DISCLAIMER: I do not own Steven Universe or Super Smash Bros. They are the legal properties of Cartoon Network and Nintendo, respectively. Thus, no copyright infringement is intended.
XxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxX
Happy new year, everybody!
*sees current worldwide events*… I may have spoken too soon.
Nonetheless, it's time that I got back into writing for "Gems in Smash" and go down the admittedly short list of requests. As I'm focusing on the Crystal Gems themselves for a while, it's time to bring in the rambunctious purple trouble-maker herself; Amethyst! This Gem's history is quite literally deep-rooted within the Earth itself, having initially been implanted to serve the Diamond Authority… only to pop out of the ground a long time after the war had ended, explaining her shortness and lesser strength in comparison to other Quartz Gems. Regardless, she would soon be found by Crystal Gem leader Rose Quartz and brought into the fold as she defends the place that she calls home, which naturally extends to the new family she has by the time Steven comes around.
Although Amethyst isn't as strong as the other Crystal Gems (leading to her main character arc revolving around her deep-seeded inferiority complex and how she masks it with a carefree, lazy attitude), she can still hold herself in a fight thanks to her being a surprising quick thinker and using guerrilla style tactics to hold off stronger enemies, namely the likes of Jasper or corrupted Gems. That said, she will still be a featherweight fighter focused mainly on brute force, as she is also very direct in her fighting style as a "fight first, ask questions never" type of Gem. She would also have two jumps and can use her signature whip to reach platforms hanging over the stage but will otherwise have no movement options.
Gimmick:
I don't normally bring this up very often when creating possible Smash movesets for Gems, as I'm normally too lazy to think of one, but Omni Spectator did create a pretty ingenious Gimmick idea for when they requested Amethyst. As such, I will incorporate that into her moveset.
During a match and regardless of her number of lives, Amethyst will have a little health bar next to her damage percentage meter. As she continues to be hit, this health bar will naturally go down and, once depleted, she will poof and retreat into her Gem for a short time to rebuild her health bar to at least 4/5's of the way, regenerating after about 5 seconds. She will also recover at least 20% of damage the first time she comes back. However, with each subsequent poofing, not only will she take a longer time to recharge depending on the damage percentage, but she will also recover a 1/5 less of her health bar and 5% less damage overall. For instance, on her second regeneration she gets a total of 3/5's on her health bar and only 15% of damage will be recovered. Then with her third regeneration, she gets 2/5's of her health bar and recover 10% of damage, and so on and so forth. The health bar itself will reset to full every time Amethyst is K.O'd, incidentally.
The reason for this Gimmick is actually pretty multi-layered. For one, it will leave Amethyst's Gem as an item that other players can use; either to hit other players with it, or simply to get a cheap kill by tossing her Gem over the side of a stage. It will also give players an incentive to try to avoid as much damage as possible when using Amethyst in a match. However, while this may seem to be a major handicap when using Amethyst, the opposing player would still need to be able to hit her, which itself is made even harder when she starts using her whip attacks to keep opponents away. And remember, Amethyst's whip has an insane range when in use, almost reaching the end of the Final Destination stage at full capacity.
Besides, this also makes reference to how Amethyst, in spite of how tenacious and rambunctious of a fighter she is, ends up getting poofed more often than any other member of the Crystal Gems, so using that as part of her moveset is actually pretty damn funny.
But I think that's enough about the Gimmick; let's actually get to her moveset.
The Standard/Aerial/Smash Attacks:
For a good chunk of her Standard attacks, I wanted Amethyst to use a bunch of random junk that she just happens to have on her person, as she is also a major hoarder in the series. She will also be using her shapeshifting skills at a few points.
Amethyst's basic jab can have her swing a right hook, then a left hook, then finish by bringing out a random item from her Gem to throw. This can food, a soda can, a plate, whatever. This makes reference to how her room is basically a never ending trash pile. The items she brings out can also be used by her and other players in the middle of a match. Her dash attack can have her throw herself onto her target and belly slam them to the ground, which will have some end lag so she can get back up. Her forward tilt can have her bring out a water gun from her Gem and shoot someone with it, referencing the Season 1 episodes "Together Breakfast", "Ocean Gem" and "Warp Tour" when said water gun appeared. Her up tilt can have her simply throw a rotten burrito into the air, the item making an appearance in the Season 1 episode "So Many Birthdays". The burrito, due to being excessively out of date, will have a five second poison effect for anyone hit by it, referencing how just biting the burrito gave Amethyst food poisoning. Her down tilt can have her shapeshift her hand into a Whack-A-Mole mallet and slam it down on the opponents foot, tripping them up.
Her forward-Smash can have her suck in her gut and give out a massive burp, with anyone hit by it being knocked back a few feet and being stunned if they are hit at the strongest point of the burp. She will be left vulnerable due to some end lag, however. Her up-Smash can have her shapeshift into her Purple Puma persona, first appearing in the Season 1 episode "Tiger Millionaire", and flex so hard that it knocks her enemies up a fair distance. Her down-Smash can have her shapeshift her head into a crocodile and bite at the enemies leg, the crocodile being a reference to the Season 2 episode "Full Disclosure" when Amethyst offered to be one for a proposed moat the Gems would make around the Temple.
And yes, she will do the Jazz Hands after a successful bite. Because why not?
Her neutral-Aerial can have her bring out her whip and swing in the same vain as Castlevania's Simon Belmont. Her up-Aerial can have her turn into a Sonic-style spinball and zoom up, which can help with getting her back on stage as the direction the ball moves will be controlled by player input. Her forward-Aerial can have her once again shapeshift her head to that of a crocodile and bite her target, lunging her forward slightly. Her back-Aerial can have her stretch out her arm behind her in a straight punch. And finally, her down-Aerial can have her shapeshift into a beach ball, referencing the Season 1 episode "Beach Party", and belly-flop onto the ground, which can be used to bury anyone she lands on.
Grabs/Throws:
Amethyst can simply catch her target by the waist using her whip and holding them in place. Her pummel can have her send a small shock along the whip, referencing an attack she has in "Save The Light". Her forward-Throw can have her turn her arm extremely muscular and punch her foe a fair distance along the stage. Her back-Throw can have her swing her whip over her head and slam whoever she has in her grasp into the ground on the other side. Her up-Throw can have her briefly shapeshift into a muscular Steven, referencing the Season 1 episode "Coach Steven", and use a piledriver that will then force the enemy out of her arms and into the air. And finally, her down-Throw can have her create a much more powerful electrical shock that results in the opponent simply falling over on the floor once Amethyst lets them go, also leaving them stunned for Amethyst to attack again.
Specials:
This is where Amethyst's whip will become much more prevalent in her moveset, though this time she will be using the spiked ball upgrades she got from Bismuth, similar to how I had Garnet use the spiked knuckle upgrades for her moveset. The Special Attacks themselves will only be slightly stronger than her Standard Attacks, however, namely as a nod to how Amethyst is not the strongest of the Crystals Gems, even when attacking at full force.
Regardless, her neutral-Special can have her charge up her spinball attack, resulting in an explosion when she hits an opponent. This move will have some start lag, however, so it can't just be spammed like Sonic's can. That said, the resulting explosion will knock whoever she hits a fair distance, potentially allowing for a straight K.O if the opponents damage is about 100%. Her forward-Special can have her swing her spiked whip and grab her target, dragging them face-first across the ground before throwing them behind her. The spiked balls themselves will also allow for small, multi-hitting damage as well. Her up-Special can have her swing her spiked whip above her hear, which can be used to either grab a ledge or grab an airborne opponent and slam them into the ground. And finally, her down-Special can have her spin on her head like she's break-dancing while swinging her whip around to hit multiple enemies at once. After all, why waste a perfectly good whip on just one opponent when she can use it on multiple foes?
Final Smash:
Amethyst's Final Smash will be cinematic and will start with her grabbing her target with her whip. They will then be transported to a wrestling arena where Amethyst, as Purple Puma, and Steven, as Tiger Millionaire, will tag team whoever is in the ring. After a good little montage of suplexes, sucker punches and grand slams (I don't know anything about wrestling, so use your imagination), they will fuse into Smoky Quartz and deliver one massive sucker punch that will send everyone into an instant K.O if their damage is over 125%.
I just wanted to give Amethyst a Final Smash that would fit perfectly with her character as well as allow her to be in her comfort zone, which (until "Tiger Philanthropist") was with wrestling and generally kicking ass with her friends.
Other Stuff (Taunts, etc):
Amethyst's default outfit will be the one she started wearing in the Season 5 finale "Change Your Mind"; black vest top with her Gem exposed, grey ripped shorts with stars on her thighs, and a pair of white boots. Her first alternate colour scheme can have her skin turn orange with red stripes, in reference to her "sis" Jasper. Her second alternate colour scheme will make her skin pale, turn her hair a dull yellow and make her outfit blue, in reference to her best human friend Vidalia. Her third and final alternate colour scheme can turn her skin a duller shade of purple, her hair a creamy white, and her outfit can have a mixed colour scheme of teal and magenta with yellow boots, which references Opal; her Fusion with Pearl.
As for alternate outfits, her first can be based on her Purple Puma persona; grey head mask, black leotard, grey wrist-bands and chest hair. Her second alternate outfit will give her a white ripped shirt and a pair of black trousers with stars on her knees, my personal favourite outfit for Amethyst. Her final alternate costume will have her wearing a traditional Homeworld uniform; boots, trousers and a vest top with a Yellow Diamond logo on her chest.
Her stage entrance will have her walk in eating a doughnut before belching and saying "Whattup?" Her up-Taunt can have her shimmy her shoulders while saying "Woop-woop!", the first part referencing her first on-screen Fusion with Garnet in "Coach Steven" and the second part a random victory phrase she would shout in "Save The Light". Her side-Taunt can have her rapidly swing her whip while saying "I can do this!", referencing to the Season 5 episode "Reunited". Her down-Taunt can have her simply pull out a random item to eat. Doughnut, burrito, oil can, you name it; she'll eat it, though it won't heal any damage.
Her first victory animation can have her run up behind Steven and slap him on the back, shapeshifting into him and chasing him around the blank space, which references the Steven Universe: Future episode "Snowed In" as well as the game of "Steven Tag". Her second animation can have her fall from the sky and land on her Gem before getting up, her Gem slightly cracked and her eyes wonky, referencing the Season 1 episode "An Indirect Kiss". Her third and final animation can have her run up to the Famethyst, first seen in what I call the "Human Zoo Steven Bomb" from Season 4, as they catch her and throw her up and down in the air while laughing. We seriously need more Famethyst in this show.
Conclusion:
I think doing a moveset for Amethyst may have been the hardest one thus far. A lot of this, admittedly, does come down to a lack of imagination, but I really wanted to emphasise more of Amethyst's personality through her movesets like I had done for the other Gems thus far; Steven's nature as a pacifist, Garnet being more blunt and direct, and Spinel relying on her elasticity while being incredibly zany. With Amethyst, it was somewhat difficult to pin down exactly how her personality matches her fighting style. But while somewhat taxing, it was still fun to work her character traits into a fair chunk of her attacks and abilities. So, hopefully I was able to convey that while still making a fun moveset as a whole.
Regardless, I hope enjoyed this moveset for Amethyst. If you did, please let me know in your review. As a reminder, the requests are still open, so let me know who you'd like to see get the Smash treatment. I would also greatly appreciate it if you follow and favourite this story so that you know when the next chapter pops up. Also, special thanks to Omni Spectator for the request and the Gimmick idea. And your idea for Spinel was actually really damn smart. I may have to go back and write that in.
Otherwise, thank you for reading, and I'll see you next time!
XxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxX