Balloon Fighter

The Balloon Fighter is the protagonist of Vs. Balloon Fight and NES Balloon Fight. 
==Appearance==
In game, both players play as the Balloon Fighter, but with different colors. The main Balloon Fighter wears a blue helmet, red overalls, a blue shirt, and blue shoes. His eyes and hair appear to be red, and he floats using red Balloons. For the second player, the colors are swapped so that red becomes blue and blue becomes red.
On some promotional material for Vs. Balloon Fight and the Famicom version's box art, he instead has a lighter blue helmet and shirt, pinker Balloons, orange overalls, and brown shoes. This color scheme is also referenced in the costume worn by the player's Mii in Balloon Trip Breeze.
==Games==
The Balloon Fighter has only been directly playable in Vs. Balloon Fight and the NES game, as well as the direct ports of those two games. Beyond the Balloon Fight series, he has been playable in several WarioWare games during the specific Balloon Fight themed microgames.
== Name ==
in the original manual for Balloon Fight, the player character was not given a name. The characters were simply referred to as either “Balloonists” or “player 1” and “player 2.” However, the title of "Balloon Fighter" was initially given to the character in the English version of Super Smash Bros. Melee, through an unlockable trophy. The description for the trophy also refers to him as an unnamed balloonist. However, in the original Japanese version of the game, he was simply called "バルーンファイトの主人公," which translates to "main character of Balloon Fight." The name "Balloon Fighter" would go on to be used throughout most English material that referred to the character, including Super Smash Bros. Brawl, Game & Wario, Super Mario Maker, and Super Smash Bros. Ultimate. However, most Japanese material and manuals of re-releases use more generic titles for the character. For example, in the Japanese versions of Super Mario Maker and the Nintendo Badge Arcade, he is simply labelled as "主人公," just meaning "main character" or "protagonist." The title of "バルーンファイトの主人公" from Super Smash Bros. Melee is also reused in Super Smash Bros. Brawl and Super Smash Bros. Ultimate. The only instance of the name "Balloon Fighter" being used in the Japanese versions of games are in Game & Wario, and by association the minor references to Game & Wario in the "Gamer" stage of Super Smash Bros. for Wii U and Super Smash Bros. Ultimate.
In both the English and Japanese descriptions for the unlockable trophy in Super Smash Bros. Melee, it is stated that his actual name is unknown.
== Cameos==
* Super Smash Bros. Melee: The Balloon Fighter appears as an unlockable trophy. According to the game's Japanese website, the Balloon Fighter was also briefly considered as a possible playable fighter, though he was rejected in favor of the Ice Climbers.
* WarioWare, Inc.: Mega Microgame$!: The Balloon Fighter is playable in a microgame.
* WarioWare, Inc.: Mega Party Game$!: The Balloon Fighter is playable in a microgame.
* WarioWare: Twisted!: The Balloon Fighter is hanging from a vine and needs to be rescued in a microgame.
* WarioWare: Touched!: The Balloon Fighter flies around the screen, and the player must avoid popping his Balloon.
* Tetris DS: At level 14, the spinning graphic on the bottom screen will be a modified sprite of the Balloon Fighter, and the Balloon Fighter can be seen in the Touch game mode. A sprite of the Balloon Fighter also appears in the records menu while you have 3000-3999 Tetris Points.
* WarioWare: Smooth Moves: The Balloon Fighter is recreated in 3D for a microgame and unlockable minigame, using the in-game and box art color palettes in each, respectively.
* Picross DS: One of the extra unlockable puzzles is of the Balloon Fighter flying above the Balloon Fish.
* Super Smash Bros. Brawl: The Balloon Fighter appears as an unlockable sticker.
* PiCTOBiTS: One of the sprites the player must build is of the Balloon Fighter.
* Tingle's Balloon Fight DS: The Balloon Fighter appears in the opening cutscene, where he pops a Balloon before Tingle can.
* WarioWare D.I.Y.: The Balloon Fighter is playable in a microgame.
* WarioWare D.I.Y. Showcase: The composer who appears while playing records is dressed as the Balloon Fighter.
* Pushmo: One of the levels is based on a sprite of the Balloon Fighter.
* Nintendo Land: In Balloon Trip Breeze, the player's Mii wears a costume based on the Balloon Fighter.
* Game & Wario: 9-Volt's stage revolves around a fictional device called the "Balloon Fighter," which plays an animation showing the Balloon Fighter between microgames.
* Super Smash Bros. for Wii U: On the "Gamer" stage, based on 9-Volt's stage in Game & Wario, will occasionally show the Balloon Fighter.
* Nintendo Badge Arcade: One of the badges the player can collect is of the Balloon Fighter doing a taunt, as seen in Super Mario Maker.
* Stretchmo: One of the stages is based on a sprite of the Balloon Fighter.
* Super Mario Maker: The Balloon Fighter was featured as one of the unlockable costumes introduced in update 1.40. This costume could be randomly unlocked in the 100-Mario Challenge on Normal difficulty or above, and is costume number 133. The sprite is based on the NES game, but modified to be smaller.
* WarioWare Gold: The Balloon Fighter is playable in a microgame.
* Super Smash Bros. Ultimate: The Balloon Fighter appears as a spirit. The art used for the spirit is taken from the Famicom version's box art. It can be fought, with the battle taking place on the Balloon Fight stage against four of the Villager from Animal Crossing.
==Trivia==
* According to the trophy description in Super Smash Bros. Melee, his real name is unknown.
*The Theme Shop on the Nintendo 3DS has a theme called "NES: Balloon Fighter" which shows the Balloon Fighter among other Balloon Fight sprites.
*Many pieces of merchandise were made featuring the Balloon Fighter in some way.
**A "Dot Graphic" collectible figurine was made based around Balloon Fight, and featured a 3D-voxel version of Balloon Fighter, along with a falling Balloon Bird.
**"Mini Mascot" keychains were made of both player colorations of the Balloon Fighter. They used the normal standing sprite for both, and were just figures of the sprites stretched out to have depth.
**A Keyholder made by Banpresto features sprites of the Balloon Fighter and a Balloon Bird.
**A set of the Dot-S construction toy was released featuring instructions to create a sprite of the Balloon Fighter.
**Under the Famican line of keychains, there was one based on Balloon Fight, featuring a small voxel figure of the Balloon Fighter.
**There was an unpainted figure of the Balloon Fighter released to promote the Famicom version's release.
* The box art for Hudson Soft's PC-8801 port of Balloon Fight, the Balloon Fighter is seen with a strange design which is very different to the in-game representation. He wears a red helmet, gloves, and shorts with suspenders, without any shirt. Other major differences are yellow balloons and arm-mounted transparent wings.
*In Super Mario Maker, all costumes have a "taunt" animation, which can be seen by pressing Up on the D-Pad. The Balloon Fighter's taunt seems to show the iconic Nintendo Direct gesture, usually associated with the late Satoru Iwata, who worked on the NES version of Balloon Fight, and also provided help to the developers of Vs. Balloon Fight.
* Nobuhiro Imagawa, the art director for Mother 3, included the Balloon Fighter in two pieces of pixel art posted to twitter in celebration of Super Smash Bros. Ultimate and the 11th anniversary of Mother 3's release.Super Smash Bros. Ultimate picture: https://twitter.com/NobuhiroImagawa/status/1070912948158160897Mother 3's 11th anniversary picture:
https://twitter.com/NobuhiroImagawa/status/854740990103502848
==Gallery==
BFTrophyMelee.jpg|The trophy of the Balloon Fighter in Super Smash Bros. Melee
BalloonFightFCM.jpg|The intended color scheme, as seen on the Famicom box art
BFDotgraphic.jpg|A small figurine featuring the Balloon Fighter
3DSBFTheme.jpg|A 3DS theme featuring the Balloon Fighter
GBABalloonFighter.png|The "squished" sprite of the Balloon Fighter used in some GBA ports
BFStamp9.png|A stamp from NES Remix
Painted Unpainted Figure.jpeg|A figurine of the Balloon Fighter
Nintendo Keyholder.jpeg|A keychain which features the Balloon Fighter
Dot-SBoxArt.jpeg|A building toy, which was Balloon Fight themed
PC-88BoxArt.jpg|Hudson Soft's art of the Balloon Fighter
==References==
Category:Characters
Category:Playable Characters
Category:Side Characters