Isabelle Is the Neo of Super Smash Bros. Ultimate

By Garrett Martin | December 17, 2018 | 1:30pm

Video Games News Super Smash Bros. Ultimate

Isabelle Is the Neo of Super Smash Bros. Ultimate

At first Isabelle didn’t make sense as a fighter in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate. The diligent mayor’s assistant from Animal Crossing is too friendly and optimistic to ever resort to violence. To make her fit in this game you have to imagine some kind of backstory tragic enough to make her seek bloody revenge, but that kind of grim revisionism would destroy what makes Animal Crossing so wonderful to begin with. An Isabelle that would try to kill Mario, or Pikachu, or an Animal Crossing Villager (of all people!) isn’t really Isabelle at all.

Turns out Isabelle’s not just the highly competent but slightly insecure bureaucrat we all thought she was. She’s also the Neo of Smash Bros., The One who can bring peace to this fractured simulation of Nintendo worlds by hacking the very fabric of its existence. And here’s the proof:

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That’s a video from YouTube user TheAfrowJow, which was brought to our attention by Nintendolife. If two Isabelles cooperate with precise timing they can trigger an infinite spray of assist trophies. Isabelle can break all the rules that dictate the Smash Bros. universe, just like that guy in The Matrix. She’s almost like a god, creating life where there was none, materializing dozens of Dr. Kawashimas and Mother Brains out of thin air on a (perfectly timed) whim. And that’s why she’s in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate: not to kill an inkling, but to bring an end to the conflict from within. If she weakens the walls of that brutal patchwork of realities, she can free all of the characters forced into eternal combat. It’s a brilliant plan, and as always, Isabelle is trying her best.

If you want to unlock Isabelle’s full potential at home, here’s what you do. Get two Isabelles in a game and have them simultaneously try to hook an assist trophy with their fishing rods. Whichever one wins out will instantly fill the screen with a cascade of bellicose buddies who are down to pound.

It’s exciting to see how this will impact Animal Crossing games moving forward, now that we know how powerful Isabelle truly is. And man, Digby’s gotta feel like an even bigger failure now. What must it feel like to be the twin brother of a god?