Archetype

In **Worldlauncher**, there is a special category assigned to all fighters known as the **Archetype**. It is the defining point of a fighter’s general playstyle and game strategy. In the context of other fighting games, archetypes are merely arbitrary classifications assigned to a fighter, which can be subjective and results in a fighter having an amalgamation of archetypes. While it would not truly contain a fighter to a single or duo Archetype (since players can find ways to promote other playstyles other than the assigned one), this game has still attempted to aid in the simplification of identifying and classifying Archetypes. It is the equivalent of assigning a class or role to a character in other genres, such as role-playing games. All fighters are assigned with one or two Archetypes, with them being referred to as **Primary** and **Secondary** Archetypes respectively. The main benefit of having an Archetype is that it provides the fighter with significant boosts to their innate capabilities.

## Archetypal Boost

There are four main Archetypes (the main “classes”) that are categorised; **Red**, **Blue**, **Green**, and **White**. They each have their own unique traits and grant a fighter a bonus mechanic depending on their Primary Archetype. Additionally, these Archetypes can be further divided into 4 “subclasses” each, resulting in more variety between playstyles. The specific Archetypes differ from each other in their interactions with the Desperation state.

## Desperation

The **Desperation State** occurs when a fighter reaches the damage gauge threshold of **100.0%**, indicated by the percentage value catching fire, with the colour of the fire depending on the fighter’s Archetype (i.e. a Footsie fighter will have their flames glow lime). Desperation remains active once it has been triggered- healing below 100.0% will not remove Desperation- until the fighter loses an **act**. Once active, the fighter gains a **Desperation Boost**, granting them buffs depending on the Archetype. Primary Archetypes grant an extra modification to their unique mechanic, while Secondary Archetypes grant a stat boost. Having a single Archetype benefits both the modification and stat boost.

## List of Archetypes

The Archetype system is categorised into four major classes called **Red**, **Blue**, **Green**, and **White**, and each of them are further divided into 4 subclasses each, totalling to 16 overall Archetypes. The major classes give out an additional special mechanic that is only tied to that fighter’s Primary Archetype, while the subclasses provide unique Desperation Boosts.

### Red

**Unique Mechanic: *Red Flair***

* Fighters of this class have the ability to cancel their landing lag from aerial attacks much earlier by pressing the dodge button during it. This sets off a cooldown of 5 seconds.

The **Red** class of fighters, also called the “**rushdowners**,” refers to the style of play that focuses on closing distance between the fighter and the opponent, and relentlessly applying offensive pressure until they can be knocked off the stage. This class is subdivided into **Rushdown**, **Zone Breaker**, **Brawler**, and **Mix-up**:

#### Rushdown

**Desperation Boost: *Relentless***

* **Primary:** Assaults can be cancelled into Onslaughts, which boosts its damage by 1.5x when performed. This has a set cooldown of 10 seconds.
* **Secondary:** All strike-type attacks deal 1.5x more damage and have earlier interruptible frames by 5.

**Rushdown** fighters are fast and specialise in close-range combat. They embody the philosophy of the Red class, usually attacking relentlessly without giving much breathing room to the opponent, and excel at it. They are incredibly aggressive and purely offensive, sometimes with no projectiles, though even if they do, it’s usually for approaches and combo strings. Many of them have high overall attack speed compared to other fighters.

* Has the highest damage output of all the Red classes.
* Mostly have above average mobility.
* Unga bunga.
* Typically have weaker resilience compared to other Red classes.
* Tends to lack projectiles or have shorter-ranged attacks which can be a liability in certain ranges.

***Internal Color:** Red*

***Rushdown** examples from other games:*

* *Fox (Super Smash Bros.)*

#### Zone Breaker

**Desperation Boost: *Unyielding***

* **Primary:** Assaults and Onslaughts can destroy projectiles. This sets off a 10 second cooldown.
* **Secondary:** Walking and crawling speeds are boosted by 25%.

**Zone Breaker** fighters are capable of breaking zoning tactics from the opponent. They tend to have various tools that specifically cater against opposing space such as having a command jump and a low-profile crawl to avoid certain projectiles, a reflector, a semi-invulnerable advancing move to dodge long-range options, or even having a projectile of their own that counters opposing projectiles. This gives these fighters one of the safest ways to approach. These fighters tend to have naturally high walking speeds.

* Great mobility and long-range evasion.
* Can chase opponents without breaking a sweat.
* A fighting game player’s favourite playstyle.
* Has relatively weaker offensive pressure, which even at close-quarters these fighters may sometimes struggle.
* Their options mostly cover approaching, but aren’t viable KO options themselves.

***Internal Color:** Crimson*

***Zone Breaker** examples from other games:*

* *Pikachu (Super Smash Bros.)*

#### Brawler

**Desperation Boost: *Charge***

* **Primary:** Dash Assault now grants superarmor and temporarily makes the fighter invincible for 10 frames if they dash after. The buffs have a cooldown of 10 seconds after use.
* **Secondary:** Dashing speed is boosted by 25%.

**Brawler** fighters focus on grounded close-quarters combat. They excel at using strike-based attacks, as most of their Assaults and Onslaughts have higher priority than other fighters due to the potential presence of armour or semi-invulnerability against other types of attacks. These fighters also have amazing ground coverage as they naturally have high dashing speed, a relatively low jump to weave in with, and tend to be agile up close, making them capitalise some mistakes opponents may show.

* Very high grounded mobility that can let them cover the entire stage in a short amount of time.
* While less combo-oriented for a Red class, they trade it for explosive power instead.
* Somehow usually represented by orange-themed MMA characters.
* May have one of the weakest recovery options in the game.
* Due to being reliant on strike attacks, they may often lose out against disjointed hitboxes.

***Internal Color:** Orange*

***Brawler** examples from other games:*

* *Little Mac (Super Smash Bros.)*

#### Mix-up

**Desperation Boost: *Feint***

* **Primary:** All Assaults can be jump cancelled and temporarily makes the fighter invincible for 10 frames if performed. This has a cooldown of 10 seconds.
* **Secondary:** Air and airdash speeds are boosted by 25%.

**Mix-up** fighters focus on varied approaching methods and block pressure. They employ tactics and mind games to exploit their opponent’s defences, making them perform best at close-range. They have overall good mobility, but especially emphasise in aerial combat due to their naturally high air speed and effective airdash options. Additionally, they also have a lot of high-low attacks and tricky mobility, making them especially effective at pressuring blocks and opening them up.

* Unorthodox ways to approach opponents making it effective for mind games.
* Has amazing air coverage and cross-ups.
* Slick as hell.
* Requires unpredictability in their game plan as they are otherwise very vulnerable.
* Has one of the weakest defensive options in the game.

***Internal Color:** Peach*

***Mix-up** examples from other games:*

* *Falco (Super Smash Bros.)*

### Blue

**Unique Mechanic: *Blue Pass***

* Fighters of this class have a special property that lets them ignore parries with their projectile-type attacks. This sets off a cooldown of 5 seconds.

The **Blue** class of fighters, also called the “**zoners**,” refers to the style of play that focuses on maintaining distance from the opponent as much as possible, while using long-range methods until they can be knocked off the stage. This class is subdivided into **Zoner**, **Spacer**, **Trapper**, and **Turtle**:

#### Zoner

**Desperation Boost: *Pierce***

* **Primary:** Projectiles deal massive block damage and break all instances of armour. This sets off a 10 second cooldown after usage.
* **Secondary:** All projectile-type attacks have +1 clash level and earlier interruptible frames by 5.

**Zoner** fighters focus on outranging their opponents with the heavy emphasis on projectiles. The purest form of a Blue class, their strongest options typically involve a projectile of some sort as a part of their game plan. They sometimes lack the speed and power to fight at closer ranges, so they need to wear down opponents from a distance instead. Many of their projectile-type attacks tend to beat other projectiles.

* Projectiles can beat out other forms of projectiles due to having higher priority.
* Can produce a wall of projectiles to keep opponents from approaching.
* Annoys the hell out of your opponent.
* Projectiles might get beaten out by reflectors and other anti-projectile methods.
* Tend to generally have weaker defences and slower speed.

***Internal Color:** Blue*

***Zoner** examples from other games:*

* *Samus (Super Smash Bros.)*

#### Spacer

**Desperation Boost: *Disciplined***

* **Primary:** Skills can now bypass parry and deal massive blockstun. This has a set cooldown of 10 seconds.
* **Secondary:** All Skills deal 1.5x more damage.

**Spacer** fighters rely on their disjointed attacks to outspace their opponents. They uniquely have barely any projectiles for a Blue class, since they use an extension of themselves such as weaponry or long-reach instead as a means of safe distancing. This makes them much more closer-ranged compared to other playstyles of this class. These disjointed attacks often out-prioritise other attacks since hitting or clashing with them does not hurt the user, some even include a sweetspot to their disjointed attacks to further their damage and reward proper spacing, though for the most part their Skills can aid in their disjoints.

* Excels at the mid-range.
* Typically has good mobility for a Blue class, letting them weave around to proper positions.
* Anime swordfighter.
* Long reach or disjointed attacks still makes them prone to opposing projectiles.
* Certain attacks may necessitate proper positioning and spacing due to blindspots.
* Anime swordfighter.

***Internal Color:** Purple*

***Spacer** examples from other games:*

* *Marth (Super Smash Bros.)*

#### Trapper

**Desperation Boost: *Ambush***

* **Primary:** Projectiles cannot be destroyed by regular means. This has a set cooldown of 10 seconds after usage.
* **Secondary:** All projectile-type attacks deal 1.5x more damage and knockback.

**Trapper** fighters employ special projectiles that are meant to bait and trap opponents with. These fighters are utterly defensive, tending to avoid opponents and lure them with traps that apply a lot of pressure. They differ from other Blue classes in that they can attack while facing away and evading their opponents. They also excel in multitasking, usually stringing combos with their traps and their close-range moves. Their blocks usually have higher damage than others.

* They tend to have a lot of indirect options to constantly keep their opponents on their toes.
* Heavily pressures opponents into getting baited with traps.
* Femboy.
* May lack presence when not employing their projectiles or have their traps exploited.
* Requires multitasking awareness to properly employ projectiles.

***Internal Color:** Cerulean*

***Trapper** examples from other games:*

* *Piranha Plant (Super Smash Bros.)*

#### Turtle

**Desperation Boost: *Deflection***

* **Primary:** Blocking reflects projectiles. This has a 10 second cooldown after it’s triggered.
* **Secondary:** Block health is boosted by 25%.

**Turtle** fighters specialise in playing the long game by whittling down opponents. These are somewhat flexible fighters that have the capability of wearing down opponents by hitting them afar or other indirect options, but can also deal with close-range pressure by constantly blocking. Though they don’t deal as much damage, they mainly employ a poking tactic with their projectiles to maintain a safe distance, waiting for the opportunity until the damage has accumulated enough to grab a KO. May tend to have naturally high weight to accommodate their defensive abilities.

* Can stall out most other fighters to deny their pressure.
* Has decent close-range options for a Blue class.
* Tutel.
* May be prone to accumulating a lot of damage over time if not careful.
* Really relies on having a lot of patience to use effectively due to their passivity.

***Internal Color:** Cornflower*

***Turtle** examples from other games:*

* *Villager (Super Smash Bros.)*

### Green

**Unique Mechanic: *Green Flow***

* Fighters of this class have a special property that perfectly timing their dodges against incoming attacks refreshes the staleness of all their moves. This sets off a cooldown of 5 seconds.

The **Green** class of fighters, also called the “**technicals**,” refers to the style of play that focuses on opponent reaction, whether they are whiffing their attacks or are not engaging, in order to capitalise on that until they get knocked off the stage. This class is subdivided into **Bait & Punish**, **Footsie**, **Set-up**, and **Tricky**:

#### Bait & Punish

**Desperation Boost: *Stalwart***

* **Primary:** Attacks that deal 15% or less damage have its knockback negated. This has a 10 second cooldown after it’s triggered.
* **Secondary:** Knockback resistance is boosted by 25%.

**Bait & Punish** fighters are patient and capitalise on the opponent’s mistakes to deliver a hefty punishment. These define the Green class, relying on the player’s intuition to play around the fighter’s naturally slow but powerful options and wait for an opportunity until the opponent whiffs their attacks. Because of the threat of their strong attacks, they can implant fear on the opponent, pressuring them and limiting their options in approaching. Many of these fighters tend to be heavyweights to compensate for their proneness to getting comboed themselves.

* Incredibly resilient against most attacks due to most of them having heavier weights.
* Can heavily pressure opponents by sheer presence alone.
* Menacing.
* Extremely prone to accumulating damage due to vulnerability to combos.
* Requires the player to understand the opponent’s reactions and potential options in order to capitalise the user’s strengths.

***Internal Color:** Green*

***Bait & Punish** examples from other games:*

* *Ganondorf (Super Smash Bros.)*

#### Footsie

**Desperation Boost: *Riposte***

* **Primary:** Successful parries can now stun attackers for 1.5 seconds. This has a 10 second cooldown after it’s triggered.
* **Secondary:** Parries have increased activation frames by 5.

**Footsie** fighters excel at the mid-range by shuffling around this position and waiting for an opportunity to strike. These fighters can be agile with their attacks, but they usually wait for an opponent’s first strike in order for them to capitalise on it. They have a special zone known as the “footsie range,” which is about mid-range where the user can vye to reposition to reach out to poke an opponent with but not too close that the opponent can use their options properly. Many of them tend to especially benefit from parrying successfully.

* Decently fast for a Green class.
* Gains the most benefit from parries.
* Parried all those casuals.
* Might occasionally be over-reliant on parrying as their options necessitate a slow opponent.
* Tends to lack disjointed attacks to sometimes compensate for this range.

***Internal Color:** Lime*

***Footsie** examples from other games:*

* *Ryu (Super Smash Bros.)*

#### Set-up

**Desperation Boost: *Seize***

* **Primary:** Grabs are now invincible for the first 5 frames it comes out. This has a set cooldown of 10 seconds.
* **Secondary:** All grab-type attacks deal 1.5x more damage.

**Set-up** fighters focus on extra resources and buffing themselves. True to their name, they involve a lot of setting up in order to become efficient, which can include attacking buffs or healing. They may also set-up through variably modifying their movesets which can affect the course of the match. They sometimes have forms of resource management such as reloading ammunition. These fighters rely on setting up, so they naturally must find ways to properly set-up by knocking down opponents in tech chase situations, especially with the use of throws.

* Buffs can accumulate to take high advantage over the opponent.
* Tends to have an above average grab game.
* They're really feeling it.
* Requires the opponent to not interrupt them from setting up.
* Can be difficult to manage resources, making them a high difficulty curve.

***Internal Color:** Jade*

***Set-up** examples from other games:*

* *Shulk (Super Smash Bros.)*

#### Tricky

**Desperation Boost: *Seize***

* **Primary:** Grants either an additional midair jump, airdash, or airdodge. This sets off a 10 second cooldown after it’s been used.
* **Secondary:** All Skills have earlier interruptible frames by 5.

**Tricky** fighters are unorthodox. They tend to be incredibly gimmicky, sometimes to the point that they don’t abide by some of the universal mechanics of the game. Some employ randomness in their kits, while others have specific conditions in order to make them function. This makes them complicated to deal with, as an unaware opponent may get caught up with their unique bag of tricks.

* Rewards the player for correctly assessing their gimmicks.
* May have mechanics not found by the majority of the cast.
* Very fun to mess around with.
* Random elements can be detrimental to the user.
* The illusion of trickery can potentially break once opponents become aware of their gimmick.

***Internal Color:** Mint*

***Tricky** examples from other games:*

* *Hero (Super Smash Bros.)*

### White

**Unique Mechanic: *White Pact***

* Fighters of this class take 0.5x less damage and knockback from allies. This sets off a cooldown of 5 seconds.

The **White** class of fighters, also called the “**dynamics**,” is a hybridization of the previous classes, interpolating them into various playstyles. This class is subdivided into **Balanced**, **Glass Cannon**, **Hit & Run**, and **Control**:

#### Balanced

**Desperation Boost: *Conservative***

* **Primary:** EX Skills spend 0% Heat of the Super Meter. This sets off a 10 second cooldown after it’s used.
* **Secondary:** All attacks deal 1.2x more damage and knockback. Dodges have increased activation frames by 2.

**Balanced** fighters are well-rounded in their playstyle. This is the simplest form of a White class, as they are usually easy to learn, with very balanced stats overall, and being good at virtually anything. They tend to have both short- and long-range attacks, as well as reliable KO moves. Because of these traits, they can do very well in both offensive and defensive play.

* Typically one of the easiest fighters to use.
* They are incredibly flexible as they can switch game plans whenever it feels appropriate.
* Mostly used as a baseline for other fighters, giving them lesser staying potential.
* Tend to not have any gimmicks, making them a bit honest.
* Basic bitch.

***Internal Color:** White*

***Balanced** examples from other games:*

* *Pit (Super Smash Bros.)*

#### Glass Cannon

**Desperation Boost: *Shatter***

* **Primary:** Grants either Onslaughts, Skills, or Super Skills to deal 1.5x more damage and knockback. This has a set cooldown of 10 seconds after it’s used.
* **Secondary:** All attacks deal 1.5x more damage.

**Glass Cannon** fighters are powerful attackers with meagre defences. They take the offensive traits of both Red and Blue classes and exaggerate them, as these fighters have some of the most powerful attacks in the game no matter what range, but at the expense of having very weak defensive capabilities to compensate. They’re highly-riskful and highly-rewarding, dishing out damage incredibly fast and often have superior range. Many of these fighters tend to be lightweight.

* Can quickly dispatch opponents before they even reach Desperation.
* Lighter weights aid to avoid getting constantly comboed.
* Incredibly unhinged.
* Some may have exploitable weaknesses such as slow attack speed, short-range attacks, or having lower priority to their moves.
* Most are lightweights, which means they can get KO’d before they even reach Desperation.

***Internal Color:** Magenta*

***Glass Cannon** examples from other games:*

* *Mewtwo (Super Smash Bros.)*

#### Control

**Desperation Boost: *Coverage***

* **Primary:** Blocks regardless of stance can now block all types of attacks including unblockables. This sets off a 10 second cooldown after it triggers.
* **Secondary:** All attacks deal 1.5x more knockback.

**Control** fighters focus on the neutral game and stage control. They are very defensive fighters, taking the defensive traits of both the Blue and Green roles in order to excel at their strategy. They excel at keeping opponents at bay by having a variety of long-range attacks to adapt to every single situation to cover all their weaknesses, slowly building a barrage of projectiles that prevents the opponents from approaching. Additionally, even if they do manage to approach, these fighters have naturally high resilience and can still pressure opponents with the threat of close-range attacks even if it can hurt themselves.

* Effective at keeping opponents far due to projectile barrages and other indirect methods.
* Snowballs once they take advantage of the neutral game.
* EXPLOSIONS!
* May lose out on overall damage output due to reliance on keeping opponents out of range.
* Still at risk at close-range as some of their options tend to inflict damage on themselves.

***Internal Color:** Cyan*

***Control** examples from other games:*

* *Snake (Super Smash Bros.)*

#### Hit & Run

**Desperation Boost: *Shift***

* **Primary:** Grants invincibility when either dashing for 5 seconds or the entirety of an airdash. This sets off a 10 second cooldown after it triggers.
* **Secondary:** Dodges have increased activation frames by 5.

**Hit & Run** fighters promote speed and evasion. Combining the quirks of Red and Green classes, they are typically fast, short-range fighters that excel on weaving in and out of the opponent’s range. While they may not have many powerful attacks, with the few they have requiring good precision, they are quick enough to keep their distance and approach as fast as they retreat, punishing the mistakes of their opponents as they do. Many of them have really good out-of-dodge options.

* Has above average evasive manoeuvres that can even dodge a barrage of projectiles and disjoints.
* Can pester the opponent by poking them and running away, waiting for the right moment to strike a KO.
* You’re too slow!
* Mostly frail, as they sometimes lack the defensive capabilities to save themselves if getting hit.
* Obstacles can severely hinder their game plan.

***Internal Color:** Yellow*

***Hit & Run** examples from other games:*

* *Sonic (Super Smash Bros.)*

### Black

**Unique Mechanic: *Black Sheep***

* Entities of this Archetype cannot be controlled by regular means.

The dreaded **Black** class is a rare Archetype that can only be found on entities that are not willing enough to be **Fighters** or **Supports**. This class is divided between **Common**, **Sub-Boss**, and **BOSS**:

#### Common

**Desperation Boost: *Panic***

* **Primary:** Varied.
* **Secondary:** Overall speed is boosted by 10%.

**Common** entities refer to characters that act as generic obstacles against fighters. They’re typically the weakest and simplest form of the Black Archetype. Usually autonomously move on their own and attack players.

#### Sub-Boss

**Desperation Boost: *Rage***

* **Primary:** Varied.
* **Secondary:** Constantly gain 10% Heat per second. All attacks deal 10% more damage and knockback.

**Sub-Boss** entities refer to characters that are tougher to defeat than commons. They’re typically the closest approximation to fighters in terms of strength and function, but have their own rules and restrictions.

#### BOSS

**Desperation Boost: *Fury***

* **Primary:** Varied.
* **Secondary:** All attacks are unblockable. All projectiles have clash level 4.

**BOSS** entities refer to characters that are the biggest threat to anything. They’re the ultimate form of a Black Archetype. They can only be fought within their own rules and restrictions, and at a later point in time.

#### MoM

**Desperation Boost: *Respect***

* **Primary:** Omniboost.
* **Secondary:** Omniboost.

**MoM** is not sugarcoating it.