I'm so glad I found this thread (I apologize for the necro-bump, but I didn't want to make a new thread). I'm actually a huge Sheriff supporter. I feel like it would be fantastic to have a battle between Nintendo's essentially oldest character and one of the newer bloods that may be added. It'd add a nice sense of "wholeness" to the crossover. I actually have a moveset, if no one minds me posting it.
I chose to write this moveset under the presumption that Sheriff will not receive a redesign, and instead appear in his original, pixelated, and barely humanoid design. Imagine his original sprite, but rendered in 3D pixel art, and that’s how I imagine his appearance being. Think of this, and you'll know what I mean:
I feel that redesigning Sheriff into a generic cowboy would be a detriment to the nostalgia factor of the character (which is the entire reason he’d be playable; the nostalgia). Additionally, since I don’t want to just give him generic cowboy attacks, this moveset
will rely heavily on Sheriff’s sole weapon: his pistol. This weapon is another reason I wish for Sheriff to stay in his original form: an L-shape that shoots pixels is far more appropriate for a kids’ game than a realistic handgun (Sakurai won't allow realistic firearms). I understand this moveset may appear bland to many people, but the sheer outlandishness of the character would give him tons of personality, in my opinion.
Sheriff would only have new “animations” where necessary (taunts, certain attacks, crouching, etc). I use the term "animations" lightly because Sheriff would move sprite-by-sprite, similarly to Game and Watch (who actually moves frame-by-frame), but in an even more outdated fashion. But really, for the most part, Sheriff is barely animated at all. For example, when he’s in his helpless animation, his sprite will just rotate as he falls. When he dodge rolls backward, he’ll just rotate a few times while moving backward. When he jumps, his model will just rise into the air, with no sign of bending his knees or anything of that sort. You get the idea. He'd be similar to G&W in that his movements would be limited to one plane; while he technically would be 3D, he'd still be a 3D adaptation of a flat sprite.
Statistics and Abilities
Size: 3/5
Weight: 3/5
Power: 4/5
Ground Speed: 1/5 (he'd actually have a fast walk speed, but an abysmal dash speed, in comparison to other characters)
Traction: 4/5 (he'd stumble forward a little bit after stopping, as he controls in his own game, but otherwise, he's not slippery)
Air Speed: 1/5
Fall Speed: 4/5
# of Jumps: 2
Wall Jump: no
Wall Cling: no
Glide: no
Crawl: no
Standard Attacks
Jab: Barely any different from his idle pose, Sheriff sticks out his pistol, giving it a hitbox. Pretty slow and not much range, but surprisingly powerful. 8%
Ledge Attack: Juts out his pistol. 6%
Ledge Attack (Strong): Sticks out his pistol and misfires, slightly damaging anyone in front. 7%
Floor Attack: Hops up, clicking his heels together while his hat rises off of his head, turning his body into a hitbox, with an upward extension. 5%
Floor Attack (Strong): Rises up quickly, his pistol jutting out forward, then flips around to hit behind him with the same pose. 8%
Trip Attack: Kicks forward with one leg sticking out for a small-ranged, lingering hitbox. While doing this, he excitedly fires his pistol straight upward, arm raised. 3% from the kick, 7% from the pistol.
Dash Attack: “Tumbles” forward, “rolling” into the opponent (all that actually happens is his sprite simply rotates forward). Actually decent speed and should usually hit an opponent far enough to keep Sheriff unpunished. 10-11%
Ftilt: Holding his gun outward, swipes the barrel upward. Sends the opponent up a bit, potentially setting up a follow-up. 10-11%
Utilt: Looks up and holds his gun above his head, swiping it in an arc. 11-12%
Dtilt: While crouching, whips the pistol’s barrel at the ground. 12-13%
Fsmash: Releases a blast (that takes the form of a few white, pixelated lines) from his pistol that hits surprisingly hard. Sweetspot right at the mouth of the barrel for burn effect. 16-28%. All of his other moves that involve a “blast” will have the same white line effect.
Usmash: Looks up, aims upward, and unleashes another blast, with just a tad less power. Same sweetspot effects. 13-26%
Dsmash: Unleashes a pistol blast at his feet. Same sweetspot effects. 16-28%
Nair: Sheriff holds up a “bandido” enemy from his game, which has a hitbox. Works similarly to Mr. Game and Watch’s Nair. 7-15%
Fair: Whips downward with the pistol’s barrel. If hit by the end of the barrel, it can spike. Hard. 12-18%
Bair: Looks backward and shoots a “blast” behind and diagonally upward a bit. 16%
Uair: Sheriff’s hat pops off and into the air a few inches. Comes out fast and has decent knockback, but some ending lag. 12-13%
Dair: Looks down and shoots a blast right below him. Has a tiny “rebound” effect that stalls Sheriff’s descent. Getting hit at the gun’s mouth has a meteor
smash and burn effect. 16-17%
Throws
Pummel: Pistol whips the held opponent. 4% per hit.
Fthrow: Holds his pistol to the opponent’s back, and “orders” them to raise their hands in the air before shooting them. Very low knockback. 13%
Bthrow: Paces forward quickly, then turns and shoots. 13%
Uthrow: Tosses the opponent upward with his free arm, then shoots straight up rapidly three times. 5% each hit.
Dthrow: Pistol whips the opponent over the back of the head, knocking them to the ground. 13%
Special Moves
Neutral Special: Revolver: What else? As Sheriff’s only canonical ability is to shoot things with a pistol, this is his standard special move. Pressing the special button will fire a very fast pixel (representing a bullet) that will travel straight and as far as possible before leaving the stage boundaries. Like in his own game, Sheriff can shoot in eight directions, determined by the directional input of the joystick. Also like in his own game, there’s a button delay that allows Sheriff to walk either forward or backward while shooting. This move can even be used while crouching! Sheriff fires rapidly and in any direction you please, so his ranged game is excellent based on this move alone. 10%
Side Special: Giddy Up: Sheriff gets onto his horse (he rode it onto the title screen in his game), which begins walking forward at a mild pace. Anyone “trampled” by the horse suffers up to 22% damage and mild knockback. Sheriff will ride forward on his horse until the button combo is released.
Up Special: 8-Way Joystick: Sheriff actually conjures a gigantic joystick (facing the screen) replicated from his own arcade game. Grasping onto it, the player can use the control stick on their controller to determine in which direction Sheriff will be flung, so you can even launch yourself downward if you wish. Sheriff doesn’t have a true helpless state, like Sonic, but can’t perform aerial attacks after being launched.
Down Special: Spinner Knob: Sheriff summons the second part of the arcade control scheme. An oversized spinner knob will appear beneath Sheriff, who will stand in the center as it rapidly spins around. If the button combo is only pressed, he’ll spin, deflecting projectiles. If the button combo is held, Sheriff will spray fire as he spins, though these shots only travel about half of Final Destinations’ length. Contact with the knob causes trapping damage, anywhere from 3-18%. Shots cause 8% damage.
The famed joystick and spinner knob of the
Sheriff arcade cabinet.
Final Smash: Shoot-out: A large rectangular area around Sheriff will be bordered in, looking just like the game field in his game of origin. Any other players inside the field will be unable to get out, and 16 bandidos will encircle this prison, firing a relentless onslaught of bullets at the other players, and sometimes entering the field to attack at close range. This all lasts for about 25 seconds, and during this time, Sheriff is able to attack as he pleases. He is invincible to the bandidos, but not to the other players’ attacks.
Additional Info
Up Taunt: Holds his gun to the sky and shoots, with a pixelated, white “BANG” appearing over the gun’s mouth.
Side Taunt: Flips his gun in the air and catches it, like Fox does.
Down Taunt: Lifts his hat, nods, and places it back on his head.
Stage Entry: Rides in on his horse.
Victory Pose: Reunites with his girlfriend, and a large heart composed of smaller hearts engenders above their heads.
Color palettes
White is default
Yellow is from alternate versions of the game where the sprite was yellow
Blue is the same shade used for the bandido enemies
Red is the same shade used for the left and right borders in the game
Green is the same shade used for the top and bottom borders in the game
Purple is the same shade as the vultures
Beige is a reference to Custer's Revenge
