Can there be? Sure. Will there be? That's a different question. I think there will be, but I don't expect Sakurai to be part of it. Of course, that's entirely his choice. Whatever the case may be, from what I've heard, there was one of two choices to be made for SSBU. Start over or continue from the pre-existing model. The latter occurred. This means the next SSB will have a reduced roster, which I'm all for. I have several concerns, though.
- Will one series be over-represented?
- Will most of the roster consist of a protagonist and antagonist?
It's clear that the current roster over-represents the Mario, Pokémon, and Fire Emblem franchises. The Legend of Zelda is moving up on that list as well. Consider the following.
Mario: (13)
Pokémon: (6+3)
Fire Emblem: ultcorrin:
(7)
Zelda: (6)
My opinion on reducing the roster, as well as how many characters should be represented per series is not popular, of course. Some might even complain that my list of Mario characters is exaggerated, since Donkey Kong, Wario, and Yoshi have their own games. It's not an exaggeration. Jumpman starred in Donkey Kong in 1981. Mario Bros. was released in 1983. Mario is technically part of the Donkey Kong series. He may have branched off, but he's still part of that series. Yoshi first debuted in Super Mario World. Wario first debuted in Super Mario Land 2: Six Golden Coins. I would know. I have those games and played them as a child. (I still have that clunky hand-held device called the Game Boy).
Reducing the Mario series so that Yoshi, Wario, and Donkey Kong weren't part of it, you'd still have 8 characters, which is still more than the other franchises listed below it. I don't know the validity, but I heard that if there is another SSB, it'll have only a third of the roster. This is why I'm concerned. Will most of that roster consist mostly of Mario characters? This would be completely unfair to other popular series', and it'd be detrimental to the series itself. It'd essentially be another Super Mario game, which could be dubbed "Super Mario Fighters" by that point. If the roster is reduced to a third of its current size (73), then the roster I'd hope for would look something like this, assuming the maximum representation was 3.
Pokémon
I know Pikachu is popular, as is Mewtwo, which is why I have it listed that way. The truth of the matter is that you cannot introduce every Pokémon into SSB without having a massive roster. Mewtwo is described as cold, vicious, and savage, so ignoring the first Pokémon movie where he becomes a softie, I thought it'd still make sense for Mewtwo to remain, since he could be a representative of an antagonist. This mean any Pokémon aside from Pikachu could be a protagonist.
F-Zero
Captain Falcon has been under-represented for a very long time. There isn't any other character from his series, so if I could add an antagonist, I'd probably go with Black Shadow. That, or unfortunately cut him from the roster, since there hasn't been an F-Zero game since 2003.
Mother
As for the Mother series, I doubt we'd get Giygas, and Porky Minch has been in both Mother 2 and 3. He could be an antagonist. Or, just like F-Zero, the characters could be removed.
Fire Emblem
So, people have complained about how the Fire Emblem roster only has sword characters. Marth is the first protagonist of the Fire Emblem series, but why not also introduce Jagen, who guides Marth? Not to mention, from the picture of Jagen, he wields a spear. Then there's the antagonist Medeus.
Kid Icarus
I was thinking that instead of Dark Pit, Medusa or Hades could be added as an antagonist.
Pikmin
Plasm Wraith could be introduced as an antagonist. I'm not sure what Alph does that's different from Olimar, and if there isn't anything too different, then he could remain as a color palette.
Splatoon
Octolings are enemies of Inklings, so why not introduce an Octoling?
Having said all that, my roster would have 35 characters total, not including new characters who could be added, either by unlocking them or receiving them from DLC. I can do without DLC. If the roster was to be kept at 40 characters minimum, then 5 additional characters could be added. Of course, my roster would have already included 8 new characters.