Smash Advent Calendar - Day 15 - Meowth

Day 15 - 10 days until Christmas and half a month until the new year! Today I focus on a character that was cut from the first Smash Bros and never quite managed to secure his place in the next games - could Smash 4 be his crowning moment? Meowth has been an icon of Pokémon since its very early days as Team Rocket's sarcastic third member in the animé and has gained a massive following. The only Pokémon in the series that had learned how to talk, his thick Brooklyn accent and knack for crossdressing won the hearts of viewers everywhere.

So how would he play? Well, like most Pokémon, that starts with taking moves that he could actually learn in the game and expanding outwards. I think many of his normal and tilt attacks should revolve around the move "fury swipes" - fairly obvious that a cat Pokémon would use its claws as standard. We could see multiple slashes in his tilts that are extremely fast with a lack any real power but with extended hitboxes from scratch marks appearing in front of him, akin to Wolverine in "Marvel vs Capcom 3". We've seen these multi-hit attacks work extremely well in the Smash Bros. world in Meta Knight, so it would be fun to see more characters that play like that. We could also see down tilts and perhaps the third hit of a standard "A, A, A" combo extend Meowth's tail to trip and thrash opponents. This could give Meowth deceptively long range and moves that leave opponents bewildered which would absolutely suit him to a tee

As for smash attacks, I could see the move "Slash" being involved heavily. Forward smash is easy enough to figure out - a massive, powerful slash attack with an average blast factor that comes balanced with its quick startup. A weaker slash would suit a down smash: Meowth would face the camera and slash with both arms either side of him. Up smash would be an enhanced fury swipes that hits multiple times with the last hit holding the blast - in this way, it would be devastating to hit the full combo but leaves Meowth vulnerable if not.

This guy is itching to fight!

Special moves are also very easy to theorise about. Meowth's signature move is "Payday", which he used when appearing from Pokéball's in the original Smash Bros. and in Brawl. Now, I think that the move should move away from the fast, multi-hit properties it has in his Pokéball appearances as Meowth would have close range moves that have these properties instead. What I would suggest is that the coins are fairly slow projectiles, as indeed coins are, possibly along the lines of Peach's vegetables. We could see Meowth pull out a coin with Neutral+B and fling it like an item from there. The move would then need a second to recharge so as not to give Meowth too strong a range game.

Other special moves would be taken from Meowth's naturally learned moves in the game as well. Down+B could be a sort of counter move in "assurance" - like the game, it's an attack that deals low damage by itself but if Meowth is hit during it then the damage dealt is higher. If Meowth still took damage during the move but gained super armour, this could be a finely balanced and unique counter move that would be an answer to characters that put on heavy pressure. Side+B would suit a single hit attack such as "Feint". In the Pokémon games, this move deals damage when "protect" or "detect" is used by the enemy, so it would be effective in Smash Bros. as a move that destroys a lot of shield like Marth's Neutral+B in Brawl. It could also have a large vertical hitbox to serve as an answer to low jump-ins but would be balanced by its sluggish delivery.

Up+B would have to be very recovery based as likely Meowth would have two jumps and have medium gravity (as his head is rather heavy looking). This could go outside of standard moves and be more cartoony in style. I could picture a cat jumping from fright - this could see Meowth arching his back with fur on end propelling Meowth mostly vertically and he could frantically flail his claws around for some added protection. Again, this would suit Meowth as he has shown to be fairly panicky at times in the animé. His Final Smash would also likely move away from traditional moves and instead involve his guitar, a now famous association of Meowth since he was seen holding it in his Melee trophy. He could gain the guitar for a limited time and be controlled around the stage constantly playing horrible discordant notes, with musical notes flying out at different angles dealing major damage and blasting opponents.

All in all, I do doubt that Meowth would appear over some of the more "in" Pokémon available right now, especially with a new generation of them just being released. But I say give Meowth the chance he deserves - he would play well, be incredibly fun and add some much needed personality to the Pokémon side of the roster.

What do you guys think of Meowth? Does he have a chance? Would you want him to have one? Let me know in the comments below or join in on a discussion over on the facebook page.