Monster Hunter (Smash Plus)

Monster Hunter is a playable character in Super Smash Brothers Plus for the Nintendo Switch Plus. Representing the Monster Hunter universe, the hunter is listed as Fighter #104 in Smash's modified numbering system, and is classified as a Heavyweight fighter. They are hidden at the start of the game, but can be unlocked through random encounters in Versus Mode or by defeating classic mode with Mega Man. She is also a new character, as this is their first playable appearance in a Smash game.
The Monster Hunter is an atypical swordsman, in that instead of being nimble and lightweight, they are bulky and very sedentary. The Hunter has powerful attacks, mostly due to the power of their Great Sword, that have incredible range and damage potential, but are lacking in speed. The Hunter themselves has decent survivability as well in terms of how much damage they can take, with their armor acting as a partial shield against damage, reducing all damage taken from physical attacks by up to 25% depending on the attack. However, all the attacks using the sword have terrible frame data, and the Hunter's mobility on the ground is below average as well. In addition, the Great Sword's sharpness will dull over time, requiring the player to sharpen it with the Shield Special ability. Despite this, the Hunter's special weapons are designed to trap and temporarily incapacitate opponents, allowing them to close in with the Great Sword to finish them off. The Hunter has two normal jumps and can crawl.
==Moveset==
===Basic Attacks===
*Special Gimmick: Blade Sharpness- The Great Sword has a sharpness mechanic attached to it which affects the damage and knockback that the sword does. With each attack, the sword's blade will grow duller, reducing its overall damage output. This is indicated by a meter located above the Hunter's icon on the main screen, with four different colors indicating the level of sharpness. Green is the highest level, yellow is moderately sharp, red being moderately dull, and black being the weakest. The blade can be resharpened through a Shield Special ability called Whetstone, where the Hunter will sharpen the blade, though they will be vulnerable while doing so. It should be noted that attacks using the carving knife (basically the Hunter's tilt attacks) are not effected by this gimmick.
*Neutral Jab- Using their carving knife, the Hunter stabs forward quickly with a single hit jab. It is spammable and does decent damage, but the hitbox is high, meaning it can easily miss smaller characters.
*Side Tilt- The Hunter swipes forward once with their carving knife in a rising forward motion. Pressing the attack button again launches into a combo where the Hunter delivers a second, more powerful stabbing attack from high to low.
*Up Tilt- The Hunter swipes overhead with their knife from front to back. It comes out the slowest of all of the Hunter's tilt attacks, though all of his tilt attacks are much quicker than his sword attacks.
*Down Tilt- While crouching the Hunter performs a sweeping attack with their knife. Has the chance of tripping foes at lower percentages.
*Dash Attack- The Hunter performs a jumping slash with the Great Sword, swinging it overhead and slamming it down directly in front of them. It does a lot of damage, but is very slow and can be interrupted before the sword slash begins.
*Grab & Pummel- The Hunter uses their Clutch Claw to fire a tether hook a short distance away. This grapple can also act as a tether grab to edges of platforms, but it has very short range for a tether grab. The Hunter pummels with a quick stab with their knife.
*Forward Throw- The Hunter performs a simple kick forward, knocking the foe away a short distance. The Hunter's weakest throw overall.
*Back Throw- The Hunter uses the Clutch Claw and flings the opponent behind themselves while spinning around to change directions. Has the highest knockback distance of all of the Hunter's throws.
*Up Throw- The Hunter tosses the opponent into the air and then swings their knife up along with a powerful uppercut to knock them away.
*Down Throw- The Hunter grabs the opponent with the Great Sword, drags them along the ground a short distance and then flinging them forward. This does the most damage of any of the Hunter's throws.
*Neutral Air- The Hunter flips in the air, allowing the Great Sword to move in a circular pattern in midair, launching foes on contact.
*Forward Air- The Hunter swings the Great Sword down in a forward slash from high to low. This move can spike opponents if it connects at the sweet spot right at the bottom of the blade, rather than the tip.
*Back Air- The Hunter delivers a back elbow directly behind themselves, also hitting with the pommel of their sword in the process.
*Up Air- The Hunter swings the Great Sword directly over their head from front to back, with more damage being dealt right at the start of the move rather than the end.
*Down Air- The Hunter stabs with the Great Sword straight down to the ground. This move can also spike opponents if they are hit right as the blade is stabbed downwards.
===Smash Attacks===
*Side Smash- The Hunter steps backwards and then stabs forward with their sword in a deliberate move. This stab has little to no knockback, and players will have a brief moment where they can tilt the control stick up or down. Doing the former will cause the hunter to swing the Great Sword up, knocking foes away a good distance, while the latter will cause the Hunter to withdraw their sword and perform a quick dashing tackle motion to knock foes away just a short distance, allowing for followup combos. This helps alleviate some of the endlag of the move if the initial stab misses.
*Up Smash- The Hunter will swing their sword overhead from high to low, similar to their up air. This move has far greater range though, even able to reach a short distance behind the hunter (albeit with a far weaker hit than the initial hit.) However, it has the worst startup lag of any of the Hunter's Smash Attacks, and is easily telegraphed to opponents.
*Down Smash- The Hunter swings the Great Sword in front of themselves in a wide arc while crouching. This move is the quickest of all of the Hunter's Smash Attacks, but it also does the least damage overall.
===Special Moves===
*Shield Special: Whetstone- Activating shield special will cause the Hunter to crouch and begin sharpening the blade of the Great Sword with a Whetstone, increasing its sharpness level. From a completely dull blade, it takes around 8 seconds to achieve full sharpness. Releasing the special button will cause the Hunter to end the animation quickly, and the blade will retain the level of sharpness attained up to that point.
*Neutral Special: Slinger- The Hunter will fire a projectile from the Slinger mounted on their wrist. Simply tapping the button will cause the slinger to fire a small stone a decent distance away. The stones don't do much damage, but do cause opponents to flinch when they impact. They also have a decent rate of fire, slightly faster than Falco's Blaster, making them a useful projectile. Pressing and holding the special button for a second will instead launch a Flash Pod at the enemy. The Flash Pod doesn't travel as far, but it creates an explosion not dissimilar from a Deku Nut, stunning foes caught in it to allow for followup attacks. The Flash Pod also has a 3 second cooldown before it can be used again.
*Side Special: Charge Slash- The Hunter performs an overhead slashing attack with the Great Sword that does a good amount of damage, but not a lot of knockback. They will remain in the ending animation with the blade on the ground for a brief moment, during which time the player can press the Special Button again to perform a second, more powerful flipping slash attack that will send opponents flying. The move has tremendous startup lag and endlag if either slash misses, but also has incredible power if it connects, making it a definite high risk, high reward move.
*Up Special: Claw Attack- The Hunter will use the grapple feature on their Clutch Claw, aiming it up in a diagonal fashion. If the Claw connects with an opponent, the player can then jump off the captured opponent, sending them straight down and gaining additional height (without entering freefall). Alternatively, the player can press the special button to use their Great Sword and execute a powerful downward stab attack, sending both the Hunter and the opponent to the ground. Opponents caught in the Clutch Claw can button mash their way out, and if they do so the Hunter will simply enter freefall and be vulnerable. Can be used to Kamikaze opponents over the blast zone, though the Hunter's KO will occur before the opponents.
*Down Special: Shock Trap- The Hunter will plant a Shock Trap on the stage, leaving it their for up to 25 seconds. If any opponent touches the trap and sets it off, they will receive a powerful electric shock that will paralyze them in place, allowing the Hunter to move in for a followup attack. The paralysis will last longer the more damage a player has received. If the Hunter doesn't attack the opponent before the paralysis ends, then the foe will simply crumple to the ground. The trap will disappear after 25 seconds, but players can disassemble it if they choose and replant it, causing the 25 second clock to reset. Only one trap can be deployed at a time.
*Final Smash: Monster Ride- The Hunter swings their sword overhead and down in front of themselves. Anyone hit by the sword swing is sent to a cinematic final smash, appearing on the plains of the New World. A Monster (in default armor this is a Rathalos, though it could also be a Brachydios, Rathian or Tigrex based on the armor the Hunter wears) appears, and the Hunter uses their Clutch Claw to mount the monster and attack it. The Monster flails about, causing massive damage to the trapped foes as collateral damage. The Monster finally dispatches the Hunter and flies off, hitting the foes and launching them as the cinematic ends.
===Miscellaneous===
*Entry Animation- The Hunter flies in on a wyvern, who promptly flies away as the match gets ready to begin.
*Idle Animation 1- The Hunter pulls out their carving knife and glances at it briefly before resuming normal stance.
*Idle Animation 2- The Hunter assumes a defensive stance and looks over their shoulder briefly.
*Side Taunt- The Hunter puts their hands on their hips and beckons the opponent with a "Come at Me" gesture.
*Up Taunt- The Hunter pulls out their carving knife and assumes an attack stance, the knife glistening in sunlight.
*Down Taunt- The Hunter pulls out a fully cooked piece of meat and eats it for a moment.
*Victory Animation 1- The Hunter flexes their muscles and then puts their hands on their hips, ending in a pose.
*Victory Animation 2- The Hunter falls down on the ground, resting comfortably after a hard fought battle. A faithful palico will also appear next to the Hunter mimicking the gesture.
*Victory Animation 3- The Hunter is seen cooking a piece of meat on a rotisserie over a campfire. The Palico will also appear, chowing down on their own meal.
==Playable Skin==
The Monster Hunter has both male and female alternate skins, one for each of the armors they can wear. The armors themselves have no differences, outside of the monster that appears in the Hunter's Final Smash (the Rathalos Armor will cause a Rathalos to appear, etc.) Other than this, there are no gameplay differences.
==How to Unlock==
The Monster Hunter can be unlocked any of the following ways:
*Playing versus matches until they show up as a "Challenger Approaching" fight. Defeat them to unlock them.
*Clearing Classic Mode with Mega Man on starting difficulty 3.0 or higher.
*Unlock them in the Finale of World of Light by defeating them.
*Pay 1,000 gold in a shop, where they can randomly appear (though rarely.)
Category:Super Smash Bros. Characters
Category:Super Smash Bros. (series)
Category:Smash Plus Characters