(Part 2) Mephiles Drowns Them in Darkness! (Smash Character Concept)

Welcome back, fair travelers.

In case you accidentally stumbled upon this, this is the second part of a 2 part Moveset blog for Mephiles the Dark of the 2006 Sonic the Hedgehog game.

In case you missed it, Part 1 can be found here.

Now, where were we...

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Moveset Summary

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(All kill percents are for Mario’s weight of 98, and from center stage of Battlefield)

Basic Attacks

Jab:

A four hit string. First, Mephiles strikes the opponent in front of himself with his palm. Then, in a similar situation as Mewtwo, Mephiles fires three small purple orbs from his hand in a straight line forward, blasting enemies backwards with them. If an opponent is hit with the first strike, the orbs afterwards are a guarantee hit due to the stunlock.

[C}A great defense against fast approaching enemies, as well as fitting in well as a basic jab to do some small damage with. The first hit in the string can be used for an excellent jablock opportunity as well. Also reliable with it’s quick speeds, however you can get locked in an animation of shooting orbs that the enemy can capitalize on if you miss the initial strike and use jab afterwards.

The whole jab string does 10% in total (4% for the initial hit, and 2% for each orb afterwards), KOing at 290% from center stage. Similar startup speed and hitbox to Mewtwo Jab, with 3 frames between the first hit and the orbs.

Dash Attack:

Floating in the air, Mephiles performs a similar animation to Sonic’s Forward-Air, turning his body horizontally to do a barrel roll with his body through the air as he travels forward, while during this move a purple aura glows around him, and damaging those who are hit by him while he’s spinning, before returning to his normal stance. A rather fast move, so using it for quick damage can be a decent idea if you’re looking for something fast. It can also catch those off guard who expect a much more defensive and zoning style play from Mephiles.

8% in damage, KOing at 210% from center stage. Similar speed and slightly longer hitbox horizontally to Wario’s Smash Ultimate Dash Attack.

Tilts

Up-Tilt:

Causing his arm to rise in the air above him,as if reaching for the Sun or stars above, one of his devilish little Imperfect Clones forms from the ground, rising all the way up to just above his hand in an uppercut like fashion, before disappearing upon stopping above the hand. Covers a very good amount of vertical space in front of himself (the Clone even absorbing projectiles it touches on the way up), aiding in defense against opponents approaching from above as well as in front, and is overall a quick move with reliable damage. However, covers little ground horizontally speaking, making Down and Side-TIlt eh go to options if you’re looking for a quick move that also covers some distance.

Deals 9% damage, KOing at 180%. Very slightly faster in speed, though a similar hitbox, to Shulk’s Up-Tilt.

Down-Tilt:

Instead of Mephiles himself performing the attack, a piece of the ground just in front of him turns a sluggish black, and a partially-formed version of himself rises from this sludge, hitting the opponent with this monstrous creation before it seeps back into the ground, and the area in front of Mephiles turns back to normal again.

A useful attack for when opponents are closing in fast on Mephiles, or can be used as a useful pop-up for some small combo chains that Mephiles can perform. However, it’s lower to the ground hitbox may miss higher up targets, making it one you want to use against foes on the ground rather than aerial opponents. More horizontal ground is covered than in Up-Tilt, however it has much less Vertical hitbox.

Deals 7% in damage, KOing at around 260%. Hitbox is the size of a Crouching Kirby in height, and one and a half Kirbys in length, ri from the ground. 3 Frames of startup, with damage active on frames 4-10 (as it rises and sinks back down), and with 2 frames of end lag.

Side-Tilt:

Once again extending his arm outward, a dark purple-glowing force, cylindrical in shape, blasts the area in front of Mephiles, damaging all those caught in front of him during that time. A happy medium of good sized horizontal and vertical hitbox coverage, providing the most damage of his tilts while being the slowest of the three. A decent combo ender for some combos, as well.

Deals 12% in damage, KOing at around 170%. Similar in speed, with a slightly longer length to the hitbox, of Ganon’s Side-Tilt.

Grab, Pummel and Throws

Grab:

Grabbing a hold of the opponent, Mephiles sinks into the ground as two of his Imperfect Clones grab a hold of either side of the opponent. The opponent’s shadow is now replaced with the Shadow of Mephiles, seeming ready to strike at a moment's notice from just below the surface.

Pummel:

The Imperfect Clones noticeably squeeze the opponent a bit, the opponent flinching as a result, and Mephiles’s arms in his Shadow Form twitching a small amount.

Mephiles can pummel for .5% for a maximum of three times per second.

Up-Throw:

Rising swiftly from the ground in front of the opponent as the Imperfect Clones disappear, a small purple orb glows in his dominant hand as he lifts it to uppercut the opponent with the orb as he rises from the ground, sending them flying as Mephiles returns to his standing position. A solid launching throw, sending the opponent in an upwards arc that may allow some use of Mephiles’s hover to follow the opponent with.

Deals 10% in damage, KOing at around 170%.

Down-Throw:

Mephiles quickly rises from the ground, still half in the shadows in the ground as he rises up behind the opponent with both his arms raised, and the Imperfect Clones disappearing. He then wraps his arms around the opponent and drags them downwards, slamming them into the ground and causing knockback from the force of colliding with the ground, as Mephiles returns to his normal state afterwards. A good bounce-up move that launches upwards, having good timing resulting in allowing Mephiles to follow into moves such as his constant hitbox Up-Smash, for some powerful damage. This throw is Mephiles’s least likely to be used as a Kill Throw due to the low knockback to allow combo starting. This throw is also his most damage dealing one.

Deals 15% in damage, KOing at around 300%.

Forward-Throw:

The Imperfect Clones causing the opponent to take a step backwards, Mephiles rises from the location the opponent just was, a purple orb having formed in his hand, as he raises his hand forward and fires the orb at the opponent, sending them flying backwards as the Imperfect Clones disappear. Mephiles’s farthest launching grab, resulting in it being his main useful Kill Throw, as well as being reliable at keeping opponents away from yourself if they get too close.

Deals 9% in damage, KOing around 120%.

Back-Throw:

Mephiles rises from the ground behind the opponent, travelling towards the direction he was facing. As he travels past the opponent, he spins his body around to roundhouse kick the opponent the opposite direction he is travelling in, sending the opponent flying. SInce Mephiles took up Shadow’s Form, it’s likely he could use some of Shadow’s movelist. This move in particular is a rather famous kick he used when fighting against Silver. It is a solid knockback throw that allows you some breathing room for yourself after launching the opponent with it. It’s main purpose is to get the opponent as far away from yourself as possible with, possibly even getting a KO with it if spaced properly.

Deals 12% in damage, KOing at around 150%.

Smash Attacks

Up-Smash:

Raising his arm and hand in an upward fashion, a small purple and pulsating orb can be seen forming above Mephiles’s head as he charges, it slowly growing in size during the charge until it is about twice the size of Kirby at fully charged. Upon release, Mephiles launches his arm fully upwards into the ar, and the orb above him violently explodes outward in a purple blast of energy,

This move is similar to Corrin’s Side-Smash, in that it has an active hitbox while charging (the ever-growing orb) that causes repeating damage the longer the opponent is caught in it.

Deals .5% for each fifth of a second the opponent is caught in the growing active hitbox. Takes 3 seconds to fully charge, the unleashed blast dealing 15% at no charge, and 27% at full charge, and KOing at 200%/150%, respectively. The ball starts directly above Mephiles as the size of an uncharged Samus shot, and grows to the size of an orb with a diameter the width of the width of Samus’s Final Smash, growing over the three seconds of charge. 2 frames of startup upon release, with the blast’s damage active on frames 3-5, and with 6 frames of end lag.

Down-Smash:

Taking a stance similar to his almost unnatural way of walking around, the ground on either side of Mephiles begins to almost warp and ripple in effect. Upon release of the charge, Mehplies sinks halfway into the ground swiftly, and the ground on either side of him transforms into the inky black ripple effect of the ground during his Second Boss Battle, complete with small purple energy geysers on either side of himself, before Mephiles rises up from the ground again and resumes his normal stance.

A great tool against both opponents rushing down, or to block projectiles as they get absorbed by the geysers.

Deals 14% uncharged and 24% fully charged, KOing at 230% and 160%, respectfully. Similar speed, albeit having slightly less height to, Mega-Man’s Down Smash.

Side-Smash:

Seeming to prepare some sort of energy attack as he charges, his hand being held close to his chest as it begins to shake violently and pull closer, and as he stares forward, releasing the attack results in quite the spectacle. Mephiles launches a large ‘Energy Spear’ from his hand, it lingering for a bit before disappearing as he finishes with the move.

Since this is the move that did what literally thousands of robots and animals couldn’t do (that being to actually finish off the blue blur), you’d expect it to be a good one, and I can tell you that this is a good one. Having the biggest range and hitbox of his non-Special moveset, this move does an incredible amount of coverage, gaining a further range and hitbox the longer Mephiles charges before firing. Even the uncharged version is quite useful, as it has a far superior range to other character moves like dash attacks, allowing ample coverage against those trying to rush Mephiles down. It also does quite well in dealing with zoners, as this move eradicates any projectile that it touches. While highly viable, it’s higher endlag than other moves can leave Mephiles open if the player is not careful in their actions.

Also, just for sh*ts and giggles, this move does twice the amount of damage to Sonic as it does to other fighters.

Deals 18% uncharged, and 32% fully charged, KOing at 150% and 90%, respectively. The beam’s hitbox length (the height is the size of a fully charged Mega-Man Side-Smash) is dependent on the charge, no charge being the length of Bowser’s hitbox width, and the fully charged going 2.5x that distance. Similar startup to Bayonetta’s Side-Smash in speed, with damage active for 7 frames, and 5 frames of end lag afterwards,

Air Attacks

Neutral-Air:

A large purple orb once again forms around Mephiles, himself floating in it for a short bit as it deals continuous damage to those around him, before disappearing. Is pretty much just Mewtwo’s Neutral-Air with a slightly larger hitbox around himself, and a slightly higher end-lag as a result of it, allowing for some reliable use in aerial play and combos, as well as some decent pressure against opponents hoping to close in on Mephiles. Be weary if you miss the opponent though, as the rather long animation sequence to follow could be more than enough time for them to use a longer hitbox move to hit you with.

Deals 14% in total if the opponent is hit the whole time, KOing at around 260%. Similar in speed, though having a slightly larger hitbox than Mewtwo's Neutral-Air, and also having 2 more frames of end-lag than Mewtwo’s.

Up-Air:

Performing a backflip in the air, Mephiles strikes above himself with one of his highly deformed crystalline feet as the other is tucked in slightly, purple energy surrounding the foot as it strikes upwards, before he flips back over to his normal position in the air. A fast and efficient move, with the decent hitbox from the energy surrounding it allowing it to be a decent option to prevent Mephiles from being spiked by opponents. However, miss it, and the small endlag to flip back over could give opponents the spiking opportunity that they need.

Deals 10% in damage, KOing at around 200%. Similar in speed, though slightly shorter vertically in the hitbox, to Marth/Lucina’s Up-Air.

Down-Air:

After a short startup sequence in which Mephiles simultaneously turns upside down and starts spinning in place rapidly, Mephiles zooms towards the ground, having an active hitbox around him for the whole duration of the travel, before he slams into the ground, automatically entering his Shade Crouch upon impact with the ground. This move can be a quick getaway from opponents attempting to chase or combo you in the air, as well as a decent attack in general, spiking opponents it hits on the way down, as well as being able to jump cancel out of it’s trajectory downwards.

Deals 12% in damage, spiking opponents at 60% and above. Similar in speed, though with a slightly wider hitbox, to Greninja’s Down-Air.

Forward-Air:

Mephiles barrel-rolls in the air once more in a similar manner to his Dash Attack, a beam of whitish energy shoots forward from his body as he rolls, damaging those caught in the beam in front of Mephiles.

A high knockback move, this one is most useful as an effective combo ender for Mephiles’s more aerial based combos, as well as a quick reaction move for those trying to rush him down in the air. It’s more horizontal based hitbox makes it somewhat easy to miss if he’s travelling in an easy to read manner, though.

Deals 8% in damage, and KOs at 280%. Similar in speed and hitbox to Sonic’s Forward-Air, although the beam extends to twice the horizontal length as Sonic’s.

Back-Air:

In a similar animation to Robin’s Back-Air, Mephiles turns around swiftly to strike at the opponent, although instead of a Bronze/Levin Sword he utilizes a purple orb now formed in his hand that he fires diagonally downward, before returning to his normal stance in the air. The orb itself is swift and reliable in damage, making it a great asset against those trying to chase you down in the air. It also can be a decent aerial combo ender due to it’s properties of both decent damage/knockback, as well as creating a large distance between Mephiles and the opponent afterwards due to being carried backward by the orb before the knockback begins.

Deals 12% in damage, KOing at around 150%. Similar in speed to Robin’s Back-Air, with the orb travelling the speed, and with a slightly wider hitbox to, a Falco Neutral Special Shot.  

Final Smash: Solaris

Throughout all of this moveset blog, Solaris’s name kept cropping up over and over, about how Mephiles was literally half of the God of Time. You think I wasn’t gonna bring him in at some point?

Just like any other character added after Smash 4 that isn’t an Echo Fighter, Mephiles’s Final Smash will be a cutscene one. It will begin with Mephiles saying ‘Now, the final curtain call!’, before a much longer and faster version of his Side Smash, representing the blast that literally killed Sonic in ‘06, is fired in front of himself. The Blast is instantaneous (unlike the DLC characters, who have to travel to the opponent first), however there is a small startup point where the opponent can dodge it if they’re quick enough.

If the opponent is hit by the blast, the cutscene will occur. Here, Mephiles will be free floating in the air, as both all 7 Chaos Emeralds float around him in a circle, and a floating orange sphere-like entity appears in front of him. This entity, is Iblis. The orange sphere goes to encom Mephiles, before both fuse with the power of the Emeralds to form the being they both split from; Solaris.

Once formed, Solaris does it’s battlecry from the boss fight against it in Sonic ‘06, before powering up and firing a large laser from it’s mouth/chest at the opponent, ending the cutscene and sending the opponent flying as Mephiles floats slowly back to the ground.

This move does what most other Final Smashes are used for, KOing the opponent decently if they were at a high enough percent beforehand. It’s also a quick way to rack up percent in general.

The FInal Smash does 50% in total, KOing at 40% and above from center stage. The beam travels the full distance of Battlefield, and has a 5 frame startup window for the opponent before firing.

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Mephiles‘s Animations

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Entrance:

Much like his Sonic ‘06 first manifestation, a dark cloud will seem to form from nowhere. Then, a Shadow that looks similar to the opponent (that was at the base of the dark cloud beforehand) begins to stretch and conform until it represents that of a certain Hedgehog…

Finally, Mephiles takes his form from in the Dark Cloud, and the cloud disappears, revealing Mephiles to the opponent. Depending on who the opponent is, he will either say ‘...it is truly a shame you wish to stand against me.’ (when versing another, random character), or ‘it...is you…’ (when facing against Sonic).

Walk:

Mephiles’s walk is similar to his very creepy and almost puppet-like walk he does frequently in Sonic ‘06, albeit sped up a bit so it can be an actually useful walking speed.

Run:

Mephiles will float along the ground with his weird crystal feet being surrounded in dark purple energy, similar to how he looks when facing him during his boss fights.

Up-Taunt:

Dropping his arms to his side rather creepily as he seems to look off into no direction in particular, Mephiles simply says ‘...you cannot hope to stop me…’

Down-Taunt:

Mephiles forms a purple orb in his hand, and calmly states that ‘You get a one-way ticket into Oblivion’. A reference to when he says this to Shadow upon first manifesting once more.

Side-Taunt:

Beginning to hover in the air once more, Mephiles begins to laugh maniacally as his head rolls back and his arms outstretched on either side, before he returns to his normal stance. This laugh can also be heard sometimes when he activates a Special, as well as the lines ‘Dance, my Shadows’ and ‘Drown in Darkness!’.

Idle 1:

Mephiles’s arms droop down as his head begins to sag as well, almost as if he is but a puppet on some strings, before he returns to normal once more.

Idle 2

A purplish aura begins to float around Mephiles, as he begins to gaze at it as it moves around him, before it dissipates and he returns to normal.

Victory:

A scene akin to one in Sonic ‘06, Mephiles holds a purple Chaos Emerald rather delicately in his hands, gazing at it for a short moment, before the camera zooms on his head as he slowly turns to look at the camera. While he doesn’t say anything during this moment in ‘06, in Smash he will say ‘Iblis… soon…’.

Victory 2:

A dark puddle having formed on the ground, Mephiles soon begins to rise from it in a rather creepy manner, chuckling to himself as he rises, before becoming fully formed, and extending his arms out to either side of him as he begins floating on his ethereal purple crystal feet things once again.

Victory 3:

The yellow and green Chaos Emeralds floating above in a figure-eight like pattern, they soon float down into Mephiles’s hands as he floats in place, himself stating ‘This World will drown in darkness!’.

Mephiles‘s Color Swaps

-Default:

Mephiles’s default crystalline look, complete with red eyes due to playing so much Fortnite (props to you if you got that or any other references from the Fandub).

-Alternate 2:

The purple parts of his crystalline form take a red sheen as his normal skin becomes much more black in shade. His irises also take a red color. A reference to Shadow the Hedgehog, whom he originally took to resemble before his weird Crystal Gem fusion.

-Alternate 3:

His skin becomes a bright blue as the crystalline forms on him turn a peach color. His irises remain green. A reference to Sonic the Hedgehog, the man (or anthropomorphic animal in this case) Mephiles seeks to kill, as it will aid in summoning Iblis once more.

-Alternate 4:

His skin becomes a light silver color, as his Crystalline forms become a bright teal. His irises become a gold color. A reference to SIlver the Hedgehog, whom Mephiles tricked into trying to kill Sonic earlier in the game before finally getting off his crystalline ass to do it himself.

-Alternate 5:

Mephiles’s skin becomes an orangish red as his crystals take a black sheen. His irses also turn black. A reference to Iblis, the second half of Solaris that Mephiles wishes to fuse with once more.

-Alternate 6:

His skin becomes an oxidized copper colored green, as his crystals become a solid white. A reference to Solaris, the God of Time whom Mephiles is half of.

-Alternate 7:

In an interesting turn, Mephiles has a reskin, now resembling himself when he first reformed as a copied version of Shadow.

-Alternate 8:

The reskin returns once more, this time being all blacked out except for having his normal red eyes and green irises, as a reference to the Shadows that Mephiles first formed from.

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Miscellaneous/Extras

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Combos (Ground Started)

Though he may have fewer true combo options than a lot of other characters, there are still a few to pick and choose from regarding Mephiles. His Down Tilt can combo into just about any aerial except for D-Air, with the possibility of the combo being extended with the right uses of Neutral-Air. Up-Tilt launches relatively far, but you still have the possibility of landing an Up-Tilt after to have an excellent amount of knockback and possible KO potential. His main true-kill setup at higher percentages would be a Down-Throw into his active hitbox Up-Smash, the opponent being caught in the orb as they get bounced up from the throw, before the released blast finishes them off. For lower percents, another great small combo is, If you’re quick enough after using Forward-Throw, is to launch a Side-Smash immediately after, for a quick high amount of damage. Down Smash can be a good launcher into moves such as Up-Air or Neutral-Air as well, or even a Back-Air if you want some great knockback. Mephiles also has some decent options when jab-locking, 2 valuable kill confirms at higher percentages utilizing jab-lock being a full powered Imperfect Clone Blast, or his Side-Smash.

Combos (Air Started)

Here's where things start getting juicy. Besides his aerials, his real shining crown in air-play is his Hover/Imperfect Clones, as well as his Side-Special. The Imperfect Clones in particular can be of great use, the volleys being excellent combo extenders/finishers for farther-launching aerials like Forward-Air, and the blast forward of Imperfect Clones being a particularly devastating attack following moves such as an opponent hitting a Clone during Side-Special, or yeeting them just after a Forward-Throw. Neutral-Air is once again an important combo-extender, with Forward-Air and Back-Air both being decent combo finishers. Up-Air is also decent, being useful for trying to Star KO opponents that you've launched upwards. Finally, Down-Air can be used to Spike opponents in a similar manner to Greninja’s Down-Air (due to him also being able to jump out of it like Greninja), alling him to either spike the opponent into the abyss below that he most likely crawled out of, or to do it low to the ground to land yet another active hitbox Up-Smash for devastating effect.

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Stage: Crisis City

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Perhaps the most prolific setting of Sonic ‘06, Crisis City is… well, a city in crisis. It is the bleak reality 200 in the future in which Silver the Hedgehog (and for some reason Blaze.. Y’know, it’s never really explained why she’s there instead of the Sol Dimension that she lives in.) exist, the city-state of Soleannis nothing more than ruins and ash thanks to the power of Iblis.

The setting of Crisis City being used for Smash in particular is the area that the Iblis boss fights are usually held; a strip of land with two collapsed buildings blocking off the rest of the way, and a large pit/crater that it overlooks, which Iblis comes from. In relation to Mephiles, it is also the area where he first appears to Silver to trick him into trying to kill Sonic, thus setting up Silver’s story. The ruins of the city are in the background.

In Smash, it would look exactly as it does here; albeit shortened a bit so it doesn’t stretch for too long. The bits of debris Silver uses in the boss fight litter the stage as well, albeit just in the background where the fighters can’t reach it.

In the non Omega/Battlefield variants of this stage, Iblis occasionally rises from the crater, and is about to attack the strip of land. However, Silver and Blaze will be seen as well, fighting off Iblis in the background with their psychokinetic and pyrokinetic powers, respectively. After a bit, a final blast of a bit of debris thrown by Silver will defeat Iblis, and cause him to submerge into the crater. This sequence loops throughout the fight on the foreground.

The Omega and Battlefield stages will be as you expect, platforms made up of the strip of land you fight on, and some small debris from the city, will be what you stand on for both forms. Iblis, SIlver, and Blaze will not appear in the Omega or Battlefield forms.

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Music

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For this section, I decided to bring in some music from Sonic ‘06, as if there’s one thing besides Mephiles or Silver (fight me cowards, Silver is a good character caught in a terrible first game) that people can agree on liking, it’s the game’s soundtrack.

-A Mephiles-specific Medley, made from three pieces of music related to him: Mephiles’s Whisper (Upon first meeting him and in random scenes with him after), Mephiles Boss (The music you hear upon first fighting him), and Mephiles Phase 2 (which plays during the second boss fight against him). All these three together can make for a damn good Medley.

-A remix of his First Boss Fight Theme, that I thought was pretty dope

And of course, if Sonic’s 06 Theme is already in Smash, we should have the Themes for the other two playable characters as well.

-All Hail Shadow, Shadow’s theme for the game.

-Dreams of an Absolution, Silver’s theme for the game (even if you don’t like him, you can’t deny this song is an absolute bop)

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Well folks, that’s all for now! I hope you guys enjoyed my newest moveset idea!

With that, I’ll be seeing you all next time!