Gotta have Beastie

Libre Brawl

FOSSFighters

Legends of the FOSS

FOSSLeague

Oh no, it's the FOSS

Top of the FOSS

Use old default backgrounds of popular distro s as inspiration for arena's

FOSS app logo's as power up icons (Libre Office Writer summons a chonky typewriter to smack opponents)

Final Stage: The Terminal

Have previously copyrighted characters that came in to public domain.

Tiny backstory idea:

The Kernel War

The Great Kernel, a cosmic entity that powers the FOSS multiverse, has been corrupted by a malicious proprietary update. It starts spawning closed-source clones of FOSS characters and software, creating chaos. The heroes must fight to recover pieces of the Kernel's source code and restore balance.

Hope you get to execute your plan sometime, if and when it feels right, seems pretty cool.

Tux can/should be in there, but make your character cast from a wide variety of public domain sources. Use real historical figures, classic literature, and mythology.

Some specific ideas:

• Thor (but not too much like the Marvel interpretation)
• Poseidon
• Dracula
• Sherlock Holmes
• Captain Blackbeard
• Steamboat Willie (as of its copyright expiring)
• T-Rex
• Cthulu
• Merlin the wizard
• fairytale characters

Also make a solid modding API to let people add their own characters, items, and stages.

Super Smash Open Source Brothers. Or Open SSSB

As initial prototype, it might be funnier to just add crazy items rather than worry about moveset and balance. Add a Gun(zip) that boxes enemies for 1 second, a turtle shell that inverts controls, a big book that is the MAN pages and works like the hammer in smash bros (read the fucking manual!), a bottle of milk that summons an ASCII cow, a glass window that floats around the field and crashes randomly on the players

Tuxboxing as the name maybe?

Personally, I think you and your audience would have a lot more fun if you ignored IP laws and added characters just because you want them in there.

@MarshReaper replicating the hook of Smash seems unfeasible (your favorite characters smacking each other). Finding libre characters isn't hard but finding ones to fit the gameplay might - is Tux having tux the main appeal? I would look at what other clones have done and try to replicate them but with a twist.

Maybe the twist could be something to do with it being FOSS. Like you can "read the source" of the opponent, or modify your character's abilities per match.

Is the idea for just the game to be FOSS or for the characters to be related to FOSS as well? IMO, the latter would be a good limitation to start with, which would be in the vein of Super Tux Kart using FOSS mascots.

As for names:

• Super Tux Arena
• Super Tux Royal
• Super Tux Take Down
• Tuxogedon
• FOSSogedon
• FOSS-For-All
• Ultra Mascot Feud (UMF)
• Merge and Conflict
• Tuxus Rumpus
• Liberty Wrangle

Anti Commercial-AI license

Depending on your development plans, you could potentially prototype character designs and abilities using MUGEN (if you intend for a more traditional fighting game) or Rivals of Aether (for a platformer fighter like Smash).

Depends on how many people are working on the project, how duties get split up, and how long it takes the engine itself to come together.