Ronald McDonald

"Ronald McDonald Is Lovin' It!"

Ronald McDonald is the primary mascot of the McDonald's fast food franchise, debuting with a commercial first aired in 1963.

He is also a playable character in Nexed.

Real-World History
Ronald McDonald's first appearances were in three local television advertisements produced by advertising agency of Oscar Goldstein (who was also a McDonald's franchisee in Washington DC at the time). Willard Scott, former star of the Bozo the Clown program, was asked by McDonald's to create a new character to take Bozo's place; Figuring that a combination of burgers and Bozo would be "irresistable" to kids, Scott created the character of Ronald McDonald and portrayed him in the first three advertisements featuring him. However, Ronald's appearanced differed wildly from later portrayals of the character, wearing striped clothes and a tray of McDonald's food on his head.

Ronald McDonald would be introduced to national TV advertising in 1965, with ads featuring him appearing during that year's Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade and NFL Championship Game. The following year, Coco the Clown was hired to redesign Ronald, giving him his now-iconic look that lasted until 2014, where he was redesigned yet again.

Ronald McDonald has become a staple of American advertising, with him appearing in several commercials, video games, and other products based on the McDonald's franchise. One of his most notable appearances was in the cartoon The Wacky Adventures of Ronald McDonald, where he was portrayed in both live-action and animation.

However, Ronald McDonald has also faced controversy - In the early 2010's, calls were made to retire the character due to him being designed to market towards kids during a childhood obesity epidemic. These calls would be renewed in 2016 due to the "killer clown" sightings of the time, leading to Ronald making fewer appearances in McDonald's advertising.

Gameplay Information
"Hailing from McDonaldland, Ronald McDonald loves two things most of all; Making people happy and a hearty meal at McDonald's! Boasting a cheerful and friendly attitude, Ronald is eager to help people in need and use his magic to make people's days a bit brighter!

...So why is he in a fighting tournament, again? He has been strangely secretive about his reasoning for seeking out the Winner's Wish, claiming it to be a "surprise". Well, no matter the reasoning, Ronald is surprisingly ready for a good fight!"

Ronald is a bait-and-punish character with many attacks designed to punish opponents' mistakes. To emphasize this, many of his attacks are slower, but strong. He also has tools designed to put opponents in disadvantage, such as his Down Light and Down Special. Overall, Ronald is best when he is pressuring opponents into making mistakes and then punishing them.

However, Ronald is also a lightweight fighter with a predictable recovery, making him especially weak if off-stage while disadvantaged. In addition, many of Ronald's attacks can leave him in disadvantage if whiffed or misused. In short, Ronald must be careful to cover his own mistakes while punishing those of others.

Moveset

 * Wall Jump: Ronald can jump off of walls.

Grounded Attacks

 * Jab: Ronald throws a palm strike, with a sparkly burst of magic coming out of his hand.
 * Dash Attack: Ronald slips on the floor and falls over, damaging opponents in his path.
 * Forward Light: Ronald throws a roundhouse kick.
 * Up Light: Ronald throws an uppercut.
 * Down Light: Ronald squirts a ketchup packet towards the ground, tripping opponents who make contact with the ketchup.
 * Forward Strong: Ronald lashes forwards with a giant french fry. This is his best kill move.
 * Up Strong: Ronald quickly forms the Golden Arches above his head with his arms, causing the Golden Arches themself to rise above him to damage opponent.
 * Down Strong: Ronald crouches down as two large Happy Meals fall on both sides of himself.
 * Counter: Ronald tosses a McDonald's bag at the opponent, which explodes into fries as they are launched forward.

Aerial Attacks

 * Neutral Air: Ronald performs a mid-air cartwheel.
 * Forward Air: Ronald throws a crescent kick.
 * Back Air: Ronald turns around and opens a box of Chicken McNuggets, sending them outwards.
 * Up Air: Ronald lashes upwards with a scarf, resembling a move used in McDonald's Treasure Land Adventure.
 * Down Air: Ronald pedals his feet below himself, being able to deal multiple hits of damage before spiking with the final hit.

Grabs / Throws

 * Grab: Ronald lashes outwards with a scarf to grab the opponent, resembling a move used in McDonald's Treasure Land Adventure.
 * Pummel: Ronald tightens the scarf, damaging the opponent.
 * Forward Throw: Ronald opens a fountain drink cup, sending a geyser of soda outwards to push the opponent forwards.
 * Back Throw: Ronald spins the opponent around before throwing them behind himself.
 * Up Throw: Ronald launches the opponent upwards with an uppercut.
 * Down Throw: An apple pie box opens beneath the opponent, burning them and sending them at a diagonal angle.

Stage Intro
Ronald steps out of a McDonald's resturant, which fades away as he enters his battle stance.

Taunts

 * Ronald crosses his arms, claps them, and then raises his arms above himself, all while saying "Ran ran ruuuuu!" This is a reference to a famous Japanese McDonald's ad campaign.
 * Ronald does jumping jacks in place, smiling.
 * Ronald gestures with his arm as magic sparkles appear around his hand.
 * Ronald pulls out a McDonald's menu and studies it.

Victory Animations
Ronald's victory theme is a remixed version of the "I'm Lovin' It" jingle for McDonald's.
 * Ronald performs the "Ran ran ruuuuu!" taunt towards the camera, resembling the original ad campaign.
 * Ronald smiles and gives the camera two thumbs up before offering them a tray of McDonald's food.
 * Ronald is seen celebrating with the Hamburgular, Grimace, and Birdie.

Colors / Costumes


Trivia

 * Ronald's title, "The Hamburger Happy Clown", is a reference to a title used for the character in early McDonald's advertising.
 * Ronald's moveset takes inspiration from meme-based incarnations, such as those seen in YouTube Poops and M.U.G.E.N.. However, these inspirations were downplayed in an attempt to make a Ronald closer to the source material.

Credits

 * Altzer: Creator of a Ronald McDonald mod for Rivals of Aether which inspired Ronald's Forward Strong.