Character from Smash Bros Brawl: The Subspace Emissary by Nintendo / Masahiro Sakurai
A robed figure who deploys Subspace Bombs with visible anguish — concealing the fact that he is R.O.B., the last survivor of a species being sacrificed to power every detonation.
The Ancient Minister is the Subspace Emissary's most tragic character. He appears at the Midair Stadium to deploy the first Subspace Bomb, and from that moment he becomes a recurring presence — appearing at location after location, planting bombs, pulling areas into Subspace. The heroes treat him as a villain. The cutscenes tell a different story. Every time a bomb detonates, two R.O.B. units are destroyed — they are the activation mechanism and the sacrifice. The Ancient Minister watches each pair die. His body droops. His hover slows. In flashback sequences, we see him remembering his people — the R.O.B.s of the Isle of the Ancients — being conscripted by Tabuu, forced into bomb duty. He is not commanding their deaths. He is witnessing them. At the Subspace Bomb Factory, Ganondorf orders the remaining R.O.B. units to activate every bomb simultaneously. The Ancient Minister tries to stop them. He physically removes R.O.B. units from the bombs. The R.O.B.s attack HIM on Ganondorf's command. His robes catch fire. And in that moment, he burns away his disguise — revealing himself as R.O.B., the leader of the robots, choosing rebellion over obedience even though it means watching everything he ruled over be destroyed.
A cloaked figure draped in heavy brown-grey robes that billow as he hovers above the ground. Only two glowing red eyes are visible beneath the hood. The robes trail behind him like a funeral shroud. He moves silently, drifting rather than walking, and his body language conveys heaviness and sorrow even through the concealing fabric. Beneath the robes is R.O.B. — a squat white robot with a gyroscope head, red LED eyes, and mechanical arms.
Also known as: R.O.B., The Ancient Minister, Master Robot