I'm not going to talk about Geno. I love the character, I think he'd be cool...but he's not going to happen, even if he WAS owned by Nintendo because he's relatively obscure. I know I'm one to be all about "muh gameplay and muh uniqueness", but there are other factors aside from them.
ANYWAY...after some thinking, I'm actually really surprised at my Smash hopefuls outside of veterans. I want Snake (real bad) but if Kojima leaves Konami, we're going to have a baaaaaaad time imo. BUT...here are some ideas I have for future Smash characters, whether DLC or otherwise.
1) Inkling- Stage control/trap moveset, using ink to cover the stage. Attacks can make enemies slip on the stage, and Inklings can essentially change classes with custom movesets. Attacks consist of projectiles, paint roller, and different weapons from Splatoon! I have high hopes for Splatoon doing well, and I think if it gets a sequel before the next Smash, we're looking at one of the most hyped newcomers for the next wave of characters.
2) Tom Nook or Isabelle- Personally, Tom Nook sounds hilarious with my idea applied to him (smacking people with a sack of money), but I can also see Isabelle being made playable because of her newfound prominent role in Animal Crossing. She could use a furniture pushing mechanic (as could Nook), and while I'm in the developing stage for coming up with a moveset for her, I think she's got a good shot for the next Smash (unless they add AT characters as DLC, which I doubt)
3) Captain Toad- I wasn't a big fan of him at first, but the ideas that his moveset could consist of are actually kinda cool. Some sort of gem collecting mechanic that would alter his weight sounds interesting. The mechanic would result in him being so heavy he can hardly jump, or light to the point where he has AT LEAST decent jumping ability. Stays true to the character of a Toad, but mixes in some Olimar with the concept of throwing gems to lose weight.
...thought I'd have more before I started. I'll add more later
As I said earlier, I'm usually about uniqueness and that is evident here. However, these are qualities that I think are important for character selection.
1) Sales....eh. This is my least favorite quality because it KINDA eliminates some cool new ideas (see: Wonder Red). I get that Smash Bros. is a game that takes quality Nintendo characters, but the roster selection at this point is pretty much running dry no matter how you slice it. You already have a tremendous amount of popular choices among several franchises that have been very successful.
2) Uniqueness. When you have a newcomer pool that doesn't have nearly as many sales across their series as previous iterations of Smash have had, you need to look at characters that make sense and that have great potential in Smash. Few characters (if any) play the same in Smash. Even the clones play differently from their base (except for Dark Pit). Newcomers via DLC should be prime examples of this.
3) Relevance. Ah, the much hated quality. I think it's important. It just doesn't apply to everyone. Retro characters luck out. Otherwise, it likely has something to do with character choice. If you look at the Smash 4 newcomers (















), a good chunk of them had a recent game in their series, or had reason to be considered "relevant". To save room, I'm going to put my explanation in spoilers.
This isn't to say that EVERY FREAKING CHARACTER FROM HERE ON OUT is going to be hit with a relevance check. It's that each of the newcomers in Smash 4 (except for clones) has some form of relevance. They aren't going to just throw in any character. It also suggests that "relevancy" isn't the only reason why characters get added. Basically the entirety of the newcomer lists have unique playstyles and movesets. Some are in high selling series, others aren't. It's a mixed bag.
Now, I am not trying to be the guy that says, "K.ROOL ISN'T RELEVANT LULZOR. DIXIE IS MORE RELEVANT AND SHE'S A SHOE IN". What I'm saying is that...being relevant is nothing but something in a characters favor. It doesn't confirm them and it doesn't disconfirm them. But it is a plus. It's never a minus.
That's another reason why I don't think Roy (FE) will be back unless they add him via a Veteran DLC pack.
Man. I went off on a tangent. Sorry
