History WebAnimation / SmashKing

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As of November 2020, twenty-one episodes have been released, the series now in its third and final act of the story. ''Smash King'' has also spawned three spinoffs:

* CoolHouse: The aptly named "Hotel Bowser" is Bowser's BigFancyHouse that comes with flatscreen [=TVs=] for watching the news or playing video games, a really nice couch, and a minion-summoning system to assist Bowser with things or to ward off intruders. Sadly the end of Act II has Bowser moving out due to all the events that have happened, [[NoodleIncident on top of a wild group of Yoshis temporarily infesting the place]].
* CoolAndUnusualPunishment: It hasn't been revealed yet as to which it is, but Mewtwo's "Merry-go-Round" or "Carousel" are usually used as a threat to Bowser for one reason or another during his mentorship.

* FantasticCasteSystem: The tier system, which divides tiers into five classes: tops, highs, "mids," lows, and bottoms.

* TheReveal: The group consisting of [[Franchise/TheLegendOfZelda Zelda]], [[Franchise/MetalGear Snake]], [[Franchise/{{Metroid}} Samus]], and [[VideoGame/StarFox Wolf]] [[spoiler:was hired by [[{{God}} the Creator]] to capture Bowser, and take him to Him. Bowser, along with Ganondorf and Mewtwo[=/=]Lucario, is one of the [[TheChosenOne Creator's Triune]], three beings the Creator made to challenge the other trophies. As a result, the members of the Triune evolve and grow faster than the others, Bowser especially. To this end, Bowser could become as powerful as the Creator. Ganondorf seeks to use Bowser to overthrow the Creator, and remake the world as he sees fit]].

* AlternateUniverse: The personality discrepancies in characters, along with [[spoiler:two versions of Fox, Falco, and Peach existing, it's implied that at least, these are not the same characters from their respective titles.]] It's confirmed that all the characters in this world are "trophies" of the characters they're based on: in other words, they may retain the knowledge and memories of whoever they're based on, but different in many other aspects.

* ColorCodedForYourConvenience: A character's various Ascent Mode forms indicate what powers they will likely use. For example, Mario's Ascent Mode is based on the power-ups he uses in his home games (particularly the ones from ''Videogame/SuperMarioGalaxy''), [[spoiler:Link's Ascent Mode is Dark Link, which allows him to use darkness-based attacks, and Sonic's Ascent Mode is the cyan-colored Hyper Sonic, which allows him to move at ridiculously fast speeds]].

* ContinuityNod: Between actual referencing things in the prequel series, Racconto, and references to each the games each character belong to, there is quite a lot.

* DarkestHour: Definitely the end of Episode 18. [[spoiler:Ganondorf and Meta Ridley have conquered New Pork City, populating it with Ridley offshoots: Ridley uses this to his advantage, threatening to raze the entire city (and by extension, the entire world) if the BS Society or Samus's mercenaries try to stop him; one of Ridley's clones is also stalking Liz, presumably plotting to kill her so as to intimidate Bowser; although he is wanted by the BS Society, Link manages to make his way to Saffron City, where the finals are scheduled to take place]]. Basically, everything that could go wrong ''does'' go wrong.

*** On the flip side of the situation is Link. Link was revered and looked up to in the past due to his expected role as the Hero of Time. This however resulted in Link feeling like he was under enormous pressure to live up to the expectations of his role, and when he failed in the past and returned in Brawl, he was easily swayed by Ganondorf into changing sides, since it became evident that he didn't HAVE to live up to the role that was expected from him. The end result is the AxCrazy BloodKnight he is today. This is also a subtle TakeThat to the other machinima cliches, particularly how Link's ALWAYS the hero, ALWAYS saves Zelda, and ALWAYS beats Ganondorf.

* DifferentWorldDifferentMovies: Or in this case, Different Video Games. During some downtime, Bowser is shown playing ''Videogame/MarioKart'' in the main series and ''Videogame/SuperMarioGalaxy'' in the Halloween special. Both games include Bowser himself in it, and it's particularly egregious with the latter example as Bowser is shown fighting ''himself'' as a boss in one of the galaxies.

** Zelda. She initially seems like a mysterious, but friendly individual who seems very optimistic about the world around her. Over the course of the series however, [[spoiler: we learn that she was part of a mercenary group intent to take Bowser out due to his power that rivals the Creator himself...[[EveryoneHasStandards only to defect from the group due to disagreeing with forcibly taking Bowser away from his friends]]. To make matters worse, she's also under the thumb of Midna (both [[UnwittingPawn metaphorically]] and [[BodySnatcher literally]]), who wants to perform a villainous MatchmakerQuest between Peach and Bowser.]]
** [[spoiler:Mewtwo as well. He starts off working with Ganondorf, then begins warming up to Bowser and wants to see his life improve. Then he's killed by Ganondorf, yet wrongfully believes it was Bowser who killed him: his soul possesses Lucario, and he rejoins Ganon (although he has his own ulterior motives), only to betray Ganon ''again'' and forgive Bowser]].

* InsistentTerminology: It's not ''just'' Bowser. That's [[ShoutOut the powerful,]] [[WesternAnimation/{{Mulan}} the pleasurable,]] [[CharacterCatchphrase and the respectable]] [[LargeHam King Bowser!]]

--->'''Lucario:''' I am still sore. Figuratively and literally.

* ShoutOut: In Episode 13, Bowser uses an attack similar to a [[VideoGame/TalesSeries Mystic Arte]], incantation and all.

** Bowser has a vast collection of video games to play, from ''VideoGame/MarioKart'', ''VideoGame/TalesOfVesperia'', ''VideoGame/GearsOfWar'', ''Videogame/SuperMarioGalaxy'' and ''VideoGame/BlazBlueCalamityTrigger''. When he and Liz play the latter, he doesn't pick a character so he could listen to the menu music. [[FridgeLogic Liz is confused]] because he's supposedly tone-deaf (a reference to [[VideoGame/DanceDanceRevolution DDR Mario Mix]]).

* TheWorfEffect: Link is on the receiving end of this in Episode 21 when he squares up against Zero Ridley, to demonstrate just how powerful he is in comparison and to set him up as the final obstacle. [[spoiler:Link, who already was powerful enough on his own, struggles fighting against this offshoot of the space dragon, which forces him to transform into his Ascent Mode. Link required the combined efforts of Ike, Hyper Sonic, and Team Falcon to be taken down, even forcing Falcon to sacrifice himself. Link in his Ascent Mode is immediately taken down by Zero Ridley, due to Ridley himself being constructed with Giga Bowser's durability, Lucario's ComebackMechanic, and Link's ability to attack trophies internally]]. Ridley gloats just how much more powerful he is due to Ganondorf's experimentation.

** When Bowser appears on the Emeraudefest battlefield to fight Zero Ridley, he dramatically utters "SHOWTIME!", just like in ''VideoGame/MarioAndLuigiBowsersInsideStory''.

* BattleAura

* BrickJoke: A long-running example that occurs from a filler moment to an actual episode. In the Smash King Winter Festival, Mewtwo remarks that he doesn't need to wish for anything, as he already has fur in Lucario's body. Seven years later in Episode 18, Mewtwo laments the loss his "beautiful fur coat" after returning to his own body in the Twilight Realm.

** Wario also applies. In Episode 5, he's adamant that he doesn't enjoy fighting, [[VictoryIsBoring thinks the tournament is a cheap way to get what he wants in life,]] and is more content to just chase Samus forever. However, his fighting skills aren't terrible at all, which he's quick to demonstrate [[HeterosexualLifePartners whenever Bowser's in trouble]].

** The SpoilerOpening and ending sequences for Act II originally showed an Ascent Mode for [[spoiler:Lucario, where he had taken on his Shiny Coloration, and was included for all original episodes that released for Act II. However, after the release of Episode 17 (Part 3), Lucario's Ascent Mode was changed from a PaletteSwap to his Shiny Color to his Mega Evolution introduced in ''VideoGame/PokemonXAndY'' (which released the same day the first part of Episode 17 was uploaded). Subsequent Episode releases have had the opening changed to show Mega Lucario firing an Aura Sphere instead of Shiny Lucario ready to fight Bowser. Episode 16, which first showed off the Shiny Ascent Mode, was re-uploaded to the [=SmashKingArchives=] channel, with Mega Lucario in its place instead]]. Re-uploaded Episodes from Act II also reflect this change in the opening.
** The Enhanced versions of the opening and ending sequences in general, which were created in 2012. While the original versions of these episodes before 2012 have the older sequences, reuploads of previous episodes (the ones after Episode 6) or episode remakes use the enhanced versions.

* OutOfCharacterAlert: Sort of a subversion; Mario, upon meeting Wario and Meta Knight (and realizing one of him is Bowser's teammates), insists he is a friend of Bowser and needs to take him to Bowser's home to see him. Since they never met prior, they took his warning of Ganondorf at face value. [[spoiler: However, Meta Knight caught on the slip-up that he's a friend of Bowser's, yet ''doesn't'' know where he lives.]]

* WhamShot: From Episode 19, [[spoiler:seeing Ridley drop Samus into his mouth and swallow her whole]], raising the stakes and killing one of series' major characters on-screen.

* TheWorfEffect: Link is on the receiving end of this in Episode 21, when he squares up against Zero Ridley, to demonstrate just how powerful he is in comparison and to set him up as the final obstacle. [[spoiler:Link, who already was powerful enough on his own, struggles fighting against this offshoot of the space dragon, which forces him to transform into his Ascent Mode. Link required the combined efforts of Ike, Hyper Sonic, and Team Falcon to be taken down, even forcing Falcon to sacrifice himself. Link in his Ascent Mode is immediately taken down by Zero Ridley, due to Ridley himself being constructed with Giga Bowser's durability, Lucario's ComebackMechanic, and Link's ability to attack trophies internally]]. Ridley gloats just how much more powerful he is due to Ganondorf's experimentation.

* HiddenDepths: Lots of characters have this, but [[spoiler: Link]] is probably the most memorable.

* InsistentTerminology: It's not ''just'' Bowser. That's [[ShoutOut the powerful,]] [[WesternAnimation/{{Mulan}} the pleasurable,]] [[CatchPhrase and the respectable]] [[LargeHam King Bowser!]]

* JigsawPuzzlePlot: Given that Smash King is very much inspired by anime, it's no surprise that this series falls under this trope. The story thrusts you into the middle of Bowser's daily life as a trophy without much preamble, while he's gathering teammates for the upcoming Smash King tourney, and many mysteries such as [[spoiler:why Mario and Lucario want revenge against Bowser, Bowser's past, the Twilight Realm, the goals behind Snake's trio, Ridley, and so on]] are thrust upon the viewer with information slowly drip fed about all of them leaving you questioning and trying to figure out what's going on for a long time before you start getting large bouts of answers. The series rewards the viewers who try to analyze every little detail said by the characters as the mysteries slowly get pieced together over time.
* {{Kiai}}: Most notably when Bowser, [[spoiler: Sonic and Link]] go into their [[LimitBreak Ascent Modes.]]

* LimitBreak: The Ascent Mode, accessible only for certain characters through much practice and tribulation, allows fighters to essentially do this. Most ascent modes are based on the desires of the Smasher to improve their qualities and fulfill their personal and objectives. A few examples of this:
** Bowser's Ascent Mode has perform a SplitPersonalityMerge with Giga Bowser, that allows him to be stronger and faster in battle, as well as give him a few extra abilities to turn the tide of battle, including brief invincibility and TeleportSpam. It's born out of Bowser's desire to stand out as a powerful smasher, and not as the walking punchline he's been most of his life.
** Mario's Ascent Mode has him changing into his power-ups from the main games based on what element he's feeling (i.e: Fire Mario for when he's in the heat of the battle, Ice Mario for when he's frozen solid). Roy's sticker turns this up to eleven, allowing him to access all of his powers from the VideoGame/SuperMarioGalaxy games. This Ascent Mode is made from Mario's sheer willpower to destroy Bowser at any and all costs, no matter how difficult it is.
** On top of Link's Final Smash, [[spoiler:he has an Ascent Mode that transforms him into Dark Link, which gives his attacks a [[CastingAShadow darkness-tinged]] effect, and also gives him the ability to cause his opponents to ''bleed'' at points, being able to attack trophies direct at their matrix. Link himself also becomes much more psychotic in this mode than in his regular form. Link's Ascent Mode is fueled with the sadistic, homicidal desire to inflict as much pain on his enemies before he kills them]].
** Sonic's Super Sonic Final Smash, [[spoiler:where he obtains his Ascent Mode by stacking two Final Smashes on top of each other. This allows him to become Hyper Sonic, allowing him to go ''even faster'' than he's capable of doing normally, to the point of almost teleporting from place to place at times. Sonic's Ascent Mode is born from his wanton belief that he should be the fastest thing on Earth, and that nobody else can take it from him]].

* LimitedWardrobe: Averted; WordOfGod points out that the characters wear recolored skins of their costumes from time to time, like how real people would change clothes. However, this trope is played straight with a few characters, such as Captain Falcon (WordOfGod says this was intentional to make Falcon seem like a hobo) and "animal" characters such as Pokemon and Bowser who don't technically wear clothes.

** There was a TimeSkip after Episode 8, so it would make sense that guys like Ganondorf and Bowser learned a few tricks. Mario's potential also doubled due to a [[MidSeasonUpgrade particular sticker]] [[spoiler:given by Roy. A brief flashback in Episode 19 implies that Mario's new Fire Sword ability was similar to Roy's special blade of fire]].

** While a few characters act in line with what most people know them as, many characters in the series have many differences that separate them from their traditional counterparts. Examples include Mario forgoing his Italian accent and speaking normally most of the time, Peach being a fierce battler and determinator, Wario caring more about his friends than himself, Meta Knight having a SplitPersonality between a serious side and an awkward side, and Link being an AxCrazy villain with bloodlust.
** Exaggerated in ''[=2Decades=]'', in which ''no one'', not even Bowser are the same characters that they were from Smash King, due to being different incarnations of their characters. Some characters such as Wolf even get completely different VA's to emphasize how different they are.
* ShoutOut: In Episode 13 [[spoiler:Bowser uses an attack similar to a [[VideoGame/TalesSeries Mystic Arte]], incantation and all.]]

** Episode 17, this time referencing WebAnimation/SmashTasm:
--->'''Bowser:''' I'm aiming my laser.....IMMA FIRIN' MY LASER! *fires at Diddy Kong and the shot bounces off him and back towards Bowser* OH SHI- *gets blasted off the stage* ''.

** Captain Falcon's [[spoiler:HeroicSacrifice]] involves him landing a powerful Falcon Punch on Link. The entire scene (right down to the "FALCON... PUUUUUUNCH!") is a shout-out to the F-Zero anime (where [[spoiler:Falcon punches Black Shadow into an explosion that destroys a fraction of the universe]]).

* SameCharacterButDifferent: While a few characters act in line with what most people know them as, many characters in the series have many differences that separate them from their traditional counterparts. Examples include Mario forgoing his Italian accent and speaking normally most of the time, Peach being a fierce battler and determinator, Wario caring more about his friends than himself, Meta Knight having a SplitPersonality between a serious side and an awkward side, and Link being an AxCrazy villain with bloodlust.

** Also in Episode 13, one of Bowser's visions depicts an army of Dark Bowsers, led by Dark Giga Bowser, wreaking havoc on the World of Brawl. The whole scene is a reference to "The Wrath of Giga Bowser," right down to the music used ([[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zfd9krEsr-k Liberi Fatali]]).
** Episode 17, this time referencing Smashtasm:
--->'''Bowser:''' I'm aiming my laser.....IMMA FIRIN' MY LASER! *fires at Diddy Kong and the shot bounces off him and back towards Bowser* OH SHI- *gets knocked off stage* ''.
** Bowser has a vast collection of video games to play, from ''VideoGame/MarioKart'', ''VideoGame/TalesOfVesperia'', ''VideoGame/GearsOfWar'', and ''VideoGame/BlazBlueCalamityTrigger''. When he and Liz play the latter, he doesn't pick a character so he could listen to the menu music. [[FridgeLogic Liz is confused]] because he's supposedly tone-deaf (a reference to [[VideoGame/DanceDanceRevolution DDR Mario Mix]]).

** In many episodes where a character is watching TV, the show in question will be an older ''Smash Bros.'' machinima.
* SpeaksFluentAnimal: Since Liz doesn't know English, her speech is usually roars. Pokemon, Bowser, Fox, President Dedede, and Wolf however can understand her perfectly.

* TookALevelInBadass: Dedede. He is first seen as a SpoiledBrat who cares about nothing but power, food, and girls. But in "Wario: Portrait of a Smasher", he is able to beat up Wario, and in "No More Womyn", he is able to talk some sense back into Peach after she and Bowser have a falling out. Justified once it's revealed that [[spoiler:he's the the third member of the Creator's Triune, replacing Mewtwo.]]

* PoorCommunicationKills: A lot of the conflicts in the series stem from characters failing to properly explain their sides of the stories to each other, firmly set in their biases about what they believe instead of listening to one another. It's a widespread problem amongst all the characters, where things blow way out of proportion where they could have been fixed much sooner had all relevant parties had been informed.

** [[spoiler: This also happens to Captain Falcon in Episode 16 after his HeroicSacrifice.]]

* ''[[https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLa9pJVpKg4paP0qKvtdhy1PhPBoTGD-ru Smash King HD]]'' is a non-canon series of [[LighterAndSofter stand-alone, comedic shorts]] filmed in VideoGame/SuperSmashBrosForNintendo3DSAndWiiU and VideoGame/SuperSmashBrosUltimate; 10 episodes have been released so far.

** [[spoiler: Link]] as well towards Ike. Though his reason is [[NotBrainwashed a little...]][[BloodKnight different]].

* ColorCodedForYourConvenience: A character's various Ascent Mode forms indicate what powers they will likely use. For example, Mario's Ascent Mode is based on the power-ups he uses in his home games (particularly the ones from ''Videogame/SuperMarioGalaxy''), Link's Ascent Mode is Dark Link, which allows him to use darkness-based attacks, and Sonic's Ascent Mode is the cyan-colored Hyper Sonic, which allows him to move at ridiculously fast speeds.

** Sonic's arc in the first two acts of the series have him deconstruct the GloryHound. For much of the first two acts, Sonic's only motivation is to be the one and only fastest thing alive, and will stop at nothing to win the tournament to prove it. This includes insulting and deriding Captain Falcon for wanting to share the idea of being fast, stringing along Ike and Mario with little regard for their wellbeing unless it personally affects him, and generally just being a selfish dick ForTheLulz. It's not until Dark Link murders Captain Falcon that Sonic finally realizes that his goal is utterly meaningless in the grand scheme of things, [[JerkassRealization and that his desire to fulfill it has done nothing to aide his allies]]. This results in him going away from this archetype in exchange for being a better friend towards those he's close with.

** [[spoiler: In Melee, Pichu, Mewtwo, Roy and Fox. In Brawl, it's subverted: Fox and Mewtwo are alive, and Roy is implied to also have returned. Captain Falcon also dies after pulling a HeroicSacrifice, but returns a short time later (albeit as a new incarnation with no memories of his previous life).]]
** [[spoiler: Samus in Episode 19 is very incapacitated by Ridley rechanneling a Shot of the Creator's Power from Samus and firing it back at her, dealing enough damage to render her unable to move. He then proceeds to eat her whole, and she remembers Wario in her final moments.]]

** Link as well. Aside from Ganondorf, [[spoiler: he became very violent and murderous due to being tired of always being the hero that everyone envsions. And at that point caused the death of one of the characters]].

** Act III introduces Ridley, who proves to be one of the most dangerous villains of all. Specifically, [[spoiler:his Zero offshoot manages to NoSell all of Dark Link's attacks, and beat the absolute shit out of him with no effort.]]

** Link's Ascent Mode transforms him into Dark Link, which gives his attacks a CastingAShadow-like effect, and also gives him the ability to cause his opponents to ''bleed'' at points, particularly with his final smash. Link himself also becomes much more psychotic in this mode than in his regular form. Link's Ascent Mode is fueled with the sadistic, homicidal desire to inflict as much pain on his enemies before he kills them.
** Sonic's Ascent Mode allows him to become Hyper Sonic, allowing him to go ''even faster'' than he's capable of doing normally, to the point of almost teleporting from place to place at times. Sonic's Ascent Mode is born from his wanton belief that he should be the fastest thing on Earth, and that nobody else can take it from him.

** There was a TimeSkip after Episode 8, so it would make sense that guys like Ganondorf and Bowser learned a few tricks. Mario's potential also doubled due to a [[MidSeasonUpgrade particular sticker]] [[spoiler:given by Roy]].
** Episode 6's remake reveals that Mario has the ability to use elemental powers depending on what he's feeling at the time (in this case, becoming Ice Mario as a result of being frozen by the Ice Climbers). This means that Roy's sticker seemingly gives Mario more control over those abilities, rather than actually granting him that power.

-->'''Lucario:''' I am still sore. Figuratively and literally.

** Bowser when [[spoiler: Dedede gives Bowser the Ultimatum that he has to win the Tournament or face death otherwise.]] He's noticably shocked at first, but then bursts out into Laughter at how generic this kind of deal is. This may seem in character for him at first, but. [[spoiler: it's heavily implied that he actually is hiding his fear at the prospect of losing his life if he fails, and was just putting up a front for Peach and the others so they wouldn't worry.]]

** [[spoiler: The Creator's Triune, consisting of Bowser, Ganondorf and Mewtwo (replaced by Dedede in Brawl), who were created to be challenges to the other Smashers to help them evolve, and thus were given different attributes for this goal. This is the reason they are so mistreated as well, as these qualities among other things made the other Smashers start to dub them as villains.]]

** He gives a two-for-one speech in Racconto File 6 To Mario for spoiling Peach and Peach for wasting her potential.

* ResetButton: [[spoiler: Anyone who exhausts their 10 Life Stock is reincarnated as a blank slate of their original character. All memories and experiences built up are erased.]]
* TheReveal: The group consisting of [[Franchise/TheLegendOfZelda Zelda]], [[Franchise/MetalGear Snake]], [[Franchise/{{Metroid}} Samus]], and [[VideoGame/StarFox Wolf]] [[spoiler: was hired by [[{{God}} the Creator]] to capture Bowser, and take him to Him. Bowser, along with Ganondorf and Mewtwo/ Lucario, is one of the [[TheChosenOne Creator's Triune]], three beings the Creator made to challenge the other trophies. As a result, the members of the Triune evolve and grow faster than the others, Bowser especially. To this end, Bowser could become as powerful as the Creator. Ganondorf seeks to use Bowser to overthrow the Creator, and remake the world as he sees fit.]]
** [[spoiler: Ridley, one of a group of powerful Trophies that are new and unique to Brawl known as the Tetra Cardinals, is now Ganon's pawn that he will use to overthrow the Creator as a result of the Creator's power that was spread across the world in Episode 15, and now he's holding New Pork City hostage to get President Dedede to cooperate.]]
* RunningGag: Mario and Bowser manage to keep missing and passing each other, even when they're on the same stage. [[spoiler: Until Episode 13 that is.]]

* ShoutOut: In Episode 13 [[spoiler: Bowser uses an attack similar to a [[VideoGame/TalesSeries Mystic Arte]], incantation and all.]]

** Captain Falcon's [[spoiler: HeroicSacrifice]] involves him landing a powerful Falcon Punch on Link. The entire scene (right down to the "FALCON... PUUUUUUNCH!") is a shout-out to the F-Zero anime (where [[spoiler: Falcon punches Black Shadow into an explosion that destroys a fraction of the universe]]).
** In many episodes where a character is watching TV, the show in question will be an older Smash Bros. machinima.

** Team Falcon finally [[spoiler: scoring their first win since the tournament started.]]
* UnsportsmanlikeGloating: Sonic and Captain Falcon's rivalry starts because after their race Sonic turns down Falcon's offer to form a team together, saying he doesn't need any "slowpokes" on his team and already has a team in mind, then says it was obvious he was going to win from the start, even though he only beat Falcon by a short distance.
* WhamShot: From Episode 19, [[spoiler: seeing Ridley drop Samus into his mouth and swallow her whole.]]

* WrongNameOutburst: [[spoiler: Episode 15 has Peach call Mario "Bowser" while on a romantic date with him, accompanied by an ImagineSpot of seeing Mario as Bowser. [[CharacterDevelopment Which really shows the contrast between how Peach was and how she is now,]] seeing how she imagines Bowser as Mario several times near the beginning of the series]].

** Also applies to Team Falcon [[spoiler: after Captain Falcon becomes reincarnated]] and their sudden turnabout in episode 17. While it unfortunately means absolutely nothing, given the team is so far behind, it's still satisfying to actually see them ''win'' a few matches.

* DarkestHour: Definitely the end of Episode 18. [[spoiler: Ganondorf and Meta Ridley have conquered New Pork City, populating it with Ridley offshoots: Ridley uses this to his advantage, threatening to raze the entire city (and by extension, the entire world) if the BS Society or Samus's mercenaries try to stop him; one of Ridley's clones is also stalking Liz, presumably plotting to kill her so as to intimidate Bowser; although he is wanted by the BS Society, Link manages to make his way to Saffron City, where the finals are scheduled to take place.]] Basically, everything that could go wrong ''does'' go wrong.
* DeathSeeker: [[spoiler: Bowser willingly instigated a fight with Mario at Episode 13/14 for the hope that Peach [[IWantMyBelovedToBeHappy would be happy with him again]].]]
* DeconstructedCharacterArchetype: There's a few in this series, but the biggest emphasis is on DesignatedHero and DesignatedVillain, as is shown through the characters of Bowser, Ganondorf, and Link.

** Earlier episodes also primarily relied on custom stages and in-game battlefields to help with world-building, due due to Tigura using older technology to create the series at the time. There were also poorer lighting issues and limited movement from the characters due to the limitations Tigura had at the time. Later epiodes would give more unique locations and animations for the characters to flesh out the world of Brawl.

* [[spoiler: HeroicSacrifice: Captain Falcon in Episode 13.]]
%%zce* HeelFaceTurn: Lucario.

** [[spoiler: Mewtwo as well. He starts off working with Ganondorf, then begins warming up to Bowser and wants to see his life improve. Then he's killed by Ganondorf, yet wrongfully believes it was Bowser who killed him: his soul possesses Lucario, and he rejoins Ganon (although he has his own ulterior motives), only to betray Ganon ''again'' and forgive Bowser.]]

* KnightofCerebus:

-->'''Bowser:''' I'm aiming my laser.....IMMA FIRIN' MY LASER! *fires at Diddy Kong and the shot bounces off him and back towards Bowser* OH SHI- *gets knocked off stage* ''.

* TookALevelInBadass: Dedede. He is first seen as a SpoiledBrat who cares about nothing but power, food, and girls. But in "Wario: Portrait of a Smasher", he is able to beat up Wario, and in "No More Womyn", he is able to talk some sense back into Peach after she and Bowser have a falling out. Justified once it's revealed that [[spoiler: he's the the third member of the Creator's Triune, replacing Mewtwo.]]

* WhamLine: From Episode 13:
-->'''Mario:''' [[spoiler: Bowser was tricking you all along, Peach! ''He'' was the one who tried to kill me back in Melee!]]
** And from Episode 17:
-->'''Bowser''': No...[[spoiler: you're not Mewtwo.]]
-->'''[[spoiler: Lucario]]''': You are correct. [[spoiler: I am Lucario - the ''real'' one.]]

* WrongNameOutburst: [[spoiler: Episode 15 has Peach call Mario "Bowser" while on a romantic date with him, accompanied by an ImagineSpot of seeing Mario as Bowser. [[CharacterDevelopment Which really shows the contrast between how Peach was and how she is now,]] [[FridgeBrilliance seeing how she imagines Bowser as Mario several times near the beginning of the series.]]]] Still a TearJerker, though.

* BrokenPedestal: [[spoiler: Samus]] becomes this towards Peach, who initially saw her as a role model before [[spoiler: Samus and her team attempt to take Bowser to the Creator against his will]]. This trope also applies to Wario, as his one-sided crush on her completely vanishes once this is revealed.

* ButtMonkey: A lot of the minor characters are this, notably Toon Link, Captain Falcon [[spoiler: until his HeroicSacrifice]], and Mr. Game and Watch. Subverted with characters like Wario, Dedede, Ike, and Meta Knight, as they can show that they can be serious if they have to.

** Midna's introduction midway through Act II emphasizes just how scary she is by mocking and threatening Zelda during their meeting in Episode 16, [[spoiler: and managing to ''take control of her body'' like Mewtwo did with Lucario in Episode 19]].
** Act III introduces Ridley, who proves to be one of the most dangerous villains of all. Specifically, [[spoiler: his Zero offshoot manages to NoSell all of Dark Link's attacks, and beat the absolute shit out of him with no effort.]]
* LegacyCharacter: Technically the entire cast. Everyone [[spoiler: with the possible exceptions of The Creator, Midna, Ridley, and Shadow]] is a reincarnation of the specific character they were based on, and are reborn anew when the current incarnation loses his/her 10 life stock.

* MassSuperEmpoweringEvent: [[spoiler: In episode 15 Bowser choses to let go of most of the godly power he had gain. This gave everyone in the world (even Ganondorf) a fraction of the Creator's power.]]

** There was a TimeSkip after Episode 8, so it would make sense that guys like Ganondorf and Bowser learned a few tricks. Mario's potential also doubled due to a [[MidSeasonUpgrade particular sticker]] [[spoiler: given by Roy]].

* NiceJobBreakingItHero: [[spoiler: Snake, Samus and Wolf (and indirectly Bowser, considering he's the one who released the Creators Power throughout the world), are responsible for the re-awakening of the Tetra Cardinal Ridley himself when the power spread across the world into every trophy. Because they'd hidden the fact that he had even been a threat to begin with (they put him down off screen and behind the scenes) and figured he wouldn't be a problem now that was presumed dead, Ridley was able to become the perfect replacement for Bowser in Ganon's plan to overthrow the Creator, and now Ridley is able to hold all of New Pork City, the very backbone of the world of Brawl, hostage.]]

** In the early episodes of Smash King, Bowser's voice was a lot less growly and bombastic as seen later on. This is because it wasn't until around the production of Episode 6 that Tigura figured out how Bowser's voice sounded and how to use it. Thankfully, most of these episodes that had this problem have been remade, preventing Bowser from suffering from this trope.

** Earlier episodes also suffered from poorer lighting issues, due to Tigura using older technology to create the series at the time. There's also a significant lack of unique animations and locations that would flesh out the world of Brawl overall.

* GoneHorriblyWrong: [[spoiler: Bowser was meant to be contained and de-energized from one of Samus' shots. What it really did was give him so much power he was almost immobile... so he resorted to turning into Giga Bowser, which extended his Ascend Form to THAT as well. ''Then'', he expells all the power that shot had, giving everyone in Brawl a share of the Creator's power, and also reawakens Ridley.]]

* WhamEpisode: [[WhamEpisode/SmashKing So many that it has it's own page!]]