The only thing surprising about the boom in platform fighters is that it didn’t happen sooner. It took until Super Smash Bros Ultimate for big cartoon companies to get in on the action. The most popular successor to Nintendo’s brawler thus far is MultiVersus, a free-to-play game by Player First Games for Warner Bros Interactive Entertainment.
It’s essentially Smash with characters owned by the WB. Looney Tunes like Bugs Bunny and Taz can fight DC superheroes like Batman and Harley Quinn. Finn from Adventure Time can trade blows with Garnet from Steven Universe. However, it also has the strongest, most fearsome character in fiction. The earth trembles whenever he takes a step, though not as much as he does when he sees a ghost. Zoinks! It’s Shaggy, and he’s brought his memes to Multiversus with him!
5 Shaggy Goes Ultra Instinct
The memes about Shaggy being some supreme force in a skinny hippy’s body predate MultiVersus. It’s said they go back to a bootleg Shaggy toy that gave him white hair. It would’ve stopped there if Dragonball Super wasn’t popular at the time these knock-off toys weren’t going around.
The climax of the show had Goku revealing a new white-haired form called ‘Ultra Instinct’. So, one thing led to another, and Ultra Instinct Shaggy was born. He’s produced a variety of memes, which have spread beyond the internet to print media, animated films, and now video games.
4 Memes Created Multiversus
It’s said that, without the Shaggy memes, MultiVersus wouldn’t have been created. It’s perhaps an exaggeration, but they did play a part in getting him into the game. Shaggy is his usual self from the Scooby Doo series, except he can also power up Super Saiyan style, complete with glowing eyes. He also has an Ultra Instinct-esque form to tap into as well. Still, while it’s perhaps an exaggeration to say MultiVersus was created by a ‘shitpost’, it did play a part in getting Shaggy into the game.
According to Daniel Kraft of Player First Games, the development team “really wanted to embrace the culture that's grown around (Shaggy)”, and that they did provide material “for an exciting moveset and kit for a character in the game”. Perhaps without the memes, Shaggy would be cringing from the sidelines instead of stepping up to the plate.
3 The Invincible Shaginator
So, MultiVersus has Shaggy. So what? Super Smash Bros has every classic character from Nintendo, and some famous faces from other companies like Capcom, Sega, and Square-Enix. Nickelodeon All-Star Brawl has Spongebob Squarepants, who also has decades worth of internet memes. What can the guy from Scooby Doo do against that? Anything he likes!
He’s the strong figure in the multiverse after all. His fearful expressions aren’t because he’s scared of his foes, he’s scared of what he’ll do to them. But once he unleashes his full power, there will be nothing left of Mario or Spongebob. To add insult to injury, he and Scooby will drive the Krusty Krab to bankruptcy by eating all the Krabby Patties afterwards.
2 Will He Pass?
Dragonball Z might be the most famous example of someone changing color to shift into a more powerful form, but it wasn’t the first series to do that. A certain wizard from a certain fantasy franchise also managed to escape the brink of death by attaining a strong, white form. Don’t read too much into that.
MultiVersus features Gandalf the Grey from Lord of the Rings, who famously became Gandalf the White after his near-death experience. It gave him the power to aid Rohan and Gondor against the forces of Mordor, but could it save him against one hippy? He needed planning, multiple armies, and some hobbits to bring down Sauron. What can he do against the might of Norville ‘Shaggy’ Rogers? The only way to find out is to download MultiVersus and give its roster a go.
1 Goku’s Nightmare
As said, this whole gag about Shaggy being secretly a Jiren-level threat came from Dragonball Super. Goku’s gone through nearly all the colors of the spectrum to represent one power level or another across his journeys. He’s required one form or another to beat one threat or another. He had to go yellow to take down Freeza, red to fight Beerus, then Blue to go toe-to-toe with Goku Black. So, what color is he going to need to take on the MultiVersus roster?
Comic fans have been arguing who would win in a fight between Superman and Goku for decades. Essays, fanart, and videos have been made to illustrate one point or another. Yet it turns out the Last Son of Krypton is just the warm-up act to the true tower of power in MultiVersus. Whatever form Goku uses, it might not be enough to take down Shaggy. His insatiable hunger alone could leave the Saiyan floundering under the table. If Goku did make his way into MultiVersus as a guest character, he might need some help.
MultiVersus is available now on Playstation 4, Playstation 5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, and PC.