Here's something I've been working on for the past week or so! The sprites from Paper Mario: The Origami King have been ripped so I thought I could make some decent mockups of a Paper Mario moveset in Smash! Without further ado, here it is! (long in-depth thread ahead!)

Though he is technically another form of Mario, Paper Mario would not be a clone. His moveset would focus on using his hammer, his partner characters, as well as his various papery skills - making him an exceedingly unique fighter!

The Paper Mario series has changed a lot since the first game - so the ideal Paper Mario moveset would reflect the series in its entirety, not focusing too much on the old or new games. This moveset pulls moves from every Paper Mario game, and even Mario & Luigi: Paper Jam!

Using the Neutral Special while shielding allows Paper Mario to access the Partner Rotation. The partners are presented on cards as a nod to Super Paper Mario’s Catch Cards and Color Splash’s Battle Cards. Paper Mario can cycle through these cards similar to Shulk’s Monado Arts.

The partner he selects will follow him similar to an Ice Climber. The partner has limited hit points, like Rosalina’s Luma. Once they are knocked out, their card cannot be accessed again in the Partner Rotation until Paper Mario’s next stock, so manage them carefully!

One a partner is selected, pressing B will allow the partner to use their Partner Ability. Koops uses Shell Shot, a boomerang-style shell kick. Holding the input will cause his shell to temporarily spin in place.

Thoreau basically acts like a long-distance grab, with better range than Paper Mario's normal grab: Thoreau pulls an opponent back to Paper Mario, allowing him to pummel or throw them like an ordinary grab.

Admiral Bobbery's ability is Bomb: Paper Mario lifts Bobbery and tosses him in front of him. Bobbery slowly walks a few paces forward before stopping, lighting his fuse, and exploding to deal damage to nearby opponents. After exploding, Bobbery respawns next to Paper Mario.

Parakarry allows Mario to use Air Lift. He grabs Paper Mario by the arms and carries him into the air, allowing him to freely fly around for four seconds (similar to Snake’s Cypher).

Vivian uses a combination of Shadow Veil and Fiery Jinx. She pulls Paper Mario into the shadows (like Greninja’s Shadow Sneak) for up to three seconds. Upon releasing the button, the two pop out of the ground, with Vivian attacking nearby opponents with a fiery punch.

The final partner, Watt, uses Power Shock. Holding the B button allows Watt to charge up power. Releasing the input causes her to emit a blast of energy which briefly stuns nearby opponents. Holding the B button for longer results in a more potent blast.

Paper Mario’s Side Special is Hurlhammer Throw. Pressing Side + B will cause Paper Mario to pull out a metal Hurlhammer and begin winding up for a hefty swing. Pressing B again will cause Paper Mario to spin around, hurling the hammer ahead of him in a high parabolic arc.

Much like in The Origami King, a graphic appears during the charge-up phase to indicate the ideal time to attack. Timing it perfectly will increase the distance and damage of the thrown hammer! If it hits an opponent it will bounce, possibly hitting a second opponent in range.

Paper Mario’s Up Special is the 1,000-Fold Arms technique from The Origami King! A Magic Circle appears beneath Paper Mario - then, he sprouts origami arms that extend upwards diagonally, latching onto platforms in reach (similar to Min Min’s recovery).

Paper Mario’s Down Special is the Dimensional Flip from Super Paper Mario! A “mouse cursor” drags a black square around Paper Mario. Then, the square - with Paper Mario contained within it - quickly does a 360 flip into the third dimension.

For the duration of the flip, Paper Mario is immune to attacks. It also has a reflector effect on projectiles - and similar to Mario’s Cape, it can flip around opponents caught in the box to throw them off guard.

Paper Mario quickly bonks the opponent five times with the squeaky Eekhammer. To his surprise, the hammer transforms into a Bowser-branded slipper in a puff of smoke, for a finishing sixth slap!

Paper Mario crouches down, generating a Copy of himself directly behind him, like in Mario & Luigi: Paper Jam. The copy quickly leaps up, performing a short jumping punch, before disappearing.

For his d-tilt, Paper Mario peels a Sticker off of the ground, throwing his arms - and the sticker - into the air to damage opponents in front of and above him. (Similar to Villager’s weed pull)

For his f-tilt, Paper Mario slams his Painthammer in front of him, splashing globs of paint ahead. The hammer deals solid damage, and as a bonus the paint globs slightly damage opponents they hit.

The dash attack is the Spin from the original Paper Mario, a pirouette-like move with good forward momentum. (Similar to Mega Man’s Top Spin)

His n-air is the flapping jump from Paper Jam. Paper Mario quickly flaps his arms twice, damaging opponents nearby. This move also gives him a tiny bit of upward lift, stalling his fall a bit, making it a potential recovery tool.

For his f-air, Paper Mario swings his hammer in the air in front of him. If lined up correctly, this move can meteor smash opponents, similar to Mario’s forward aerial.

For his b-air, Paper Mario quickly whips around behind him, snipping with a pair of scissors three times in quick succession. Based on the Cut Out feature from Color Splash.

For his u-air, Paper Mario performs a Stylish Move, a quick and flashy back-flip manoeuvre! If the attack connects with an opponent, the “STYLISH!” splash text from The Thousand-Year Door will appear! (the text is purely aesthetic)

His d-air is the Ground Pound - he briefly stalls in the air before plummeting downwards a short distance. When he hits the ground, a small shockwave deals slight damage to adjacent opponents. Hitting an opponent spikes them downwards, propelling Paper Mario upwards into a jump.

His forward smash is Power Smash! The on-screen prompt from The Thousand-Year Door appears above him, counting three seconds (with the appropriate beeping sounds) before the star icon lights up, to indicate the right timing!

Releasing the input prior to the full charge will result in a simple hammer slam. When timed perfectly, Paper Mario will perform the jumping forward-flip hammer slam as seen in The Origami King for extra range and damage!

Paper Mario performs the Spring Jump from The Thousand-Year Door. As he charges the attack, he folds his body like an accordion. When the input is released, he springs upwards a short distance, punching opponents above him!

The the down smash, Paper Mario wields the Super Hammer. As he charges the attack, he twists the hammer behind his back. Upon release, he spins around rapidly, with the hammer outstretched, hitting opponents on either side!

Instead of a traditional grab, Paper Mario summons Kersti to Paperize a nearby opponent, transforming them into a papery cut-out version of their character art! By mashing buttons, the opponent can escape the grab and revert to their normal form, like a regular grab.

As a pummel attack, Paper Mario crumples the paperized opponent into a ball! The opponents remain in their paper ball form during the throws, and immediately revert to their regular form after.

Some other small moveset details I didn't mock up: his spot dodge would have him flip into Paper Mode, his dodge roll would be Tube Mode, and his air dodge would be Plane Mode! Additionally, his on-screen appearance would have him fly in as a paper airplane before unfolding!

For his Final Smash, Paper Mario summons the Seven Star Spirits to perform the Star Beam! The Star Spirits summon a blinding beam of yellow light from above. Anyone caught within will take rapid damage. The beam disappears with a burst of light, dealing a potent final blow!

Now for taunts! His first taunt would have him cheerily wave, like when he Appeals in TTYD. His second taunt would have him flip sideways, revealing his papery flatness.

For his third taunt, one of six partner characters would pop out and pose, as Paper Mario rubs his chin thoughtfully. When used on Paper Mario’s home stage, Toad Town, one of the partners might have something to say about the opponents!

Speaking of Toad Town, that would be Paper Mario's home stage. I was tempted to go with the Battle Stage from TTYD, but Toad Town makes much more sense since it was the hub world of Paper Mario's first and most recent games. The design would take influence from both versions.

A potential stage hazard could be one of the Paper Macho Enemies from The Origami King. Many side characters from across the entire Paper Mario series could have cameos in the background, such as Paper Luigi, Birdo, Merlon, Lady Bow, Professor Frankly, Flavio, or Captain T. Ode!

I also did some palette swaps!

And finally, some Victory Poses! For the first one, he wags his finger, based on the first game. In another one, he'd adjust his hat before giving a thumbs up, like in TTYD. And a third one would have him toss handfuls of confetti in celebration, like in Origami King!

I hope you like these ideas! Paper Mario is my #1 most wanted Smash fighter - I hope this thread gave a good idea of how fun & unique he could be in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate!

Oh, and here's the moveset typed out in a Google Doc - it has more detailed move descriptions and higher-res images, check it out if you're interested! https://docs.google.com/document/d/182a42JK-AY2gcs60g9odMNuigK8BuJ3Xfy21ttgtpNc/