Luffy (Super Smash Flash 2)

Luffy is a newcomer starter character for Super Smash Flash 2. He was revealed during the Day 4 stream at Super Smash Con 2016. His sprites are edited from the GBA  game and the One Piece: Gigant Battle series. Certain animations are custom made, using his appearance based on the second part of One Piece. He has been confirmed as both the final manga and anime character and the final starter character on Beta's roster. Luffy was the number-one most-requested character for a number of years and was added to the game due to the massive popular demand despite the developers' initial refusal to add any more manga/anime characters.

Luffy ranks 26th on the current official Beta tier list, placing him at bottom of the A- tier right in front of. Luffy's greatest attribute is the stretching of his body parts, giving him tremendous melee range. He also has strong finishers in his forward aerial, back aerial, and, forward smash, up smash, dash attack, and forward throw. Luffy can attack/grab from afar using most of his moves, most notably his standard special move, side special move, and up special move. Luffy can also gimp recoveries with his down special move as it pushes opponents away.

However, Luffy's major flaw is how he can extend his hurtbox by using certain moves that allow him to stretch his body to various lengths, notably his side special, as it is very laggy, both during its start and its end. Alongside that, Gum-Gum Balloon loses its leaping distance after every usage in the air and Gum-Gum Snap only can grab ledges above its hitbox.

Attributes
Luffy is a medium-weight character that is known for stretching his body to out-space opponents. A lot of his moves such as his up smash, forward smash, standard special move, side special move, and forward tilt make use of this type of spacing, granting him medium to long range. Despite his average dashing speed, Luffy can space opponents in matches. Luffy is also equipped with a lot of edgeguarding options. His down aerial and forward aerial can meteor smash opponents, while his back aerial can kick opponents away from the stage.

His special moveset is also very useful. Gum-Gum Pistol and Gum-Gum Rocket are both command grab moves, meaning that shields cannot stop it. In case of the latter, this can help Luffy reach his opponents more easily, or, if he is in midair, help him recover horizontally, and in the case of the former, it leads to the opponent getting grabbed, and Luffy is able to use any of his throws on them. Additionally, Gum-Gum Snap possesses above-average reach for a tether recovery, and can give him an upward boost in midair. Finally, Luffy's down special, Gum-Gum Balloon, is a good "get off of me" option due to its windbox, and if it is used in the air, he can gain a vertical boost much like Gum-Gum Snap, further extending his recovery.

Despite these numerous strengths, Luffy has his fair share of weaknesses, one of which is his signature attribute. Despite his tremendous reach, whenever Luffy uses moves that stretch his body parts, he also stretches his hurtboxes as well, letting opponents easily disrupt the move by hitting his arm/hands with a simple jab or a projectile. This is especially true with his standard and side special moves, and in the case of the latter, subjects him to a large amount of lag, allowing opponents to easily punish Luffy is he misses. This, coupled with Luffy's tall frame and weight, makes him very susceptible to characters with a camping-heavy or combo-oriented playstyle, as he has no reliable way to deal with projectiles, and is very easy to combo due to his height and weight.

His recovery options also worsen his offstage survivability. Gum-Gum Rocket can provide him with horizontal recovery, but this is only true if Luffy connects with a careless edgeguarder, making it a situational recovery. Additionally, while Gum-Gum Balloon can grant Luffy some vertical and horizontal distance and super armor, using this move again before landing on the ground will grant him less vertical distance than the first time he used it. Furthermore, though Gum-Gum Snap can also give Luffy a vertical boost, this can only happen if he has not used his midair jump, and doing so will count as him using it, giving Luffy almost no chance of returning to the stage if Gum-Gum Snap misses the ledge.

While Luffy is a character of potential, his extended hurtboxes, lackluster recovery, and a lack of KO options hold him back from the higher tiers, keeping him a low-tier character.

Trivia

 * Before his reveal as a playable character, Luffy was one of the most requested characters in SSF2. This led to many hoaxes pertaining to his reveal.
 * Luffy was technically revealed years before his official introduction in a "faked" April Fools' Day image that actually showed off an earlier version of him before he was reworked.
 * When electrocuted, instead of showing Luffy's skeleton, Luffy's body will show meat in his stomach.
 * He is the only manga and anime character to not use his sprites from Jump Super Stars or Jump Ultimate Stars.
 * Luffy, along with, , and are the only characters so far to wear their default costumes in Team Battle when they are on the red team.
 * Luffy's render in SSF2 bears a strong resemblance to his appearances on the manga covers of One Piece Vol. 1 and Vol. 61.
 * His stock icon also resembles the expression he made in his former bounty picture as well as his Impel Down mugshot.
 * Although his up-smash is called "Gum-Gum Battle Axe", the move itself resembles another of Luffy's moves, "Gum-Gum Volcano" as his leg only shoots upwards.
 * Luffy's crouching animation closely resembles the pose he strikes before activating Gear Second in One Piece.