With last week’s release of the Hero from Dragon Quest/Dragon Warrior, Smash Bros fans rejoice in having been given their dream fighter – yet another swordie boi to slice your ass into oblivion. Being a proud Ike main, I myself can’t wait to watch a fellow swordsman dominate with their amazing recovery as I plummet to my death. But all this Smash talk got me thinking… wouldn’t it be awesome if Nintendo included more Indie Game Fighters? And who exactly should they include? So, like the garbage person I am, I see this as another opportunity to shove The Drifter from Hyper Light Drifter into another listicle. With no further adieu, these are 5 amazing Indie characters that should come to Smash Ultimate.

Captain Flinthook, Flinthook

I’d be remiss to not include Captain Flinthook in this list. Flinthook is one of the best roguelikes, let alone action-platformers, that I’ve played in years. I adore this game for so many reasons. Its pixel art is absolutely beautiful, the soundtrack is energetic and fast-paced, and its controls are tight. But the best part of Flinthook is the amazing Quickhook and Chronobelt. Using both allows the player to glide through levels vaporizing enemies left and right with your trusty plasma gun.

Introducing a character like Captain Flinthook into Smash would be amazing and, in my opinion, somewhat easy. The majority of his arsenal are weapons and tools that other characters already possess. His Quickhook could act much like Link’s Hookshot – with the notable exception of Captain Flinthook using it to not only pull enemies and items toward himself, but also traverse stages. His bombs and Plasma Gun could also be variants of Link’s and Fox’s equipment. Sadly, the coolest ability that he has would undoubtedly be the hardest to create, which is the Chronobelt. Slowing down time could not only break the game and make Captain Flinthook a broken character, but it’d also be a huge pain to create in-game. Still, it would be amazing to finally have an acrobatic character in Smash flying around like Spiderman.

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The Knight, Hollow Knight

I know there’s already an abundance of swordsman in Smash Bros Ultimate, but the Knight is just too awesome to pass up. The sold fact that his abilities such as the Monarch Wings, Mothwing Cloak, and the use of soul to focus as well as use spells lend so well to the Smash Bros format. If played correctly the Knight would be less of a swordsman and more of a spellcaster. Attacking enemies will gain soul, allowing you to unleash devastating spells just like you do in Hollow Knight.

If I’m being honest though, the real reason I’d want the Knight in Smash is because of its possible Echo Fighters – Hornet and my Boi Quirrell. I can’t stress enough how amazing it would be to have Quirrell featured in another game, if not his own spinoff similar to Hornet’s with Hollow Knight: Silksong.

Quote, Cave Story

This is somewhat of an obscure pick. I doubt many people would know who Quote was or what game he’s from. But I’m pretty sure that 90% of the people who play Smash Bros couldn’t tell you what series NES and Lucas came from. So that shouldn’t be an issue.

In my mind Quote would play a lot like Snake. Hell, most people would probably just say it was a reskin. But there’d be some notable differences. Quote would have a jetpack recovery instead of Snake’s Glider. His melee attacks would be done with a small sword instead of Snake’s hand to hand combat. And, all in all, Quote would be much more focused on using equipment like his guns, missile launcher, and sword. My favorite part of Quote being in Smash would actually be the opportunity to have Curly be one of the appearance options. Instead of just having several different color variants, a few of them could be Curly in different colors as well.

The Drifter/The Magician, Hyper Light Drifter

If you got this far into the article and didn’t think I’d actually bring up the Drifter, then you obviously don’t know the depths of my depravity. My love and admiration for Indie Games and their developers began with Hyper Light Drifter. So, naturally, I must drown the world with its gospel.

The Drifter is yet another character who’s abilities lend so well to the Smash formula. He can dash through and deflect enemy projectiles. His sword charges up and unleashes a devastating blow. And he’s not just a swordsman but a gunner as well. You’d be hard-pressed to find a better character for Smash. The one thing he’s sadly lacking is a recovery of any sort. But Nintendo can just give him the Ike recovery handicap.

The coolest part about including the Drifter is the same as my Knight idea, you can’t just spam your guns. You’d actually have to attack your enemies or dash through projectiles to accrue ammo.

Cuphead, Cuphead

Cuphead, of all the Indie characters on this list, is the most likely to come to Smash. This is largely because of its immense popularity and its recent port to the Nintendo Switch… but also because of its music. Super Smash Bros Ultimate has a lot of great tracks but, if we’re being honest, none of them hold a candle to Cuphead’s live jazz. Watching videos of their taping is one of the best rabbit holes I’ve ever delved into.

The Music and Rubber Hose style animation aside, Cuphead’s tight controls and fun gameplay would transfer very well to a fighting game like Smash. The one wall I’ve run into with the addition of Cuphead is thinking of what his move set would be. He’s a gunner obviously, but the run and gun style wouldn’t mesh well with the heavy-handed combat in Smash. There’s only one thing I know for certain when it comes to Cuphead’s inclusion. If that grotesque creature Mugman shows his face in Smash I’m destroying my Nintendo Switch on the spot.

My dream is that Nintendo begins to include Indie Game characters as actual fighters instead of just trophies. They’re not only incredibly inventive and different from their stable of characters, but they’d lend an interesting change of pace to the, at times, cookie-cutter Smash roster.

