Shovel Knight talk, huh? Okay, let me ride the train and detail my thoughts about the idea.
I remember about the Shovel Knight craze late 2014 and to an extent early 2015, and I even saw him mentioned sometimes as a Smash choice but not often at all. Then after the ballot's reveal the character started to be mentioned much more often and I was clueless about this, "Why this character who was rarely mentioned before gets so much attention right now?" though the character quickly lost momentum as a ballot choice, at least from what I've observed. Then with the recent events the SK craze started again due to some news about him (DLC for his game and amiibo). At this point yeah he's not a nobody anymore and having crossovers with other series kind of became one of his gimmicks (for what I know there's the Kratos and Battletoad cameo in PS4 and XB1 respectively and an appearance in Runbow and Bloodstained).
Though that doesn't mean I'm perfectly fine with Shovel Knight as a Smash choice, actually I'd be very iffy about his inclusion, and downright upset if he's the only ballot character. I have high standards for third-party characters in Smash; I don't want them in just because they'd have a unique moveset. Third-parties don't fulfill the basic requirement of being Nintendo characters, which means their presence must add to Smash a unique awesomeness Nintendo characters aren't going to deliver to be worth it, and their inclusion is always very special. For example, consider this:
- Snake's appeal in Brawl is based on how different he his from the rest of the cast: implementing a non-Nintendo character who comes from a series specifically aimed at "mature" audiences and must be adapted to the Smash format without using his primary weapons (guns) probably was a challenge from Sakurai's perspective, and it ended up into a character who is unique not just by his moveset and playstyle, but for the philosophy behind his inclusion in Smash as a fighter.
- Now consider Mega Man. I'm mentioning here after Snake for one main reason - as a guest character he's basically the anti-Snake. In other words, while Snake's appeal is based on how unfitting he his, Mega Man's appeal, on the exact contrary, is based on how fitting he his. He's a 2D platformer hero who helped solidifying Nintendo's fame during the now "retro" era and he has huge amount of different weapons at his disposal, now wonder why he's so fitting in a Smash environment. His moveset also represents a new design philosophy by making it very diversified among individual moves and fully inspired from weapons he uses in his games.
My problem with Shovel Knight and other indie 2D platformer heroes with "huge moveset potential" is that their appeal as guest characters kind of fades out when Mega Man pretty much already did what could be done with them when it comes to moveset design. Yes I know Mega Man can't use a shovel or magic relics, and I'm sure Shovel Knight would add a new and unique moveset to the game with a unique playstyle, but that's not the point. For comparison's sake it'd be like having both Snake and John Shepard in Smash - two characters from third-party series specifically aimed at "mature" audience and don't seem to fit well in Smash at first glance. It'd make them feel less special. (Of course I'm not saying Shepard is Smash material, just an example.)
Now ignoring the moveset he could have is Shovel Knight a good choice for a guest character in Smash? Honestly I'm not convinced. While he may be an indie icon who has a lot of success right now, I consider Smash to have higher standards for guests than being a craze at the current moment. As such imo adding Shovel Knight in Smash would feel more like a promotion of the character rather than an addition made to solidify Smash as what it is supposed to be. Guests being very rare and special addition to Smash is what makes them interesting in a game supposed to be a giant Nintendo crossover, and I personally don't feel like Shovel Knight has the caliber to do justice to what guests are supposed to be in Smash yet.
Those are my thoughts on the subject. I don't think Shovel Knight is anywhere near being an ideal choice as a fighter in Smash, but considering how much momentum he gained since last year I would understand it if he was chosen for playable DLC even though it'd be a choice I'd disagree with. I think I could get over it if we don't get more third-parties after him and we still get actual Nintendo characters thanks to the ballot.
And besides, just because you're "iconic" doesn't mean you're qualifiable for being a guest in Smash. That's why I gave up on supporting Rayman - after putting a lot of thought on him while ignoring my bias I've pretty much accepted that he wouldn't be that much special as a guest in Smash. As a childhood Rayman fan I'm really grateful about the trophies and I don't really feel like asking for more right now.
