Bill (Smash Plus)

Bill is a playable character in Super Smash Brothers Plus for the Nintendo Switch Plus. Representing the Contra universe, he is the 3rd revealed character for the Season 2 DLC pass, and as such has no number within the in-game list. He is also classified as a Middleweight Fighter. He can only be unlocked through individual purchase, or by purchasing the Season 2 DLC.
Much as he does in the Contra games, Bill's Smash gameplay is focused on three principles: constant motion firing, gaining powerups for his gun, and most importantly avoiding damage. The former is simple enough, Bill has some of the longest range in the game for his basic tilt and aerial attacks (which are his primary attacking strategy), with even his basic gun having great range. His special moves and Smash attacks, as a trade off, are noticeably weaker, designed to augment his run and gun strategy rather than stand on their own as primary attack options. It is through these special moves (specifically his down special) that Bill acquires upgrade to his primary fire arm. However these upgrades are fleeting, which ties into the third principle. If Bill takes enough damage, he will lose his current upgrade for his gun (and it may be some time until he can switch to a new one). Furthermore, Bill's defensive stats are very weak, leaving him easily open to attack if someone can get in close and rack up damage quickly. The goal is for players to use his abilities to keep opponents at a distance, finishing them off with a well timed laser blast or simply swarming them with a barrage of weapons fire. Bill has two normal jumps and can wall cling.
==Moveset==
===Basic Attacks===
*Special Gimmick: Equipped Weapons- All of Bill's tilt attacks and aerial attacks are tied to whatever weapon he is currently equipped with. Using Down Special will allow players to equip a different weapon for a period of time, although Bill will lose that weapon if he sustains over 40% damage with it equipped. His default gun is his rifle, which he will always have access to. Weapons are described below.
*Neutral Jab- Bill fires his equipped weapon forward with a single shot. Holding down the button will cause him to constantly fire the weapon at its normal rate of fire. It should be noted that for his normal rifle, the projectiles it fires are treated as a disjointed, extended hitbox, rather than as projectiles that can be reflected. It has a decent range and rate of fire as well.
*Side Tilt- Bill fires his equipped weapon while moving forward. In comparison to the neutral jab, the rate of fire will be slightly slower while moving versus standing still.
*Up Tilt- Bill shoots his equipped weapon straight up into the air. He cannot move while using this move.
*Down Tilt- Bill crouches down and shoots his equipped weapon straight forward. While he cannot crawl, his crouching animation gives him one of the lower profiles in the game, allowing him to dodge many projectiles.
*Dash Attack- Bill performs a short range shoulder tackle to knock foes away. Has a surprising amount of knockback for a dash attack, particularly at higher percentages.
*Grab & Pummel- Bill fires a grappling hook forward to grab opponents. This grapple can also be used as a tether grab. He pummels by hitting opponents with the butt of his rifle.
*Forward Throw- Bill lifts the opponent over his shoulder and throws them forward. His weakest throw overall.
*Back Throw- Bill tosses the opponent behind himself and then shoots them with his currently equipped weapon. Damage will vary based on what weapon is active at the moment.
*Up Throw- Bill tosses the opponent up into the air and then tosses a grenade above his head, causing an explosion to knock them away.
*Down Throw- Bill slams the opponent onto the ground, which knocks them up and away.
*Neutral Air- Bill somersaults through the air while firing his equipped weapon. Unlike his up special which utilizes the same motion, Bill will not gain height with this variation.
*Forward Air- Bill fires his equipped weapon straight ahead. Bill's aerial firing rate is equal to the slightly lower firing rate that his forward tilt has.
*Back Air- Bill fires his equipped weapon straight behind himself.
*Up Air- Bill fires his equipped weapon straight above his head.
*Down Air- Bill fires his equipped weapon straight down towards the ground.
===Smash Attacks===
*Forward Smash- Bill pulls out a Plasma Thrower, which acts as a shotgun, unloading a powerful burst of plasma at short range. Based on damage and knockback, this is the only one of Bill's Smash attacks that is a reliable KO option, but has heavy startup lag.
*Up Smash- Bill fires his Electro Gun straight up into the air, causing a damaging burst of electricity above his head that damages opponents multiple times and then launches on the final hit.
*Down Smash- Bill fires a gun pod above his head that fires bullets down towards the ground in a diagonal motion all around himself. Does a surprising amount of damage, but almost no knockback, especially for a Smash attack.
===Special Moves===
*Special Gimmick: Contra Code- If players can successfully enter the famous Contra Code (Up, Up, Down, Down, Left, Right, Left, Right, B, A), they will hear a familiar explosion sound and will automatically heal up to 30% of damage. This only works once per match, however.
*Neutral Special: Homing Missile- Bill fires a single homing missile forward that does what it says on the box. The missile projectile will home in on the nearest enemy once it is fired, however it will not chase the enemy, merely heading in the general direction of that enemy when it homes in. If it hits the stage, a hard platform, or a projectile, it will explode on contact. The missile does a decent amount of damage, but only one missile can be on screen at a time, significantly reducing its rate of fire.
*Side Special: Howitzer- Bill equips his gun to fire a single fireball projectile out bouncing across the stage. The fireball's trajectory can be altered slightly by directional input, similar to King Dedede's Gordo Toss, by pressing up to fire at a higher angle closer to Bill, and pressing down to fire at a lower angle to increase its speed across the ground. Either way, it will bounce three times before disappearing, unless it hits something. The projectile does a good amount of damage and knockback, though slightly less than the Homing Missile.
*Up Special: Somersault- Bill somersaults through the air, his iconic flipping jump motion from his original NES game. The attack itself does no damage on its own. However, players can hold down the attack button while in the somersault motion to fire whatever equipped weapon Bill has out at the moment, and he will continue firing that weapon while in the air, shooting in all directions (at the standard rate of fire). It also gains a surprising amount of vertical and horizontal distance, making it one of the better recovery moves.
*Down Special: Weapon Change- Pressing Down Special will bring up a selector wheel, allowing Bill to choose his equipped weapon that he will use for all of his tilt and aerial attacks. However, Bill cannot change weapons on the fly. Once Down Special is used, a thirty second cooldown period will prevent it from being accessed again. This thirty second window will remain, even if Bill loses his current weapon upgrade. He loses an upgrade by sustaining up to 40% damage or more while holding an equipped weapon. The damage counter resets if Bill equips a new weapon, loses his current one or if he is KO'ed before reaching the 40% threshold. The countdown timer only resets if he is KO'ed while it is active. In addition to his default rifle, Bill has 5 weapons at his disposal. They are:
**Rifle- Bill's default rifle fires a single projectile forward, with a good rate of fire and is tied for the second best distance covered on the ground. However, it is also the second weakest overall in terms of damage. The rifle's shots do not count as projectiles that can be reflected.
**Machine Gun- The Machine gun (signified by the "M" on the selector wheel) has the highest rate of fire of any of the weapons at Bill's disposal (save for the flamethrower), however it also has the weakest amount of damage dealt per shot. The gun's projectiles DO count as projectiles that can be reflected as well.
**Spreadshot- The spreadshot (signified by the "S" on the selector wheel), has a comparable rate of fire to the default rifle. However it also shoots three projectiles at once, covering a greater distance, even though each shot doesn't travel as far as the default rifle. The projectiles also deal a greater amount of damage. These projectiles can be reflected.
**Flamethrower- With the flamethrower (signified by the "F" on the selector wheel), Bill shoots a constant stream of fire out at a short distance (the shortest distance of any of the guns). While the damage can rack up quickly with the flamethrower, it is unique in that its damage scales down the longer the flame is active, requiring players to let it cooldown for three seconds before it is restored to full damage capacity.
**Laser- The laser (signified by the "L" on the selector wheel), Bill shoots a single projectile forward. The rate of fire is the weakest amongst all the guns, but the projectile will travel through enemies and does a good amount of damage when it connects. The projectiles can be reflected.
**Rocket Launcher- The rocket launcher (signified by the "R" on the selector wheel), operates similar to the Crush Gun from Contra 4. It fires non homing missiles out towards the target. It has the second worst rate of fire, but the projectiles are the only ones that do any appreciable knockback to foes. The projectiles can be reflect, and also travel the slowest out of any of Bill's firearms.
*Final Smash: Hyper Shell- A helicopter swoops in and picks up Bill off the battlefield, leaving behind a single explosive at center stage. The explosive detonates, operating similar to a Smart Bomb with a growing explosion, hitting any opponent caught in the blast radius multiple times before launching them away when the explosion ends. Bill then swoops back in on his helicopter, having cleared the field of enemies for a short time.
===Miscellaneous===
*Entry Animation- Bill swoops in on a helicopter and jumps onto the stage, ready for battle.
*Idle Animation 1- Bill looks around, checking on his surroundings.
*Idle Animation 2- Bill reloads his rifle, cocking it as he prepares for battle.
*Side Taunt- Bill points his finger forward towards the foe and says "I've got Something For Ya!"
*Up Taunt- Bill spins his gun around before pointing it back forward in his normal stance.
*Down Taunt- Bill widens his stance, spreading his legs apart, and poses dramatically while saying "Come Get Some!"
*Victory Animation 1- Bill poses in victory, holding his gun high above his head and then giving a thumbs up to the camera.
*Victory Animation 2- Bill drapes his rifle over his shoulder and wipes some sweat from his brow, before smiling at the camera.
*Victory Animation 3- Bill somersaults throw the air, ending on a kneeling pose while holding his gun and saying "Locked and loaded."
==Playable Skin==
Bill has an alternate playable skin centered around Lance Bean, his counterpart in the Contra games. Aside from aesthetic differences, such as voice acting, there are no differences between the characters.
==Reveal Trailer==
Coming Soon...
Category:Super Smash Bros. Characters
Category:Super Smash Bros. (series)
Category:Smash Plus Characters