Phoenix Wright (Smash Plus)

Phoenix Wright is a playable character in Super Smash Brothers Plus for the Nintendo Switch Plus. Representing the Ace Attorney universe, he is the third revealed fight for the Season 1 DLC pass, and as such have no number within the in-game list. He is also classified as a Lightweight Fighter. He can only be unlocked through individual purchase or by downloading the Season 1 DLC.
Phoenix Wright's moveset is rather...unique in its construction. In addition to his attacks being seemingly inocuous in nature, almost all of his attacks in their base form do below average damage and knockback (save for his Objection! neutral special). However, this damage and knockback can be scaled up when Phoenix manages to collect evidence, storing up to 5 pieces of evidence by using his Down Special ability. Each piece of evidence gives a 20% boost to his damage and knockback on all of his attacks, leading to him having two times normal damage on his attacks when he has full evidence against his opponents. Gathering evidence does become more difficult the more evidence he acquires, and unfortunately he will lose all his evidence if he is KO'ed, and Phoenix is rather frail with his lightweight frame. Phoenix has tools for survival though, both with a surprisingly strong defensive ability (with help from Maya Fey, who also helps with a few of his other attacks) and his quick attack speed that, once he has achieved full evidence, can make him a combo machine to rack up damage quickly. The key to surviving with Phoenix is to attempt to gain evidence quickly and press your advantage when you have it, because if pressed early Phoenix is going to be easy to defeat. Phoenix has two normal jumps and can also crawl.
==Moveset==
===Basic Attacks===
*Special Gimmick: Building a Case- Phoenix Wright's basic attacks are naturally among the weakest in the game, both in terms of damage and knockback. His attacks become stronger (and sometimes develop different attributes, such as a larger hitbox) based on evidence he collects with his Down Special, "Investigate." Each piece of good evidence that Phoenix stores will augment his attacks with a 20% increase in damage and knockback. If he has all 5 pieces of evidence stored, then his attacks will have double their normal damage and launch power. Phoenix can lose evidence either by using his Final Smash or if he is KO'ed.
*Neutral Jab- Phoenix points his finger forward quickly, as if making an accusation (however, he doesn't create a speech bubble with the initial attack.) This attack comes out quickly, and also leads into a rapid jab where Phoenix repeatedly says things, causing several small speech bubbles to appear which damage foes, launching with the final hit.
*Side Tilt- Phoenix swings his hand forward, tossing a stack of papers in front of himself. The paper has a lingering hitbox that does minimal damage to foes.
*Up Tilt- Phoenix swats above his head nonchalantly, as if swatting away a fly or gnat buzzing around himself.
*Down Tilt- Phoenix kneels down and sweeps the ground in front of himself, similar to his animation for his Down Special, but doing far more damage.
*Dash Attack- Phoenix trips and somersaults head over heels a short distance in front of himself, launching foes on contact but doing barely any damage on a late hit.
*Grab & Pummel- Phoenix traps opponents inside a speech bubble that reads "HOLD IT!" The bubble will be slightly larger when Phoenix has 3 or more pieces of evidence stored. For his pummel, Phoenix will tap a piece of paper he is holding, causing superficial damage to the opponent.
*Forward Throw- Phoenix points his finger forward, creating a wind gust in front of himself that knocks foes away.
*Back Throw- Maya will appear behind the opponent and mimic Phoenix's pointing motion, which blows them behind Phoenix.
*Up Throw- Maya will appear behind the foe and toss them straight up into the air, to the surprise of Phoenix as he looks on.
*Down Throw- A giant gavel from the Judge will appear and slam onto the ground, knocking opponents away. This also has a chance of burying foes, with the chance rising the more evidence Phoenix has stored.
*Neutral Air- Phoenix flails his arms about as he rubs his head in a panicked motion, with his whole body being a hitbox and launching on contact.
*Forward Air- Phoenix whips out a piece of paper and reads from it briefly, creating a lingering hitbox. Has far more power at the beginning of the move rather than the end.
*Back Air- Phoenix flings a cup of hot coffee behind himself. The coffee mug itself does fire damage, but the flinging motion from Phoenix's arms has the stronger damage and knockback potential.
*Up Air- Phoenix will suddenly have an idea, with a lightbulb appearing directly above his head. Foes hit by the light bulb will take multiple hits of damage and be launched on the final hit.
*Down Air- Phoenix will sneeze at a downwards forward angle, also elevating him slightly into the air. This move can spike foes, but only if Phoenix has at least 4 pieces of evidence in storage.
===Smash Attacks===
*Side Smash- Phoenix will point forward and create a speech bubble in front of himself that reads "TAKE THAT!". Foes caught in the speech bubble will be launched on contact, with the attack having a sweet spot if opponents are hit by Phoenix's finger right before the speech bubble appears, though this sweet spot only increases the damage dealt, rather than the knockback of the attack. The speech bubble has three sizes, with the smallest size being its default attacks, a slightly larger hitbox if Phoenix has 1-3 pieces of evidence in storage, and the largest hitbox if Phoenix has more than 3 pieces of evidence in storage.
*Up Smash- Phoenix points straight upward with a piece of paper in his hand, as if showing the judge. The hitbox on the attack is entirely vertical, making this attack only useful as an anti-air tool. The hitbox will be larger though if Phoenix has more than 2 pieces of evidence in storage.
*Down Smash- Similar to his Down Smash, Phoenix will point forward with a "TAKE THAT!" speech bubble. However, Maya will appear behind Phoenix and do the same thing, only point directly behind Phoenix. Both speech bubbles are the same size and deal the same damage. Unlike his side smash, this size of the speech bubbles are not impacted by the evidence Phoenix has in storage, and neither pointing motion has a sweetspot.
===Special Moves===
*Neutral Special: OBJECTION!- Phoenix will wind up his finger point forward, creating a large speech bubble that reads "OBJECTION!". The attack does the largest base damage and knockback of any of Phoenix's special moves, but has prohibitively long startup lag, similar to a Falcon Punch. Also similar to that move, Phoenix can turn around before he points, and can start the move in midair without interruption. Unlike the Falcon Punch, Phoenix has Super Armor to moderate attacks when using the attack. The size of speech bubble will increase slightly with each piece of evidence that Phoenix stores, but the hitbox at the center of the attack (the sweetspot) will remain the same size throughout.
*Side Special: Fey Shield- Maya will run into the screen and put up a shield in front of Phoenix, who simply stands in place. Maya's shield will remain for as long as the special button is held down or until 3 seconds pass, at which point Maya will vanish. If the shield goes the full three seconds, there will be a three second cooldown before the shield can be used again. The shield will absorb any physical attack and will reflect projectiles. However it only protects from the front, leaving Phoenix vulnerable from above, below or behind.
*Up Special: Stepladder- A stepladder will conveniently appear next to Phoenix, and he will quickly run up it and jump from the top. The ladder will then fall to the ground, damaging any opponent it hits along the way. If used on the ground, the stepladder will remain on the stage briefly where it can be used as another platform (and even has some uses edgeguarding if used correctly.) Once used in midair, Phoenix enters freefall.
*Down Special: Investigate- Phoenix will kneel down and start gathering evidence around himself. The animation takes roughly one and a half seconds, and every time he does it he will find a piece of evidence, though not always a GOOD piece of evidence. If it is a good piece of evidence, he will place it in storage and continue searching if the special button is still held down. If it is a useless piece of evidence, he will toss it aside, where it acts as a weak projectile that disappears when it hits the stage or an opponent. Phoenix will continue to search as long as the special button is held down, but the rate at which he will find a good piece of evidence goes down with each piece of good evidence he finds, at the following rates.
**No Evidence in storage: 100%
**1 Piece in storage: 75%
**2 Pieces in storage: 60%
**3 Pieces in storage: 45%
**4 Pieces in storage: 25%
Phoenix will hold evidence until he is either KO'ed or uses his Final Smash. Players can dodgeroll out of the investigation animation, but this will nullify the piece of evidence that animation would have generated.
*Final Smash: Final Judgment- Phoenix points forward and creates a large Speech Bubble with an OBJECTION!, which is faster than his normal attack. Anyone hit by the speech bubble will take damage and be launched, but the first player hit by it will be sent into a cutscene in the courtroom, where Phoenix cross examines them. He yells at them "THE REAL CULPRIT IS YOU!", causing three Psyche Locks to explode around the player. The Judge then appears behind them and yells "GUILTY!" and slams his gavel down, launching the foe as the cinematic ends. If a player reaches more than 100% damage during the cutscene, they will be automatically KO'ed. Using the Final Smash will cause Phoenix to discard all evidence in storage at the time it was activated, regardless of if an opponent was caught by it or not.
===Miscellaneous===
*Entry Animation- Phoenix walks in reading a stack of papers. He tosses them aside and says "The defense is ready!" as he assumes his battle stance.
*Idle Animation 1- Phoenix stands at attention and taps his foot impatiently.
*Idle Animation 2- Phoenix pulls out his Magatama charm, twirling it in his fingers before putting it away.
*Side Taunt- Phoenix Wright strokes his chin, deep in thought for a moment.
*Up Taunt- Phoenix adopts a nervous look and mumbles "This isn't going well..."
*Down Taunt- Phoenix flashes his attorney's badge forward with a flourish.
*Victory Animation 1- Phoenix Wright stands at attention and points towards the camera while saying "No Hard Feelings, Right?"
*Victory Animation 2- Phoenix rubs the back of his head, somewhat embarrased, while Maya jumps around in the background throwing confetti around him.
*Victory Animation 3- Phoenix and Maya both point towards the camera together, saying simultaneously "Justice is Served!"
==Reveal Trailer==
Coming Soon...
Category:Super Smash Bros. Characters
Category:Super Smash Bros. (series)
Category:Smash Plus Characters