Without a doubt, Sora’s addition to Super Smash Bros. Ultimate is one of the biggest and most welcome surprises of the year. There had been a hardcore fanbase and community dedicated to getting Sora into Smash, yet there were a lot of reasons why Sora would never be added, mainly related to Disney’s involvement with the character. As such, adding Sora to Smash Bros. Ultimate was likely difficult and required a lot of behind-the-scenes work, but it did come with a cost.
Essentially, Sora’s Disney connections are not evident in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate. This is a sacrifice many are willing to accept, even if characters like Donald and Goofy are removed from related Kingdom Hearts art in Smash. At one point, some hoped Donald and Goofy could “appear” as part of some of Sora’s moveset, but it’s okay that they won't. Arguably, even, a character like Donald the Duck (at least in Kingdom Hearts) is too powerful for Super Smash Bros. Ultimate.
Super Smash Bros. Ultimate – Comparing Donald Duck to Sephiroth
It may seem odd, but Sephiroth’s moveset offers a strong point of comparison for Donald Duck. Sephiroth’s neutral specials include Flare and can be charged up to Gigaflare, with that final form being no laughing matter. Shadow Flare is powerful too but wouldn’t necessarily factor into this comparison. The naming convention of Flare, Megaflare, and Gigaflare can be compared to hard drive space, where a gigabyte is much more than a single byte or bits. Point is, if a Gigabyte contains 1024 megabytes, a megabyte contains 1024 kilobytes, and 1 kilobyte contains 1024 bytes, that is a scale for how powerful Gigaflare is compared to Flare.
Super Smash Bros. Ultimate – Donald Duck and Zettaflare
Yet, in Kingdom Hearts 3, Donald Duck establishes himself as one of the most powerful mages in Square Enix history. In the Keyblade Graveyard, Donald Duck casts the Zettaflare spell, which few other mages in Square Enix history have done such as Bravely Default’s final boss Airy and Bahamut in Final Fantasy 14. Not only do these comparisons really establish how powerful Donald Duck’s magic is, but so does the aforementioned comparison of the spell.
In short and without much confusing math, Zettaflare is comparable to one thousand million Gigaflares—the strongest spell Sephiroth can manifest in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate. How few have ever used it in Square Enix history adds a whole other point for that, especially considering how many Square Enix reps are in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate.
Now, Donald Duck’s ability to cast Zettaflare isn’t likely the reason he wasn’t added, and it’s possible that the spell—even if it appeared in the game—would be largely nerfed. It’s much more likely to do with licensing and other legal details of that nature. Headcanon or otherwise, though, it’s simply true that Donald Duck is far too powerful for Super Smash Bros. Ultimate.
Super Smash Bros. Ultimate is available now on Switch.
