Super Smash Bros./Fridge

Everything About Fiction You Never Wanted to Know.


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  • When Luigi is unlocked in Melee, the in-game message refers to him as "the man in green." Six years later, Super Paper Mario would use this exact same epithet in the Dark and Light Prognosticuses to refer to Luigi's dual destinies as himself and Mr. L.
  • Today, I was about to write a post about how the 'Lost Tracks' of Brawl got passed up for Ai No Uta, which isn't really a fighting song. But as I thought about it, the lyrics actually fit perfectly with the action. If you replace Olimar with yourself/Master Hand, and the Pikmin with the trophies, it's pretty much the same thing, only you make them fight for entertainment rather than capital or survival. So, Ai No Uta's still guilt-tripping you even when you aren't playing Pikmin. Man, Sakurai's good. I still say they should have chosen Smiles and Tears over the French version though.
  • I was always bugged by Captain Olimar being named "Pikmin and Olimar" in the Japanese release of Brawl. It seemed so cumbersome when you could just say Olimar (like they did in the American release). And I never really understood why it said Pikmin first until now. I realized: "Wait a second, Just who is doing the majority of the work here?" Just like in their own game, it's really about the Pikmin, and all the crap they go through to help Olimar. The captain himself is pretty much an afterthought. -Enlong.
  • At first I hated it that you can't jump on the Hammer Brothers in Brawl. But I just now realized that it's a Shout-Out to Super Mario World.Dai-Guard (talk) 01:26, 10 January 2014 (UTC)Weegee
    • How so? You could jump on the Hammer Bros in Super Mario World, it's just a lot harder than usual.
    • That's from a revised version. In the original release of Super Mario World, you could not jump on Hammer Bros. This was changed because it made the game too hard, but rom hacks love bringing that "flaw" back.
  • A while ago, I saw some threads about Brawl, and eventually, me and a lot of others came to this conclusion: It is about a child who is growing up. Master Hand is the child, just wanting to play with his toys - the brawlers. Tabuu is the kid growing up. Playing with toys is childish, and as such, TABOO for an adult. So, he takes the worlds and locks them away in a sense as memories of his childhood. He puts away the toys (they turn into statues to represent this). Eventually, the urge comes to play with them, but he resists and locks all but a few lost ones away (the ones that Dedede's timers were on). Master Hand is, of course, gone. Eventually, his own future children find the lost toys and bring in their own toys (Sonic), and the child - of course a parent now - embraces his inner child once more as he plays with his children. -- Icalasari
    • Also to go along with that, look at Master Hand's movement in the original. Now compare it to Brawl... he's aging and arthritis is starting to set in... that or the chains of light did a number on his knuckles. - Gamermaster
      • Snake being there is explained by the fact that, since he's gotten older, he's embraced new things.
    • Really, the variations I can think of, including this one, all boil down to the theme of lost and regained childhood. For example, it doesn't need to be the "future children", but rather the adult simply goes back to play once more out of nostalgia's sake, and Sonic could just be a toy that was left somewhere else that when rediscovered, triggers the nostalgia.
  • At first, Sonic sweeping in to save the day at the end of Brawl made absolutely no sense to me. One day, I was surfing the DOJO while bored, and found this little quip that explained everything: "Heroes always arrive late."
    • On top of the great irony of it being quite easily, the fastest character of the entire cast, he was also late to being announced, late to be in the sections you'd prefer speed over strength (scrolling stages), late to being an 'out of system character' (completely disregarding Metal Gear on the Nintendo), late to actually saving the day, late to filling the blue animal spot, late to filling the speedster spot... the list could go on, he's just terminally late.
      • This also fits Sonic's character. He's always late to the party. He always shows up at the last second. He never gets to the fight early or even on time. He was too late to stop Eggman from chaining up the Little Planet. He was too late to stop Knuckles' brainwashing. He was too late to save Station Square from Chaos' chaos. He was too late to save the moon. He was too late to save his friends from being tossed into robots. He was too late to stop the capture of the Flickies. He was too late to stop Eggman from enslaving Mobius, he was too late to stop Eggman from crashing the EggCarrier 3. He was too late to stop Iblis (not his fault), he was too late to prevent ANYTHING. He's always, well, too slow.
      • I just realized that the point of Sonic is that he's late, but he still fixes everything at the last second. He's annoying in that he's always too late to stop the bad guys, but he more than makes up for it when he finally gets to it. I also realized that the reason he was able to save everybody was purely BECAUSE he was late! Sonic has used that flaw to his advantage to make up for itself. It's brilliant!
      • He's always late because he can afford to be late. It's one of the perks of being so fast is that you can take your time.
      • Wasn't Sonic also one of the main reasons Brawl was delayed so much?
  • I always found it a bit odd that on Luigi's Mansion only two windows are visibly lit up from the outside, even though the entire interior of the house is well lit. It was only when later looking at a picture of the entire stage that I realized it made the front of the house look like an angry face.
  • I hadn't realized until very recently that the first fight in the Subspace Emissary mode (Mario vs. Kirby) was the exact same match-up as the one at the end of the intro movie to the very first Super Smash Bros.! --Sane Intolerant
  • Until recently, I was wondering about something: why is Link's recovery so horrible that he can die in recovery failure even if the opponent doesn't try to gimp him or doesn't manage to hinder his recovery. Unlike Olimar, Link actually has an exploitable conventional weakness, avoiding that Fake Balance bullet. But recently, I was playing a friend as Link and tore apart his Link (his #2 character, my Link isn't even close to that number and the other player can frighten me a bit with Ike) with projectile usage, including bombs I get out when the other player cannot do anything to stop me, thanks to this same player giving me confidence about using them that I have lacked up until that point. Now I have no problem getting them out when the opponent is recovering at a distance from one of my attacks. Since I get an even further conventional combat advantage since I don't rely on the Down Air at all for kills (Forward Smash and Up Smash are fine for that, and Up Air even just for juggle-induced pressure helps), it sure would be really bothersome if Link could gimp people. But wait. Earlier the same day, I had made use of Kirby's extra jumps to gimp another player's character--who wasn't even Link. When I fought the Link player in an inbetween match as Kirby, I didn't gimp him with Kirby, because Link's recovery is just that bad and I'd rather beat Links conventionally instead of trying to be a one trick pony. (This same match is where I gained the confidence to use Bombs, as I inadvertently grabbed one and got to use it to my advantage.) What does this have to do with the subject at hand? Simple: I realized Link's awful recovery keeps him from gimping people. Oh, but his attacks still lag. Well, maybe that's the point: to keep his projectiles from being completely overwhelming in the right hands. Basically, Link is supposed to be played as a fairly conventional battle character but one who is a sort of Combat Pragmatist. The key to mastering him is a right balance, just like with playing his games.
    • This troper thinks you just are a terrible Link player. He is nerfed from his Melee-era godhood, but only slightly.
  • Just a little one. So, I was wondering why Pokemon Trainer/Red had such a scratchy, hoarse, annoying voice. Well... he isn't used to using his voice, is he?
    • Or maybe it's because he's 11 -- 12 years old. His voice should be breaking.
  • Pokémon Trainer's bravado and Jerkass behavior, compared to his game counterpart who is said to be kind and generous. 1. The kids thought of him like that. 2. It takes place between FRLG and HGSS. He began to overestimate himself, which led to his demise.
  • One thing I was wondering for a while was why Zero Suit Samus and Power Suit Samus were two completely different characters, despite them being the same person. However, after looking at the stage select and seeing Norfair and Space Frigate having different stage game logos, despite both being in the Metroid series, it hit me. Zero Suit Samus is fast and light with low damage dealing hits, while Power Suit Samus is much slower and deals greater damage because they're representing both iterations of the Metroid Series. ZSS is Classic 2D, while PSS is the Prime Series. - Grithalmur
  • We all know Snake has a bunch of codec conversations for the characters. However, there contains a bit of brilliance in at least one of them that nobody seemed to catch at first. Namely Sonic's. Some people thought it was a jab from Konami to Sega for making the character look like a chump in the industry. However, this is not the case. The reason Snake has a negative look on Sonic is that, in the wild, hedgehogs actually hunt for snakes to feed on for food. Snake gets a bad vibe because he knows Sonic is a hedgehog and Snake's named after something they eat. So basically, this convo's all one big nature joke. - Muigi
    • I took it as Sonic stealing Snake's "OMG 3rd party character!!!" thunder once Sonic was revealed. - Tech Powah
    • Snake's codec about Sonic is Fridge Brilliance no matter how you look at it. One part is Lost in Translation, as pointed out in the main page. In the Japanese version of the game, the person who voices Big Boss also voices Eggman. - Alternate Mew
  • I thought too hard about the Giant Kirby fight in Melee. Kirby is normally smaller than most characters. This fight puts you closer to the size of Kirby's normal enemies in his world. And now I feel like a durable Waddle Dee in that stage. Doubled as Fridge Horror for me. -- Alternate Mew
  • In the cutscene where Luigi is afraid of Waddle Dees, we (my brother and I) thought that it was just to further Luigi's status as a easily scared person. Then, almost three years later upon seeing that scene again, I realized something -- if you don't count any multiplayer matches where De De De has been involved, this would be the first time that he would have seen a Dee. Not to mention how both he and Mario have been killed by Goombas (who I'd guess are about as big as Dees) in their original series. He simply doesn't know that they're (relatively) harmless yet, and also knows how size isn't always related to the power of that person. He actually has a reason to be so cautious about them! - Seamaid96
  • The theme song for Brawl. Lots of games and anime start off in Japanese, then get translated. The theme song for Brawl could have followed that, and got the all-too-common They Changed It, Now It Sucks. But they made the theme song in Latin. Brawl was never translated to Latin. The theme song is a Bilingual Bonus no matter what version you play! - Alternate Mew
  • This may seem a little cheesy, but I noticed that the little rocks in Tetra's Ship stage were pretty annoying, until I realized they were shout outs to the islands in the middle of nowhere. -- mariocake1
  • Fridge Brilliance:
    • Why swords don't just slice everyone up. They're all trophies, which means it's not a real blade.
    • Also, why is Crazy Hand the Evil Counterpart to Master Hand? Because he's the left hand, which makes him sinister.
    • Why Red faints at one point. Pokémon protagonists often "blacken out" or just "faint" after they lose a battle.
    • Why Link has a terrible jump and recovery likewise. He has tons of equipment. A sword, boomerang, a bomb bag, a quiver with arrow, a bow... yeah, tell me they're not going to weigh you down. As for Young and Toon Link, they're no explanation for them.
    • Why did Master Hand's dolls become trophies in Melee? He got older, and wanted collectibles instead of plushies.
  • Snake's Final Smash involves a helicopter coming from freaking nowhere, right? Wrong. Think back to Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty --specifically, the evacuation part and the Harrier fight. Who was piloting the copter then? That's right, Otacon's on the other end of Snake's Final Smash. Fitting for Heterosexual (or possibly not) Life Partners. --Euterpe
    • Or they could just have a chopper with a pilot off screen when Snake is fighting on the off chance he gets a Smash Ball. Though, the post directly above sounds much cooler.
  • It occurred to me Captain Falcon is from a racing game. So why is it he has these incredibly powerful moves? Well, he's a toy; who said that the kid knows where Captain Falcon is from? So he made up all of his moves, and the reason he's so powerful is that he's the kids favorite toy.
    • You might be looking too far into it, as Captain Falcon is known as a legendary bounty hunter.
  • Roy, Dr. Mario, Pichu, and Young Link were removed in Brawl for being clones of Marth, Mario, Pikachu, and Link respectively. Mewtwo was the only non-clone removed, but he (it?) is a clone of Mew.
  • King Dedede controlled Sonic's invitation to the brawl. His Xanatos Gambit wouldn't have worked otherwise, and despite appearances, he's smarter than to leave a big part of his plan dangling.
    • You know what makes this even better? King Dedede is Sakurai.
  • When the heroes perform their assault on the Entrance to Subspace, there's only one Arwing, even though an Arwing is a one-person vehicle (well, you can cram a another small person in if you have to.) Weird... Until you remember that Sheik wrecked Fox's Arwing. It's probably actually Falco's we see flying. -- Diddyknux
  • When Peach and Zelda are saved and on the Halberd, the next scene shows Zelda, now as Sheik, planning their escape. The one thing that bugged me about that part was Peach smiling at Sheik as the two left the room they were held captive in. That's when it hit me. Remember that, in Twilight Princess, Sheik was never used but was planned to be in the game. Not to mention that Peach, being a princess, probably has had experience with tailoring clothes (a girl needs SOME kind of hobby, right?). Who's to say Peach didn't make the Sheik costume herself during the scene transition? - Muigi
    • I always thought it was in defiance of Snake's insisting that they stay put and remain safe. Like "Hehe, silly man, thinks women are too weak to look out for themselves!" They are both good fighters and clearly competent, as Sheik busted them out pretty quickly.
  • Why is Peach's Castle so unusually small? Are your characters just big? No, they're figures. The castle is a toy too -- and either the toys aren't from the same set as the castle, or the castle is just off model (I've seen many such things with lazy merchandise).
    • Same with Luigi's Mansion.
  • The loading screen for Brawl displays a spinning Smash logo. It looks like the disc, which also spins.
  • Snake doesn't use any of his non-explosive weaponry in Brawl not because of Fantasy Gun Control, but because he's Genre Savvy. He did some recognizance on how fights worked in Super Smash Bros., discovering that the objective is not to just cause damage, but to knock away the opponent into oblivion. Now think on his series, what are the only ways to knock back enemies there outside of killing them, something impossible in Smash Bros.? It's either explosives or close quarters combat. Snake figured this out and ditched his standard weaponry in favor of the stuff that he knows can knock people away, and therefore more effective on this battlefield.
    • Plus, Snake also figured out how the rules of the Smash Bros. universe work and switched his load-out accordingly. He is obviously aware that firing a RPG directly at his feet will blow that fire-breathing turtle-dragon into the skies, and sticking packs of C4 on the finely-dressed princess-slash-ninja is A-OK.
  • Passing over all the Fan Wank (which is some cool theories, don't take this the wrong way) about child's play, there's one major bit of Fridge Horror at face value. Aside from the Dedede Brooches, trophies cannot self-revive. Thus, And I Must Scream ensues if somebody ever falls in battle to someone who won't revive them, or worse, decides to either hide their trophy or keep it as an actual trophy because they hate them that much (or are that much of a Jerkass). And some of the earlier villains are implied to be in the second category, such as Wario.
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