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Dark cannon

Bowser using a Dark Cannon.

A Dark Cannon is a weapon wielded by high-ranking members of the Subspace Army during The Subspace Emissary in Super Smash Bros. Brawl. It can fire dark, arrow-shaped beams that revert any character they hit to their trophy form. Dark Cannons can rapid-fire once initially charged up, and their shots can curve, but an aware target can dodge them somewhat easily. These shots can cause explosions as well, as seen in a cutscene when Bowser attempted to shoot Fox and Diddy Kong, before the young fox runs away to safety and takes Diddy with him.

About the Dark Cannon[]

Dark Cannons are very large and unwieldy; despite Falco being able to kick one high into the air, only characters of above-average strength can carry them properly, based on the difficulty False Peach/Zelda can carry one.

Dark Cannons are mostly used by Wario and Bowser, although Ganondorf also uses one late in the story. False Zelda/Peach wielded one, however it was destroyed by Pit/Link. The Dark Cannon belonging to Bowser was destroyed by Falco. Tabuu does not need to use a Dark Cannon, since his Off Waves have the same, if not more devastating, effect. However, another one of his attacks visually resembles a Dark Cannon's design.

Although the Dark Cannons were built to turn all the characters into trophies, they could only target one person at a time. Due to the brawlers' ability to revive a trophy by touching its baseplate, the trophies then had to be taken away from their groups, along with finding an extremely fast escape path, such as the Koopa Clown Car to prevent them from being easily revived. The characters that were hit by a Dark Cannon at some point include Peach, Zelda, Donkey Kong, Ness, Diddy Kong and Bowser. In the Subspace Emissary, Dark Cannons are provided to the field Smasher 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 before she can open fire. Bowser then procures another Dark Cannon and attempts to capture Fox and Diddy Kong. While Bowser manages to shoot Diddy, he doesn’t manage to shoot Fox, who dodged the shot. Before Bowser could shoot him a second time, the duo are rescued by Fox’s close friend, Falco, who came out from an Arwing and destroyed the weapon with several Blaster shots, forcing Bowser to flee, even if it means sparing the two space animals. 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.

Tabuu uses an oversized Dark Cannon to fire giant lasers at Mario and company during his own fight.

Trophy Description[]

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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.

Trivia[]

  • Fox and Ness were the only characters shown to have been able to dodge one of the cannon's blasts.
  • Falco, Pit, and Link were the only characters to destroy a Dark Cannon. However, Link only destroys it if the princess rescued by Kirby is Peach and Pit only destroy the Dark Cannon if Zelda is rescued by Kirby, while Falco do it regardless of the princess rescued, making him the only character who canonically destroyed a Dark Cannon.
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