Interesting that Paper Maro has sparked more controversy than Shadow. I have a feeling that tomorrow will spark some serious controversy, though...
Oops. I concur. I'll fix that and proceed with more caution.
Of course! Just PM them to me.
I don't really accept nominations while you're away, but I'll take ratings for characters if you'd like me to do so.
Shadow the Hedgehog: 5%
Shadow has something going for him that few will admit: popularity. He's possibly the most popular Sonic character there is, and he's by far the most popular request for Smash Bros. Unfortunately, his popularity now is not quite as indicative of what it was a year ago; he was always a semi-common request, but it wasn't until after the character selection process ended and Miiverse was created that his support really came together. So I'm going to say he's a moderately strong terms of requests and say that if he were a Nintendo character, he'd definitely have been seriously considered.
Unfortunately, Shadow is not a Nintendo characters and that's where his rating plummets. Will they allow two third-party characters from the same series into the game? Would they consider his popularity worth going through the contracts for? Would they select him over Tails, a character that is more longstanding and important to the Sonic franchise?
I'd say that my 5% rating indicates that I think he does have a realistic chance (something few here seem to concur with), but it's a pretty small one. I'd be surprised if he made it in, and perhaps I'd even be shocked. However, I would not be truly flabbergasted.
Shadow the Hedgehog Want: 15%
I loved Shadow in SA2, which is possibly the last Sonic game I actually liked. He was a cool and "dark" character, and his story was actually very interesting to me, and he was deeper than a lot of characters in video games. For a time, he rivaled Knuckles and Sonic for the title of my favorite Sonic character!
...and then they decided to bring him back. Okay, cool. But do you really have to go through the same plot in amnesia mode for two games in a row? Really? Then slap him in Sonic '06, then... ugh. That's it. Just go read YoshiandToad's post; we agree on pretty much everything.
All in all, I do still like Shadow as a whole. However, I no longer like him so much that I want him in Smash Bros. I wouldn't outright hate it, though.
Paper Mario Chance: 5%
I've always been a bit low on him; his main saving grace is that he'd be a simple character to make because he's 2D and his animations aren't exactly technologically demanding. Even so, he's not a huge enough character to demand being playable and he does have competition with more "frequent" Mario characters like... well, Bowser Jr. is pretty much the only choice left, but I feel like he still has a much better shot. Paper Mario is a darkhorse candidate in a franchise that only has about a 35% chance of getting a newcomer.
Paper Mario Want: 10%
Same old story: I used to support him for Brawl; one of the first three characters I ever made a moveset for (the others being K. Rool and Little Mac); I love the Paper Mario games. However, I'm much less into him now because I'd rather see some important characters from other franchises (Ridley, K. Rool, Palutena) and some new franchises (Shulk, Dillon, etc.) get in before a Mario character, and even then I'd prefer Toad or Bowser Jr.
Aside: Although I pretty much gave up hope for Toad after seeing him as a move, I've been beginning to think that he has some sort of chance again for some reason. I'm not remotely expecting him, but I'm just tossing it out there incase if my recent hunch proves true and he's not as deconfirmed as we think.
Dillon x5
The day will end after I grab some dinner.