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Big Band
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BIO:

Ben Birdland has seen a lot in his time, including the worst of the Grand War. But nothing was worse than what he saw as a beat cop in New Meridian. When he ran afoul of his crooked unit he was given a violent early retirement, and his broken body was left to spend the rest of its days in an iron lung. That would have been the end of Ben's story if it hadn't drawn the ears of the Anti-Skullgirl Labs. With little left to lose, he agreed to be rebuilt with their experimental procedures. Melded with the machinery that allows him to breathe and a powerful an array of pneumatic weaponry, he was reborn as "Big Band." Now a senior member of Lab 8, he's become a father figure of sort to the younger ASG soldiers. A firm believer in their cause, he has stayed with the project through its controversies and still sees his place on the front lines against the Skullgirl. The name "Ben Birdland" is a reference to "Birdland" a famous jazz club in New York City, named after saxophonist Charlie "Bird" Parker.
 
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ORIGIN:
Skullgirls

 
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OTHER APPEARANCES:
Skullgirls Encore, Skullgirls 2nd Encore

 

Page Updated:  July 15th, 2019

Big Band is a cool artistically "jazzy" character design for Skullgirls... and he's not a girl! Big Band is one of the few who prevented Skullgirls from turning into Arcana Heart, so he has my thanks for that. Animation-wise, he's impressive for a juggernaut. In fact, his size reminds me of Juggernaut... which I think he takes some slight inspiration from in terms of his playstyle.

Big Band's moveset and animations are all incredibly original. On that note, the only potential "flaw" of his design is that he's such a ridiculous-looking, off-the-wall character. The fact that Big Band can play some actual tunes in the game is another very cool part of his design.

Fighting  Style  /  Moveset
Personality  /  Charisma
Outfit(s)  /  Appearance
Effectiveness  in  series
Overall Score