Thursday, March 20, 2008

Ladysmash: Gender Roles in Super Smash Bros. Brawl



more cleavage and more attitude than your typical nintendo lady








from spaceman to sexy lady through the magic of undressing

look for the great white blast around 1:40


snooze, gobble, thwomp








  1. Anonymous8:54 AM

    What about Daisy? If you're going just by the number of games she has appeared in, she would be the female Nintendo character who would most deserve a spot in the next game.

  2. I guess that's a point, but in my opinion she's a sucky character who doesn't really do all that much. Besides, if we're going by sheer number of game appearances, there's a whole host of minor league characters who have also racked up tons of appearance but who no one really would want to see as a playable character. If you really wanted to pull a character from the Mario games, there's quite a few who are known for actually doing something rather than just being derivative of more famous characters.

  3. Come to think of it, since I put this original post up, it came to light from partially developed data found on the Smash Bros. Brawl disk that Dixie might have actually been planned as as a playable character at some early point in the game. Pink though Daisy might be, she's not excessively girly. Also, there was evidence of an additional Zelda counterpart to Toon Link. If she followed her adult model, might have been able to switch from frilly princess mode into Tetra, a tomboyish pirate alternate persona from Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker. So there's some evidence that the game's designers made at least some effort to progress away from stereotypical female video game characters.

  4. What about Captain Syrup?

  5. ...and to think that Daisy does show up in SSBB. She is a palette swap for Peach. So, does this count as a cameo?

  6. The S: Though Syrup would be cool, I feel like she might have been off my radar when I originally wrote this post. Between then and now, she got bumped back into the public eye with Wario Land: Shake It! and now might have a better chance than any of these to make it into the next Smash Bros..

    The Strategist: Yes, Daisy did make it in as a cameo, but so did everyone else I suggested as being worth including, except for Marina, though most of them less playable cameos than Daisy's.

  7. GlenboLake9:43 AM

    Lyn really should have been playable in Brawl

  8. Anonymous2:11 PM

    Chrono trigger and cross where great games but the new and improved list for super smash brothers dojo battle will out the nu. Looking for 100 characters to put in, nintendo only and included third party. Email to
    I am David

  9. Sakurai stated he was considering more female Smashers, and at least two other 3rd party characters besides Solid Snake, and we know that there weren't any new female characters added...
    The Wii-U game can hold more than 50 characters this time, while the 3DS can have version exculsives...
    But in recent Iwata asks, and other interveiws, he repeatedly says he wants Capcom characters... Obviously he's targeting Chun Li, of the Street Fighter Series.

    My female Character lists would be...

    Chun Li,

    Krystal from Starfox using her ancient staff, and two outfits like Wario has, although I'm guessing that because of snapshot mode pervs they may exclude her Adventures outfit...

    Female Pokemon Trainer as as alternate outfit B/W version trainer...

    Lara Croft, Tomb Raider Anniversary for Wii specifically for Wii-U version, using tazers, tranques, knives, ect...

    Blaze the Cat as a Sonic Clone, on 3DS version except the only approximately copied attack is the final smash, Burning Blaze... while her spin dash is more like Meta Knight's Tornado when the button's released...

    & Alice from Resident Evil, it's amazing how all these female 3rd party characters got their own movies...
    ...Sega & Nintendo need to get better Media tie-in deals...

    And a character that guys don't go gaga for, a humble character just waiting to let out her obvious feelings of outrage! Cooking Mama, using her Frying pan, rolling pins, throwing plates like Frisbees and tossing out bad sushi that poisons players who walk over the items...

    I wouldn't enjoy a series that has too many female fighters, but with the wider selection, and better 3rd party relations they really should add more now...

    Also the whole Peach thing, she's a prude who hasn't developed a full personality... At least Rosalina has a personality! Daisy is also known to be reckless, overeagar and hasty... Rosalina has few flaws but makes a great character nonetheless...

    Also, if making Jigglypuff like that, why not make a shiny orange Heart-tailed female Pikachu alt. form wearing a Silk Scarf... (I thought pink bow, but why go where Jigglypuff went)

    Daisy should be promoted to Assist trophy, unless the other series also get 5 characters in the game, then she should have multiplayer game based attacks, wearing her sports outfit redesigned to fit the game's artwork.

    And Tetra would make an excellent female swordsgirl...
    ...Although they might go for Ghost Zelda this time around, I'd want Tetra to Transform into Toon Zelda only for her Final Smash, then after the Light Arrow she'd have generic Zelda moves until she decides to transform back, however Tetra should also have a secret smash taunt that allows the transformation, allowing her to have more attacks than Sheik, and she'd need to in order to be balanced, a B & down move to throw bombs, as she could have some cloned moves from both Link and Zelda...

    And I agree on Syrup for Wario's series, in adventure mode she can have an extreme rivalry with Wario, and side with Mario, making Wario even more angry! Syrup should also make cameos in the new Warioware games.
    Her attacks could have cartoon sneakiness like firing a cannon out of nowhere. Her final Smash would unleash an ancient artifact, possibly a Magic Lamp... ...That oddly releases Golden Sun Djinni to summon her Genie? That is truely Warioware style! Or flooding the stage with water and Smashing her Pirate Ship into the stage! Unleashing her sticky pirate crew...

    I also have ideas for guy characters like Crash Bandicoot...
    (mainly 1 girl character 'til Twinsanity, which added 2, one was the evil headmistress of the Academy of Evil, whom Cortex supposedly killed-off after the boss fight)
    ...and Zoroark* who would know Snarl, & theif which steals held items from other characters...
    *Zoroark can be Male or Female, but nearly 87.5% of all Zoroark are Male, although the one in the 13th Pokemon Movie is female...

  10. Deceptimon5:00 PM

    If imitation is the most sincere form of adulation then Nintendo apparently likes Rouge The Bat, having spinoffed her twice (Barbara The Bat from Jam With The Band and Ms. Mowz from Paper Mario The Thousand Years Door), Cream The Rabbit and Blaze The Cat are both born on a Nintendo console, so these are the three Sonic girls that have the biggest probabilities to be in the game IMHO. Thought Barbara The Bat, with her soniclike design, might replace them and have moves similar to the ones of both said ladies. There are sevaral arguments against her, but they all can twisted in her favour.

    1) "She is just a mascotte. Almost not even a character!"

    Well! So was Captain Falcon. In the first F-Zero we could see him only in the comic inside the instruction booklet (and he was lacking of his typical Space-Ghost/Batman look). In F-Zero X he was only a couple of fix 2D images. Super Smash Bros. was the first game featuring him as a kickass fighter, whose moves were invented ex novo, included the famous Falcon Punch, now as famous as the Dragon Punch of Ryu and appeared even in the F-Zero animated series.

    2) "Very few people know her! And less appreciate her!"

    So can be said of the Ice Climbers. They are more popular now for their appearance in this series than in their original game. Still, they are not very appreciated. Nor is Jigglypuff, who was originally in the game just as a clone of Kirby.
    Plus Nintendo could use the series as a trojan horse to launch her, as they did with the new version of Pitt.

    3) "She is too sexy!"

    Well, Zerosuit Samus wears a skin tight suit that doesn't hide her very defined curves, as much defined as the panties of Princess Peach every one can easyly see.
    And both of them are less toony than Barbara.

    4) "She is selfish and egocentric! Just one step from evil!"

    So is Wario. Despite that she has been the protagonist in several games and has appeared in most of Mario's spinoffs. And the Super Smash Bros. series has already some evil characters. Even because they are essential for the story mode.

  11. Anonymous2:30 PM

    Very interesting article. The only thing i would say is you mentioned peach and zelda having extremely girly moves as if it was a bad thing. I do like the strong female character, but why cant strong female characters be tough, and pretty? To me its twice as bad ass for peach to be very feminine and still kick ass. I win with her all the time.

    1. I agree. Peach is actually my main in both Melee and Brawl. But I'm just happier when they're not saddled with the tropes of femininity -- pink, hearts, etc. -- because that tends to stunt their development as a character. Samus, for example, is a space bounty hunter, and here whole everything comes from that background. Peach, however, is largely just THE GIRL -- a big pink doily who often struggles to have more depth than just being feminine.