Super Smash Bros. 6/Takamaru

Takamaru is the main protagonist of the 1986 game The Mysterious Murasame Castle and appears as a newcomer in Super Smash Bros. 6.

Attributes
Takamaru is a mid-light-weight speedy character who's capable of taking on many opponents at once. He moves about choppily akin to his 8-bit origins, but more fluid and swiftly, lending to a snappy strategy based on precision. He has moderately decent first and second jumps, a wall jump, and quick running and falling speeds.

Being a samurai, unlike other swordsmen in Super Smash Bros., Takamaru always keeps his katana sheathed when not attacking with it. It will never be exposed more than a few seconds after a combo attack before Takamaru returns it to his scabbard.

Almost all of Takamaru's tilts has deflective projectiles from a blue streak that cancels incoming physical projectiles (though it does nothing against magical/elemental projectiles and thrown items). However, if one of those moves is used again in succession, it will become less powerful and non-deflective. This comes from his game, where Takamaru is able to deflect most shots fired at him with a katana slash.

Moveset

 * Neutral Combo: Takamaru instantly draws his katana, slicing it upward while taking a slight step forward and then performs a downward strike with it.
 * Side Tilt: Takamaru draws his katana and slashes in a mid-to-high ranged arc in-front of himself while leaning slightly forward.
 * Up Tilt: Takamaru draws his katana and slashes back-to-front overhead himself in a wide-arced stance.
 * Down Tilt: Crouching in a seiza-like meditative pose, Takamaru draws his katana backhanded and slashes in a low-to-mid ranged arc in-front of himself while rising to a knee.
 * Dash Attack: Takamaru first readies his stance, then dashes forward while drawing his katana quickly and then re-sheathing it in an instant.
 * Side Smash: Takamaru draws his katana, holding it two-handed and vertically. The move depends on charge:
 * If released with no charge, he will swing it downwards to attack in-front of himself.
 * If released with some charge, the katana blade will catch fire and attack in the same arc for more damage with a flame effect.
 * If released at full charge, the katana swing gains an additional projectile attack. The "王" kanji symbol flashes on the screen and Takumaru unleashes a barrage of 3 large fireballs, fired together in a stack directly in-front of himself (based on the fireball power-up).
 * Up Smash: Takamaru draws his katana and hoists it back with two hands held over his shoulders. Like Side Smash, the move depends on the charge.
 * If released with no charge, Takamaru will swing the katana to attack overhead with little ending lag.
 * If released with some charge, the katana blade will catch fire and attack in the same arc for more damage with a flame effect.
 * If released at full charge, the katana swing gains an additional projectile attack. The "角" kanji symbol flashes on the screen and Takamaru will unleash a barrage of 3 large fireballs which fan out above himself in a 45° angle.
 * Down Smash: Takamaru draws his katana and holds it two-handed and horizontally above his head in a Ko Gasumi pose. The move will change depending on the charge like Side/Up Smash:
 * If released with no charge, he will spin and swing the katana around to attack on all sides, trapping opponents and ending with the blade pointed behind himself.
 * If released with some charge, the katana blade will catch fire and attack in the same spinning motion for more damage with a flame effect.
 * If released at full charge, the sword gains an additional projectile attack. The "飛" kanji symbol flashes on the screen and Takamaru unleashes a barrage of 4 large fireballs, all fired in one of the four cardinal directions, spreading out from himself in the center.
 * Neutral Aerial: Takamaru clasps his hands in a ninja-esque mudra while five small fireballs quickly circle around him. The fireballs can hit up to five times and produces a flame effect.
 * Forward Aerial: Takamaru quickly reaches into his coat with both hands and pulls out two throwing knives. In a reaching swipe, he slices with the dual blades, hitting in-front of himself twice.
 * Back Aerial: Takamaru turns around in the air and hits with a strong spinning back kick. The kick turns Takamaru's sandals red momentarily as a reference to the Red Sandals item.
 * Up Aerial: Takamaru takes out his katana and spins it around like a helicopter blade held overhead. If the attack is performed two or more times before touching the ground, Takamaru will instead throw the Pinwheel Shuriken straight up as a projectile.
 * Down Aerial - Clay Bomb: Takamaru drops a large clay bomb straight down from his aerial position. The bomb explodes on-contact with an opponent or the ground and can even damage Takamaru if he's too close to the explosion. He can only drop one bomb before landing after a jump.
 * Grab: Takamaru grabs the opponent with one hand, while the other hand grips his katana.
 * Pummel: Takamaru halfway-draws his katana and hits the opponent with it's hilt.
 * Forward Throw: Takamaru hurls the opponent horizontally forward as they spiral wildly in the shape of a shuriken.
 * Back Throw: Same as Forward Throw, but Takamaru will hurl the opponent backwards instead.
 * Up Throw: Takamaru tosses the opponent up and follows with an upwards stab with his katana. If the opponent is damaged enough, this move will launch them and afterward, red rays of the rising sun will reflect off the katana's blade.
 * Down Throw: Takamaru plummets the opponent into the ground and hops back as a smoke bomb cloud disperses into the air. The smokescreen lingers in the thrown spot for a while.
 * Neutral Special - Throwing Knives: Takamaru quickly chucks a single small throwing knife forward which can be used up to 5 times in succession. Holding the button will throw two knives in a line at once (1 second), invoke the "王" power to throw three knives forward in a stack (2 seconds) or harness his inner chakra and throw 5 knives at once in a blazing King Hawk formation with flame effects (3 seconds).
 * Custom 1 - Secret Smoke Knives: Each smoke knife thrown has a stun effect, but does very little damage. At 3 second charge, it will stun the opponent longer.
 * Custom 2 - Target Knives: Each knife thrown has an odd color that slightly homes in on opponents for a little bit at the cost of its speed. At 3 second charge, all 5 knifes will home onto the opponent at once and works as a great shield breaker.
 * Side Special - Pinwheel Shuriken: Takamaru holds up a single pinwheel shuriken at head-level and hurls it forward with a swinging effort or changing it's direction by holding "up" or "down". Can throw up to 3 pinwheel shurikens. Holding the button will invoke the "角" power and throw 3 shurikens forward in a fanned-out pattern (2-3 seconds), conjure 4 shurikens from his central position at 4 cardinal points or angle them in an "X" pattern if "up" or "down" is held (4-5 seconds). If held for over 5 seconds, the forward-facing shuriken will turn into a giant windmill blade that drags opponents away with a windbox and hits multiple times.
 * Custom 1 - Pinwheel Flames: Pinwheel shurikens are replaced with large flames, which are powerful but only hits once before disappearing.
 * Custom 2 - Pinwheel Shield: Similar to Mega Man's Leaf Shield, Takamaru will circle himself with a pinwheel shuriken for a temporary offensive shield rather than throwing them. Holding the button will add more shurikens and at max charge, turn them into giant windmill blades for more damage.
 * Up Special - Tengu's Twister: Takamaru takes the Tengu's symbolic fatsia-leaf fan above his head and bashes it down to waist-level as a special meteor attack. He then engulfs himself in a spiraling whirlwind, rising up slightly and freely control his movement for 3 seconds. Does no damage, but rather gently blows opponents away. If an opponent attacks Takamaru during this, 4 mini-twisters will shoot out a short distance diagonally, damaging opponents on-contact. After the move, Takamaru will be rendered helpless until he lands on the ground.
 * Custom 1 - Flaming Twister: Turns a whirlwind into a flaming tornado that damages opponents, but cannot shoot smaller ones and has shorter movement. The move ends after 5 seconds.
 * Custom 2 - Electric Twister: When attacked inside a twister, Takamaru will shoot fast lightning bolt projectiles diagonally. A whirlwind also travels faster, but ends after 2 seconds.
 * Down Special - Invisibility Technique: In a kneeling pose, Takamaru materializes a bolt of fabric that contains his invisibility cloak. In a puff of smoke, he becomes virtually invisible for 9 seconds; the only indication of his location is the shadow below him and the faint dust his actions give off. While invisible, Takamaru can normally move around/attack and is immune to damage. If hit with enough damage or using charged projectiles/fiery smash attacks, the move will fail. It has a cooldown period of 15 seconds before Takamaru may use it again.
 * Custom 1 - Gusting Invisibility: Takamaru will turn faster and has longer duration, but is no longer immune to damage.
 * Custom 2 - Powerful Invisibility: Takamaru becomes stronger when invisible, but he has shorter duration for this move.
 * Final Smash - Inazuma Lightning: Takamaru dons the samurai helmet (which renders himself invincible from all opponents' attacks while the Final Smash is active), rising into the air with the power of 5 colored castle orbs, while dark stormclouds gather in the sky above him. After a few moments, powerful lightning bolts will strike down from the sky for a total of 5 seconds. All opponents who are caught in the lightning incur rapid damage and may launch off-stage with massive knockback.

Taunts

 * Up: Takamaru draws his katana and strikes his iconic pose from the boxart, while sun rays reflect off the blade, before re-sheathing it.
 * Side: Takamaru brandishes his katana, wipes it down with a fistful of cleaning paper, inspects the blade and returns it to his scabbard.
 * Down: Takamaru spots a slow-moving shadow on the ground near him, which reveals itself to be a friendly tanuki with the classic sound effect. They nod to each other as the tanuki disappears.

Idle Poses

 * Takamaru takes a quick cursory glance around him.
 * Takamaru taps the ground behind him with his foot.

Cheer

 * Takamaru, Faito Faito! Takamaru, Faito Faito!

On-Screen Appearance

 * Takamaru emerges on-stage from behind his invisibilty cloak, rolling it's bolt of fabric up and pocketing it, before entering his idle stance.

Victory Poses
Victory Theme: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lBIUQzJNwlI (Stage Clear - The Mysterious Murasame Castle)
 * Takamaru poses, smiling at the camera with his sword tip in the ground and a lovely maiden cheering over his shoulder. Takamaru notices her and he vehemently blushes in shyness and embarrassment.
 * Takamaru pulls out a red medicine box from his belt, with an attached Netsuke tanuki. An tanuki grows large and claps for Takamaru, while the samurai opens the box, restoring his health to full.
 * Takamaru sits on a large mat with an tanuki and the maiden beside him, all three enjoying the falling sakura petals and sipping tea.

Losing Pose

 * Takamaru slowly claps with his head looking towards the side.

Trophy Description
Takamaru has a trophy that is awarded each time Classic mode is completed with him on any difficulty.

Takamaru
''Takamaru is a samurai apprentice sent by the Shogun to stop an alien invader that took over Murasame from continuing havoc. He's a little rusty from being away for so long, but he brings tons of traditional samurai weapons with him. Test his katana with the crossroad tactic - his sword attacks do more damage when striking from behind.''
 * The Mysterious Murasame Castle (FDS, 1986)
 * Samurai Warriors 3 (WII, 2009)

Takamaru (Alt.)
''Takamaru has a bunch of weapons - he's got knifes, katanas, fireballs, windmill attacks... it's pretty crazy! Switching between all these different weapons is key to truly surprising your foes. The Invisibility Technique is also pretty sneaky, as it can be used for up to 9 seconds, but don't let opponents know your location for a shadow below Takamaru!''
 * The Mysterious Murasame Castle (FDS, 1986)
 * Samurai Warriors 3 (WII, 2009)

Classic Mode: The Mysterious Smashing Castle
Takamaru fights characters who are ninjas and those who references Daimyo bosses on castle stages in his home game (The Mysterious Murasame Castle) on Famicom Disk System. Round 2 which has Link, Samus Aran and Pit references the fact all four fighters debuted in the year 1986 on Famicom Disk System.

Costumes

 * Blue hair, red coat
 * Green hair, green coat
 * Blonde hair, yellow coat
 * Cyan hair, cyan coat
 * Purple hair, purple coat
 * Brown hair, orange coat
 * Black hair, black coat
 * Pink hair, white coat

Trivia

 * According to Sakurai, he considered Takamaru as a playable character for Super Smash Bros. Melee and SSB4, but later made him as an Assist Trophy in SSB4 and Ultimate as he felt that Takamaru's popularity was too low to make the cut, until Super Smash Bros. 6.