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What characters would make the roster for an Indie Smash Bros game?

Servbot24

Servbot24

The Fallen
Oct 25, 2017
44,728
Smash Bros 64 had 12 characters, Smash Bros Melee had 25. Who would be the essential 12 characters in the first Indie Smash Bros game, and who would be the additional characters that get added to the sequel?

For me I based choices on a combination of game popularity, quality, legacy, and character design. In some cases I didn't include the character because they didn't make sense to be in the game (Papers Please) or because the design just kinda sucks (Rogue Legacy), and in some cases I included a character from a less important game simply because the design would look good in the roster (Owlboy, Slugcat). That said, like Smash Bros, characters aren't required to fit together visually to be in the game together.

First 12:

Cuphead
Ori
Shovel Knight
Hollow Knight
Zagreus (Hades)
Super Meat Boy
Guy Spelunky
Sans (Undertale)
Wayfarer (Journey)
Quote (Cave Story)
Isaac (Binding of Isaac)
Reimu Hakurei (Touhou Project)

Next 13:

Madeleine (Celeste)
Untitled Goose
Jacket (Hotline Miami)
Hornet (Hollow Knight)
Overcooked Chef
Bastion Kid
Drifter (Hyper Light Drifter)
Red (Transistor)
Gomez (Fez)
Juan (Guacamelee)
Tim (Braid)
Shantae
Joseph (Machinarium)

Cut characters due to better candidates in the thread:

Slugcat (Rain World)
Owlboy


Bonus comment: I think an Indie Smash Bros roster would be just as good as the actual Smash Bros roster. Obviously no characters as beloved as Mario or Link, but overall the roster could be super interesting and well rounded.
 
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MGPanda

MGPanda

Member
Feb 25, 2018
2,607
Not gonna lie, that's a fantastic roster. Most of the ones I would've suggested are already there.
 
Shiranui93

Shiranui93

One Winged Slayer
Member
Mar 7, 2018
429
That's a good roster already. It's a very recent game, but I think Omori deserves a spot as well.
 
MaitreWakou

MaitreWakou

One Winged Slayer
Avenger
May 15, 2018
13,180
Toulouse, France
Feels like Reimu needs to be there too. It's the OG big indie character. All the way back from the 90s.

Edit :
Ninja'd by Atom Heart Mother lol
To be fair, Touhou isn't really known on Era it feels like. Reimu being added to Ultimate would be hilarious, Terry's reveal but with 200 times more of "who ?!" posts.

It's a good roster you've came up with still, but a bit too recent focused and western focused imo ! But kudos for coming up with that much names.

Beyond Reimu, for older and japanese focused indie character, someone like Madotsuki from Yume Nikki would be dope !
 
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TheDinoman

TheDinoman

Member
Oct 25, 2017
17,246
I can never truly see Ori as an indie character due to the IP being owned entirely by Microsoft, in-spite of Moon themselves being independent.

Anyways, the guys behind Super Smash Flash 2 are making their own indie themed platformer brawler:

www.kickstarter.com

Fraymakers, the Infinitely Replayable Indie Platform Fighter

The team behind the web's biggest Smash fangame brings you the ultimate customizable brawler featuring your favorite indie characters.
www.kickstarter.com www.kickstarter.com
 
lambdaupsilon

lambdaupsilon

Member
Apr 17, 2018
1,223
famous indie devs microsoft and sony

anyway madotsuki (yume nikki), lea (crosscode), cadence (necrodancer), and minimum two touhous
 
SigSig

SigSig

Member
Oct 26, 2017
4,777
Quote needs to be in the starting roster. Like, come on.
It's like if Smash was missing Mario.
 
Captain of Outer Space

Captain of Outer Space

Come Sale Away With Me
Member
Oct 28, 2017
12,371
Rosebud

Rosebud

Two Pieces
Member
Apr 16, 2018
46,692
Someone PLEASE make this game :(

Would love to add:

Stella (Spiritfarer)
Stardew Valley rep (the Wizard?)
Undyne (Undertale)
Jorji Costava (Papers, Please)
Kim Kitsuragi (Disco Elysium)
Dart Monkey (Bloons TD)
 
NediarPT88

NediarPT88

Member
Oct 29, 2017
16,016
The Stranger from Furi

IKA4nBr.jpg



Robin from Iconoclasts

QrZKYPR.jpg



Dorothy from SteamWorld Dig 2

voRQ7X6.jpg
 
Wishbone Ash

Wishbone Ash

One Winged Slayer
The Fallen
Oct 29, 2017
4,265
Michigan
Since the focus on characters is probably going to be characters from super popular indie games, I think someone from any of Zeboyd's games, LA Mulana 1 or 2, and maybe even the commander from the Bit.Trip games would be nice
 
The Main Event

The Main Event

Member
Oct 25, 2017
3,297
La Résistance Country
Captain of Outer Space said:
Aren't there a few indie Smash Bros games already?
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...

Here's one



TheDinoman said:
I can never truly see Ori as an indie character due to the IP being owned entirely by Microsoft, in-spite of Moon themselves being independent.

Anyways, the guys behind Super Smash Flash 2 are making their own indie themed platformer brawler:

www.kickstarter.com

Fraymakers, the Infinitely Replayable Indie Platform Fighter

The team behind the web's biggest Smash fangame brings you the ultimate customizable brawler featuring your favorite indie characters.
www.kickstarter.com www.kickstarter.com
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...

See above lol
 
Soiks

Soiks

Member
Oct 27, 2017
256
I feel like this roster is full of fantastical characters with interesting powers so I'll suggest someone a little more down to earth. How about a completely regular normal human father in Octodad?
 
sredgrin

sredgrin

Attempted to circumvent ban with alt account
Banned
Oct 27, 2017
12,276
Quote or Isaac before Journey dude.

The Kid getting in over Red too easy.

Also needs a Kerbal and someone from Nuclear Throne
 
m0therzer0

m0therzer0

Mobile Gaming Product Manager
Verified
Nov 19, 2017
1,495
San Francisco bay area
I'd need to see some ASCII character representation. Where're my Nethack / Dwarf Fortress / Angband characters? Maybe even some ZZT (even if it was a Sweeny game)?
 
Camjo-Z

Camjo-Z

Member
Oct 25, 2017
6,672
Captain of Outer Space said:
Aren't there a few indie Smash Bros games already?
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...

There's plenty of 'em at this point and they always fall into the same pitfalls. I would love to see a dev actually make a straight clone of Smash but with indie characters for once. No cringe furry OCs making up 90% of the roster, no fundamental gimmick that makes it play totally differently, no making high-level techniques mandatory so it'll be impenetrable for casuals, just literally Smash but with Shantae fighting Yooka-Laylee.
 
OP
OP
Servbot24

Servbot24

The Fallen
Oct 25, 2017
44,728
Atom Heart Mother said:
If you don't put Reimu Hakurei from Touhou Project in your roster, you need to research more indie games.
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MaitreWakou said:
Feels like Reimu needs to be there too. It's the OG big indie character. All the way back from the 90s.
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...
I realized my top 12 only had 11, so congrats, she's now in the starting roster :)


At this point I would say that Red and Josef are next up to be cut if any better suggestions come along. Maybe Rusty from SteamWorld Dig?
 
TubaZef

TubaZef

Member
Oct 28, 2017
3,594
Brazil
Captain of Outer Space said:
Aren't there a few indie Smash Bros games already?
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...

Yep...

store.steampowered.com

Indie Pogo on Steam

Indie Pogo is a platform brawler game for 2-4 players about bouncing, ricocheting, and pogoing your friends into oblivion! Gather your friends for 2-4 player local romps, or climb the online ladder in the bounciest of battles. Prepare yourself for a rompin' stompin' jumpin' good time!
store.steampowered.com store.steampowered.com

store.steampowered.com

Bounty Battle on Steam

Bounty Battle is the ultimate indie fighting game: a new multiplayer 2D fighter, where you can pit your favourite indie heroes against one another! Indie heroes from games like Guacamelee! and Darkest Dungeon, to Dead Cells, Owlboy & more battle it out in this fighter frenzy.
store.steampowered.com store.steampowered.com

store.steampowered.com

Brawlout on Steam

Brawlout is the platform fighting game, designed for couch play, online ranked matches and competitive tournaments. Now at 2.0!
store.steampowered.com store.steampowered.com

And I'm pretty sure I've seen at least 3 more.
 
KDR_11k

KDR_11k

Banned
Nov 10, 2017
5,235


Slap City is one of those indie smash games, at very least you could get Ittle Dew from that.
 
Annubis

Annubis

Member
Oct 25, 2017
5,817
Something that could be fun/chaotic to play would be Cerberus from Helltaker. Playing 3 characters that are one.
Cerberus1Idle.png
 

Deleted member 13370

Banned
Oct 27, 2017
683
Trying to keep a balance between "first wave" breakthrough indies like Braid and Bastion and newer classics like Hollow Knight within each list, disqualifying Steve, and keeping with the "1 curveball character tradition" (Ness and Mr Game & Watch):

First 10:
Tim (Braid)
Shovel Knight
Jacket (Hotline Miami)
The Kid (Bastion)
Hollow Knight
Spelunky Guy
Meat Boy
Sans (Undertale)
Cuphead

Curveball: The Blob (Inside)

Next 15:
Shantae
Machinarium bot
Mercia (Wargroove)
Zagreus (Hades)
Rusty (Steamworld Dig)
Wayfarer (Journey)
Impostor (Among Us)
Thomas (Thomas Was Alone)
Farmer (Stardew Valley)
The Fool (Sayonara Wild Hearts)
Ironclad (Slay the Spire)
Quote (Cave Story)
Ori
Gatherer (Amnesia)

Curveball: Athlete (QWOP)

Kinda think Quote should be with the first list but that would tilt it too much into the classics end, and he doesn't have the mainstream recognition to knock down, say, Cuphead or Sans.

EDIT: Hell how did I forget Madeleine? And Horrible Goose, obviously.
 
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Hattoto

Hattoto

Member
Jun 26, 2020
766
Does the hero from Half Minute Hero count? That series started out as an indie essentially.
 
kirby_fox

kirby_fox

Member
Oct 29, 2017
5,733
Midwest USA
Quote (Cave Story)
Meat Boy (Super Meat Boy)
Steve (Minecraft)
Naija (Aquaria)
Shovel Knight (Shovel Knight)
The Knight (Hollow Knight)
Shantae (Shantae)
Goose (Untitled Goose Game)
Sans (Undertale)
Farmer (Stardew Valley)
Cuphead (Cuphead)
Reimu (Touhou Project)

Tried to go back to earlier days and games that were looked at back then plus stuff from today. Goose being your surprise character. Steve gets in on a technicality of originally being indie. Ori is out on the same technicality, since he was always owned by MS.

The sequel I'd add Angry Birds and the Cut the Rope creature. Isaac from Binding Isaac. The Hades character. Dorothy from Steamworld Dig. Most of OP's same ones. Terraria would get something too.
 
Xterrian

Xterrian

Member
Apr 20, 2018
3,024
skurk said:
Trying to keep a balance between "first wave" breakthrough indies like Braid and Bastion and newer classics like Hollow Knight within each list, disqualifying Steve, and keeping with the "1 curveball character tradition" (Ness and Mr Game & Watch):

First 10:
Tim (Braid)
Shovel Knight
Jacket (Hotline Miami)
The Kid (Bastion)
Hollow Knight
Spelunky Guy
Meat Boy
Sans (Undertale)
Cuphead

Curveball: The Blob (Inside)

Next 15:
Shantae
Machinarium bot
Mercia (Wargroove)
Zagreus (Hades)
Rusty (Steamworld Dig)
Wayfarer (Journey)
Impostor (Among Us)
Thomas (Thomas Was Alone)
Farmer (Stardew Valley)
The Fool (Sayonara Wild Hearts)
Ironclad (Slay the Spire)
Quote (Cave Story)
Ori
Gatherer (Amnesia)

Curveball: Athlete (QWOP)

Kinda think Quote should be with the first list but that would tilt it too much into the classics end, and he doesn't have the mainstream recognition to knock down, say, Cuphead or Sans.
Click to expand...
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Yes please at the Slay The Spire rep. Even if not Ironclad, it definitely deserves a character due to recognition, quality, and basically pioneering an entire sub-genre of rogue likes.

Commander Video should also get in tbh. He was actually the first indie rep in Smash! Albeit as a trophy in Smash 4, but still.
 
LinkStrikesBack

LinkStrikesBack

One Winged Slayer
Member
Oct 27, 2017
17,311
SigSig said:
Quote needs to be in the starting roster. Like, come on.
It's like if Smash was missing Mario.
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...

Quote shouldn't be in the starting roster because that means you have to pay off the shitbags at nicalis who legally wrangled control of the i.p. away from the original developer, and the head is just generally a massive pain in everyone's neck.
 
KDR_11k

KDR_11k

Banned
Nov 10, 2017
5,235
Could we get Zero Ranger in there somehow? Maybe one of the mech forms? The game's pretty impactful in the indie space.
maxresdefault.jpg


Ben & Dan (Ben There, Dan That!; Time Gentlemen, Please!; Lair of the Clockwork God) as a dual character could be cool.
H2x1_NSwitchDS_LairOfTheClockwordGod_image1600w.jpg


Suguri from the series of the same name could be an option, might be too close to Touhou in terms of role though.
340


Would Lemeza from La-Mulana be too redundant with Spelunky guy? Or does Lemeza win that on seniority? You probably wouldn't want Aban Hawkins in there though since that'd just get samey.

H2x1_NSwitchDS_LaMulana_image1600w.jpg
 
7thFloor

7thFloor

Member
Oct 27, 2017
6,712
U.S.
If you're going to put a Minecraft rep in, it has to be Rana. Too many of these are new, put Madotsuki in.
 
ScreamingMadden

ScreamingMadden

Member
May 5, 2018
7,353
There are so many indies characters that I'd love to see in Smash. A few that were listed such as Madeline from Celeste and Zagreus from Hades would be great (and maybe the more likely of an unlikely group of characters to join). A few others that would be cool could be Stella from Spiritfarer, Arizona from Them's Fightin' Herds (super unlikely one since TFH isn't on consoles), The Bard from Wandersong (even thoug that goes against the Bard's peaceful attitude) and/or Mina Han from Battle Chef Brigade.

But I know those are super duper unlikely. If I had to pick one though it might be between Madeline or Zagreus. Maybe giving the slight edge to Madeline which would be dope because we'd get transgender representation in Smash.

Edit: Wait, this is for an indie Smash! Ok so everyone I listed is fair game. My bad.
 
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