Super Smash Bros. Ultimateis officially done adding new characters, which means fans can look back on the roster in its totality. It really is a staggering achievement, assembling characters from dozens of franchises in one place in an overwhelming celebration of the video game industry’s history. It’s a major celebration for Nintendo’s achievements in particular.Super Smash Bros. Ultimatechronicles Nintendo’s many successful game franchises, spanning fromSuper MarioandThe Legend of ZeldatoSplatoonandArms, showing just how much the company has changed and grown over the years.
ThePokemonfranchise is particularly well represented inSmashUltimate,with the Pokemon Trainer’s team bringing the total up to ten fighters. SomeSmashfans don’t like how much representationPokemonhas, but maybe a different style of fighter would’ve wrapped upPokemon’s representation better. To be specific, Nintendo should’ve added a villainous human character: Giovanni.Team Rocket’s nefarious leaderis such an infamous character in the franchise that it’s frankly shocking that he didn’t make the cut. Not only is there some great mechanical potential in putting Giovanni inSmash,but he would go a long way in populatingSmashwith video game villains. On top of that, he might’ve been theSmashrepresentative thatPokemonneeded all along.
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Imagining Giovanni’s Smash Moveset
As a human without any remarkable fighters, Giovanni probably wouldn’t have done his own fighting inSmash Ultimate.Instead, he would’ve borrowed his design fromaSuper Smash Bros. Brawlnewcomerwho returned forSmash Ultimate: the Pokemon Trainer. This Trainer is a unique three-in-one character package, letting players switch between Squirtle, Ivysaur, and Charizard at will to make use of their different weights, speeds, and movesets. Giovanni likely would do exactly the same thing. As the leader of Team Rocket, Giovanni has access to a wide arsenal of powerful Pokemon that he could could coordinate in battle inSmash Ultimate.
Giovanni has used many Pokemon in boththe games and thePokemonanime, but there’s no doubt that his signature Persian would be a part of his team, probably offering a lightweight and high mobility team member similar to the Pokemon trainer’s Squirtle. For a middleweight Pokemon, Giovanni might lean into his historic specialty in Ground-type Pokemon, using a Nidoking or a Nidoqueen, while his heavyweight character could be a Rhydon. The result is a well-rounded team similar to the Pokemon Trainer that celebrates Giovanni’s history in thePokemonseries while getting more use out of the Pokemon Trainer’s creative concept.
Expanding Smash Ultimate’s Villain Roster
Aside from his creative potential, Giovanni would’ve provided an important service toSmash: he’d be another villain in the games. Aside from a couple occasional rivals or anti-hero characters like Wario or King Dedede, there’s not a ton of antagonists inSmashin general. Bowser and Ganondorf have been inSmashsinceSuper Smash Bros. Melee,but the series is chiefly the home of protagonists. While it makes sense that player characters usually get intoSmashinstead of their villains - protagonists are the mascots of their own games, after all - it also means thatSmashdoesn’t paint a complete picture of the video game industry.
Smash Ultimatepartially corrected this flaw by adding Ridley, King K. Rool, Dark Samus, and Sephiroth to the mix. Still, there’s still lots of famous villains who would’ve been good fits forSmashbut never made it, and Giovanni is one of them. Asthe ancestralPokemonantagonist, he would’ve been a huge leap forward for villains inSmash,providing an antagonist from one of Nintendo’s most famous franchises. Player characters and protagonists may be the stars of their games, but they’re only as famous and successful as they are thanks to the villains that drive their stories.
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Changing the Last Smash Ultimate Pokemon Fighter
It’s worth noting that Nintendo had the perfect chance to introduce Giovanni toSmash Ultimate,too. Incineroar was one of the very lastSmash Ultimatenewcomers revealed as part of the base game, and lots ofSmashfans were annoyed that yet another Pokemon would be inSmash.Nobody was particularly surprised, due tothe importance ofPokemonto Nintendo’s brandandPokemon’s history of getting new fighters in everySmashgame, but Incineroar still rubbed a lot of people the wrong way.
Nintendo could’ve subverted expectations and made fans significantly happier by adding Giovanni toSmash Ultimatein Incineroar’s place. He might have still been anotherPokemonfighter at the end of the day, but he still would be a big surprise simply by virtue of being a human character. His name recognition would have gone a long way too. As a Generation 7 starter Pokemon, not everySmashfan is attached to the relatively new Incineroar. In contrast, Giovanni’s age and history as a recurring villain means he’s more likely to tap intoSmashfans' excitement, playing on theirnostalgia for thePokemonfranchise’s roots. SincePokemonwas always going to get one lastSmashfighter, Nintendo should’ve at least opted for a more surprising pick like Giovanni.
Giovanni and the Future of Super Smash Bros.
Nobody knows whatSuper Smash Bros.' future looks like, so Giovanni’s omission fromSmash Ultimateis particularly sad. He may never get a chance to join the fighting game series, should Nintendo decide thatUltimateis a capstone for the series that can’t be followed.Smashis such a valuable IPthat it’s hard to imagine Nintendo abandoning the series for good, but considering how Masahiro Sakurai and his team pulled out all the stops forSmash Ultimate,it’s also hard to imagine what the nextSmashgame could possibly look like. The only thing that fans can reliably expect is that it’ll probably be many years beforeSmashrears its head again, if ever.
Regardless of whether or not Giovanni makes the cut in a futureSmashgame, though, he definitely deserved to be inSmash Ultimate.As the definitive assembly of the video game industry, it’s frankly a surprise to see that he isn’t there. Giovanni and Team Rocket establishedthe centralPokemontradition of villainous teams, and Giovanni himself remains a hallmark Nintendo antagonist. It’s a shame to think he missed his change inSuper Smash Bros. Ultimate; he would’ve been perfectly at home there.
Super Smash Bros. Ultimateis available now for Nintendo Switch.
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