Wii Fit Trainer has a recovery that's easily better than characters such as
![Charizard :4charizard: :4charizard:](data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7)
and
![Palutena :4palutena: :4palutena:](data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7)
. I've been able to kill more people while recovering as Wii Fit Trainer than they've been able to kill me. Her side-B gives a vertical boost and spikes at the head, and the ball can intercept opponents for a stage spike, or it can bounce off the stage and hit them from behind. And her up-B can rise at about Pikmen-less Olimar's speed, though it doesn't reach quite the same distance, and hers puts out a weak hitbox. Plus, she has a wall jump. Wii Fit Trainer is comfortable spending the entire game offstage, where she can charge her Sun Salutation, apply ranged pressure, stall her descent with side-B, or with down-B to get more kill power, mix up her recovery with a wall jump... I'd put her easily in B. She's definitely above
![Rosalina :rosalina: :rosalina:](data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7)
and
![Luigi :4luigi: :4luigi:](data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7)
, who have easily intercept-able recoveries. I'd put her somewhere above
![Fox :4fox: :4fox:](data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7)
, who has only two linear recovery options.
There's no way
![Diddy Kong :4diddy: :4diddy:](data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7)
should be with the likes of Captain Falcon and Roy though. His air-speed, his Side-B, his wall jump/cling, and his ability to instantly B-reverse his aerial momentum puts him far above them, and I'd argue his up-B is even harder to interrupt than theirs, since he can alter his trajectory during it. The lowest I'd be comfortable putting Diddy is D, but I like him better in C. All the D characters only have a double jump and a linear up-B, but Diddy simply has far more options.
![Olimar :4olimar: :4olimar:](data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7)
seems too high. Olimar's recovery has a lot going for it, but certain elements of his good recovery are mutually exclusive with one another. For example, he can toss all of his pikmin and recover very fast and very far, but he can no longer throw out a disjointed aerial before he lands. Or, he can keep at least one pikmin and use an aerial to contest an opponent while recovering, but only if he's above the edge of the stage, or else he'll fall to his death. Or he can mix up his up-B trajectory to throw the opponent off, but that means staying in his vulnerable recovery off-stage for a longer time, opening himself to another attack. Plus, his up-B lacks the horizontal versatility of, say, Jigglypuff or Wario, and he's openly vulnerable to attack the entire time he's recovering, unlike Lucario or Pac-Man. I'd drop him down to A, maybe B.
Other placements I'd like to question, but I'm not too sure about, are Mewtwo, Ness, Lucas, R.O.B., and Dedede.
![Mewtwo :4mewtwo: :4mewtwo:](data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7)
's would be excellent, with his wall-jump, shadow ball, ridiculous double jump, Side-B boost and a teleport, but his enormous hurtbox holds him back drastically, so he might be okay where he's at I suppose. Still, the sheer number of options he has makes me reconsider, especially given his pretty good defensive aerials and his invisible air dodge. I'd ask a dedicated Mewtwo main to chime in (assuming one exists).
![Ness :4ness: :4ness:](data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7)
has a ridiculous double jump, and even if he uses that, he can use his PK Thunder twice if he hits a wall. It can be intercepted, but attempting to intercept it has a good chance of getting you killed as well, so in high level play, most characters without versatile projectiles don't even try. I'd hesitate to raise him though, just because even if you die intercepting it, you're likely to shorten it enough to trade stocks.
![Lucas :4lucas: :4lucas:](data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7)
simply has amazing recovery. It doesn't disappear when it hits a player, and doesn't shorten dramatically if you hit someone during PKT2. Additionally, his goes practically twice the distance of Ness's, and can also be used twice by hitting a wall. Those along with the insane double jump and tether make him loads more difficult to gimp... but his PKT can still be absorbed or reflected, and Ness and Lucas both simply die if you hit them with a windbox in the middle of a recovery. So it's a tough call.
![R.O.B :4rob: :4rob:](data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7)
feels like he should be higher, since he can recover as far as Pikmin-less Olimar, while also being able to stall and act out of his recovery. Though he is held back with the speed of his recovery, his blind spots in the air, and his big hurtbox. Still, I don't think he'd be out of place a tier higher.
![King Dedede :4dedede: :4dedede:](data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7)
on the other hand seems a bit high on the list. People seem to underestimate his atrocious horizontal aerial mobility, and he's incredibly vulnerable before using his up-B. Plus, his vertical recovery is fast, but incredibly predictable, and it's deceptively easy to spike him out of it. And although he does have the option of recovering high, characters with lasting, disjointed or high-priority aerial moves can simply beat out his descending up-B. I'd slide him down to B, but I might be underestimating his ability to challenge foes with his aerials while recovering.
Thanks for starting this thread, it's a great way to discuss how the various elements of recovering interact! I like how subtler things such as defensive aerials are also included, which separate characters like R.O.B. (huge blind spots and slow-to-start aerials) from the Pits (who can safely challenge almost anyone in the air).