: Uprising, also by Sakurai's team).


 * Annoying Arrows
 * Attack Reflector: Mirror Shield.
 * Bifurcated Weapon
 * Dual-Wielding
 * Fallen Angel: One of his Palette Swaps is this.
 * Flight: Subverted, though he does have command-glide as his side-B.
 * Jack of All Stats
 * No Arc in Archery: Justified. These arrows are made of light, though if you really wanted to, you could make them loop all the way around and come back to you.
 * Our Angels Are Different
 * Pint-Sized Powerhouse
 * Shout-Out: He has Roy's base-of-the-blade sweetspot system from Melee.
 * Took a Level In Badass
 * Trick Arrow: It's possible to guide Pit's arrows, even doing things like looping multiple arrows. Unfortunately, It's difficult to pull off and his arrows don't do much damage anyway.

ROB
"..."

The metafictional savior of the Nintendo Entertainment System, and possibly video games in general. His new fighting style is based on combining momentum with attacks.


 * Battle Tops: ROB can charge up and launch a top from Gyromite. It stays in place and damages any other player who touches it. ROB can move over and pick it back up to throw it again.
 * Frickin' Laser Beams
 * Eye Beams
 * Mighty Glacier: One of the heavyweight fighters.
 * Palette Swap: His default look is the Famicom Robot; one of his swaps is the NES R.O.B.
 * Wall of Weapons: Gyros, lasers, and exhausts.

Snake
""Kept you waiting, huh?""

Snake was buffed to be a true Tactical Espionage Expert, using both mind games and stage control to succeed. He is now in the same weight class as the other humans in Project M, and he gained several speed buffs. Also, he has two new knife attacks.


 * Badass
 * Badass Beard
 * Call Back: His new side-smash is a knife combo based on the CQC technique from Metal Gear Solid 3.
 * Everything Is Better With Explosions
 * Hyperspace Arsenal
 * Lightning Bruiser: While he isn't "lightning fast", he was buffed in speed and reduced in weight, so he's more like this than the Mighty Glacier he was in Brawl.
 * Meteor Move: Forward-aerial.
 * Shout-Out: His new up tilt is similarly animated to the crouching fierce uppercut used in Street Fighter. It's a replacement for Snake's incredibly disjointed up tilt from Brawl.
 * Sticky Bomb: Sticking C4s on opponents is very important in Snake's game, as it provides one of his most potent finishers. In addition, the C4 no longer transfers between players (though it can still be dropped).
 * Wall of Weapons: Grenades, the mortar (up-smash), mines, and C4s are all essential for his stage domination game. He also has Nikita missiles, the knife from Metal Gear Solid 3, and the box.
 * Wrestler in All of Us: The wrestling-esque Forward and back throws have set knockback to easily throw opponents into mines and C4s. Also, he can drag held foes if the player presses left or right on the d-pad.

Sonic
""Sonic's the name, speed's my game!""

The fastest character in Smash in the fastest game in Smash.


 * Call Back: Several of his new attack animations.
 * Forward-aerial is the Sonic Eagle from Sonic Battle.
 * Neutral-aerial is inspired by a move in Sonic 3.
 * Sonic has several random poses that he can do after hitting with Homing Attack. One of the poses is the one on the cover of Sonic Adventure.
 * Confusion Fu: Emphasized in his bait-and-punish playstyle with many mobility options and special cancels.
 * Everything's Better With Spinning: Many of his attacks use his "spinball" form.
 * Fragile Speedster: He's the fastest runner in the game, made even faster by the Melee environment.
 * Lag Cancel: Homing Attack can be jump/special canceled.
 * Wall Jump

= Voiced by Sachi Matsumoto
= ""Hi-yaah!""

A combination of the several Link incarnations over time.


 * Annoying Arrows: These arrows are based on Melee Young Link's fire arrows, complete with a hitbox that's left on the ground. In addition, it was upgraded to have a charge faster and a trajectory greater than Young Link's arrows.
 * Call Back: Melee Young Link's milk drink taunt was restored.
 * Composite Character: Interestingly enough, Toon Link takes cues multiple Smash titles, and then some:
 * Smash 64 Link: Jumping slash Foward Smash Attack ; stabbing dash attack; and an aerial Up Special that's a powerful KO move, but with limited recovery.
 * Melee Young Link: Neutral, up, and down aerial attacks; Down Smash physics; Fire Arrows; and Bombs with quick, multiple explosions.
 * Brawl Toon Link: Forward and back aerial attacks.
 * Other 3D Zelda titles: Grounded Up Special reminiscent of the Hurricane Spin from The Wind Waker, and down tilt reminiscent of the shield stab from Ocarina of Time and Majora's Mask.
 * Expy: Although he has elements from several of the series' different incarnations of Link, he's primarily an upgraded remake of Melee's Young Link.
 * Glass Cannon: He has a more aggressive offense than Project M's Link, but his recovery is worse.
 * Heroic Mime
 * Kid Hero
 * Lightning Bruiser: He's built to be a more offensive fighter in opposition to adult Link, who is an endurance fighter.
 * Meteor Move: Down-aerial has Young Link's fire hitbox, only this time it's a spike instead of a meteor smash.
 * Pint-Sized Powerhouse
 * Ryu and Ken: The Ken to adult Link's Ryu.
 * Everything's Better With Spinning: Toon Link's Up Special has retained its charge mechanic; given enough charge, it allows him to slide on the ground.
 * Wall Jump

= Voiced by Charles Martinet
= ""Wa! Wa! Wario!""

A new brutal and tech-chasing Wario joins the fight! Confusingly, the Wario in Brawl has a moveset based almost entirely on the Wario Ware series. In Project M, his Wario Land moves and appearance became central to this outing.


 * Ass Kicks You
 * Call Back: Side-special is the shoulder-bash from Wario Land, and down-smash is the Earthshake Punch from Wario Land: Shake It!.
 * Clothes Make the Legend: His iconic classic overalls outfit is now default.
 * Combat Pragmatist
 * Easter Egg: Holding the up-taunt button while he hits an opponent with his down-aerial adds the.
 * Fartillery: His "Wario Waft", which can become an "explosive fart" after enough time passes.
 * Ground Pound: His new down-air is specifically called this. Although it's considerably punishable from failure, it's very useful; it is a meteor smash, and Wario bounces off the airborne target upon contact, which makes recovery afterwards easier.
 * His new down-smash has him pound the ground and create a large quake.
 * Lightning Bruiser
 * Meteor Move: Down-aerial is a meteor smash.
 * Palette Swap: The biker outfits are now alternate to the classic overall outfits.

= Voiced by Mahito Oba (Japanese), Jay Ward (English)
=

""What's the matter, scared?""

The new space-animal challenges Fox and Falco.


 * Attack Reflector
 * Badass
 * Flash Step: Wolf Flash (side-B). If Wolf hits with the end of the move, the opponent is struck hard, and he won't go into special fall, thus allowing him to use another move to recover back to the stage.
 * Frickin' Laser Beams: He can air-dodge out of his laser fire.
 * Juggle Fu
 * Lightning Bruiser: He's been greatly buffed in speed to justify being a space-animal. Of all the space-animals, he could move the fastest horizontally in midair.
 * Rule of Three: He's the third Melee-style space-animal.
 * Wall Jump