Super Smash Bros. Ultimate may be out already, there's still speculation to be had with its lineup of DLC characters, and as with the base roster, Delzethin is continuing to offer up his predictions for likely picks, starting off with potential first-party characters.
Before starting up the list proper, Delzethin makes two important notes. First, his list is broken up into three categories - front-runners, plausible picks and conditional picks. Second, he lays down some ground rules.
- Timing matters. - While being from an older title doesn't disqualify a character from making it in, a recent release is typically a mark in their favor. However, the opposite can also be true - characters with upcoming major appearances might be passed over if the release date is too far out. The only exception to this is retro throwback characters, for obvious reasons.
- Keep potential in mind. - One of the biggest factors determining whether a character makes it in - especially in the later titles - is how much their source material gives the developers to work with when designing a moveset.
- It's not as simple as "representing." - The developers aren't focused on deciding which franchises are and aren't worthy, and more on which characters would make for interesting inclusions. On top of that, every Smash game has had multiple newcomers from the same franchise.
- Summons/Miis/Spirits are... complicated. - While multiple characters have gone from NPC roles to playable characters between games, it hasn't happened within a game's life span so far. That doesn't rule out the concept entirely, but we can't really trust that characters that appear in non-playable roles will make it in either. Of these characters, Spirits, those who had Mii costumes in Smash 4 and those who have standalone Mii headgear but no full Mii costume have the best odds of becoming full playable characters.
- "Promotion" picks? Well... - Sakurai may have said that Nintendo was heavily responsible for picking the Fighters Pass lineup, but that doesn't necessarily mean the chosen characters are all cynical marketing ploys.
- It's not a power struggle - Not everything has to have winners and losers.
Author's Note: Which first-party characters do you want to see as DLC? Which ones do you think are most likely? Do you agree or disagree with any of Delzethin's possible predictions?