Impact Statement of Samus "Sam" Aran
Drafted by: Samus "Sam" Aran
Revised by: Adam Malkovich and Samus "Sam" Aran
Delivered by: Samus "Sam" Aran on October 18, 2016
…
Ladies and gentlemen, I am here today because I suffered gross injustices due to a piece of paper, and I wish to speak freely about them. I am here today because I want you to know about how these injustices battered my heart as well as my soul, and how they nearly ended a relationship before it truly began. I am here today to talk about what the first tier list wrought upon my experience in the first Super Smash Brothers tournament.
By the time Master Hand invited me to the Smash Mansion in April 1999, along with 11 others, I'd overcome the loss of my parents, my confrontation with their killer and a near-deadly encounter with Mother Brain. Super Smash Brothers was a chance to start over and become more sociable. Initially, I did just that, not only befriending all of the other Smashers but also falling in love with Captain Falcon. Both of us were bounty hunters, and both of us had mysterious pasts. Falcon defrosted me, and I defrosted him—we made each other smile, laugh and drop our tough exteriors. Eventually, he asked me out, and I happily accepted. Life as a Smasher was perfect.
But then—came the tier list.
I was in eighth place—at the top of the lowest tier, while Falcon was in third place, at the top of the second-highest tier. On the day the tier list was put up, Falcon promised that he wouldn't let the ranking get to his head, that he wouldn't let it damage our relationship. However, in a matter of hours, both of those promises were broken.
Falcon started spending more time with Fox, who was ranked right below him, and less time with me and the others. He joined Fox in acting like he owned the Smash Mansion and looking down on the lower-ranked fighters. At least he toned it down when he was with me, but it was there nonetheless. And at the same time, Ridley learned about the tiers and gleefully went after me on the Smash Blog. I ignored it and blew off steam in the Training Area, but I was worried about my relationship with Falcon. There was only so much I could endure, after all.
On the night the tier list was put up, Falcon made a spectacle of himself in the lounge by picking a physical fight with Luigi, the closest of my new friends. Watching Falcon trade blows with someone he made friendly overtures toward just hours ago gave me new sets of doubts about what I was jumping into. He seemed to realize that, for the next night, he treated me to dinner and apologized. The crisis seemed to be over, he seemed to have learned his lesson and we were starting fresh. But—as they say—sometimes, things have to get worse before they can get better.
Captain Falcon resumed his holier-than-thou behavior and campaign of harassment with a vengeance, with Luigi being his frequent target. He and Fox would strut around, blast their music obnoxiously loud, boss around the Polygons, gloat to anyone who would listen and treat everyone else with contempt. They'd belittle Luigi, and sometimes Ness. They'd pull juvenile pranks. They'd encourage the spectators' misbehavior—heckling, throwing objects, dumping drinks and jeering. Falcon should've known how his display would make me feel—and yet—he kept at it anyway. I didn't know if he loved me anymore. Our increasingly infrequent dates turned into blatant boast-fests on his part. However, I still had hope that reality would smack him in the face.
Unfortunately, it didn't, and our breaking point arrived during a Team Battle. Falcon and I were pitted against Kirby and Ness, and Douglas spent most of the fight taunting our opponents, preening for the crowd and grandstanding, leaving me to carry most of the weight. Since we weren't really coordinating our skills, as a Team Battle encouraged, we lost. Falcon stormed off after the awards ceremony, I followed him, and—we had it out. And despite the fact that I did the majority of the fighting—he blamed me for the loss. Me. Because in his world, the fact that he was a high-tier fighter was an automatic ticket to victory. I couldn't believe what was happening. I wanted to tell myself that he was just miffed, that he'd cool off and take it back—but then—then he went further. He—excoriated me. He called me 'a lousy C-tier'. He said he—couldn't believe he was—he was going out with me. Oh, yes—nice to know he thought that about me. He ripped me head to toe after I opened my heart to him. But when you play with fire, you're bound to get burned. I learned that the hard way.
He said some other things, as well. Accused me of upstaging him, of wanting attention. Brought up the fact that I was the only woman in Smash at the time. Threw my past in my face. I was devastated, hurt and angry, and I stormed off before I could lose it on him. That night, he showed up with a bouquet of flowers and a monologue about how sorry he was, but—I wasn't having it. I couldn't be around him anymore. I just—after what he said to me, he thought some flowers would automatically fix it. Unbelievable.
I focused my anger inward and turned it into power on the battlefield. The matches, the Training Room, the gym and my true companions easily distracted me from the beating my heart had taken. It was at night when the longing set in, when I felt that ache and that emptiness. However, I only gave myself one night to cry for our relationship. Crying certainly wouldn't help matters, would it? I won't go into detail about how I dealt with that persistent longing, because some of my methods aren't meant to be spoken about publicly, and there are tender ears in this room. However, despite the pain, I shouldered my burden and soldiered on, finding comfort with my fellow C-tiers.
It took Luigi, Ness, Link and several others joining me in calling out Falcon and Fox for them to finally realize that they were in the wrong. In the following months, Douglas started changing his attitude, spending more time in the Training Area and bragging and boasting less. He tried to interact more with the other Smashers, and he became increasingly friendlier. However, I didn't know if I could let him back in. I'd built a fence around my heart. I wanted to protect it, and I didn't want to risk being hurt again. So, I kept my interactions with him guarded and brief. But in his own way, Douglas softened me and melted the ice I'd encased myself in, just as he'd done on the day we met. My resistance and my anger crumbled, and on Christmas, Falcon and Fox surprised all of us with breakfast. After Falcon took Luigi, Ness and Jiggs aside to privately apologize, he did the same with me. Somehow, I knew his apology was heartfelt and genuine. He broke through the last of my raw feelings, and we reconciled.
That was 17 years ago. Today, Captain Falcon and I are still together and still in love. Nothing in the world can drive us apart. However, I still can't forget his actions during the first tournament or our tiff after that Team Battle. My heart suffers from lingering dull aches. I still can't believe that someone who claimed to love me would say such things to me. Words like that never truly go away. That's why I'm so happy that you're all here, listening to my story, so you can see that things like this shouldn't be downplayed. Now that you're learning more about what happened, you can take steps to ensure that it'll never happen again.
Because of a piece of paper, I suffered gross injustices that nobody should suffer. Because of a piece of paper, my heart and soul were battered, and a romantic relationship almost ended before it had the chance to take off. Because of a piece of paper, someone I love chose to act like a fool, and I've never fully recovered from his actions. A simple piece of paper shouldn't have had the power to wreak havoc on the first Smash Bros tournament, but it did. It threw many relationships into disarray, and it hurt not only me, but also the new friends I made. I truly hope, however, that starting today, we can begin healing.
Please R&R.
