Smashboards

I don’t know if it was a joke or not, but I remember seeing a devil may cry fan actually argue that dante getting a mii costume meant sakurai hates him and doesn’t care about his fans. Judging by how seriously he argued his point and even defended it a bit, I think he wasn’t joking.

Smash speculation culture is basically just a bunch of hypebeasts who don't care about anything other than everybody being hyped - except the "haters" and "mad hoes", who get "dabbed on". Nuanced discussion and criticism, especially towards ideas proposed by other fans, are frowned upon unless the solution suggested fuels the hype train. The real world equivalent would be noisy neighbours who play loud music all night.

I can see Shantae being a Mii Costume is a plus for the fans. Which can be a good stepping stone if another Smash title is announced years later. King K Rool and Inkling did have that Treatment from Smash 4 to Ultimate's base roster.