Sephiroth releases in Smash Bros. Ultimate on 23 December, unlocked earlier in limited time mode

Nintendo has released full details of what to expect from Sephiroth in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, confirming his move set and release date. 

After being announced at The Game Awards, creator Masahiro Sakurai delivered one of his signature presentations for the new fighter - who is the main antagonist in Final Fantasy VII. 

Sephiroth looks to offer some unusual quirks outside of your typical sword fighter. A winged form for the character will activate when he’s either high percentage or if low on lives, which boosts attack power, increases speed and gives an extra jump. 

His neutral special can shoot one of three different projectiles depending on how long it’s charged. No charge will release a flare, a small charge a megaflare, while a full charge will deliver an explosive gigaflare which deals huge damage. 

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Sephiroth can be unlocked earlier in Smash (Picture: Nintendo) 

His side special is Shadow Flare which surrounds opponents with flame balls, which eventually home in on opponents. This can be charged to deliver five balls at once, with opponents having to deliver a well-timed dodge to block the floating projectiles. 

Sephiroth’s up special is similar to Fox, launching himself through the air in any direction with a blade dash. If the button is held down, it will change to a Octaslash which can provide extra jumping distance too. 

His down special meanwhile is unique counter, which doesn’t need opponents to attack to execute. It does however come with some caveats, it’s breakable with strong attacks and can’t reflect projectiles. 

For his Final Smash, Sephiroth uses Supernova to summon a meteor which wipes out the planet. Interestingly, like his boss fight in Final Fantasy VII, it will leave any surviving opponents with certain status effects, including slow, reverse controls or dizzy. 

The fighter will also comes with nine new music tracks from Final Fantasy, and new stage Northern Cave based around his final boss fight from Final Fantasy VII. 

The song list for Sephiroth (Picture: YouTube)

Sephiroth is set to be released on December 22nd in the US and December 23rd in the UK. Players can unlock him earlier however via the Sephiroth Challenge, a limited time mode where you’re tasked with beating Sephiroth in a 1v1 match. 

This mode is live from 17th December at 3pm PT/11pm GMT to 22nd December, with players who beat Sephiroth being able to download him early. 

This release format for a new DLC character feels especially novel and perfect for a fighting game, although we’ll have to see how difficult Sephiroth is to defeat (despite the difficulty options). 

Sephiroth Challenge start time and end time

Are you ready? (Picture: Nintendo) 

Players can unlock Sephiroth before his official release date by defeating him in a special limited time mode. 

The Sephiroth Challenge will run from now (11pm GMT 17th December) to 23rd December at 2am CET/1am GMT. From that point, he'll be available generally.

To participate in the challenge, you will have to purchase Challenger Pack 8 for Sephiroth or Fighters Pass Vol. 2 - which gives you access to the second wave of DLC characters.

You can check out the full presentation below.