I think one thing people often forget about the ballot was that fan rules weren't really questioned at the time like they are now - the results don't reflect current day Smash fandom. If Cloud was the first unique DLC instead of Ryu or made the base game I imagine the results would've been a lot different. Still dominated by Nintendo-associated characters mind you, but Chief, Kratos, and Sans certainly would've shot up at least. There was way more anti-PS and non-Rare-Xbox sentiment in Smash fandom at the time than now, to the point Kratos and Chief were outright considered jokes, and I don't think it really died down until SSBU's DLC.