- If Mii Swordfighter is presumably the stand-in for Erdrick/"Brave," then where is the stand-in (say, Marth or Bayonetta) for Joker?
I played around with the Mii Swordfighter in the game's Training mode.
They're a rather fast character to play with. They aren't Sonic-levels of fast, but he can get from one side of Final Destination to the other quickly. Given Joker's stats (before the slot's removal) had his parameters set so that he's pretty fast (his run speed is 2.21, for context Sonic's run speed is 3.85), I would say
it's a possibility that Mii Swordfighter is being used as a stand-in for Joker, not Erdrick/'Brave". I don't believe we
knew who was being used as a base for Joker when we found his slot so now
there's 2 characters being used as bases for 2 deleted slots.
That would also imply the following:
i)
Duck Hunt being the stand-in for Brave, meaning Banjo is the character reserved for that slot.
ii)
If Erdrick is confirmed to be a thing, he is not the "Brave" slot like everyone is currently claiming it to be.
- If we assume this is true, why does Bowser Jr. not crash All-Star mode since he was the basis for Piranha Plant?
I can only guess that it's due to Bowser Jr. being cleaned up after being used as a base for Piranha Plant. Given Duck Hunt and Mii Swordfighter are causing corruptions in the same exact update that removes the slots for Joker and "Brave", Nintendo more than likely lazily wiped the slots due to dataminers without fully cleaning it up. There
could be something in the code for both of them that refer to the deleted slots and since the slots no longer exist, the game has no clue what to do. We
just don't know what specifically causes them to crash at the moment.
- Why wouldn't Banjo's base use someone like Mario or Fox, who are much closer in size and proportions to Banjo? Why wouldn't Duck Hunt instead point to a quadruped like Amaterasu?
If we are assuming Banjo's stand-in is Duck Hunt for being developed, it would
not be due to size or proportions. It would be
due to the similarities in concept between the characters. Duck Hunt revolves around two characters, a mammal and a bird, working together under one entity/moveset. This is unlike Ice Climbers or Rosalina & Luma, where the two characters work together under two entities.
Since they work together under one moveset + a mammal and bird combo, it makes perfect sense to base Banjo off of Duck Hunt for those reasons alone.
I hoped I have solved any hangups you were having surrounding the "Duck Hunt = base for Banjo" theory that's popped up here as of recent.
My opinion on the matter is that this is a very plausible theory.
As if the parameters for "Brave" weren't enough to be weary of, this is a huge red flag for me. Given how the DLC release cycle is looking at the moment, I'm expecting Joker to be a late March/early April release with "Brave" being right in time for E3. "Brave" being Banjo would fit perfectly with this if my predictions happen to be correct.
We
could be looking at a situation like the old meaning, "The question is
not if,
but when". Not if they're in as DLC, but when will they be shown as DLC?
Let's hope.
