I'm mostly going to make this a wishlist, but for this I'm going to explain how I see each character working in Smash.Alright, so, this may seem like a really obvious question to ask, but I wanted to just put this forward in a much more direct manner and see what ppl say.
Newcomers you think have a good shot for next game. Go.
- Waluigi: Let's be real, he might as well get in at this point. The joke ofhim being an AT and nothing else is just tired at this point, and I say this as someone who doesn't even massively support him compared to his other fans. Given how many spin-offs he's appeared in, there's a wide variety of movesets you could craft for him but, ideally, I see him pulling material from as many Mario sub-series he's appeared in as possible.
- Pauline: With how much Nintendo has been pushing her since the Switch era, I wouldn't be surprised if they pushed her for Smash, too. And for good reason; she was one of the three characters in the original Donkey Kong, one of the most culturally significant video games ever, and that same influence came back in Odyssey, where her popularity skyrocketed. For her hypothetical moveset, I could see her pulling from Odyssey, the original Donkey Kong, and (forgive me if I'm walking into a mine field) Mario vs. Donkey Kong.
- Dixie Kong: I dunno when DK's standalone series will be relevant again, but after the positive response to King K. Rool's return, I think it's pretty fair to give another DK character a shot. I went with Dixie Kong for the sake of having her as a Diddy Kong Echo with a few moves changed around (notably, blowing a bubblegum projectile as her neutral special and borrowing Donkey Kong's up special).
- Another Zelda rep: I don't care who, I don't care how they'd play, I'd gladly gut both Link clones for at least one new Zelda newcomer. And while we're at it, I concur when I say Ganondorf should be based on TotK as well.
- Raven Beak: MP4 be damned, Raven Beak is simply one of the best Nintendo villains in recent memory and a damn good final boss to boot. His boss battle alone provides tons of moveset potential, but we can also make him interesting by giving him an Aeion gauge that grants more powerful versions of his special moves.
- Bandana Waddle Dee: Just like with Waluigi, I say it's high time BWD finally makes his Smash debut, especially with Forgotten Land doing so well. That being said, I see him being a stance fighter who switches between his Spear (fast attacks that do low amounts on their own, but rack up damage in the blink of an eye) and his Parasol (slower, stronger attacks meant for finishing off opponents at the opportune moments).
- Alear: Now, I'm sure Engage has pretty much worn out its time in the limelight, but I wanted to at least humor Alear for a moment. At first, I had no clue how you could make the Engage mechanic work in Smash without it feeling ham-fisted, if that makes any sense, so I decided to watch a playthrough on YouTube. After watching the playthrough in full, Alear becoming the 13th Emblem near the end of the game was how I finally figured it out: as the 13th Emblem, Alear can Engage with any unit in the game. Ergo, for Smash, Alear's Engage Mode can have them summoning Alfred, Diamant, Timerra and Ivy during the Engage version of their specials.
- Noah & Mio: As they're both the main characters of Xenoblade Chronicles 3, I figure they both deserve a shot at being playable. The only question is how to translate XBC3's gameplay into Smash, but I do at least know that Noah could use the Arts of the Swordfighter, Medic Gunner and Heavy Guard classes, while Mio could use the Arts of the Zephyr, Tactician and Ogre classes.
- Ring Fit Trainee: Contrary to popular belief, Wii Fit and Ring Fit are two totally different games and so Ring Fit Trainee would not work as a Wii Fit Trainer Echo at all. That is all.
- Dr. Eggman: After Sephiroth, I figured Eggman is the next logical step for a video game villain as famous as he is. There are so many boss fights and other appearances you could base the moveset on, but my idea was to have him be another stance fighter. One stance would be Eggman in the Egg Mobile using gadgets from his various boss battles, and the other stance could be him on foot, summoning Badniks to do his dirty work.
- Chun-Li: Yet another culturally significant character, this time we're dealing with the self-proclaimed "Strongest Woman in the World". Her Smash moveset is practically tailor-made on paper, but I figured she could be specifically based on 3rd Strike with moves from other Street Fighter games sprinkled in for good measure.
- Rayman: After the Phantom Show DLC for Mario + Rabbids, I guess one could say there's still a Spark of Hope for Rayman to become relevant again. Eh? Eh? As for his moveset, Origins and Legends pretty much have the basic attacks written out for him.
- Geno
- The obligatory Pokemon
- Whatever FE character is currently relevant
- Crash Bandicoot
Trying to balance between punches and kicks while focusing on Copy Abilities can be bit tricky
Edit: I don't blame Sakurai for not having modern content from the Kirby series since he left HAL long time ago