This is my suggestion for Princess Peach’s victory theme. It’s the stage clear music from Super Princess Peach. I was originally going to use the stage clear music from Super Mario Bros 2, since Peach’s fighting style is largely based on her appearance in that game. However, I decided to use this one because it sounded better and because it was from the only game that’s centered around Peach. You can listen to the SMB2 song by clicking here.

Alright, this is the first installment of suggestions for the new victory themes. If you’re not caught up on why I’m doing this, read the second paragraph of this post. Obviously, I’m not the owner of any of this music. (I guess I have to say that as a disclaimer?) In fact, I just went on Youtube and downloaded the audio off various videos. I won’t be adding this disclaimer for the rest of these posts. 

I decided to start with Luigi, since he’s the first character to share a victory theme with another character (except Jigglypuff). The song I’ve chosen is the stage clear theme from Super Mario World for the SNES. It’s not the music most associated with Luigi, but I think it works well. I would have done something with Luigi’s Mansion, but I kinda feel like that’s grown a little stale from overuse. 

This is just a little note about the third party characters. When I do multiple characters for one series, I’m not saying I expect all of them to show up. In actuality, I suspect any third party company that gets involved with the next Smash Bros will have, at maximum, two characters in the game. And whether the characters are from different games or not will determine if they have one home stage or two. I’ll use my recent Castlevania segment as an example. If they would put in a character to represent the Castlevania franchise, then it would almost have to be Simon Belmont. Alucard is a close second choice for a representative of the series, but Simon is the hero of the first game and therefore the most likely pick. The other characters I posted would probably not be the first choice for a representative, but I do think they’d have a shot at appearing alongside the first character in future games, should they continue to add them. So basically what I’m saying is: The first character I post is who I think is most likely to be picked for the roster as a representative. Any that come after the first post are liable to appear alongside the original character in future releases. And each game series will have one stage to represent it. 

The Castlevania series has a large library of characters to draw from, since each new game features at least one new playable character. While I think that the four characters I’ve already done are enough, there are still plenty of other characters that could be considered as for the roster.

Jonathan Morris and Charlotte Aulin

Jonathan and Charlotte are the main characters of Portrait of Ruin; adding these two would provide the whole cast of the Castlevania DS games. Jonathan is a bloodline descendant from the Belmont clan, and Charlotte is a young witch who was raised alongside him. Since he descended from the Belmonts, he is able to use the Vampire Killer whip, but since he is not a full Belmont, he has to unlock its true potential. Aside from the whip, Jonathan has a wide variety of weapons and subweapons he can utilize for combat. Charlotte relies on magic for combat, buffs, and healing. I picture the two of them working like an Ice Climbers type character, which would reprise their role from PoR. However, I’m sure that both of them could work as a standalone character as well. Perhaps these two could appear as an Assist Trophy. Charlotte would cast the Sanctuary spell, which would heal the fighter who summoned them as long as they were in range, while Johnathan would fight off anyone who got too close to Charlotte.

Dracula

I’ve gone this whole time talking about the heroes of Castlevania, and I haven’t even touched on the driving force behind it. It would make sense to have Dracula as a playable character in SSB, since he’s been in more games than the rest of the characters. Maybe we’ll actually see Simon and Dracula appear instead of Alucard, Soma, and Shanoa. I feel that Dracula would have very similar moves to the Alucard I planned out, though, so if one makes it in, the other might not. He could work as an Assist Trophy, too. I guess he could transform to his true self from SotN as his AT ability and jump across the stage spitting fire and acid at everyone.

Gabriel Belmont

Gabriel is probably one of the least likely characters for inclusion, since he’s 1) never been on a Nintendo console and 2) basically a more violent version of Simon. However, He is chronologically the oldest Belmont, since his game takes place around the year 1000 AD. So at least he has that going for him. Plus, his game (Lords of Shadow) is one of the most recent ones to be released. Also, spoilers:

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Name: Retro Castlevania

Universe: Castlevania

Game of origin: Castlevania

Company: Konami

I’ll let the video here do most of the talking. This stage would be very similar to the Mushroomy Kingdom stage from Brawl. The whole stage would actually encompass both the first and second stages from the original Castlevania game. (Which, now that I think about it, makes it more similar to Mushroomy Kingdom than I had intended…) You can see the second stage be played through by clicking this link. The stage itself would be set to autoscroll (because everyone just LOVES those kinds of stages) and would guide the fighters along the course. The stair cases that are featured in this game would not be able to be used in the stage, because, if you’ll notice, Simon can not jump on them. Besides, everyone has at least a double jump that they can rely on. Anywhere with a breakable wall would also be incorporated into the SSB stage. Breaking open a wall would allow you to grab a single healing item from within. Monsters would be absent from the stage, except for the two bosses: Giant Bat and Medusa. You would not have to defeat them to move on. In fact, you couldn’t even hurt them, but they could definitely hurt you. Actually, to make it fair, you should be able to kill them, but that wouldn’t be a requirement to continue through the level. After the section with Medusa, the stage would roll into the third area from Castlevania, but the area would be destroyed (or something). The fighters would be required to drop down to the outside entrance, which would restart the cycle. 

Musical selections for this stage are as follows:

Retro Vampire Killer

Retro Bloody Tears

Retro Stalker

Retro Beginning

Retro Wicked Child

(Hey, these sound familiar…)

Name: Demon Castle Dracula: Castlevania

Universe: Castlevania

Game of origin: Castlevania

Company: Konami

If there were to be a stage to represent the Castlevania franchise, it would have to be the titular locale. The castle itself is a living entity, and able to alter its shape every time it reappears. The castle has had many masters, ranging from the Lord of Darkness: Dracula, to the Brainwashed Vampire Hunter: Richter Belmont, to some of Dracula’s minions who rule in his absence, including Count Olrox and the Vampire Artist Brauner. For this stage, I have in mind that it could potentially be the HUGE stage for the game it appears in, similar to New Pork City from Brawl, or the Jupiter Lighthouse concept I posted awhile back. The picture I’ve provided for this concept is actually a screenshot of the map of the first stage in Castlevania: Harmony of Despair, which I think showcases the variation of the different areas of the castle fairly well. (By the way, If you click the picture, it will take you to a larger version of the image) Of course, the Smash Bros stage would not be nearly this large, but I feel like this could be a good reference. For some perspective, that little tiny white smudge in the bottom left corner with the red and green bars over top of it is Soma. 

Common areas inside of Castlevania are the Entrance, the Clock Tower, the Library, tons of staircases, the Chapel, some sort of Laboratory, and the Keep (which is usually where you fight Dracula). Often times, there is some sort of large underground area, but I don’t think that would transition well into the stage. All of these areas could be used to decorate the layout of the different rooms for the stage. The different rooms would be separated by tall walls, which would have open spaces below them that act as entrances to the rooms. This stage would have a real emphasis on vertical ringout KOs, because the way I’m picturing it, it allows more room for that. Here, please examine this hastily compiled MS Paint line-drawing of the stage.

Okay, the dashed lines are drop-through platforms and the solid lines are impassable. To put size in perspective, the staircase on the left can be reached with one jump. A fighter can be ringed out on the top and sides of the stage. This stage was mostly designed with Symphony of the Night in mind. The large open space at the bottom left is the Entrance Hall. The background of that room would be decorated with large windows, constantly being blown open due to the raging storm outside. The next room to the right is the Library, which had a ton of staircases and hallways in SotN. Continuing right would lead to an offscreen area that could potentially lead to you being ringed out. You could also pass through the dashed line to a room under the stair case, but you could also be ringed out there. I don’t have anything specifically planned out for the design of that room, so maybe it could look like the Librarian’s room, or a Save or Warp Room. Going up the stairs will lead you to the clock tower, which, in hindsight, I should have drawn taller. ( I didn’t plan on it being that room when I drew it, so it doesn’t look as accurate) The room would have large rotating gears that the combatants could stand on. Moving to the left would lead you to the Alchemy Laboratory. Glowing glass containers filled with strange figures and liquid would accompany other arcane objects to decorate the background. The next room over would be the Chapel, which would have a large stained glass window in the background. The final area is Dracula’s Keep. This location should be familiar with anyone who played SotN, because it is where Richter fights Dracula at the beginning of the game, Alucard fights Richter half-way through the game, and the entrance to the reversed castle. Shanoa also fights Dracula in a very similar location. The drawing makes it look like it’s just floating out in space, but it would actually be supported by a tower. I just didn’t draw the tower, since it would be in the background. As you should (hopefully) be able to tell from the drawing, you would also be able to fight on the roof. I imagine it being similar to Luigi’s Mansion in Brawl, where it has a little outcropping on the side where you can stand but you can still get launched through it. I’m not picturing there being any stage hazards here, since the gimmick for this stage is its sheer size. However, in the actual castle, every room is plagued with monsters, except for the save areas or the warp areas.

Musical selections for this stage are as follows:

Vampire Killer (Castlevania)

Bloody Tears (Castlevania II: Simon’s Quest)

Stalker (Castlevania)

Beginning (Castlevania III: Dracula’s Curse)

Wicked Child (Castlevania)

Simon’s theme (Castlevania Chronicles)

Into the Dark Night (Castlevania: Dawn of Sorrow) 

(Note, most of these songs are their Judgement versions. I’m pretty sure that the entire game’s budget was blown on the music and hiring Takeshi Obata to design the characters. The music was great. The game itself, not so much)

Name: Shanoa

Universe: Castlevania

Game of origin: Castlevania: Order of Ecclesia

Company: Konami

 Shanoa is a member of the Order of Ecclesia, a group that has taken up the task of combating Dracula after the disappearance of the Belmonts. OoE introduced another combat system called Glyphs. Similar to the Power of Dominance that Soma utilizes, Shanoa is able to absorb these glyphs into her body using special markings on her arms and back. These act as magic seals, through which Shanoa can summon powerful forces to aid her in battle. Glyphs can range from weapons to magic to summoning familiars. 

Standard Special: Shanoa’s standard special could be Torpor, which is a glyph used by her adopted brother Albus to trap the townsfolk of Wygol Village. The Glyph itself is a small yellow diamond that is thrown overhead. When it hits the ground, it encapsulates anything that touches it inside of a group of large red crystals. This attack could be used by Shanoa to incapacitate opponents in SSB. The crystals would act similarly to ice in SSB, except instead of being flung into the air, someone caught inside would be rooted in place. The fighter would break free after a short amount of time.

Side Special: One of the later Glyphs that Shanoa obtains is called Redire, which allows her to throw giant bladed boomerangs. The special thing about this glyph is that it can be used in conjunction with another glyph, called Magnes. 

Down Special: This slot would be filled with the Magnes glyph. The way this works is that it creates a large magnetic field around Shanoa, allowing her to stick to special magnetic spaces, and launch from them like a slingshot. In OoE, you can have Magnes active while throwing Redire. Doing so will attach Shanoa to the center of the boomerang, allowing faster travel and access to special locations. When thrown, the blades fly forward, perform a shuttle-loop, and then disappear off the bottom of the screen. The same thing would happen in SSB, so be careful where you use it, you wouldn’t want to fall off the edge. While attached to the blade, you could still perform melee attacks. Also, releasing the special button would release you from your magnetic ride. 

Up Special: The final move is a choice between Volaticus or the Glyph Union Ventus. Volaticus seems like the most practical glyph to use for this situation. The way it works is by sprouting wings from the glyph on Shanoa’s back. The glyph works very similar to Pit’s Wings of Pegasus ability, which give him the ability to fly all around the stage. However, I’m leaning more towards the idea of utilizing Ventus. Ventus is activated through equipping Pneuma glyphs to both of Shanoa’s arms. Combining the two attacks creates a whirlwind that lifts Shanoa into the air. The whipping winds are strong enough to damage anything close to them. Using Ventus in SSB would lift Shanoa into the air again, but the tornado would hang in place for about two seconds, pulling in anyone who was too close, damaging them, and throwing them into the air.

Like Soma, Shanoa’s glyphs could also extend beyond her special moves. I picture her standard melee combo utilizing the Confedore glyphs, which are rapiers that shoot from her hands before disappearing back into the glyph. Tapping the melee button would have her alternate between stabbing with her right and left hands. This attack could be substituted for any other weapon glyph. Her side Smash attack could utilize Lapiste, which is a giant stone fist that punches in front of Shanoa. It’s very powerful and would be very effective at launching opponents. Also, her down Smash could use the scythe Glyph (whose name eludes me at the moment), which would simply be performed as an overhead swing in the direction Shanoa is facing.

Name: Soma Cruz

Universe: Castlevania

Game of origin: Castlevania: Aria of Sorrow

Company: Konami

Soma Cruz is the protagonist of two Castlevania games set in the near future, the first being set in 2035 and the second a year later. Soma is studying in Japan around the time of the first solar eclipse of the 21st century. He goes to visit his friend Mina at the Hakuba Shrine, which her family has maintained for generations, during the eclipse. When the sun is fully eclipsed, Soma and Mina are instantly transported inside of Castlevania. Soma tells her to stay in a safe location, while he looks for a way to escape. During his journey through the castle, he finds out that he has the ability to absorb the souls of the monsters in the castle and manipulate them. Another man, named Genya Arikado, also possesses this ability and allies himself with Soma. The man’s true identity is Alucard, and he, along with others, tell Soma of his true purpose. During the Battle of 1999, Dracula was permanently killed by Julius Belmont and the castle was sealed inside of the last solar eclipse by Mina’s family. However, Dracula’s dark powers lived on and were passed on into Soma, who is really a reincarnation of Dracula. This is why he can control the souls of the monsters within the castle, and why Alucard, who is of Dracula’s bloodline, can do the same. The castle reappeared during the current eclipse to claim a new master. Soma is required to become the new dark lord to restore the balance between light and dark, but not without facing two evil cults and the amnesiac Julius Belmont. 

Soma is a fairly recent addition to the Castlevania series, but has become one of the most recognizable characters. Apart from his two adventures on the GBA and DS, he was also one of the five default characters from the XBox Live Arcade/PSN game Castlevania: Harmony of Despair. (The other four characters were, surprisingly, not Belmonts either) Soma’s Soul Dominance ability would translate well into a SSB character, since he has one of the largest ranges of available attacks to choose from. One might worry that the Soul Dominance would be under-represented when brought into Smash Bros, even. Apart from the souls of the dead inhabitants of Castlevania, Soma also has a large range of weapons at his disposal, dwarfed only be the protagonist of the subsequent game: Johnathan Morris. Soma fights with swords, axes, lances, knuckles, nunchaku, handguns, RPGs, and just about anything else he can get his hands on. However, all of Soma’s special moves will be based around his Soul Dominance.

Standard Special: Soma’s standard special move could revolve around his ability to summon certain monsters as familiars. Soma has many different familiars to choose from, but I’m going to go with Zombie familiars. Pressing the special attack button would cause a zombie to rise from the ground in front of Soma and walk forward a few steps before returning to the ground. This attack could be spammed. The zombies would also be able to take damage, but they could only survive one hit before being destroyed.

Side Special: This one is kind of a weird idea… For this attack, Soma utilizes the Skeleton Waiter Soul. With it, he is able to throw dangerously hot bowls of curry at an opponent. Touching the curry bowl would damage anyone until it cooled off enough. Once it has cooled, (one second to one half second before the curry disappears) a player can pick up and eat the curry. The fighter would then behave as if they picked up and ate the Super Spicy Curry item from Brawl. 

Down Special: One available soul I’d like to see take this place would be the Yeti Soul. The Yeti is one of the three secret monsters from Dawn of Sorrow, located in the very first room in the game. (Which is actually outside of the castle.) Coincidentally, this soul is not available until the player captures the Skeleton Waiter Soul, Soma has to lure the Yeti out of the background by throwing out a plate of curry for it to eat. The Yeti Soul grants a very unique ability. Using it makes a small snowball form at Soma’s feet. Kicking it around makes it grow in size. The bigger it is, the more damage it does.

Up Special: For Soma’s Recovery Attack, he could use the Pupper Master Soul that he captured during Dawn of Sorrow. This soul allows him to create a dummy of himself and switch places with it. For this attack, Soma would throw the dummy upwards in an arc. Soma would be free to move around after throwing the dummy, but once it hit the ground he would switch places with it immediately. This power doubles as an escape move, since Soma could throw it very far away and continue fighting until it fell. (Picture it being used on Hyrule Temple!) 

There are a few more ways to incorporate Souls into Soma’s moveset, such as the Flying Armor soul. The Flying Armor is the first boss of Dawn of Sorrow, and using it makes Soma fall slower. So, I picture you being able to hold the jump button which makes the Armor appear behind Soma, slowing his descent, similar to Princess Peach.

Another soul could be the Black Panther soul. Activating this ability makes shockwaves appear around Soma which damages any enemy he passes through, and also makes him run faster. In SSB, this could be his running melee attack. 

There are a lot more Souls that can be incorporated, but I feel like I’ve written more than usual, so I’m going to cut it off here.

It could happen. In fact, they’re probably more likely to use something from Animal Crossing: Jump Out than the two stages I talked about, which are based on the GameCube Animal Crossing and Wild World respectively. The ability to connect your copy of Animal Crossing to SSB4 would be a cool feature, but it also seems like it would be a lot of work for just one stage. But I do like the idea. 

I think if enough people asked for it, then it would have a good chance of happening. Kingdom Hearts has a huge fanbase, and is just as popular as some of Square Enix’s other series. I think there might be some complications with Disney, however. I just get the feeling that Nintendo would try to remove any sort of reference to Disney if they put Kingdom Hearts in SSB. So the roster would have to consist of characters that were originally created for the Kingdom Hearts games. (Like Sora, Riku, or Organization XIII) Also, any stages that would be included would have to be original locations (like Traverse Town or the World that Never Was) I plan to go more in-depth when I start doing Square Enix themed posts. But for now, I’ll say “Yes, I think there’s a good chance.”