Ancient Minister

The Ancient Minister (, Ancient Minister) is the titular central antagonist for the majority of the Subspace Emissary. He appears to be the field leader of the Subspace Army and controls the R.O.B. Squad and their deployments of Subspace Bombs. Initially appearing to be the titular central antagonist of the story, it later transpires that the Ancient Minister is actually a tragic villain, as he was forced to bring the World of Trophies into Subspace under the orders of Tabuu.

Pre-Subspace Emissary
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. Although the Island was originally peaceful, Tabuu took over and threatened the R.O.B.s with violence, forcing the Master Robot to follow his orders. The Master Robot, in his own shame, disguised himself and took on the name Ancient Minister.

Tabuu used technology from the Isle of the Ancients to build Subspace Bombs and the Subspace Gunship and began production of the Subspace Bombs on the Isle of the Ancients and the Subspace Gunship. Each Subspace Bomb required two R.O.B. units to be sacrificed for unknown reasons. 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 the Subspace Bomb Factory was formed on the Isle of the Ancients and protected by most of the R.O.B Squad.

During the Subspace Emissary
The Ancient Minister is the first real enemy encountered, as the fight between and  seemed to be friendly in nature. The Ancient Minister deploys a Subspace Bomb in the Midair Stadium, assimilating it into Subspace. This first attack was protected by the captured Battleship Halberd. Mario, Kirby and (depending on who the player saved) / escape. He then attacks a number of different locations with Subspace Bombs. As the story progresses, the Ancient Minister is shown to be saddened by the loss of R.O.B. units, having a number of flashbacks about them detonating Subspace Bombs.

Every location absorbed into Subspace causes a number of new characters to join a party that fights against the Subspace Army. Eventually, the party enters a large room in the with a number of R.O.B. units and Subspace Bombs inside, as well as the Ancient Minister. appears via hologram and orders the R.O.B. units to detonate all of the Subspace Bombs at once. The Ancient Minister physically moves his minions away from the Bombs and orders them not to detonate them. Ganondorf then reaches for a remote and hits a button on it, causing all of the R.O.B units' eyes to glow red and their motion to become more mechanical. The R.O.B. units, now unresponsive to the Ancient Minister's commands, continue to follow Ganondorf's orders for detonation. The Ancient Minister continues to physically remove the units from the bombs, which leads Ganondorf to order them to attack. The R.O.B. units light the Ancient Minister on fire using lasers and the Ancient Minister destroys the robes that he was wearing, putting out the flames and revealing himself as to the party of heroes. He joins the party, who all collectively attempt to remove the R.O.B. units from the Subspace Bombs to no success. Ganondorf orders the Subspace Army to attack the party, which evacuates. 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, , 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.

Post-Subspace Emissary
The Master Robot is seen with the thirty-four other playable characters, who stand in front of a shore and stare at a large X-shaped light in the sky, which was once the Isle of the Ancients. Due to so many bombs being detonated on it at once, the Isle of the Ancients could not escape Subspace and is thus gone for good.

The rest of the R.O.B. units were either on the Isle of the Ancients when it was destroyed, destroyed when the Subspace Bombs were deployed, or destroyed by the heroes when they attacked the Isle (it appears as if only the Master Robot is capable of trophification instead of death), meaning that he is the last R.O.B. remaining.

Trophy


The Ancient Minister trophy is obtained as a reward for completing the "Clear The Subspace Emissary" Challenges.

Spirit
The Ancient Minister appears in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate as an Ace-class primary spirit.

In Adventure Mode: World of Light, the Ancient Minister is presumably one of the countless spirits captured by Galeem during his takeover of the universe. After Galeem's defeat, Dharkon takes control of Galeem's spirits, including the Ancient Minister. The Ancient Minister's spirit is located in the Mysterious Dimension in The Dark Realm. Prior to his battle, the player is quizzed on which spirit was the mastermind behind the Subspace Army.

The Ancient Minister uses a Giant puppet fighter and is fought on the Halberd stage. He is fought along an army of R.O.B.s representing the R.O.B. Squad, and each of the fighters start off with a Bomber, referencing the Subspace Bombs the R.O.B. Squad detonates in the Subspace Emissary. During the battle, the screen will occasionally flip, referencing how the Subspace Bombs the R.O.B. Squad detonated sucks everything inside its blast radius.

Trivia

 * The Ancient Minister appears as a selectable picture in Wi-Fi mode for the player's logo.
 * The Ancient Minister is referenced in 's and Super Smash Bros. Ultimates Boxing Ring, where R.O.B.'s English alias (only the American version in for Wii Us case) is "The Last of His Kind".