The Student of Stealth

NINJARA



The Mean Machine

SPRINGTRON



everywhere

too

The Speed Demon

KID COBRA



The Spirited Fighter

MISANGO



Red : Buffs your damage, punch resistance, & ARM girth at the cost of movement speed

: Buffs your damage, punch resistance, & ARM girth at the cost of movement speed Blue : Buffs your movement speed at the cost of ARM girth & damage

: Buffs your movement speed at the cost of ARM girth & damage Yellow: Buffs your rush/super meter charge rate & blocks attacks upon rush/super activation at the cost of grab damage & movement speed

The Commish

MAX BRASS



The Grim Creeper

MASTER MUMMY



The "Man" of Mystery

HELIX (DNA MAN)



The Clockwork Cops

BYTE & BARQ



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Dr. Coyle​ Lola Pop​ Twintelle​ Min Min​ Spring Man​ Mechanica​ Misango​ Ribbon Girl​ Max Brass​ Helix​ Ninjara​ Springtron​ Byte & Barq​ Kid Cobra​ Master Mummy​

If you've played a decent bit of ARMS online, then you've likely come across either Ninjara or Springtron along the way. And for good reason, he's one of the obligatory speedy character who can teleport from Point A to Point B, thus helping with your mix-up game (just please don't constantly do grab out of dash, you'll get exposed sooner or later). He's a pretty easy character to get a grasp of after you get used to the basics, & clearly people have taken a liking to him as far back as the initial Global Testpunch.As for his design, it's a bit more understated than I expected for a person who's in a college for ninjas. He looks more like a ninja of the modern era (Zeku would be so proud) in terms of how he chooses to dress, which both fits his profession (or soon-to-be profession) as well as him being an ARMS League competitor. In fact, the only three main parts of Ninjara's design that tip you off that he's a ninja (beyond his name) are the shrunken hair knot, his huge collar (which could double as a mouth mask), & the toe-split for his shoes. With that said, I think it's a good thing that the character designers went this route with Ninjara, as going the stereotypical route with his look would make him seem like just another ninja in the sea of ninjas in gaming. Plus the shade of green used for his three main colors (black, dark blue, & neon green) helps certain parts of his look grab your attention without it being too rough on the eyes. The only part about Ninjara's design that I'm a bit iffy on is the decision to use chains for his extending arms, but I guess it makes sense considering that chains are used to keep nunchucks together (which are sometimes used by ninjas as weapons). Either way, like Lola Pop, I feel like Ninjara's design doesn't get enough credit, but I'm glad it turned out as well as it did......even if I don't play him. Of course, I also mentioned Springtron as a commonly-used character online, so let's get to him.As the bonus DLC character that wasn't originally planned, Springtron takes up the "Doppelgänger of the Main Character" archetype & is basically Spring Man's Metal Sonic equivalent. Created by Dr. Coyle, Springtron does most of what Spring Man does if you swap Spring Man's comeback factor (think Lucario's aura in Smash) with an EMP blast that disables the arms of anyone punching when it goes off. While it seems overpowered, it can be countered by not punching when he's charging & go for the punish while Springtron is in his frames of recovery (I'd personally suggest a grab or a rush/super). Because of the EMP, you'll see Springtrononline, even during the Party Crashes that don't involve him. Hell, he even beat Spring Man during their Party Crash Bash Tournament round.As for the design, much of Spring Man's design choices translate over to Springtron pretty well, with a unique use of metal to replicate Spring Man's iconic spiral hair (or toothpaste hair, as some like to call it). Even Spring Man's rather strict adherence to the three main colors template rings true for Springtron, just swap light blue for dark gray. But while it can make the overall design feel a bit more bland as a result, it kind of helps the red (or whatever alternate color you use for Springtron) stand out more than it would on Spring Man. The mouth mask, while a bit too on-the-nose in terms of letting the player know that Springtron is an evil doppelgänger, does a good job of working with the metal hair & body to help the player tell Springtron & Spring Man apart at a quick glance. Another thing I noticed is the branding on Springtron's shoes. I originally thought it was just a signifier that Dr. Coyle created him (as is the case in-canon). But it turns out to be the same branding found on Spring Man's shoes, which has some pretty interesting implications for Spring Man (though I may be reading too much into it). Overall, most of Spring Man's strengths in terms of design carry over to Springtron, and the changes that exist for Springtron are there to help set him apart from the genuine article. Basically, Springtron does his job & does it well......maybe a littlewell.I'm not gonna lie, I don't really see the appeal of Kid Cobra. Yeah, I get it, he's a streamer who's also a skateboarder. He even shares the speedy character archetype with Ninjara (it's in his title). But at the same time, he has this mystery surrounding him on if he's human or something else entirely that I don't really get. But to Kid Cobra's credit, his design is a solid one that lives up to his namesake as well as his skateboarding profession.Like the rest of the cast up to this point, Kid Cobra adheres to the three main color template (purple, white, & baby blue) with hints of yellow here-&-there meant to grab your attention. The heterochromia iridium going on with his eyes does lend more credence to the mystery of what exactly Kid Cobra is. And from a gameplay perspective, he can do multiple dashes, which nets him a pretty big following in terms of players online. But at the same time, he doesn't really stand out compared to the rest of the cast. That's not to say that he's outright bad, none of the ARMS characters are. It's just that in a sea of great characters, Kid Cobra's just a okay character with a solid design.Heavily inspired by Mayan culture & our 2nd person of color in ARMS, Misango (who looks a lot like Star Platinum) is the second most unique character of the entire cast (behind only Helix). This is thanks to his unnamed mask spirit friend who, upon holding dash long enough, grants you the following stat changes depending on the color...If I had to compare his abilities to anyone, it'd be Shulk's Monado Arts in Smash Wii U/3DS & Ultimate. Anyway, Misango's uniqueness not only comes from his gameplay, but also his design. In fact, Misango's design is more in touch with his cultural roots than pretty much any other character in the game.Misango mostly adheres to the three main color template (which seems to be a specific strength of the ARMS cast), with the exception of the gold seen on his emblem & mask. His main colors are brown (with different shades of brown being used throughout his design), blue, & black. The blue is used to emphasize the cultural parts of his design, the black empathizes the athletic parts with the fabric used in his outfit, & the gold supplements the blue in emphasizing the cultural parts of Misango design on top of standing out more due to being outside of Misango's trio of main colors. Every part of his design serves a specific purpose, & I absolutely love that. Even his cornrows help him stand out from the rest of the cast. I just wish that I was better at using him.The champ himself, Max Brass was the original final boss (before Dr. Coyle up-staged him in a later update) & the first of the five DLC characters. In terms of gameplay, he's honestly closer to Spring Man in play-style than Springtron is. The main differentiating factors are Max Brass' weight class (he's a heavy character) & how his buffing-up is handled. In the case of the latter, Max Brass can actually buff himself up manually by holding down dash for a while & can maintain that buff-up until you throw a punch. Where the Spring Man similarity comes in is when you're at 25% health left, said buff stays for the rest of the match.....unless you heal yourself to above the 25% threshold. While it doesn't make him all that unique, it does serve as an interesting way to give the narrative that he's what Spring Man can one day become by taking his title as the champion. But of course, Max Brass isn't gonna go down without a fight, which is shown by both his beefy physique (especially when buffed-up) & his comeback mechanic.As far as his design goes, I both like it & find some things about it that are off. Max Brass is a rare exception in that he doesn't exactly adhere to the three main color template. I would say that his main colors are pale blue, gold, & black, but he also has brown on his arms & championship belt. This is really the only thing that I find off, but it could be argued that the brown elements are meant to work with the gold in highlighting his status as the champ. But what I absolutely love about Max Brass' design is how the gold chest plates are used. As mentioned earlier, Max Brass can buff up his body if you hold down the dash button. The function of the chest plates is to highlight how beefed up Max Brass becomes upon charging him up, which is a genius design decision that legitimately helps with gameplay. That plus it reminds me a lot of All Might (which I suppose isn't a far-off comparison given his age & status). Otherwise, his design is a perfectly viable wrestling costume that does its job & helps highlight his charisma, even though I would have personally swapped the brown parts for black. While I don't play Max Brass outside of the occasional Party Crash (if he isn't competing against someone I prefer over him), I do enjoy his presence.Of the base roster, Master Mummy serves as the token heavy character of the cast. Like Mechanica, he has quite a bit of super armor, but ie isn't exactly the fastest character in the cast. But Master Mummy has the added bonus of being able to heal himself while blocking, even if it leaves you wide open for grabs. So he generally has a more tank-like play-style, which is fine for those who prefer beefier characters. As for his design, it's just good enough without going a bit deeper. Master Mummy's main three colors are white, purple, & gold (with a bit of baby blue for the shoes). The emphasis is on the former two colors, so I feel like his design doesn't really stand out. Granted, the gold is used well enough to have his symbol stand out, but I feel like they do enough. Though to Master Mummy's credit, the use of purple for the wrestling outfit he wears helps break up all the white. Plus the use of bandages in Master Mummy's design (hence the "Mummy" part of his name) does transition perfectly into his arms, which has them feel like a more cohesive part of his look.What we know of Master Mummy is that he's trying to reunite with his wife & son. And while that does provide a deeper backstory for the character that goes against what you would normally think for his motivation, I wish they snuck in something like a locket for a family photo somewhere. If anything, it would have added a bit more gold to the design outside of Master Mummy's emblem & whatever helmet thing he has on. But overall, he's alright. Nothing to write home about, but he does what he does reasonably well. If anything, he's the opposite of Kid Cobra in that he's a solid character with an okay design. That's not bad, mind you, but it doesn't help him stand out amongst the sea of stellar characters (at least in my opinion).The oddball of the cast & a creation of Dr. Coyle's ARMS Laboratory, Helix (or DNA Man if you're from Japan.....you'd think that after the Shadaloo incident Capcom had with Street Fighter that Nintendo would keep the names consistent worldwide) is up there amongst the most unique ARMS characters in both his design and his gameplay. Regarding how he plays, Helix is interesting due to how he can change his shape mid-fight. Helix can squish himself down to dodge hits or bring himself high up to weave past attacks left & right. He's not exactly an easy target to hit, so you'll have to be careful in how you approach him. Likewise, Helix isn't exactly an easy character to get the hang of if you're used to most of the other characters in the cast (even compared to Misango, who generally has a similar game-plan as the other character outside of his mask stances). Likewise, his weird nature made it to where his design didn't need much to have it stand out.Helix's main colors are green (duh), magenta, & light blue. The former makes up 80% of his actual design, while the latter two colors are mostly found on his arms (hence his Japanese name, DNA Man) & hair(?). The use of yellow as the bases of the DNA strand arms, it's understated enough to where it stands out just enough without overpowering the rest of his look. As for the goggles, they're a great way of giving more personality to the character, & I'm honestly glad that they're there. In short, there isn't a whole lot to talk about because Helix himself does most of the talking. He's a weirdo, but in the best way possible.The dynamic duo of the game & another unique play-style (I'd say he's 3rd behind Helix & Misango), Byte's gameplay centers around positioning himself relative to where Barq is as well as where the opponent is standing. Barq will throw out a punch every once in a while to help out, & doing Byte's rush/super has Barq dock himself on Byte's head to provide an extra limb for punching. If I had to make a comparison, I'd say that Barq is like a Luma that you don't have direct control over. Basically Byte is less of a puppet character & more of you following it around. In a way, it's a pretty good analogy towards the relationship between a police officer & their canine partners. Said canine partners can be a big help when you need them the most, & the same applies to Barq in relation to Byte.Byte & Barq both adhere to the three main color template, with said colors being blue, yellow, & gray. The blue & yellow highlight the officer aspect of their looks, while the red on their heads helps empathize their profession (& why they were built in the first place). Barq is the odd one with the use of white & orange for his mouth & nose, but it helps serve the purpose of making Barq stand out during a fight. If I had to nitpick about Byte's design, I'd say that the gears & wind-up keys on his shoulder blades & shoulders respectively are a bit unnecessary & get in the way of an otherwise-sleek look. But besides that, I do like what was done with the two of them. They may not be my top characters, but they were built for a job that they do pretty damn well.Keep in mind that this is purely my opinion, though feel free to give your two cents on the matter.Overall, I honestly believe that there isn't a bad design of these 15 character. It's just that I like some of the designs more than others, even though they're all solid in my eyes. That's no easy feat to accomplish, & Yabuki's team at Nintendo EPD Kyoto should be commended for what they were able to accomplish here. My only hope is that we continue to see these characters & their franchise grow (& with how well the game did on its first go, I'm not too worried about the future). Like I said earlier, please feel free to leave your thoughts on the characters' designs, their gameplay, my ranking, or whatever you want to discuss about the cast of ARMS. I'd love to read everyone's though