Sword Fighters: Why Are There So Many Of Them? | Super Smash Bros. Ultimate

Appreciate the shout out! Just for the record though, we're cool, I've got no kind of claim on covering archetypes lol

Because swords are cool

With Big D beating riddles and going to grand finals at a major maybe you should do why no one plays ice climbers. They have the coolest comboes in the game but are brutally difficult to play optimally

My one main complaint about "swordies" would be how many of them use actual swords. Id LOVE to see more variety with weapons like spears, axes, hammers, glaives. There are SO MANY options that are so underutilized. I feel this could especially help the FE rep issue a little. As much as I love FE, ill admit some rep variety would be SO MUCH better

They're consistent, because most of their attacks are safe and most swordies are relatively simple

This is more of a breakdown of swordfighters instead of answering the question "Why are there so many of them?" The answer to THAT is that it's a go-to protagonist weapon and Smash primarily uses protagonists as the main crossover character

I liked the thoughts on swordies having plenty of disjointed safe moves while still being nigh unreactable. I think a good point to bring up would be the lower amount of combo starters in comparison to brawler type characters to drive the difference home

Good range, safe attacks, amazing kill power (or amazing damage building combos), cool combos in general, and they're all from game franchises that are either well known or so dang cool. Like Shulk is the lesser known but he's one of the coolest Swordfighters I've ever seen. Then there's Marth the OG FE character who's been in Smash for ages and while not as strong as some others, he's still mad popular. Fun fact: I originally became a swordie main because I used to be a fencer (a type of swordfighting martial art). First swordie I ever mained was Marth because I chose to free him early during World of Light. Then when I came across Corrin I picked him up as a main, too.

Because I like JRPGs like Xenoblade and Dragon Quest. For me to main a character, I usually like to know their story and try and feel a sense of familiarity between games.

I have to admit, I’ve gone from rushdown to sword archetype over the course of my playing Ultimate. Never thought I would change my character type but everything you said about sword characters is true

As someone who's almost exclusively been playing sword characters in Smash, it's been a very uh...interesting experience. It's too a point that my mind is wired into fighting with disjointed hitboxes, and anything closer to the body feels somehow 'unsafe' to me. Going from Pit in Brawl to Corrin in Smash4 to finally the Aegis Sisters has been just nothing but disjointed boxes. With Roy and Byleth in between during my time in Ultimate. This is partly in due to the fact that I actually really like all of these characters/their series, but it's also because it's really hard to go back when you've gotten so used to how Pyra/Mythra's hitboxes and just how much pressure you can dole out with just a few sword swipes.

Simple. Swords have lots of range, so they are safe to attack with if spaced well. They can beat out attacks from boxers, and can easily deflect projectiles sent out from zoners. Most swordies are also really FAST for some reason as well, so they can overwhelm most other characters and juggle them with ease. Seriously, why are basically all of the sword characters in this game so fast? It almost seems like a design flaw, given that most games trade off speed for more range. It seems that they have average speed and power and above average range, so why wouldn't you pick one up if you want to win?

On the topic of blind spot hit boxes, that’s why Roy (outside of his damage) is so strong. While every other sword fighter priorities keeping you at a set distance away from you, Roy wants to be as close as possible and has his sweet spots almost in his chest.

Historically, hitting with long thing better than not hitting with long thing

With your content style, looking at how the introduction of a character entirely changed a meta (while also talking about before and after) may be a small gold mine. Sans comes to mind firstly. All of the dlc characters have a potential spot. Although you run the risk of talking about things that veterans already know. Breaking down WHY dlc is so disruptive as well as the evolution of how they're used (or not) is a neat idea I would love to see you do. I love the methodical but practical approach you bring to the table. Keep it up !

pretty new to smash scene, and idk anything, but i think its cuz you can swing your sword around with minimal risk. you can approach without actually approaching.

As someone who isn't that great at Smash it's easy to space someone out with sword moves and it's easy to hit Corrin or Cloud combos (most of which just need tilts and falling aerials) but it's way harder to hit Brawler combos which are way more intricate and usually require grabs and more difficult aerials. The only thing which is just as easy is playing a zoner but then everyone hates you

Ultimately I think part of the problem people have with sword character saturation is more superficial... To give an example: Mario characters have the highest population density in Smash (with 10 characters), but these characters are wildly different in visual design (Stand Mario up next to Bowser, Peach, Wario, Bowser Jr, Pirahna Plant... they are all immediately distinct from one another even to a complete outsider). Fire Emblem characters are, by and large, "Reasonably proportioned anime protagonist who wields a sword" and the fact that fire emblem brings 8 of them (the second most represented game series in smash) can make it feel like the game is oversaturated with them... and this isn't even considering how many other games in smash are bringing the same visual archetype. Honestly I don't think there's a good solution here either. Fantasy RPG protagonists almost universally use swords, and game series in Smash are pretty much always represented by their protagonists... so more swords. It wouldn't do to remove characters that appeared in previous versions of Smash either, since the tagline was "everyone is here" so ultimately we got the best solution... just let the complainers complain online, game is still fun and having an oversaturated niche is only disappointing when you add another one on in a reveal trailer.

Sephiroth has to be the most popular character in the game lol I see him all the time…even in my deepest nightmares 😰

Sephiroth & Meta Knight are my favorite “swordies” with Corrin being a close second. I’m still wondering if people like to main Sephiroth nowadays or not.