User:Tonygameman/Taro Yamada Moveset (Battle of AGES)

General Playstyle
Taro is a middleheavy-weight fighter (around Cloud’s in Smash), who excels at strong close-range attacks, quick reflexes and different kinds of projectiles in his disposal, even though most of his melee attacks have high lag because of their power. He even has a slight super armor on his suit, which allows him to take lesser damage from light attacks, akin to Bowser and Kazuya's fighter abilities, thus making him one of the toughest fighters to deal with. Without his armor, Taro is a medium weight, who has a slower speed, weaker attack damage and lower stamina.

Taro has a fighter gimmick/mechanic, which centers on his Super Energy Combat Armor. Like in Fighters Megamix, there's a battery gauge above his UI's damage/HP meter. It depletes over time during the match, but it will lower much faster when he uses special moves or smash attacks consecutively (even fully-charged specials will drain up a lot of energy). Once it drops to zero, his suit will shut down and disappear into a civilian form, making him weaker in stats, having his armor ability eliminated and being unable to use special moves/smash attacks to their full potential. He can only retrieve the Super Energy Combat Armor back by either getting knocked out, or charging up its batteries with his Down Special, which fully refills his suit gauge and allows him to use it again.

Notable Normal Attacks
Most of Taro's moves are taken from his guest appearance in Fighters Megamix, even though some attacks/techniques were also borrowed from the original SEGA Mega Drive/Genesis game released in 1991 and its Dreamcast/Xbox remake, Rent-A-Hero No. 1. His shield is replaced with the latter game's Level 4 special attack, Space Barrier, in aesthetic.

Basic/Ground Attacks

 * Neutral Attack: Combo Daijo V - Taro performs a right punch, then follows with a left punch and finishes by kicking forward with a right leg.
 * Forward Tilt: Horizontal Switch Kick - Taro kicks forward with a left leg and then does a second roundhouse kick when tapping the button again.
 * Up Tilt: Energy Upper - Taro does a light uppercut with his right fist.
 * Down Tilt: Crouch Punch - Taro performs a forward left punch while crouching on the ground. Also based on his low attack in the original Genesis/Mega Drive game.
 * Dash Attack: Running Tackle - Taro charges forward with his elbow in-front of him, tackling opponents down on his way. Also references him crashing into a trash can in Rent-A-Hero No. 1's promotional video.

Air Attacks

 * Neutral Aerial: Taro performs an aerial jump kick, referencing his normal air attack in the original SEGA Mega Drive/Genesis game.
 * Forward Aerial: Rent-A-Double Hammer - Taro puts both of his arms together above him and then does an axe handle by swinging them downwards in-front of him, slamming the opponent back with a meteor-smash. Based on his Level 1 special move from Rent-A-Hero No. 1 and partially Jump Hammer from Fighters Megamix.
 * Back Aerial: Back Air Kick - Taro quickly performs a drop-kick by pushing both feet behind himself at the same time.
 * Up Aerial: Jump Toe - Taro kicks high into the air with his right foot, working similarly to Kazuya's Up Aerial in Smash.
 * Down Aerial: Taro does a quick, diving kick towards the ground with his left leg surrounded in fire, spiking an aerial opponent, though he has to be careful when using this stall-then-fall move. Based on both Air Dive and Flare Kick from Fighters Megamix.

Smash Attacks

 * Side Smash: Energy Sword - Taro forms out a blue energy blade on his right hand and then delivers a horizontal swing. When fully charged, Taro will perform a second slash that moves him slightly forward.
 * Up Smash: Rent-A-Build Upper - Taro slightly crouches while charging and then performs a strong uppercut, which sends an opponent flying into the air.
 * Down Smash: Crouch Turn Kick - Taro performs a spinning sweep kick with his right leg, which trips opponents around himself.

Grab and Throws

 * Neutral: Taro grabs the opponent with both hands.
 * Pummel: Super Taku High Knee - Taro quickly knees the opponent with his right leg. Also loosely references his Rent-A-Knee Attack in No. 1.
 * Forward Throw: Astro Throw - Taro performs a forward throw over his shoulder, slamming the opponent in-front of him.
 * Back Throw: Megalo Throw - Taro falls in a backwards roll, tossing the opponent backwards behind him in a "tomoe nage".
 * Up Throw: Neck Thrashing - Taro hops into the air while holding the opponent and then slams onto the ground back-first, bouncing them upwards.
 * Down Throw: Blast Throw - Taro kicks the opponent on their leg, then does a second kick on their back and finally smacks them down with an overhead kick to the face.

Special Moves

 * Neutral Special: Both specials are based on projectile attacks which Taro can use when his armor is upgraded in the original Mega Drive/Genesis game.
 * Tap: Galacti-Cannon - Tapping the button will make Taro do a forward punch while encasing his right fist in energy, shooting a fireball projectile which can fly at fast speeds and covers a medium distance. The name comes from a fan English translation project.
 * Hold: Sonic Cutter - Holding the button will make Taro quickly swipe his hand downwards and then upwards in-front of him, creating a crescent-shaped energy wave that nullifies weak projectiles and does a bit more damage, despite having less range. Hits twice if an opponent is right close by. Used at 1:42 in this tweet's video.
 * Side Special: Dragon Thunder - Taro slams his fist into the ground, creating a blue energy burst that travels forward, akin to Terry Bogard's signature Power Wave projectile, much like in Fighters Megamix. Holding the button will make Taro punch the ground much harder, summoning a dragon-shaped blast of electricity in-front of him that does more damage and covers a higher distance, referencing its appearance as a Level 3 special attack in Rent-A-Hero No. 1.
 * Up Special: Rent-A-Somersault - Taro quickly crouches down and then leaps vertically into the air while doing a back-flip, performing a high somersault kick before falling back down onto the ground. Holding the button will make him jump even higher with stronger damage and multi-hit properties as he surrounds himself with energy, leaving behind a yellow flash.
 * Down Special: Taro has two different Down Specials, depending on wherever he wears the Super Energy Combat Armor or not.
 * Self Recover (with armor) - Taro will stand in-place and charge himself up with electricity, slightly healing himself a small amount of damage when finishing up the process after holding a button. However, because of its potency, it will take the most amount of battery energy compared to other special moves he has, and it also leaves him susceptible to damage unless the button is released. Based on one of his Level 3 specials in Rent-A-Hero No. 1.
 * Battery Charge/Transformation (without armor) - Taro pulls out a pair of batteries and grasps his hand on them as they glow, slowly filling the suit meter and leaving him open to attacks, like his other Down Special. After a gauge is fully filled, pressing the button input again will make Taro shout out "Henshin!" or "Transform!" and perform a random pose as the Super Energy Combat Armor appears in a yellow flash, transforming him back into his Rent-A-Hero persona.

All-Star Move - Rent-A-Beatdown for Mankind's Sake!: Taro will perform Flash Force by charging his fist with energy as he rears back and then does a powerful punch in-front of him. If he hits any opponent, a cinematic will start with Hiroko joining in, assisting Taro with a sequence of kicks and slaps (given her being more feminine) as he proceeds to attack them with rapid punches and slashes from his Energy Sword. They then envelop themselves in energy, finishing the opponent off by striking them from both sides at the same time with Taro's electrifying uppercut and Hiroko's high energy-encased kick, similar to Chun-Li's Tenkukyaku (akin to a "Punch Parry" trope, but the opponent is in between both), which sends an opponent flying away upwards as Taro returns back to the stage and the latter disappearing.

Aesthetics
Taro's default attire has him wearing a blue/silver Super Energy Combat Armor alongside red accents & a "R" logo on his shoulder pads, and his civilian outfit consisting of blue jeans, brown sneakers and a white shirt with "MD" & "32X" written on it. His alternate armor palettes has him wearing either a golden (the upgrade), black (in-game/fighting sprite), red (Hiroko), purple, darker blue, pink or green suit (Leo, Shark, Amanda & Muscle respectively; also known as Four Heavenly Kings). In his civilian form, Taro wears various colored shirts with the logo of a different AM2 game such as Sword of Vermilion (like Kent, who has a crush on Taro's sister Alisa, in the original 1991 game), OutRun, Virtua Fighter, After Burner and Space Harrier on its front, akin to Fighters Megamix.

For his final/eighth palette, Taro wears Hiro's Part-Time Hero uniform and helmet from Yakuza: Like a Dragon, as a cross-franchise costume. When his Super Energy Combat Armor shuts down, he has a black shirt with a red Ryu Ga Gotoku Studio logo on its front, also referencing how Toshihiro Nagoshi was involved with both franchises.

Entrance Animation
Entrance Animation: Taro, in his civilian form, is shown standing as he pumps his fist into the air and a light flash envelops him, turning into his Rent-A-Hero form and entering an idle stance.

Idle Animations

 * Taro slightly shuffles himself and then cracks his knuckles.
 * Taro spreads his arms outward and looks at them.

Taunts

 * Taunt 1: Taro raises his hand with a "stop" gesture in-front of him, exclaiming "Rent-A-Hero, at your service!". References the original Mega Drive/Genesis game's back cover art, which is also used in one of his victory poses from Fighters Megamix.
 * Taunt 2: Taro does a heroic pose as he looks up at the sky.
 * Taunt 3: Taro gives a thumbs-up while smiling confidently, based on one of the promotional artworks/wallpapers in Rent-A-Hero No. 1.

Victory Animations
Victory Theme: A snippet of the ending from "Can You Become a Rent-A-Hero for Mankind’s Sake?"

An alternate victory theme would be "Hero Did It" from Rent-A-Hero No. 1, which emphasizes the series' comedic tone.

Victory Animations: Depending on how he wins the match, Taro will be seen either in his civilian outfit or Super Energy Combat Armor, even after losing.
 * Victory 1: Taro is seen performing various martial art/tokusatsu-like poses, before ending with a victorious fist pump while kneeling and his visor shining. Based on one of the scenes in Rent-A-Hero No. 1's opening video and his victory animations in Fighters Megamix, complete with a camera angle changing at each pose.
 * Victory 2: Taro is shown counting down his well-earned salary, before he sighs and says "Dammit, not that much…" in disappointment upon realizing it was an insignificant amount.
 * Victory 3: A camera first starts looking at the sky, with Taro falling high from it, leaving a crater as he lands onto the ground. He then says “Sorry to keep you waiting!”, crossing his arms while smirking in triumph as he rises up. References an opening scene in the original Mega Drive/Genesis game and a Dreamcast/Xbox remake (No. 1)'s cover artwork.