Smash Bros. Ultimate DLC pitch reveals why we need Lara Croft in the game

In the time since Byleth released, the only DLC news has been the confirmation that certain characters won't be added to Super Smash Bros. Ultimate in the Fighters Pass 2. Doomguy, Sora from Kingdom Hearts, and Cuphead have all been ruled out in some way, shape, or form. Still, fans continue to passionately speculate about who could possibly make it into this dream crossover fighting game, and one pitch for Tomb Raider's Lara Croft is particularly enticing.

Sakurai, if you're reading this go ahead and just steal this idea.

On Tuesday, user insertusernamehere51 took to Reddit and posted an immensely detailed idea for Lara Croft. They believe she could be included because "she’s currently owned by Square Enix, who is already involved in Smash, has appeared multiple times on Nintendo consoles, and is a classic character with a long legacy, which Sakurai himself recently stated is the type that usually gets added to Smash."

Overall, we agree. Lara's also a trailblazing feminine icon in video games, so she has enough cultural significance to be included for that reason alone.

At a basic level, this fan thinks Lara Croft would be "a moderately fast character with great air mobility." Her natural attacks would be somewhat weak but could incorporate her punch and kick combo and shoulder bash from Angel of Darkness as a neutral jab and dash attack, respectively. Croft's slide kick from Tomb Raider: Legend would be used as a down tilt and special items from Tomb Raider II, Tomb Raider Chronicles, and Angel of Darkness would make up her other tilt moves.

With how many easter eggs and references Sakurai likes to put within a Super Smash Bros. Ultimate character's moveset, all of these neutral moves would make sense.

This fan really sees Lara Croft's smash attacks and specials as being the most deadly, though. They believe Lara could use a shotgun for a devastating close range smash attack, like Isabelle's side smash. She could use Thor's hammer Mjolnir, which actually appeared in Tomb Raider Underworld, as a down smash that would hit "the ground with the hammer and lightning shoots out towards both sides of her." Her up smash would be Excalibur, the Sword of King Arthur that appeared in Tomb Raider: Legend, and it could fire powerful blasts of energy like with that game's final boss.

These moves evoke other characters like Pikachu, Isabelle, and Link but still stand on their own are unique when paired together, so I would definitely like to see this character in action.

As for her specials, her neutral B would be dual-wielded pistols that work similarly to Joker's "with the tradeoff being that it does less damage and no knockback." They make this move even more unique be proposing that it lock onto the target, allowing one to move around and keep shooting. This mechanic seems like it could be a bit too broken, but that wouldn't necessarily be out of character for a Smash Bros. DLC fighter.

Lara's side special would be a grenade, Croft's up special would allow her to teleport with the Iris from Tomb Raider Chronicles, and her down special would allow her to summon a demon from Tomb Raider Chronicles' Bestiary. The Reddit post leaves the Final Smash mostly up to Nintendo's developers — but recommends the Armor of Horus from Tomb Raider IV: The Last Revelation.

The post even discusses some possible taunts, victory poses, costumes, and stages, but that moveset alone has me very intrigued about what how Lara Croft could fit into Smash Bros Ultimate. It's obviously more inspired by older Tomb Raider games rather than the newer ones, but those do give some more fantastical material to work with.

Even if her Smash Bros. moveset doesn't work exactly like this, I'd love to see Lara Croft added to the game as part of Fighters Pass 2. She certainly deserves a spot due to her cultural significance, and this Reddit post proves that compelling moves can be made from a character who may seem a bit bland at first glance.

Super Smash Bros. Ultimate is available now for Nintendo Switch.