Villager (Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS and Wii U)


 * This article is about the Villager's appearance in Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS and Wii U. For other uses, see Villager.

Villager is the main character of the Animal Crossing series. He was revealed at E3 2013 and was the first newcomer to be revealed.

Strangths

 * Has many attacks with disjointed hitboxes, ranging from his Tilts to Smash Attacks.
 * Forward Smash can KO opponents at 60% if fully charged.
 * Down Smash is very fast and can bury enemies from both sides.
 * Very versatile Special Attacks:
 * Pocket can pick items and projectiles for later. It also grants some invincibility during most of its execution, functioning similar to a dodge. It can also "steal" some opponents items and preventing from using again (i.e. Diddy Kong's Banana Peel).
 * Lloid Rocket can be used for recovery and for attacking, as it causes good damage and knockback.
 * Timber is powerful when correctly used. The Watering and Lumbering steps can be used regardless of the player position when the tree is fully grown. Watering has pushboxes and Lumbering has hitboxes with decent knockback.
 * Huge radius for Grab.
 * Good horizontal and vertical recovering.
 * Can wall jump.
 * Has a powerful edge guarding with Lloid Rocket, Timber, Forward Smash and Forward/Back Aerials.

Weaknesses

 * Lightweight and floaty, being easy to attack and KO.
 * Very low range on many moves, most notably Forward and Down Smash Attacks.
 * Very weak Aerial Attacks.
 * Forward Smash can be reflected.
 * Some of his attacks have high startup and ending lags.
 * Grab has high ending lag if it misses.
 * Very weak throws.
 * Unreliable Special Meteor Smash due to randomness.
 * Few moves with KO power.
 * Timber requires a lot of preparation, and the tree can be destroyed by other characters.

Summary
The Villager is primarily a defensive, but very versatile character, with good variety of moves for every situation. Much like Mr. Game & Watch, he fights using various miscellaneous objects from his series to attack. With that in mind, many of his attacks have disjointed hitboxes, meaning he can gain the upper hand in some situations by not exposing parts of his body during attacks. His Grab is notable for having a large radius and range.

He has lots of fast moves, specially Aerials, that allows him to dish out damage really quickly and poke/interrupt opponents. His Forward and Back Aerials are notable for being one of the few ranged Aerials in the game that are not Special Attacks, having great range (traveling about less than half of Final Destination).

All the Villager's Smash Attacks have some notable use. While his Forward Smash seems weird and impractical, it's his most powerful attack, and a valuable tool for edge guarding, as once dropped from a ledge, the bowling ball will fall a good distance. His Up Smash might not be the most powerful in terms of knockback, but the resulting explosions from the fireworks have huge radius and hits multiple times, although can be hard to hit enemies if they're not directly over the Villager. His Down Smash is one of the most useful in the games as it is very fast and buries opponents, as well being a good setup to follow up with a Forward Smash against opponents at higher percentage, as they will stay buried for longer.

His most notable and unique for his Neutral Special Attack, Pocket, which allows him to store items for later use. The possibilities of this move are huge, as he can pick many items, as well other character's projectiles ranging from Link's Bombs to Samus' Charge Shot. When the projectiles the Villager picked are thrown back, they are 1.5x stronger than the originals. Another notable use is the huge amount of invincibility frames the move grants. What differences this from normal dodge is that when used with some momentum canceling techniques, Pocket can greatly improve his recovering and protect him from edge guarding. It should be noted that held items stay on Villager's Pocket for 30 seconds, and if not used within this time limit it will disappear forever.

Lloid Rocket is another very useful attack, as the Villager can either mount on it to help him recover or just let go the attack. It is powerful enough to KO at higher percentages, and is useful to shield the villager from attacks, making it useful to use Timber at a safer range. It is also a very powerful edge-guard tool, being on more obstacle to the opponent while the Villager uses Timber and Forward Smash. Players can also use Lloid Rocket at an opponent grabbing the ledge, causing a stage spike.

However, the Villager's weaknesses lies in his low of range and lack of KO moves, with his few powerful attacks requiring him to be really close (i.e. Forward Smash). His Aerial Attacks, while useful for spacing, lack KO Power (unless the player can get three turnips on Up and Down Aerials), meaning his air game is mainly for poking and preventing enemy approach. Also, most of his good moves come with huges drawback. Ballon Trip, while good for recovering as the player can control the trajectory, is easy to overcome as other players can pop the ballons and render him helpless. Timber can cause massive knockback if the player manages to chop down the tree and hit opponents, but it takes a long time to grow the tree and chop it at the opponent in the right time. However, while opponents can destroy the tree, it takes a lot of hits to destroy as opposed to Villager's two axe swings. Also, when used correctly, chopping the tree can even Meteor Smash opponents.

Overall, the Villager gameplay is a bit unorthodox, but he is a very good character; the player must learn to overcome his weaknesses, time his attacks properly and learn the gimmicks behind his moves. Combining all his varied tools, the Villager has a massively powerful edge guarding, one of the best (if not the best) in the game.

Ground Attacks

 * Neutral Attack - Villager jabs quickly with a pair of boxing gloves. It can be be used infinitely, but it doesn't feature a finishing move.
 * Forward Tilt - Pulls an umbrella out and swings it from his side.
 * Up Tilt - Villager pulls out a stick and swings it above him. This move hits twice. A bit slow and with low range.
 * Down Tilt - Plucks grass out of the ground. This move sends opponents flying upwards, similar to Peach's Down Tilt. Very low range.
 * Dash Attack - Villager dives to the ground holding a potted plant, hitting the opponent with the plant. The plant slides a little way before hitting the ground and breaking. The distance the pot travels when he falls is random, but doesn't affect knockback.

Smash Attacks

 * Side Smash - Villager holds a bowling ball in front of him and drops it to the ground. Very slow and with extremely low horizontal range. When used by the ledge it covers great vertical distance straight down.
 * Up Smash - Villager places a firework launcher onto the ground and charges. Fireworks then shoot right above him and explode. It hits multiple times, with the final hit causing considerable knockback.
 * Down Smash - Digs into the ground using a shovel. This move is done on both sides, burying anyone caught in the attack. Very fast.

Aerial Attacks

 * Neutral Aerial - Villager does a sideflip while airborne. It has a considerable long hitbox and a quite useful Sex Kick.
 * Forward Aerial - Shoots a projectile using a slingshot. The damage and knockback for this attack appear to ramp up at close range, despite featuring a projectile. Travels great distance.
 * Back Aerial - Shoots a projectile backwards using a slingshot, much like his Forward Aerial.
 * Up Aerial - Randomly swings upwards with one, two or three turnips. The number of turnips used is between one and three, and is random. One does little damage, while two does medium. Three does a fairly large amount of damage if timed properly.
 * Down Aerial - Randomly swings downwards with one, two or three turnips. This works the same way as the Up Aerial, but the only difference is that this attack hits downwards. Hitting with three turnips causes Meteor Smash.

Grab, Pummel, and Throws

 * Grab - The Villager uses a bug-catching net to grab his opponents. The bug-net has a large radius in which it can execute a grab.
 * Pummel - The Villager will start attacking whoever was caught in the bug-net.
 * Throws - The Villager proceeds to throw the opponent in one of 4 directions depending on the direction chosen.

Taunts

 * Up - Gets on his tiptoes and cheers, putting his hands up.
 * Side - Does a little dance (the Shrunk Funk Shuffle), waving his arms and feet around.
 * Down - Pokes the ground with a stick.

In competitive play
To be added

Tips for Villager Players

 * The player must learn to manage some of the Villager's moves, as Timber's sapling and tree, as well items held in his Pocket all have set durations before disappearing (14 and 30 seconds, respectively).
 * The Villager has a handful of tools to keep enemies at bay and poke them, frustrating their advances. Forward and Back Aerials are prime examples, as the attacks have pretty high range as well being quite fast. However, they have considerable landing lag, which can decrease their performance. They are also good to use to counter edge guarding, specially against opponents who leap outside the platform to land aerials.
 * A Villager player shouldn't spend too much time in the air, as all his KO moves are ground attacks. Aerial combat should be used for poking opponents and leading them into traps, to attack with Lloid Rocket, or to prevent recovery with Forward/Down Aerials. His Meteor Smash can be used reliably in a short hop near the edge, but since his Down Aerial pulls a random number of turnips, the chances of landing the Meteor (three turnips) are quite low.
 * Forward Smash is not be used carelessly; its extremely low horizontal range (lowest in the game) allied with moderate ending lag make it a very easy move to punish. Since the move is pretty powerful even when uncharged, using it carefully increases its power due stale-move negation. The player should always save and use it when:
 * After successfully burying opponents with Down Smash. It should be done against enemies with high percentage since they'll stay buried for longer.
 * Edge guarding, using it by the edge, as it has a very long range when used this way.
 * Using when opponents side dodge behind the player. However the player must anticipate and calculate the opponent's distance (it is best used against enemies with low range).
 * Lloid Rocket is a powerful attack that can be used for both attack and defense:
 * It's a very spammable move (although the Villager can only use it again after it explodes or go off screen) that can be used to shield the Villager while he uses Timber.
 * It allows the player to rush against enemies and punish them if they try to dodge, block or jump over. The player can also trick opponents into the move by mounting on it but dropping soon after; the opponent will most likely try to hit a helpless Villager (but if used from a safe distance, the player can act before the enemy reaches him).
 * It's a great tool to use for edge guarding, as it is one more nuisance the opponents has to deal with, and allows the Villager to punish should the enemy manage to dodge it.
 * Timber is arguably one of the most versatile moves in the game. It can be used for various situations:
 * It is a extremely powerful edge guard tool. The player can grow the tree near the ledge, and cut it when the opponent is trying to recover. Using this in combination with Forward Smash is lethal, allowing to frustrate the opponent when he/she is about to grab the ledge.
 * A fully grown tree can be used as a shield to absorb incoming damage. This allows the Villager to play more defensively against opponents that use projectiles.
 * Instead of cutting the tree, the player can simply leave the fully grown tree at the stage and attack using Down B again; he will swing the axe regardless of being close to the tree or not. The axe swing has very low range and considerable lag, but it is very powerful in terms of knockback. This is specially useful when used in the air, as the Villager lacks aerial finishing moves.
 * The player can use the move to lure opponents, as it takes a while to plant, water and grow the tree grown completely, leaving the Villager vulnerable. However, the player can interrupt the steps and easily retaliate the rushing opponent.
 * It is also possible to lure the opponent to make the tree grow right below him/her, which can be used as a surprise attack, since the tree sprouting has a powerful hitbox.

Villager
''This energetic young man from a peaceful town in the Animal Crossing series is eager to make his Smash Bros. debut! His Balloon Trip recovery lets him fly like a character from Balloon Fight. The Villager sets out to answer that age-old question: If a tree falls on the battlefield and foes are beneath it, do they get launched?''
 * NGC - Animal Crossing (09/2002)
 * 3DS - Animal Crossing: New Leaf (06/2013)

Villager (Alt)
''Just a normal girl living a normal life in a normal town-her special moves, however, are anything but. She can pocket items, projectiles, and even beams, and then pull them out at a moment's notice. Her down special lets her plant a tree, water it, and chop it down. If she leaves the tree standing, she can use the axe against foes.''

Trivia

 * Sakurai initially considered adding the Villager to the previous installment, however, he felt he was not needed.
 * Both Mii Fighters and the Villager were characters Sakurai considered adding to the previous installment.
 * The Villager's feature trailer is the shortest of all the newcomers (since it only shows him opening the letter inviting him to Smash Bros. and later using his net on Mario), considering it is also a trailer for the game itself.
 * He has an alternate costume that allows for one to play as the female Villager.
 * This makes the Villager one of 7 fighters to have alternate costumes in the Smash Bros. Universe. The others being Wario, Wii Fit Trainer, Little Mac, Olimar & Pikmin, Robin and Bowser Jr.
 * This also makes the Villager one of four fighters to have an alternate playable gender. The others being Wii Fit Trainer, Robin & Bowser Jr.
 * The Villager is the only character in the game whose grab fully envelops the opponent.
 * The Villager Forward Smash has the highest vertical range (when used from by a ledge) and the lowest horizontal range of all Forward Smashes in the series.
 * The Villager is the only new character to appear on both version's box art.
 * The move Balloon Trip for the villager was likely chosen due to Balloon Fight being the most common collectible NES game in the original Animal Crossing.
 * Timber is the only attack in the game that is technically 3-in-1, or rather, a Special Attack that has 3 steps: plant seed, watering and lumbering.
 * Villager is the first character to have aerial attacks that vary in power each time it is used (Up and Down Aerials).
 * Ever since it was revealed that the Villager would be in the upcoming release, there has been an internet meme saying that the Villager is a psychotic, ruthless murderer. This was because of his arsenal (mostly his axe), the fact that he gets a gleam in his eye during the preview of the game and because he has a constant smile on his face, in stark contrast to the rampant violence he inflicts.
 * Villager can pocket Olimars' purple pikmin, but not the others