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Ace, the Arid Avenger

Ace is a rushdown/setup character who can use his prosthetic sand arm and his trusty slingshot to send his foes on a one-way trip to the blast zone. Thanks to his training as a sandmason, Ace can mold his sand arm into the right tool for any job. When hitting his opponents with his sand moves, Ace can use the pressure from the blow to solidify some of the sand, which he stores inside his sand arm. Ace's Specials and Strongs can use this sandstone to change their properties.

Ace's neutral special creates a puddle of sand on the ground, which acts like a trap. This trap has different effects based on how many stacks of sandstone Ace consumed when he creates it. When an enemy gets too close to one of these puddles, they'll activate, damaging any opponents unfortunate enough to be in the blast radius. If an enemy gets too close while in hitstun, the puddle will go off faster, making it way more consistent at dealing damage before they're able to tech or parry. If the opponent gets too close while not in hitstun, they'll have time to tech, airdodge, or parry the explosion.

• A zero stack NSpecial creates a basic spike trap. It doesn't kill until very high percents, but can be a good option to mess with opponents at the ledge, or to get opponents off of you.
  
• A one stack NSpecial creates a dangerous quicksand trap. Any opponents who get too close will be pulled inside and buried! While this might seem deceptively powerful, Ace tends to struggle at killing unless he has two stacks of sandstone to use, so don't expect to get a ton out of this without setup.
  
• A two stack NSpecial becomes a powerful sandstone landmine. This is one of Ace's main kill options, and being able to knock opponents into this is one of the most consistent ways to take a stock, especially when it's on a platform. Just remember, defusing a puddle is easy, so you'll have to be able to defend it!

Ace's Down Special and Forward Special are both movement abilities that let him shoot his slingshot. For his Forward Special, he does a backdash, and for his Down Special, he leaps into the air. After he stops moving, if the special button is held, he will consume all of his stacks of sandstone to shoot a powerful projectile from his slingshot, with properties that change based on how many stacks he used.

• When Ace has zero stacks, the projectile is a basic ball of sand. It doesn't go very fast or hit very hard, but can be an inconvenience when used well.
  
• When Ace has one stack, the projectile is a rapidly spinning sawblade of sand. When it strikes an opponent, it spins in place, hitting them multiple times before sending them towards you. Not only does it always send towards you, but it also always has the same knockback, so use this to land some nasty confirms!
  
• When Ace has two stacks, the projectile is a hard-hitting ball of solid sandstone. Simple, yet effective.
  
• Ace can wall jump out of both of these moves at any time.

Ace's Up Special is an uppercut that fighters from a distant land refer to as a "Shoryuken". The hitbox grows weaker as the move goes on, but there's a secret hitbox on his fist at the very beginning which sends opponents extra far. When Ace has two stacks of sandstone, this move hits even harder, sends him higher, and also gains some soft armor.The speed at which Ace ascends with his Up Special depends on how fast he's moving when he uses it. Using up special immediately after any jump causes him to move further upwards. Ace can wall jump out of his Up Special, but only after the hitboxes end.

Ace's Jab, Up Air, Forward Air, Down Air, unempowered Strongs, and Up Special are able to stack his sandstone.
Ace's Dash Attack launches both himself and his opponent into the air with fixed knockback. The moment Ace leaves the ground, he's fully actionable, meaning you can combo Dash Attack into aerials or a wavedash up tilt.
Ace's Strong attacks and his Up Special gain a small amount of armor if you use them with two stacks of sandstone.
Ace struggles to kill without sandstone. Look to send an opponent into a well placed trap, or just catch them off guard with Back Air's sweetspot.

Ace grew up in the harsh deserts of Aether, in a small settlement surrounding a giant cactus. These cacti are found scattered across the wasteland, and have a symbiotic relationship with the people of the desert. The cactus provides drinkable water and delicious fruit, while it's caretakers keep it healthy and thriving. When he discovered he had the ability to manipulate sand and condense it into sandstone, he set out to become one of the prestigious Sandmasons. Unbeknownst to him, as he's away studying with the elder sandmasons, a company of Fire Nation soldiers came near his home and took rest there. The soldiers demanded fresh water to fill their canteens and food to fill their bellies. Fearing conflict, the people of Ace's home gave as much as they could spare, but it wasn't enough. The soldiers raided their storerooms and drained their cactus of life, leaving them forced to flee into neighboring towns. When Ace discovered what had happened, he was furious, and set out to make sure it never happened again.

Ace drifted from town to town, trying to gather people he could trust to help him with his cause. He formed a tight knit friendship with a tortoise, a desert fox, and a jerboa, and together they would harrass Fire Nation platoons. Taking advantage of the Fire Nation's poor knowledge of the terrain, they would create fake barriers, change paths, and lead them away from vulnerable villages. This plan worked successfully for a while, but eventually the Fire Nation caught on to what was happening, and laid a trap for the pest that kept causing them trouble. One night, not realizing that he had successfully bitten off more than he could chew, the Fire Nation sprung their trap on him and his motley crew. His friends were captured, while he managed to escape. Through a combination of hubris and loyalty to his friends, he went back a few hours later to try and free them. This was not a good idea. During an intense chase where he was fleeing the soldiers, he launched a wall of sand at them. They responded in kind with an intense burst of flame which crystalized the sand into glass and sent it hurtling back at Ace, severely cutting his arm. A combination of shock and fear caused him to be unable to continue shaping the sand, and he was forced to rely on his knowledge of the terrain to escape. He barely managed to do so, before collapsing due to exhaustion, where he was quickly found by a wandering merchant and brought to a nearby town for care.

Upon waking up and realizing his arm had to be amputated to keep him alive, Ace started to lose hope in his cause. In doing so, he lost hope in the desert, and his connection to her weakened. Unable to shape the sand anymore, Ace wandered for weeks with the merchant who saved him, having frequent conversations about their lives and their homes. In doing so, Ace began to remember what he was fighting for. After an emotional conversation one night, Ace realized that losing his arm wasn't an excuse to sit by and lose his home. As he set back out to free his friends and protect his people, his powers came back too, stronger than ever before. A few days later, Ace realizes that he can use the desert's gift to regain what he had lost. He shapes himself a new arm out of sand, and sets out to take the fight to the fire kingdom and find his friends.

Initial Character Design: Speric
Spritework: Speric
Moveset: Speric and Shepppey
Balance: Shepppey
Programming: Shepppey