* I did not draw this. I commissioned DragonmanX/DMXwoops of DA/HF to draw it for me.*

Some of you may know this, but I was pulling for Shantae to win the Smash Ballot, or otherwise end up in a spot among the to-be-decided DLC for Sm4sh. I was admittedly a bit disappointed that she didn't make it, but Bayonetta was actually one of my other favorites before I figured that she wasn't likely to win, so I consider her a more than acceptable consolation prize.

Anyway, one thing that caught my attention that day was WayForward's reaction, which was basically to point out the similarities between the two characters. That got me to thinking, since Shantae has magic hair as well, what if she could create an Umbran Witch outfit for herself like Bayonetta can? Like many such ideas, I had to see it happen, and I figured I'd add Samus to sweeten the deal, since a storyline in the BEAddventure has her unwittingly donning the Umbran Witch outfit as well. Apparently, whatever gave them those outfits somehow gave a boost to some of their attributes as well.

Just for fun, I decided to give Shantae some weapons that were more appropriate to her, as well as a backstory for them. Basically, Bayonetta convinced Rodin to create modified facsimilies of Risky's cannon and pistol, and infused the now-defeated spirit of the Pirate Master into them. Their Wicked Weaves unleash attacks much like those in the final battle against the Pirate Master in Pirate's Curse; the cannons launch massive cannonballs, while the pistols fire multiple shots at a time in a wide spread.