Villager (むらびと, Murabito) is a playable character in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, officially confirmed on June 12th, 2018. Villager is classified as Fighter #45, the first fighter number of the SSB4 veterans.
Villager is an unorthodox character with several unique moves, including several standard attacks that are actually projectiles, similar to Mega Man.
Villager possesses a strong camping game. His forward and backward aerials are long-ranged slingshot attacks which, in combination with Lloid Rocket, are great for harassing opponents from a distance. Opposing projectiles can either be Pocketed or blocked by a tree; Pocket can also be used to "steal" character-generated items such as R.O.B.'s Gyro, preventing them from being used as long as Villager keeps them and thus further weakening the opponent's ability to compete with him at range. One caveat, though, is that Villager is a character of below-average mobility; in particular, he has the fourth slowest dashing speed in the game (albeit still noticeably faster than the bottom three), so once the opponent closes the gap it can be difficult for Villager to create space again. Despite this, Villager possesses three sex kicks out of his five aerial moves of which all have quick startups, giving him a relatively easy time knocking away an enemy if they approach to point blank range.
Should camping not be desirable, Villager's projectiles can also serve as good approach tools. In particular, launching Lloid Rocket and then running behind it is a strategy that limits the opponent's options and provides a chance to punish their reaction. Using his down aerial in a short hop is also a good approach option, as it is a disjointed attack with little lag.
Despite being a middleweight character, Villager's recovery is one of the best in the game thanks to Balloon Trip. This move allows him to fly a great distance at a respectable speed, and is surprisingly difficult to gimp; although the balloons can be popped to render Villager helpless, doing so requires two separate hits, and hitting Villager himself will allow him to simply use the move again. Lloid Rocket further bolsters Villager's recovery, as launching it stalls his descent while threatening edgeguarders. Alternatively, Villager can ride Lloid back to the stage, although this is punishable and can be reflected.
Villager is also a very potent edgeguarder, with a wealth of options to finish recovering foes. His forward smash allows him to drop a bowling ball from the ledge; this is a powerful attack that can be difficult for an opponent recovering low to avoid. If the opponent's recovery is slow enough or a tree is set up beforehand, Timber can also be used from the ledge for an even more devastating attack, or to reduce an opponent's options should they grab the ledge. Alternatively, Villager can jump offstage and pursue with an aerial attack; his down aerial is a powerful meteor smash should it produce three turnips, while a clean hit from his slingshot has enough knockback to be deadly near the blast line, and is generally the best choice against an opponent recovering high. Many of his aerials are sex kicks as well which, when combined with his extremely long-ranged recovery, allows him to gimp opponents pretty easily.
However, Villager's ability to set up edgeguards in the first place is hampered by his slow grab. Although his net has relatively long range, it is one of the laggiest grabs in the game, making it very punishable. As such, attempting to throw an opponent offstage is a risky prospect, and Villager's ability to shield-grab is quite limited, although he does have other good out of shield options, such as his neutral aerial.
Outside of edgeguarding, Villager has multiple powerful KO moves, but none of them are easy to land from a neutral situation. His forward smash, while powerful, is a laggy and short-ranged attack when used onstage. Lloid Rocket has KO power when ridden, but this is slow and predictable. Timber's axe requires a tree to be present and has considerable ending lag, while using the tree itself is slow and requires staying in one place. Villager's up aerial is a strong juggling move and can score KOs off the upper blast line, but only if luck permits. Pocketing and throwing back a sufficiently strong projectile makes for a deadly attack, generally enough to KO at mid percentages and even instantly shatter full shields, but this is matchup-dependent and will not be easily allowed by a smart opponent. Overall, if the opponent maintains control of center stage, Villager can have trouble finding KO opportunities.
Villager is considered a solid character by many in competitive play. However, outside of Japan, his representation is rather poor.
Villager received relatively few direct changes in their transition to Ultimate, resulting in their core playstyle remaining relatively unchanged, similarly to Mario. When it comes to direct changes, despite being a high tier in SSB4 (25th out of 55 characters), Villager has received a mix of buffs and nerfs, but was directly buffed overall. However, while Villager has received some noteworthy buffs that make their playstyle easier to execute, the indirect changes to Ultimate's engine have noticeably toned down its efficacy compared to the rest of the cast, causing them to be overall nerfed.
Regarding Villager's improvements, his camping abilities have been considerably buffed. Pocket not only now stores projectiles and items indefinitely, but also has less ending lag after pocketing them, and Villager can now pocket items with a grab. Lloid Rocket has notably increased knockback at low percentages, allowing Villager to win the neutral game easier. Villager's aerials all have less landing lag, and down aerial now has a sweetspot that always meteor smashes, instead of doing it if they use three turnips; these changes further improve their dominant air game. Villager's ground game has seen a few improvements as well: their jab has now a rapid jab and a finisher, significantly improving safety its damage racking ability, down tilt's sourspot is stronger, their dash attack is much faster, their up smash connects better and has improved KO potential and down smash has increased range and more base knockback, making it more reliable for burying and harder to escape from. Villager's grab game also has been improved: their grabs are much faster and can pocket items, while their throws have both better edge guarding potential (forward and back throws) and combo potential (down throw). Villager's previously mediocre mobility has also been improved, while the universal 3-frame jumpsquat further improving their combo potential, notably with their throws. Lastly, the changes made to air dodging noticeably benefit Villager, as they can more easily punish opponents after a mistake, giving their aerial attacks further utility and notably improving their edge-guarding ability.
However, Villager also received some notable direct nerfs. Most of Villager's ground attacks also have more ending lag and/or less range, while the raw power throughout their standard moveset has been toned down, notably on their forward smash and all tilt attacks; for the latter point, up tilt is no longer among the strongest of its kind in the game. Their moveset's lower raw power is also exacerbated by the weakening of rage, which forces Villager to rely much more on edge-guarding to take a stock. Down aerial also had its startup nearly doubled, making it harder for Villager to combat juggling. Their previously heavily disjointed pivot grab has much less range, counterbalancing some of the benefits their grab game has received. The changes to jab this remove its ability to reliably jab cancel and removes their kill confirm from Smash 4 to Timber's axe. While Villager's recovery remains incredibly long-distanced, it has been nerfed nonetheless, as the helium for Balloon Trip now takes longer to recharge, which allows opponents to edgeguard Villager much more easily. Villager is also noticeably lighter, which further hurts their survivability and doesn't allow them to make use of rage as effectively.
However, while their direct nerfs are not as significant as their buffs, Villager is significantly harmed by the indirect changes to gameplay mechanics, likely more than any other character. Villager's floaty physics and camping-focused playstyle, whose core is essentially unchanged from Smash 4, fare worse with the universal changes made to Ultimate's engine, as the universal increase in mobility prioritizes faster-paced, more aggressive gameplay; most characters are now able to get past Villager's zoning tools with less issue, while Villager's own faster mobility doesn't properly compensate for this. Alongside with nerfs to Balloon Trip, edge-guarding being more prominent again further hurts Villager's survivability. Most projectile-based veteran characters, such as Young Link, Pac-Man and Duck Hunt have also received buffs that address some of their issues against opposing camping, whereas newcomers Simon and Richter have camping abilities that are just as strong, alongside greater range on their standard moveset. Combined with the nerfs to their raw power and the weakening of rage, most if not all of these characters are now capable of overcoming Villager, further reducing the effectiveness of their strong camping game despite being greatly buffed.
Overall, Villager's gameplan is largely the same as in Smash 4 as a result of receiving less direct changes than most of the cast; however, the significantly changed environment renders their playstyle much less effective, meaning Villager fares noticeably worse in Ultimate than in Smash 4. Some professionals think that Villager's playstyle has became so much less effective that they are potentially a low-tier character, whereas previously they were a high-tier in Smash 4. This reflects to their tournament representation, as they are an even rarer pick in tournaments than before. However, while Villager's tournament results are below average in amount, they have had a few strong results thanks to the efforts of players including BobbyWasabi, Panda Bair, and particularly kept. As a result, Villager's true viability in tournaments is up for debate.
Due to the aesthetic used in Ultimate, Villager's model features a more subdued color scheme. His facial features appear less realistic and "faded"; the shadow of his hair has been adjusted, and his skin tone is slightly darker. Additionally, his clothing features subtle detailing. These changes are also expressed in all of Villager's costumes.
Villager's seventh and eight alternate costumes now have a dark skin tone.
Villager always faces the screen regardless of which direction he turns, causing all of his animations to be mirrored while altering some.
Villager's dash animation has been altered.
Clothing such as Villager's shorts have more movement while fighting.
Villager now blinks during the clapping animation on the results screen.
Villager's jab is a neutral infinite and has a finisher, a straight jab. This significantly improves it damage racking ability and makes it safer.
Neutral attack has received several changes to connect more reliably:
Both hits have higher hitstun modifiers (2 → 7 (hit 1), 2/0 → 2/11 (hit 2)).
The first hit has larger hitboxes (2.5u/2.5u/2.5u → 2.5u/3u/3u/3u), with an additional hitbox that launches opponents towards Villager like the previous farthest hitbox. Both of these hitboxes cover different spots in the Z-axis (X offset: 0u → -1.5u—1.5u), making them less likely to miss opponents during certain animations.
The first hit uses extended hitboxes, with the closest one stretching horizontally (Z offset: 6.5u → 6.5u—7.5u) and the rest stretching vertically (Y offset: 5.5u → 5.5u—4.5u), improving its range.
The second hit has received an additional hitbox, which shares its vertical and horizontal placement with the previous farthest hitbox, but covers a different spot in the Z-axis (X offset: 0u → -1u—1u). Both hitboxes also have less base knockback (15 → 10) and have been stretched vertically (Y offset: 5.5u → 5.5u—4u).
The jab to axe kill confirm Villager had in Smash 4 is no longer possible due to the new finisher, removing their jab cancel mixups.
Forward tilt deals much less knockback scaling, but much more base knockback (30 base/90 scaling → 80/50). This makes it safer on hit at low percents, but significantly hinders its KO potential at higher percents.
Forward tilt launches at a higher angle (361° → 45°), further reducing its KO potential.
Up smash deals more damage (1% → 1.5% (hits 2-5), 4% → 4.6% (hit 6); total: 11% → 13.6%) and the final hit has more knockback scaling (205 → 220), noticebly improving its KO potential.
The multihits have had their large hitbox replaced with four smaller ones (7u → 2.8/2.8u/2.8u/2.8u), increasing their range.
The first hit and final hit have smaller hitboxes (6u/6u → 4u/6u (hit 1), 10u → 9u (final)).
Down aerial has a hitbox on the clean hit that will always meteor smash, regardless of how many turnips are used, greatly increasing its reliability and edgeguarding potential.
It has a larger initial auto-cancel window (frames 1-7 → 1-10).
It has less ending lag (FAF 46 → 43).
Down aerial has more startup lag (frame 8 → 11), no longer being one of the fastest meteor smashes in the game.
Back throw releases the opponent slightly later (frame 10 → 11) with its total duration unchanged, reducing its ending lag.
Back throw has much more base knockback but much less knockback scaling (18 base/110 scaling → 46/88), making it safer at lower percents, and leaving its KO percentage right at the ledge largely unchanged, but noticeably weakening its KO potential from further away.
Down throw has more base knockback, but lower knockback scaling (60 base/80 scaling → 78/60). Overall, it loses its combo potential earlier.
Down throw releases the opponent later (frame 16 → 18) with its duration unchanged, reducing its ending lag by two frames, further improving its combo potential.
Pocketed projectiles no longer vanish after 30 seconds and can be kept indefinitely.
Pocket throw has more startup lag (frame 5 → 9).
This gives the move one less frame ending lag since its duration was not fully compensated (FAF 27 → 30).
Similarly to Monado Arts, while Villager has a pocketed item or projectile, the item/projectile will appear in a display above the damage meter, making Pocket easier to use but also allowing opponents to know what item is pocketed.
Lloid Rocket has slightly less ending lag (FAF 38 → 36).
Lloid has a shocked expression when hit.
Lloid has increased base knockback, but reduced knockback scaling (30 (base)/100 (scaling) → 65/75), making it safer on hit and increasing its KO potential at center stage, but reducing it near the ledge.
Lloid launches at a slightly higher angle (55° → 60°), hindering its edgeguarding potential.
Balloon Trip recharges helium slower, and if the helium is low enough it will only spawn one balloon instead of two, slowing Villager's ascent and making them more susceptible to edgeguarding.
This change boosted the firework launcher's base knockback to connect to the explosion more reliably. However, it was increased so much that it can sometimes launch the opponent out of the explosion, making the move miss entirely.
Neutral attack has received several changes to connect more reliably:
Both hits have higher hitstun modifiers (2 → 7 (hit 1), 2/0 → 2/11 (hit 2)).
The first hit has larger hitboxes (2.5u/2.5u/2.5u → 2.5u/3u/3u/3u), with an additional hitbox that launches opponents towards Villager like the previous farthest hitbox. Both of these hitboxes cover different spots in the Z-axis (X offset: 0u → -1.5u—1.5u), making them less likely to miss opponents during certain animations.
The first hit uses extended hitboxes, with the closest one stretching horizontally (Z offset: 6.5u → 6.5u—7.5u) and the rest stretching vertically (Y offset: 5.5u → 5.5u—4.5u), improving its range.
The second hit has received an additional hitbox, which shares its vertical and horizontal placement with the previous farthest hitbox, but covers a different spot in the Z-axis (X offset: 0u → -1u—1u). Both hitboxes also have less base knockback (15 → 10) and have been stretched vertically (Y offset: 5.5u → 5.5u—4u).
Up tilt:
The move grants intangibility on Villager's head and arm during frames 7-25, giving it better anti-air utility.
The first hit's aerial-only hitbox has gained a hitstun modifier of 2, allowing it to connect more reliably into the second hit.
Up smash deals more damage (1% → 1.5% (hits 2-5), 4% → 4.6% (hit 6); total: 11% → 13.6%) with no compensation on knockback, improving its KO potential.
Up aerial deals more base knockback (30 → 40).
Down aerial has less startup lag (frame 14 → 11), with its total duration reduced as well (FAF 46 → 43).
A quick series of alternating punches with boxing gloves that end with a strong straight jab at the end. It no longer jab cancel because of the new finisher. However, it can rack up a great amount of damage quickly. This is a possible nod to the playable Punch-OutNES game in the original Animal Crossing.
Waves a stick upwards in an arc above their head, swinging it back and forth thrice. Hits twice, with very long duration and the second hit having vertical knockback that can KO at high percentages. The back hit typically misses smaller characters.
Pulls a weed out of the ground, knocking foes upwards. Decently fast, coming out on frame 9. Like up tilt, it hits hard for a tilt of its speed, being able to KO at high percentages. Has deceptively long disjointed range, though it is the strongest close-up.
Falls over and drops a potted sapling, which flies a short distance. The pot will either shatter instantly upon hitting the ground, or it will bounce off the ground once. Its hitbox disappears if the latter happens, causing the potted sapling to deal no damage after the bounce. The pot deals less damage if it hits the opponent while it flies, but this gives the move a good range. It can be dropped from ledges to allow it to fly further, making for a possible edge guarding option. However, the potted sapling will disappear after traveling a set distance.
Leans forwards and drops a bowling ball. It is safe on shield and has enough knockback to KO reliably around 95% (60% fully charged). However, it has a poor horizontal range and noticeable startup as well as high-end lag. Notably, the ball can fall off edges if the Villager stands near one, making it great for edge-guarding if the opponent recovers low. The bowling ball does slightly more damage and knockback if it falls a certain distance before hitting opponents. However, as the bowling ball is considered a projectile, it can be reflected even at point-blank range.
Detonates a Fountain Firework from Animal Crossing: New Leaf, creating an explosion above themself. It has a fairly large hitbox and pulls opponents to the center of the blast, although it does not always connect properly and opponents can be knocked out of the move by any of the first few hits, especially at very high percentages. It can KO most characters at about 120%. Interestingly, the blast can be reflected, though Villager won't take any damage due to the hitbox height.
Takes out a shovel and digs in front, then behind themself. Fast startup for a smash attack, making it a decent out of shield option. It can bury grounded opponents; opponents in the air instead have weak knockback inflicted to them. This is the only smash attack in the series that cannot KO when grounded. It has moderate ending lag, and it can follow-up into Village's strongest attacks like forward smash if the opponent is at high percentages.
Does a cartwheel. Acts as a decently long sex kick that deals good knockback in the first frame. Has a very fast startup (hits on frame 3), allowing Villager to use it as an extremely safe out-of-shield option and combo breaker, and the length of time its hitbox stays out also gives Villager a lot of protection.
Fires a slingshot pellet from Animal Crossing: Wild World that travels slightly less than half the length of Final Destination. The pellet deals low knockback and deals even less knockback if hit in the final frames, similar to Mega Man's neutral air. The pellet does moderate knockback at point-blank range, which is deadly especially offstage.
Like the forward aerial, but aimed backward. It has a slightly slower startup but deals more knockback and damage compared to their forward aerial. Useful for KOing opponents if Villager's forward air becomes too stale to do so reliably due to excessive use.
Randomly swings one, two, or three turnips upward. Damage depends on the number of turnips, and the attack acts as a sex kick with a very long duration. High power with three turnips, and it's fast, coming out on frame 6. Villager will swing three turnips in Home-Run Contest.
Randomly swings one, two, or three turnips downwards. The same damage values as up aerial, and is also a sex kick. It comes out slightly slower but is still quite fast. A clean hit with any amount of turnips can meteor smash if the ends of the turnips hit the opponent; the early hits of the turnip that do not meteor instead have high horizontal knockback. The late hit can be used to initiate combos (such as into neutral attack, forward tilt, and almost any projectile Villager might have pocketed) if it is used while landing, due to the small amount of horizontal knockback from the sex kick even at very high damage. May trip opponents at low percents if hit clean. Villager will swing three turnips in Home-Run Contest.
Traps opponents in a net with an overhead swing. Long-range, but has considerable startup and noticeable ending lag, making it punishable if missed. Villager can also pocket items using the net.
Turns around swinging their net horizontally. One of the strongest back throws in the game, KOing even the heaviest characters reliably at around 153% without rage and with optimal DI from the opponent. It's also very effective for edge guards due to its altered knockback.
Turns net horizontally and slams it into the ground. Knocks opponent upwards. Can combo into a forward tilt at very low damage on most characters as well as aerials from low to mid percentages. A good way to combo into a pocketed projectile.
Villager grabs a nearby projectile or item, stowing it away; using the move again will release the projectile or item with greatly increased damage and knockback, acting as a delayed reflector. The villager is granted brief intangibility during the first few frames of this move. Any pocketed items or projectiles are shown in a little display above the damage meter.
Launches the Gyroid Lloid sideways as a relatively slow projectile. Villager can choose to ride on it, which increases the damage and knockback dealt. Using the move in this fashion leaves Villager helpless after disembarking unless the rocket explodes from hitting an opponent or damageable object. Additionally, if the Lloid hits a wall, runs out of fuel, or is hit by a strong enough move, it will explode much more powerfully than normal, doing high flame damage and knockback. This fiery explosion can kill quite early, even on heavy characters.
Villager puts on a hat with two balloons (both of a set color determined by the player's number) attached to it. Pressing or holding the special move button will cause Villager to flap their arms and gain height. After a few seconds (or by pressing the standard attack button), the balloons will detach from Villager, leaving them helpless. The balloons can also be popped; losing one impairs Villager's potential vertical height, and losing both leaves them helpless. After using Balloon Trip, there is a period in which the helium has to recharge before it can be used effectively once more; if the helium is too low, then only one balloon will spawn.
A move of 3 different attacks in order, where Villager plants, waters, and chops down a tree, which hits opponents as it falls, even bouncing off near edges to lower areas. However, the tree can be destroyed by other characters and is a fairly slow move to use altogether - using the move once only advances through one of the four stages (plant, water, first chop, second chop), so completing the attack takes four total usages in the same location. The tree itself is extremely powerful, even as it grows. The ax can be swung during the chop stages regardless of distance from the tree, as long as that Villager's grown tree currently exists on the map. Has a chance of creating a woodchip or a rare chance of spawning a fruit once chopped down.
When activated, Tom Nook and the Nooklings come and build a house, trapping opponents that got caught in the Final Smash. Once the house is completed, it explodes, doing high knockback and damage.
In the early metagame, players noted that the changes to game mechanics, which increases the pace of the game and encourages more aggressive gameplay over camping, harmed Villager since most characters that once struggled against his camping gameplay can now get through it much easier. Furthermore, other campy characters that were once considered to be inferior to Villager, such as Mega Man, Pac-Man, and Duck Hunt, received noticeable buffs and benefits from the game mechanics. As such, Villager suffered from minimal representation, and players considered him to be a lower-mid or low-tier character. Despite this, thanks to the efforts of players such as Panda Bair and kept, some players have acknowledged Villager's strengths and believe that it prevents him from falling too far behind. As such, Villager’s current viability remains questionable.
Villager fights against characters who appear unsuited for battle, such as Isabelle and Wii Fit Trainer. This is likely a reference to the similar reason for Villager not being included in Brawl.[1]
The default male Villager was among the fighters that were summoned to fight against the army of Master Hands. He was also present on the cliffside when Galeem unleashed its beams of light. He is seen panicking alongside Duck Hunt and a composed Wii Fit Trainer. He was vaporized and placed under Galeem's imprisonment along with the rest of the fighters, excluding Kirby.
During the mode itself, the default male Villager can be unlocked early on shortly after rescuing Mario, where the player arrives at a crossroads and has the choice to rescue him, Marth or Sheik. If one of the others is rescued first, Villager's path will be blocked by a force field created by Master Hand, which will disappear upon defeating a boss or can be circumvented by looping back to the other side.
Male Villager's fighter spirit can be obtained by completing Classic Mode. It is also available periodically for purchase in the shop for 300 Gold, but only after Villager has been unlocked. Unlocking Villager in World of Light allows the player to preview the first spirit below in the Spirit List under the name "???". As a fighter spirit, it cannot be used in Spirit Battles and is purely aesthetic. Female Villager also has a fighter spirit of her own, available through the shop. Each fighter spirit has an alternate version that replaces them with their artwork in Ultimate.
•Defeat the main fighter to win •The enemy will occasionally be invincible after a little while •Hostile assist trophies will appear after a little while
The two cut Villager costumes (top) and the final costumes (bottom).
Villager is the first SSB4 newcomer to be confirmed for Ultimate. Coincidentally, Villager was the first newcomer revealed for SSB4.
Villager is the only SSB4 newcomer to appear on the game's boxart.
Villager's body and lighting on the boxart for Ultimate is flipped when compared to his appearance in the panorama, with only his face facing the same direction.
In the E3 demo of the game, Villager's portrait, strangely, used their in-game model as opposed to the render made for the final game. This was also the case with Link, Mario and Pikachu. This has since been fixed.
Coincidentally, all four of these characters were playable in the Super Smash Bros. for 3DS demo.
In the demo for Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, Villager's 7th and 8th costumes had a light skin tone, just like in SSB4. However, in the final game, the skin was changed to be a darker tone.
In Spanish, German, French, and Italian, the name tag and voice clip from the announcer on the victory screen is slightly different from the one used on the character select screen, instead featuring a noticeable translation of "the" (respectively, "el Aldeano"/"la Aldeana", "der Bewohner"/"die Bewohnerin", "l'Habitant"/"l'Habitante", "le Villageois"/"la Villageoise", and "l'Abitante"). This trait is shared with Wii Fit Trainer, Inkling, Pokémon Trainer, Hero, the Ice Climbers, Zombie, Enderman, and the Mii Fighters.
Villager is one of the only two characters who can be the first character unlocked in more than one way. These being taking Villager's route in the World of Light or completing Pikachu's Classic Mode. The other character who holds this distinction is Ness.
When Villager uses their Up Special, the color of the balloons that appear depends on who controls the character (gray for CPU, red for P1, blue for P2, etc.). Isabelle also shares this trait.
Similar to Wario's Chomp, characters trapped in Villager's grab appear to have the upper half of their models removed, presumably so that even large characters can fit inside the net. This also happens with Isabelle.
Villager is the second most common enemy fighter in spirit battles, as they currently appear in 42 spirit battles. The most common enemy fighter in spirit battles is Kirby, who currently appears in 58 spirit battles.
Due to the aesthetic used in Ultimate, Villager's model features a more subdued color scheme. His facial features appear less realistic and "faded"; the shadow of his hair has been adjusted, and his skin tone is slightly darker. Additionally, his clothing features subtle detailing. These changes are also expressed in all of Villager's costumes.
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