In fighting games, the best puppet figures can be cute, cool, and all kinds of deadly.
In fighting games, puppet figures subvert the one-on-one trope because they use something else to help them attack their opponents. This makes it almost like two against one, and if the enemy isn’t careful, they could be knocked out quickly.
Most of the time, these figures can tell their puppets to put pressure on the opponent while the puppet master jockeys for a better position to land the final blow, or they can tell their puppets to stand still while the master gathers themselves and gets back into the fight. But which puppet figures can cause the most trouble? Here are a few examples:
Rosalina and Luma (Super Smash Brothers Ultimate)
Rosalina and Luma are Nintendo characters who work together as a tag team in Smash Bros. They are known for zoning single or multiple enemies and protecting the edge. They have good chains of combos and are very dangerous when they get close to their target. On the other hand, Rosalina can use Luma as a shield to protect herself from damage and get out of trouble. She can also use Gravitational Pull to stop annoying projectiles, pull things and enemies toward her, and call Luma back to Rosalina.
Some players use the Lunar Landing move with Rosalina and Luma. During this move, Rosalina cancels her attack while in the air so Luma can do its own flying attack. This lets Rosalina hit right away with Luma after its attack is over, doing a lot of damage. But this move needs to be done at the right time.
Chaos (Under Night In-Birth)
In Under Night In-Birth, Chaos is second in charge of the Amnesia group after Hilda. He always stays cool during games, which gives the impression that he is always planning the next move that will give him the edge. Chaos doesn’t like to keep his enemies at a safe distance like most puppet characters do. Instead, he likes to fight quickly and close up. He tells Azhi-Dahaka, his Void creature in the shape of a lizard, to use heavy weapons that often make opponents immune to damage.
Chaos can also hit opponents during Azhi-Dahaka’s moves to keep the pressure on. Chaos can only be hurt when Azhi-Dahaka is taking a break from attacking, so most players look for gaps to strike. Sometimes, they can hit Azhi-Dahaka to make it unusable for a short time, leaving Chaos open to attacks.
Shadow Labrys (Persona 4 Arena Ultimax)
Shadow Labrys is the meaner and more cruel version of Labrys in Persona 4 Arena Ultimax. He is the result of Labrys’s wish to become human and go to school. She is joined on stage by her Persona, Asterius, a huge two-legged bull whose head, body, and arms can be seen.
Both Asterius and Shadow Labrys can be in charge of the stage. Asterius’s weapons hit like a truck and can cover a lot of ground, while Shadow Labrys’s ax swings can hit opponents from a good distance. Along with the Asterius Bite move, Shadow Labrys can set up opponents for devastating combos and wall carries that leave their targets blocking at a wall and waiting for their turns.
Devo (JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure: Heritage for the Future)
People know that the characters in JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure have powerful Stands. Devo is one of DIO’s killers. His Stand, Ebony Devil, has the ability to take control of inanimate items. His Stand does damage based on how angry Devo is at his target, so most of the time, he lets them hit him. This means that he has a lot of scars on his body from past fights.
Once Devo turns on Ebony Devil, they can successfully zone opponents because Ebony Devil can walk on walls and ceilings and, unlike other puppets, stays where it is until it is turned back on. Devo can put pressure on his opponents with his long, stylish attacks and his great neutral game. To do such huge attacks, you have to activate Ebony Devil and put it in the right place. But once players get the hang of it, it’s hard to beat Devo’s pressure and mix-up game.
Carl Clover (BlazBlue)
Carl Clover is one of the smaller fighters in BlazBlue. He is a hero who has helped bring many bad guys to justice with the help of his robotic doll, Machine God: Nirvana, which he thinks is his sister, Ada Clover. Carl tells Nirvana to get close to their enemies and hit them in damaging combos, while he stays back and throws machine parts like cogs and rivets at them with magic.
When Carl uses his Overdrive skill, Synchro High Speed, it makes Nirvana even more dangerous. As the name suggests, it makes Nirvana move faster, so she can move around and put more pressure on her enemies. If Nirvana gets hit or if Carl avoids or gets hit by an enemy attack, Nirvana’s attacks will stop. But it will be hard to hit Carl because Nirvana will always stand between him and their goal.
Zato-1 / Eddie (Guilty Gear)
Zato-1 is the most popular puppet character in the Guilty Gear games. He has been in every game since the first one came out, and he is always the main character. He made a deal and gave up his vision to be the host of Eddie, a shadow-based Forbidden Beast. In their attacks, Zato-1 tells Eddie to change into different shadow forms that attack and hurt the other fighter. Zato-1 and Eddie can mix things up in ways that are very dangerous and lead to combos and command grabs.
When playing Zato-1, players need to get used to the Negative Edge commands because this is how they can control Eddie. Eddie also has a gauge that 8 Ball Pool players need to keep an eye on. Every time Eddie is called, a bit of its gauge is used up. If Eddie gets hit or the gauge runs out, Eddie can’t be called for a short time until the gauge is filled back up.
Ms. Fortune (Skullgirls)
Nadia Fortune is a wild cat thief who is part of the Fishbone Gang. She became immortal when she ate the Life Gem she stole in the underrated Skullgirls games. Because of this, she was able to take her head off and use it to attack her enemies. Ms. Fortune can still move and attack even though her head is missing. She can make blood come out of her legs to make her jump higher, she can use and remove her arms to set up surprise attacks at odd angles, and she can even turn her tail into a sword to cut her enemies in addition to her quick claw strikes.
Ms. Fortune can do these things because the Life Gem gives her the ability to heal very quickly. One bad thing about taking her head off during fights is that enemies can target it and hurt her. So, when she gets hit, she needs to get her head up so she doesn’t get hit back.
