Avatar Selection and You!

[@JustSkram]

Kbash going through the stages of grief to find a fighting main

[@KhunShawn]

For real, this script is darker than Twilight.

[@Mokujin]

21:55 He's slowly turning into Carl.

[@CassiDS]

I bet your fellow triplets, IBash and JBash, are looking at this video fondly.

[@Bakucryptid77]

The real question is where are A-HBash and L-ZBash

[@MGNashi]

​@@Bakucryptid77 in a kleenex lost in the past

[@CassiDS]

@@Bakucryptid77 Extended family, I'm guessing.

[@EliTheGleason]

I play Ryu because I like a balanced kit, which shows people just how psycho I am when I hold forward for 4 seconds

[@crisisjack]

"Was that guy bricking up mid game?" Yes. Yes I was.

[@fable23]

I was the oldest sibling _and_ the oldest cousin in my family. We had a holiday Smash tradition, and I would always pick big powerful villain characters like Ganondorf or Bowser, for two reasons: 1. They generally suck, and my little brother and cousins needed all the advantages they could get. 2. I wanted them to see me as an obstacle they would one day overcome. They were the heroes, and I was their stern but fair teacher. It was their destiny to one day surpass me. I think a lot of who we are is how we define ourselves in relation to other people. A triplet seeking to stand out, the Prime Cousin trying to reckon with not only the unfair advantage of being born first, but also not having anyone to play with but his family. Maybe some part of me resonated with these powerful, solitary figures, who didn't _need_ anyone else. Anyway eventually I became evil for real. Will be taking over the world any day now! Sycophants and yes-men will be accepted on a first-come, first-serve basis. Apply now if you don't want to be purged!

[@jacobcain9008]

Im applying! World dominatoin sounds cool

[@Protosilver97]

I'm a villain liker sometimes. I could definitely work with you.

[@torugolago]

Bowser indeed sucked but Ganondorf was and is great man!

[@GohLow]

My mains are a zoner and a grappler. It tells you I have attachment issues but also really like hugs.

[@theboihilbirt1277]

You gonna love Broly in DBFZ. Be best fucking grappler is also fucking best zoner same time.

[@dylanmcnab2980]

Broly?

[@NeverduskX]

Me maining Pot and Bridget:

[@GohLow]

@@dylanmcnab2980 Nah, combo of Axl Low in Guilty Gear and Goh Hinogami in VF.

[@ShikiRyougi05]

​@@GohLow holy shit a wild virtua fighter fan

[@kid14346]

The part about being a hipster and needing someone besides the default is a thing I struggle with. It is really funny because my own kid will see a roster and be like, "Ryu, Mario, Sonic, Whoever is Main Character" and my gut instinct is just, "don't you want to try out all the cool options?" And then I try out the default and realize how fun the default is...

[@Genasidal]

If the default character sits in the middle of the pack enjoyment wise, I always say fighting games have done a good job! Ryu is fundemental to street fighter in every way, but he's also brilliant at that job, and still can be technical enough to make him fun at all levels!

[@Protosilver97]

There's always a cool option, but sometimes the main one can be fun too. They are generally the reflection of all the game's philosophy and world, so everyone can like them, and sometimes, you just wanna have a simple nice time.

[@MartezAnims]

For me it was always Ken, Luigi, Knuckles, Zero i was always forced to he 2P whenever i played with my cousins, so playing as the second-fiddle always stuck to me.

[@TheLucidChiba]

1:08 "Finding more fallen out hairs on your pillow, watching your favourite stuffed bread disappear from the convenience store, the accumulation of those little despairs is what makes a person an adult." Also fucking love to heard some Legend of Mana ost.

[@GBSpiral]

nanami ✊✊

[@GrumpySylveon]

WOOOOOH LEGEND OF MANAAA

[@gigginoxplayer]

This video’s got me inspired rn. When Smash 4 and ultimate came out, I was a Little Mac main. He can’t edgeguard, he can’t jump well, he can get juggled very easily, and consistently is one of the lowest characters on anyone’s tier list. But SCREW all that; he’s Little Mac! He’s a character that no one plays because no one believes in him, but I DO. I took him to a local library tournament a few times (not a high bar for skill) and would get halfway through before getting punked out. But he was an underdog! His whole personality is taking on opponents that would clobber and wreck his shit! It sounds lame but it felt super immersive; yeah I’m not great at this game, but I’m picking someone who gets mollywhopped by the roster, and that means we’re in this TOGETHER I don’t even know where that came from. But you’re great at pulling the best emotions out from gaming

[@trombonegamer14]

Plenty of people play little mac. He's probably in the top ten of characters I see if I'm just hopping online tbh

[@ExeloMinish]

@@trombonegamer14Mac is, like Ganondorf, what's called a pubstomper. A character with massive strengths and glaring weaknesses, who can easily be countered by high level players but tends to _destroy_ casuals who can't exploit his weak points properly. So they're simultaneously nowhere to be seen in tournaments and everywhere online.

[@trombonegamer14]

@@ExeloMinish Mac has more representation at tournaments than characters like D3, Chrom, Isabelle, or even a character as good as Shulk. Mac sucks, but my point is that he's pretty visible at all levels of the game

[@luisburgos7365]

Never give him up. I went to a local tournament and saw a dude playing Mac. Idk where he placed but I do remember how happy I felt that Little Mac was getting repped in a competitive setting at all

[@Tenchigumi]

I REALLY relate with Vega's changes from SF4 to V. In SF4, I was an Ibuki main who basically lived and died by air-kunai mixups, but in SFV, her kunai were a limited resource that had entirely different properties, and her new mixup game (as good as it was) just didn't click with me. And thus, I went straight to Karin and eventually Urien, whoring myself to the tierlists until I finally lost interest in fighting games for good. Incidentally, SF6 did bring me back for a bit, and I also immediately gravitated towards Manon because I love Judo and tall women who can bodyslam me at will. I think I've said too much.

[@RashidMBey]

I picked Yun-Seong for similar reasons. Alternatively, I picked Yoshimitsu because he was so foreign to my child brain and my competitive cousins. He'd deal with short range poisons and dodgy blinks around the level, and If you fumbled with the buttons, he'd deal massive damage to himself. No one in my house liked him and everyone sort of... pushed him aside, and I related to that. I lost a lot, but it felt better when it's with a friend.

[@pleasedont.5613]

You outdid yourself with this. I've loved your work for a long time, you're funny, and insightful; certainly. But this piece in particular lives at the crossroads of your greatest strengths as a creator: how true your words can ring to a stranger, and how close your pen is to your heart.

[@usernamepassword4517]

2:50 JUSTICE FOR BULBASAUR 😭😭

[@flyestskeleman]

Bulbasaur Bros rise up!!

[@MisterSpeedStacking]

bulbasaur is reddit af

[@mhead1117]

No one picked that lame 😂😂😂

[@torugolago]

I started very early with the first Smash for the N64, and basically all the Smaches after (except for the Wii U one). But i always wanted to enter the more hardcore fighting games, except that it always seemed too hard or complex to me. But at the beginning of this year i saw all Tekken 8 character presentation videos and was just mesmerized. So many cool moves, powerfully performed and accentuated by the camera movement, so interchangeable, so complex, it enchanted me. I work with contemporary dance but always loved martial arts, so when i saw all the different and complex fighting styles presented in the game, i was in awe. I loved so many of the characters presented, but one of all of them grabbed my attention, Reina Mishima. I mean, she’s just so fucking cool, confident, sexy and disrespectul to her enemies, she just put them in their places, ugh i love it. The way in which, in order for her to get to open the enemy she has to use her mix ups to be unpredictable and put fear or uncertainty in them, be it by nimbly feinting enemies and punishing them or by being suddenly very agressive in her pressure and waiting for the enemy to open guard so as to lauch them and start a string. She’s just exhilarating, fast and at the same time demands restraint, knowledge of the fundamentals and focused aggressivness. The way she demands respect with her pressure, while mocking the enemy, being slightly unhinged and having this dark purple lightining aura going on, it’s just affrontive and sassy, i love that in a woman. I also love her fashion style, the vintage windbreaker jacket with hoodie, the big black boots, cutted gloves, short hair with dyed purple bangs, rubbery shorts, turtleneck tanktop with a choker, the the way it’s all just black, grey or purple. Plus the martial art school her movements come from, Taido (and of course the Mishima style Karate) are just so fascinating and acrobatic. So yeah, that’s where I’m at now, thank you for the video, very beautfiful insights, so much so that i wanted to do the same here. Love your work, i hope you can continue doing it and sharing with us, cheers!

[@slamtown1903]

"it wasn't the Vega i knew" as somebody who's favorite fighting game character being street fighter alpha birdie, i totally get it. Even if it made the character alot better competitively i felt left behind since the character was not at all gameplay wise (and visually in this case) what i came to grew and love.

[@FrizzlenillCAN]

This mindset is really cool - but it's also like looking into a whole different style of viewing the fighting game experience. I'm someone who is VERY attached to their characters, but almost EXCLUSIVELY for their movesets. I prefer some aesthetics over others, but I generally don't care all that much about narrative, I always pick for combat style - bajiquan or sword+gun(or, like, Dante functions more specifically), based on whichever the game has. For me, it's more compelling to learn whether a character has special-to-special cancels or moves that spin and shoulder-strike, than what motivates the character or who they are as a person... I think. I can't tell if that stuff's going on under the surface or not.

[@torugolago]

But honestly that is also part of what he is talking about. If you like a moveset, it’s kinetics and the mind game it offers than that’s like a place you like to inhabit or a mode of relation you like to engage with. And this fitting is for a reason, you know. Your very own and specific desires, so when you choose a character it’s also by this kind of affective hergonomy.

[@gappy_tv]

Similar to me I picked Roy in melee and was hyped seeing him back in 4 and it's what also got my foot into fighting games and fire emblem has became one of my favorite game series because of Roy

[@Enjoysaeli]

This was such a great topic, as my brother and I also were frequently mistaken for each other, and we grew up playing all sorts of Fighting Games together; Soul Calibur 2 and Melee were the big ones for us too. I've been wanting to spend more time with fighting games so bad, but between decision paralysis when I get to actually play games after work, and having other games to play (video AND online DND games), it's hard to stick on any particular game for more than a little while. I also was never super great at any particular game, though was a big fan of UMvC3 with Sentinel and Tron Bonne and SF4 with Adon. Nowadays in SF6 I've been a really big fan of Honda and Zangief, with a little Ryu, and been liking Johnny in GGST. I just keep hoping I'll find something that will make me want to go back repeatedly, but outside of rare times I can hop on call with my brother and play for a couple of hours, it doesn't happen much. It helps to have someone like my brother to play with, since, while he likes to take the time to lab his characters, like SF6 Ken or all the nutty Doom MvC3 combos he used to be able to pull, I don't get how to lab, or what I should be doing when labbing, and just play try to play neutral with, and get some cheeky command grabs in. I know nobody is gonna read the paragraphs I just dropped, but if you do, have a good one. Definitely gives me something to think about.

[@cursoryintegration8512]

Magi Nation coming back was not the news I expected today but it certainly made my day, wow

[@kadnhart6661]

I've always found, not just in fighting games but nearly all fiction, that if the roster is full of demonic antiheroes and chosen ones and insane anime characters, then my favorite character will always be Just Some Guy. No special powers, no special destiny, just there for the vibes and keeping up with objectively better characters by the sheer power of gumption. Love me a good Everyman Hero trope.

[@Oneiromancer._.]

I like to think that Yun-Seong is grown up Isidro from Berserk.

[@maraganger]

extremely humbling to hear the sheer passion + ended up making me analyze why i pick who i pick too ; like why Ness, why Night Elf Hunter, very endearing experience. B)

[@OverusedBrush]

Night elf hunter?

[@maraganger]

@@OverusedBrush ye, back when i used to play world of warcraft

[@SaiceShoop]

Soulcalibur II was my first fighting game way back in the day and I used to only play Kilik

[@yeetkunedo]

good choice, great toolset

[@thelaughingrouge]

Kilik was a beast no question. Solid pick.

[@bobxbaker]

there's so much to character appeal and i don't think you have to like all of it but just more than the others. it can be just pure aesthetics, their personality, their moveset, their theme and it's ok to like more characters than one. for me i've always liked grapplers but i typically don't like their aesthetics or their personality or their theme, it just feels good to grab someone and break them. but i do also like vain characters or more suave expression which typically is vega or raphael or lee from tekken that kind of guy. but i also do like resourcefulness like a thief or a rogue would be in terms of using small things or items to go toe to toe with everyone else so something like ibuki would be a potential fit. as for theme i really do like nature theme, so something like an animal based character or forest based character like for example king from tekken or blanka but it could also be someone who is very protective of nature like julia from tekken. so it's really which of these i randomly go for which appeals to me the most in any given game, but it took a long time to figure that out what i actually like and did like in each of these types of characters and sometimes they are about the same and i just have to arbitrarily pick one.

[@0ctopusComp1etely]

This is definitely a "me" issue, but these days I have trouble narrowing down one "main" to focus on in fighting games. Most fighting games just have too many cool characters that I want to focus on. Like, compare the original Blazblue Calamity Trigger. The game that really kick-started my interest in fighting games outside of Smash Bros and Soul Calibur in college, cause I finally had interested people to play with. That game had 12 playable characters. Only. Twelve. For the most part, I was really only interested in Nu-13. She summoned swords, had angelic blade wings, kinda hot, both robotic and psychotic... she was cool. I didn't know she was top tier till I played her. She was just the one that spoke to me in the small character pond. You get to the fourth mainline game Central Fiction, and there's 36 playable characters counting DLC. That's three times as many, and a LOT more of them speak to me as fun options than the original cast did. It doesn't help that I hated a lot of the changes that happened to Nu-13 in this iteration specifically, so I jump around a lot more. Same thing with Smash Bros, Street Fighter, Under Night, God forbid the ACTUAL scum-of-the-earth 3D fighter that I still love playing, Dead or Alive (I main Tina, that one's easy). Every roster that's past its first game just gets harder and harder for me to narrow down on. It's a bit of a problem for me, but it's a beautiful problem to have. I'm just spoiled for choices.

[@Aznanarchy]

holy shit an excellent adventures reference, man mike "Miguel Rossington Don't Call Him "Mike Ross" " ross and gootecks got me into fighting games, TIMOTHY Hawk and his gun, the one button gouken, all classics. Super glad to have this nostalgia be brought back as a fellow Canadian kid. Mike is still doing content out there with Xian under Vortex Versus too.

[@Tenchigumi]

I met Mike Ross at NorCal Regionals when Excellent Adventures was at its peak, and the dude was a legit celebrity in the FGC who could do no wrong. Despite that, he was still a super nice guy and treated everyone like a friend he'd known for years. RIP Cross Counter.

[@wildcard126]

That monologue at the beginning ( 1:05 ) about companies discarding your childhood hit me hard. FUCKING BIONICLE DUDE

[@aldon560]

I think I like low tiers.. and the quirky characters like lily, a.k.i, Bridget, Sean from third strike… and the list goes on…

[@superbro6413]

This one part editorial, two part personal history was really well put together I hope this gets the engagement you're looking for, because I sure wouldn't mind seeing more of it Heck, no one's talking about SoulCalibur anymore, so I appreciate that

[@MurdokEXTRA]

Not gonna lie - I constantly pick my mains based on "I have a crush on her". Jack-O' in Guilty Gear, Cerebella/Ms. Fortune in Skullgirls, Bullet in Blazblue. It's not the only way I choose my mains - in Tekken I'm pretty much always going for King, in Lethal League it's Grid, Switch and Doombox, in Killer instinct it's Kan-Ra and Kilgore. It really burns down to "is there a character that looks really cool and do I vibe with their personality?". It usually just ends up with the waifu.

[@noxlunesia]

I basically always fall under the "assassin" archetype- I want to get in, burst a lot of damage in as few seconds as possible, and either get out or move on to the next enemy. I tend to look for a weakness and exploit it to a hyper-aggressive focus. That said, this was mostly a fighting game video soooo... I started in Persona 4 Arena Ultimax and decided to be a Yosuke main with a massive friend-rivalry with a Kanji player (so I'd die in 2 grapples LOL) but in following more fighting games, I picked Raven for Guilty Gear Xrd Rev, Groh in Soul Cal 6, Milia in GG Strive, and finally Juri in SF6. I think my ideal playstyle is highly mobile, low durability, and strong mixups? When I go into games against friends, my main strategy is speed- if I can execute on several different moves in a space of time that the other person can't reasonably perceive and react to then I set the pace. Of course, that only nets me about silver in any ranking system because better players have the "download" sooo... ehh?

[@Treekyboi]

Ive always picked characters because they look cool. Smash was fox because of his play style but Tekken Was King (Armored King when i could), Guilty Gear was Chipp (later Nago) etc. But ill give it up, i mained Cammy and Ivy because of boobs n butts :')

[@SapphireLibra3]

I got into fighting games with the Capcom Fighting Game Collection, because I wanted my first fighter to be Darkstalkers. Felicia is my main for a couple of reasons: 1, she has blue hair, and I love characters with that. Reminds me of myself. 2, that. She reminds me a bit of myself. 3, she's a sexy cat girl who's clearly naked. What's not to love. Imagine my surprise when I see she's also a _really good character._

[@rowanatkinson3594]

*realizing that the character I gravitated towards in Soul Calibur II was Voldo* "Um, there is absolutely no merit to anything in this video actually, no need to look into any of this further!" *remembers I gravitated towards Raphael next* "Never mind, continue, trenchant insights all around!"

[@ExpertDual]

I also started fighting games with soulcalibur 2 and became serious with super street fighter 4. I played shiek in melee, kilik and siegfried in soulcalibur 3-4, guy in ssf4, Ryu Phoenix Wright and Wesker in umvc3, Kirby in smash 4 highest place I got was second at a regional during custom moves lol, in sf5 I played Karin kazuki after messing around with Ryu and Rashid, Kimberly is just like guy in sf6 so I feel nostalgia for Kimberly despite being a new character, and I play Roy in smash ultimate. That's my list of mains

[@kruegerpoolthe13th]

Yoshimitsu was probably my first proper main Tag 2 was my first Tekken game and I remember seeing his awesome and badass samurai design and thinking he was a serious character and then I played him and did his Crash Bandicoot spin attack and I thought: “yeah this is a character for me” And I play him in every game he’s in ever since I too like Vega a lot but I main Dhalsim because he has all of my favorite superpowers and I dig his character a lot more

[@baileygamble3530]

I thought this was going to be a really weird “hey guys look at this CSS and I’ll tell you what you picking a character says about your psyche like a star sign” but instead it was a Kbash video What a good kbash video

[@Reldonator]

Finally a Kbash video I can watch without spoilers! My backlog might be a mental issue. Soul Caliber 2&3 were my jam

[@fakename120]

SC2 and melee were my first fighting games as well and my first mains were/are Talim and pichu. I settled on pichu as a main first because my five year old brain went ‘it’s cute and eww pikachu’. For sc I liked a lot of the characters but gravitated to Talim due to her movement. Due to maining those two I eventually got to the point where my defensive gameplay became ‘don’t get hit or you’ll die’ and I never learned proper defense until I played sc5 and tekken tag 2. Overall I still vastly prefer a hit and run style to this day and most of the characters I play as in fighting games reflect that.

[@davidhylton7528]

Totally agree. You can like any character for any reason. Don’t let others try to tell you how to think or feel.

[@Treygatron]

My first main was Ken in classic SF 2 for the SNES. My friend owned it and liked Ryu, so as 2nd player I was stuck with Ken, who coincidentally had things in common with me (blonde American). It evolved into me usually picking Americanish dudes with long blonde hair, and now I can't even play anyone if they don't have longer blonde hair. Terry Bogard, Steve Fox, Seigfried, Ken Masters.

[@whereswaldo6576]

holy god that was good. always love the little kbash lore bits

[@JamrockHobo]

Beautiful video. I can really relate to the *desire* to identify with a character that stands out, and the disappointment if there's no one who really fits your niche. + I also come from SC2 and Melee!

[@tophtopherson8920]

what an excellent and thoughtful little video essay. I love when you scream about lore and gameplay, but these little videos that are just philosophical-- they're wonderful

[@TheEFoy11]

I actually really love this as a talking point, and reflecting on myself with it is fun A lot of my taste also stemmed from Smash Melee growing up, I remember kinda liking Fox, but would start playing Mario after playing more Mario games lmao - but then I stuck with Mario because I watched the How To Play video and thought the moment where Mario intercepts a recovery with the forward-air jump n’ dunk was the COOLEST thing ever as a 7 year old Flash forward to now nearly 20 years later as I’m finally getting into fighting games, and my mains across games are Sol Badguy, Terry Bogard and Paul Phoenix. I’ll give you a guess at what move they have in common

[@ThymeSplitter]

I tend to pick characters whose design or personality I like, so it feels bad when I have to switch because I don't like or can't wrap my head around their playstyle :p I feel like picking out a main used to be so easy, and nowadays I find it to be difficult. Probably 'cause I'm older, and I don't have all the free time I want to figure it out, so I just end up with a selection of characters I like playing with.

[@sodagalaxy64]

I always tell my friends when playing any new game ; pick the hottest / coolest person and stick to it.

[@Blaziken20052000]

Hearing how people decide to pick their characters is super interesting. I've been a lifelong fighting game fan, and started taking competing kinda seriously for 10ish years. There's sometimes just that unexplainable connection you feel with a character and it can feel like an expression of the inner self. Great video.

[@Singe125]

Someone else acknowledging Excellent Adventures is really fucking surreal and yet so satisfying at the same time

[@ma_bueno]

I really, really like Ryu because i feel like he always tries his best, and that kinda makes me keep going you know? I like him a lot, Vanilla Man ™ Edit: holy shit he talked about ryu

[@mobius0zero]

During the pandemic my buddy and I would get together a couple times a month and we would just stay up late playing SFV/MVC3 even though we haven't played much in terms of fighting games before. FF to now and I have definitely caught the bug, went from Alex in SFV to Marisa in 6 and play in some locals. I still miss that casual couch multiplayer though.

[@aaronsound]

This is such a cool video! i loved hearing about your soulcalibur main :]

[@RashidMBey]

Oh. KBash dropped a KBash lore video. Locked in. Hooo!

[@kkmasters]

Not sure what this vid is making me feel, but I got the feels. Certified banger .happy to hear you still playing fighting games.keep on grinding (as long as it's fun ❤ ) your fg journey was cool to hear thanks for sharing. Irl who wins between u and ur bros fist fight be honest

[@milesrodger3724]

This is one of those depth videos like the WoW video that is so genuinely great. Excellent commentary at the end.

[@thesacredbeast2000]

Most of my main picks tend to harken back to the first handful of fighters I played seriously being the early touhou fighters with their high mobility and projectile centric neutral, so I like high mobility and setplay/zoning oriented play, Jack-O from strive became one of my favorite non-touhou fighting game characters as soon as I realized I could airdash/jump cancel air fireballs.

[@Tsubaki-va]

Whenever I play a fighting game, I'll always pick the flashiest thing. I had a thing for Marth and Ike in Smash Bros Brawl, but then quickly moved over in Smash 4 as Corrin and the like. Once my fighting game prowess exapnded with genuine command inputs, i felt solid with picking Terry Bogard in Smash Ultimate. It's a genuine rough and tough time to pick what ya like, or what you'd like to have as your representation of you on a screen for hours at a time. But something tells me it's one of the few reasons I've moved a small bit away from fighting games and started to play more RPGs like Fire Emblem, Star Ocean, Final Fantasy and the like. I've been more interested in the worlds and characters that are relatable within reason in order to truly craft my own experience with their worlds. Fire Emblem Echoes: Shadows of Valentia was one of the few exceptional moments where gameplay and story felt good to me, allowing enough freedom in the beginning for choosing classes for the starting cast from Ram Village, and seeing the growth of others made it really well off in my books. I resonated with the characters and story while live dubbing it with friends in spare time, and just got through beating it. So even though fighting games are still in my favorite genre of games, it's still hard to pick mains once you've started the slow shifts into seeing tools instead of fleshed out characters. My shifts into that hit me hard with Street Fighter 6, and it made me think I had to take a small break from fighting games as a whole in order to appreciate the characters for their actual character rather than their place on a tier list. But every now and then, I'll look on back and start playing some Street Fighter and Guilty Gear with the fellas whenever it feels right.

[@SachaDow]

As a viewer since the anime fighters video and huge FG enthusiast myself, amazing video! Full of personality as always, and a very nice concept to explore through your personal journey with the genre. Learning about people's experiences with their identity and how that impacts what they choose in games is always fascinating to me - loved it!

[@bobwall8021]

For me it's all about playstyle. I have what the wow community calls "warrior brain" so I like to be able to apply constant pressure. I also like "tanky" characters because I tanked a million dungeons in wow. Superman fit like a glove

[@jvts8916]

I remember I used to play Roy in Melee for the "mystery" of a rep for a game that wasn't even out. I missed him in Brawl even though his replacement was less of a clone. And because he outlived his nature as the mysterious new challenger, even when he came back he just became another face on the roster to me.

[@sarmavlada]

I remember some old RPG where character creator had 5 heads to chose from and they had all different features as they could for a low poly early 3d game, but one had like carved pentagram on forehead. Always wandered what decisions lead to that choice.

[@ZatomiAwake]

I love a surprise main. The first fighter I really put my back into was Blazblue: Crosstag Battle (RIP). Ran through EVERYBODY, just knew I would get into Yang and somebody. Landed on Vatista as a core, and the teammate was a variable. Ruby was top tier and fun, but I really liked the way Merkava and Yuzu felt. Merkava wasn't dangerous, but I loved the way he pestered enemies with ranged grabs and projectiles, and Yuzu's sword might as well be a gun, hits anywhere except the ede of the screen and had a bunch of moves that teleported for mix-up potential. Combine that with the Under night character's ability to reverse beat a combo, offering unparalleled creativity in combo routes, and that kept me coming back, labbing combos for months. Vatista had a number of zoning tools like beams and spheres, but had a few surprise melee starter options that I never saw anybody else use, and nobody expected to lose 55% off of getting in close with her. Made it feel like she was Melee viable, but only in my hands. The funny part is I dont like Vatista at ALL in Undernight, but she was fresh in Crosstag.

[@RedditSephiroth1048]

This is my favorite one of your videos in a long time.

[@DKdrop]

I’m so glad that I’m not the only one who’s retroactively reexamining my old favorites. For me, I’m the third child of a pretty large family; I have an older brother and an older sister. The oldest of my younger siblings is 3 years younger than me, so I naturally wanted nothing to do with him. For me, the height of coolness was my older brother, and my best friend was my older sister. But I always felt like I was trying to play catch-up to them, and my brother was always better at everything than me. Anyway I always played as Luigi. The feeling of being overshadowed made me feel for the lancer character archetype; usually the main character’s rival or second-in-command. These characters tend to be edgy, which is probably why I fell into that phase a bit earlier than most. When I picked up smash brawl, I didn’t know anything about tier lists or power scaling. But I looked at Kirby and I looked at Meta Knight and I knew what their relationship was, even though I’d never even heard of Kirby in my life. Doesn’t hurt that I kept winning with Meta Knight too.

[@ryell0913]

Ah blessed is the day when Kbash uploads!!!!

[@gavinoverhuls727]

Beautiful video, thank you KBash :)

[@dank-mayo8373]

"A NEW KBASH VIDEO!" 0:09

[@Eddyoshi]

"I'm up my own ass, I HAVE to play something that stands out" Finally someone who gets it! As someone whos been watching since the SC2 video, really lovely to see you go back to talking about the game again, and really cool hearing how similar your viewpoints are to mine about picking a character and that really mattering.

[@lean_fm2994]

Finding my main in fighting games was a funny story, I always tended to gravitate to boxing characters. I played akihiko in P4AU, steve in tekken, & eventually ed in SFV when i really sunk my teeth into the game. Now I wasnt great at street fighter initially, so id be in disadvantage pretty frequently. Eventually, something clicks in my head, & i have a funny thought, "if im going to be holding back in disadvantage a lot to block, i should pick a character that gets options specifically from holding back or down". So i essentially had a mental venn diagram, on one side being charge characters, & the other side being boxers. In the intersection of that diagram is balrog. I then played SFV balrog fruitfully for a couple of years, until the game was overshadowed by SF6, but ill never forget the story of how i put together what i wanted out of a character. Cool video!!

[@sunbeak_vendo]

Your videos always make my day better. Your genuine passion for the topics you cover and your sense of humor is great, man.

[@maxjustice1542]

When I started fighting games, I wanted to just find the character who can do big damage with cool moves. I knew people who hated playing against grapplers or brawlers. So I chose those types in games to cause chaos. I slowly started to move on and try any character that I can feel comfortable in. Ryu was the one that helped me test my fundamentals in later SF games. Started to relate to that character. He overcame his demons and continued to move forward with his life. If there’s anything good I can say about SFV, progressing every character’s story and personality helped that series. It made SF6 better in comparison with the new cast. It’s funny to think about in a fighting game. Characters you can relate to than picking a character to win easy.

[@lucapon3287]

One of the biggest influences of how I play games today all started when I wanted to pick the least popular role at the time in league of legends. Queues took upwards of 30 minutes and I simply wanted to get into games faster. Nearly 10 years later I still always prefer more supportive playstyles in any team game.

[@sirrealgaming6913]

For me my mains were 1stCassandra - SC2 - I enjoyed her playful nature and the speed of her movement 2ndAssassin - SC2 - Specifically the one with the purple wraps(I felt like the anonymity of the character allowed me to say "that's my character") Mankey - Pokemon - I had a come from behind victory against brock by Seismic Slamming Onyx... it was legendary Grieve Edge - Soul Calibur 3 - I really liked the playful nature of the fighting style with the over the top exaggerated attacks also it felt special as a CaS weapon Seigfried - SC4 - I realized how fun it was to weave between attacks with his stance system before launching my enemies away I stuck with him till 6 as a CaS 1stSakura - SF4 - I had enjoyed her version of Ryu and Kens attacks in the MvC and Alpha series of games also her earnestness of character resonated with me 2ndMakoto - SF4 - eventually I switched to Makoto because her fighting style was really interesting to me also she was cute Though after everything I think my favorite main ever has got to be Makoto... Nanaya - Blazblue series She ticks every single box I had besides character creation but somehow I think it's alright She's playful, fun, fast, hits heavy, weaves in and out of attacks, has some hammy over the top sauce, her personality is earnest, her uppercuts launch people to the moon, she's cute but also cool She's the reason I picked up Talim in Soulcalibur 6 as my main Sometimes it's fun to reflect also in Melee I mained Roy XD

[@alliahcherry6721]

Genuinely incredible video

[@soratheorangejuicemascot5809]

The character that really sticked with me the most is Fossil Maiden from Hellsinker. In that shoot em up game, you have an option to pick 3 characters, a veteran guy, a blind girl and a futanari. The Fossile Maiden(blind girl) caught my interest because she looks cute and I find her powerful short laser dagger to be sick as she can move it in 8 directions.

[@liquidsnake23]

I could easily have a conversation about this for hours. Just on fighting games. The fgc is something I’m proud to be part of. Character selection for me starts with who looks cool or resonates with me. As a young kid I was skinny and tall and I always played thief like characters and as I got older I moved away from it to more “dark” evil like characters. Nowadays I pick who’s cool looking but I usually pick an odd ball character that has a bit more technical side to it or whenever I hear someone is low tier, I gravitate toward them just for the challenge of “I can fix them”. In the end I play tekken 8 as a yoshimitsu player and I’m still happy to be able to play these wonderful games. Really loved the video hope to see more like it. Thanks.

[@grey5178]

9:19 - 9:34 I have never been so offended by something I 100% agree with.

[@RagnaTheBloodedge172]

Great vid, keep on being awesome KBash.

[@Supercohboy]

22:24 Everyone learns and adapts and moves out of the "I choose a character because they're cool to me" phase when playing fighting games, but this initial instinct doesn't necessarily go away. It lies dormant until the right character comes along to wow us and grab our imaginations again. We all easily and arguably-logically fall into the pessimistic attitude that "everything is new and cool and exciting as a kid, but that goes away as an adult". Novelty disappears with experience, that's a fact of life. However, new novelty can be invented, it just takes the right artist relative to your tastes coming out with a really cool design to reignite your passion for aesthetics over gameplay mechanics in a fighting game, for example. That feeling/attachment to a certain character always wanes over time, but that's usually because you're learning to appreciate the rest of the game, and that temporary impassioned-obsession is over because you don't need it any more to enjoy the game, so to speak. I have moments where I think I've seen everything when it comes to, for example, vampires or Mecha. But then a new idea will come along, or a fresh take on things will present itself, and it temporarily reinvokes those old feelings of yore. I'm reminded of what makes vampires or Mecha cool, and a new twist on things can really come into its' own with time and care. You can even find yourself becoming attached to a particular IP, idea, or character, but as an adult we're better at appreciating the whole picture without sorta-parasocially attaching ourselves to an in-game persona. I think that's what's at the core here, as a kid we're still lacking for tools to understand the world with, but as adults we don't need to become to attached to a particular character to become engrossed in a game at first any more.

[@LangSmith.]

Really made me contemplate what made Kilik special to me as a SoulCalibur main all throughout the years. Inspiring video for me, and I’m sure many others.

[@hyperfixatedd]

You're a smart guy, I think that if you studied a bit of psychology and made a video about that play style/main subject again but with that knowledge it could be really good Anyways, great video as always!

[@Caius1942]

I remember the first time I popped SC 2 into my GameCube after finding it at the Hollywood Video that dominated my weekends growing up. I booted it up and got in the character screen and saw Link and went to pick him, when someone else caught my eye. A giant mass of armor with a sword bigger than the little Hylian. 10 year old me thought that was the coolest shit ever and never looked back. Now when I play fighting games, I play at two opposite ends of the spectrum. I love my big body grapplers and strikers and I love zoners. Rush down? Never. I either want to work my way in and toss you around like a rag doll for half your bar, or stay on the opposite side of the screen like a bastard man, daring you to try and get in. Or if I’m playing against another zoner, I pretend I’m playing a DBZ beam clash and we’re just spamming all of our fireballs until the dust settles. Man fighting games are neat. I’m mid at them, but boy do I love em.

[@X-Axel]

I picked Nightmare because I knew who he was in Soul Edge and that ending scarred me as a kid, seeing my main become corrupted. I also liked the feeling of ripping my friends apart, ultra great swords for the win.

[@hemangchauhan2864]

I'm at loss of words. Been struggling with the identity thing for a while, and Kbash out a lot of those here.

[@ladyviren]

I relate to that marth neuron activation moment a lot. My most recent example of me losing my mind and becoming dedicated to a character, was wriothesly from genshin impact. I saved for months and skipped the most meta defining dps’s first banner just to make sure I’d get him. And I’m glad I did, as he turned out to be a genuinely fun and interesting character. Also he has not had a rerun yet, making him one of the most rare characters to own lol.

[@00Clank]

Stayed for the personal journey about character selection over one’s own lifetime, a true showcase of that Power of Reflection gained from playing Yun. Stayed longer for the spell-binding Special Thanks.

[@aivalera]

Yunsung mains rise up! I’ll always remember this one time I went to an arcade to play Soul Cal 2’s little group army competition mode (blue team naturally) when some guy decided to challenge me. He picked Nightmare. I was trouncing him hard, then stole his soul by evading his low sweep by doing that backflip out of crane stance move followed by the vertical sweep up. Don’t think either of us even knew you could do that. He just went “okay” and left. Soul Cal 2 was the only fighting game I really got into; and that was the only arcade moment I ever had lol.

[@SpaceLanceFTW]

As a twin, what you said about "picking your thing" very much resonated. (Also, Ryu's win quotes in 3rd Strike also resonate, so SF6 Ryu understandably still does!)

[@Silverslate]

I am regrettably the guy who plays the young little girl in every game because I strongly vibe with the idea of using the impassive and neutral power of the elements to wage war with grace and speed in a world where everyone else wielded power that was more physical and less ethereal and faith based. It just happens that just about every "fastest character in the game that uses wind" is the god damn little girl character. Thus, this being a fact throughout my formative years has extended to my choices in MMOs that feature tiny races, which I will always pick along with the fastest zoom and stab class available in the game. Because it's hilarious to kill God while being barely three feet tall zooping around with the power of wind like the world's most dangerous gnat.

[@DSTkunn]

For me it's always who feels fun to me. Soul Calibur has been my favorite fighting game for years and initially I really like playing Kilik in Soul Calibur 1 and 2. I felt so proud learning to do unblockables and the cool staff tricks. But when I met my best friends in middle school, I fell in love with Maxi's moves. I didn't want to mindlessly lock myself in his shifting stances, and I took the time truly dive deep. My friend mained both Siegfried and Nightmare and we would constantly challenge each other. This would go on for years well into Soul Calibur VI. I realized I like shifting stances and that continued a bit into Tekken 8. I also liked fighters that enjoyed the fights. Rena ended up being someone I got a kick out of for her hard impact and cocky attitude.

[@dustyyyyyyyy7]

I choose Pokemon Red and Charmander and every since, I've played Fire Mages. In Smash it was Link and Marth, but at some point I also picked Ryu... I mean Mario. It felt like Mario could do everything I need between his fireball and little cape.

[@moner5634]

Awesome video, really liked it. But you know what my FAVORITE part was? YOU USED THE WIND SINGS OF A JOURNEY. Frickin LOVE LoM :)

[@lazycouchman]

I like all your videos, but the fighting game ones are always the best. Please do more! Lol It feels like no one else really talks about these aspects of the games as in depth as you do. Also I relate too hard with the hipster thing. I used to hate it cause my friends would always joke that I was a hipster since I had be the weird or unusual character. Gotta be different! Lmao But now I've found it's best for me to just try everyone and see who ends up being my favorite. Too many times it ends up being the one I least expected because I judged them too harshly on looks or perceived playstyle.

[@darkdayboomscreams2115]

I think the first thing I really considered my "main" was the Tri-Stringer in Splatoon 3, which is remarkably recent. I saw it in the trailers and immediately decided I would use it no matter what. Probably wouldn't have stuck with it without the dopamine hit from pulling off one-shots from weird angles. I like feeling like I did something cool to earn a kill

[@Mad_Mouse44]

This brought me to tears. Genuinely amazing video

[@largegoop]

Your Marth analogy has never meant more to me as someone who entirely discovered and fell in love with Fire Emblem thanks to playing Ike in Brawl

[@MangoSmoothy]

talking of avatar selection reminds me of how i was determined to only use the kingdom key in kh1,2 and 3D because i felt as a kid sora wouldnt use different keyblades in lore

[@EmissaryOfSmeagol]

Marth truly is the protagonist of Melee, and by extension, video games as a whole

[@MultiHomersimpson123]

This was a great video. This is for the algorithm: I initially picked Samus in smash 64. Samus is orange and the bubble is cool. Your video made me realize almost all my favorites are charge characters to some extent. Maybe I'll unpack that sometime. Thanks!

[@violetvalentine999]

tira was my soulcalibur main WAY before i was diagnosed with bipolar 1 🤦‍♀️ canonically, she has dissociative identity disorder (and a very cartoonish depiction of it, at that); her mood swings/alternate personalities are Not At All how bipolar disorder works, either, but i still relate to her very strongly. not just certain symptoms of her illness, but the effects they have on her daily living & how she's perceived as "a crazy monster" (and like, she's definitely a merciless lunatic, but that's not because she has DID. she would have kidnapped those kids with or without the mental illness) her fatal flaw is mainly... herself. but that fatal flaw, when utilized with the right finesse & a little bit of luck, is also her greatest strength. and she always has the best voice lines!