Red

"Red Launches Into Battle!"

Red is the main protagonist of Rovio's Angry Birds franchise, debuting with the original game in 2009.

He is also a playable character in Nexed.

Real-World History
Angry Birds was designed to be Rovio Entertainment's last game, as the company had begun to risk bankruptcy. Among a number of proposals for games, designer Jaakko Iisalo shared a sketch featuring round, limbless birds launching themselves into squares, prompting Rovio employees to wonder what was going on in the picture. The development team added onto the concept, using the then-popular "cannon game" genre to inspire the gameplay, which involved the birds being launched out of a slingshot. This concept would become Angry Birds, which relased on iOS and Nokia devices on December 11th, 2009.

The first design for Red was seen in the original concept sketch, going by the name "George". However, he would undergo a redesign for the final release of Angry Birds, which remains the most iconic look for the character. Despite this, the Red name was not made official until the release of Angry Birds Trilogy in 2012; Beforehand, the character was referred to as simply "Red Bird".

With the overwhelming success of Angry Birds, Red has become the series mascot, appearing in every installment in the franchise (excluding the now-defunct Angry Birds Stella). He has also appeared in merchandise, animated shorts, and collaborations with other companies. Notably, the release of The Angry Birds Movie in 2016 introduced radically new designs for the entire cast, Red included; These designs would go onto spawn their own "brand" of Angry Birds content. This "brand", alongside many other incarnations of the Angry Birds universe, was dubbed part of the "Angryverse" in 2022.

Gameplay Information
"Red is the leader of a flock of birds who strives to keep their eggs out of the trotters of hungry pigs. While he doesn’t have the same special abilities as his companions, he is the group’s top strategist and has taken the most responsibility for the eggs. One thing’s for certain, though; You don’t want to make this bird angry!

While the safety of the eggs remains Red’s top priority, his duty has left him rather paranoid, and he wishes that one day, he won’t have to worry about the eggs at all. Seeking some sort of refuge, he entered a fighting tournament (bringing the eggs with him, mind you), hoping that the Winner’s Wish would finally bring him peace"

Red is a pressure-focused fighter, having a variety of powerful tools at his disposal. His high air mobility and various movement options allow him to approach opponents with ease, and he has a surprising variety of kill moves at his disposal. Overall, Red is a character who excels at bombarding his opponents with constant pressure.

However, Red's greatest weakness is his weight, being among the roster's lightest fighters. In addition, many of his approaching tools and kill moves have considerable windup to them, making it hard for Red to use them while pressured. As such, it is important for Red mains to continuously apply pressure without being pressured themselves.

Grounded Attacks

 * Jab: Red pecks forward.
 * Dash Attack: Red leaps forwards for a flying headbutt attack. Unlike most dash attacks, this can go off-stage.
 * Forward Light: Red swipes his beak from left to right.
 * Up Light: Red does a short hop into the air while somersaulting, referencing an animation from Angry Birds.
 * Down Light: Red pecks at the ground.
 * Forward Strong: Red hops on Chuck's back as the latter quickly dashes forwards.
 * Up Strong: Silver appears and flies a loop above Red.
 * Down Strong: Terence slams into the ground behind Red, creating an earthquake around the two before vanishing. This is a reference to the Birdquake power-up which was first found in Angry Birds Friends.
 * Counter: Red yells out, launching the opponent forward.

Aerial Attacks

 * Neutral Air: Red performs a midair somersault.
 * Forward Air: The Blues fly out from behind Red, scattering into three angles.
 * Back Air: Hal flies out behind Red while spinning, dealing multiple hits of damage.
 * Up Air: Red pecks above himself repeatedly.
 * Down Air: Red crashes down to the ground for a stall-and-fall attack, resembling Tony’s ability in Angry Birds Seasons. Opponents hit in the early frames of the move can be spiked.

Grabs / Throws

 * Grab: Stella appears in front of Red and blows a bubble, being able to trap an opponent with it.
 * Pummel: Red pecks at the opponent.
 * Forward Throw: Red rams into the opponent with a headbutt, popping the bubble and launching them forward.
 * Back Throw: Red loads the opponent into a slingshot and launches them backwards.
 * Up Throw: Bubbles suddenly inflates himself beneath the opponent, launching them upwards.
 * Down Throw: Red jumps onto the opponent, rolling on them before launching them forward.

Stage Intro
Red is launched into a pig fortress, which collapses as Red yells out and enters his battle stance.

Taunts

 * Red jumps upwards with a cheer, resembling an animation from Angry Birds Epic.
 * Red growls while glaring forward.
 * Red smirks and lets out a small chuckle.
 * Red pulls out an egg, inspects it while darting his eyes back and forth suspiciously, and then puts it away. On rare occasions, the egg will be replaced with a Golden Egg, surprising Red.

Victory Animations
Red's victory theme is an excerpt of the former Episode Clear jingle from Angry Birds (0:05-0:10).
 * A Minion Pig is seen approaching Red’s eggs, but he quickly bashes them off-screen and glares at the camera.
 * Red cheers after three stars appear over his head, referencing the star scoring system from many Angry Birds games.
 * The entire Flock fawns over the eggs while Red glares at the camera. This resembles the title card of Angry Birds Toons.

Colors / Costumes


Trivia

 * Red went through multiple different movesets before the final product was created, with Faz regarding him as one of the tougher characters to make a moveset for.
 * Some scrapped Red colors include two based on Angry Birds OCs - One based on Bounci from the fan animation Angry Birds: Hungry Hungry Piggies and one based on the infamous Alex Bird.