Byleth Smashes Expectations as Newest Smash Fighter

The long-awaited final fighter for Super Smash Brother Ultimate’s first Expansion Pass has been revealed in a video presented by Smash creator Masahiro Sakurai. The final Expansion Pass fighter is none other than Byleth, the protagonist of Fire Emblem: Three Houses.

Screenshotter SuperSmashBrosUltimateMrSakuraiPresentsByleth 4’27”

Right off the bat, Byleth appears to be another sword-wielding lord from the Fire Emblem series. Even Byleth’s reveal trailer mocks the number of sword users already in Smash. Byleth stands apart from these others by integrating other Hero’s Relics into their arsenal. Each direction on the control stick is a different weapon that Byleth can use.

For air attacks, they can utilize the whip-like qualities of the Sword of the Creator to lash at enemies and grab ledges. For side attacks, Byleth uses Areadbhar, the lance Hero’s Relic wielded by Dimitri. Lance attacks have a very long range. The tip of the lance is the most powerful, so these strikes do much more damage when the enemy is at a farther distance. When down is held, Byleth switches to the Amyr, Edelgard’s Hero’s Relic. Axe attacks are powerful with a lot of launch power. Byleth’s non-directional attacks having them utilize Failnaight, the bow Hero’s Relic used by Claude. Failnaught can hit quickly from a great distance.

Byleth’s Final Smash is called “Progenitor God Ruptured Heaven,” based on Byleth’s combat art from the original game. In this souped-up version, Byleth teams up with the entity Sothis to deliver an attack that consumes the entire battlefield.

smash final byleth
Byleth’s Final Smash.

Byleth can be played as male or female, with odd-numbered pallets being male and even-numbered pallets being female. Male Byleth has a color option to mimic Dimitri and Claude, and female Byleth can match Edelgard and Sothis. The final slot for both genders is the pale-green hair for Byleth, as a nod to a major event within the story of Fire Emblem: Three Houses.

As a new fighter, Byleth, of course, comes with their own stage. This time, the stage is a mashup of Garreg Mach monastery, the central location of Fire Emblem: Three Houses and where Byleth works as a teacher. The stage cycles through four different locations featured within the monastery: The marketplace, the main hall, the bridge, and the cathedral. In each of the locations, different students from each of the three houses, as well as other monastery staff will make cameo appearances.

In the marketplace, players can see students from the Blue Lions house including the leader Dimitri as well as his classmates Dedue and Ingrid. When the stage shifts to the main hall, the Black Eagle’s leader Edelgard and two of her classmates, Petra and Dorothea, can be seen in the background. On the bridge, Golden Deer leader Claude and his classmates Lorenz and Hilda watch the fight from a distance. Finally, when the stage shifts to the cathedral, monastery staff Seteth, his sister Flayn, and archbishop Rhea can be seen.

smash gmm
Red areas are included in the new Garreg Mach Smash Stage.

With the stage comes the addition of 11 new music tracks from Fire Emblem: Three Houses, including “Edge of Dawn,” the game’s main theme, as well as a new arrangement of the song exclusive to Smash. Sakurai mentions that these new tracks can also be picked to play in other stages from Fire Emblem, as they are all from the same series.

Byleth’s addition to the game also adds a new Spirit Board full of popular Fire Emblem: Three Houses characters. The strongest spirit on the board is Sothis, who is a Legend-class spirit. In addition, there is a new Classic mode fight focusing around the history of the Fire Emblem series.

At the end of the video, Sakurai reveals the next batch of Mii Fighters that will be available for purchase in Smash Ultimate. They are as follows:

  • Assassin Creed’s Altair for Mii Swordfighter
  • Rabbid’s Hat
  • Megaman X’s X for Mii Gunner
  • Megaman Battle Network’s MegaMan.EXE for Mii Gunner
  • Cuphead’s Cuphead for Mii Gunner- comes with an additional music track

As Byleth ends out with the current Expansion Pass, Sakurai announced that the next Expansion Pass will feature six new fighters, not the originally planned five. Sakurai also mentions that the characters for the next Expansion Pass have already been picked, but does not offer any clues on who is coming.

Byleth and the additional Mii Fighters will be released on January 28. The Expansion Pass 2 will also go up for pre-purchase on the same day and includes a Breath of the Wild Ancient Soldier gear Mii Swordfighter costume.  Byleth is $4.99 or included in the Expansion Pass, and each Mii Fighter set is $0.75 each.

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