Character Sheet: The Dark Star

 THE DARK STAR

Today, we begin our newcomers. I did say going into this that the RPGs would likely be the last shot for many of the frequent enemies you wouldn't expect to see on a Smash roster, but what I didn't expect was that the RPGs would actually come through for a lot of them. At least one I thought was never going to happen in a million, billion years. But here we are. The first ten are all Mario regulars who finally took the step up to playable. The other sixteen are originals to the Mario & Luigi games (or Origami King) specifically.

1. Toadsworth

2. Captain Toad

3. Buzzy Beetle

4. King Bob-Omb

5. Pokey

6. Ninji

7. Thwomp

8. Whomp

9. Mechakoopa

10. Nabbit

11. Mario & Luigi

12. Prince Peasley

13. Prince Dreambert

14. Olivia

15. King Olly

16. Broque Monsieur

17. Massif Bros.

18. Cackletta

19. Fawful

20. Princess Shroob

21. The Dark Star

22. Antasma

23. Midbus

24. Shroob

25. Popple

26. Durmite/Wisdurm

Now, I wasn't too big of a fan of the Dark Star at first. From my perspective, I had been excited to see an epic showdown between the Mario Bros. and Fawful, a satisfying conclusion to the rivalry that had been brewing across three games, only for Fawful to be completely superseded by a big, evil personality-less force in the last act, and for Fawful the character to go out like a little snitch. That said, having now looked at the character a little more closely for this series of blogs, I may have been a little unfair to it. It certainly has a bit more personality than I gave it credit for, its concept gives an interesting battle mechanic for the brothers and Bowser, and I think most are agreed that its theme song slaps.

The Dark Star starts out as just this mysterious and powerful meteor that fell from the sky that Fawful tries to harness the power from and use for his own personal gain, only for Fawful to be screwed over by his own hubris and for the Dark Star to break free and turn against him. The dark star walls created by Fawful should be considered here. For the first part of its major role in the story, it wanders around the inside of Bowser's body, copying all information it can gather on its host and then incorporating that into its own abilities. Those include being able to grow an arm to mimic Bowser's strong punch, being able to breathe fire like Bowser, and mimicking Bowser's spiky shell as well, eventually forming itself into a complete copy of Bowser (because we always have to end on a Bowser fight). That said, this works for our purposes, because he can almost act entirely as a separate gimmick rep for Bowser's moves as represented in this game. Once it takes on the full Bowser form, it can suck in (a prominent feature of this game), create a thick blanket of fog, throw lightning, create little dark copies of Fawful, fire lasers, bounce around at high speed, whip up a dark hurricane, trap his enemies in a cage of darkness, and throw a giant rock. I think that's more than good enough here.

Here's the moveset I came up with:

Standard B: Vacuum Breath

The move that kickstarted the plot and resulted in the death of Fawful, the Dark Star will open a mouth and suck in those that got too close to it. I should say here that my concept for the character will have the Dark Star in its regular for, but with each move, its body will shift to grow the part needed for the attack.

Side B: Mega Punch

This is based on the super strong punch used by Bowser in the game that is then mimicked by the Dark Star. The Dark Star will grow a muscular arm, pull back tightly, and then punch with all of its might.

Up B: Spiky Shell

This pulls from Bowser's usage of his shell unique to this game, that the Dark Star then mimics, but also pulls from his own moves during the final battle. The Dark Star will curl up into a spiky ball, just like Bowser in his shell and then will bounce itself higher and higher.

Down B: Dark Star Wall

This is based on the walls created by Fawful in order to prevent the Mario Bros. entering Peach's Castle. Basically, the Dark Star will summon the wall in front of itself as a shield, but the wall will remain where it is for a short time, allowing the Dark Star to move freely separate from it.

Final Smash: Dark Hurricane

This is based on the powerful dark storm whipped up by the Dark Star during the final battle. The storm will rage across the stage, sucking up the various characters and launching them into the sky.

Entrance: The Star will rise from the crater it formed when it landed.

Taunts: Up, the Star will form a dark spot of energy directly over its head that will crackle for a second. Side, the Star will squint at an opponent for a second and then mimic either a fist, gun, or sword with its own body, depending on the opponent's weapon of choice. Down, the star will create a tiny clone of Fawful and watch it scurry around for a second.

Thanks for reading! Next up, we will cover the villain of Dream Team, Antasma!