Maria Renard

Standard Special
 Side Special
 Up Special
 Down Special
 Final Smash
 Extra Skill
 Franchise
 Game of Origin
 Release Date of Origin
 Other Appearances
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## **Character Info**

Maria Renard is a distant relative of the Belmonts, and a vampire huntress herself. Once imprisoned by Dracula's followers, she proved useful to her liberator, Richter Belmont's, cause with her mastery over animals. With birds, cats, and even dragons at her side, Maria proved formidable against the forces of darkness even at age 12. As an adult, her magical prowess has only furthered, and she is noteworthy for making familiars of the Four Celestial Beasts.

## **General Information**

### **Entrance**

A group of doves or owls gracefully drops Maria off onto the stage. She pats off her dress and is ready for battle!

### **Kirby Hat**

Kirby perfects Maria's hairstyle to a tee, bow and all.

### **Taunts**

**Up Taunt:** Maria holds her music book open and hums a couple seconds of a tune—one of multiple Castlevania compositions—as she fumbles with a key in her hand.

**Down Taunt:** Maria puts on a pair of glasses—the Holy Glasses—and faint illusions of her four legendary familiars Baihu, Suzaku, Qing Long, and Xen Wu quickly flash beside her.

**Side Taunt:** Maria looks down on an egg cupped in both of her hands as it hatches, a handful of doves or cardinals flying out from it.

### **Victory Poses**

1. Maria kneels down beside the Four Celestial Beasts as she shouts, "We did it!"
2. Maria throws her Richter doll up into the air, spinning around and catching it.
3. Maria leans back into a red velvet chair as her white cat jumps up onto her lap, making itself snug.

## **Moveset**

### **Standard Special**

**Qing Long:** The Celestial Dragon, Qing Long, appears and encircles Maria. So long as the special attack button is held, Qing Long will chase his tail in a circle around Maria. This defensive mechanism will make eager melee fighters think twice before rushing Maria down, since they might get a dragon sicked on them! Qing Long's circular movements will deflect most projectiles and melee attacks alike, but Qing Long will eventually have had enough and rush forward if he is dealt enough damage—around 15%. Those caught in Qing Long's forward rush will be dealt decent damage and knockback as the dragon retreats from the stage. Maria is also able to telegraph Qing Long's movements. By holding the special attack button while tilting the directional input, Maria can move a circling Qing Long anywhere within a 180 degree scope of herself, and about three Kirbys afar from herself. Letting go of the special attack button at any moment will unleash Qing Long, as aforementioned.

### **Side Special**

**Baihu:** The Celestial White Tiger, Baihu, appears and Maria hops on top of him. In this bipedal form, Maria is capable of commanding Baihu to perform a powerful claw swipe with a press of the special attack button or a weaker, quicker swipe by tapping the standard attack button. Pressing the special attack button while in midair with Baihu will see the tiger leap diagonally downwards, hurling himself forward and heavily damaging opponents caught in the crossfire on his descent. Baihu will carry Maria around so long as Maria does not cancel out of the move with by pressing the shoulder triggers. Baihu will also drop Maria if he is dealt enough damage—around 20%. After Baihu runs off stage, Maria will have to wait around 10 seconds to summon the white tiger again. If she tries in the meantime, she will send a much smaller white cat galloping forward instead, dealing consistent, albeit light, damage to those caught in its path.

### **Up Special**

**Suzaku:** The Celestial Cardinal, Suzaku, appears as twins. They carry Maria up by her shoulders, twisting her upwards in an almost helicopter-esque fashion as they ascend about as far up as Solid Snake's Cypher. The birds only deal minor, although persistent, cut damage as they take Maria up. The move can be canceled out of at any time by Maria and only bears frames of super armor at its onset. The move will take Maria the same distance but quicker the further that it is charged. Suzaku will also become more powerful, affording her more frames of super armor to help her boosted ascent.

### **Down Special**

**Xuan Wu:** The Celestial Turtle, Xuan Wu, summons a human-sized replica of his shell over Maria before landing on top of it himself. She is totally encased in Xuan Wu's shell and free from harm. Though, the trade-off is that she can't do much in the way of movement besides a slow crawl as Xuan Wu is set atop of her. Let go of the down special inputs, though, and suddenly the shell will burst! Xuan Wu comically flies off with it and might batter opponents just as well as the remnants of his great shell will. The shell parts go spouting off in all directions, delivering decent damage and knockback to those caught in their path. After a number of hits to Xuan Wu's shell, or if too much time passes with Maria simply spent underneath it, the shell will burst outward of its own accord and force Maria back into the fight. The move has a 10 second cooldown.

### **Final Smash**

**Four Celestial Beasts:** Maria glows a soft pink as the Four Celestial Beasts appear beside her, all at once and as clear as day. Suddenly, they leap upwards and into the background, each taking their turn at a stage attack. First, Xuan Wu grows into a massive, kaiju-sized version of himself and falls shell-first back onto the stage, with parts of the giant shell launching left, right, and upwards. Then, Suzaku flies forth in two giant forms, swooping in from the back and into the forefront with a precision that could dish out heavy damage and knockback to those caught in their descent. Next, a giant Baihu swipes downwards with both claws, making a formidable, fiery "X" shape in the center of the stage that is roughly half the size of Giga Bowser. Finally, Qing Long takes the stage in his monstrous form, unleashing a breath of water from one side of the stage to the other that could flood it for a few seconds longer. After their onslaught, the Celestial Beasts reappear beside Maria and she pets and kisses each of them, saying, "You did it!" or "You're so cute!" before they all disappear.

### **Extra Skill**

**Energy Ball:** One of Maria's more standard spells, and the only one that doesn't incorporate an animal friend. This is more or less standard Smash faire and true to its name. Maria holds her hand over her heart, charging a ball of electrical energy that can be sent flying forward faster and larger depending on the length of charge permitted. Hit someone at full blast, and they're in for a world of hurt, a big shock, and major knockback. Smaller projectiles, meanwhile, might be useful for spacing.

## **Alternate Costumes**

1. **Default** - Maria's older form from *Symphony of the Night* and other titles.
2. **Pink** - Maria's younger form from *Rondo of Blood* and other titles.
3. **Dracula X Chronicles** - Adult Maria wears her dress from *Dracula X Chronicles*.
4. **Dracula X** - Young Maria wears her dress from *Dracula X*.
5. **Judgment** - Adult Maria wears a dress based off of her appearance in *Castlevania Judgment*.
6. **Sypha Belnades** - Young Maria wears an outfit based off of Sypha Belnades.
7. **Yoko Belnades** - Adult Maria wears an outfit based off of Yoko Belnades.
8. **Altrise** - Young Maria wears an outfit based off of Altrise.
9. **Shanoa** - Adult Maria wears an outfit based off of Shanoa.
10. **Student Witch** - Young Maria wears an outfit based off of the Student Witch enemy.

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