Philosophy: Why do we want certain characters?

[Groose]

I'm not sure if this is deserves its own thread, and I'm not sure if there is a thread already like this one, as I couldn't find one.

I've done some thinking while I was bored the other day, trying to whittle down the concept of wanting a character into several main "reasons." It is my belief that we want certain characters for one of five reasons.​

1) We experience a personal connection with that character.
[collapse=Explanation] In general, we like the characters we support. Maybe they're awesome in their own games, or maybe we grew up with them. Maybe they have some sort of driving backstory, or maybe they just have a design that makes you like them.

My Example: My support of King K. Rool is primarily based off of my personal attachment to a character. I was a big DK fan as a kid, and K. Rool was the exalted and epic final boss. I watched the old DK cartoon almost religiously and grew attached to his crazy antics and proclivity for dressing up. I want him in because he's a part of my childhood and a cool character in general, in my opinion.. [/collapse]

2) We think a certain character could bring something to the game.
[collapse=Explanation] Lots of people clamor for uniqueness. Almost every fanbase wants their character in for something they could bring to the table. The Ridley fanbase talks about his potential aerial ability; the Waddle Dee fanbase is nuts for the usage of a spear; Chrom's homies think a stance based moveset would be awesome. We the fans imagine how characters would play and hope that they will bring what we think they will into the game.

My Example: I wanted either Villager or Tom Nook in the game since pre-Brawl; I always imagined that they could have an epic moveset revolving around hammerspace. I enjoyed coming up with zany uses for the common tools of the Animal Crossing franchise, and really hoped that they would bring something like this to the game. Seeing Villager at E3 was absolutely great because some of my dreams had been realized. Also, I had long hoped for Mega Man for a projectile-based moveset drawing from his stolen abilities; this turned out to be true and made me want him even more.

This is the reason I don't want a few characters, too. For example, although I obviously love the character Groose, I don't see him bringing much to the table. He didn't really do much that would transition to bringing something into Smash, so I don't really want him despite my attachment to the character.[/collapse]

3) We think a certain character fits in with the other characters.
[collapse=Explanation] Who hasn't wanted a certain character in based on how they'd interact with others? Supporters of Miis base (almost) their entire want on playing as themselves against the Nintendo cast. Almost all character fanbases cite a matchup they want to see in Smash. People clamor for villains to fight against their heroes and heroes to fight against other heroes.

My Example: I've always loved pitting characters against others; that's part of Smash for me. Whenever I look at a certain character, I immediately assess them against the rest of the cast. I probably spend hours with each game just pitting computers against each other, making bets or fictional tournaments.

Pretty much the entire reason I want Pac-Man is to see him fight against the other characters. There's the obvious Mario vs. Sonic vs. Pac-Man vs. Mega Man, and then there's other matchups I see, like Pac-Man vs. Donkey Kong in an arcade rumble, and Pac-Man vs. Kirby in a battle of the monster eaters. I don't have too much personal attatchemnt to Pac-Man, but I think he'd interact well with the cast.[/collapse]

4) We want a certain character to bring more representation to their series.
[collapse=Explanation] This doesn't necessarily apply as much to characters from already represented series as it does to new series. What I mean here is that we want certain series to get the royal treatment--when a character is selected, they open the door for their series to have a stage, an assist trophy, tons of music, and even a handful of trophies. I know that the Isaac fanbase desperately wants to see Golden Sun get its due and become recognized as one of the big series of Nintendo. This also applies to most Retro characters, who we want to see in a series revival.

My Example: I'd really love to see Shulk in this game. Why? Because Xenoblade is the best game I've never played, and I'd really like to see its sequel, X, become more of a common name; I want to see it become a series that I can purchase without paying upwards of 90$ for a game. Oh, and I wouldn't mind listening to "You Will Know Our Names" or "The God-Slaying Sword" as I smash.

I also would like Tingle because I heard his games are good, yet I cannot play them because of my region. If he gets in and this quells some of his hatebase, I'd be thrilled. [/collapse]

5) We want a character in for the sake of another.
[collapse=Explanation] We are all fans of the game here, and we all interact and share our ideas. I wouldn't say we become friends, but we are very much acquaintances, and we sympathize for one another. When you see someone who logically explains why they want a character and shows their interest, you can't help but to want them to get their wish. It's even stronger when a friend in real life likes a character; you'd be inclined to hope they get it to a pretty large degree. I'd say this is the reason that popular fanbases, like those of Ridley and K. Rool, keep growing--people see a bunch of like-minded people arguing for their character, and more slowly join in wanting the character.

My Example: For one, I was happy for all of the Rosalina supporters and it cushioned my Toad disappointment. For two, there's a certain fanbase on this forum that I have begun to sympathize with lately. I don't exactly WANT Waddle Dee, but I wouldn't mind it if he were to get in, mainly because I see that he has some pretty numerous and good-hearted fans. His fanbase reminds me of that of K. Rool or Ridley, and I sympathize even if I'm not a part of it. [/collapse]

So... not sure what this will be used for. I suppose you can try to counter that there are more things that can make people want a character, or you can list out why you want certain characters. Or you can just explain why you want characters in general. Or a mod could deem this just a case of rambling and lock it altogether; if this is the case, then I apologize.

 

[PsychoIncarnate]

Mario RPG was my favorite game for many years, which is why I want Geno. Same with K. Rool and DKC2

But Tom Nook and Sukapon are my second most wanted characters and I have no idea philosophically speaking

I also wanted Mega Man cause he's awesome.

 

[Hong]

There are some characters I would certainly like to be in the game just because I like them, but with any of them I would happily settle for a trophy. That is already more than I could ever ask for, and a huge honour. Ultimately, all I REALLY care about at the end of the day is how the game plays. Within a week, I know I will just end up picking who ever has the best projectiles, because that is what I enjoy.

I don't like Rosalina at all; I hate Mario characters. And I certainly don't intend to play as her.

But guess what?

I love her as a fighter because she is fresh. She adds something amazing to the roster. There is undoubtedly many characters who could have been a puppet master. Olimar or Pokemon Trainer could have done it. Palutena could do it, too. That said, if the game itself plays well, I won't be losing sleep over who they appended this fighting style to, and learn to appreciate that it happened at all.

Just my two coins.

 

[Tepig2000]

I want Ridley because he looks cool.

I want Meowth because I like the anime.

I want Toad just because I think he is deserving.

I want Bandana Dee because I have grown up on him and his fanbase is cool.

 

[UltimateWario]

Great thread, Groose. I'm just going to go in with my main man, Ridley, though, since I'd probably be up all night typing if I analyzed everyone I want in.

I wasn't a huge fan of Metroid until around a year ago. I'd played a Metroid here and there, yes, although I'd never thought much about them besides the fact that they were some damn solid games. I began thinking back on my adventures in Prime 3, and sought out a copy of the Prime Trilogy, seeing as I'd never played the first one (and I had no interest in the story-heavy Metroid Other M, especially after reports of the horrible writing and mediocre gameplay). As I played through the Prime Trilogy, I began to garner a new respect for the Metroid series and its characters.

Before long, I was playing through Fusion, Super Metroid, Zero Mission, and even Metroid I and II. I was in love with Samus and the world she lived in; I loved her character, how she'd overcome this horrible tragedy as a child and came out a horrible angel of death, bringing fire and revenge on those who wronged her. I loved the dark, mysterious worlds of Zebes, Tallon IV, Skytown, SR-388, and more. I loved the subtle stories, the biology, the history, everything. Before long, it climbed to the top of my favorite franchises; while Wario still held (and holds) the spot of my favorite character, Samus was easily a close second. As a writer, I love exploring and expanding the personalities of my favorite characters (one reason I hate Other M so much is that they expanded Samus in completely the opposite direction that I had, one that I find extremely counter intuitive to the character and franchise as a whole), so a character as complicated as Samus was like a goldmine for ones such as myself.

As my interest in Samus and her character grew, I began to come to know the author of her story, the one who began the entire thing: Ridley. Ridley was a rare case; at a glance, he's just some alien dragon, but underneath that, he is very much human. He is the embodiment of sociopathy. He sees everyone else as either food or garbage, and seeks nothing more (like the rest of his species) than to have everything and everyone at his mercy.

However, there is one thing standing in the way of Ridley's blood-soaked warpath; and that's Samus, the very woman that his cruelty and bloodlust bore. When Ridley is lurking in the shadows, you can guarantee that Samus isn't far, looking to fire a Super Missile straight up his scaly tailpipe. There is no Samus without Ridley. She is his white whale, and he, hers. They are two beings of terrible destruction, connected by a chain of fate, blood, and fire. They are two sides of the same coin; while Samus leaves a path of destruction in the name of justice and peace, Ridley leaves trails of blood in the name of personal gain.

I want Ridley not just because he is an interesting character and the only sensible rep for an underrepped franchise, but because he's just as important to Metroid as Samus is; the only difference is that Ridley isn't playable.

As my knowledge of the intricacies of the Smash series grew, I began to see Ridley's application as not only Samus's opposite, but as a unique character. So many people see him as a large Charizard or a Bowser with wings, but these shallow views of his character are mostly by naysayers who are indifferent to the character or outright oppose him for one reason or another. I'll simply post my thoughts on his playstyle from the Roster Prediction Thread.

Ridley has the capability to be the first aerially-inclined heavy character. He would be very sluggish and very much a target on the ground, but lightning fast and very deadly in the air.. He would also be the first character to have a flying grab (as in, he can actually fly with someone in tow), as well as the new largest character in the roster. His spear-like tail also gives him the capability for Mewtwo-esque space control and staggering range on his attacks.

Of course, for all of those advantages, Ridley is still very large and likely wouldn't be as heavy as characters like Bowser or DeDeDe since his size is more attributed to his strange proportions rather than his bulk. These two qualities would make him a difficult character to master, but the reward would be tenfold because of his terrific recovery-gimping abilities and amazing air game. He would be a character that would have unreal offensive (and defensive, if we're talking recovery) capabilities in his element, but suffer from various weaknesses outside of it that would ultimately balance the character and make him much harder to use than a simple character like Mario (essentially making him a super-buff and actually-cool Jigglypuff).

Beyond all of that, Ridley is also another character that walks on all-fours, which we have very few of in the roster, and those that do are in the small-kindasmall category. Ridley would be the first large quadruped. He's also the only "big" villain, along with K. Rool, that hasn't been represented yet, despite the fact that Metroid and Donkey Kong are both very large, popular, and profitable franchises, and have been with Nintendo for a very long time while still continuing to churn out great games.

Besides the fact that they're both dragons that breathe fire (or plasma, in Ridley's case), Charizard and Ridley have very little in common.

So there's all of that.

Ridley's my #1 Most Wanted Newcomer in SSB4 for several reasons, but all-in-all, it probably comes down to how much respect I have for him and the Metroid universe in general. I think he deserves to be in just as much as Bowser, Ganon, and DeDeDe, and it's silly that we're still trying so hard to get a character as important as Ridley when we're already resorting to adding C-Listers like Rosalina.

 

[Glaciacott]

For the most part I've wanted K. Rool and Ridley for a long time due to completion. Since I was a child when these games first came out, the idea of having the main characters and their main antagonists just made sense, and over time DK and Samus have really just lacked that. (and yea, back then I'd assume Mewtwo was the pokemon "villain" given the evil laugh and event 51 presence.)
By now though, I genuinely just want to play them really badly.

As for Palutena, my greatest want, it's mainly based on two factors: 1) I LOVED Kid Icarus Uprising to death, and 2) she's easily one of my favorite female characters in Nintendo lore, being all cheery and funny and still a freaking Goddess. I guess I'm satisfied now since Rosalina is also a particularly well-made female character, but I still want Palutena really really badly.

Oh, and then my other huge wants are somewhat (or very) unlikely characters that I nevertheless would love a lot, like Robin, Rhythm Monkey and Porky. For them it's a matter of seeing more of their games in Nintendo lore.

 

[Wii Twerk Trainer]

I want Krystal cause she's a girl

I want Palutena cause she's a girl

I want lip causes she's a girl

I want Bayonetta causes she's a girl

I want Dixie kong cause she's a girl

 

[Hippopotasauce]

I want a Rhythm Heaven character because I feel like it would lead the series into being a part of the Nintendo "family."

 

[BridgesWithTurtles]

Very good analysis. I agree that the vast majority of character support can be traced to these core "reasons". Personally, #3 is my driving force for support. The only characters I ever seem to want are ones that I think would be fitting with the rest of the cast, for the end result of having the largest number of matchups possible being really fun to see. I like to see popular, important, and/or iconic characters fighting other popular, important, and/or iconic characters. I get a huge kick off of the "crossover" thing, and seeing the biggest names (not just characters, but franchises) duking it out never gets stale and is always a joy to see. I love pitting Link against Mario and Sonic against Pikachu. Even less iconic characters, like the Ice Climbers, are fun to see every now and then, as they still tend to represent some memorable part of Nintendo's history. These are the kind of dream matchups that I discussed as a kid on the playground and got into heated nerd arguments about. That's why I'd like to see characters like King K. Rool and Ridley join. I was never as much into either the DK or Metroid series back then as I am now (even now, I'm not too big on Metroid), but these characters, through sheer exposure, became prominent icons of my childhood. I wasn't able to tell you the locations of all of the DK letters or summarize the plot of Super Metroid, but I knew that these characters were the major villains of their series and driving forces behind the protagonists' adventures, and that made the dream battles of Bowser vs King K. Rool and Ganondorf vs Ridley all the more exciting to imagine, and alluring to carry out.

Now, the other reasons are still important to me, of course, but they take a back seat and act more like perks. If I happen to have a strong connection with a character I support, then I'll likely be much more fervent than normal about supporting them, because I feel like I'd be missing something a lot more if they're excluded. If the character can bring something new to the game, or add much-needed representation to a franchise, then that's also great, and all the more reason for me to want the character. But I won't support them for those reasons. I really do enjoy unique characters, but I'd rather play as a "boring" K. Rool or Little Mac than a character I don't support, but is unique.

Throughout my Smash career, the characters I've wanted haven't necessarily been the ones I've liked. I like Genesect and think it would be cool to play as it in Smash, but I don't have much of a desire for it to be included. On the flipside, I don't really care about Little Mac as a character, but he fits in so well (and Punch-Out! is so fit for playable status), that I strongly support his inclusion. So I guess in short, I want characters whom I think are priority candidates, not characters whom I necessarily like. Any overlap is usually a result of such priority candidates being likable enough characters to become as prominent as they are to begin with, or vise-versa.

Reason #5 doesn't play too big a role for me, but Isaac, to an extent is an example. While I wouldn't be any less welcoming of his inclusion if this weren't the case, I do find myself wanting him just a bit more for the sake of his fans, who've been waiting over a decade to see him finally join the roster. I suppose I can extend this sentiment to K. Rool and Pac-Man supporters as well; us K. Rool fans are really banking on his inclusion in hopes of him returning to the DK series afterwords, and a lot of Pac-Man's supporters are just cool people whom I'd like to see be made happy. Still, in the end, I hope as many fans as possible can be happy with the roster, as unrealistic a dream as that may be, especially now that Sonic is a regular part of the cast .

 

[RankoChan]

I want Lip because Panel de Pon/Puzzle League is one of my favorite series of all time and would like to see the series get proper representation in Smash in the hopes of more entries in the series, plus I feel that a puzzle rep like Lip could bring a lot to the game.

I'd like Dixie because of fond childhood memories playing Donkey Kong Country 2 and Palutena because I enjoyed her character in Kid Icarus: Uprising.

Takamaru is the oddball choice. I'd like to see him appear simply because I like Japanese culture and I think a samurai with magic attacks and ninja weapons would make for an interesting playable character.

 

[Johnknight1]

Gameplay, gameplay, gameplay.

And by gameplay, I mean potential, originality, uniqueness, standing out (from the rest of the roster) and lasting value (like, do you still get excited to play as or against a characters years down the road=??? Because if you do, that was good design) in regards to playstyles, movesets, and skillsets characters can have, have had in the past, and could have.

I find a lot of the reasons people support characters is for this underlying reason.

Some characters have very apparent and easy to see characteristics and qualities in regards to this.
For instance, Mega Man is so unique that if you can't see it, you either know nothing about Mega Man, you can't think of movesets, or you are blinded by hate.

Some characters have not so apparent and easy to see characteristics and qualities in regards to this.
For instance, no one was Rosalina being essentially Eddie from Guilty Gear with some new Mario Galaxy-themed moves. Unless you have insider information ("my dad works at Nintendo") or you are some sort of prophet, you didn't see this coming for Rosalina (which also required you to be a prophet... or have foresight).

Pre-Brawl, the 3 characters with the most supporter were King Dedede, Diddy Kong, and (#1) Wario. All 3 of them are so unique, could easily work (and did easily work), and it was so easy to see.

In fact, their uniqueness of character translates to their potential as playable characters, which is a huge reason we want them.

We see that again with newcomers, with the #1 most wanted newcomer being Mega Man, followed by (in no particular order) likely K. Rool and Ridley, all of whom are liked for similar reasons.

 

[Sabrewulf238]

My top five wants include one character I have a strong childhood connection to, Isaac. For me Golden Sun was a big part of Nintendo growing up....Smash Bros without a playable golden sun rep won't ever feel whole.

I have a strong childhood connection to Pokemon too, but I prefer Mewtwo in Smash Bros than in pokemon itself.

Then two from games I've recently played and loved. (Shulk, Robin) and finally one from a game I've never played. (Chibi Robo) I find him interesting as a character.

 

[Crap-Zapper]

I'm Going to use "Groose" Formula to my explanations.

Character; Goose

Spoiler

1) Back in the N64 days, my bestfriend today had a obscure game called "PilotWings 64". We were not good or it was a game we used to play, but it was there. And I liked it, even tho at the time I did not understand it. But the character "Goose" has for that memory always ment something to me.

2) I wanted Goose to bring some uniqeness to the game, he is tall and thin, would be a fun comic releaf. Plus jetpacks and such things from PilotWings would be great in my opinion.

3) I always thought that Goose would make an excellent edition to the game, being around the scales of Samus Aran, and Cartoony as Ness/Lucas.

4) Basically, I always had a warm spot for PilotWings. And when I heard a stage from the game was representing it, my little hope for a PilotWings character came to mind.

5) Not another character I would like to see in for Goose, since I don't see who should be his contest. You see K. Rool vs Ridley rivalery, I don't see for Goose.

Character; Samurai Goroh

Spoiler

1) After I played "F-Zero GX" I fell in love with F-Zero in general, and I loved the idea of racing as so many cool characters at that time, but in later years, I've got to like Goroh A lot, and decide he'd be my F-Zero Main...

2) Samurai Goroh, it says in the name, He would bring interesting Samurai slices, and I can think Sumo would also be perfect for him.

3) Yes, I really think that Samurai Goroh would really fit. And he'd be different from the other sword users by far.

4) As I said, I fell in love with F-Zero and since Falcon's debut, I always wanted a second F-Z character, most wanted is and will always be Samurai Goroh.

5) Samurai Goroh vs Black Shadow.
Here is the rivalery going. I would not mind at all having Black Shadow, in fact it would not bother me at all. But I want Goroh.

Character; King K. Rool

Spoiler

1) One of my first games ever was Donkey Kong; Country. And this introduced me to King K. Rool. I LOVED his theme song. Soon, I got more and more the liking of K. Rool. And he became my favorite Nintendo Villain of all time.

2) Yes, there are a lot of things I could see K. Rool bring in to the game that would be unique. Crown Throw, Clap Traps, Tail Swipe, Crock Roll and even more!

3) He would fit in Perfectly. Compared with the Mario Universe and the more cartoonier world of Nintendo, I see K. Rool fit in rather well.

4) He is not as relevant in the games anymore, but he still plays a valuable role in the past games. He IS the villain of the DK Franchise. And no one can top him, honestly.

5) K. Rool vs Ridley, "Bowsers Cousin"
Well, I never wanted Ridley really. He never interested me, so I wouldn't care at all if he got in or not, Just as long as K. Rool got in too!. I also hear someone says he is too similar to Bowser, I think that is a lie, or they need glases lol.

Character; Waluigi

Spoiler

1) I first played as Waluigi in Mario Party 4. I did not know the character but I liked him. So I started to use him, and he became my main in Mario Party for a long time. I also tend to use him in a lot of other Mario Spin-Offs.

2) Yes. He would be perfect, because he would represent the spin-off of the Mario series. Tennis Clubs, Mario Kart, Party Tricks, Piranha Plant....

3) Yes, and beside, we already got Mario, Luigi and Wario.. Waluigi is the next in this circle.

4) Well, the only thing I can see Waluigi help out with is promoting the Mario Kart/Sport/Party games. (Which is not a bad thing really).

5) "Super Mario Super Show!"
Well he basically fought among a lot of Characters in the Mario Universe; Toad, Rosalina, Bowser Jr, Birdo and even Paper Mario. We got Rosalina, and I would accept Waluigi.

Character; Lip

Spoiler

1) I never really got around to play "Panel de Pon", but I did infact play "Pokémon Puzzle Leauge" for N64, which were based on Panel de Pon (I didn't know at the time). But later I found out, and the love for Lip increased a lot.

2) Yes, I think Lip is pretty unique, and if you let Lip have the stick instead of an Item, it will bring more uniqueness. I also think of some Puzzling attacks too.

3) Why ofcourse, she would be the cute girly version of Ness and Lucas. Perfect.

4) The game could really use some recognicion outside of Japan. And what better way is it to do than Smash and use the Fire Emblem effect.

5) I don't see Lip as fighting against anyone at all.

Character; Duck Hunt Dog

Spoiler

1) To be fair honest, I did not care for the dog at all until I found out of it's potential. Funny is, I even sprited over the sprite, updating it for my DeviantArt Account, and use/used it as my Icon for over 1 year (And counting lol). And it has got me into so many conversations because of that.

2) Yeah, with the move set I've seen, I got huge believes he will use ducks, and the retso guns.

3) If Ivysaur fits, the DHD will sit.

4) I don't really know if it needs much of recognizion, it is part of pop culture.

5) Perhaps Duck Hunt Cat? xD

Character; Dillon the Armadillo

Spoiler

1) I Don't know why, but after I heard of Dillon I imidiatly fell in love with the character. I think he is rather unique and would fit in quiet well.

2) Even tho Sonic is back, that should make no exception to that of making Dillon less unique.

3) Yes, I think he would indeed fit in with the others. Bringing an unique look and style to the series we might not be too familiar with, but all in all would blend well with the others.

4) Yes, I think it would help the series a lot, and maybe one day make it a 1st party series instead of 2nd.

5) No Contest!

 

[MasterOfKnees]

So yeah, Ridley. I collapsed my post below because it's pretty huge:

[collapse="Big post about a big guy"]In my case we're going all the way back to 2004, which is actually 10 years ago by now. Me and my brother had been all over Melee for the two years since its European release at this point, but in all honesty we weren't really familiar with any characters besides the Mario (including Yoshi and DK of course) and Pokémon characters. So we decided it might be time to explore a bit, and the first thing that caught our attention was Metroid. Not only because of how cool Samus looks, but as Godzilla fans we were very interested in the enemies that she fought, and the two ones we had seen at this point were Ridley and Kraid, from the intro and Brinstar Depths respectively. Now, my brother has always loved the designs of the big and bulky guys, he mains Dedede, DK and Bowser in Brawl too, so of course he was all over Kraid's design. I on the other hand was dragged into Metroid by the 3 or so seconds that this eggplant-looking dragon appeared in the trailer, not to mention his overly radical trophy.

Either way, we went on to purchase a game for each of us to play, my brother chose Metroid Prime and I chose Metroid: Zero Mission, the latter which had just released by then. We purchased the two games from the internet, but there was a problem so Zero Mission would arrive later than Prime, so while waiting I had nothing much to do than watch my brother play Prime and watch the few preview videos that were on the Zero Mission website. I remember that they had some kind of beastiary page on the Zero Mission website which showed the enemies that Samus would face, and I just remember staring at that transparent red silhouette on Ridley's page, it just further confirmed to me that he was the guy that I was the most excited to fight. While that happened, my brother was of course playing Prime before I got to play Zero Mission, and the whole mission in that game revolved around tracking down Ridley, at least initially. This guy made a huge impact on me before I even got to play a game where he was in, and before I even got the game my PC's background was Ridley, I was constantly talking about Ridley and how excited I was to fight him, everything was Ridley before I even knew the character. That was when one day that I was playing Melee with my brother that it dawned upon me: Why the **** can't I play as Ridley in Smash Bros.?

The year is 2007 now, and I had lost touch with Nintendo for two or so years because of the worldwide phenomenon known as World of Warcraft that had simply pushed all other video games away from me. That was until I discovered Brawl of course. For some reason I hadn't heard of it until 2007, but I was very happy to see characters like Wario and Meta Knight, while I was a bit confused about Zero Suit Samus whom I had of course played as 3 years ago in Zero Mission. I mean, it was really just Samus but without all the cool gadgets, even in Zero Mission she was meant to handicap you, so I really didn't understand why she was there. Either way, it was quite convenient for me that I discovered the game when I did, as the Dojo had just opened, but because my hype was getting a bit out of control I needed somewhere to discuss the game, thus I joined my first forum ever: Brawl-Central. When I joined I fully knew what I was there for, there were only two characters that I needed in order for the game to be complete to me, but I spent all of my time supporting one character: Ridley.

I spent my time from August 2007 to January 2008 talking about the same dragon I was fanboying over 3 years before that. It was also during this time that I played nearly every other Metroid game I hadn't played at the time, and it effectively became my favorite video game franchise of all-time. I was pleasantly surprised at how many other people wanted Ridley, and seeing how many fan favorites were included (one of them being the other character I supported: Dedede) I was so sure that Ridley would be in. I didn't quite understand the "too big" argument though, but keep in mind that my first time seeing Ridley was in the Melee opening. Every time I saw the "New Challenger Approaching" banner at the top of the website, I'd close my eyes, scroll down, and see who it was. I was a bit dissapointed every time it wasn't Ridley or Dedede, and even when it was Dedede I still wanted Ridley much more.

Of course the news came on a sad January day, the Wolf and R.O.B leak was true and Ridley was degraded to two boss battles. This absolutely crushed me, I was so sure of his inclusion, and I had spend so much time just hyping up this damn dragon, so I was very dissapointed when the outcome didn't pay off.

Of course we then fast forward back to January 2013 where I come to Smashboards to show support to him once again, though I've had an account here for 4 years to participate a bit in the Brawl hacking community, and now we're here.

Ridley to me symbolizes all of the points in the OP:

1. Ridley is my favorite character in my favorite video game franchise, so of course I have a personal connection with him.

2. Ridley's playstyle would be a heavy aerial character with wide range but a lacking ground game, it's fairly simple but it's a playstyle we don't have yet.

3. Ridley obviously fits in with the rest of the cast, he's just as colorful as the rest and on top of that has a very unique design, even for a dragon.

4. This one's too obvious, Ridley would bring a true second character to the criminally under-represented Metroid franchise, and my favorite franchise at that too.

5. As a Ridley supporter I care about my fellow supporters, seeing Ridley in the game isn't just something I do as a means to satisfy myself, but also because we as a fanbase have wanted this to happen for longer than any other character fanbase, the only noteable fanbase which can probably compare is the Toad fanbase, a character I by the way only wanted in to satisfy his fanbase.

I guess that's it for my little Ridley story and why I want him so badly.[/collapse]

 

[Kon]

I want Krystal cause she's a girl

I want Palutena cause she's a girl

I want lip causes she's a girl

I want Bayonetta causes she's a girl

I want Dixie kong cause she's a girl

So finally someone who has understood the way Sakurai makes character choices.

Gender > Uniqueness

You should definitely move from Smash Bros to Dead or Alive. There are many women being women and being added just because they are women

To get b2topic:
You got the most important points, I'm fine with your criteria.

 

[YoshiandToad]

Toad.

Surprising absolutely no-one, this is my number one character to get into Smash and he fits quite a lot of your suggested reasonings for me. It's a shame it won't happen for SSB4.

1.) We experience a personal connection with that character.

Spoiler

I grew up with Toad.​

• SMB2 was the first Mario game I played. It was the first one I completed. Toad was an absolute badass on that. Outspeeding AND outpowering Mario, Luigi and Peach with the one small flaw about his jumps being not as good as the others, a weakness that was easily overcome with the Power Squat Jump trick making Toad the absolute best character for speed running through 95% of the levels.
• Wario's Woods was my absolute favourite puzzle game. Why wouldn't it be? It combined the aspects of Bomberman with Tetris! Two amazing games rolled into one package. I recently downloaded it on the VC on 3DS and I've become so addicted when I close my eyes I still picture the monsters Toad is blowing up as Wario slowly lowers that Thwomp upon him.
• The Super Mario Bros. Cartoon was one of my favourite cartoons when I was a little kid. It was goofy, it was stupid at times, and obviously is reknown now for it's meme like status. Toad was the last member of the quad, and was the one who would mouth off to the villains. This was no coward. This was a rough and tough warrior who used to protect the Princess singlehandedly before the Mario Bros. arrived.
• Toad was in every Mario Kart game(and still is) and was considered a member of the main 8 Mario characters.
• Toad has been the favourite character of my sister for over a decade.
• Now it's years on, and after the dark ages of the N64 and Gamecube periods, Toad is becoming a playable and prominent character again. I still meet up weekly to play NSMBWii/U/3D World with my friends.

2.) We think a certain character could bring something to the game.

Spoiler

I actually do.

• Toad is known for his speedy abilities, and power lifting(he lifts five times his weight easily in Wario's Woods, and was the fastest Veggie plucker in SMB2) making him a really good beatdown style character.
• Also from Wario's Woods, Toad had a unique ability to run up walls. Depending on the level this could be amazingly useful; for example in the Metal Gear Solid stage this would of given little Toad one of the best movement games.
• Again from Wario's Woods, Toad has the ability to manipulate the environment via stacking enemies and bombs on one another. Lip could also fit into this category on environmental manipulator making it not totally unique to Toad, but could be fun to play with. Imagine creating platforms via stacking up of monsters.
• Toad is also one of the most recognisable Nintendo characters not currently in Smash. He probably even outranks 30% of the current cast in notoriety amongst casual and hardcore Nintendo fans alike. Could be handy to include due to his reoccurring playable roles of recent; kids who are growing up with Toad in a multiplayer game will want to play their character in other things too.

3) We think a certain character fits in with the other characters.

Spoiler

• Toad obviously would be a good way to complete the Mario protagonist crew(and if Bowser Jr and Waluigi ever got in, that'd be this series complete for now).
• He and Wario share bad chemistry which could be fun for rivalry matches.
• Toad, Bandana Dee, Impa and Pit make for a group of excellent battle butlers who fight for the sake of monarchs/goddesses. Obviously only Pit has gotten in thus far, but that's a team I wouldn't mind see go against their various monarchs/goddesses.
• Toad's cute, comical looking and fits in well with the rest of the cast. It's a shallow reason, but it's true.

Obviously point 4 doesn't apply due to 7/8 of the Big 8 Mario crew being represented with Diddy and now Rosalina also being on the roster.

5) We want a character in for the sake of another.

Spoiler

• One of the reasons I support Toad so fanatically is that he's my little sister's favourite character. She always wants to play with me and my friends but never has a veteran character for Smash. 3D World was perfect for me and my friends; one is a huge Mario fan, one loves Peach, I'm a big fan of Luigi, and my sister loves Toad to bits. It's that love that has kept me supporting said character for 15 years now.
• Since coming back to Smashboards I've met a lot of Toad fans and supporters. It's really touching, and made me stick up for him in the Toad thread even more against the haters. Regardless of likeliness, Toad's a deserving character who deserves better than being a single B move for a character who doesn't even use her own moves from her own game.

 

[Starcutter]

I guess this makes sense why I hate pac-man. None of these things apply to him. Well, for me anyway.

 

[YoshiandToad]

I guess this makes sense why I hate pac-man. None of these things apply to him. Well, for me anyway.

Surely he fits in with the rest of the cast at least; he's a brightly coloured rounded individual that eats way too much.

That's right I'm alluding to you know who.

Spoiler

Wario

Spoiler

Dedede also acceptable

Spoiler

As is King K. Rool

Spoiler

The fat f*cks

 

[Critzilean]

Personally I really want Porky to be a newcomer in Smash 4. Earthbound is my favorite game of all time. I love the great sense of humor it has and the fact that all of your weapons are things like yo-yos and frying pans. It was just a great way to do a RPG that takes place in modern times without you questioning why you aren't using a gun instead of a sword. The reason I chose Porky as a rep is that he is such an interesting character. He is present in both Earthbound and Mother 3 and even though he does horrible things in both, I felt bad for him. When you ply the game and pay attention to details you can see that he is just an innocent child who was corrupted by Giygas. There is a lot of evidence that shows he just wanted to be Ness's friend and didn't really want to hurt anyone. At the end of Mother 3 (I wont say what happens) he seems happy about not being able to cause harm anymore. He also has the potential for a great moveset using various gadgets and whatnot, but anyway enough rambling. Porky is my #1 newcomer for Smash 4

 

[RadRedi]

I guess I'll ramble about my #1 spot on my wish list, Chibi Robo.


1) We experience a personal connection with that character.
Now, I don't have a very good track record with release dates, but I want to say that my familiarity with Chibi dates back to the pre-release time frame of Chibi Robo: Plug Into Adventure (so, I guess 2005-2006-ish). Everywhere my older brother and I went, we saw ads for the game. He even got to play a demo at WalMart, bragging about how cool he thought the game (rather, the small amount he'd played) was. Looking up to my brother the way I did as a younger child, all I wanted was to get my hands on that game. The mechanics sounded interesting, the atmosphere looked appealing, but most of all, the main character was just about the cutest thing I'd ever seen. Not to mention, I have a thing for robots. Sci Fi nerd all the way (not really...). Unfortunately, I never got my hands on the elusive GC title (I think it just hadn't come out yet, but I was young enough to not really understand "release dates").

Years pass, and I've finally gotten that glorious copy of the new Super Smash Bros that we all can assume I've been wanting this entire time simply based on my posting in a SSB thread! And, wouldn't you know it, there's a trophy of that adorable little 50's droid I thought was so awesome not three years earlier. Seeing a bio on both Chibi Robo and Telly Vision in SSB gave me the drive to do the impossible: go to the store and buy a copy of the game. At long last, I had it - the game my older brother talked so highly of! I played the heck out of that game, enjoying every second of it. The amount of time my friends and I dedicated to that game solidified it as a classic. AND THEN, I found out about Park Patrol. And I bought it. And I loved it.

Many more years pass, and lo and behold, a new Chibi Robo is on the horizon - Photo Finder for 3DS! Hearing about the localization for this game not two months ago got me so excited that I grabbed it up as soon as I could. The series has always been so close to my little gaming heart, and to see its main character among the selection screen of SSB4 would be an absolute dream come true. Even if absolutely no one EXCEPT Chibi Robo made it in, it would make my childhood feel complete.

2) We think a certain character could bring something to the game.
Of course, as with all characters, an idea for Chibi Robo could be made by one person, and another by someone else, and yet another by Person #3, and even then Sakurai will come up with his own idea. That being said, I think that CR could play as a really fast-falling lightweight character, with the ability to plug himself into a wall socket at any time to power up his moves at the expense of mobility. He could also have a toothbrush/mop move that trips people, a mug shield that also keeps him from moving very fast, a Chibi Copter that allows him to float to safety, a spoon to simulate the Villager's shovel move, a water squirter a la FLUDD, and the list goes on. He has a nice move set pool, and the potential to have peculiar statistics for a character of his stature.

That's all I have to say about that.

 

[Mega Bidoof]

This is such a great thread! I cannot stress this enough.

This made me do some examining on why I actually like irrelevant and oscure characters, especially the ones I like the most (Fawful, Porky, Masked Link, Reggie, Rythym Wrestler & Reporter, Gooey & Rick, and Wart)

First off, I should probably say why I actually like irrelevant characters.
In my social life outside of the internet, I am rather unpopular and made fun of for being overweight and a Nintendo fan. I do have a few friends (including Dunsparce who is my best friend), but mostly everyone kind of ignores me altogether, and when they do acknowledge me, they usually call me names.

Do to my life being like this, I feel the sympathy for irrelevant characters that are automatically dismissed for Smash Bros. They are characters I can hold on to, and that in its history as a fictional character, has gone through what I go through at school.

It is also worth mentioning that the people that I am friends with say that I am very creative, and good at creativity-using things like drawing or creator writing.
This has a connection to characters like Porky and Fawful. They are forgotten and irrelevant, despite them being unique from others and can offer something different from everyone else.

I just hope that all these characters get the chance they deserve as characters, and not as their popularity.

Don't worry about me though, I honestly don't give two about what this morons say about me! I am Mega Bidoof, King of Obscurity!
What they say about me isn't a true fact, so why should I care?

I guess I'll do a more in-depth analysis on the charcters I want the most later on.