Vampire Killer (trailer)

Vampire Killer is a CG animated trailer for Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, announcing Simon and Richter Belmont's inclusion in the game as playable characters. It aired at the beginning of the August 8, 2018 Nintendo Direct.
==Overview==
The trailer begins with the Smash cross logo forming out of a black background, similar to the character trailers for the previous installment, Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS and Wii U. It then cuts to a castle turret in the middle of a torrential rainstorm, while a cloaked man walks towards the castle and opens the castle gates. A faint scream could be heard just as the cloaked individual is about to enter the premises.
It then cuts to Luigi scared out of his wits while trying to use his Poltergust G-00's flashing flashlight in a futile attempt at deterring a pair of pursuing Mummies. Eventually, he ended up launching a plunger into the lead Mummy's face, stunning it for a few seconds before it rushes at Luigi to grab him, forcing the latter to flee. He then arrives in a stained glass room with a head bust, and briefly catches a breather. Unfortunately for him, he senses something amiss as the bust turns toward him and proceeds to have its eyes glow, as well as unveiling snakes, causing Luigi to run in a state of terror yet again, also knocking over a candle holder in the process. While running, Luigi trips over a ledge, and lands on his posterior. After getting up, he senses something amiss yet again, and turns on his flashlight just in time to see Death hovering above him, poised to strike and growling. As Luigi proceeds to scream in horror and having his eyes go blank from the shock, Death then swings his scythe and separates Luigi's body from his soul. Death proceeds to chuckle as he looks at ball of flaming energy in his hand.
However, Death then senses something nearby, with the Vampire Killer then proceeding to sock Death in the jaw hard enough for him to be left stunned. The hooded man, revealed to be Simon Belmont, then discards his cloak and proceeds to utilize his Crosses to finish off Death, with the tagline "Simon Lashes Out" appearing just as he is about to throw the cross at Death. During this time, the Castlevania Judgment mix of "Vampire Killer" starts to play.
It then shows some gameplay for Simon Belmont, such as him showing off his Vampire Killer (a taunt), special attacks (Axe, Cross, Holy Water, and Uppercut), and some of his other moves, such as spinning around his whip to block projectiles like in Super Castlevania IV and his grab and Down Throw. Frankenstein's Monster as well as a werewolf also briefly appear, the latter crashing through a window, and then shows Simon Belmont using his Final Smash, Grand Cross.
Afterward, Simon Belmont, similar to in the original Castlevania, arrives at Dracula's room with the Castlevania: Harmony of Despair mix for "Nothing to Lose" playing in the background, with Dracula also swishing his cape in preparation for his fight with Simon Belmont. Dracula then uses Hellfire as well as what is presumably Demonic Megiddo's pillar of flame variant to force Simon away. As the trailer returns to CG, Simon watches helplessly as flames draw closer to him, only for Richter Belmont to appear using his version of the Vampire Killer to ward it off, while yelling "Begone! You don't belong in this world, Monster!" as the tagline "Richter Crosses Over" appears just as he swings his whip with a remix of "Divine Bloodlines" playing in the background.
It then shows some gameplay for Richter Belmont, such as taunts, special attacks, and some of his moves. He also briefly poses with Alucard before the latter takes his leave. It then finishes with Simon throwing his crosses at Dracula while Richter finishes him off with his Uppercut, with both Belmonts then briefly celebrating as the logo for Super Smash Bros. Ultimate appears, which is then modified to feature one of the crosses acting as a makeshift "x" to indicate it is crossing over with the Castlevania franchise with a remix of Stage Clear, the Magic Crystal collection theme from the first game playing in the background as this occurs.
The trailer then ends with Luigi's soul, while attempting to reunite with his body, looking out the window just in time to see Carmilla's bleeding mask staring from outside, with the camera then panning out to the castle outside as Luigi screams in horror.
==Gallery==
SSBUSimonHood.JPG|Simon appearing with his hood.
SSBUMummiesCGI.JPG|Luigi confronting two Mummies.
SSBUMedusaCGI.JPG|Medusa reveals herself to Luigi.
SSBUDeathCGI.JPG|Death reaping Luigi's soul.
SSBUDeathCGI2.JPG|Death contemplating Luigi's soul.
Simon Lashes Out.jpg|Simon's reveal tagline.
==Videos==
Super Smash Bros. Ultimate - Vampire Killer - Nintendo Switch
==Trivia==
*Luigi's appearance in the trailer is likely a reference to the Luigi's Mansion series.
**It probably was also intended to foreshadow Luigi's Mansion 3, as the Poltergust model he uses is shown to fire plungers, which was eventually revealed in the September 13, 2018 Nintendo Direct teaser for that game.
**Luigi also turned out to be one of two characters in the base game –beside the Belmonts– who had Dracula as the final boss of their Classic Mode, the only other being Pac-Man (who was briefly seen in the gameplay of Simon's portion of the trailer being taken out via the latter's axe attack and also deals with ghosts). The DLC character Sephiroth would later also fight Dracula as part of his Classic Mode.
***Luigi and Simon also use the same music during the battle: "Nothing to Lose" plays during the first phase and "Black Night" during the second, just like in the first Castlevania.
**To a lesser extent, it also may have been intended to reference an Easter egg in Castlevania: Lords of Shadow - Mirror of Fate, where one of the Fallen Knight Scrolls had the author mention his brother being named Mario, as well as pipes and mushrooms.
*Death's physical appearance in the trailer was based on his appearance in Castlevania: Lament of Innocence.
**On that note, Death's pose after dispatching Luigi is reminiscent of the Game Over screen for Castlevania: Dawn of Sorrow.
*As noted above, the transition portion between Simon's gameplay and Richter's gameplay references the final battle in the first Castlevania game.
*This is the first character announcement trailer for Ultimate to announce two characters instead of one, as well as two characters from the same franchise (not counting Pyra and Mythra from the DLC).
*The scene where Simon arrives at the castle has a brief focus on his boot as he's walking to the door, which resembles a similar shot from the Ridley announcement trailer "A Piercing Screech", which focuses on Samus, Mario and Mega Man's boots in the same way.
*Richter's statement when appearing is a variant of his famous line from Symphony of the Night: "Die monster. You don't belong in this world!"
*At one point in Simon's gameplay portion of the trailer, Simon throws Holy Water and it "cooks" a turkey dish as well as a kabob in front of Link, which indirectly refers to the presence of various meat in inexplicable places, such as inside bricks in the original Castlevania, and to the ability to cook meat in The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild.
**Similarly, Richter's gameplay portion of the trailer shows Richter using holy water on the Pikmin stage before being swept away by the current as he does a fist pump, which indirectly alludes to his Hydro Storm Item Crash.
*Simon wearing a hooded cloak before dramatically removing it to confront an enemy resembles a similar sequence in the opening for Castlevania: Dawn of Sorrow, although in that case it was Soma Cruz who did it.
Category:Press Releases