Villager (SSB4)

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Villager (, Murabito) is a newcomer in Super Smash Bros. 4. Villager was revealed during E3 2013 on June 11th, 2013 during the first reveal trailer for Smash 4 and was the first newcomer revealed, alongside other newcomers announced during E3 2013, and . Similar to the Wii Fit Trainer, , and , players are able to play as male and female versions of the Villager. There are four male and four female variations available. He was also among the first wave of amiibo figures that are compatible with SSB4.
Villager has no voice actor, instead using sounds recycled from the Animal Crossing games.
Villager is ranked 25th out of 54 characters on the official tier list, placing him in C tier. Villager's most prevalent advantages are his powerful zoning and camping games, both of which are among the strongest in the game, thanks to his forward aerial and back aerials having excellent range. Pocket notably helps Villager counteract projectiles and opposing camping, and allows him to use enemy projectiles against them. Additionally, Villager has a very strong edgeguarding game, with both his forward smash and Timber being notable in this aspect. Villager also has one of the safest and longest recoveries in the game, being able to return to the stage safely.
However, Villager has noticeable flaws. The most serious of them is his KO potential, as his strongest KOing options are burdened with slow speed, punishable amounts of lag, inability to be comboed into, or all three. Villager is also burdened with poor movement, due to his below-average dashing and aerial speeds. Villager also has poor options when fighting in close range, due to a slow, punishable grab and rather slow, unsafe tilts, and can also be countered by characters who can reflect or negate projectiles, such as . Although less impactful, characters that do not have projectiles hinder Pocket’s effectiveness.
Overall, Villager's stage control and edgeguarding options have allowed him to achieve strong tournament results, especially in Japan, largely thanks to , and he is considered to be a viable high-tier character. Despite this, Villager's results and representation plummeted from the fact that his best player, , has been inactive throughout the later half of 2017. Due to this, Villager's viability has been contested throughout the game's lifespan.
==Attributes==
Villager is an unorthodox character with several unique moves, including several standard attacks that are actually projectiles, similar to .
Villager possesses a strong camping game. His forward and backward aerials are long-ranged slingshot attacks which, in combination with Lloid Rocket, are great for harassing opponents from a distance. Opposing projectiles can either be Pocketed or blocked by a tree; Pocket can also be used to "steal" character-generated items such as 's Gyro, preventing them from being used as long as Villager keeps them and thus further weakening the opponent's ability to compete with him at range. One caveat, though, is that Villager is a character of below-average mobility; in particular, he has the fourth slowest dashing speed in the game (albeit still noticeably faster than the bottom three), so once the opponent closes the gap it can be difficult for Villager to create space again. Despite this, Villager possesses three sex kicks out of his five aerial moves of which all have quick startups, giving him a relatively easy time knocking away an enemy if they approach to point blank range.
Should camping not be desirable, Villager's projectiles can also serve as good approach tools. In particular, launching Lloid Rocket and then running behind it is a strategy that limits the opponent's options and provides a chance to punish their reaction. Using his down aerial in a short hop is also a good approach option, as it is a disjointed attack with little lag.
Despite being a middleweight character, Villager possesses arguably the best recovery in the game thanks to . This move allows him to fly a great distance at a respectable speed, and is surprisingly difficult to gimp; although the balloons can be popped to render Villager helpless, doing so requires two separate hits, and hitting Villager himself will allow him to simply use the move again. Lloid Rocket further bolsters Villager's recovery, as launching it stalls his descent while threatening edgeguarders. Alternatively, Villager can ride Lloid back to the stage, although this is punishable and can be reflected.
Villager is also a very potent edgeguarder, with a wealth of options to finish recovering foes. His forward smash allows him to drop a bowling ball from the ledge; this is a powerful attack that can be difficult for an opponent recovering low to avoid. If the opponent's recovery is slow enough or a tree is set up beforehand, Timber can also be used from the ledge for an even more devastating attack, or to reduce an opponent's options should they grab the ledge. Alternatively, Villager can jump offstage and pursue with an aerial attack; his down aerial is a powerful meteor smash should it produce three turnips, while a clean hit from his slingshot has enough knockback to be deadly near the blast line, and is generally the best choice against an opponent recovering high. Many of his aerials are sex kicks as well which, when combined with his extremely long-ranged recovery, allows him to gimp opponents pretty easily.
However, Villager's ability to set up edgeguards in the first place is hampered by his slow grab. Although his net has relatively long range, it is one of the laggiest grabs in the game, making it very punishable. As such, attempting to throw an opponent offstage is a risky prospect, and Villager's ability to shield-grab is quite limited, although he does have other good out of shield options, such as his neutral aerial.
Outside of edgeguarding, Villager has multiple powerful KO moves, but none of them are easy to land from a neutral situation. His forward smash, while powerful, is a laggy and short-ranged attack when used onstage. Lloid Rocket has KO power when ridden, but this is slow and predictable. Timber's axe requires a tree to be present and has considerable ending lag, while using the tree itself is slow and requires staying in one place. Villager's up aerial is a strong juggling move and can score KOs off the upper blast line, but only if luck permits. Pocketing and throwing back a sufficiently strong projectile makes for a deadly attack, generally enough to KO at mid percentages and even instantly shatter full shields, but this is matchup-dependent and will not be easily allowed by a smart opponent. Overall, if the opponent maintains control of center stage, Villager can have trouble finding KO opportunities.
Villager has a versatile selection of custom moves. Pocket Plus and Garden are less powerful than standard Pocket, but have advantages that make them more useful for some matchups. Pushy Lloid's size and multi-hit nature make it harder for opponents to get past. Extreme Balloon Trip has Villager fly slower, but the balloons explode when they burst, making it very risky for the opponent to attempt an edgeguard while giving Villager a vertical boost that compensates for the move's reduced speed. The most notable and rather infamous custom move however, is Timber Counter. Timber Counter allows Villager to place a tripping hazard which, unlike Banana Peels, cannot be removed by any opponent short of another Villager, allowing for strong stage control. By combining these custom moves, Villager can significantly enhance his already potent camping abilities, making him very difficult to approach. He does, however, give up some offensive ability in the process, and some players may prefer his more balanced default moveset.
Villager is considered a solid character by many in competitive play widely thanks to the best Villager player in the world, . However, outside of Japan, his representation is rather poor.
==Update history==
Villager has received a mix of buffs and nerfs in game updates, but has been slightly nerfed overall. Since 1.0.6, he can no longer Pocket Sonic's Spring or Pac-Man's Trampoline, his recovery was noticeably nerfed in 1.0.8 and once again in 1.1.1, by granting less and even less distance with consistent use. The same patch also made Extreme Balloon Trip, one of his best custom moves, less effective as a disruption tool. 1.1.3 slightly reduced his usefulness in team battles by having pocketed projectiles by teammates deal significantly less damage and knockback. However, 1.0.8 also brought some useful buffs to his grab game, most notably to his down throw, which allows him to combo his opponents better. He also benefits from the changes on the shield mechanics more than most characters do as of updates 1.1.0 and 1.1.1, as it allows him to break shields easier, most notably with a rising axe followed by a clean hit with three turnips with his down air.
 1.0.6
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 1.0.8
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 1.1.1
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 1.1.3
==Moveset==
*Villager can wall jump.
For a gallery of Villager's hitboxes, see here.
===Stats===
===Announcer call===
Villager English Announcer SSB4-SSBU.wav|English
Villager Japanese Announcer SSB4-SSBU.wav|Japanese/Chinese
Villager Korean Announcer SSB4-SSBU.wav|Korean
===On-screen appearance===
===Taunts===
===Idle poses===
===Crowd cheer===
 	Cheer (English) 	Cheer (Japanese) 	Cheer (Spanish)
Cheer 	 	 	
Description	Vill - a - ger! 	Mura - no -- son - cho!	A - ni -- mal Cro - ssing!
 	Cheer (French) 	Cheer (German) 	Cheer (Italian)
Cheer 	 	 	
Description	A - ni - mal -- Cro -- ssing !	Animaaal - Crossiing! 	Forza Abitante! *claps 4 times*
===Victory poses===
==In competitive play==
===Official Custom Moveset Project===
===Most historically significant players===
See also: :Category:Villager players (SSB4)
* - The best solo-Villager player in North America, known for frequently placing well at events, including 9th at both and over and , respectively. Outside of 2GG, he has also placed 3rd at over and 5th at over . He is ranked the 14th-best Smash 4 player of all-time in SoCal, one of the strongest regions in Smash 4.
* - Although he remained inconsistent throughout his career, he is the second-best Villager player in Japan after Ranai, with results such as 5th at and . He eventually took Ranai's place as the best solo-Villager player in the world after Ranai's retirement, placing 4th at and 5th at during this time.
* - One of the best Villager players in North America. Although he also co-mained , he frequently used only Villager in competitive play, such as his runs to 5th at , 9th at , and 17th at . 
* - The best Villager player of all-time and one of the best Japanese players in the first few years of Smash 4. He is the only Villager player to win a major, doing so at the , and has many of Villager's other best placements, including 3rd at and 5th at . He retired in mid-2017, with his absence contributing to a decline in Villager's representation, but was still ultimately ranked 21st on the PGR 100.
* - Although initially known for placing 9th at using Villager's infamous custom moves, he has since found success with Villager even without custom moves, using the character as a co-main with and placing 17th at and 25th at with primarily Villager.
===Tier placement and history===
While not a highly represented or discussed fighter in the early metagame, Villager has always been generally agreed to be a rather viable choice for competitive play. This is due to his infamously effective projectile and keep away game that enabled him to shut down the approach of many characters, leading to a high perception of him as a character. In addition, Villager's had some of the most infamous custom moves in the game, best showcased at , which tainted the community's view on custom moves and contributed to its ban from competitive play following . Even with the ban, Villager's representation remained strong thanks to , who frequently performed well at Japanese events, including winning the major , and made his North American debut with a 3rd-place finish at . Although Ranai was by far the best Villager representative, other Villager players such as and were also rather successful in competitive play. As such, Villager was highly regarded on the first two tier lists, ranking 11th and 14th, respectively, with the drop on the second list being attributed to 's major buffs, 's popularity, and 's release.
However, Villager's results took a downturn following the second tier list, as his best players began performing worse in tournament, leading Villager to slide to 17th on the third tier list. Ranai's retirement from competitive play significantly hurt Villager's representation and results, as no other Villager player was able to replicate Ranai's success. As such, Villager dropped further to 25th in the fourth and final tier list, the second largest drop between the third and fourth tier lists. Overall, while players still regard Villager as a high-tier character, his waning representation have left his metagame stagnant.
==In Solo Modes==
===All-Star Mode===
In All-Star Mode, Villager is fought in Stage 6 in the 3DS version or Stage 2 in the Wii U version alongside , , , , , , , and 
===Event Matches===
====Solo Events====
* Bounty Hunter Clash: 2 Villagers appear as opponents after enough time passes.
* Jackpot Opportunity: The player controls Villager and must collect 1000 coins in a battle against 3 other Villagers.
* New Challengers 1: Villager is one of the seven opponents fought in this event alongside , , , , , and .
* Playing Tricks: The player controls , and must bury two Villagers in Pitfalls at the same time.
====Co-op Events====
* The Ultimate Battle: Two players select a character and must defeat the entire roster.
* Visiting Onett: and Villager must defeat , , , , , and .
===Congratulations Screens===
====3DS====
SSB4-3DS Congratulations Classic Villager.png|Classic Mode
SSB4-3DS Congratulations All-Star Villager.png|All-Star Mode
====Wii U====
SSB4-Wii U Congratulations Classic Villager.png|Classic Mode
SSB4-Wii U Congratulations All-Star Villager.png|All-Star Mode
==Trophies==
Villager's default trophy is obtained by clearing Classic Mode as Villager. Their alternate trophy is obtained by clearing All-Star Mode as Villager in the 3DS version or purchasing it in the Trophy Shop for 1000G in the Wii U version (the latter can only appear after clearing Classic or All-Star as Villager). The Dream House trophy is obtained only in the Wii U version by clearing All-Star Mode as Villager.
==Alternate costumes==
							
							
==Reveal trailer==
==Gallery==
SSB4 Newcomer Introduction Villager.png|Villager's splash art.
Villager amiibo.png|Villager's amiibo.
Villager Poster.jpg|His artwork from the Super Smash Bros. website
Villager_Cover.png|Villager on the cover for the 3DS version.
Villager Mario Bowser SSB4-U.jpg|Forward aerial.
Villagertaunt.jpeg|Villager on Town and City.
Villager Tree.jpg|Timber.
Skyloft 10.jpg|Neutral aerial.
Villager Dash Attack.png|Dash attack.
Villager Screen 6.jpg|Forward smash.
Villager Fireworks.jpg|Up smash.
Villager Balloon Fight.jpg|Balloon Trip.
Villager Screen 9.jpg|Pocketing 's Missile.
Stadium Stage SSB4.jpg|Neutral attack.
Villager Umbrella.png|Forward tilt.
Villager Stick.png|Up tilt.
Villager Weed.png|Down tilt.
NewcomersAndMario.JPG|With , and .
Villager Turnip.png|Down aerial with one turnip.
Villager Turnip2.png|Down aerial with three turnips.
Ssb4villagerwiifit3ds.jpg|Villager and on the 3DS version of .
VillagerShovel.gif |Villager buries and with down smash.
VillagerBowlingBall.gif|Villager buries and uses a bowling ball to KO him.
Villager Grapple.png|Villager using a net to grab .
==Trivia==
*Villager is the only newcomer in Super Smash Bros. 4 who is shown receiving an invitation letter.
*The initial reveal for Villager quickly became an Internet phenomenon; due to his constant smile (just like how the Villager in Animal Crossing usually keeps the same expression during gameplay) and having weapons associated with stereotypical serial killers, namely his shovel and axe, many smashers and outside observers joked that the Villager was actually a dangerous killer, earning him the nickname "Killager".http://www.knowyourmeme.com/memes/the-villager
** additionally received several similar memes after her reveal, though this was much less widespread than the Villager's.
*Villager is the only newcomer to be on both the Wii U and 3DS covers. This is also the case with and if one counts the full group art on both versions.
*Villager's alternate costumes are also worn by the Villagers who appear as background characters in Smashville.
*Villager and are the only characters who can use any of their costumes as an opponent in All-Star Mode.
*When Villager ducks, one of his animations will make him grow an index finger.
*Villager holds the record for the most amount of sex kicks, with them being his neutral, up, and down aerials.
*Villager's down smash buries opponents on the ground, making it the only smash attack in the series that can never KO under any circumstances when grounded.
*Villager's forward smash involves him dropping a bowling ball in front of him as a projectile, being the only smash attack in the series with infinite vertical range.
*Villager's neutral attack, up special, neutral aerial, forward smash, and up tilt are the only moves of his that don't reference a specific item or action from the Animal Crossing series.
**When performing the forward smash, however, the animation they make is based off the Diving pose when a player is on land in Animal Crossing: New Leafs Free-Diving Tour.
*The property of swinging varying amounts of turnips for his down aerial derives from how the price of turnips fluctuate in Animal Crossing.
*Villager, , and are the only characters who have moves based on another series. Villager's neutral attack involves him punching with boxing gloves, which could be referencing Punch-Out!!, which appeared in the original Animal Crossing as an obtainable NES game. His up special, Balloon Trip, is taken from Balloon Fight, which also appeared in the original Animal Crossing as an obtainable NES game.
*Villager's fall animation is identical to the defeat animation of the protagonist of Balloon Fight, and also has increased fall speed when helpless, further cementing the similarities.
*While Villager blinks his eyes in normal gameplay, he does not blink during his clapping animation after losing a battle.
==References==
 
Category:Trophies (SSB4-3DS)
Category:Trophies (SSB4-Wii U)
es:Aldeano (SSB4)