Just like with Capcom’s Mega Man franchise, Nintendo’s undying platform fighter has an array of duplicates of its many, many characters. Just like before, this will be in halves.
- Metal Mario in Meta Crystal (first appearance: Super Smash Bros (1999, N64)
This first early example was a reference to the stage where the Metal Cap was unlocked in Super Mario 64. Beyond the callback to the system’s launch title, the fight is interesting, due to how Metal Mario is so heavy that he doesn’t even flinch for the first few minutes. Once around 200%, he does start taking decent knockback, so getting rid of him isn’t terribly difficult, but it is a change in expectations when you first meet him. This form would reappear in Melee’s Adventure Mode in a double fight with Metal Mario and Metal Luigi, but at that point, the metal form was an item, so it wasn’t as special as before.
2. Master and Crazy Hands (First appearance together: Super Smash Bros. Melee(2001, GCN)
The first set of original doubles, Master Hand and Crazy Hand play an important role to some subtextual revelations in the series. To start, Master Hand first appeared in Super Smash Bros.’ 1P Mode as the final boss, and it was a decent fight. In the upgrade to Melee as the GameCube’s launch title, his moveset was given some extra flair while retaining his original style. On the other hand, he now had a fighting partner; just like the many clone characters with similar, slightly edited movesets in Melee’s roster, Master Hand had his own mirror in the form of Crazy Hand. Where Master Hand is far more refined and seemingly elegant, Crazy Hand is erratic and…well, crazy. In the context of the subtextual lore and the story that would form in the games to follow, Master and Crazy Hand represent Masahiro Sakurai, the series’ creator, and the creative and destructive power he has regarding the series. Want to remove or rework characters completely? It’s his games, he can do what he wishes. Need to cut characters due to system limitations? Nothing stopped him, as with the 3DS and Wii U releases where the Ice Climbers had to be cut due to the 3DS’ inability to handle 8 climbers at once. This pair is interesting, and their fights usually have some form of double attacks when together.
3. Mii Fighters
This entry is the first legitimately playable fighters that have a double-like aspect to them. These three characters have simple movesets, some moves taken almost wholesale from other fighters. However, the moves don’t matter as much in this case. The rest of the customizability is where the Miis could become anyone or anything. Is there an actual costume for the character you want? You can put it on them. Is there something that’s close but isn’t quite right? Using the right combination of clothes and weird face and people could see the character you’re going for. In Smash Ultimate, some costumes fully cover the face of the Mii, removing the last potential barrier that would make the character recognized for certain as a Mii. These characters can be molded into anything the creator wants it to be.