Since Nintendo has revealed that Mythra/Pyra will join the game’s astounding roster of selectable fighters, the lengthy wait for the 0 is finally over.
Fans of the Super Smash Bros. franchise around the world have reacted as usual to Nintendo’s confirmation of the newest Super Smash Bros. Ultimate characters. Of course, that’s just another way of expressing that countless gamers continue to (vocally) ask why Waluigi, Geno, and Sora aren’t included in the game despite repeated demands. But as practically every Smash Bros. update has shown us, it’s difficult to please everyone without first securing the rights to almost all characters in existence and then figuring out how to include them into the fighting game.
Of course, a lot more people were left wondering, “Who are Mythra and Pyra, and why are they in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate?” after the Mythra/Pyra announcement.
In order to respond to the first query, Mythra and Pyra are Xenoblade franchise characters. They first appeared in Xenoblade Chronicles 2, where they immediately made themselves known as immensely strong characters with important roles to play in the series’ rich backstory. It’s interesting because they also share a lot of common characteristics.
Actually, that might be oversimplifying things a bit. You may think of Mythra as the “foundation” character because she gave Pyra’s personality birth after experiencing a particularly traumatic loss. As a sort of safeguard, Mythra planned to encase this personality in her immense strength. Things didn’t exactly turn out that way, to cut through a lot of lore. After being kept in stasis for about 500 years, Pyra was discovered, and Mythra and Pyra briefly switched roles when one of them was awoken in reaction to various situations.
In Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, Pyra and Mythra will be portrayed as one selectable character with the ability to switch between both personalities, simulating that dynamic. If you’ve ever played as Zelda or Shiek in an earlier version of Smash Bros., you’ll have a general idea of how the dynamic will function mechanically.
Similar to how Zelda and Shiek were included into the Smash Bros. experience, the decision to display the characters in this fashion is surprisingly lore-friendly. Although we don’t yet have access to a complete list of their individual skills, it should be noted that the two are comparable in terms of the qualities that would most naturally apply to Super Smash Bros. (combat skills and equipment). Although it’s not entirely clear how certain personality differences, such as Pyra’s excellent cooking skills and Mythra’s amateur cooking abilities, may be reflected in the game to help distinguish the two, we’re confident Nintendo will figure out a way to make the swapping mechanic work once more if they can manage to make a small army of Fire Emblem characters feel distinctive.
Fans on Twitter have also noted that it’s intriguing that Mythra and Pyra are currently being included in the game because Etikia, a well-known Smash Bros. player and streamer who passed away in 2019, favoured both of them. While it hasn’t been confirmed that any recent character additions were intended as a tribute to the streamer, some gamers are relishing the notion that he would have liked seeing these changes that have just been made to the game.
Super Smash Bros. Ultimate is anticipated to add Mythra and Pyra as DLC characters in March. They are the most recent additions to the Fighter Pass 2 collection, which has so far expanded the game’s roster by adding Min Min, Minecraft Steve, and Sephiroth. Before the year is over, two additional characters are anticipated to be included in the second Fighter Pass for the game.
