Okay...fair warning, this'll probably be a wall of text.
Most Wanted
5. Krystal
So the Star Fox franchise has been in limbo for years now, enough that some people are questioning whether its three reps from Brawl will all make it this time around. Since the roster was more or less figured out early in development, almost two years ago, the odds of a new character making it in is close to zero...on the
initial roster. As DLC, though, there's a decent chance if one of its characters is relevant in the new game coming out next year.
If everyone's favorite--or least favorite--blue vixen ends up being important in the new game, then hey, why not? More female characters is always a good thing, and if she uses her staff in some way, she'd be very easy to build a unique moveset around. There's potential for her to be Smash's first speedy spellcaster, and if she uses both her staff and other weapons from the main Star Fox games, she'd have a blend of magic and technology no other character could offer.
...And for those who would play the furbait card, can we not persecute a character for all the Rule 34 drawn of them? It's not like the designers chose to have it happen, and we'd have to do the same for a whole lot more characters on these lists...
4. King K. Rool
The Mad King of Crocodile Isle hasn't done much of anything in recent years. His latest appearance was in spinoff game Mario Super Sluggers. He's hardly relevant at all any more, right?
Tell that to to the fans, to the 10,000-post-long thread here on Smashboards, and to the developers who put Kremlings in Smash Run and may or may not have put Chunky Kong in as an Assist Trophy.
The moveset potential with K. Rool is huge, able to pull from his compulsive need to change his gimmick every game. He's played the roles of conqueror, pirate, mad scientist, and Bond villain, among others. He'd also be another villain to add to the roster, and another super-heavyweight, maybe even the heaviest in the game. He'd fill the niche of slow but heavy powerhouse that Bowser left when he gained some mobility. And considering his heyday was in the 90s and his last major role was in Donkey Kong 64, he'd even be a throwback character in a way.
3. Geno
I fully admit he's a
massive long shot. We've heard nothing about Square Enix getting contacted, and the odds of them letting Nintendo use a lesser known character from a cult classic over a more well known one is...
unlikely. His only chance would be if Nintendo somehow buys the rights to Super Mario RPG and its characters. But wouldn't it be freaking awesome to see him again?
To anyone who doesn't get Geno's popularity: he's the Mario-verse equivalent of
an angel possessing an action figure.
Even beyond appeal, there'd be a lot going for him. He'd be another spellcaster in a game with few of them, and his specials could come straight from the ones in SMRPG. If they wanted to get really creative, they could even give him action commands as a nod to being from the game that built on the idea of action commands in RPGs. Have him fire his fist out like a rocket as his f-air...and if you press A right when it hits an opponent, it does extra damage.
2. Shulk
I've been one of the unlucky ones who hasn't played Xenoblade Chronicles yet. I blame it on me being broke. >_> I've only just started seeing the game through Chugga's LP, and I can already see why everyone loves it. They traded high-end graphics for a huge, immersive world with a load of content, and the characters are easy to sympathize with, especially tech geek Shulk.
Even when I only knew a little about Xenoblade, though, I liked the idea of Shulk getting in. Yes, he's another swordsman, but he'd be the first rep from a fully traditional Eastern RPG, and thanks to all of the arts he learns in the game plus the Monado's powers, his moveset would practically write itself. Xenoblade Chronicles puts some focus on your location relative to your opponent, so a few moves that had extra effects if Shulk was behind, above, or below his target would make him even more unique and interesting.
Not to mention how much of a massive victory it'd be for Operation Rainfall, to see a character in SSB4 that may have only made it because their movement to get his game released worldwide made his popularity skyrocket.
I think there's a lot of valid skepticism over the Gematsu leak, but if there's one part of it I hope is true, it's Shulk making it in.
1. Robin
Speaking of the leak...
I'm not sold on it 100%. The info has been few and far between, and we have reason to believe it's incomplete. We've heard that characters are "still being discussed", and I've wondered if Chrom wasn't originally shelved for late in development
for a reason. We also have reason to believe the source's information was
outdated, meaning that things could've changed since they obtained that information.
Some things could've been changed since then. Characters that initially seemed like good ideas might've been scrapped like Brawl's Forbidden Seven. The trio of Chorus Men might've had to be cut if they couldn't get the two-character Ice Climbers to work properly. So who's to say Chrom might not've been benched for another Awakening character?
Robin would represent aspects of Fire Emblem that Marth and Ike don't and Chrom wouldn't, as a combat strategist who can use swords and magic with equal proficiency. Despite Chrom getting focus on the game's cover, Robin is just as important in the story, and even ranked in the top 5 of a prominent Japanese FEA character poll. Purportedly, Intelligent Systems likes Robin more than Chrom, and Sakurai is actually
quite the Fire Emblem fan. Not even having both male and female versions would be a problem, since the Wii Fit Trainer and Villager already have alternate costumes that cover both genders. They could even pull more from the Villager's vastly different alternate colors and have each of Robin's change up his/her hairstyle, hair color, and facial markings to use some of the many ways players can customize his/her appearance in Awakening.
Overall, I think there's still a chance. Robin may very well get the nod over Chrom, like how Leif was replaced with Roy late in Melee's development. Maybe by some fluke, Chrom and Robin would
both make it. And that's not even getting into character DLC.
There's still plenty of time for the scales to be tipped.
Least Wanted
5. Jigglypuff
I have nothing against the singing balloon-monster...I just think her time is past. Pokemon's characters need to represent its entire span, not just its first generation, and if her and Mewtwo are both in, it'd mean 2/3 of their characters were from Gen 1. Whereas Mewtwo is relevant again thanks to being a bonus boss in X/Y and having obtained
two Mega forms, Jiggs...doesn't have much going for her besides the new Fairy type that several other older mons also gained. Her moveset felt increasingly bland in Brawl, focusing more on her roundness and aerial mobility (you know, to go with that blazing 20 base Speed in the games), the latter of which wasn't all that unique any more. At this point, I'd rather just see Mewtwo take her spot.
That said, the reason I was initially against Little Mac, Pac-Man, and the Mii Fighters was I was concerned their movesets would be generic as hell, and the developers did a really good job making them anything but. If Jigglypuff
does come back, I really hope her moveset gets overhauled like Pit's and Bowser's, to use more sound-based and Fairy type moves.
4. Chrom
The reason I dislike Chrom is the same as the reason I'm hoping Robin makes it: uniqueness and representation of the franchise as a whole. Chrom is alright as far as personality goes and all...but how much would he have to offer that wouldn't feel too much like Marth or Ike? The developers have put so much of a focus on unique newcomers so far...but wouldn't they run into a problem when Chrom would lean so much toward feeling like a half-clone of Marth or Ike?
3. Roy
I just...I don't understand the appeal with Roy. Even if they tried to de-clone him, they'd have the same problems with being yet another swordsman with similar techniques to the other FE reps that Chrom would have...while also not being relevant any more. I mean, he isn't even well liked by fans of
his own game. It seems like most of his support comes out of nostalgia for Melee, and...I just don't get it. He may have been part of the Forbidden Seven, but there are other, subjectively more worthy Fire Emblem characters now.
2. Young Link, Pichu, Dr. Mario, and other full clones
And I understand this even less. Where's the appeal in a character who is near-exactly like an existing one? What would they bring to the table that a wholly new character can't? I feel like they were cut from Brawl (or in Young Link's case, replaced by a different incarnation of Link from a different timeline with a wholly different playstyle) for a good reason.
And the Doc could end up as Mario's alternate costume, anyway.
1. Non-Video Game Characters/Characters That Haven't Been on a Nintendo System
Cloud. Goku. Naruto. What-have-you.
I guess this is mostly irrational hatred than anything. I mean, none of these characters would ever make it anyway since they don't meet the criteria for being third party candidates. But for some reason I can't stand it when some people insist of how "awesome" and "so much better" they'd be than the characters that
do make it in.
I dunno. Maybe it's because it feels like they're disregarding Nintendo's requests. Feels...ignorant in a way, I guess.
There we go. I can't say it's a perfect analysis, and I can't say I won't accidentally piss anyone off because I have a problem with doing that, but those are the five characters I want to see the most and the five characters and character types I could care less for. Thoughts?
), and with Snake on vacation, he's the man for the job. Sure, Bomberman's approach is less subtle than Snake's and is more akin to Bill Rizer running through an alien facility with a spread gun on full alert, but you can't deny his iconic nature.
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