Is 'None' a kit?

Hello folks,

I recently saw someone claim in June's Brawl News thread that the answer to the last trivia question "How many HG kits are playable?", 121, was wrong. A very brave member would affirm that the correct answer was 122, because, according to them, None should have been included. After reading the great debate that followed, it just felt like it was time for me to consider more seriously the question: is None a playable kit?

» Is None a kit in the first place?
Technically speaking, not anymore. Before I joined, there was actually in the code a file that had the definition of a kit named None. The code would treat None as an actual kit. Players couldn't explicitly select it, but when they didn't choose any kit by the end of the pre-game timer, None would be given to them.

However, I then joined and changed things. The file mentioned above doesn't exist anymore. Now, the code thinks differently, and None is actually the representation of the absence of a kit, not a kit in itself. If the scoreboard code sees that the player hasn't chosen a kit, it shows "None". If a player with no kit kills another player, the code shows "None" as a place-holder.

» Let's take a deeper look...
In the code, there is a variable that stores which kit is selected for each player.

Code:

KitHG kit = ...;

This variable can hold multiple possible values: Achilles, Boxer, Souper, Endermage, etc. That said, it is also possible for the variable to have no value at all.

Code:

KitHG kit = null;

Nothing at all is a possible and valid value for the variable. The code is prepared to handle the state of a null variable. Since nothing is a valid value at the same title Stomper is a valid value, one could say that nothing is a kit at the same title Stomper is a kit.

» Now let's take a step back
As you can see, even in the code we can find arguments that fit on both sides. Therefore, let's re-consider the question from scratch, without this time going into the technical aspect.

Is Adventurer a kit? Yes: it gives the player armor that auto-upgrades.
Is Digger a kit? Yes: it gives the player the ability to create holes by placing a dragon egg.
Is Stomper a kit? Yes: it gives the player the ability to inflict damage by jumping from high places.

What allows us to answer "yes" to the questions above? The fact that these kits can be bought, played, and that they give the player some sort of special and unique ability. That said...

Spoiler: Kangaroo

Is Kangaroo a kit? Yes: it gives the player 150 boosted jumps.
But what about when the 150 jumps are used? Once that happens, the kit becomes completely and utterly useless, just like the "None" kit.

Spoiler: Analyzer

Is Analyzer a kit? Yes: it gives the player the ability to view the health, the amount of soups and other information on their opponents.
But can it be bought? No, it can't; the kit is retired.

Spoiler: Santa

Is Santa a kit? Yes: it gives other players presents.
But can it be played? No, the kit is currently disabled.

Is None a kit? It can not be bought nor can it be selected. That however is not important as the question is...

Is None a PLAYABLE kit?
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This and this only squashes everything said above, because it is not possible to play as a None.
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If you don't select any kit when the timer runs out, the game will select a random kit for you among those you own. The only way this can be prevented is by owning no kits at all, but that is impossible since there's always the monthly rotation, which gives everyone at least 1 kit.

Spoiler: None

-Totom3​