Fighter Idea: Shantae

[Lord_Brand]

Though Shantae seems like a prime candidate for a transforming fighter, I'm aware that giving her multiple fully-playable transformations would really crank up the complexity, so I've opted for a simplified approach wherein three of Shantae's Specials briefly transform her, and on the ground can be charged (by way of Shantae performing a quick dance) to make them reach farther and hit harder.

Spoiler

Specials
N: Fireball - Shantae shoots a fireball from her hands. If you hold the button for a half-second, Shantae will shoot a Triple Fireball. If you hold the button down for a full second, Shantae will use Flamethrower.

S: Monkey - Shantae transforms into her monkey form and dashes forward using Monkey Bullet.

U: Harpy - Shantae transforms into a Harpy and flies upward, automatically raking opponents with Harpy Talon if she comes into contact with them.

D: Elephant - Shantae transforms into an elephant and either crashes to the ground with Elephant Stomp (in the air) or dashes forward (on the ground). You can chain Elephant Stomp into the dash. While in elephant form, Shantae has super armor.

Ground
N: Hair Whip - Shantae's standard attack.
S tilt: Power Kick - A move Shantae learned in Shantae: Risky's Revenge.
U tilt: Fire Hand - Based on art of Shantae producing flame from her hands.
D tilt: Crouching Hair Whip
S smash: Elbow Dash - Based on the move granted by Fighter's Cuff in the original Shantae.
U smash: Spin Kick - Based on the move granted by Fighter's Boot in the original Shantae.
D smash: Hip Check - Based on one of Shantae's dance moves.
Dash: Slide Kick

Aerial
N: Hair Twirl - Based on the move granted by Fighter's Tiara in the original Shantae.
F: Midair Hair Whip
B: Elbow Jab
U: Midair Fire Hand
D: Drill Kick - Based on the move granted by Fighter's Sash in the original Shantae.

Final Smash: Dance Through the Danger
Shantae performs a dance while a segment of "Dance through the Danger" plays, unleashing a variety of magic attacks and finishing with the Obliterate Dance.

Taunts
U: Shantae strikes her Warp pose, disappearing for a brief moment.
S: Shantae drinks a potion.
D: Shantae pats her rear in a manner similar to BatGals.
Smash: Shantae chats with her friends about the opponent she's fighting. This taunt can only be used on Shantae's home stage, Scuttle Town.

Victory
Theme: Stage Clear from Shantae: Half-Genie Hero.
1: Shantae cycles through her dance animations from the original Shantae
2: Shantae performs her Magic Lamp dance from Pirate's Curse
3: Shantae strikes her Stage Clear pose from 1/2 Genie Hero

Costumes
P1: Red Bedlah - Shantae's standard outfit.
P2: Nega-Shantae - A recolor that makes Shantae resemble her evil counterpart from Risky's Revenge and Half-Genie Hero.
P3: Dancer - An alternate outfit for Shantae in the mobile version of Risky's Revenge.
P4: Pirate - Shantae's pirate outfit seen in Shantae and the Pirate's Curse.
P5: Snake Princess - An outfit Shantae wears during the Tan-Line Temple segment of Chapter 3 in Pirate's Curse.
P6: Ninja - An alternate outfit introduced in Half-Genie Hero.
P7: Beach Day - An alternate outfit introduced in Half-Genie Hero.
P8: Jammies - A variant of an alternate outfit introduced in Half-Genie Hero. Shantae still has her hair in a ponytail in this version.

Stage: Scuttle Town
Various NPCs can be seen in the background, either milling about or watching the battle. The stage has both day and night versions, and which one is seen depends on the music selected for the stage.

Music

Spoiler

Day
Dance Through the Danger
Shantae Theme
Burning Town
Scuttle Town/Dance Parlor
Uncle Mimic's Song
Bolo's Song/Scuttle Town
Sky's Song/Water Town
Shop Theme
Day Travel
Day Travel 2
Boss (Risky's Revenge)
Trip Through Sequin Land
Boss (Pirate's Curse)
The Tenacious Tentacled Terror
Scorching Dunes
Cult of Personality
Neo Burning Town
Boss Battle (Half-Genie Hero)
Mermaid Falls + Counterfeit Mermaids
Cape Crustacean
Rise and Shine Shantae (Extended)
Beach Travel West
Arena Town
Beach Travel East
Sunken City Tour
Boss Battle (Seven Sirens)
Turbulent Hip Shaking
The Final Battle
Credits

Night
Risky Boots Theme
Night Travel 1
Night Travel 2/A Troublesome Trek
Labyrinths
Labyrinths 2
Zombie Caravan
Rottytops' Song
Bandit Town
Tinkertank
Final Battle
Rave in the Grave
Back to the Roots
The Pits
Arctic Justice
Final Boss (Pirate's Curse)
Tinkerbat Factory
Dynamo/Chaos Realm

 

[Zapp Branniglenn]

Shantae's hard to do justice because of her dancing. Unless your attack comes out as slowly a falcon punch, smash bros moves have only a fraction of a second before the attack is active. More attention is paid on the wind-down animation of attacks than the wind-up. Not enough time for Shantae to do her dance, so it would feel inauthentic. The compromise I always had in my head was to pick three transformations and make them her smash attacks. For instance, a Forward Smash that has her doing the Elephant Charge, but if you charge the move you'll see her dance. Try the same idea for her specials, you can make them all chargeable and hope it looks natural for her to be doing that dance while airborne. Or her throws, since those are allowed to have much longer windup animations than a standard attack due to the fact they can't "miss" the victim

I haven't played any shantae game since Half-Genie Hero came out, so I don't have much in the way of suggestions. Her moveset is so different in every game. Just that if you do put Monkey Bullet in there as a recovery move, it should allow her to wall cling if she reaches a solid wall. What was the last character added to smash that possesses that obscure ability? Greninja? Sephiroth sort of with his F-air? And you definitely need to draw parallels to Bayonetta whenever possible in-game. Two characters that fight primarily with their hair, dance moves, and magic. And they're some of the last of their kind. It's uncanny how much these two have in common. If Sakurai is willing conflate the Altair and Travis Touchdown mii outfits for his pic of the day, you know he'll milk this for all its worth

[Lord_Brand]

2 hours ago, Zapp Branniglenn said:

Shantae's hard to do justice because of her dancing. Unless your attack comes out as slowly a falcon punch, smash bros moves have only a fraction of a second before the attack is active. More attention is paid on the wind-down animation of attacks than the wind-up. Not enough time for Shantae to do her dance, so it would feel inauthentic. The compromise I always had in my head was to pick three transformations and make them her smash attacks. For instance, a Forward Smash that has her doing the Elephant Charge, but if you charge the move you'll see her dance. Try the same idea for her specials, you can make them all chargeable and hope it looks natural for her to be doing that dance while airborne. Or her throws, since those are allowed to have much longer windup animations than a standard attack due to the fact they can't "miss" the victim

That's pretty much what I do with her S, U, and D specials, on the ground at least. In the air, she transforms instantly, but on the ground, the player can hold the button for a second and have her perform the dance first to power up the transformation. You can view it as a compromise between her usual dance transformations and the Fusion Coins seen in Seven Sirens.

Granted, I did consider using a dance interface similar to Half-Genie Hero's (the best so far in my opinion), but I was worried about the complexity and practicality.