Firebrand

This article or section contains information about a feature or element in the game that was cut or changed on development stage.

Firebrand
Character Type	Playable Character
Affiliation	Demon Realm
Original Appearance	Bold, Power Hungry

Firebrand is a Red Arremer and was planned to be the sixth secret character in Mushroom Kingdom Fusion but was removed from the roster due to being unfinished. He originally acted as Cosmo's clone, but was promoted to a full secret character when Cosmo was scrapped.

Despite his removal as a playable character, Firebrand does appear in his aerial form in Highway to Hell, a Battle Level located in World 4 where he navigates the player above the sky while dodging various fireballs.

History

Firebrand first appeared in Gargoyle's Quest on the Game Boy, where he fulfilled his destiny to kill King Breager of the Destroyer Army and saved his home, the Ghoul Realm, from destruction. The NES sequel had him set off to uncover the mystery of the Black Light that appeared to threaten his homeland.

In his third and final game, Demon's Crest, Firebrand sets out to obtain the power of the Elemental Crests to gain the Crest of Infinity, said to hold infinite power and the ability to conquer all realms. After defeating his nemesis Phalanx and reclaiming all the crests, as well as defeating the Dark Demon along the way, Firebrand instead decides he no longer needed them after being able to accomplish what he did and disposes of them.

He later made a cameo appearance in Namco X Capcom as Astaroth's right hand man, Red Areemer Joker, a menacing Red Areemer general who tried to stop the Namco and Capcom heroes. Unlike the other Red Areemers, Joker (Firebrand) fought with honor and dignity. When he found out that Astaroth was a mere puppet controlled by Nebiroth, he deserted his new master, but returned for a final battle, resulting in his demise, much to the anguish of Arthur.

It is possible that he, like the Demon Village and its denizens, is revived when the Demon Village reemerges to the mortal realm.

Gameplay

Had Firebrand been a playable character, he would had possessed a wall cling, HP based damage, and unimpressive walking speed. However, he possessed a simple flight ability, though limited to horizontal movement and possibly a fatigue meter by default.

Firebrand would had 2 projectile attack buttons. The run button caused him to use his current firecrest weapon. The shoot button used his powerup suit weapon. Firebrand loses his powerup suits on death and is also defaulted back to his normal fire breath for his fire crest weapon.

Power-up System

Power-Up	Form/Effect	Description
Initial	Normal Gargoyle	Firebrand's default form. Starts each new life with a weak fire breath weapon.
Health Powerup (Super Mushroom)	1 HP refill	Restores 1 HP.
Fire Crest Weapon (Fire Flower)	Random Fire Crest Weapon	Gives Firebrand one of his upgrade fire crest weapons: Buster - Fast and breaks many destructible object types. Tornado - A weak projectile that functions more as a platform. For specialty purposes. Dragon Claw - Sticks to hostile surfaces, allowing Firebrand to safely cling on. Not bad as a weapon either. Demon Fire - A very strong but slow projectile. Has a rare spawn rate.
Fallen Angel Wings (Raccoon Leaf)	Enhanced Flight	Basically gives Firebrand SMB3 raccoon leaf-style flight options.
Air Crest (Tanooki Suit)	Air Gargoyle	Can fly vertically and for longer. Has a tough but slow wind type projectile weapon.
Earth Crest (Hammer Bros. Suit)	Ground Gargoyle	No wings, but a powerful shoulder charge for attacking and breaking stuff. Also has a potent ground projectile weapon.
Jupiter Suit (Mega Man Suit)	Jupiter Costume	A suit based off one of the Stardroids from Mega Man V for the Game Boy.
Ridley Suit (Sci-Fi Suit)	Ridley Costume	A suit based off Ridley from Metroid.