Death's Scythe

Death's Scythe
Death's Scythe artwork from Ultimate.
Universe	Castlevania
Appears in	Ultimate
Item class	Weapon

“	You can KO highly damaged opponents with a well-placed smash attack from this scythe. A black aura will surround your opponent right before you attack, signaling an instant KO!!	”
—Super Smash Blog, Super Smash Bros. Ultimate Official Site

Death's Scythe (死神の鎌, Death God's Sickle) is an item that appears in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate for the Nintendo Switch. It was revealed in the August 8 Nintendo Direct.

Origin

Soma Cruz using Death's Scythe in Castlevania: Dawn of Sorrow.

Death's Scythe is, as the name implies, the weapon that accompanies Death in the Castlevania series. It is said to reap souls from those it slashes, and can sometimes even be used by the playable characters; it is usually considered one of the most powerful weapons of the series.

In real life and other forms of media (including books, cartoons, and other video games), the personification of Death (or, as it is more commonly known, the Grim Reaper) is usually depicted with a scythe as its primary weapon and tool in order to gather souls from those who have passed on. This originated as a form of symbolism, as the same way farmers used scythes to reap their crops, Death used the scythe to reap the souls of the dead.

Operation

Death's Scythe is a battering item which the user swings in an arc ahead of them. In addition to dealing damage like a normal battering item, it has the ability to instantly KO victims that have a high enough percentage.

If an opponent is hit by the Death Scythe with a smash attack or tilt attack while at a certain percentage threshold, it will cause a dramatic sound effect and Special Zoom to occur, before the victim is instantly KO'd in a colorful explosion, similarly to KOs in Stamina Mode. The minimum damage required for the Death's Scythe to instantly KO is 70% for a fully charged smash attack, 80% for an uncharged smash attack, and 120% for a tilt attack. Other attacks with the scythe (e.g. jab, dash attack) will never instantly KO the opponent.

While the swing is readied, opponents with sufficient damage will be surrounded by an aesthetic darkness effect, which helps signify if they will be instantly KO'd by a smash attack.

Spirits

Equipping the Antasma, Mimikyu, Nash, or Hector (Castlevania) support spirits will give the player a Death's Scythe at a start of their stock.

No.	Image	Name	Type	Class	Cost	Ability	Series
111		Antasma		★★	1	Death's Scythe Equipped	Mario & Luigi Series
555		Mimikyu		★★	1	Death's Scythe Equipped	Pokémon Series
995		Nash		★★	1	Death's Scythe Equipped	Street Fighter Series
1,063		Hector (Castlevania)		★★	1	Death's Scythe Equipped	Castlevania Series

Gallery

• 

  Death with his Scythe from Lament of Innocence, the basis for its design in Ultimate.

• 

  Ness instantly KOs Bowser Jr. and Bowser with Death's Scythe.

• 

  Sonic holding Death's Scythe on the Bridge of Eldin.

• 

  Ness striking Bowser Jr. with Death's Scythe on Yoshi's Story.

Names in other languages

Language	Name	Meaning
Japanese	死神の鎌	Death God's Sickle
English	Death's Scythe	—
French	Faux de la Mort	Death's Scythe
German	Todessense	Death's Scythe
Spanish (PAL)	Guadaña de la Muerte	Death's Scythe
Spanish (NTSC)	Hoz de la Muerte	Death's Sickle
Italian	Falce della Morte	Death's Scythe
Chinese	Death's Scythe	—
Korean	사신의 낫	Death's Scythe
Dutch	Zeis van de Dood	Death's Scythe
Russian	Коса Смерти	Death's Scythe

Trivia

• The inclusion of this item marks the second occurrence of a signature item of a particular character appearing as an ordinary item in the Super Smash Bros. series, the first being the Lip's Stick. Unlike the Lip's Stick, other characters besides Death have used Death's Scythe in Castlevania.
  • Death debuted in the same game as his weapon in the Smash series as a background character with Death's Scythe in Dracula's Castle. Lip, however, debuted in Ultimate as a spirit, which was three subsequent installments after her weapon debuted. While a Sticker named "Flower Fairy Lip" appears in Super Smash Bros. Brawl, the character on the Sticker is actually Furil from Nintendo Puzzle Collection, a similar-looking but distinct character.
• Death’s Scythe is the first third-party item that is not character-generated in their moveset (examples include Snake's Hand Grenade, Mega Man's Metal Blade, and Pac-Man's Bonus Fruit) to come from a series represented with a playable character.
• If the Death's Scythe KOs a buried character, the "Special Zoom" effect will occur twice.
• If Hero charges a smash attack with the Death's Scythe, a different sound effect plays instead of his usual one. This also happens when charging a Killing Edge.
• Oddly, no sound effect plays if Byleth charges a smash attack with the Death's Scythe.
  • Additionally, they do not vibrate in place when charging it. This also happens to the partner Ice Climber, and Zero Suit Samus when charging a smash attack with the Star Rod.

External Link

• Article on the Castlevania Wiki.