As I sat in the kitchen this morning and watched my six-month-old nephew blow snot bubbles, I tried to think of a good candidate for this week’s Badass of the Week. I attempted to reflect on games I’ve played recently, movies I’ve watched, and even people in pop culture that were somewhat interesting. As I looked over at my nephew, I noticed his oatmeal-covered bib was embroidered with a pattern of Mickey Mouse ears. Now, most people wouldn’t see Mickey on a baby’s teething bib and think “Oh damn, Mickey’s such a badass”, but with the Wii title Epic Mickey coming out in late November, and his numerous appearances in Kingdom Hearts: Birth by Sleep, Mickey has more than earned his spot as a Badass of the Week.
Mickey Mouse came into our lives (err, our grandparent’s lives) back in 1928, and has been entertaining us for decades since. He is known throughout the world as a symbol for dreams and for happiness and, most importantly, for the long-ass lines at Disney World. He’s been in the video game world for quite awhile now, with older games like Mickey Mousecapade for NES and Castle of Illusion for the Sega Genesis.
Recently, Mickey’s been showing off his crazy Keyblade skills in the Kingdom Hearts franchise. In the most recent addition to the series, Birth by Sleep, Mickey’s first appearance in Ventus’ (who I keep calling Roxas) story is ridiculous in the best sense of the word. As the masked boy is about to beat the crap out of you, King Mickey jumps out of nowhere, fully heals you, and fights by your side to take down the enemy. Now, Mickey isn’t just a regular old fighting character, oh no. He jumps and flips and somersaults and performs absolutely unreasonable acrobatic feats as he’s brawling, reminding me of Yoda’s fight scene in Star Wars Episode Two. (I didn’t really like the movie much, but oooh, that fight scene…) Unfortunately, I haven’t had time yet to play through Aqua and Terra’s stories, but I’m pretty excited to see more King Mickey appearances. Actually, I’m lying. I have had time. I just idiotically attempted Critical Mode first and oh dear God, what a terrible decision that was.
This November, a new game featuring our favorite Mouse as the main character will be released exclusively for the Wii. Epic Mickey, developed by Junction Point Studios and published by Disney Interactive Studios, will center on Mickey, obviously, and his quest to save Yen Sid’s pen-and-paper world from the Phantom Blot and Mickey’s older and lesser-known half brother Oswald the Lucky Rabbit. This game is much darker than you’d imagine a Disney game to be, but that just makes it all the more badass. The game is primarily a platform game, but will have several aspects of an RPG. All you Wii fans better be looking for it come late November.
Mickey Mouse has been with us for our whole lives. He’s shown up in movies, television, and video games. He is the icon for one of the happiest places on earth. You may not think a cartoon mouse would be worthy of Badass status, but oh, I sure do. King Mickey has saved my ass way too many times in the Kingdom Hearts games for me to not mention him.