u/Sunshine_kun

(Please keep in mind inglish isn't my first lenguage... So if there is any error, please let me know! And please read the whole thing before commenting, this goes for both pos or neg comments!)

Honestly, I think Nugget is one of the most interesting characters but HORRIBLY underdeveloped in certain aspects. They've only focused on showing us a side of him we already know: being weird. While it makes sense, given that it's a key characteristic, it bothers me that they only show that when Nugget has so many interesting aspects to his character beyond being the laughingstock or the "wild one."

However, nobody seems to care, and some even just ignore it... which I don't judge them for, because even though he's an important character in the series, they haven't bothered to bring out his full potential... at least not his emotional or psychological potential.

Sure, I know the game's lore is satirical to a certain extent, but you can't look me in the eye and tell me I have to overlook these strengths just because the plot doesn't consider them important or because they change something already established. Believe me, if you were in my shoes, you'd be annoyed too, and you'd want to talk about it.

In this post, I planned to analyze, critique, and give my opinion on Nugget and how I see it... And, of course, I'll also analyze/critique Billy and Lily and how they fulfill their roles in Nugget's lore.

I admit this post might not be perfect or to everyone's liking, and you're perfectly entitled to do your own conclusions, but I also ask for your respect and understanding, especially trying to grasp my point. Let me be clear that I'm not trying to trash Smash Games's writing, but rather to critique/analyze one of its most infamous characters and share my opinion on how he's been treated throughout the series. This post isn't meant to be offensive; it's simply my own opinion that I need to get off my chest once and for all.

So, without further ado, let me tell you why I think the writers overlooked (and even wasted) a lot of the potential Nugget had, not only for the plot but also for his character development.

– Billy and his loss.

Throughout the first game (and that's saying a lot), Nugget's character revolves around being a social outcast, grieving and being hurt by the disappearance/kidnapping of his best (and only) friend: Billy. Billy is a very important character, not only to the game's plot but also to Nugget's identity and his story.

Nugget never had any friends; no one ever approached him, and those who did likely gave up on understanding him... But not Billy. Not only was he the only one to collect all five Friendship Nuggets, but he was also the only one to teach him what friendship was, what love was.

Basically, Billy was a source of faith in his life, a companion, a hope that maybe, just maybe, he could be accepted AT LEAST by one person... Something that was not only taken away from him, but he was forced to forget, he was forced to accept the loneliness that Billy had taken from him, he was forced to forget what it had felt like to be loved platonically or romantically, which obviously messed up his brain.

Not only did they kidnap Billy, but they also robbed the little happiness a child had left—a child rejected and ostracized by everyone else, a child whose brain was just beginning to develop.

How could they not want Nugget to act crazy when they pushed him to the limit? The director literally shattered what little sanity or self-acceptance Nugget had the moment he decided to take away his "hope" and make him drown his sorrows in drugs. Drugs that surely damaged his brain, and not just his memory.

Add to all this the fact that the blond boy is constantly rejected, not only by his classmates, but also by the adults who were supposed to be there for him, who were supposed to protect him.

If you were in his shoes, who wouldn't go "crazy" too?

Nugget is aware that his situation is dangerous; he knows it. That's why he prefers to follow the orders of the "evil principal" rather than dare to stand up for Billy or try to do anything about his disappearance. Not only cuz has he lost his memory of Billy's kidnapping, but he also fears that daring to do anything about it will end up like Billy. After all, the principal almost chose him as his test subject. Who can say that Nugget won't be next at any moment?

Nugget lives in constant danger. He knows what the adults at this school are capable of and he fears it. That's why he chooses the "easy" path and avoids getting into situations that could endanger him like Billy did, because he doesn't want to share his fate.

However, it also pains him not to be able to do anything about his friend's disappearance. Billy trusted him; he knew how to help him when he was in danger; he had blind faith for him in something so vital... And what did Nugget do? He kept the information to himself, remained silent, looked away, and was not even able to give Lily what he knew, even though he was aware that she might need that information.

He didn't commit this "selfish" act out of pure malice; he did it out of fear. However, he regrets the decision he made, regrets staying silent, and regrets not being able to prevent Billy's kidnapping. So all he can do is yearn for the possibility of his friend's return, one way or another, hoping that Billy will manage to escape the "evil principal" and that he'll see him again. But of course, the chances of his friend escaping on his own or of someone managing to save him are slim. Therefore, that hope gradually begins to fade and "wither," something Nugget himself mentions when we interact with the "grave" he made for Billy.

Billy was all Nugget had; without him, Nugget lacked everything.

And when Billy returned, Nugget felt whole again, felt loved, felt accompanied.

Having Billy back made Nugget feel like he no longer needed other friends to be happy. After all, with his best friend back, what was the point? Billy understood, Billy was his best friend, and Billy hadn't criticized him when others did. Now that he had his light, his hope, back... what was the point of having more when what he already had was enough?

Seriously, I could talk for HOURS about how I can stay up all night discussing the dynamic between the two of them. Even though they don't have that much screen time, what Nugget tells us shows that there's a strong emotional bond between them. And in fact, that's the first problem I want to address: the lack of importance given (not just to Billy) to this friendship itself.

Literally Billy and Nugget had great potential in terms of development if Smash games had given importance to the impact Billy had on Nugget's life; however, they thought it was a better idea to give Nugget a love interest (pulled out of thin air) and suddenly make EVERYTHING revolve around Lily, something that feels forced in my opinion.

Nugget didn't need a love interest, not when he had someone as vital as Billy in his life, especially when that love interest overshadows a large part of what could have been his character development, and when his relationship with said love interest is so inconsistent that it only confuses me every time I try to analyze it.

Billy was crucial to his character, so why discard him? It simply doesn't make sense and feels unusual, especially when you consider that Nugget was capable of killing someone he considers "beautiful" while letting his best friend live. It just doesn't make sense.

They literally reduced that potential for beautiful character development to just an insignificant detail, not only regarding Nugget, but also Billy as a character. We barely know anything about him, and what little we do know comes from Nugget's perspective, which doesn't help much, if at all.

Billy could have been something important to the story beyond just being a dramatic episode in Nugget and Lily's lives, but they sidelined him to develop a bad, pointless romance that's just there bc yeah, despite having a cute concept that could have been used if only they'd cared.

We know nothing about Billy or any concrete details about his relationship with Nugget, something that should have been covered a long time ago, and believe me, it could have been done in the third game. But I guess it was more important to give us lilgetslop than more information about a character we barely know anything about and IT'S IMPORTANT to the lore...

And speaking that, I think it's time we focused on the other side of the coin.

– Lily and her problem.

Lily, unlike Billy, saw Nugget the way everyone else did: as a weirdo. She never approached him to talk, even though Nugget, like her, was devastated by Billy's despair. She was weird out by him and I'd even say she disliked him.

Nugget didn't seem to pay much attention to Lily either, even though he said he "loved" her. While he did worry when she embarrassed him, he didn't try to comfort her about her brother's disappearance or even seek her help.

It's clear there wasn't a real connection between them, at least not beyond "okay, I'll tolerate you" and, on Nugget's part, a silly crush. However, I don't know what they were thinking, believing it would be a good idea to have Lily suddenly feel "something" for Nugget in the second game, only for her to suddenly revert to her "okay, I'll tolerate you" attitude in the third.

She doesn't even seem happy with his attempts at flirting; she looks tired of it.

Lily did NOT trust Nugget in the first game. She suspected he might be behind everything that happened to her brother, and I'd even venture to say she felt Nugget was responsible for Billy's kidnapping. Yet, in the second game, out of nowhere, she trusts him enough to include him in the plan? And worst of all, she suddenly develops feelings for him?

I don't understand it.

And the worst part is that in the third game, it's clear they're in the same situation: Lily again seems to be merely tolerating Nugget, rather than enjoying his company, and Nugget is acting like a lovesick fool (of course, she isn't forced to like him back but come on man..).

This relationship is not only poorly executed, but it's also completely irrelevant to the story.

Yes, it's a cute joke in the first game, I'll let it slide, and it's okay in the second game, but by the third, it's clear it's not going anywhere. Their conversations feel almost empty, and that's only in the third game when they have more developed dialogue; they barely even speak to each other in the first game.

They could literally have had a formal friendship or just tolerated each other for Billy's sake, and I assure you the game's plot would have remained the same, because that's how unnecessary the romance between these two is. While the "romantic" moments of this pairing are cute or funny, it feels like eating raw dough, because from my perspective, it overshadows not only the development between Billy and Nugget, but also Lily's character development itself.

Like Billy, we don't know much about Lily either, even though she has more screen time than him. They just limit themselves to leaving her as the typical "mysterious girl" about whom we know the bare minimum.

Not to mention that, in the third game, she feels like just an excuse to have someone to pair up with another character, and not even because it's vital to the story, but simply because it happens to be there.

Lily feels more like an accessory than a character, to be honest, which I don't like because I feel like if she weren't so attached to Nugget, she could offer more.

"B-but if they weren't a couple, the story would change!" No, it wouldn't. If they weren't a couple, the only thing that would change would be their interactions, and maybe the only thing "affected" would be Nugget's mission in the third game, but not on a large scale, I suppose.

"B-but if Nugget didn't love Lily, he wouldn't have saved us in the second game!" If he hadn't come to save Lily, he would have come to save Billy, who, I repeat, is his best friend and has shown that he cares for him. Literally nothing changes.

Now, I don't mean to say that Lily doesn't have a role beyond being Nugget's love interest, because she does have qualities... But even so, they're mostly overshadowed by scenes with Nugget or, in the case of the first and second games, with Billy. It's only in the third game that they try to break her out of that cycle, and even then they still make the mistake of leaving her there occasionally, at least in my opinion.

Not to mention that I find her writing rather flat, and not just her, but most of the characters are poorly written. I understand that writing a story is difficult, and creating characters even more so, but it reaches a point where it's absurd.

And no, this doesn't save Nugget, because even being the prodigy of the saga doesn't make him great.

– Nugget... Uh... I don't know how to title this, sorry.

Nugget, like other recurring characters, has the problem that we never see him evolve as a main character, or at least not in the way a main character would. He remains stuck in his initial role, and although there are times when he manages to break out of it... it's not for long.

Yes, I understand that his joke is "being the weird one," but it gets boring when you repeat the same formula more than you should.

Want to know why he was more "structured" in the first game? Because while he maintained his "weird" role, Nugget COULD step outside his character's comfort zone and show a more realistic side of himself, in scenes like "Billy's grave" or when we pressure him to talk until he finally takes the pills. These scenes, though brief, reveal a side of him beyond what we see at first glance.

However, this isn't really present in the second game, and while there's a hint of it in the third, it's not much; it continues to adhere to its assigned "cliché."

"But it's kindergarten! You don't have to take the characters seriously!" Well, there are scenes where we DO have to take them seriously, at least in two or three lines of dialogue, so I have the right to demand that they take the time to write some characters in the saga beyond their initial "roles," especially if this character is important TO THE FRANCHISE. A character having a "joke" role doesn't exempt them from being criticized in terms of writing, and it's time we accept it.

Nugget standing out as just a mere comic relief takes away the seriousness of his potential story and development, a story and development that could have been perfect if they only really cared, but I guess not...

I feel alone in this opinion, and I probably am, but I'd rather look crazy than just accept and swallow what I think, because seriously, I've never seen so much wasted potential and such poor execution in terms of relationships... It even hurts, damn it.

Although I'd also like to know your opinion, I just hope it's not an opinion where you stoop to insulting me just for saying that Lilget was poorly written or because "I can't take the humor of the game," which in the last case is a valid thought... But please, be respectful.

This is my first analysis/review; if you'd like me to do another one or suggest an idea, feel free to do it! I enjoy analyzing the characters in this franchise.