Mr. Game & Watch

Mr. Game and Watch
Artwork from Super Smash Bros. Ultimate
Series	Game & Watch
First Appearance	Ball
Species	Monochrome
Year Created	1980
Created by	Gunpei Yokoi

Mr. Game & Watch (Mr.ゲーム＆ウォッチ, Misutā Gēmu ando Wotchi) is a playable Nintendo video game character and mascot, and is a recognizable fighter in the Super Smash Bros. series. He is the signature and titular main character and protagonist of the handheld Game & Watch series from 1980.

The character has also starred in the Game & Watch Gallery video series where he appeared in the "classic" versions of the games (while Mario characters replaced him in the remade versions). Even in the Subspace Emissary mode in Super Smash Bros. Brawl, several Mr. Game & Watches appear.

In Fire Attack, for example, the characters in the game are dressed up like cowboys and Indians. In some of the later Game & Watch titles, artwork was provided for the character that gave him a more human look. Many Game & Watch instruction manuals, including the one for Ball, refer to the character as a puppet.

Not every Game & Watch game featured Mr. Game & Watch, however, with several featuring cartoon characters, pre-existing Nintendo characters, or original characters creating specifically for that game's story.

Physical appearance

Mr. Game & Watch appears to be a 2D silhouette stick figure-styled character with monochromatic features, a shadow black figure with a gray outline, and a large straight nose.

Appearances

Game & Watch games

	Ball	In Ball, Mr. Game & Watch's first video game, the character must juggle three balls. The balls gradually gain speed. The game's instruction manual describes the character as a "doll".
	Flagman	Mr. Game & Watch took on a distinct look in Flagman, dressing up like a pirate.
	Vermin	Mr. Game & Watch wields two hammers in Vermin that he uses against pesky moles. He has hair and no nose in this game.
	Fire	Fire is the first game in which multiple Mr. Game & Watches appear. The player controls two firemen whose goal is to save the characters from the burning building.
	Judge	Two Mr. Game & Watches appear in Judge, the final Silver Game & Watch game.
	Manhole	In Manhole, Mr. Game & Watch has to cover up manholes to prevent pedestrians from falling into them.
	Helmet	In Helmet, Mr. Game & Watch obviously wears a helmet with no eyes.
	Lion	There are two Mr. Game & Watches here; they both must keep a lion inside its cage.
	Parachute	While the Mr. Game & Watch in the boat has eyes, the ones with parachutes don't.
	Octopus	In this game, Mr. Game & Watch wears an old-fashioned diving helmet.
	Chef	In Chef, Mr. Game & Watch wears a chef garment.
	Turtle Bridge	In the game, you must get the character from one side of a lake to the other by jumping on the shells of turtles that are protruding from the water.
	Fire Attack	Mr. Game & Watch must keep his house from burning down.
	Oil Panic	Here, Mr. Game & Watch wears a gas station uniform.
	Green House	The box-art of Green House gave Mr. Game & Watch a more human like appearance while still retaining some of his more prominent physical features such as his large nose. Future titles would continue this trend.
	Rain Shower	A dark cloud covers up the sky, then it precipitates. The player must help a boy move the clotheslines from getting his hanged clothes wet.
	Life Boat	On a luxury passenger liner a fire breaks out which forces passengers to abandon ship, the player must place a life boat in order to rescue the passengers.

Super Smash Bros. series

Mr. Game & Watch has appeared as a playable character since Super Smash Bros. Melee. His moves are as follows:

Moves

• Standard attack: Green House
• Dash attack: Helmet
• Strong side attack: Lion
• Strong down attack: Manhole
• Strong up attack: Flagman
• Side smash: Fire Attack
• Down smash: Vermin
• Up smash: Octopus
• Standard aerial: Tropical Fish (SSBB)/Parachute (SSBM)
• Forward aerial: Mario Bros.
• Back aerial: Turtle Bridge
• Down aerial: Donkey Kong Jr.
• Up aerial: Spitball Sparky
• Standard special: Chef
• Side special: Judge
• Down special: Oil Panic
• Up special: Fire + Parachute (SSBB/SSB4)
• Final Smash: Octopus
• Floor attack: Vermin
• Trip attack: Vermin
• Ledge recovery: Alarm
• Grab & Throw: Alarm + Ball
• Taunt: Alarm

Subspace Emissary

False Game & Watches in the Subspace Emissary.

In the Subspace Emissary in Super Smash Bros. Brawl, it is revealed that Mr. Game and Watch's body produce Shadow Bugs. When Tabuu found out about this he used the Shadow Bugs to make many clones of Mr. Game and Watch, whom he put in control of the Battleship Halberd, as well as the other members of the Subspace Army.

Mr. Game and Watch is unaware of the concept of good and evil, and don't revolt against him. When Meta Knight regains control of the battleship, Snake knocks all the Mr. Game and Watches down to the bridge where they melt into Shadow Bugs and then form into Duon. Once he is defeated by the group of heroes a Mr. Game and Watch trophy is left behind. Fox grabs his blaster to destroy it, but Peach stops him and instead brings it back to life. She then gives Mr. Game and Watch her parasol to make him feel better and he happily joins the team.

Trophy descriptions

The following are Mr. Game & Watch's trophy descriptions:

Super Smash Bros. Melee (Classic)

"First appearing in 1980, the Game & Watch series is the father of all portable liquid crystal games. The main character is simple and monochrome but has a timeless individuality. There are 39 different games in the series and they've sold over 43 million units worldwide. Pictured at left is the particularly popular Fire model."

Super Smash Bros. Melee (Adventure)

"A resident of a totally flat world, Mr. Game & Watch's frame-by-frame movement is distinctive. His image is known far and wide and respected by gamers everywhere. In Super Smash Bros. Melee, he hurls sausages with his Chef technique. The random strength of his Judgment is determined by the number displayed; food appears on lucky 7."

The Final Smash Trophy in Brawl.

Super Smash Bros. Melee (All-Star)

"A man of great stature in the world of Nintendo characters, Mr. Game & Watch is a comparatively light fellow and doesn't feature many powerful attacks. When he's in danger of falling, Fire calls out a rescue brigade to send him skyward once more. He can also catch missile weapons with Oil Panic; once he's caught three, he can dump the bucket on his foes."

Super Smash Bros. Brawl

"A man of great stature in the world of Nintendo characters, Mr. Game & Watch is a comparatively light fellow and doesn't feature many powerful attacks. When he's in danger of falling, Fire calls out a rescue brigade to send him skyward once more. He can also catch missile weapons with Oil Panic; once he's caught three, he can dump the bucket on his foes."

Super Smash Bros. Brawl (Octopus)

"Mr. Game & Watch's Final Smash. He turns into the huge cephalopod that made its debut in the Game & Watch game Octopus. Of course, you can damage enemies by running into them, but you can do more damage by pressing the attack button to extend four arms and launch foes. In the original Octopus game, you had to avoid the octopus while salvaging treasure from the sea."

Donkey Kong Country Returns

Mr. Game & Watch makes an appearance in the background of a factory level in this game. He is seen with the Judge motif in 7-1 Foggy Fumes.

Rhythm Heaven Fever

Mr. Game and Watch makes a cameo appearence in a Rhythm Heaven Fever minigame titled Working Dough, which is a reference to Mario's Cement Factory in itself.

Nintendo 3DS Sound

Two Mr. Game and Watches make an appearance on one of the Nintendo 3DS Sound's visualizations while listening to music. You can take control by moving the circle pad. What you do after that is move one of the Mr. Game & Watch around so he can dribble balls that get tossed at him by the other Mr. Game & Watch. You score a point each time a ball hits Mr. Game & Watch's head and the game is over after all the balls hit the ground. This was the first time Mr. Game & Watch for to be in Stereoscopic 3D.

Super Mario Odyssey

In Super Mario Odyssey, a silhouette of Mr. Game & Watch wearing a hat appears on minigame icons.

Trivia

• Mr. Game & Watch is the oldest playable character in the Super Smash Bros. series, having debuted in April 1980 (Pac-Man would debut in Japan a month later).