Big Band

**Big Band** (JP: ビッグバンド), also known as Ben Birdland, was once a policeman in New Meridian, before being turned into a cybernetic weapon by Dr. Avian of Lab 8.

## General Information

Big Band is a DLC character for Skullgirls Encore. Because Lab Zero Games reached their requested donations for Big Band, he was a free DLC character for all to acquire for a limited amount of time (the first 3 months after his release), but since has been added to the store for purchase.

Big Band started development when the fundraising reached $375,000. The fundraising managed to raise over $400,000, so he was able to have his own stage and Story Mode.[1]

Big Band was the first male playable character added into Skullgirls.

In the background of Anti-Skullgirl Lab 8 Stage, Big Band can be seen watching the players fight. However, if either or both players select Big Band he will not be present in the stage background.

### Personality

Ben Birdland, aka "Big Band", is a observant detective who is committed to using his abilities to stop Skullgirls. When he was working as a police cop, he was one of the few (another being his former partner Irvin) who follows the rules and regulations while the others were corrupt. While he maintains himself to be calm and collected and prefers to talk things out, he will not hesitate to fight back when he has to. He is also fatherly towards the younger members of the Anti-Skullgirl Labs and shows consideration to others, such as Painwheel. Another example of his consideration is when he refused to kill Marie, who is carrying a part of the Medici Tower, under orders from Brain Drain since it will cause major damage to the area.

## Character Basis

### Name

*Big Band* references a type of jazz ensemble that usually consists of ten or more musicians playing saxophones, trumpets, trombones, and a rhythm section.

The character's last name is a reference to "Birdland" a famous jazz club in New York City, named after saxophonist Charlie "Bird" Parker.

### Design

He wears striped boxers with musical notes on them.

Although he has large arms with brass knuckles, he usually uses sets of small arms with cushioned tipped claws to hold small items.

Big Band was originally intended to have a robotic voice, but the team felt the filter took away from Rich Brown's smooth voice and filtered with a smooth metal echo to go with it.

## Abilities & Fighting Style

While it is said that his equipment is outdated, Big Band makes up for it in experience. He has an array of musical instruments that he can use in various ways. He is a slow character that packs a very mean punch. Another element to his fighting style is the Sound Stun, a musical element in which stuns his opponents a little longer than usual.  Once the opponent is hit with an attack that causes Sound Stun during a combo, another attack with Sound Stun cannot produce that effect to unless the combo is dropped.

Because of the armor in some of his attacks, Big Band has shown himself to be a very sturdy fighter. What also supports his sturdiness is his unique ability to parry attacks. While the attacks still causes damage to Big Band, the damage has been moderately decreased. However, parrying is risky since some attacks can be hard due to varying speed and it does not work against grabs. If used correctly, Big Band can turn the tide of any battle to the surprise of his opponents.

He was given musically themed powers as Dr. Avian was a fan of jazz music. In the same way to how Peacock employed her extensive knowledge of cartoons when creating unique weaponry for herself, a better understanding of the mechanics of jazz instruments meant that Avian could create mechanisms based on them more effectively.

## TMNT X Pokemon

Big Band is doing an investigation regarding the portals appearing in New York and as to why the Kraang wants to get rid of both heroes and villains from each of the worlds.

## Trivia

* Big Band's move "Brass Knuckles" alludes to the weapons by the same name, and the fact that most band instruments (and his arms) are made from brass.
* Big Band has a grab-and-punch move where he says "Beat Extend!", which is a reference to Guilty Gear's Potemkin, who uses a similar move called "Heat Extend".
* Several Special Moves in Big Band's moveset reference popular Jazz Standards or Albums
	+ "Take the A Train" is a prolific Jazz Standard by Duke Ellington, who led a Jazz Orchestra in the first half of the 20th Century.
	+ "Giant Steps" is the lead single for John Coletrane's album of the same name, and is famous for its unique progression.
	+ "Take Five" is an uncommon Jazz Standard written by Paul Desmond.
	+ "Strike up the Band" is a 1920s Broadway Musical by the Gershwin Brother's, who were very influential in the development of early Jazz.
	+ "Super-Sonic Jazz" is an album recorded by the freeform Jazz Pianist Sun Ra.
* Big Band's "Satchmo Solo" *(his Level 5 Blockbuster)* way of input is derived from a Street Fightercharacter Akuma and his special attack "Raging Demon" (Also known as Shun Goku Satsu in Japanese), including 2x LPs, 1x LK, 1x directional input and 1x Hard Button (which is changed to LP+MP)
	+ "Satchmo Deathblow" is inspired from the 1998 Capcom Fighting arcade game JoJo's Bizarre Adventure: Heritage for the Future, where the character Jotaro Kujo can stop time and is able to hit his enemy within the frozen time. While there are two characters that can freeze time, Jotaro has another Special Move that summons his "Stand " that pummels on the enemy multiple times.
		- While performing "Satchmo Deathblow", Big Band shouting "TUBATUBATUBATUBATUBA-" while pummeling the enemy is another reference to the series as the characters Jotaro Kujo and DIO's Stands (both of which can stop time) have their own battlecries, with Jotaro's being "ORAORAORAORAORA" and DIO's being "MUDAMUDAMUDAMUDA". This kind of punching flurry attack, however, didn't originate from JoJo's Bizarre Adventure, but rather another anime titled "Fist of the North Star".
		- The way how the player's Meter after using "Satchmo Solo" slowly depletes and time resumes after it hits zero is also inspired from the JoJo's Bizarre Adventure video game, Heritage for the Future.
		- Coincidentally, in the Japanese version of Skullgirls, Big Band's voice actor Tomokazu Sugita has also voiced the character of Joseph Joestar in the second part of JoJo's Bizarre Adventure known as Battle Tendency.
* Big Band is nicknamed Detective Sax (サックスでか) by the Japanese fanbase.
* One of the musical instruments seen in Big Band's IPS/Undizzy burst animation is an ocarina, most likely in reference to the Legend of Zelda series. Though it bares little similarities with the titular Ocarina of Time, it does resemble the in-game sprite of the Ocarina item found in Link's Awakening.
* Big Band is the only character so far to have a 26th, extra palette for special unlocking.