Swatchling

Swatchling is a Darkner enemy in Cyber World. They are first seen in Cyber Field, but they do not battle the party until Queen's Mansion, where they appear commonly. They frequently appear as NPCs.

Profile[]

Appearance[]

Swatchlings are broad, black-feathered, bird-type Darkner with a white mask which resembles that of a plague doctor. The Swatchlings appear wearing a brightly-colored suit and tie with a white shirt underneath along with white pants and black dress shoes. As their name suggests, their suits, ties, and eyes may differ in terms of colors, from red, orange, green, yellow, and blue.

Personality[]

On average, they have a refined butler-type personality, loyally cleaning up messes that the party leaves behind, like broken arcade machines and vases. Some of them even tend to hint the backstory of Spamton if interacted with. They aren't completely stoic, showing an uncontrollable fear of Maice, and a giddy appreciation for seeing Ralsei in a suit, squealing at both. They can get provoked by the party touching a vase (which breaks it), chasing them down with a broom. However, as shown in the acid lake in the Mansion, at least one has a sense of camaraderie, as they let the party go after they free them, despite breaking a vase.

In Battle[]

Appears With[]

One or two other Swatchlings

Attacks[]

All attacks (besides blue) briefly start out as the Swatchlings' respective color, before fading to white like normal bullets.

Red/Orange: Fires birds at the SOUL from the sides of the box. The birds lock on to where the SOUL was when they spawned.
Yellow/Green: Metal cloche-covered dinner plates move down the box, alternating from spawning on the left and right, and open horizontally at the SOUL. Some may have a green candy which, if touched, heal a party member 6HP. If paired with a red Swatchling, the birds appear from the opened trays, and fly at the SOUL.
Blue: Flies to the top of the box, and cannon-balls into the board, shrinking slightly. The Swatchling bounces against the bottom of the box three times (only twice if the party was damaged in the attack), launching four star bullets upon each impact (unless paired with a green or yellow Swatchling). Can be shortened to two bounces if made to bounce to the right of the box with a sharp enough angle.

Strategy[]

Swatchlings always appear in battle in groups with at least one outlier in terms of suit color. They can only be spared once their colors are all the same. Each Swatchling's color can be changed in stages, either becoming redder or bluer. These stages are, from coldest to warmest: blue, green, yellow, orange, red.

Certain actions change Swatchlings' colors:

Kris's Warmify, which makes a Swatchling redder by 2 stages.
Kris's Coldify, which makes a Swatchling bluer by 2 stages.
S-Action, which makes a Swatchling redder by 1 stage.
R-Action, which makes a Swatchling bluer by 1 stage.

Additionally, if there is only one Swatchling remaining in battle, it automatically becomes tired.

Quotes[]

Welcome, young masters. [Neutral, first Swatchling]
We have prepared several attack patterns for your enjoyment. [Neutral, second Swatchling]
Please enjoy them at your convenience. [Neutral, third Swatchling]
I'm feeling blue. [Turned blue]
I'm a yellow fellow. [Turned yellow]
I'm seeing red. [Turned red]
We'll make your bed with sheets blood red. [Red]
Please enjoy this complimentary shockwave. [Red; after version 1.07 the line was removed]
Please enjoy these complimentary birds. [Orange]
How about some orange peel. [Orange]
We'll make yellow sweets for you, just try not to hurt your tooth. [Yellow]
Would you like some horse'dovours? [Green]
A green lime for your drink? [Green]
Please enjoy this complimentary body slam. [Blue]
We'll shine your shoes 'til they're black and blue. [Blue]
What? The lasagna has some kind of explosive in it? [Blue, rare]
Tut, tut. It looks like pain. [Neutral]
My outfit is coordinated now. With myself. [Swatchling left alone]
We feel so coordinated. [Spare conditions met, first Swatchling]
Thank you, young masters. [Spare conditions met, second Swatchling]
Thank you. [Spare conditions met, third Swatchling]

Flavor Text[]

Any encounter

Happiest when their outfits are color-coordinated. [Check]
The Swatchlings wipe at the face of their chained pocketwatch, which is digital. [Neutral]
Smells like paint and feathers. [Neutral]
The Swatchlings are cleaning each other off with feather dusters. [Neutral]
Swatchlings flex their backs bending over to inspect a teacup. [Neutral]
The Swatchlings are adjusting their hue and saturation. [Neutral]
Swatchling feather dusts itself. [Neutral; unused]
Swatchling flexes all of its back muscles while inspecting a teacup. [Neutral; unused]
Talked about the crunch of the last pickle in the refrigerator. [Coldify]
Talked about the chill of the wind on an ice skating pond. [Coldify]
Talked about the snow matted on your brother's nose. [Coldify]
Talked about the color of the summer sun shining on a beach ball. [Warmify]
Talked about the steam of a fresh hot chocolate. [Warmify]
Talked about the warmth of a loving embrace. [Warmify]
Susie mentions lava. [Half-Warm or S-Action]
Susie mentions hot peppers. [Half-Warm or S-Action]
Susie mentions explosions. [Half-Warm or S-Action]
Ralsei mentions icy scarves. [Half-Cold or R-Action]
Ralsei mentions mint tea. [Half-Cold or R-Action]
Ralsei mentions ice cream. [Half-Cold or R-Action]
Swatchling's color got a lot/a little bit warmer...! It's now green/yellow/orange/red! [Warmify/Half-Warm or S-Action]
Swatchling's color turned a lot/a little bit colder...! It's now orange/yellow/green/blue! [Coldify/Half-Cold or R-Action]
But Swatchling is already as warm/cold as can be! [Warmify/Coldify, if the color doesn't change anymore]
But nothing happened! [Half-Warm or S-Action/Half-Cold or R-Action, if the color doesn't change anymore]
The Swatchling is dreading doing all of the work by itself. [Tired]
The Swatchlings are relieved their wardrobe has been coordinated. [Spare conditions met]

Cyber World

Swatchlings bowed in! [Encounter with another Swatchling or with other Swatchlings]
Poppup and caretakers appeared! [Encounter with another Swatchling and Poppup; unused]
Swatchling and vermin appeared! [Encounter with another Swatchling and Maus; unused]

Ch2 All Stars

Round Four! [Encounter with other Swatchlings]

Gallery[]

Trivia[]

Swatchling's names are a pun on "Swatch", a sample or book of colors to use as a reference, and "Underling" as they do appear to be subordinate to Swatch.
- Their names are also a pun on the term "Hatchling", which refers to young birds and explains their birdlike nature.
In the Japanese version, Swatchlings are known as パレットラー [Palettler], a portmanteau of "palette" and "butler."
The Swatchling's sparing mechanics could be a reference to the Virus enemies from Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga, where attacking a virus causes it to change color. When all the Viruses match colors, they will be instantly defeated. This in itself is a call back to how they're defeated in Dr. Mario.
The red Swatchling may say "Please enjoy this complimentary shockwave." before an attack, though it only attacks using birds.
Sometimes, prior to version v1.08, the Swatchling's text is replaced by the last text generated in the main text box. (e.g. "* Ralsei cast HEAL PRAYER!", or "I'm a yellow fellow." when they are, in fact, green.) This only happens with orange or green Swatchlings, as red, yellow and blue Swatchlings' unique texts prevent the overwrite for themselves but orange and green Swatchlings have no unique text. The top Swatchling's text is generated first, so it is more likely to copy the text box's text, while the bottom one is likely to copy the top Swatchling's text. As of version v1.08, this has been patched by the addition of new dialogue.