Trivia / Smash King

• Acting for Two:
  • Tigura21 voices Bowser, Wario, Meta Knight, and Captain Falcon. In the older versions of earlier episodes, Tigura also voiced Ike, and every other character in the series beforehand. 2Decades also sees him voicing a Golden Charizard. Taking into account how different the voices are for each character, and that three of those characters tend to share screentime together in various episodes, it's impressive how talented Tigura is at making their voices so believable.
  • This also applies to some of the other VAs as well. In particular, Megami33 voices Peach and Pikachu, IblisStarEvan voices both Ike and Kirby and Unit613 voiced both Diddy and Donkey Kong before leaving the project (Tigura mentioned in a now-deleted annotation that he was cast as both due to his impressive ability to make monkey noises).
  • Shadowlink4321 became The Other Darrin to Sean Chiplock's Falco Lombardi in Episode 14, and also voices Shadow the Hedgehog.
  • Both Ness and Lucario were voiced by Kellen Goff (under his old alias Speedjolt) before he dropped the role of Lucario due to concerns about how the voice would damage his vocal chords. He would however reprise as Ness in Episode 5 of Smash King 2Decades and did the vocal grunts for the Duck Hunt Dog in the Smash King HD short "Botanic Bedlam."
  • Lucario and Rayquaza are both voiced by Yon Shady Glenn in Episode 21.
  • Kalyn (previously known as VioletXWing) voices both Lizardon and Jigglypuff.
  • Pit and Dark Pit (whenever he shows up anyways) are both voiced by Yashanyu1.
• The Cast Showoff:
  • Some versions of Season 1's ending sequence have Megami33 singing an English version of "Mai Mirai", the closing theme song.
  • Some of the episodes feature Shadowlink4321's English covers of Hirari for the opening sequences. It should be noted Shadowlink4321 was already a notable English anime cover artist before he was casted as Shadow and Falco.
  • Before formally leaving the project, Lioncourt decided to do a tribute to Ganondorf in this series by singing a cover of "Hurt" by Johnny Cash.
• Creator Backlash:
  • Tigura has less than positive feelings on Ganon's Class Reunion's production, as it had a substantial amount of Development Hell, to the point of a near-Creator Breakdown. That being said, he's still fond of the final product, particularly with the Ganon vs. Bowser tennis and Azure Bomb scenes.
  • Tigura also doesn't care for Memory Lane Galaxy, as it mostly consisted of characters talking about previous events, and was quite tedious to work on as a result.
  • Tigura21 is also somewhat ashamed of the original versions of Episodes 1-6, due to his amateur voice acting and less-than-stellar camera work and effects. He's since remade all of the episodes he was dissatisfied with, though he has the original versions of the episodes for archive purposes.
  • If this tweet is any indication, Sean Chiplock would prefer to forget his work on this series, due to the project being one of his very early forays into voice acting, and his inexperience being very noticeable compared to his later roles. That said, he does have fond memories of working on the project, he just gets nervous at viewing his older work.
• Creator Breakdown: The Development Hell that went into Ganon's Class Reunion was so strenuous for Tigura that he considered giving up machinima altogether, particularly due to his struggles with working on fight choreography, learning after-effects on the fly, and his outdated editing software constantly crashing while working on it. Thankfully, the final product and the viewers' reception to it was enough to keep Tigura going to this day.
• Creator's Favorite: Tigura is a major fan of Bowser, hence why he not only made the Koopa King the lead character in Smash King, but also voices him. He's also a fan of Donkey Kong and Wolf.
• Cross-Dressing Voices: As mentioned above, Megami33 voices Pikachu even though the character is male.
• Deleted Scene: Quite a few over the course of the series:
  • In the original cut of Episode 2, Bowser is seen (via flashback) trying to recruit Game and Watch to his team. G&W is seen...beating his meat, and Bowser leaves awkwardly. It was removed from the remake because a) it was mainly put in for a cheap laugh, and b) it didn't match with Tigura's vision of how to portray G&W later on.
  • Episode 5 had a deleted scene where Bowser and co. played a game similar to laser tag at his house party. It was removed because it didn't really add much to the plot of the episode, especially when said episode focuses mainly on Wario.
  • There was also a scene in Episode 5 that had Captain Falcon confronting Wario after the latter had run over the former back in Episode 1. This scene was removed in the remake for unexplained reasons, although it's likely because it was mostly filler.
  • Episode 17 had an altered ending: in the final cut, Lucario's Ascent Mode is Mega Lucario, which purges Mewtwo's spirit from his body and forces the real Lucario to emerge. Originally, his Ascent Mode was to be Lucario's Shiny coloration. In addition, Dedede and Ganon would have been present, and Meta Knight would attempt to cut Lucario off before he reached Bowser. This was all changed to better flow with the story, primarily Episode 18 (although some parts of this scene were reintegrated into Episode 18).
• Development Hell: Episodes 13 and 17, much to the creator's annoyance. 13 was mainly due to the huge amount of fight scenes (requiring a lot of editing on both outdated crash-prone software, and entirely new software that Tigura had to learn how to use on the fly), while 17 was due to the incredible amount of exposition.
• Doing It for the Art: Tigura21 refuses to monetize Smash King, as he never made it with profit in mind. Tigura21 also refused to put Smash King on Machinima.com's YouTube channel, which at the time of Smash King's early years and Machinima.com's heyday was pretty much the only way to actually make money with machinima, due to not wanting to lower the quality of the series by adhering to Machinima.com's rules.
• DVD Commentary: Before they were removed from YouTube in 2019, Tigura would use the annotations in earlier episodes to explain some behind-the-scenes work and trivia. It's unknown if these will be restored or reimplemented.
• Long-Runners: Hoo boy. Smash King possibly might be the longest-running Smash Bros. machinima of all time. To put it in perspective: The original series started waaaay back in 2009, and is still ongoing over a decade later. And that's not getting into the fact that the series has two spin-offs, and one official sequel series in Ultimate that is also in production.
• The Other Darrin: Given that the series has been running since 2009 and is still being made to this day, several actors have come and go from Smash King.
  • Ike was originally voiced by the creator, Tigura21, before the role was given to IblisStarEvan.
  • This could be said for half the cast in the first couple of episodes. Prior to being remade, Episode 1 was voiced entirely by Tigura and Megami33, and Tigura voicing every character in the original version of Episode 2. With the cast having expanded, the aforementioned episodes were remade and even redubbed with some of the current cast members.
  • Some of the early episodes had Samus being played by Sapphire before SSBBgrl took over the role.
  • Ganondorf and Zelda ended up being replaced by other voice actors near the end of Act II, due to Kira Buckland understandably becoming too busy to continue being Zelda, and Tigura sadly ended up losing contact with Lioncourt. Zelda and Ganondorf are now voiced by Rachele1220 and TheHedgehogEngine, respectively.
  • Donkey Kong and Diddy Kong are now voiced by BigWes and FlipNinten, after Unit613 left the project.
  • Charizard was originally voiced by CrayZBrawlr, who was also an understudy for Ganondorf. Now that CrayZ is no longer active, Charizard is now voiced by Blaze1216J.
  • Lizardon was initially voiced by Patty Allen in her earlier appearances before being replaced by Kalyn (previously known as VioletXWing), her current voice actress.
  • Falco Lombardi was replaced by Shadow's voice actor Shadowlink4321, due to Sean Chiplock leaving the project and becoming a well-known VA in his own right. Similarly, Electricstar had first been casted as Shadow himself after a round of auditions, but was recasted to Shadowlink4321 before his first voiced appearance in the show, Episode 14.
  • King K. Rool in Smash King 2Decades was first voiced by CrayZBrawlr in Episodes 1 and 2, before being replaced with DrDark7 starting in Episode 4.
  • Wolf was first played by Edward Bosco (credited as Darkwolf) in the series up until Episode 18. Starting with Smash King 2Decades and Episode 21, he had been replaced with LoneWolf1500.
  • Snake was first played by TheRealNightBlader up until Episode 18, where was replaced with TokaAsh. While Snake would go back to being played by TheRealNightBlader in Episode 19, TokaAsh takes over the role from Episode 21 onwards.
  • In Episodes 17-18, along with the Miiverse-themed Smash King HD Episode, Lucario, the true personality that became known after expelling Mewtwo's spirit, was voiced by Kellen Goff (under his old alias Speedjolt). From Episode 20 onwards, Lucario was voiced by Yon Shady Glenn.
• The Other Marty:
  • In certain Episodes, Ganondorf was not played by Lioncourt, but was instead played by his understudy, CrayZBrawlr. Lioncourt would then go back and reprise his role as Ganondorf two more times in Episodes 15 and 16. It wasn't until the Smash King HD short "Return to Grace," that TheHedgehogEngine would permanently replace both actors as the voice of Ganondorf.
  • In the second episode of Smash King 2Decades, Dedede's usual actor, OniRokaku, was too busy to record for the episode. DragonRider393 filled in for this episode as Dedede's understudy, with OniRokaku continuing to voice him afterwards in the main series and 2Decades.
• Schedule Slip: According to Word of God, most of the episodes were edited on outdated hardware and software that ended up interfering with the episode releases:
  • The Reunion Special, Christmas Special, the double episode release.
  • Episode 17: Part 1 came out in October of 2013, Part 2 in December 2014, and Part 3 on January 31st, 2015.
  • The Episode 4 remake: Part 1 came in out April 2015, with the remaining two parts coming out in Fall 2016.
  • Racconto: File 5 was uploaded in 2014. Although File 3 is confirmed to be the next one, there hasn't been any word on it since Episode 17's completion in 2015.
  • Both Episode Lucario and Episode Bowser remain at just one part since 2015 and 2016, respectively.
  • 2Decades, back when it was codenamed Project AF, was teased as far back as 2012 before seeing the light of day seven years later. As a result of this, the premise changed completely: it was initially going to be set in the World of Brawl. When Smash 4 came out, it was initially going to move to that game but now takes place in Ultimate.
• Screwed by the Lawyers: Tigura has occasionally ran into issues with the usage of licensed music from the anime he uses, especially for the ending song "Sunadokei" from Slayers for the latter half of season 2. Sometimes the song would be muted on certain videos, while others weren't, with some videos being blocked in some countries or worldwide. This inconsistency ended up causing him to change the song that would be used for the third ending.
• Serendipity Writes the Plot: According to a Q&A video Tigura did, the "Ascent Giga Bowser" seen in Episode 15 was never intended to be used in the series in any way, shape, or form. However, events centering around Ridley resulted in it being used in order to give him an excuse to "show up", after Bowser gets incarcerated. This resulted in the whole plot point of Bowser becoming fused with the Creator's power, which was the catalyst to allow him to briefly transform into the Ascent Mode-empowered Giga Bowser, release said power into the world of Brawl, and reawaken Ridley in the process.
• Throw It In!:
  • Captain Falcon tripping after being defeated by Mario in the first episode wasn't in the original script, but Tigura felt that it was in-character for it to happen to Falcon, so he kept it in.
  • During the scene where Zelda is enacting her revenge on Dedede in Episode 8, Kira Buckland decided to record some lines that had her angrily berating him for calling her "boring". Tigura was so impressed that he not only included it in the final product, but he also had OniRokaku record the lines of Dedede screaming and Wangsting about the pain he's receiving in response to it.
  • In Episode 22, one of Zero Ridley's lines has him reveling in his role as the villain. According to his voice actor, TheJackMage, this wasn't the actual line read. In the unedited take of the line, it was him "geeking out" about how Tigura gave him great lines.
• Two Voices, One Character: A spoiler-heavy case with Lucario and Mewtwo. In Episode 18, Mewtwo had up until that point been possessing Lucario's body, where he had been voiced by RitzRaptor. When Lucario forces Mewtwo's spirit out of his body, Lucario's true voice and personality are on display, where he is voiced by Speedjolt (later succeeded by Yon Shady Glenn). Mewtwo then becomes his own character without needing to possess Lucario, where he is still played by RitzRaptor.
• Uncredited Role: A strange one in Episode 21: all of the voice actors are credited normally in the episode, associated with their character. However the second part of the episode that was uploaded to Tigura's main channel leaves Snake the only character uncredited. The version uploaded to the SmashKingArchives channel properly credits TokaAsh as the voice of Snake.
• What Could Have Been:
  • Apparently, Tigura originally planned Marth to be the third teammate rather than Meta-Knight, but decided that having two human characters with Bowser in one team looked off.
  • Marth was also originally planned to be the third member of team Sonic but was replaced by Ike after Tigura21 decided to expand on Ike's role.
  • Sonic's original concept for his Ascent Mode was going to be Darkspine Sonic instead of Hyper Sonic. It was originally shown in an older (although no longer available) version of the Second Opening, but Darkspine Sonic was scrapped in favor of Hyper Sonic, since Hyper Sonic PSA/Moveset Hack was already available to use, as opposed to Darkspine Sonic, whose moveset hack was taking too long during development. As for why Darkspine Sonic was originally chosen, Sonic's Ascent Mode was planned to be of The Berserker archetype, which would be intentionally out of character for Sonic. It would have focused on his strength, instead of his speed. As for the transformation into Darkspine Sonic, Sonic would have ran so fast, that he would have created three after-images of different colors. He would then fuse with those afterimages, and then transform into Darkspine Sonic. This method of transformation was a reference to Sonic's transformation in Secret Rings, where he absorbed three World Rings to become Darkspine Sonic.
  • Even bigger was the original premise. Smash King was meant to be a sappy romance story between Bowser and Peach, before several revisions turned it into what it is today, even though some bits from the original plot made it into the final draft.
  • Another alternate premise would have had Bowser win the Smash King tourney and, having gone mad with the newfound power he possesses, conquer the world as it transferred from Melee to Brawl. It would have been up to Pichu and Donkey Kong, Bowser's original teammates, to find someone capable of saving Brawl from the tyrannical Koopa King. According to Word of God, this entire draft was referenced in Episode 15 during Wario's vision of Bowser as king of Brawl.
  • Bowser's fight with Ganondorf in Episode 13 almost never saw the light of day, as Tigura had come close to burning himself out during the editing process, and just wanted to end the episode then and there. However, he realized that it would've been very dissatisfying to end the episode without some kind of epic conclusion, and thus powered through to complete it.
  • An alternate version of Peach's charging of the Star Rod was recorded not by her usual actress Megami33, but rather by Zelda's original actress Kira Buckland (due to an apparent slip-up where Buckland recorded Peach's lines instead of Zelda's).
  • Tigura revealed on his Twitter account that Episode 14 had a lot of changes that greatly affected how the episode flowed. In particular:
    • There was dialogue between Mario and Bowser during their battle to emphasize Bowser playing the villain and to goad Mario into attacking him. While most of it was cut so as to not take away from the fight itself, some of it was repurposed in the final product. Also, Peach and Ike were going to be the ones who stopped the two from fighting, due to Sonic initially not being present.
    • Dialogue was also cut from Bowser’s battle with Team Snake, which would’ve shown Bowser trying to evade his responsibility until Peach brought him back to his senses. It was cut not just due to it slowing down the action, but so that there could be more room for Ridley to appear. Bowser was going to fight all three members of Team Snake at once, but Tigura realized that this would make the rest of the cast come across as useless bystanders, so he changed it so that Wolf guards them by using Peach as a hostage. However, some of this dialogue was used in Episode 15.
    • During the battle above, there was going to be a scene where Bowser pinned Samus to the ground with his foot threatening to crush her, while she aims her cannon arm at him. This was scrapped because this would’ve been quite a shock for Wario to witness.
    • Samus was initially going to be much crueler and manipulative towards Bowser after subduing him, but she was re-written due to her coming off as too unlikeable for Tigura’s taste.
  • According to a group Q&A, Episode 19's introduction to the Twilight Realm Subplot was heavily revised during the scripting phase. There was originally going to be a war between two factions of the lesser trophies; one on the side of "the creator has a plan for us" vs. "action must be taken in the absence of the creator", with Midna leading the latter faction. He realized that having the main plot revolving around the last days of the tournament, Ganondorf's plan, Ridley and the Tetracardinals, and a war that is occurring in a separate different dimension would end up being too much to balance.
    • In the same Q&A, he also revealed a big revision with Episode 18: after the battle between Ascent Mode Bowser and Ascent Mode Lucario, there would be a big jailbreak sequence, similar to the one in Episode 8, which would eventually lead to the entire main cast meeting Ridley. He cut these sequences out in favor of finishing up the tournament first, and having Ridley his spot to shine against the mercenaries, President Dedede and Fox.
  • In a twitter thread by Tigura, Smash King 2Decades had underwent a lot of changes before it was officially released.
    • The series was originally going to be in Smash 4, and would have been put into production when a free camera mod was published. While a camera mod was developed, it was never officially published before making the shift to Ultimate.
    • A dramatically different set of members for the Neo Koopa Troop in the Smash 4 iteration. Aside from Bowser, the team members comprised of Palutena, Shulk, Mega Man, Captain Falcon, Female Robin, and a female Gold Charizard. This cast was chosen before Bayonetta was announced as DLC, and a complete overhaul was implemented when Inkling, Incineroar, and K. Rool were added to the roster in Ultimate. The first episode of 2Decades references this team as a Development Gag in a brief scene, with the Gold Charizard being carried into 2Decades, but is now male instead of female.
    • Had K.Rool not been added, Male Robin would have taken up his role instead as the main antagonist.
    • Bowser's characterization would also have been different. Instead of wishing to become the new President of the World, he was a mob boss that ended up being killed, but somehow escaped the afterlife. When he sees that his son has taken over in his place, he uses the Smash King tourney as his leverage to reclaim his title.
    • This series would have also explored what would happen when a character's soul once they lost all 10 of their stocks. This event drives Pit to Bowser, with Bowser claiming that he wasn't the same person he was before he lost all of his stocks. Palutena would have joined the team to be Bowser's good conscience, and Pit would end up being a part of his team as well due to this.
  • The third ending theme was originally going to be "Don't Be Discouraged" from Slayers Try with a different video and even English fandub being planned out according to a karaoke compilation video Tigura released in 2013. However, due to the copyright holders of the music going after his videos he was ironically discouraged himself to use the song. As a result, "I.D.E.A." by R.o.s.t. from Mega Man X6 was chosen to be the third ending's theme, due to its sense of finality.
• Write Who You Know:
  • Bowser and Wario's friendship in the series is heavily based on Tigura21's own relationship with JakShadic, Sonic's voice actor. In a Q&A, Tigura described their relationship as sort of a Red Oni, Blue Oni parallel, with Jak (Wario) being a hyper and excitable person and Tigura (Bowser) being more cool and reserved.
  • Similarly, Bowser and Lizardon's relationship is based on Tigura's feelings for an old college friend of his that he never got the chance to express to before she transferred schools.
• You Sound Familiar: In Episode 22, the Moonstone Charizard tribe are voiced by three members of the cast from 2Decades. LyraPhoenix, voice of Bayonetta, plays Precious Opal the Shiny, Celestine is played by Lunargirl2z, who previously played Cirrina the Inkling, and Malachite is voiced by DragonRider393, who plays Richter Belmont in 2Decades.

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