Scenario Roster (Now Includes Game #2)

[BindingBlade]

The year is 2013. The "Super Smash Bros." series never existed...yet.

The Wii U is struggling and Nintendo needs a killer app to bring sales up. A brilliant idea occurs to them. "Why don't we mix all of our characters up into a fighting game? It could be called Nintendo Smash! No, wait, Super Smash Brothers!"

The first game in the series is a Wii U exclusive and has 16 playable characters. Why are some characters in and when are they revealed? Feel free to indulge to put your roster to life. Mine is below...

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The year is 2017. Nintendo has announced it's new console/handheld hybrid. Guess what? It is confirmed for launch with the system! There will be 32 characters this time! Why the big jump? Well, it might have to do with Nintendo recently acquiring Capcom...
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June 9th, 2013
Character reveals: Mario, Link, Kirby, Pit
The game is revealed on June 9th with four solid characters. The release date is November 22, 2013 worldwide, except Australia has to wait until November 25, 2013 . Mario is included because he has a large role in the Super Mario series, which is Nintendo's largest series. Link and Kirby are included for the same reasons. Pit is the main character in the Kid Icarus series, which recently has been revived.

July 16th, 2013
Character reveal: Robin
A random reveal of character, Robin represents the Fire Emblem series as a female. She was included because she is the avatar of Fire Emblem: Awakening, and new fans will recognize her. She has a male alternate outfit.

August 6th, 2013
Character reveal: Samus
To celebrate the 27th anniversary of Metroid, Samus has been revealed. She was included for being the main character of a large Nintendo series. She has a Dark Samus alternate outfit.

September 27th, 2013
Character reveal: Shulk
Shulk is randomly revealed on this date, and the first reveal to be in a worldwide Nintendo Direct. His inclusion is to promote the upcoming Wii U game "X" and to further cement him as a Nintendo character.

October 12th, 2013
Character reveal: Pikachu
Pikachu is revealed in conjunction to the worldwide release of Pokemon X and Y, and he is included for being the Pokemon mascot.

November 14th, 2013
Character reveal: Yoshi
Random reveal. Yoshi is included for obvious reasons, being a major Nintendo mascot and having a series are a few of them.

November 22nd, 2013
Character reveals: Bowser, Zelda, Lucario, Donkey Kong, Captain Charlie, Tom Nook, Wario
The seven unmentioned characters are 7/8ths of the unlockables. Captain Charlie is in it to represent Pikmin and promote Pikmin 3. Bowser, Donkey Kong, Zelda, and Wario are major characters. Lucario has had a surge in popularity and is a significant Pokemon. Tom Nook represents Animal Crossing and promotes New Leaf. That's about it.

Starting Roster

Full Roster

 

[Megadoomer]

This is an interesting topic - I've been thinking about what this sort of thing would be like for a while, though I limited myself to twelve characters.

I won't necessarily go into detail about when they'd be revealed, but the starters would probably be representatives of the eight series shown at the start of the E3 2013 trailer (Mario, Zelda, Metroid, Kirby, Star Fox, Donkey Kong, Kid Icarus, Pokemon). The reasoning should be rather apparent - they're eight of the biggest series that Nintendo has to offer.

-Mario
-Link
-Samus
-Kirby
-Fox
-Donkey Kong
-Pit
-Pikachu

As far as unlockables, I'd assume that there wouldn't be third-party characters (since Smash Bros. wouldn't have been seen as the money-maker that it is). Still, assuming that other franchises still have overseas presence without Smash Bros. to boost their exposure...

-Marth - Fire Emblem has quite a lot of instalments, and it's remarkably different from the other series represented in Smash Bros. Plus, he's the protagonist of the first one, so he'd likely take priority
-Ness - Earthbound has quite the cult following, and the Wii U Virtual Console release would show that it's still popular to this day
-Olimar - while Pikmin's a relatively new series, it's still fresh in the public's memory thanks to Pikmin 3. However, since Olimar was the main character of two games, I'd think he'd take priority over the Pikmin 3 captains
-Little Mac - a classic NES franchise that was revived for the Wii, which is primarily focused on fighting. He'd appeal to fans of both old-school games and new ones.
-Luigi - can't have Mario without his player 2!
-Mewtwo - probably the second-most popular Pokemon (though I suppose that's debatable - Charizard's up there)
-Shulk - the protagonist of a new series that was so popular that people were petitioning to get it brought overseas, as well as selling well enough to get a sequel
-Villager - aside from the popularity of Animal Crossing, he would make a good "joke"/quirky character with his unconventional moveset

They probably wouldn't add villains until the second one, is what I'd think. I only gave Mario and Pokemon second characters because of the sheer number of characters that both series have. If Zelda was going to get more characters, I'd think that Zelda and Ganondorf would get in at the same time to complete the Triforce trio, so they'd be saved for the sequel.

 

[Depressed Gengar]

Seems interesting. I'll be sure to update this post later, since otherwise writing this (err... typing it?) would take a while. But first:
E3:
A small trailer revealing the top 4 (Mario, Pikachu, Link, and DK) and two stages (Battlefield and Good Egg Galaxy). A demo is also playable.
June 26th:
To celebrate the US release date anniversary of Kirby 64, Kirby himself is revealed, along with an unrelated new stage (Victory Road) and two items (Smash Ball and Mushroom).
August 6th:
To celebrate the Japan release date anniversary of Metroid, Samus is revealed, along with a bit more information about Smash Balls.
September 18th:
Just for the sake of hype, Yoshi is revealed with a new, unrelated stage (Skyloft).
November 23rd:
Another reveal for hype, Fox is shown off with two unrelated stages (Jungle Japes and Green Greens).
December 25th:
It is revealed no more characters will be announced for a while. To make up for this, they reveal two new stages (Skytown and Yoshi's Island) and three items (Pokè Ball, Bunny Hood, and Life Balloon).
January 31st:
The next character is hinted at, being called "big and burly", and a new stage is revealed (Corneria).
March 8th:
The reason why no more characters have been announced is revealed: it is because the rest are unlockables and they don't want to ruin the surprise yet. They then reveal a release date: August 20th.
April 29th:
Nintendo reveals "Classic Mode" and that there will be a demo at this year's E3. They then hint at the next character again, saying he might be at E3.
May 17th:
Nintendo reveals "All-Star Mode", which will be unlocked when all characters are unlocked. They then reveal a new item (Screw Attack).
2nd E3:
The demo has all characters, stages, and items revealed thus far. After the first person finishes a match, the "Challenger Approaching!" sign appears. The player then fights Bowser at Bowser's Castle, revealing both the character and stage.
July 20th:
A trailer is released, showcasing the characters announced thus far. After a bit into the trailer, Lucario is introduced, followed by some of his gameplay and the introduction of a new stage (Mt. Coronet).
August 20th:
The game is released.
August 23rd:
Zelda is revealed on the dojo.
August 24th:
Diddy Kong is revealed on the dojo.
August 25th:
King Dedede is revealed on the dojo.