"First they devour planets; now they're copying enemies? Ugh, lowlifes!"
— Viridi, Kid Icarus: Uprising
Skywarp: At least I'm not ugly.
Thundercracker: Ugly? You and I look the SAME!
Thundercracker: Ugly? You and I look the SAME!
We're already moving up in the world! SPRITE RECOLORINGS!
There’s a boss character in that he’s functionally identical to certain standard enemies but twice the size and can’t shut his fucking face for five seconds and you fight him like twenty times. The plot reason is that it’s one guy with like a million bodies and I thought "Okay, that’s actually quite threatening as villains go since blowing him up over and over again isn’t going to help and that’s pretty much the only string in my bow", until what might as well be the final boss is just ten more of the guy—psych! Blowing him up over and over again is going to help!
I could paint myself blue and play the part of ice variant!
—Squid Baron, Shantae and the Pirate's Curse
"Even when monsters share the same form, if their colors differ, their strength and levels are completely different, too!"
—Mei, Endro~!
Viridi: I wrote my thesis on Piranha Plants! There are just so many species! You've got your basic Piranha Plants, your Fire Piranha Plants, Ptooies, Nipper Plants, Nipper Spores, Munchers, Jumping Piranhas, Wild Ptooie Piranhas, Propeller Piranhas, Naval Piranhas, Chewies, Megasmilax, Piranha Pests, Piranha Sprouts, Frost Piranhas, Putrid Piranhas, Proto Piranhas, Piranhabonds, Piranha Beans, Mom Piranhas, Small Piranhas, Elasto-Piranhas, Piranha Planets, Bungee Piranhas, Big Bungee Piranhas, Ghosts, Nipper Dandelions, Spiny Piranhas, Dino Piranhas, Fire Stalking Piranhas, Piranha Plorps, River Piranhas, Big Piranhas, Stalking Piranhas, Big Fire Piranhas, Prickly Piranhas, Peewee Piranhas, Inky Piranhas, Gold Piranhas, Bone Piranhas, Big Bone Piranhas, Piranha Pods, Piranha Creepers, Nipper Spore Patches, Paper Fire Piranhas, Poison Piranhas, Big Poison Piranhas, Upside-Down Piranhas, Petey Piranha, Paper Petey Piranha, Petea Piranha--
Pit: Woah!
Viridi: I haven't even started on all the minor variations!
Pit: Woah!
Viridi: I haven't even started on all the minor variations!
"Has anyone else noticed that the same monster but with a different color to 'im is somehow a lot stronger? I wonder why?"
—Soldier NPC, Luxaren Allure
"Why are these enemies so similar? Are they siblings? Cousins? No. To be blunt, I wanted to make two characters using the ROM space of only 1.5"
—Masahiro Sakurai on Creating Games, discussing the Waddle Dees and Waddle Doos from Kirby
They may have the same appearance and behavior as Leukos, distinguished only by their color, but they're definitely not filler. That's just how monsters are.
