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89 Characters & Not a Single Black Character: The Anti-Blackness of Super Smash Bros. Ultimate
- Thread starter Neoxon
- Start date
Happy to help.
As for Sandman, let's see
Heavier than Mac.
Better recovery options than Mac.
Not good in the air, but nowhere near as defenseless.
Generally has longer startup on everything. comparable end frames
Super armor on fewer moves, but still present.
B: "Boo!" - Let's Sandman cancel out of any move when on the ground except for the Dreamland express by taunting his enemy with a "Boo!". Takes 1.5x damage if hit in this brief window.
^B: "Stand still!" - When on the ground, Sandman wings his right arm high and then brings it down after a brief delay then brings it down. Shield break if it connects. Looks similar to his up smash, but is done with the opposite arm and has no hitbox above him. When done in the air it functions similarly to Terry's Power Dunk.
>B: Dreamland Express - A series of charging uppercuts. Each is a powerful hit that chains into the next and launches on the final hit. Can kill. Once per stock it can be made into an invulnerable version with four hits. The only visual difference is that he starts with the opposite arm.
vB: "Afraid?" - Sandman drops his guard. If you hit him high, he will dodge. If you don't hit him, he will swing with the equivalent of the last hit of an invulnerable Dreamland Express. Hit him low or keep your distance.
I just saw this and only wanted to say, for now: incredible OT, OP. So much substance and thought put into it.
Have any journalists actually challenged Nintendo on this?
Because frankly having a roster of 90+ characters and not one single black person is shocking.
Because frankly having a roster of 90+ characters and not one single black person is shocking.
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None, sadly. Hell, I don't recall any major gaming news sites actually calling Smash out on its racist stereotypes beyond Game & Watch's Indigenous stereotype (that was later fixed).
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I've since updated the OP to include my thoughts on the Pic of the Day where Rodin was hosed.
WHAT ABOUT THE PIC OF THE DAY WHERE RODIN WAS HOSED BY MARIO?
In case you missed the controversy, the Pic of the Day that Sakurai posted on September 16th, 2021 depicted Mario using his Down B (F.L.U.D.D.) to attempt to hose Rodin while Peach was unfazed by all of it. This creates parallels to the use of water cannons on civil rights activists during the Civil Rights Movement, most notably during the Brimingham Campaign. There was a separate thread on the topic, but it was later locked. But since it relates to the topic of Smash's anti-Blackness, I thought it made sense that I add this section & give my thoughts. Even in spite of this, I do not think that Sakurai is racist. It does however show that he has a massive blindspot for stuff like this, be it the implications this image has or the racist stereotypes that are found in certain spirit battles (as mentioned earlier). So to be clear, I believe that this situation was unintentional on Sakurai's part. But with that being said, I do very much recognize the implications & they are bad (especially considering that Rodin is the only Black character who can participate in a fight, albeit as an Assist Trophy). If anything, it shows that Sakurai needs to consult Nintendo of America on such matters to avoid similar problems going forward. Though despite all my attempts to view the image recently on Twitter, Era, or Discord on either phone or laptop, it doesn't seem to load. So perhaps Sakurai recognized the racist implications & used Twitter Cards to make it blank (something I didn't know was possible until @Urban Scholar pointed it out to me today). Still, it shouldn't have happened. And even if it wasn't intentional (which I believe is the case), Sakurai should consult those well-versed on these topics to avoid further anti-Black implications in or around Smash going forward.
This is a Nintendo wide problem. Part of the issue I have is that this is an age old Japanese company that has no concerns for the concerns of its black and brown customer base.
Every time I buy a Nintendo product (no longer own any, but might buy a switch for new Zelda), in the back of my mind, I can't stop thinking about how this is the kind of company that will never budge on these things.
It's a company that sells a certain image: cute stuff at very high prices. Because most of its customer base is older, earns more, is privileged and typically better off than your regular game console customer, Nintendo doesn't have to do anything to change. And they never will.
Every time I buy a Nintendo product (no longer own any, but might buy a switch for new Zelda), in the back of my mind, I can't stop thinking about how this is the kind of company that will never budge on these things.
It's a company that sells a certain image: cute stuff at very high prices. Because most of its customer base is older, earns more, is privileged and typically better off than your regular game console customer, Nintendo doesn't have to do anything to change. And they never will.
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I wouldn't say all of Nintendo, as the likes of Nintendo EPD Groups 5 (Splatoon, Animal Crossing) & 9 (ARMS, Mario Kart) have wised up regarding the need for diversity.
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I noted that in the updated OP. But yeah, at least Sakurai got the memo on that front.
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The ride is finally over. We have 89 characters & not a single Black character. Don't get me wrong, I'm really happy for all you Sora fans & got excited with you. But this is something that they need to rectify next time. And to be honest, I'm not sure if it'll happen without a change of leadership at this point.
Not to take away from the Sora hype, but it's something to think about.
Not to take away from the Sora hype, but it's something to think about.
89 characters, baring alt costumes zero black or brown characters, Ganon is a green goblin.
Nintendo is racist, Sakurai is racist, colorism is racism. Kiss my big black ass if you have a problem with the obvious.
Nintendo is racist, Sakurai is racist, colorism is racism. Kiss my big black ass if you have a problem with the obvious.
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As much as I'm happy for what was accomplished, this always sticks out to me as a sore spot for the game.
Having that many characters and not a single black/brown one, like even on accident somehow, is sort of astonishing. Nintendo sucks.
Like I said in the other thread, whoever picks the characters should be changed next game. Won't be buying the game if they don't and continue to have racist portrayals of black characters as spirits.
Only reason I actually have Ultimate is because I got it as a gift but next time even if I got it for free I won't keep it.
damn, love Sora but it's bullshit that we don't have a black character
Rodin should have been the second bayo rep and Dudley should have replaced Ken with Reuben Langdon's racist ass gone
Rodin should have been the second bayo rep and Dudley should have replaced Ken with Reuben Langdon's racist ass gone
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The current process is that Nintendo asks for a specific game or franchise, leaving it up to Sakurai to be more specific on which character.
Same. 89 characters is an impressive roster that won't likely be rivaled for a long time. But games with smaller casts of characters have been rightly dragged through the mud for the same thing.
I had representation in smash but then they patched game and watch's smash because it's racist af. Would've liked elma or playable rodin at the very least
Yeah I figured which makes it even more suspect that he keeps finding himself in situations that are at the very least insensitive to black people.
Seriously frustrating that this keeps getting overlooked.
The crazy thing is that there is this many total characters, and Nintendo had their pick of some franchises with historically significant black/brown representation (Street Fighter, PunchOut, Final Fantasy) and still ended up with zero. You almost have to set out to exclude representation for something like that to happen.
We all kinda expected it and knew it was a possibility and now it's finally here. 89 is a huge amount of times to avoid black characters. Fuck this shit.
It really sucks.
Is anyone surprised? I'll say it again: this is a company that took until 2020 to let us pick skin colour in Animal Crossing.
Not saying you shouldn't be upset: you should be upset. Write to Nintendo, call them out on social media, phone in. Any journalists in here? Next time you interview someone from Nintendo, ask them about this.
Not saying you shouldn't be upset: you should be upset. Write to Nintendo, call them out on social media, phone in. Any journalists in here? Next time you interview someone from Nintendo, ask them about this.
You have to set out to exclude representation by picking the most famous and obvious characters from Street Fighter, Punch Out, and Final Fantasy?
When you have a roster of 90 and and end up with little to zero representation, yeah it sort of seems that way.
Sore spot? It's a fucking embarrassment. A grand love letter to ALL THAT IS VIDEO GAMING throughout decades. And. Not. One. Black. Character.
Nintendo can go fucking fly a kite, man. This has burned so many bridges in my head for me and this company. The optics of not one black person in this massive historic cast will always be a glowing reminder that these fuckers are racist as shit. Fuck "well...they didn't know". Yes these motherfuckers did.
Or they could have looked at their characters and noticed they have a big gap.
In fact, why does popularity matter when obsecure characters keep getting added over and over? They could have added a lot of black characters but they chose not to.
It has to be intentional. Otherwise I really can't fathom how you include 89 characters spanning gaming history without a single Black character being included.
For what the game ultimately is, it's a disappointing position for it to have ended up in.
For what the game ultimately is, it's a disappointing position for it to have ended up in.
So here's the thing
when you spend a good chunk of your life learning that people hate you and want you gone purely based on your existence, it starts to weigh on you. Finally getting to a point where we're allowed to be heroes, main characters, NOT villains or cannon fodder or treated as weird offshoots is a big thing. It's cool to see people who look like you being treated as, well, people, for once, or being allowed to take part in something. So when one of the most popular and varied games on the planet doesn't include you, or has you relegated to a costume, it hurts. It hurts that you aren't allowed to be the default or take part. And that's why it gets brought up so often.
when you spend a good chunk of your life learning that people hate you and want you gone purely based on your existence, it starts to weigh on you. Finally getting to a point where we're allowed to be heroes, main characters, NOT villains or cannon fodder or treated as weird offshoots is a big thing. It's cool to see people who look like you being treated as, well, people, for once, or being allowed to take part in something. So when one of the most popular and varied games on the planet doesn't include you, or has you relegated to a costume, it hurts. It hurts that you aren't allowed to be the default or take part. And that's why it gets brought up so often.
Right, you're telling me Balrog or Dudley or Barrett or shit even Doc Louis as mains wouldn't have been "popular" enough for a roster of 90 characters? Gaming fans don't immediately recognize Balrog from Street Fighter? Its a cop out.
It absolutely is intentional.
EDIT: Yes there was.
Its both, and nobody wants to start so it stays like that longer. The biggest crossover roster of all time....
People need reminding that this isn't just for Ultimate, this is over 64, Melee, Brawl, 4 and Ultimate, with DLC additions to 4 and Ultimate as well.
That's over 2 decades of character decisions. And not a single one of them was a black character.
That's over 2 decades of character decisions. And not a single one of them was a black character.
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There's issues with both, they had options from games they picked they could have gone with.
It is Smash related though, since Smash represented a prime opportunity to include Black characters in its roster.
its absolutely smash related. The industry has a lot of issues with representation, but Smash takes that to an extreme.
I thought so but all i remember was him being paired with a thief or something.
Agreed.
Heck, they don't even have to look that far. They have characters they could have added. Twintelle being a good example (No I don't care if Arms got two characters, both of these characters are unique and Twintelle could have been an interesting character while being a fan favorite black character).
The whole "popularity" excuse is bullshit when even popular black characters don't even get in.
People should quit defending Sakurai and whoever is responsible. They had 89 chances to add black and Brown characters but they didn't.
Its both. Literally couldve gotten mike tyson from punch out
