How many of you all actually played as Wolf as a main in Brawl? Just curious what the actual use of him was among those who'd like him back.
Though I'd like to see him return, it's kind of a Mewtwo situation. I never really used Mewtwo all that much, but I really hate to see characters cut. No one I played with used Wolf unless we were choosing random and given Wolf.
I didn't main him, but I loved playing him.
If you can't see why people would say wolf is a fox clone and the differences between that and what you said then I'm not sure what to say.
It's obvious he's more of a luigi than a toon link but he's very clearly based on fox and falco.
He's thematically based on the other 2 Star Fox characters, yes. He shares the same final smash (albeit the tank is a bit different in terms of stats iirc), he has similarly themed specials, although they are vastly different in how they work, yes. He also has various attributes that are similar to how Fox's are, like being a fast-faller.
However, you are wrong. Luigi and Toon Link both still share attack animations with Mario and Link. Toon Link's Up B, B and Down B work identically to Link's, only with different looks, and in the Up B's case, size.
Wolf's specials work vastly different from Fox's. Going here with Brawl because Wolf doesn't exist in Smash 4, so we don't know if there's any changes - for instance, with the B, Fox's laser has unlimited range, he can fire it incredibly rapidly (to the point that skilled players easily can fire 2, very skilled players even 3 in a single short hop), they do not flinch and only inflict very minor damage. The gun itself has no hitbox.
Wolf's gun has a melee hitbox - the knife on it does actually do damage up close. The projectile moves very slowly and has very limited range to the point of being more of a mid-range than a long-range projectile, and cannot be fired in a short hop unless you know how to work around Wolf's landing lag. It's one of the highest damage non-charging projectiles in the game and does not only flinch, it also pushes enemies a tad backward.
And that's just one special. These 2 special moves are about as different as they can get, and they only share one thing: They're thematically similar. So yes, both Fox and Wolf use guns, but they're vastly different from each other in just about every aspect, and the same can be said about the other specials.
The entirety of Wolf's normal moves are completely unique. He doesn't even use the same limbs as Fox in almost every single move - only his Up Smash and one of the aerials (I think it was the Back Air) for both use their legs, but they do it in an entirely different way (e.g. in the Up Smash, Fox does a back flip, while Wolf does a handstand-esque kick directly upwards).
It's very clear that Sakurai's intention was for Wolf to
resemble Fox and Falco. He was supposed to be thematically similar, yes. But he's not a clone. A clone is literally a copy-paste job of moves, with perhaps some alterations on stats or a couple of moves being different. Dark Pit is a clone. Lucina is a clone. Doctor Mario, Young Link, Pichu, Ganondorf, Roy and Falco used to be clones (with Doc still being one). Falco, Ganon and Toon Link still share more moves with their base characters than Wolf and Fox do.
And as I mentioned, if you completely eradicate any differences between characters but count only special moves, and dumb them down specifically to their theme, then my example of Link being a Samus clone comes in. Again, I know the comparison is ridiculous, but so is considering Wolf a low effort copypaste job.
All of his special moves are pretty much the same. His neutral B is the gun, Down B is reflector, side B is the dash similar to the fox illusion, an his up B is like Fox's. Slow start up and can be aimed in any direction.
See:
Alright, if you literally dumb down characters to the very basic functions of their specials, then Link is a Samus clone.
The Up B is a multi-hit spinning attack in which you can mildly steer.
The Side B is a projectile with various trajectories based on your input.
The B is a chargable projectile that grows stronger/faster and goes further the more you charge.
The Down B is an explosive which you can use to give yourself extra height in mid-air.
To top it off, both have a tether grab, and both have the same Back Air (at least they used to, not sure if that's still the case). They also both are in the upper range of weight classes.
So, in conclusion, Link shares more moves with Samus than Wolf does with Fox, since beyond specials, Wolf and Fox share none, but Link and Samus do. What now?
You will probably consider this analogy stupid, but so is calling Wolf a clone of Fox just because they have similar specials.
