The Ancient Minister (エインシャント卿 Einshanto kyō?) is a reluctant antagonist of Adventure Mode: The Subspace Emissary in Super Smash Bros. Brawl. Being the leader of the R.O.B. Squad and their deployments of Tabuu's Subspace Bombs, the Ancient Minister is considered to be a Tragic Villain (an antagonist who does not truly intend to be a villain), as he truthfully regrets his actions of bringing the World of Trophies into Subspace under the orders of Tabuu. He is later revealed to be R.O.B.
History[]
Background[]
Ancient Minister was once known as the Master Robot, who ruled over the Isle of the Ancients with the rest of the R.O.B.s. Tabuu held the entire island hostage, and the Master Robot is forced to ally with Tabuu to prevent any more R.O.B.s from dying. At this time, the Ancient Minister would begin to hide under his ceremonial robes of mourning and go by the title "Ancient Minister."
Tabuu used technology from the Isle of the Ancients to build Subspace Bombs and the Subspace Gunship and began production of them, the Subspace Bombs on the Isle and the Gunship in Subspace itself. Each Subspace Bomb required two R.O.B units to power it. These units, and a number of military specialized units became the R.O.B. Squad. A number of Subspace Bombs and sacrificial R.O.B units were deployed into the world, while a Subspace Bomb Factory was formed on the Isle and protected by most of the R.O.B Squad.
During the Subspace Emissary[]
The Ancient Minister is first seen at the Midair Stadium, where he deploys a Subspace Bomb, assimilating the location into Subspace. The Ancient Minister is the true foe encountered because the battle between Kirby and Mario at the Midair Stadium was done as a sport. This first attack was protected by the captured Battleship Halberd. Mario, Kirby, and (depending on who the player saved) Peach/Zelda escape.
The Ancient Minister attacks a number of different locations with Subspace Bombs. At The Plain, the Ancient Minister is chased by Mario and Pit, but both fighters cannot catch up to him. At The Battlefield Fortress, the Ancient Minister then detonates another Subspace Bomb, attracting the attention of Marth, Meta Knight, and Ike. Regardless of the group's efforts, the Ancient Minister manages to escape their grasp, but he is soon discovered by Mario and Pit once again, in addition to Link and Yoshi. The Ancient Minister escapes again, but not before detonating yet another Subspace Bomb, sending Castle Dedede into Subspace.
As the story progresses, the Ancient Minister is shown to be saddened by the loss of R.O.B. units, having several flashbacks about the lost R.O.B. units. Every location absorbed into Subspace causes a number of new characters to join a party that fights against the Subspace Army.
The Ancient Minister is not seen again until Samus and Pikachu corner him at a large room in the Subspace Bomb Factory. Samus and Pikachu are ready to fight, but are confused by the Ancient Minister's refusal to fight from being depressed at how many R.O.B.s have to be sacrificed to activate the Subspace Bombs. Soon after, Donkey Kong, Diddy Kong, Captain Falcon, and Olimar arrive, also battle-ready, but the Ancient Minister still refuses.
Ganondorf appears via hologram and orders the R.O.B. units to detonate all the Subspace Bombs at once. The Ancient Minster physically moves the R.O.B.s away from the Bombs, ordering them not to detonate the Subspace Bombs. Ganondorf reaches for a remote and hits a button on it, causing every R.O.B. unit's eyes to glow red and to have a more mechanical motion. The R.O.B. units, now unresponsive to the Ancient Minister's commands, continue to follow Ganondorf's orders to detonate the Subspace Bombs. The Ancient Minster continues to physically remove the R.O.B. units from the bombs, so Ganondorf orders the R.O.B.s to attack the Ancient Minister. The Ancient Minister is caught on fire by lasers shot from the R.O.B. units, and the Ancient Minister destroys the robes that he was wearing, putting out the flames and revealing himself as R.O.B. to the fighters. R.O.B. joins the other fighters and tries to help them remove the R.O.B units from the Subspace Bombs, although with no success. R.O.B. and the other fighters manage to defeat the Auroros and other Subspace Army members summoned by Ganondorf. Using the Falcon Flyer, the heroes escape the Subspace Bomb Factory before all of the Subspace Bombs detonate. The party escapes using Captain Falcon's Falcon Flyer, fighting Meta Ridley in the process. The Isle of the Ancients is engulfed by the bombs and enters Subspace. The Subspace Gunship exits out of it and begins attacking the party, who use various aerial vehicles to fight back and enter Subspace. The Master Robot confronts and is trophified by Tabuu along with the rest of the party, who are all restored by the likes of King Dedede, Ness, Luigi and Kirby. The Master Robot is a playable character for the Great Maze and the final fight with Tabuu, though he is referred to as R.O.B.
The party escapes using Captain Falcon's Falcon Flyer, fighting Meta Ridley in the process. The Isle of the Ancients is engulfed by the bombs and enters Subspace. The Subspace Gunship exits out of it and begins attacking the party, who use various aerial vehicles to fight back and enter Subspace. The Master Robot confronts and is trophified by Tabuu along with the rest of the party, who are all restored by the likes of King Dedede, Ness, Luigi and Kirby. The Master Robot is a playable character for the Great Maze and the final fight with Tabuu, though he is referred to as R.O.B.
Profiles[]
Super Smash Bros. Brawl trophy[]
| Image | Title | Appears in | How to unlock |
|---|---|---|---|
|
Ancient Minister | Wii Super Smash Bros. Brawl | Fulfilling the "Clear The Subspace Emissary" Challenge. |
| Description | |||
| The commander of the Subspace Army who uses Subspace Bombs to tear up this world. He was once the lord of this world, living on the floating Island of the Ancients with many robots-but the robots were taken hostage on Tabuu's orders. Now that their home's a bomb factory, the robots carry out their functions while enduring deep sadness caused by the loss of their colleagues. | |||
Super Smash Bros. Ultimate spirit[]
| General information | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| # | Name | Image | Series / game | Type | Slots | Class | Strength / effect(s) | How to obtain |
| 1114 | Ancient Minister | 
|
Super Smash Bros. Series | Primary | 2 | Ace | Neutral | World of Light (Mysterious Dimension); Spirit Board |
| Spirit battle | ||||||||
| Opponent(s) | Battle conditions | Stage | Song | |||||
| R.O.B. ×4 | Hazard: Screen Flip
|
Halberd | Final Destination - Super Smash Bros. Brawl | |||||
Trivia[]
- The Ancient Minister appears as a selectable picture in Wi-Fi mode for the player's logo.
- Although set on fire, the Ancient Minister seems unharmed after the R.O.B.s turn against him. This hints that his armor may have taken all the damage.
- The Ancient Minister gave into Tabuu's demands because he wanted to make sure he didn't destroy the R.O.B.s. Ironically, all of the R.O.B.s were destroyed except for the leader.
- The Ancient Minister's armor has add-ons to the regular R.O.B: increased durability, a laser canon mounted to its bottom, and some sort of anti-gravity device that lets it float.
- The Ancient Minister is one of 3 characters to be officially introduced twice in the Emissary, along with Samus and Zelda- once as the Ancient Minister, and again as R.O.B. Also, the Ancient Minister himself, in his disguise, is one of only three NPCs to be officially introduced, along with Master Hand and Tabuu.
External links[]
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