Moon Studios, the team behind Ori and The Blind Forest and its sequel, Ori and The Will of the Wisps, are the most recent game designers to throw its hat the ring for representation in Nintendo's all-star brawler, Super Smash Bros. Ultimate. Ori, the main character behind both titles, would be the character added into Super Smash Bros. Ultimate if such things were to happen.
Ori and The Blind Forest and Ori and The Will of the Wisps are platformer-adventure games starring the titular Ori, a white guardian spirit and Sein, who is considered the "light and eyes" of the Spirit Tree in the Forest. Both titles require tight platforming, puzzle solving, and enemy combat, and have heavy inspiration from games like Rayman and Metroid, as well as films like The Lion King and The Iron Giant.
This request follows the announcement of Steve from Minecraft entering the fray when series director, Masahiro Sakurai, announced him last week. Nintendo and Microsoft have been playing quite nicely this generation, with previously Microsoft console exclusives like Cuphead and even both Ori games being released on Nintendo Switch. It would certainly not be out of the question for Ori to make his way to Super Smash Bros. as well.
Ori's move-set wouldn't be too hard to imagine. Ori would be a small, lightweight character with solid speed and agility, similar to Pikachu. The Spirit Edge sword from Will of the Wisps could take up a large portion of Ori's jabs, tilts, smash attacks, and aerials, allowing Ori to quickly slash away at enemies with a decent range. Special attacks could include the Spirit Arc arrow, the boomerang-esque Spirit Star, and Ori's Light Burst as his up-special. Ori could even make use of Kuro's Feather as a float ability similar to Daisy and Peach's parasol.
If Ori were to be included in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, it would mark the first time a character from an indie game was added to the roster. We've seen indie inclusion by means of Assist Trophies and Mii Costumes, such as Shovel Knight from Shovel Knight and Sans from Undertale respectively, but so far the roster has only been reserved for characters from bigger franchises, even if they aren't strictly from a Nintendo series.
As cool as this would be, it is probably not something that's in the works right now. Entering the Super Smash Bros. roster is a highly esteemed accolade, considered to be reserved for gaming icons. While Ori is certainly interesting, he hasn't quite crossed the threshold of importance like Persona 5's Joker, Rare's Banjo and Kazooie, or Terry Bogard from Fatal Fury.
Super Smash Bros. Ultimate is available now on Nintendo Switch.
Source: IGN