Assemble! - Fighting Game Archetype Roster - The Puppeteer

This is Assemble, where we look at several different characters across multiple series to form a perfect team-up. Whatever the case may be, whether it’s a fighting game roster or an RPG adventuring party, we’ll find the best team for the job. In a change of style from the more long-form articles featured here, these articles will be shorter entries, focusing on one or two characters each, and spread out over time until the complete roster is formed. 

What would a fighting game be without a roster of several different, powerful, and engaging characters? In this batch of articles for Assemble, we will be assembling a fighting game roster using characters from several different fighting games based on different character archetypes.

The picks will be based on where the characters fit in terms of game mechanics and their place in the story and world of the game. Only characters that originated in fighting games will be observed here. That means no guest characters, no licensed fighting games (unless their roster includes original characters), and no crossover titles. Finally, I’ll only be discussing games or characters that I am at least somewhat familiar with. While this means I won’t discuss all the fighting games out there, there should be at least some variety from just the major titles.

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THE PUPPETEER

One of the oddest entries in a fighting game roster, the Puppeteer is a character who directs a secondary character while they are on the field. They can be anything from a pet to a detachable body part to a literal puppet, just as long as the fighter has some level of control over them during a fight. They may even have their own special moves they can use apart from their master. Characters like this can be tough to fight against because they essentially provide an extra hazard during a battle for their opponent.

Our choice for the Puppeteer is…

Carl Clover from Blazblue.

Starting with his look, Carl’s outfit consists of purple, black, and white formal clothing and includes a top hat and cape, giving him the look of an old-time stage performer. Contributing to his Puppeteer status more than his look though, is his partner, the large doll-like Nirvana. 

While Carl can use some attacks on his own, most of his moveset revolves around directing Nirvana (or as he calls her, Ada) to attack. She uses slow but powerful attacks compared to Carl’s quick but weak ones and she runs on a gauge that, once depleted, renders her unusable until it fills back up again. Carl’s chances in a fight are more reliant on his partner than most Puppeteer characters.

Their relationship is the story is like that too, but just like lots of stuff with Blazblue, it would take a long time to explain.

For a moveset that heavily integrates the use of his “puppet”, we now add Carl Clover to the roster.

ADDED! 

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What did you think about this article? Want to see what other characters get picked for our roster? Do you think someone would fit this role better besides whoever got picked? Make your voice heard in the comments below. Thanks for coming.