Character Sheet: Poochy

POOCHY

Today, let's go over the last batch of characters that video games are going to give us, at any rate. Obviously there will be many more offered up by the movies, television series, manga, comics, and other media, but that's it for the games. This time, we have five, appearing across the Mario, Yoshi, and Mario RPG rosters. They are:

1. Cat Mario

2. Mr. Blizzard

3. Team Captains

4. Best Fitness Friends

5. Poochy

Today's entry has been a long time coming. Poochy is an adorable little dog and pet of Yoshi and Baby Mario mostly seen in the Yoshi series of games. Up to this point, he has mostly been a support character, akin to Donkey Kong's animal buddies, serving specific roles in certain areas but never really going too far outside of that. Specifically, he has been primarily used as an indestructible ride across hazards like lava, and in later games as a secret treasure locator.

In Poochy & Yoshi's Woolly World, however, he finally got his chance to come a bit more to the forefront, not only with a game mode of his own, but also with a series of stop motion shorts starring him. In the game mode, he mostly ran, but could bash through objects, spin in the air, slide, crouch, and collect Poochy pups to follow him, while in the shorts, he pulled off a number of actions like biting, licking, catching balls and frisbees, pulling on a rubber band and letting it go, using his tail to do things, and rolling around on his belly. A lot of basic dog stuff, to be fair, but I am totally okay with that.

Here's the moveset I came up with:

Standard B: Bite

Poochy will lunge forward and chomp down on an opponent. It probably won't do too much damage, as of course he's a pretty gentle pup, especially compared to others like Wario, but he will still do some damage and he will cling on longer than others.

Side B: Head Bash

Poochy will put on a sudden burst of speed and bash through anything in front of him, be they enemy, item, or obstacle. He will also have super armor, reflecting his durability.

Up B: Midair Spin

Poochy will fling himself into the air and then spin with his tongue flailing, much as he does in his game mode. Another possible option is that the kangaroo from Yoshi's Island DS, and he will ride in its pouch, which sorta fits as they're both Yoshi animal companions, but if you want to keep it to Poochy, I'd stick with the main one.

Down B: Rubber Band

A rubber band tied between two pegs will appear and Poochy will grab the middle, pulling back on it before letting it go in a violent snap that sends opponents flying.

Final Smash: Poochy Pups

Honestly, I actually like the idea of him doing the Nintendogs assist trophy thing of coming up and licking the screen, blocking off visibility, and that is my preferred Final, however, if we'd rather go for something with more of a basis in game, I'd go for him calling a horde of Poochy pups onto the stage to swarm a single opponent with well-meaning but heavily damaging snuggles.

Entrance: He'll just be sitting there with his tongue flopping out.

Taunts: Up, he will hop up and down and bark. Side, a couple of pups will appear and he'll chase them around in a circle. Down, he will sniff around on the ground for a second before an item marker pops up and he barks.

Thanks for reading! Now, let's update our rosters!