Disclaimer: This content is almost entirely a repost from Smashboards circa 2013. I’ve copied it over to this place for posterity. Please do not mistake this for contemporary advice on how to create a moveset for MYM.
Oh no, here comes Junahu with his antiquated ideas on moveset characterization, again. Go home grandpa! Characterization isn’t even important!
Why Characterization is important
Getting audiences invested and interested in the affairs of fictional characters is paramount when developing Intellectual Property (and especially fighting game IPs).
As humans, we are social creatures, and we feel naturally closer to characters we can empathise or connect with. Once we think of a fictional character like a friend, a rival, or even an extension of our own selves, we are far more likely to buy things that involve that character. It’s simply more profitable to have likeable characters than it is to fill the ranks with generic stock.
Within the context of games specifically, characters are something of a gateway into the game. They’re the face of the game that attracts purchase, and their actions are the guiding hand that gets players comfortable with the gameplay. Their personalities and conflicts give us the context that drives our adventure, or makes us cheer for our chosen charge.
How Characterization manifests itself
In other types of media, there are two basic means of informing an audience of a character’s personality. You can either explicitly state it, or you can imply it through their actions. Games are unique in that there is a third strata to characterization; how the player and character interact. This is a complicated, uncertain, business, but it is one of the most important facets in making a great video game.
To take an example, let’s talk about Mario. His stated characterization (his role in the plot of the game) is that he has the determined and immutable goal of rescuing Princess Peach.
Beyond this determination however, Mario’s personality is entirely manifested through the player’s actions. And in turn, the player’s actions are guided by the level design and specific mechanics of the game itself. To put it simply, gameplay defines character. You can’t have a guy collecting billions of gold trinkets and then have a cutscene pretending he isn’t interested in material wealth.
Mario’s levels are expansive, and invite the player to sprint and leap through them recklessly. Secrets and grottos entice players into making detours, yet the limited clock keeps them on task. Keeping momentum usually requires trickier jumps or other tricks, but typically leads to the more rewarding paths. Even a single hit from an enemy can kill Mario, yet extra lives promise another try, and the enemy’s predictable nature can be easily overcome.
All of these aspects lead to Mario feeling acrobatic and thrill seeking. He loves the open air (as opposed to the oppressive low ceilings of the castle levels), and passively views enemies as incidental, unthreatening, or even useful. Even in a life or death situation, Mario is having fun.
In contrast to Mario, someone like Kid Icarus’ Pit is almost the exact opposite. Despite his bulging health bar, and unchallenging, plodding speed, Pit feels a lot more vulnerable. Or rather, his world feels much more threatening. Mario is free to ignore his enemies, but Pit’s feeble run, and the underworld’s oppressive layout demands that he tackle absolutely every enemy in his path. And while his hp buffers him against multiple assaults, recovering that hp involves a costly visit to the game’s very limited number of shops. Levels are long, and absolutely devoid of checkpoints. A single mistake, or one hit too many, could make Pit tumble all the way back down. There is no time limit, and Pit can be strengthened by killing many enemies (to earn stronger arrows, and to collect currency for life-saving items) and visiting dangerous grottos. A cautious player, a cautious Pit, will have a better chance of succeeding.
Neither game has any in game text that explains their personalities. You don’t read about how brave Pit is, or how free-spirited Mario is, you experience it. And that experience is what you remember of the game.
Characterization in Movesets
Designing with characterization in mind is innately difficult, because it relies on a number of unknowable quantities. There are few hard rules to follow, but the end goal is to make the player feel the characterization of the character. Therefore you are looking for ways to communicate with the player, using only the actions of their character and the scenarios of the game. Body language and animation is important, but so is the nitty gritty of what each move is good for.
Characterization is almost an infinitely deep subject. Nonetheless, I’ve split it into the 6 different “layers”, with each subsequent layer abstracting a little more meaning from the character;
Characterization is almost an infinitely deep subject. Nonetheless, I’ve split it into the 6 different “layers”, with each subsequent layer abstracting a little more meaning from the character;
Top Layer: Superficial Characterization
At the very top, we ask “what is the character famous for doing?” “what can I put in the moveset that will get players to recognise this character?”. This is superficial characterization, because it doesn’t explore the ‘why?’ of a character’s actions, it simply gives us a tool from their past that we remember. Mario’s FLUDD is certainly memorable, but other than that one game it was in, what does this thing have to do with Mario?
Despite being the easiest and shallowest level of characterization, Superficial characterization is very important. It is the first layer that players will experience, and players want to be reassured that they are indeed playing as THE Mario, or THE Link.
2nd Layer: Extrapolative Characterization
Here we take the character we have and ask “what could this character do that would be realistically within their character to do?”. Many of the simple kicks and punches movesets employ are at this level of characterization. This is the extrapolative layer because we are expanding beyond their existing actions, yet still expressing a pre-established personality. Again, these moves don’t answer the ‘why?’, but they do explore a little of their potential as characters.
3rd Layer: In-Practice Characterization
At this point, we finally reach the ‘why?’, and then use that ‘why’ to better define our attacks . We ask “what is it about the tools that this characters has, that determines their personality?“. Once we get this answer, we can start adapting those tools into Smash Bros’ unique gameplay.
It’s at this layer that we take individual moves and try to flesh them out in a way that is cohesive to the characterization. “How do we make Bowser into an feral, aggressor who would spitefully KO himself to take down an opponent?”. “How do we make Dedede view those minions he has as nothing but ammo to throw?”. “Can we have a move where Mario reverses the opponent’s momentum, turning the opponent into the architect of their own demise?”.
If you can reach this layer with even a few attacks, your moveset’s characterization will shine. The character will feel that much more “alive”, because they are doing things for reasons that make sense to that character.
4th Layer: Player Characterization
At this layer, we bring the player themselves into the mix. “How do we get the player to naturally play the character in a way that fits the character’s personality?“. This is a truly difficult layer to master, because it involves the entire moveset and what it is capable of doing, not just the playing style that has been layed out for the player. Think about what the moveset as a whole is encouraging the player to do. Think about how players will accommodate (or surpass) the moveset’s weaknesses. Think about potentially abuseable moves, and what it says about the character if the player wants to spam them.
At this layer, you want to encourage the player to have similar motivations and goals as the character does, so that they start thinking alike too.
5th Layer: Inter-Player Characterization
Something of a meta-layer for Player-Characterization, here we try to predict how the moveset will react to other movesets in our game. “What will the player do when they encounter a tough matchup? What will they change about the way they play this character?”. This is an important layer too, because it involves multiple characters interacting with one another, which is the entire point of the game. Weaknesses, strengths, and the eb and flow of matches can define how different characters feel about one another. Does Ganondorf feel frustrated at Link using projectiles to keep him at arm’s length? Is Link aprehensive of what Ganondorf can do if he closes the distance between them, or does he have the tools to escape?
Bottom Layer: Inventive Characterization
The bottom layer, the most meta-layer of them all, throws out the rule that we have to communicate an existing personality, and instead uses the moveset to invent new personality. Captain Falcon IS this layer. His character was all but invented through his Smash Bros moveset. He used to be nothing but a name and a picture. Now he’s one of the most endearingly awesome characters Nintendo has.
Using this layer yourself means asking the question “what can being in Smash Bros do for this character? What aspects of their personality could not be explored, or even defined, in their own genre of game?”
A detailed guideline to designing characterization
Knowing the 6 layers we can use to design a well characterized moveset, we can move on to trying to make practical use of them. The following guideline is extremely thorough, involving far more research and planning than even MYM usually affords. Think of the following as a theoretical ideal for an individual designing movesets;
Step 0 is understanding the engine you’re designing a moveset for. This is kind of absolutely 100% vital. If you don’t know Smash Bros, you aint making Smash Bros sets. And this isn’t limited to the mechanics of the game, nor its intricasies. You also need to understand the underlieing rules it has for how various characters, objects and properties are represented in Smash Bros. There’s a certain order to the chaos, and the more you understand of it, the better a moveset you can create to fit it.
Step 1, most sensibly, is choosing the character you’re making a moveset for. The Smash Bros engine does inherently limit the types of characters that will be viable as movesets (pacifists are exceedingly difficult to make believable) but otherwise your limits are simply your imagination. Choosing a character you like personally will make the moveset making process much more enjoyable.
But other than the character, you need to start pinning down what ‘iteration’ or ‘interpretation’ of the character you’ll be using. For example, if your character comes from an RPG, then their personality at the start of that game, will be markably different to their personality at the finale. Another, specific example, is King K.Rool, who adopts a different persona in every Donkey Kong game.
Step 2, is to research that character, paying special attention to what kind of emotional attachment players get towards that character in-game (assuming your character is indeed a video game character). Play the game, noting iconic actions and central personality traits as you go. Try to look up additional official information on your character. Instruction manuals, developer interviews, side-games etc.
Once you’ve exhausted official research, you should try to gauge how other players/fans react to that character. Find forums for the game in question, search for wacky plot theories or hot debates on your character. Pay attention to the kinds of players that are making these assertions, their ages, their experiences with the game etc. You want to put together a list of expectations, things that players are assuming about your character that you can play to or imply.
Step 3, is to organise the research you’ve performed to create a list of signature actions and personality traits. Pair up signature attacks with the input you think they’d be most suitable on. The special attacks are typically the best places for these. Try not to be overly specific at this stage, as you may need to tweak the specifics of how moves work in order to characterize them better.
Mario, for example, needs a move where he jumps, because he’s almost synonymous with jumping. And that pairs very well with the Up-Special, as it allows him to recover from offstage.
Step 4, at this point you should have a sufficient foot in the door to begin thinking about an overall “playstyle”; basic goals, actions and advantages that the player can leverage to KO the opponent or defend themselves from KO. You want this playstyle to loosely adhere to the character’s personality. But don’t force it. The choice to play a certain way must be a choice that the player is allowed to make themselves, otherwise it isn’t meaningful, and it makes the player feel restricted.
Step 5, once you have a general playstyle set up, dissect it. Break it apart into its fundamental elements and challenges (how will the character approach his foe, or does he not need approach at all? What is the ideal reaction the opponent could give to the character attempting to fullfill a given goal? Are there multiple goals that the character can play to at the same time? etc). You will eventually come up with a list of simple questions that, when answered, will give you a rock-solid guideline for creating your moveset. If you’re still not sure, try to break down some of your questions into more questions, until you have enough specifics to understand just what your moveset needs.
Step 6 is simply, create that moveset. Imagine moves that obey or enhance the answers you gave about the playstyle the character will have. Ensure that the character has the tools they need to carry out their playstyle. Give the player additional options for doing things that you want the player to get creative with (more projectiles? more KO moves? more set-ups?). More options will also make that part of a playstyle more adaptable, and easier to carry out in general.
Also be sure that the moveset also obeys negative qualities that you decided on (i.e. weaknesses). Be careful that, in the process of filling your moveset, you didn’t accidentally remove a weakness you wanted your character to have. You may have to return to Step 5 in order to flesh out the playstyle a little more, so you understand what potential remains to be filled.
Step 7, with a full moveset in front of you, explore what you’ve just created. Imagine this character in a variety of situations and with a variety of differently skilled players. Run through likely actions and reactions, not just with pros that innately understand the moveset, but also with beginners who are just now trying the moveset for the first time. Try to predict exploits that will cause pros to play the moveset differently, and individual moves that newcomers will latch onto as being ‘strong’. See if the new player has the ability and the opportunity to discover the deeper aspects of a moveset (without being told by someone else), and see if there is sufficient depth and variety in the moveset so that experts can continue to adapt their tactics to the ever changing ‘meta-game’.
If you find something that doesn’t work, then ask “why doesn’t this work?”, then try to use that answer to return to Step 6 or Step 5 and fix the problem.
Note that as well as being functionally cohesive, the moveset needs to make sense in terms of characterization. Ask yourself how far out of their way a player needs to go in order to make the character act “out-of-character”. The most important kind of player to endear your character to, is the low level player, as the high level player is already attached to the character (and the Smash Bros games as a whole)
Step 1, most sensibly, is choosing the character you’re making a moveset for. The Smash Bros engine does inherently limit the types of characters that will be viable as movesets (pacifists are exceedingly difficult to make believable) but otherwise your limits are simply your imagination. Choosing a character you like personally will make the moveset making process much more enjoyable.
But other than the character, you need to start pinning down what ‘iteration’ or ‘interpretation’ of the character you’ll be using. For example, if your character comes from an RPG, then their personality at the start of that game, will be markably different to their personality at the finale. Another, specific example, is King K.Rool, who adopts a different persona in every Donkey Kong game.
Step 2, is to research that character, paying special attention to what kind of emotional attachment players get towards that character in-game (assuming your character is indeed a video game character). Play the game, noting iconic actions and central personality traits as you go. Try to look up additional official information on your character. Instruction manuals, developer interviews, side-games etc.
Once you’ve exhausted official research, you should try to gauge how other players/fans react to that character. Find forums for the game in question, search for wacky plot theories or hot debates on your character. Pay attention to the kinds of players that are making these assertions, their ages, their experiences with the game etc. You want to put together a list of expectations, things that players are assuming about your character that you can play to or imply.
Step 3, is to organise the research you’ve performed to create a list of signature actions and personality traits. Pair up signature attacks with the input you think they’d be most suitable on. The special attacks are typically the best places for these. Try not to be overly specific at this stage, as you may need to tweak the specifics of how moves work in order to characterize them better.
Mario, for example, needs a move where he jumps, because he’s almost synonymous with jumping. And that pairs very well with the Up-Special, as it allows him to recover from offstage.
Step 4, at this point you should have a sufficient foot in the door to begin thinking about an overall “playstyle”; basic goals, actions and advantages that the player can leverage to KO the opponent or defend themselves from KO. You want this playstyle to loosely adhere to the character’s personality. But don’t force it. The choice to play a certain way must be a choice that the player is allowed to make themselves, otherwise it isn’t meaningful, and it makes the player feel restricted.
Step 5, once you have a general playstyle set up, dissect it. Break it apart into its fundamental elements and challenges (how will the character approach his foe, or does he not need approach at all? What is the ideal reaction the opponent could give to the character attempting to fullfill a given goal? Are there multiple goals that the character can play to at the same time? etc). You will eventually come up with a list of simple questions that, when answered, will give you a rock-solid guideline for creating your moveset. If you’re still not sure, try to break down some of your questions into more questions, until you have enough specifics to understand just what your moveset needs.
Step 6 is simply, create that moveset. Imagine moves that obey or enhance the answers you gave about the playstyle the character will have. Ensure that the character has the tools they need to carry out their playstyle. Give the player additional options for doing things that you want the player to get creative with (more projectiles? more KO moves? more set-ups?). More options will also make that part of a playstyle more adaptable, and easier to carry out in general.
Also be sure that the moveset also obeys negative qualities that you decided on (i.e. weaknesses). Be careful that, in the process of filling your moveset, you didn’t accidentally remove a weakness you wanted your character to have. You may have to return to Step 5 in order to flesh out the playstyle a little more, so you understand what potential remains to be filled.
Step 7, with a full moveset in front of you, explore what you’ve just created. Imagine this character in a variety of situations and with a variety of differently skilled players. Run through likely actions and reactions, not just with pros that innately understand the moveset, but also with beginners who are just now trying the moveset for the first time. Try to predict exploits that will cause pros to play the moveset differently, and individual moves that newcomers will latch onto as being ‘strong’. See if the new player has the ability and the opportunity to discover the deeper aspects of a moveset (without being told by someone else), and see if there is sufficient depth and variety in the moveset so that experts can continue to adapt their tactics to the ever changing ‘meta-game’.
If you find something that doesn’t work, then ask “why doesn’t this work?”, then try to use that answer to return to Step 6 or Step 5 and fix the problem.
Note that as well as being functionally cohesive, the moveset needs to make sense in terms of characterization. Ask yourself how far out of their way a player needs to go in order to make the character act “out-of-character”. The most important kind of player to endear your character to, is the low level player, as the high level player is already attached to the character (and the Smash Bros games as a whole)
Anyway, thanks for coming to my TED Talk on Moveset Characterization.
The Bunker 
What do you think?