When thinking about game creator Sakurai Masahiro’s desire to celebrate gaming through his Super Smash Bros. series, one significant missing piece of gaming history thus far has actually been PC gaming. Even with the plethora of third-party characters, most recently Cloud Strife, all of them have been console-based.
If there could be one character who would represent PC gaming in Smash Bros., who would it be? It’s a ridiculous question and kind of unfair to PC gaming, but ultimately I decided on Thrall, the heroic orc raised by humans, from the Warcraft franchise.
The reason why I picked Warcraft as a representative is because not only are its characters and games extremely popular, but it covers two different genres that blossomed on the PC: Real-Time Strategy and MMORPGs. Thrall, in turn, is the most iconic character of Warcraft.
I’ll admit, I never really played any Warcraft or World of Warcraft games, so I needed a good deal of help from a more knowledgeable friend. From him, I got the idea that Thrall would be kind of a mix of Robin and Dedede, a heavy hitter up-close with lots of powerful ranged attacks whose strengths are tempered by relatively poor mobility.
All of Thrall’s attacks come from Warcraft III, where he is a heroic Farseer, though the animations would be more in line with the recent Heroes of the Storm. Chain Lightning, rather than being area of effect, homes in on one opponent after the other, doing less and less damage per trip. Earthquake is similar to Bowser Bomb, except it can also trip nearby opponents. Side B would work like Zelda’s Phantom Strike, except that the recovery would be quicker and it would stun instead of damage the opponent, somewhat like a long-range Mewtwo Disable. Lastly, Windfury lifts Thrall up in the air, and before he lands his aerial attacks come out twice as quickly, replicating the higher attack speeds the move grants in other games. In a way, it functions similarly to Bowser Jr.’s Abandon Ship move, giving greater mobility and more dangerous offensive power.
Though Thrall does not learn Bloodlust in his own games, it is a representative ability of Orcs in Warcraft, so I believe it fitting to be his Final Smash. Instead of him casting it on himself, imagine Orc Shamans casting it on him instead. Bloodlust would provide a boost to movement and all melee-range attacks, with enhanced effects.
Well that’s it until Tuesday’s final Smash Direct! No matter what characters are chosen, I’ll still try to find time to do more of these, simply because I enjoy making them. I do have another PC gaming representative in mind, but we’ll see if people find it interesting. If you could put any PC gaming character into Smash, who would it be?
Previous Characters:
King K. Rool (Donkey Kong Country)
Princess Daisy (Super Mario Land)
Great Puma (NES Pro Wrestling)
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