YMMV / Super Smash Brothers: Guardians Arise!

• Angst Aversion: The rather dark and grim nature of the fanfic, at least from the start, is enough to scare a lot of readers who might've been promised a much more lighthearted story. While the fanfic managed to predict Ultimate's World of Light mode, the fic hasn't received much attention going into both the Smash 4 and Ultimate eras because said tone scared them off. Despite this, it does introduce lighthearted moments, but by then, much of the readers had drifted off.
• Angst? What Angst?:
  • It's somewhat confusing when the rest of the Smashers are in complete angst and hurt over losing their loved ones in the century that passes, and then you have Samus who is rather chill with the situation despite knowing what it means to lose the people they love.
  • Sonic is flanderized into someone who consistently berates people for being "too slow", yet he too has people he might've lost in the century that passed, many of whom are his close friends. It contrasts with Ike a lot, who can't stop moping about Mia.
• Ass Pull
  • There isn't much of an explanation for why Pikana was transformed into a Pikachu. Pikachu says that Arceus blessed her, but that's it.
  • It was said that the prophecy mentioned that the Guardians will be composed of mainly humans. Then, the story suddenly mentions that they will be mostly human, in part due to the presence of Traca, then specifies it to be mortals. Suddenly, Chester is introduced, further blurring the specifications of the prophecy. It comes to head when the anthropomorphic Teal and the Pokemon Kai, ultimately defeating the premise itself for no reason.
  • The reason why so many of the Smashers act out of character? They are said to be tainted with Subspace. This was never established before and is probably used by the author to justify their new behavior.
  • Why was the Master Sword corrupted by King Sorius despite it being the Blade of Evil's Bane? A reviewer brought this up and the story responds by retconning out of nowhere that the goddesses made a fake version of the Master Sword for them to test the abilities of the Guardians.
  • It is mentioned in the story that Pit was the first one to awaken from the hundred-year slumber, and it's later revealed that he wasn't; it was Ganondorf who was revealed to be released earlier in order to try and convince King Sorius to turn against his master Tabuu.
  • There was never any hint or mention of anything that tried to grey out Tabuu's motivations for doing evil. It's however revealed in The Last Guardian that Tabuu used to have people he loved and had somewhere to belong until he came in contact with Subspace. Such a revelation contradicts much of his past behaviour, being that of a typical Evil Overlord who manages slave humans.
  • Takashi serves as a last-minute Posthumous Character for Psyche, who only appears in flashbacks by the final act of the story when most of her suffering comes from losing only Austin.
• Audience-Alienating Premise
  • The premise of having the Smashers be bonded to OCs is a somewhat fine concept, but the fact that the OCs take center stage over the characters who are far more established do seem to tick off potential readers hoping to read more of their favorite characters. The fact that they're also treated similarly to a new generation also adds to this, as many of the characters are simply too iconic to replace, unlike other similar fighting games.
  • While most Nintendo games do have their fair share of dark moments, having a grimdark story seems to be very off-putting to anyone normally accustomed to somewhat lighthearted stories. Despite some games diving deep into other themes of similar natures, the themes of slavery and genocide seem to go way too far in terms of portrayal.
• Canon Defilement: After Chapter 10, and publishing into Chapter 11, the author apologized for the fact that King Sorius was able to corrupt the Master Sword, despite it being the Blade of Evil's Bane, and later in the series, pulls a quick retcon by saying that the "Master Sword" given to him was merely a fake provided by the three goddesses to test the Guardians.
• Continuity Lockout: Fans unfamiliar with the Tellius saga may be confused when reading Chapter 6.
• Designated Hero: A majority of the Guardians can easily fall under this, but it's noticeable amongst the main cast. Most of them couldn't solve their interpersonal conflicts or other things without resorting to violence, and as such, it hampers their communication with each other, leading to them not getting along. The problem here is that it takes up most of the story, rather than them trying sort out their problems. In addition, other than downplayed examples like Heather, many of the Guardians don't do anything heroic per se, and the readers are left to wonder if the world is worth saving if the prophesied heroes act like amoral Jerkasses who'd rather spend time harming each other. Interpersonal group conflict isn't necessarily bad, but the fic takes it way too far. There are some heroic Guardians though, but they're not usually the main focus.
  • Psyche doesn't feel any form of gratefulness for the angel, not even trying to have a decent conversation with him until the end. While part of her anger towards him isn't unfounded, she acts like a jerk as well and carries her recklessness to the end where she shoves Chester to the side because, to her, it's her battle against Tabuu, causing her to develop amnesia. It can be difficult not to call her a Karma Houdini who hasn't admitted to her own faults, nor did she undergo any form of proper Character Development, and what little she did have merely ends up invalidated by her amnesia, leaving it All for Nothing.
  • Pit could also count on this, especially since, to him, trying to get back to his body matters more than actually bonding with his Guardian. The thing is, he thinks that Psyche is just like any soldier in his army when she's simply a very emaciated girl. Though he does apologize for his behavior and shows that he does care a bit for Psyche, if only because she's keeping his soul.
  • Cameron establishes that he's a mercenary who hunts the laguz and eviscerates their bodies, and despite them being turned into Feral Ones, he treats like literal zombies. He later reveals that he's killed millions of laguz to justify his survival, but when one realizes that there's a way for them to be reverted from their state, it's clear that Cameron is simply promoting genocide. When he fights with Heather in the end where she's unwillingly forced to fight them thanks to a Blood Pact, Cameron simply taunts her and even calls her a bitch even though she didn't ask to be brainwashed in the first place.
  • Golfer and Traca both count due to the nature of their conflict (see Unintentionally Unsympathetic). Their strife ends up being the core behind the Guardians' rift between each other, which bleeds into the rest of the casts' situations. Despite Traca's motive for finding herself and her identity being somewhat sympathetic, she goes out of her way to betray her best friend to be captured all just to follow a ploy made by Clark Wolfon. When Traca tries to hold Pikana hostage, Golfer refuses to help either her or Pikana and merely watches, despite Samus' insistence. Despite Golfer trying to apologize, Traca completely bursts out in anger over the entire debacle only to be stopped by Heather. To the end of the story, while they do try to mend their relationship, readers would barely notice.
  • Rinku thinks that justifying going back to his father and condemning innocent people as well as unleashing genocide upon the Zoras and Gorons is a way for him to atone for his own selfish deeds. Readers might have a hard time siding with him after these actions, especially since he doesn't show the fact that he had a hand in this.
  • Squall is the Guardian of Toon Link whose most notable action was attempting to sell Mah into slavery after she tried to break free from his shackles, and even locks her up with a pirate who nearly sexually assaults her (though she does make it out fine). His entire motive for all of this is to quit his life of piracy and live somewhere he can gain friends with. And one wonders why he's still accepted into the gang of Guardians after all of this.
  • It's hard not to question Master Hand's competence regarding the situation. He's the one who effectively creates the prophecy, along with the other deities, but that only brings about angst and ruin towards the other Smashers, who are still grieving the loss of their loved ones and how leaving them shut in for a century in favor of the Guardian plan is what will defeat Tabuu in the long run. The already aforementioned problem regarding the Guardians as designated heroes adds to this, and one would wonder what they were thinking concerning the overall plan.
• Esoteric Happy Ending: Sure, Tabuu and, to a lesser extent, King Sorius, may have been defeated, but such a battle leads to the deaths of many prominent characters, chiefly Samus, Captain Falcon, Meta Knight, Diddy Kong, Mr. Game & Watch, Wario, and many more of the Smashers, while the Guardians only have one death among their ranks. Psyche, easily one of the bigger jerkasses of the fanfic, suffers from recklessness-borne amnesia, making her a Karma Houdini who got away with all of the bad things she said of Pit. Golfer and Traca still haven't made up. In addition, it's made clear that none of the magic that made the worlds special is coming back, as Hyrule is left with the deaths of many of its colorful races, and that's not even mentioning the things left unresolved, such as what happened to Archanea or the Pokemon World. The fact that there was a sequel put up that's just as dark didn't sit well either, and the fic series was abandoned with no end in sight.
• Harsher in Hindsight
  • Pit's initial behavior might be considered somewhat so-so when the story was first published, but then Kid Icarus: Uprising got released. Suddenly, his behaviour would now be considered completely Out of Character, as he is now canonically characterized as someone who values humanity amidst its strife. His reasons for acting like that towards Psyche would be more befitting to a character like Dark Pit or Viridi.
  • Ike's entire fate of losing his teammates to fire is actually the hallmark of one of his franchise's darkest entries. It sort of make sense considering that one of Ike's palettes in the game is patterned after Sigurd's. Then Ultimate comes along and has Sigurd's Spirit Battle pit you against Ike himself.
  • Just the entire prospect of the slaves in general once Ultimate does introduce the concept of Fake Smashballs, which are very explosive and can nearly cost the player the match. Reading it from Ultimate's perspective makes you utterly horrified that they're working with explosives that might've caused countless lives. If anything, Ultimate just made the entire concept even worse.
• Hilarious in Hindsight
  • The dark tone of the fanfic becomes this in light of There Will Be Brawl, which also features a darker tone than regular Smash Bros fare. And just like in the fic, some of the canonical Smashers also die in that series. It could also be noted in that while There Will Be Brawl is meant to be a more parodical satire of the Smash series as a while, Guardians Arise is a far more serious story, which makes its lighthearted moments more out of place.
  • The closing remarks of the first Guardian's chapter (Psyche) end with how "one of the heroes can't read or write". While this applies to Psyche, the release of Kid Icarus: Uprising can make this refer to Pit as well, especially with his now iconic "I never learned how to read!" line.
    • Doubles as a whammy when one of the fic's crucial moments has him read a book that eventually tarts a coup within the Smashers.
  • Two years after the fanfic was first published, Bandai Namco's Project Soul released Soulcalibur V, a series that somehow attracts similar criticisms as this fanfic: the story focusing on a group of spotlight-stealing characters with the main hero being a staunch Designated Hero in his own right, many of the previous characters dying, and a far darker and cynical tone compared to the rest of the series.
  • The Smashers were forced out of their bodies by Tabuu firing beams of light. The fic ended up predicting Ultimate's World Of Light Story Mode in how the Smashers' bodies were lost.
    • Hell, Master Hand thought that Tabuu would ultimately dissipate in the World Of Light, as stated nearly 5-6 years before Ultimate's release.
  • The character of Nask (a woman in the guise of a man fighting a force of oppression), would later be applied to Fire Emblem canon with Lucina, who would join the roster in Smash 4. Much like Nask, Lucina fights under Marth's name, but she outright disguises herself as him to do it.
    • Nask's weapon of choice is a Naginata, a weapon that wouldn't make it to her Smasher's main franchise until Fire Emblem Fates.
  • One of the twins, Picho, calls himself "Joker". Nearly eight years later, Ultimate adds in an actual character named Joker.
  • Ridere having a habit of quoting internet memes and being Snake's guardian would later foretell how Sundowner and Senator Armstrong become memetic for almost a lot of things they say.
  • Come the end of 2019, and the entire penchant for Tabuu's revival could be summed up as "Somehow, Tabuu returned".
  • Pikana being a crazy girl with a penchant for naming her weapons (most notably a bazooka) would later become this...under a different game. A year after the fanfic concluded, Riot Games later introduced the world to League of Legends's Jinx, who comes with a somewhat erratic personality not too dissimilar to Pikana and also names her weapons. A decade after the fanfic's conclusion would also introduce Jinx's more nuanced portrayal in Arcane.
    • Her wielding a bazooka and a chainsaw would later evoke more modern incarnations of Doom Slayer, even though the Slayer isn't too renowned for the bazooka.
    • Shrink the bazooka into a shotgun and you basically have Ash Williams.
    • Being possessed by a cute creature that unlocks an Ax-Crazy persona that has a penchant for chainsaws? Change Pikachu to Pochita and you pretty much have Chainsaw Man.
  • Squall is designed after the Final Fantasy VIII protagonist of the same name. The Final Fantasy franchise would join Smash Bros. proper with Cloud joining in Smash 4 and staying into Ultimate with Sephiroth coming in.
    • One of the reviewers constantly makes skits regarding the fanfic between both Cloud and Sephiroth. Now that both are in the roster...
  • Nintendo themselves would later dabble into an apocalyptic setting similar to this fic, although it still maintains their trademark Lighter and Softer charm rather than the overly grimdark tone this story presents.
  • Zelda makes some thoughts about Cimar's swordsmanship and how she compares the quality of iron, gold, and jewel swords. Ultimate later brings in a character who can wield swords of all those materials.
  • Rinku, Cimar, Picho, and Pichn defeating King Sorius by distracting him with a dance-off before landing a series of finishing blows becomes this as the author essentially predicts the ending of Guardians of the Galaxy (2014) when Star-Lord dances off against Ronan to distract him enough to give Rocket Raccoon the chance to fire a cannon that allows Star-Lord to get the Power Stone.
  • Chester comes from Halloween Town from The Nightmare Before Christmas, which seems very odd considering the Smash Bros. never even touches such mediums. Years later, Nintendo would add a character somewhat involved with that series' events in a crossover medium.
  • MS' design apes Travis Touchdown from No More Heroes. It becomes this once a Mii Costume of Travis is revealed for Ultimate.
  • Sol's weapon of choice is named "Masamune", and years down the road, an actual Smasher would appear whose sword's name is the same.
  • The fic poking fun at gay people becomes this when the author's later work predominantly features M/M couples in a non-comedic light similar to Guardians Arise.
  • You can't simply look at the interactions between the Fire Emblem Smashers and their Guardians...and not think about Fire Emblem Engage. Bonus points go to Nask, who is Marth's Guardian and is red-haired, coming in half-correct with Alear's half-red, half-blue hair.
• Humor Dissonance: Most of the fic's humor and comedy can be off-putting to some readers, especially given that it's based on internet memes and homophobia...in a bleak, grimdark, dystopian setting. Rather than coming off as normalized and lighthearted, it only adds to the frustration of reading the fic.
• Jerks Are Worse Than Villains: Despite Tabuu being the one who's directly responsible for their troubles and misfortunes, many of the Guardians are prone to upset or tick off readers due to how often they'd spend more time wallowing in angst or doing nothing heroic in particular despite being named the heroes. By the time most of the guardians reveal themselves, you're probably wondering if the future of the Smash World is going to be safe in their hands due to how divisive they come across.
  • It can be really hard to root for this incarnation of Pit. Granted, this was before Uprising and fans were more or less fine with giving their own depictions of the character, and his background as commander of Palutena's Army is downplayed in said game, but the story chooses to depict him as a Jerkass Drill Sergeant Nasty with a portrayal that goes too far. He berates Psyche, an emaciated, malnourished slave girl, for failing to do things like handle a simple bow. He's also less trusting of humanity in general, calling them weak and useless, and maintains this tumultuous relationship with Psyche (not that she is any better). All of this combined makes one wonder if he's even worthy of going through a transformative journey with his Guardian.
• Moral Event Horizon
  • Tabuu crosses it immediately at the start of the story by being the one responsible for all the trauma and bleakness that sets it up. He's killed many of the Smashers' friends and allies, either himself or by proxy, reduced their lands to Crapsack Worlds, and destroyed many a village within its wake For the Evulz.
  • Squall crosses this by taking in Mah, whom he just rescued, into a cage to sell her into slavery. The kicker comes in when she's locked in a cell alongside a pirate that nearly sexually assaults her, and looks all too complacent in doing so. It's also dives into his motivation if simply wanting to have a normal life, but the deed he does would irk many a reader. And yet, he's Toon Link's Guardian who doesn't get enough screen time for character development.
• Narm:
  • Some of the names of the characters often end up as this due to how ridiculous they sound when juxtaposed with a dystopian setting. There's Psyche, Golfer, Heather, and the like, but then there's also someone named MS whose real name is Mariosonic, and KOR, who comes off as an edgelord.
    • The female character who kidnapped some of the Guardians? A Gerudo seductress named Arenafan Woundvictor.
  • The abilities that the Smashers provide the Guardians, which a times contrast with how the story's tone has been established.
    • Yoshi provides its user the ability to throw eggs, and it just so happens that he's stuck with a female guardian. Adding to this is that it's worded in story as laying eggs.
    • In a group of characters who wield swords, lances, and guns, Peach's Guardian ability simply gives the user (Sakura) golf clubs and pans. Said weapons work in the home Smash game due to its silly nature at times, but in a dystopian, grimdark setting, it doesn't.
    • The fact that being the Guardian of Pokemon Trainer simply allows them to use the three Pokemon (Squirtle, Ivysaur, and Charizard) doesn't exactly work when the Guardian he possesses is an innate Pokemon trainer herself.
  • Some of the Guardians have slave backstories, but many of them go in depth over the flavor of their experiences regarding slavery, and the sheer wallowing and nature of them, while intended to shock the reader or make them sympathize with the characters, may seem like the story is going way too far with its nature and emotionally exhaust its audience.
  • Link's Guardian is named Rinku, whose name is his name in Japanese. While it does somewhat make sense for English readers, any Japanese person reading the fic would have some trouble distinguishing both.
    • His last name, Gamerofloz, could easily be shorthand for "Rinku, Gamer of Legend of Zelda". When he and the rest of the Guardians storm the Smash Mansion to retrieve weapons, he gets a sword that he calls the "Gamersword".
  • Any time Ridere tries to act funny, with him constantly saying memes like "This is Sparta!" or any variation.
  • The overuse of Brawl's Latin chanting theme song to hype up the new heroes, especially in light of the fact that many of them have barely done anything heroic to merit such claims. Or the prophecy itself, considering how many of them are far more antiheroic and brutal in nature, or end up as self-righteous Jerkasses who can't solve their interpersonal issues without resorting to violence. This causes the prophecy to fall flat.
  • In Chapter 18, the prophecy being recounted sounds more like a rap verse rather than an actual prophecy in itself.
  • The scene in Chapter 21, regarding how Master Hand states that he gave the Smashers to their respective Guardians in order to encourage Character Development. This would have been touching if it weren't for the fact that much of the story up until that point had been about the Guardians dealing with their own angst and traumas rather than actually sitting down and settling out their own internal issues than character introspection, that most of the Smashers had their characterizations derailed even before meeting the Guardians, and how the story didn't properly develop nearly all of them.
• Narm Charm: On a more positive note, a modern reader can excuse the fic's degraded quality on the fact that the chief writer of the story was rather young and dealing with a genre that's not in her comfort zone. Later fics from the author show a rather decent increase in quality compared to Guardians Arise, all of which are in the author's comfortable genre of romance and drama. To put it simply, the author's early story "Guardians Arise" might have some flaws because she was young and trying a genre she wasn't used to, but her later works in romance and drama show a clear improvement in quality that's enough to forgive the flaws in this one.
• Offending the Creator's Own: Despite the author being a woman, there's quite a bit of sexist undertones present within the story.
  • Most of Mah's backstory involves her mother getting killed after refusing Tabuu's sexual assault attempts and, during the story, she's nearly sexually assaulted by a pirate. Literally, the most notable things about Mah in the story almost always involve gratuitous sexual assault.
  • Marth infamously makes an offensive statement towards Nask, his Guardian that women should only be relegated to household chores rather than serve in the army, despite the various women that served under him during the various wars he had been in.
• Spiritual Adaptation: Essentially an attempt made to create Super Smash Bros. answer to Marvel Disk Wars: The Avengers, but later pivots towards the series' version of Tekken 3 and Soulcalibur V.
• So Bad, It's Good: There are some legitimately good points here and there, and much of the badness that the fic entails is more or less due to it being written by a younger circle of writers. It pretty much encapsulates the "teens writing edgy OCs and grimdark plots" point a lot, and as such it's interesting to look back at. The factor here is that "it's feels like it's written by edgy kids, but it's obviously written by edgy kids".
• Tear Jerker: Much of the characters' backstories, and a lot of the Smashers' lives after getting turned into gas. But Ike and Cam's go into...a little too much detail.
• They Wasted a Perfectly Good Character: Due to the sheer number of characters in this story, it becomes a hit-and-miss for some of the Guardians who seem to miss out on potential character development as they are Put on a Bus.
  • For some reason, despite being the actual adopted son of the Big Bad, Wrath doesn't really do much in terms of focus or Character Development. While he does get some in the later storyline once the final battle begins, his development might seem scattershot.
  • Crystal is arguably the biggest example of this. It's revealed that unlike the rest of the Guardians, she's the one who has a pretty decent life at her home universe. For some reason, she was sucked into the world of the Guardians via a television screen. Simply put, while she doesn't have the most characterization, she fits the bill as an Everyman protagonist. She's also the recipient of a nicer Smasher (Donkey Kong) and goes along well with both Chi and KOR. The question now is: why isn't she the protagonist? This is true especially in light of various other fanfics that use a similar isekai premise, and having her as an everywoman wouldn't hurt either. Sadly, she's introduced extremely late into the plot and doesn't get enough development, while the actual protagonists that do have development tend to be...questionable.
  • Samus. Being one who clearly understands the plight that some of the Guardians had to go through (losing family, homes, etc.), it's jarring to see that she doesn't try and speak up from her perspective. In addition, even if she's going to die, she doesn't get an endgame fight against Ridley, whom the Guardians face in the final battle.
• They Wasted a Perfectly Good Plot: Just the premise itself; the Smash roster being reduced to energy forms and having to bond with humans who gain their powers and facilitate Character Development for both parties. Such a premise could've explored the Smash roster with more depth and complexity while also giving fun characters to read about, and might've been really good if handled properly.
• Too Bleak, Stopped Caring: The story pretty much starts on this, as most of the Guardians have rather dark personalities and pasts, the setting being so utterly bleak, and much of the Guardians having to deal with their own issues not helping with said grim setting. However, it's actually a strange case of this, as the story does have some funny and comedic moments, though some of them starkly contrast with the original grimdark setting. It's pretty much put off readers promised with a grimdark story, while the initial readers may have been turned off with the bleak tone and have dropped the story because of this. As such, this case of the trope overlaps with the Uncertain Audience reaction below.
• Uncertain Audience: Despite being labelled as a Super Smash Bros. fanfiction, it doesn't know who it's aimed at.
  • A key problem regarding this is that the story is so confused about the tone that it feels like it doesn't have any tone. The story is initially rated K (but bumps up towards a T rating later on due to reviewers; though the material is very much M-rated), but it starts on a very grimdark note (people being forced into slavery; one of the heroes being an extremely emaciated girl who's a product of this slavery; numerous scenes where the Guardians imply that they're an instrument in genocide, the excruciating deaths of most of the canon cast, and a scene of attempted rape). But once the story establishes its midpoint, it tries to course-correct by introducing light-hearted moments and comedy (Ridere's use of internet memes; the banter between Mars, Eric, and Aly; and Picho and Pichn's borderline homophobic humor). It zig-zags through these points so much that the tone is almost nonexistent, alienating both appeals.
  • The lore of the more prominent works in the fanfic is axed to a degree. Readers unfamiliar with concepts from The Legend of Zelda and Fire Emblem (especially the Tellius saga) are confused as to what the discussion is all about, but those who are wouldn't like how they're treated.
  • Despite being billed as a team-up between regular humans and Smashers, it ultimately ends up being a "New Generation" fanfic similar to games such as Tekken 3 & Soul Calibur V. The attempt at making the Guardians replace the roles of some of the Smashers (with some of them even dying) discourages fans of the canon characters whose deaths are treated as an afterthought and the newer original characters are potentially divisive and wouldn't be accepted easily.
  • The story also goes into franchises that aren't related to Smash at all (specifically The Nightmare Before Christmas and Touhou Project). But even those who are familiar with the properties would seem confused as to where they are or not like the fact they've been implied to have been deceased or killed.
  • This problem regarding the uncertain audience harmed the development of its sequel fic, The Awakening. Since the Guardians are mostly self-inserts, very few would actually help with sending over their characters to be featured in the story. The Awakening, mostly following this same format, wouldn't receive many applications and end up as a Dead Fic for many years to come.
• Unintentional Period Piece: The fanfic encapsulates the context of the early 2010s in ways that haven't aged well. The brand of gay humor and internet memes, more suited for the era, now appears jarring for anyone past that era, especially in the wake of better LGBT expression. The story's playful bashing of the The Twilight Saga, is slightly irrelevant now that the backlash against the series has lessened. The characterization of the cast, notably Pit, Sonic, and the Fire Emblem cast, becomes really outdated now that media such as Kid Icarus: Uprising, the later Sonic games and comics, and the greater exposure of the Fire Emblem franchise have raised better characterization for said characters.
• Unintentionally Unsympathetic: Some of the Guardians in general can fall under this, mostly due to their behavior. We're supposed to see them as the Chosen Ones meant to save Smashville and all the realms from further oppression, yet their actions often come off as rather angsty and make it seem like they're just in it to survive. Doesn't help that some of the major Guardians don't do much 'heroism' throughout the fic, mostly being concerned with getting to Mount Smash and dealing with Tabuu while not having some regard for the people they're supposed to save. That mostly has to do with how the prophecy and, by extension, the story is structured. The prophecy states that once all the Guardians are gathered, Smashville will be free of Tabuu's grip. But the fact that the story heads right into the endgame doesn't allow them to do some genuine acts of heroism, hurting their characterization and development at once.
  • We're supposed to be rooting for the slave girl Psyche, who just witnessed her friend Austin get murdered by a soulless Marth and is on the cusp of her ropes until she's saved by Pit. However, she acts like a completely abrasive jerkass to Pit (who acts the same likewise) and this is consistent throughout their appearances in the story. It might be justified because she dislikes the Smashers for their poor treatment of her, yet here she is with the real deal and she still acts condescending towards him, never once considering his side at all. And Pit actually apologizes to her for acting like a jerkass and she never apologizes back. Then she gets amnesia due to her recklessness, effectively making her a Karma Houdini for all the bad things she said to Pit.
  • Cameron is supposed to be introduced as a badass hero dealing with some flaws that he has, but when he confronts a mindless laguz, he ends up eviscerating it and remarks that it's merely the status quo for bounty hunters. It's later revealed that he had killed millions of laguz throughout his bounty hunting career to justify his own survival and it only took Ike's possession of him to make him realize the wrongdoings he's done. It gets worse when one realizes that there's a way for the mindless laguz to be reverted back to their original form, yet he never considers this and goes on his own self-serving, borderline genocidal path, and the story expects readers to still root for him despite this.
  • Rinku, even when the story acknowledges that he's in the wrong. He's essentially condemned innocent people and races such as the Zora and the Gorons to what is essentially genocide all for the sake of penance for mistakingly killing his mother. Widely seen as a form of the bystander syndrome, this ultimately makes him harder to sympathize with as a character.
  • The entire Golfer/Traca debacle where both parties end up as this. Golfer initially seems like a nice person at first, feeding a famished Pikana with leftover food. But once Traca enters the story, he immediately starts acting like a jerkass to everyone, including Pikana. When Traca keeps her hostage and both of them fall into a band of Primids, Golfer refuses to help them, resorting to merely "watching an epic battle" when both parties are nearly at the cusp of defeat, despite Samus' insistence. Both Golfer and Traca try to sort things out, but it only ends in failure, with both parties refusing to let go of their grudge for one another. Golfer is continuously given constant beatings by both Cameron and Heather, but that falls flat once you see Traca's side of the story. As it turns out, both of them were on a critical bounty-hunting mission to destroy some rebels, when Golfer suddenly catches eye of a single, well-crafted gun. Once he gets his hand on it, the alarms sounded and he's about to be captured, but Traca abandons him because of this, despite being his best friend. Why? Because Traca received a crudely written message from Clark Wolfon who's a servant of Tabuu telling him to abandon Golfer and she will know more about her own parents and/or her heritage. That turns out to be a complete lie, and Traca is distraught over this, leading to Golfer being incarcerated by rebels. When all of this is revealed, Heather sides with Traca and nearly kills Golfer, but Traca to the end of the story refuses to admit her own selfishness. Golfer admits to his own jerkishness but didn't even apologize to Pikana over this. Doesn't help that most of the conflict surrounding them is what brings about the big disagreements that all of the Guardians are facing.
  • Ness berates Kirby for wanting to aid Rinku/Link, who's having difficulty when it comes to fighting off the guards. When Kirby calls him out for this, Ness tells him that the entire situation is war and that there's no time for being nice, and that everything has to change. The audience is expected to side with Ness for this behavior, but in reality, it makes them no different from the villains they fight.
  • Squall ultimately just wants to have a life in land with friends, yet he resorts to a life of piracy, taking a distraught Mah aboard just to sell her back into slavery to do so. It's also implied that he didn't care about how Mah was nearly sexually assaulted by a pirate he imprisoned, and to him, he didn't care.
  • For some reason, the story tries to gray out the conflict by giving Tabuu some redeeming values, especially regarding him having loved ones as revealed to Eclipse. It's not clear why he had to be grayed out, largely because he's done so many irredeemable things, such as enforcing the entirety of Smashville to slavery, slaughtering the Smashers' and Guardians' loved ones, and many, many more.
• Values Dissonance: Picho and Pichn's brand of gay humor would definitely not fly around the decade after the fic's publication. That the gayness itself was the butt of their jokes towards Rinku and Cimar would be downright homophobic to some people, as LGBT representation is slowly pushing for gayness that isn't the butt of the joke.
• Wangst: Pretty much almost everyone can fit into this banner, with their cynical outlook, excessive amounts of Dark and Troubled Past, and the like. Many, if not all, of the Guardians have a Dark and Troubled Past, and they mope a lot about it throughout the fic, so much so that it might stretch the readers' Willing Suspension of Disbelief.
• What Do You Mean, It's for Kids?: At one point in the fanfic's publication period, it was a K-rated fanfic. However, it contains continuous copious amounts of bloodshed and gore, a rather grim tone and setting, above-mild amounts of swearing, heavy themes of death and slavery, implications of genocide, a scene where Psyche nearly kills herself jumping off a cliff, a scene where Mah nearly becomes a victim of sexual assault, and quite a ton that would not be suitable for the age range at all. It was eventually bumped up to a T rating, but much of the material is so dark that it could've passed for a straight M rating instead.