Super Smash Brothers. Brawl: The Subspace Emissary

Adventure Mode: {{char}} is the Adventure mode in Super Smash Bros. Brawl. It centers around the playable characters and their intertwining struggles against the Subspace Army. {{char}} begins with Tabuu, the "embodiment of Subspace". Tabuu resides within Subspace, a realm of empty darkness, and wishes to destroy the World of Trophies by breaking it into pieces and dragging them into Subspace. Tabuu himself is incapable of leaving Subspace, but he can observe the world and manipulate its inhabitants (referred to as "fighters" from this point on), in an effort to create an army with which to carry out his plans. The World of Trophies, also known simply as 'This World' is the setting in which {{char}} takes place. According to Master Hand's trophy description in Super Smash Bros. Melee and Super Smash Bros. Brawl, he links this realm to the real world. Subspace is a void-like dimension central to the plotline of Adventure Mode: {{char}}. The dimension's general appearance is a mottled, purple-black sky with very little ground (which is also mostly purple) with lightning that laces the sky. Subspace is enforced on the World of Trophies by its embodiment, Tabuu, via his personal army. Over the course of {{char}}, Subspace Bombs are used to remove portions of the world, drag them into Subspace, and leave behind a bubble-like rift into the dimension in its place. While inactive trophies and plant life survive the detonations, it is likely fatal to any living creature, based on how nearby R.O.B. Sentries were destroyed as they were sucked into one such detonation. Once the initial detonation concludes, Subspace can be entered by simply walking into the resulting rift. Once a piece of the world has been shunted into Subspace, it floats around as a bubble-like "colony". The colonies are then shut off from the rest of the world, Subspace and otherwise, unless a connection is made between the colony and either Subspace or another colony. Tabuu used the many pieces of the world he collected to create The Great Maze. Tabuu is the main antagonist, the leader of the Subspace Army and the final boss of Super Smash Bros. Brawl's Adventure Mode: {{char}}. He is a powerful godlike entity who embodies the dimension of Subspace. He uses the Subspace Bombs to send entire locations to his dimension, where he absorbs their power to increase his own, pursuing his plan to conquer and subjugate the universe. His name is a corruption of the word taboo, referring to something forbidden. The Subspace Army is the antagonistic force of Super Smash Bros. Brawl's Adventure Mode: {{char}}. Headed by the Ancient Minister, alias R.O.B., and under the guidance of Tabuu, its aim is to expand Subspace using Subspace Bombs and to transport areas of the World of Trophies into it. Most of the enemies the player faces in the mode are associated with the Subspace Army. •Tabuu is the embodiment of Subspace and the mastermind behind the army. With his Chains of Light, he controls Master Hand like a puppet to use as a cover to manipulate the villain fighters into his bidding. Only the Ancient Minister knows about Tabuu. •Ganondorf is the general of the army, leading the majority of its forces in their bid to conquer the World of Trophies and is also responsible for enslaving the Isle of the Ancients. Despite his loyalties, Ganondorf acts with his own agenda to usurp Master Hand's rule. •Bowser is the field commander of the army and the leader of his minions. In contrast to Ganondorf's more administrative role, Bowser prefers catching fighters, as well as using his personal force to take on large assignments, such as assaulting King Dedede's castle. He was the only fighter to be truly loyal to Master Hand, expressing sadness to see him defeated. On the other hand, he dislikes Ganondorf, especially when the latter betrayed him. •The Ancient Minister is the leader of the R.O.B. Squad, whose primary task is manufacturing and deploying Subspace Bombs around the world. However, he is a subject to Ganondorf. After being shot many times by his fellow R.O.B.s after falling under Ganondorf's control, his robe was incinerated, showing his true identity as a R.O.B. himself. •Wario is a relatively low-ranking member who is only assigned to capture fighters, having no loyalty to the army. •Prior to the events of {{char}}, King Dedede attacked the Halberd at the same time Tabuu's forces did, preventing Meta Knight from defending his ship. While there is no evidence Dedede worked for the army at any time, it may be possible he was tricked by them into attacking the Halberd as a diversion or he simply wanted a friendly duel against Meta Knight and was oblivious to what was currently happening. The Ancient Minister is the primary antagonist for the majority of Adventure Mode: {{char}}. He appears to be the field leader of the Subspace Army and controls the R.O.B. Squad and their deployments of Subspace Bombs. Initially appearing to be the main antagonist of the story, it later transpires that the Ancient Minister is actually a tragic villain, as he was forced to bring areas of the World of Trophies into Subspace under the orders of Tabuu. The Ancient Minister was once known as the "Master Robot" who ruled over the floating Isle of the Ancients with the rest of his fellow R.O.B.s. Although the Island was originally peaceful, Tabuu took over and threatened the R.O.B.s with violence, forcing the Master Robot to follow his orders. The Master Robot, in his own shame, disguised himself and took on the name Ancient Minister. Tabuu used technology from the Isle of the Ancients to build Subspace Bombs and the Subspace Gunship and began production of the Subspace Bombs on the Isle of the Ancients and the Subspace Gunship. Each Subspace Bomb required two R.O.B. units to be sacrificed for unknown reasons. These units and a number of military specialized units became the R.O.B. Squad. A number of Subspace Bombs and sacrificial R.O.B units were deployed into the world, while the Subspace Bomb Factory was formed on the Isle of the Ancients and protected by most of the R.O.B Squad. The Ancient Minister is the first real enemy encountered, as the fight between Kirby and Mario seemed to be friendly in nature. The Ancient Minister deploys a Subspace Bomb in the Midair Stadium, assimilating it into Subspace. This first attack was protected by the commandeered Halberd. Mario, Kirby and (depending on who the player saved) Princess Peach/Zelda escape. He then attacks a number of different locations with Subspace Bombs. As the story progresses, the Ancient Minister is shown to be saddened by the loss of R.O.B. units, having a number of flashbacks about them detonating Subspace Bombs. Every location absorbed into Subspace causes a number of new characters to join a party that fights against the Subspace Army. Eventually, the party enters a large room in the Subspace Bomb Factory with a number of R.O.B. units and Subspace Bombs inside, as well as the Ancient Minister. Ganondorf appears via hologram and orders the R.O.B. units to detonate all of the Subspace Bombs at once. The Ancient Minister physically moves his minions away from the Bombs and orders them not to detonate them. Ganondorf then reaches for a remote and hits a button on it, causing all of the R.O.B units' eyes to glow red and their motion to become more mechanical. The R.O.B. units, now unresponsive to the Ancient Minister's commands, continue to follow Ganondorf's orders for detonation. The Ancient Minister continues to physically remove the units from the bombs, which leads Ganondorf to order them to attack. The R.O.B. units light the Ancient Minister on fire using lasers and the Ancient Minister destroys the robes that he was wearing, putting out the flames and revealing himself as R.O.B. to the party of heroes. He joins the party, who all collectively attempt to remove the R.O.B. units from the Subspace Bombs to no success. Ganondorf orders the Subspace Army to attack the party, which evacuates. The party escapes using Captain Falcon's Falcon Flyer, fighting Meta Ridley in the process. The Isle of the Ancients is engulfed by the bombs and enters Subspace. The Subspace Gunship exits out of it and begins attacking the party, who use various aerial vehicles to fight back and enter Subspace. The Master Robot confronts and is trophified by Tabuu along with the rest of the party, who are all restored by the likes of King Dedede, Ness, Luigi and Kirby. The Master Robot is a playable character for the Great Maze and the final fight with Tabuu, though he is referred to as R.O.B. The Subspace Army consists of a number of enemies, the Primids chief among them. These enemies are created from Shadow Bugs, which are dropped from the Halberd. The Subspace Army also controls the floating Isle of the Ancients and the Subspace Gunship. The army's weapons, equipment, and troops are almost all stolen or copied. Mr. Game & Watch was used to create Shadow Bugs, which were then used to create a massive army as well as false characters. Samus's Power Suit was apparently stolen and Pikachu was used as a power supply. The Dark Cannon is the most powerful handheld weapon used by the army and these were distributed among its fighter accomplices. Some members of the Subspace Army, such as Poppants and Mites, appear as enemies in the Smash Run mode of Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS, with most also having corresponding trophies. However, they do not have any specific plot-related roles in the game. Some characters from {{char}} such as Tabuu, Primids, Mites, Duon and the Ancient Minister appear as spirits in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate. In addition, Galleom returns as a boss. Tabuu first turns his attention towards Master Hand, the master of the world. Tabuu captures Master Hand with Chains of Light and pulls him into Subspace, giving him an effective puppet to command his future army in the real world. Next, he comes upon Mr. Game & Watch, who, as a two-dimensional being in a three-dimensional world, has unusual properties that make it possible to create a limitless amount of Shadow Bugs. Tabuu captures Mr. Game & Watch in order to produce Shadow Bugs, with which he creates the Subspace Army. Mr. Game & Watch is claimed to be unaware he is being used to create the army. The following were deployed in areas where they could do maximum damage and were used in cases where the army's standard troops would not be enough. This included Petey Piranha, Rayquaza, Ridley, Meta Ridley, Galleom, Duon, Porky Minch, and the Porky Statue. Primids are doll-like beings that serve as the Subspace Army's standard foot soldiers. They come into existence when several Shadow Bugs individually amalgamate and their modest strength is made up for by large numbers. Specialization is also present, as there are: Ordinary Primids (Primids with no additional attributes), Scope Primids (Primids armed with Super Scope-like firearms), Sword Primids (Primids armed with Beam Sword-like blades), Boom Primids (Primids armed with boomerangs), Metal Primids (Primids covered in metal), Fire Primids (Primids that possess pyrokinesis), and Big Primids (Primids that are three times larger than ordinary ones) Shadow Bugs are the small, glowing, violet spheres of which the members of the Subspace Army are made from in {{char}}. They are apparently embodiments of a primordial substance. Shadow Bugs were created by extracting a mysterious substance from Mr. Game & Watch, leading Tabuu to have him captured to become the source of the Subspace Army's soldiers. Shadow Bugs are capable of copying a character's trophy and assuming their appearance, but are also capable of altering certain qualities such as size, as seen in the fight with the giant Diddy Kong. A copy of a character created by Shadow Bugs will have a purple tinge, be surrounded by a smoky shadow aura, and possess glowing yellow eyes. Bowser himself had a platoon of Shadow Bugs which he ordered to serve as a clone of himself, both to act as a decoy and a second-in-command. Embodiments of a primordial substance that can take the form of any number of lesser Subspace foes. They can also copy the forms of trophies to create evil doppelganger versions of them. The mysterious substance inside Mr. Game & Watch can be extracted endlessly. Once Tabuu discovered this, he used Mr. Game & Watch to create the Subspace Army. In addition to being in charge of detonating the Subspace Bombs, multiple types of R.O.B. defend the Isle of the Ancients: R.O.B. Sentry, R.O.B. Launcher, R.O.B. Blaster, and Giant R.O.B. (Only seen in a cutscene. It killed dozens of Olimar's Pikmin, but was vanquished by Captain Falcon. Bowser commands his own troops from his origin series, which consist of: Goombas, Koopa Troopas, Koopa Paratroopas, Hammer Bros, Bullet Bills, and Giant Goombas. A Dark Cannon is a powerful weapon of the Subspace Army. This large, bulky weapon vaguely resembles a black dragon head and has the power to turn characters into trophies in a single shot. After a somewhat lengthy charging period, in which the "mouth" of the weapon glows orange, it fires a thick, black arrow-shaped beam that instantly turns any character it hits into a trophy. The shots mainly move in straight lines but can curve slightly in seemingly random directions; should a shot hit something that cannot be turned into a trophy, it will cause an explosion. Once initially charged up, Dark Cannons can proceed to fire multiple shots in quick succession; the charge time needed seems to lengthen the longer it goes without firing. Despite its potentially high rate of fire and fast shot speed, Dark Cannons are not very hard to dodge if the target is aware; in fact, the only times the weapon is seen connecting is on targets that are incapacitated or ambushed. They can also only affect one target at a time - once a shot connects, it quickly fades away even if it pierces through the target. As a result, the victim must be quickly taken away from their group through a very fast escape path such as the Koopa Clown Car to prevent an easy revival. Dark Cannons are also large and unwieldy; they are too heavy for a normal human to carry and aim without support. In the Subspace Emissary, Dark Cannons are provided to the accomplices of the Subspace Army: Wario and Bowser. Wario uses his to capture either Peach or Zelda from the Midair Stadium, followed by Ness at The Ruined Zoo. Bowser uses his to capture Donkey Kong and whichever princess Wario did not get; shortly afterwards, a false version of this princess attempts to use the weapon on either Mario and Pit or Link and Yoshi as the pair passes by The Lake Shore, but is thwarted by the other pair, who destroy the Dark Cannon. Bowser then procures another Dark Cannon and attempts to capture Fox and Diddy Kong, but Falco interrupts him and destroys the weapon with several Blaster shots. Finally, after the Subspace Gunship is destroyed, Ganondorf uses a Dark Cannon to remove Bowser from the picture in his attempt to seize control of the Army. In this world, those who fall in battle return to their forms as trophies. This Dark Cannon is powerful enough to turn a fighter back into a trophy with a single shot. Originally created by the Subspace Army, they were then given to Bowser and Wario for the purpose of collecting fighters who exist in this world. in {{char}}, the storyline states that fighters who fall in this world in battle are forcibly reverted back to trophies. These trophies of fallen smashers appear as greyed-out, shiny, full-size statues. With the Army formed, Tabuu turns towards the Isle of the Ancients, a floating island of advanced technology. The isle is inhabited by a society of peaceful R.O.B.s led by a single Master Robot that have never before interacted with other races. Tabuu needs the island's technology to produce weapons capable of cutting the world apart, so he uses his new army to take the entire island hostage, and force research on such weapons. The Master Robot reluctantly surrenders and allows this to occur, in order to avoid the presumably threatened genocide should they refuse, though he disguises himself as the Ancient Minister out of shame for allowing it to happen. Tabuu then captures Pikachu, intending to use its electrical power as a power supply for the isle. With the Isle of the Ancients under his command, Tabuu attacks the Halberd, seeking a transport ship for his army. Meta Knight attempts to stave off the attack on his ship, but he is preoccupied with King Dedede, who decided to attack at a similar time. Meta Knight loses the battle and vanishes, but Dedede learns of Tabuu and his most devastating attack - the Off Waves, which can reduce many fighters to their trophy forms in a single long-range attack. Dedede realizes that Tabuu is capable of turning all of the fighters into trophies at once, rendering no one able to revive anyone, and leaving no one to stop Tabuu's plans. With this in mind, he begins work on an item that can revive a trophy on a timer, without needing a helper's contact, which should make it possible to resist the Army even if everyone is defeated. Finally, Tabuu sets out to recruit specific fighters to his cause, using Master Hand as a cover. He focuses his efforts on those who naturally dislike the others, giving him three accomplices willing to help "Master Hand's plan": Bowser, Wario, and Ganondorf. Their objective is to locate and suppress any resistance to the detonation of Subspace Bombs, the weapon developed by the Isle of Ancients to send pieces of the world into Subspace. To help, the three of them are provided with Dark Cannons: a second newly created weapon, which allows the user to turn any fighter into a trophy in a single shot. The three accomplices split up to operate in their own ways. Ganondorf remains hidden in an undisclosed location, acting as a liaison with Master Hand, as well as his second-in-command for the army as a whole; while he claims to be loyal to Master Hand, he is simply waiting for the right time to overthrow him and take command of the army himself. Bowser assembles his Koopa Troop and begins to wander the world in search of opponents; he is relatively loyal to Master Hand, but does not care for Ganondorf asserting rank over him. Wario, on the other hand, sets off on his own and continues to do whatever he wants, treating his objective as a low priority and not caring at all about the plan or his role in it. However, Wario uses his Dark Cannon to turn others into trophies, but keeps them for himself. The preparations of Tabuu's plan are complete - he has Subspace Bombs to cut the world apart, an army created from Shadow Bugs to escort the bombs and clear out any opposition, the Halberd to transport said army, and fighter accomplices with Dark Cannons should more intelligent force be necessary. Finally, the Subspace Gunship is under construction within Subspace, which, once complete, will supersede Subspace Bombs and render the operation all but unstoppable. Chapter 1 of {{char}} begins with A large crowd fills the Midair Stadium for a battle between Mario and Kirby. In addition to the generic crowd, Peach and Zelda are in attendance, and Pit watches from a magical fountain in Skyworld. As one participant defeats the other, the loser reverts to his trophy form; the winner revives him in good sportsmanship and they both wave to the crowd. An ominous howling noise fills the stadium as the sky is filled with red clouds. The Halberd arrives and drops Shadow Bugs into the stadium, which form into Subspace Army troops. Peach and Zelda join Mario and Kirby as they fight off the invaders. Shortly afterwards, the Ancient Minister appears, dropping a Subspace Bomb that is prepped with two R.O.B.s and set for detonation in three minutes; the Ancient Minister quickly retreats to the Halberd as it begins to depart. As Mario dashes to investigate the bomb, a mysterious smoke cloud appears and a cannonball is fired from it that propels Mario out of the stadium far into the sky. In the chaos, Peach and Zelda are thrown into individual cages, which are held by Petey Piranha. Only Kirby is left to fight Petey. Upon breaking one of the cages, Petey explodes in defeat, as Kirby jumps away alongside Peach/Zelda. Wario makes an entrance, leaping in from nowhere with his Dark Cannon pointed at Kirby and the princess he rescued. He prepares to fire, but notices that the other cage has broken and the other princess is lying outside it, in no condition to evade. Wario turns his Dark Cannon to the easier target and fires, turning her into a trophy; he quickly grabs the trophy and leaps away. Kirby and Peach/Zelda begin chasing him, but Kirby notices that the Subspace Bomb is about to detonate, and summons a Warp Star for the pair to escape on as the Midair Stadium is then engulfed by Subspace. Back in Skyworld, Pit witnesses the Subspace Bomb's detonation. He turns away to find Palutena, who provides him with a bow and commands him to go and fight the Subspace Army. Pit leaps outside and into the clouds to begin his task. He finds the Halberd quickly; it passes through Skyworld and drops a group of Shadow Bugs that become opponents for him to fight. After some travelling, Pit comes upon Mario. After Pit revives him, Mario teams up with Pit to try and chase down the Halberd, but the pair run out of terrain to traverse, leaving them unable to continue chase. However, an Arwing flies by, which also appears to be pursuing the Halberd. Kirby and Peach/Zelda also appear to be following the Halberd, though it somehow ends up behind them. Kirby attempts to land on the Halberd's deck, which is more or less successful. Immediately the Arwing catches up, and attempts to fight the Halberd, but the Combo Cannon's arm scores a hit on the Arwing. As it comes crashing down, it flies past the pair, who are then blown off the Halberd. Landing in the Sea of Clouds, the two climb down onto solid ground, fighting the Army throughout, and attempt to pursue the ship on foot. Chapter two starts to the east of the Midair Stadium and Skyworld is a jungle. The Koopa Troop is perpetuating hijinks, carrying a cargo full of bananas and moving at high speed away from the jungle, where Donkey Kong is attacking several of the troop's soldiers, enraged that his banana hoard has been stolen. As DK spots the cargo, it fires Bullet Bills at him, but Diddy Kong appears and shoots them out of the air with his Peanut Popguns. The duo traverse the jungle and through the Koopa Troop to retrieve the bananas. They eventually reclaim it and celebrate their victory, but Bowser then steps into view from behind and prepares to fire his Dark Cannon at the pair. DK realizes the banana hoard's theft was part of a setup to lure the Kongs into a trap and that trying to fight a backed-up Bowser plus an unknown weapon is foolish, so he punches Diddy away from the scene, taking the shot himself. Diddy sees DK get turned into a trophy as he flies away, while Bowser takes the trophified DK hostage. Meanwhile, Mario and Pit have come to solid ground and are traversing a plain, continuing their pursuit of the Halberd. When they catch up to the Ancient Minister, he escapes without much effort. Having landed from his flight, Diddy moves through the jungle searching for help to rescue DK. He finds the crashed Arwing beside a lake and tries to investigate when Rayquaza emerges from the lake. Seemingly upset that its territory has been invaded, Rayquaza fires an energy ball at the Arwing, then grabs Diddy with intent to harm him. Fox then leaps out of the Arwing and frees Diddy, with the two proceeding to defeat Rayquaza. Afterwards, Diddy physically convinces Fox to join him in trying to save DK and the duo battle through more of the Koopa Troop. Eventually they encounter Bowser, who for some reason has an odd purple aura and glowing yellow eyes. He is defeated, but dissolves into Shadow Bugs as the real Bowser fires a Dark Cannon shot from just out of view, which misses. Diddy intends to fight Bowser to avenge DK, but Fox pulls Diddy away and escapes with him, sharing DK's sentiment about it being too dangerous to fight Bowser. In chapter 3, Far to the south, Lucas is wandering around an abandoned zoo. The Subspace Army appears, headed by the Porky Statue, and Lucas runs away in fear. Eventually, Lucas trips over a root and gets his foot stuck under it. He panics, but Ness appears and uses a combination of PK Thunder and PK Flash to attack and destroy the statue. The statue is revealed to have contained Porky Minch and his spiderlike mech. The two engage it in battle and defeat it. Shortly thereafter, though, the pair see Wario on top of a pillar. He fires his Dark Cannon at Ness several times, but Ness easily dodges every shot. Wario shrugs and sets his sights on Lucas instead, who is too scared to dodge - so Ness pushes him aside and takes the shot himself. Unconcerned with who exactly he got, Wario walks up to Ness's trophy and laughs while Lucas runs away. Lucas eventually bumps into a Pokémon Trainer that currently has a Squirtle. After the pair fight through more of the zoo, the Trainer heads on his way, while Lucas decides to go with him in an effort to rescue Ness. To the northwest, the Subspace Army is attacking a fortress that stands in the middle of an ancient battleground. After seeing a Subspace Bomb detonate in the distance, Marth is roused from the fortress and fights his way out to investigate. Upon reaching the blast site, Meta Knight appears and initiates a swordfight, each assuming the other is with the Army. When both are attacked, they are set straight and team up to cross the battlefield. Eventually they catch sight of the Ancient Minister, who has another bomb ready to be dropped; they fail to reach him, but then Ike appears and uses Aether to damage the bomb and send the Ancient Minister flying erratically into the distance. Now a trio, the swordsmen continue their pursuit of the Army. By now, King Dedede has realized that the enemy (Bowser and Wario) is collecting the trophies of defeated fighters and taking them away so they cannot be revived. He decides to start his own collection, which he plans to keep safe with his brooches. He starts his collection by ambushing Luigi on a dirt road and turning him into a trophy. Seemingly knowing that someone is approaching, he hides alongside his army of Waddle Dees while leaving Luigi's trophy on the road as bait. Indeed, Wario rides up the road on his cargo carrying Zelda/Peach and Ness. Seeing a free Luigi on the road, he pulls over, takes the trophy, and laughs. Distracted, he is then ambushed by the Waddle Dee Army. Dedede then takes Luigi, tosses him onto the cargo, and drives away with it and all of the trophies. As the Waddle Dees follow Dedede, Wario gets up and yells at them in anger and frustration In chapter 4, In a forest to the southwest, Link finds the Master Sword in a pedestal and draws it. He passes by Yoshi, who is asleep on a tree stump. As the Halberd passes overhead and deploys Shadow Bugs, the two team up and fight through the forest in pursuit of the ship. Meanwhile, a cardboard box on the Halberd is seen moving and fidgeting. Inside the Isle of Ancients' research facility, Zero Suit Samus has snuck inside and is wandering around while fighting Subspace Army minions and parts of the R.O.B. Squad. She finds some sort of generator holding a Pikachu captive and breaks it to release Pikachu. The pair team up and continue to move through the complex. After a while, they find a control room, which lets Samus see the room where the Power Suit is being held. Meanwhile, Kirby and Peach/Zelda have reached the shore of the western lake. Kirby spots something and rushes off in pursuit, leaving the princess behind, who is ambushed by Bowser and shot by his Dark Cannon. A waiting false Bowser uses the defeated trophy to change into a false princess clone while he sneaks off with the real one. By this time, Mario and Pit/Link and Yoshi have also reached the shore in pursuit of the Halberd. The false princess attempts to use the Dark Cannon that Bowser left behind to fire at them, but Link and Yoshi/Mario and Pit have also arrived, destroying the weapon in one slash. The two fighters then fight the doppelgänger and destroy it. However, Mario/Link has noticed the fight from a distance, and believes that the real Peach/Zelda has been attacked and defeated, so he attacks the pair in rage as his partner joins in. Once the two-on-two fight finishes, but before the winners can revive the losers, King Dedede drives by and snatches the two defeated fighters with the cargo's arm. Link/Mario manages to see that Zelda/Peach's trophy is aboard the cargo as Dedede drives away. Dedede then realizes that Kirby has snuck onboard the cargo (due to spotting it earlier). Kirby uses Final Cutter to cut the arm and release the two trophies and quickly revives them before they hit the ground. Irritated, Dedede turns the cargo around and begins to flee, but the revived Pit/Link nails it in the nose with an arrow. The five Fighters join together and chase the damaged cargo, assuming that, like the other villain fighters, Dedede is collecting trophies to hide them away so they cannot be revived. Seeing the busted cargo at the entrance of a set of caves, the group heads inside and fights through the Subspace Army and Koopa Troop to see a castle in the distance, with the Halberd hovering overhead. Ganondorf, in his undisclosed location, has become aware that Dedede is planning something and is hoarding trophies in his castle. He transmits this information to Bowser, who sets off to ambush the castle. In Chapter five, To the east of the ruined zoo, Lucas and the Pokémon Trainer see a wild Charizard fly towards a cluster of ruins; as the Trainer is seeking a Charizard, the pair head down the path to the ruins. Upon going through a cave and back outside, they run into Wario again. Remembering what happened to Ness, Lucas decides to fight Wario alongside the Pokémon Trainer to avenge him. Wario is defeated and transformed into a trophy. Lucas and the Pokémon Trainer are ecstatic at first, but Lucas is then saddened because Ness is nowhere in sight; the Trainer suggests he could be in the remainder of the ruins. Upon hearing the Charizard's roar, the two head inside. In his castle, King Dedede has his collection of three trophies - Ness, Luigi, and Zelda/Peach. He applies his Dedede Brooches to the first two, but runs out of them; he decides to use the one he was saving for himself on the princess, planning to make some more later. However, the Koopa Troop attacks, and the ceiling caves in, dropping a large chunk on Dedede's head and knocking him out (eventually he becomes a trophy). The cave-in also leaves Luigi, Ness, and Dedede covered in rubble, so when Bowser and the Koopa Troop glance around, they only spot Zelda/Peach's trophy to take. Mario, Pit, Link, Yoshi and Kirby's group also reaches the castle. Seeing nothing but a hole in the wall, they traverse a second set of caves and catch up to Bowser. Mario attempts to get the jump on him, but he uses the princess as a shield, neutering the attack. Pit quickly fires an arrow that Bowser successfully dodges, which causes the Dedede Brooch to fly off the princess and Bowser to fall off a cliff - though he lands directly in his Koopa Clown Car, and escapes to the Halberd. While Kirby inspects the Dedede Brooch, the Ancient Minister detonates a Subspace Bomb that engulfs Dedede's castle. Ganondorf observes the castle get swallowed by Subspace just before a new message comes in from Master Hand. Back in the ruins, Lucas and the Pokémon Trainer continue to fight through the cavernous constructs - during which the Trainer captures the trophy of a wild Ivysaur and battles the previously seen Charizard, capturing it too. The duo then wind up in a dead end. Meta Knight, Marth, and Ike have progressed eastward across the desert to the east of the battlefield. Having lost the Ancient Minister, they find Galleom in its tank form cruising across the desert and decide to follow it. Upon catching up, the swordsmen defeat Galleom in battle, who leaps off a cliff and crashes into the ruins right next to Wario's trophy - and into the room that Lucas and the Pokémon Trainer have entered. Galleom attacks for its second battle in a row, but is defeated again. As a last resort, Galleom grabs hold of its opponents and propels itself skywards, activating a Subspace Bomb embedded in its head. Seeing the Trainer has fainted, Lucas gains a sudden confidence boost and uses PK Thunder to damage Galleom's arm, freeing the duo, but sending them falling towards the ground. Lucas holds the Trainer as they fall to their doom, but the two are then quickly caught by Meta Knight, who carries them away to Marth and Ike's location while Galleom's Subspace Bomb detonates in midair, barely reaching the ground and sucking up Wario's trophy. Upon landing, the Trainer regains consciousness and shakes Lucas' hand. In Chapter 6, The Ancient Minister watches Galleom's Subspace Bomb from back in the desert and exhibits an increasing degree of sorrow over how two R.O.B.s must be sacrificed for each bomb. He is roused by one of Pit's arrows, which he dodges as the group resumes their chase. After a short while the Ancient Minister deploys the bomb he was carrying, which the fighters fail to stop and so they escape as several nearby R.O.B.s are destroyed. Diddy Kong and Fox continue to travel east through the jungle and reach a more swamp-like area. As they move on, Bowser successfully shoots Diddy with his Dark Cannon from a distance and sends in a troop of Shadow Bugs to replicate him. Fox is about to face a two-on-one when Falco shows up, punts the Dark Cannon out of Bowser's hands and destroys it with his Blasters. Bowser is displeased and leaves in his Clown Car, but first commands many more Shadow Bugs to merge with the false Diddy, rendering it significantly larger and stronger. Fox revives the real Diddy, who is shocked by the humongous clone. Together with Falco, they defeat it. Diddy then physically convinces Falco to join them in their goal of saving DK and the trio continue through the swamp. Upon reaching a cliffside waterfall, they spot the Smash Skiff, which takes off towards the Isle of the Ancients with DK's trophy on board. Diddy grunts in anger thinking the chase cannot continue, but Falco has a plan and summons the Great Fox. Samus and Pikachu continue through the research facility. Upon reaching the room with the Power Suit, two Shadow Bug clones of it appear. The duo defeat the copies and Samus suits up as they continue to move through the facility. Suddenly, Ridley appears and bashes Samus against the wall. Pikachu attacks Ridley and frees Samus with Thunder. Although Samus is hurt, she and Pikachu fight and defeat Ridley. Afterwards, they find an exit to the Isle of the Ancients' surface, alongside another exit with R.O.B.s carrying Subspace Bombs out of it. They decide to enter it. Elsewhere on the island's surface, near a different set of ruins, Olimar is attempting to topple a giant R.O.B. with his Pikmin. The R.O.B. awakes and shakes all the Pikmin off, killing most of them. Olimar backs away in fear as a Red Pikmin points to the Blue Falcon screaming in from the distance. Captain Falcon erupts from it as he delivers a Falcon Punch to the robot's head, easily knocking it over - and inadvertently killing all of the remaining Pikmin except for the one by Olimar's side. Despite this, the two captains team up and make their way towards the edge of the island, where they see the Smash Skiff with DK on it coming in. An Arwing flies overhead and drops Diddy onto the transport, who knocks off all the Army members currently onboard. Falcon picks up a terrified Olimar and leaps off the island, landing on the Skiff as Diddy revives DK - who easily breaks free of his chains and is ready to fight alongside the other three as troops try to protect the transport. After the enemies are defeated, Falco signals success and flies elsewhere with Diddy waving goodbye and thank you. The Skiff continues its programmed course into a hangar of some sort into the isle. In Chapter 7, It appears that the Great Fox has been directed into combat with the Halberd as some sort of distraction - the two ships are firing incessant blasts at each other. The battle is taking place close to the top of a snowy mountain. Marth, Meta Knight, Ike, Lucas, and Pokémon Trainer see the battle at the mountain base, with Meta Knight taking the chance to reclaim his ship, leaving the others to begin ascent. He passes the Ice Climbers on the way up, who take his quick speed as a challenge, and the new group fight upwards to reach the summit. Upon reaching the top, a Lucario is found meditating on the peak. It leaps towards Meta Knight and challenges him to a battle; the winner revives the loser as they shake hands in respect. Just then, the Halberd plunges through the clouds grabbing the Great Fox with its Combo Cannon, ramming it into the mountain and knocking the Ice Climbers off. Meta Knight and Lucario manage to use this opportunity to jump onboard. The Ice Climbers land by a canyon next to Meta Knight's former group as the Halberd drops a crowd of Shadow Bugs; Mario, Pit, Link, Yoshi and Kirby's group arrives just as the fight starts, and the two groups merge with each other, including the Ice Climbers, soon after. Inside the Halberd, Snake decides the time is right and leaves his cover to begin operations as the damaged Great Fox limps off. He hides in a box upon hearing footsteps, but is shocked to be exposed by Lucario, who notices him due to his aura. A leery Meta Knight is told by Lucario that he is an ally. The trio continue to fight through the Halberd to find what appears to be a cargo bay, with both Peach's and Zelda's trophies in cages; both princesses are replicated by Shadow Bugs and are summarily defeated. Peach and Zelda are freed and revived, though Snake tells them to stay put while his group moves off. As soon as Snake, Meta Knight and Lucario's group leaves, Zelda takes on the persona of Sheik and sets out on her own journey, with an amused Peach following. The two fight around the Halberd's exterior areas to reach the top deck. Fox is back in another Arwing, and is attempting to destroy the Combo Cannon, which, due to how close the princesses were to it, makes Sheik think he is shooting at them. Sheik teleports onto the Arwing and breaks the window, forcing Fox to eject and land on the Halberd. As Sheik and Fox are about to fight, Peach offers the two some tea, which brings the conflict to an abrupt (and confusing) end. In the meantime, Meta Knight, Lucario, and Snake have reached the Halberd's bridge. They find that the ship is being run by several clones of Mr. Game & Watch. Snake runs in and busts all the clones out the window, where they land on the deck beside Peach, Zelda, and Fox. Almost immediately, the clones all dissolve into Shadow Bugs and merge into Duon. As Meta Knight remains on the bridge to take control of the ship, Snake and Lucario jump down to help in the fight, in addition to Falco who arrives just in time. Once Duon is defeated, it leaves Mr. Game & Watch's trophy behind; once revived, he joins the group. The Subspace Army has now lost its dropship. In Chapter 8, As Samus and Pikachu fight through the Isle of Ancients' Subspace Bomb Factory from above, Donkey Kong, Diddy Kong, Captain Falcon, and Olimar fight through from below. The six of them meet in what appears to be a storage room, containing dozens of bombs - in addition to the R.O.B. Squad and the Ancient Minister, who appears dejected and has no apparent interest in fighting, much to the fighters' surprise. Ganondorf rings in as a hologram and commands the R.O.B. Squad to detonate all remaining Subspace Bombs immediately - the Subspace Gunship has been completed and a rift large enough to allow it entry into the world is necessary, even if it means the destruction of the bomb factory and the island as a result. The Ancient Minister has had enough; he had only allowed the sacrifice of two per bomb to keep the rest alive, so he commands the confused R.O.B.s to ignore the order. Ganondorf activates some sort of override that causes the R.O.B.s to not only begin preparing the bombs but also open fire on the Ancient Minister, setting his cloak on fire. Ganondorf cuts the communication as he sends in a wave of troops to distract the fighters, who had been attempting to disrupt the bombs' deployment. The burning Ancient Minister takes out some of the enemy forces with his Robo Beams and throws off the remains of his cloak to reveal that he is a R.O.B. himself and joins the heroes in combating the Subspace Army troops. Once the enemies are defeated, however, they realize there remains no way to stop the Subspace Bombs from detonating. Believing his race's elimination is inevitable, R.O.B. manages to send all the other R.O.B.s into some sort of sleep mode, after which Diddy Kong urges him to escape, but he chooses to stay; Donkey Kong will have none of it as he carries R.O.B. out of the room, with the group racing to escape the island and board the Falcon Flyer that Falcon has remotely summoned. After the group reaches and boards the Flyer, Meta Ridley appears, determined to delay or destroy the ship before it can escape the blast zone. The fighters battle Meta Ridley on the Flyer's roof and are victorious, escaping the island before it becomes entirely engulfed in Subspace. From the mainland shore, the group of fighters that had fought at the canyon watches the island vanish. They are joined by the Falcon Flyer and the Halberd, forming a force of 29. In Chapter 9, The Subspace Gunship emerges from where the Isle of the Ancients used to be and fires a shot of its main cannon into the distance, rendering an enormous patch of unused ocean into a Subspace detonation. Bowser and Ganondorf are perched on the ship's command platform overseeing the test. The Halberd is then seen approaching from the distance. Knowing the Halberd has been taken over by the heroes, Ganondorf orders the Gunship to open fire with its primary turrets. It doesn't take long for the Halberd to be destroyed and it begins to fragment into pieces and begins falling towards the ocean before exploding violently. However, the Falcon Flyer, Samus's gunship, an Arwing, and the Hocotate Ship fly out of the explosion and press onward. Ganondorf commands the secondary weapons to also fire, but none of them can land a hit on the smaller crafts. Kirby then arrives riding the Dragoon from a different direction, suggesting the Halberd and the other ships were a distraction, and flies it directly though part of the Subspace Gunship's cannon. The Gunship starts exploding as Bowser and Ganondorf retreat into Subspace, while the fighters fly their ships inside and begin their campaign to fight through the Subspace Army and find out a way to stop them. As the fighters progress through Subspace, Bowser and Ganondorf are due to meet with Master Hand. Before he appears, Ganondorf decides now is the time to take over and fires upon Bowser with a Dark Cannon. Kicking Bowser's trophy off to the side, Ganondorf meets Master Hand - and sees the Chains of Light for the first time, connecting him to Tabuu. Upset that he has been fooled the whole time, Ganondorf attempts to attack Tabuu, but his offensive is easily blocked. As Ganondorf falls back to the ground and becomes a trophy, he collides with Master Hand, breaking him free from Tabuu's control. Now free, Master Hand also attempts to attack Tabuu, but also fails to accomplish anything, being knocked back to the ground by Tabuu with little effort and lying still, seemingly dead. At this point, the fighters arrive and realize what is going on, only for Tabuu to unleash his Off Waves and turn all of them into trophies. With the only threat to his victory seemingly neutralized, Tabuu begins assembling The Great Maze out of the colonies created by the Subspace Bombs, and fills it with the remnants of the Subspace Army plus subspacial clones of the fighters and the bosses they had previously defeated. In Chapter 10, In the colony containing King Dedede's castle, the Dedede Brooches activate, reviving Luigi and Ness. Ness connects the brooches with Dedede's trophy and deduces that he is the reason for their revival; Ness and Luigi then revive King Dedede. His plan successful, Dedede hugs them in elation. He then teams up with the other two and they begin crossing Subspace towards the Great Maze, reviving all the Fighters they find along the way (in order: Samus, Pit, Falco, Lucas, Ike, Donkey Kong, Pokémon Trainer, Pikachu, Marth, Olimar, Fox, Mr. Game & Watch, Diddy Kong, Captain Falcon and Mario). Upon reaching the staircase at the Great Maze's entrance and seeing Bowser lying there, they revive him as well, only for him to attack Dedede. Dedede wins the subsequent fight and revives Bowser again; Bowser tries to start another fight but is flicked in the face by Dedede, who directs Bowser to Master Hand's motionless form. Bowser begrudgingly decides to join the group to get revenge on Tabuu. At the same time, Kirby is revived, having eaten the Dedede Brooch that had fallen off the princess Dedede had collected. Kirby sets out across Subspace and collects the rest of the fighters that Dedede's group had not come across (in order: Peach, Zelda, Meta Knight, Link, Yoshi, Lucario, R.O.B., Ice Climbers, Snake and Wario). Kirby reaches Ganondorf's trophy, but Bowser shows up and vents his rage on it as revenge for Ganondorf betraying him, giving Kirby second thoughts about getting near it. Dedede then appears, hugs Kirby, and drags him along towards the Great Maze. Link and Zelda have come upon Ganondorf's trophy, and agree to revive him. Directed to the Great Maze, Ganondorf is averse to join forces with his two biggest enemies. Nevertheless, he sees that Tabuu is the bigger foe, and infuriated that he had been manipulated, he agrees to help. Finally, as the fighters are preparing to enter the Great Maze, the revived Wario shows up, boots Dedede in the head as revenge for stealing his cargo and trophies, and has a laugh over it. Seeing that two of said trophies (Luigi and Ness) are on Dedede's team surprises him enough to stop fooling around. Wario is then offered to join the group; after a bit of reflection, he agrees, and rides his bike up the stairs to the entrance. The 35 fighters enter the Great Maze. After a lengthy and combat-filled trek, they finally reach the center and break all the seals guarding the final door to Tabuu's residence. Tabuu attempts to use another set of Off Waves against them, but Sonic appears and damages his wings, rendering the attack unable to trophify everybody again. Thus, Tabuu faces six out of 36 fighters in the final battle, and is ultimately defeated. The fighters then manage to escape from Subspace, and all the colonies composing the Great Maze are restored to their rightful positions in the real world, with the Subspace rifts all being sealed off. However, it is revealed that, due to the large amount of Subspace Bombs that were simultaneously detonated on it, the Isle of Ancients (along with the entire R.O.B. Squad) was destroyed. Instead, there is a giant X of light in its place, paying homage to the R.O.B. Squad, who were all destroyed aside from the master. In the Epilogue, After the final battle, the fighters decide to complete the team, joining with Jigglypuff, Toon Link and Wolf. Master Hand reprises his role as the final boss of Classic Mode in Super Smash Bros. Brawl, and once again is fought on Final Destination. His attacks are very similar to that of his Melee form with some changes. Master Hand also appears in {{char}}, as the one giving orders to Ganondorf, Bowser and Wario. Soon after a Subspace Bomb is used on King Dedede's castle, Ganondorf receives new orders from Master Hand via a video screen. However, when all of the characters arrive in Subspace, Ganondorf reports to Master Hand after betraying Bowser. When Master Hand reveals himself, however, Ganondorf sees that he has actually been under the control of a powerful being called Tabuu, who had enslaved Master Hand using Chains of Light, knowing that he could control and use him for recruiting fighters to aid him in his goals. Ganondorf defiantly attempts to attack Tabuu, but is easily knocked back, though his fall breaks the Chains of Light that Tabuu used to control Master Hand with, thus freeing him. Master Hand subsequently falls into the ground, now wounded from the Chains of Light. Master Hand attempts to strike Tabuu as well, but is beaten with little effort, collapsing once again into the ground and lying motionless in defeat. The Subspace Bomb is the primary weapon of the Subspace Army in Super Smash Bros. Brawl's Adventure Mode: {{char}}. They are metal balls with a red "X" which splits open when activated. When detonated, it removes the surrounding area from the World of Trophies and deposits it into Subspace, leaving behind a bubble-like rift into the dimension. The effect is additive; a larger area can be affected by causing multiple bombs to go off at once. Each bomb requires two R.O.B. Sentries to function. The bomb keeps hold of the R.O.B.s' arms, so two R.O.B.s have to be sacrificed for each bomb, an aspect that weighed heavily on the Ancient Minister's conscience. Subspace Bombs were designed and built on the Isle of the Ancients. As such, there is a factory on the island, able to store dozens of bombs at once. The average Subspace Bomb has a detonation timer of three minutes. Presumably, this allows fighters and members of the Subspace Army to leave the scene before the detonation. While inactive trophies and plant life survive the detonations, it is likely fatal to any living creature, based on how nearby R.O.B.s were destroyed as they were sucked into one such detonation. Since Subspace Bombs have always succeeded in detonating (unless they are damaged before activation as seen during Ike's introduction) it is unclear whether the countdown can be stopped. The fighters repeatedly attempted to stop the bombs from detonating but fail each time. Subspace Bombs were surpassed in functionality near the end of the Subspace Emissary by the Subspace Gunship. The Gunship's primary weapon has the same effect as a Subspace Bomb, but can be launched from a great distance and can be used repeatedly without the assistance of R.O.B.s. Once the Gunship was complete, all remaining Subspace Bombs were detonated to open up a large enough Subspace rift for the Gunship to be deployed. The Subspace Gunship is described as the ultimate weapon of the Subspace Army. Its main cannon can fire a powerful beam which "infinitely rends space", which replicates the detonation of a Subspace Bomb at a great distance. The Gunship is the largest ship in the game by far and was commanded by Ganondorf and Bowser before its destruction at the hands of the other characters. The Subspace Gunship is an incredibly large ship, approximately as long as the whole of the Isle of the Ancients. It consists of a slender, mostly cylindrical forward half and a thicker back half, the entirety of which is colored a dull and steely gray. Two pointed ends come out of the bottom of the Gunship reminiscent of a shark's fins. The sides of the back end are circular domes. A large number of vertical segments resembling skyscrapers stretch out of the Gunship's core both upwards and downwards; their purpose is unknown. The front half of the Subspace Gunship is its main cannon and is fairly simple in design. A thicker, horizontal segment houses five batteries of weapons. The Gunship has a small elevated platform in the center of its back half where Ganondorf and Bowser command it. It is unknown how their commands are issued, as there is no apparent means of interface with the Gunship itself on this platform; it does however seem to respond to Ganondorf's gestures. The Subspace Gunship has a battery of five turrets stationed on the main cannon, on top of the Gunship. They are its main armament for engaging other ships. These turrets fire thick, orange blasts of energy. The circular sides of the Gunship house five turrets each that fire smaller green blasts. They are for blasting small ships out of the sky. The green weapon's fire appears to have a weak homing ability, judging by how the shots curve; the orange shots only fire straight, but when all turrets are firing it can literally fill the sky with projectiles. These weapons managed to destroy the Halberd but failed to destroy or even hit the four smaller ships piloted by Captain Falcon, Samus, Fox/Falco, and Olimar; whether this is fault of its weaponry, the skill of the pilots, or both is unknown. The main cannon of the Gunship comprises the entire front half of the vessel. It fires a purple and chaotic lightning-esque beam with a ground-shaking blast that replicates the detonation of a Subspace Bomb upon impact. Prior to firing, conduits around the barrel of a cannon glow with purple light while four prongs at the end of it focus white energy in front of the barrel. The blasts are said to be capable of "infinitely rending space", but it's unknown how long the Gunship must recharge between said blasts, because it only uses this cannon a single time in the only cutscene in which it appeared. In the cutscene The Great Invasion in the Subspace Emissary, the Gunship emerges from the Subspace rift that replaces the former location of the Isle of the Ancients. Ganondorf and Bowser test its power on an arbitrary area of water by firing the main cannon, causing another rift to appear in the distance. Ganondorf notices a gleam of light on the horizon; the camera zooms to reveal that the Halberd is heading for the Gunship. Ganondorf waves his arm and five cannons rise from the Gunship's front end and begin firing orange blasts at the battleship. The Halberd activates its auxiliary engines and scoots under the hail of fire. Ultimately, a blast hits true and penetrates the Halberd from bow to aft. Another shot hits the port side by the center of the ship, causing it to split in half. The Halberd begins to fragment into pieces and begins falling towards the ocean before exploding violently. four smaller ships (the Falcon Flyer, an Arwing, Samus' Gunship, and Olimar's Hocotate Ship) emerge from the Halberd's explosion and press onward. The Subspace Gunship's smaller cannons are activated as the villains fume and the small crafts skillfully weave and evade heavy fire amidst a storm of lasers. A gleam becomes visible in the distance; the camera zooms to reveal it is Kirby on the Dragoon, who uses the weapon to pierce directly through the Gunship and destroy it, suggesting that the other ships were a diversion so Kirby could launch a surprise attack to thwart the Gunship's attack. Realizing they have lost, Ganondorf and Bowser scowl and step back into Subspace as the theme begins receding. The four smaller ships and the Dragoon pursue them into the rift (with the Hocotate Ship sputtering a bit, possibly overworked by evading the Gunship's fire or simply referencing its battered nature). A last shot of the Gunship's destruction is shown. The Halberd is is Meta Knight's airship. The Halberd is being commandeered as the mothership for the Subspace Army during the story, deploying Shadow Bugs that form into the army's forces. It also engages Fox in an Arwing twice and the Great Fox once, grabbing onto the latter with the Combo Cannon as the Halberd crashed into The Glacial Peak. In all these cases, the Halberd was too much for its attackers. While under the control of the Subspace Army, it is piloted by a group of Shadow Bug duplicates of Mr. Game & Watch, which afterwards coalesce into Duon. Near the end of the story, Meta Knight regains control of the ship and picks up his fellow fighters. The ship is later destroyed when it attempts a direct assault on the Subspace Gunship. Despite this, it still appears in The Great Maze. the Subspace Army stormed the Halberd and captured it. During the fight, Meta Knight was distracted by King Dedede, which allowed the Subspace Army to steal the ship. It is during this incident that King Dedede learns of Tabuu's true motivations. This is what prompts him to invent the Dedede Brooches later. In {{char}}, the stages include: 1: Midair Stadium 2: Skyworld 3: Sea of Clouds 4: The Jungle 5: The Plain 6: The Lake 7: The Ruined Zoo 8: The Battlefield Fortress 9: The Forest 10: The Research Facility I 11: The Lake Shore 12: The Path to the Ruins 13: The Cave 14: The Ruins 15: The Wilds I 16: The Ruined Hall 17: The Wilds II 18: The Swamp 19: The Research Facility II 20: Outside the Ancient Ruins 21: The Glacial Peak 22: The Canyon 23: Battleship Halberd Interior 24: Battleship Halberd Exterior 25: Battleship Halberd Bridge 26: The Subspace Bomb Factory I 27: The Subspace Bomb Factory II 28: Entrance to Subspace 29: Subspace I 30: Subspace II 31: The Great Maze {{char}} consists of 31 different stages. As some stages share the same name, the earlier stage is denoted with an I while the later-appearing stage is followed by a II.