Shaped like a boot... to kick your ass!
L-Block is the L-shaped piece from Tetris. It is a tetromino and one of the seven pieces used in the puzzle game. It won Character Battle 6 in 2007, defeating Link, Cloud, and Solid Snake in the 4-way Championship Match... and then got his ass handed to him by Pikachu in the Summer 2008 Contest. Good times were had.
HOW???[]
A certain user has written up a lengthy and detailed explanation for how L was able to pull off the seemingly impossible, but the explanation in its simplest form can be summed up in two bullet points:
- It was funny.
- It was a joke that everyone was in on.
Plenty of other "joke characters" (aka entrants that didn't fit the classic Link-Cloud-Mario character mold) had made the Contest in the past, such as CATS, Bidoof, and King of all Cosmos. But because only a small portion of the site had seen the Flash video, appreciated the latest Pokemon generation, or enjoyed Katamari Damacy, too many voters were left asking "who?" and voting for the alternative. Tetris, meanwhile, has an incredible 97% playrate on GameFAQs, so that as L continued to survive longer into the Contest and his opponents became more and more threatening, it only served to make the situation more and more ridiculous, which it turn made it more hilarious. Basically between Tetris nostalgia, the 4-way format, and looking flat-out goofy when placed against characters like Snake and Kratos, the Perfect Storm for an incredible Cinderella run had been created. And the Block took full advantage.
L-Block's Path to Victory[]
- Round One: Kirby/Laharl/Nathan Hale - L survives, but only due to the extreme (in Hale's case perhaps unprecedented, at last since Tanner) weakness of his opponents
- Round Two: Kratos/Kirby/Donkey Kong - L gets a huge opening push thanks to B8, but collapses after the first hours and only survives because DK leeches too much Nintendo morning vote from Kirby
- Round Three: Snake/Kratos/Riku - L is now loved by the entire site and gets his first truly frightening early vote, but again collapses later on and allows Snake to push back in front
- Round Four: Snake/Sonic/Squall - L gets the entire internet buzzing for the first time, allowing him to sustain momentum enough to run even with Snake during the day and defeat two Noble Niners in the process
- Round Five: Snake/Master Chief/Dante - L-mania officially arrives; he is stronger than ever and never in danger of losing against weaker competition than in R4
- Round Six: Link/Cloud/Snake - L becomes the ultimate joke vote and ultimate anti-vote when placed against these titans of the industry; Link makes a valiant effort with the ASV but really the result is never in question
L-Block appeared again in the Summer 2008 Contest. It survived a struggle with Ryu in round one, but managed to take first over him, Meta Knight, and The Dog. In round two, the block and Crono defeated Ryu and Amaterasu. In the division finals, L-Block's chances of repeating were unpredictably cut short when Crono and Pikachu blew right past the Tetris piece.
There is a strong debate currently underway as to how well L-Block's strength would hold up in a traditional 1v1 Contest setting- a debate that will hopefully be settled in 2010.
...Or not.
Notable Matches[]
- Snake vs L-Block vs Kratos vs Riku 2007
- L-Block vs Snake vs Sonic vs Squall 2007
- L-Block vs Snake vs Master Chief vs Dante 2007
- L-Block vs Link vs Cloud vs Snake 2007
- Crono vs Pikachu vs L-Block vs Alucard 2008
See Also[]
Character Details[]
Physical characteristics
L-Block is composed of four squares. These squares are connected in an L shape. L-Block is capable of rotating in intervals of 90° (four positions). L-Block's color varies from game to game. Its most common colors are magenta and orange.
Life
L-Block lives to build and to destroy. Its life begins as if falls from the ceiling. It then fits itself in with other Tetrominoes in an attempt to destroy lines of squares created by Tetrominoes who had formerly fallen. Its life ends when its line is cleared and it disappears.
Status as a character
Many people claim that the L-Block is a character because the player controls its movement directly. To the contrary, the L-Block shows no evidence of being a sentient being (within the game universe), and due to the nature of the game, it seems unlikely that the L-Block was intended to be sentient. The alternate scenario is that the player themself is the unseen character of the game, and the L-Block is simply a building material.
See Also[]
External Links[]
- L's Contest History (lol x-stats)
- L's Oracle History