The Legendary Starfy (universe)

The Legendary Starfy universe (, The Legendary Starfy) is a "marine action" series with common elements of platforming developed by TOSE and published by Nintendo.
==Franchise description==
The series can be traced back to around 1995 when Nintendo producer Hitoshi Yamagami was tasked by his superiors to create a "floaty platformer" for Game Boy. He partnered with development studio Tose to work on the title for the next several years. The first idea was a balloon-lifting game, which morphed into controlling a bubble with a character inside, which itself morphed into a floating character. The game also adopted an underwater setting around this time, so several sea creatures were considered for the playable character, and the team settled on a starfish. The game also transitioned to Game Boy Color at some point, and this game was shown off at Space World 2000 as . Soon after this, development shifted again to the Game Boy Advance, where it finally released on September 6, 2002 as . The game is about , the prince of the underwater kingdom of , who helps others in need and saves the day from the various enemies he encounters. The game stood out from its platforming contemporaries with its controls, as Starfy can freely swim through the water, unaffected by gravity, forcing the developers to be creative with the level design and puzzles.
The game received a positive reception and great sales for a game that has yet to be officially released outside of Japan. A release in China on the iQue Game Boy Advance was planned, but was cancelled. The team decided the best way to make a follow up was by using the same engine and most of the same assets for a quick turnaround. This is how the game received two sequels on Game Boy Advance alone: in 2003, and in 2004. The development of took additional time for being the first in the series for the Nintendo DS and released in 2006, utilizing most of the unique features of the system. One of these features is the "Download Play", which was done with game stations across Japan where players can download the first stage of the game, titled .
The series stayed in Japan up until this point because Nintendo and Tose believed the series was "too Japanese," with imagery, writing and themes that might be difficult for a Western audience to understand. This decision was eventually reversed after the continuous success of the series and the meteoric rise of the DS convinced the team to give the next game a proper international release. This fifth game was Densetsu no Stafy: Taiketsu! Daīru Kaizokudan in 2008, which released in North America and Australia as in 2009.
The series has arguably been most successful in the realm of merchandising. Many tie-in products were made for the series, including toys, plush figures, stationary, food, remixed soundtrack CDs, and several adaptations. The franchise is so successful due to it fitting perfectly in to the "kawaii" culture in Japan, which reached an apex when the series was active. The series was also targeted at children, meaning there were many more opportunities to brand items that said children would want.
==In Super Smash Bros. Brawl==
===Assist Trophy===
Starfy, the series' lead character, appears as an Assist Trophy in Super Smash Bros. Brawl. When summoned, he will perform his trademark Star Spin attack, which can inflict up to 11% damage, but has no knockback properties. However, if Starfy takes a significant hit, he will explode and be knocked far away. If an opponent is in Starfy's trajectory when he is flying away, they will be temporarily stunned, and then sent reeling at the same angle with high knockback and damage.
===Trophies===
Starfy and his sister Starly are available as collectable trophies. Note that Starfy and Starly are known by their Japanese names "Stafy" and "Stapy" throughout their trophies (in both the NTSC and PAL versions of Brawl), as a Starfy game had not yet been released outside of Japan when Brawl was released, and that Starfy/Stapy is oddly categorised as "Fighter Related", the only character from a universe with no playable character to be so.
===Stickers===
Name 	Game 	Effect 	Characters
Yadokarita 	Densetsu no Stafy 	Attack +8 	
Stafy 	Densetsu no Stafy 	Attack +7 	
Chonmagyo 	Densetsu no Stafy 2	Attack +5 	
Stafy 	Densetsu no Stafy 2	Attack +10	
Seiuchi-kun	Densetsu no Stafy 3	Attack +18	
Stapy 	Densetsu no Stafy 3	Attack +4 	
Kyorosuke 	Densetsu no Stafy 4	Attack +8 	
Materu 	Densetsu no Stafy 4	Attack +7 	
==In Super Smash Bros. 4==
===Assist Trophy===
Starfy returns as an Assist Trophy in Super Smash Bros. 4. He appears to be unchanged from his appearance in Brawl.
===Trophy===
==In Super Smash Bros. Ultimate==
===Assist Trophy===
*Starfy: Returns as an assist trophy.
===Spirits===
The following characters from the series are spirits.
====Primary spirits====
No. 	Image	Name	Type	Class	Slots	Base	Max 	Base	Max 	Base	Max 	Ability
1,181	 	 	★★★ 	3 	3078 	9281	1628	4908	1332	4016	Weight ↓ 	
1,182	 	 	★★ 	3 	1784 	7161	798 	3202	918 	3684	Weight ↓ 	
1,183	 	 	★ 	1 	900 	4500	270 	1350	630 	3150	No Effect	
====Support spirits====
No. 	Image	Name	Class	Cost 	Ability
1,184	 	★★ 	1 	Mr. Saturn Equipped 	
1,185	 	★ 	1 	Water & Ice Attack ↑ 	
1,186	 	★ 	1 	Water/Freezing Resist ↑	
==Games with elements appearing in the Super Smash Bros. series==
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*Assist Trophy:
** Stafy appears as an Assist Trophy in Brawl, Smash 4, and Ultimate.
*Stickers:
** Stafy and appear as stickers.
*Spirits:
** Stafy, , and appear as spirits.
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*Stickers:
** Stafy (with a hawaiian shirt) and appear as stickers.
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*Trophies:
** appears as a trophy.
*Stickers:
** and Stapy appear as stickers.
*Spirits:
** Stapy appears as a spirit.
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*Stickers:
** and appear as stickers.
*Spirits:
** Materu (renamed to Mattel) appears as a spirit.
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*Assist Trophy:
** Stafy has been renamed Starfy to match the localization of this game.
*Spirits:
** Starfy, Moe, Old Man Lobber, Mermaid and Stapy's (renamed to Starly in this game) spirits use artwork from this game.
==References==