So...
this has aged well
And yes, the F-Zero binge gave me PLENTY to work with:
SINCE LAST TIME:
- Bartholomew Fatima has had Renji Abarai (Bleach) and Samurai Goroh (F-Zero) added to his list of potential MUs - the former of which is largely just 'first rivals with whips' (although the Animation potential is still there, as well as Margie and Rukia being considered thematic parallels of a sort), and the latter is a lot of 'space pirates with mechs' (to grossly oversimplify both). Bart seems to be having something of a Sena problem in that he has a lot of MUs that are very good in one or two aspects, but aren't as balanced as they could be. Yukine clears his MUs for now, but it is worth considering. You could make an argument for Jack Levin and give Goro to Rico if you wanted, but tbh Bart's MUs are kinda cluttered as is.
- Billy Lee Black's MU spreads have been cleaned to just be Zenkichi Hasegawa, and while his other MUs suggested could have been good once upon a time - they too have better these days.
- Fun fact about Rico's MUs: Kenpachi (Bleach) was initially under Bart's MUs before I remembered that Renji exists, and even then you could make an argument for him to be under either (as an aside, Bart, Rico and... Ga Jairg, if you can believe it, appear to be competing for very similar MUs, which is why he got a re-shuffling in his MUs too). A lot of Rico vs Kanpachi appears to be 'strength-driven Frenemies of the main character, that were put in that scenario because of the social standing they climbed'.
- Dunban's MUs have also been amended to the MUs found in this chart here. Heismay (M:RF), because of the whole 'self-taught former hero before they injury and death of a family member' (in Dunban's case, it was assumed to be Fiora before the mid-end of the main Mechon Arc and awakening of Monado II, and Heismay the death of his Son). Dunban is also my choice for an All Might runback in no small part because of the trope of the injury, and the moniker of a hero who saved a town and passed on their legacy without dying (you could draw a parallel between Nana Shimura and Fiora's assumed death as well if you wanted). Baiken is the absolute shoe-in for Dunban's MUs at this point, and with both Xeno and Guilty Gear scaling starting to stabilize these days, I don't have nearly the same kneejerk 'oh god no' reaction to the idea that I used to. Shanks (One Piece) is largely there on a suggestion (a very good one, might I add) from a while back. Bercouli (SAO: Alicization) holds up a lot better than I was expecting for reasons found here... I could go on, but I think we get the point by now.
- Zanza, in a sort of contravention of the suggestion of @Spinoirr - has Yhwach (Bleach) added to his MUs... largely because of the commission track by Yates:
- Ethel has Gauche Suede (Tegamibachi) added to her MU list, and it's one I haven't mentioned yet for some reason (the long and short of relations being 'inspiring mains into one profession (Noah into fighting, and Lag Seeing into letters) before becoming a 'reformed' enemy). BTW: Tegamibachi is slept on, and I recommend it highly.
And... that's basically it as far as amendments to the chart (bar one that I've deliberately left off, you'll see why in a bit). So 1) here's a thumbnail I whipped together for Luxaar vs Garon (no explanation needed, that was largely discussed last time):
And 2)
let's discuss those Xeno/F-Zero MUs more now! (...F-Xeno? Eh, whatever):
Andy Summer / Captain Falcon (F-Zero) vs Alois Bernholt / The Black Knight (Xenoblade Chronicles X: Definitive Edition)
(Continued)
- Both are considered the 'secret heroes' in their respective verses, being the individuals that allowed their societies to flourish despite their presence and absence (Alois single-handedly thinning out large portions of the Ghosts prior to the White Whale's crash-landing on Mira, leaving him MIA, and Falcon technically being Judy Summers "dead" Brother (thus the name) in a police operation, but living as a bounty hunter, helping the Mobile Task Force in 2202 by more clandestine means, whilst having an alias as 'Master Bart' at a local pub).
- Both are also 'the real thing' in the context of everyone else around them (Al being in his real body when it came time for the new content in DE, despite most everyone else inhabiting a 'mim' (a false body because of the circumstances of project exodus), and Andy Summer heavily implied to have never entered 'cold sleep' despite everyone else in the jump of 150 years, and Judy Summer being part-cyborg (similar to Elma being the only mim to be controlled remotely, as per the rhetoric of Project Exodus).
- Both also bestow upon a 'next in line' their most prized vehicle that helped them save the universe (in Al's case, he allows Cross to pilot Ares Prime during the fight with Void after discussions about what the 'heart' means (Basically, the Ares needs a specialized pilot with a 'real' body, which Cross comes to inhabit), and Andy bestowing upon Ryu Suzaku the title of Captain Falcon AND the Blue Falcon after the final Falcon Punch vs Black Shadow in that scene (you know the one...). And needless to say, Ares is a mech/vehicle in a similar way to what the Blue Falcon is.
- With that, both 'final fights' for them revolve around preventing the activation of six cores (in Al's case, it was retrieving the Ares Cores from Void before he attempted to make a break for another universe to bust, and with C. Falcon, it was preventing the Dark Matter Reactor from absorbing all of the Reactor Mights from activating and imploding the Universe to create another Big Bang).
- Overdrive vs Boost Fire - TELL ME YOU COULDN'T PICTURE IT.
You might notice that, despite me not ruling out a runback of canonical composite Falcon (can you believe that episode is over 5 years old?), a lot of relations here pull from the F-Zero anime. And for that reason, I'd also like to praise the show for turning around and pulling this sick back-end trick by going 'so, you remember that 'Zoda' guy? The one DBa would off-handedly mention 15 years later?
That's your Mumkhar/Metal Face MU':
Mumkhar / Metal Face (XC1) VS Zoda (F-Zero)
- Both are honourless villains that caused the death of main's love interests early into their stories, be that directly or indirectly (Mumkhar, controlling a remote Metal Face, causing Fiora's death in Colony 9, and Zoda causing Ryu to be put into cold sleep, causing his GF-turned-fiancé Haruka to go rogue and make an attempt on Zoda's life in revenge, causing her the same fate. Both women (Haruka and Fiora) would then be stationed under respective antagonist factions (Dark Million and the Mechon) for a lengthy sabbatical, under Face Nemesis and Miss Killer respectively, and are eventually re-united under 'the good side(tm)').
- For this reason, both are the driving force for revenge for our main males, with Ryu winning several F-Zero races in order to make sure Zoda (and other members of Dark Million) aren't able to fund their operations, and Shulk spending the events of XC1 up to the first Prison Island visit believing in the death of all Mechon because of Mumkhar's actions.
- Both can be considered genetically modified entities as well (what with Mumkhar being a face unit in order to pilot faced Mechon, and Zoda being created by Black Shadow and sent by him back 150 years (?) in order to kill Ryu and Falcon).
- Both are also marked as targets for those considered heroes before our mains got involved - what with Mumkhar wanting to quote 'be the new hero' after attempts to take the Monado for the Mechon, only to be stopped by Dunban (a former ally Mumkhar reluctantly was), and Zoda being the one who shot that rocket at Falcon, leading to his assumed death by Judy.
- An interesting contrast that this MU has is that of where their arcs end up. Zoda ends up living (although he was trapped inside the Dark Matter Reactor at one point during the end of the series) after several attempts to usurp Black Shadow, which is a consequence Egil happened to avoid in excess after Mumkhar's death when he says '[Memories] are what limited the potential of Metal Face' (en quote, although this might not entirely have been his intent when he said this).
It's worth noting that despite my hesitation to give Mumkhar / Metal Face his own MU spread (as it'd be easier to integrate him into Egil's MUs as an army fight), it's not hard to imagine a version of Egil's MUs that happen
after MF's defeat at Galahad Fortress (
peak a gander at my Dmitri article regarding which interpretation of his character DBa picked, and how I felt about that). And it's not like Starscream or Tyrian would be outright missing from HMs - but the next time anyone asks me about bespoke Mumkhar / Metal Face MUs,
this will likely be my pick.
Anyway, I'm overdue for some sleep.
Until next time.
