Blade originates from the Sonic fan characters created by Newgrounds user, Equinox-Twilight, particularly deriving from the other fan character Flare the Hedgehog (said to be the "brother" of Sonic the Hedgehog) who mainly appeared in the KA Omake Flash animated series. Perhaps by getting authorization from Equinox-Twilight, Gregory McLeod picked the template sprites for Flare the Hedgehog and had user Topcat to redesign the character so it can be uniquely "different" from Flare; though not confirmed, it is assumed Topcat was also the one who picked the name "Blade". Super Smash Flash began development not as a Super Smash Bros. fan game but as a platformer action-oriented game with Blade as the main character, and he was also originally added for testing purposes.

From the early Super Smash Flash demos up to the eventual final release, Blade's design was established: he is a short red hedgehog who wears blue gloves, pants and shoes and who wields a characteristic sword. Much like characters in the Sonic canon, he is able to use the Spin Dash and the Spin Jump. In works since then, such as his proposed Super Smash Flash 2 design and Kingdom Castle Animations' Blade Vs. Blue fanservice, he has been shown to create and manipulate lightning.

In MUGEN, Blade is an average character, but makes up for it by having strong hypers

Specials