Official DLC Speculation Discussion Volume II

[True Blue Warrior]

Absolutely. I love everything about what they did with him. It really does feel like Tekken! He should be the blueprint for making slow characters viable in platform fighters.

I think should have super armour on his Smash attacks and his dash attacks as well as damage-based armour on his tilts.

 

[SMAASH! Puppy]

I think should have super armour on his Smash attacks and his dash attacks as well as damage-based armour on his tilts.

Just give him a win button. It's fine.

 

[Theguy123]

As far as the next game's first parties go:

• A Pokémon character is a guarantee. My guess is we'll be in Gen 9 going on Gen 10 at the time of the roster picks, so we'll get a Gen 10 starter (or perhaps if they're feeling spicy, a Gen 10 box legendary).
• A Ring Fit Adventure character is a solid contender due to its success. Since Ring & Ring Fit Trainee encapsulate the entirety of the game, they're pretty much guaranteed to be the pick here. Dragoux might appear later on down the line though.
• An Animal Crossing character I think is another super solid contender since they deemed it worthy of one before Animal Crossing: New Horizons, and said game did obscenely well. Tom Nook is the most likely candidate here.
• Astral Chain is less likely to get a character than the other series of similar caliber, but it's definitely possible. Obviously Officer Howard is the pick here.
• ARMS is a wildcard and it entirely depends on where the series goes from here if it goes at all. Due to the nature of the game, it could see a few semi-clones added in Spring Man, Ribbon Girl, and Ninjara assuming Min Min stays. The others not so much due to their very different builds or the fact that they're not as visible within the game's roster (I.E. They're DLC).
• I'd say a Splatoon character is also a guarantee be it the Octoling as a semi-clone, or something else as a more unique character. Heck it could even be both.
• Another wildcard would be something from Nintendo Labo. Since it shut down, it's reasonable to believe that Nintendo considers it a failure, so it's only real chance is as a "surprise" character. As for what this pick would be, I'd say it would be the Toy-Con Robot.
• The most relevant Xenoblade Chronicles game is likely to get a character as well. Who gets the slot? I dunno, some protagonist we don't know yet (assuming the Xenoblade Chronicles X dream is dead).
• The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild's trilogy might finally give the series enough popularity to warrant a character in Nintendo's eyes, but I don't think said character would come from said trilogy. Instead it will likely be someone relevant to the game that comes after The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild's sequel.
• If the Super Mario series gets a character it will likely be Pauline. It's chances are pretty good too since...well it's Super Mario.
• If Metroid Dread and Metroid Prime 4 successfully revive the series, I could see it getting one more character.
• Unless I missed something, the rest of Nintendo's IPs range from dark horses like Kirby to incalculable "surprise pick" wildcards like ExciteBiker, to just...they're not getting a(nother) character. This of course, doesn't account for the Switch's future titles that we don't know about yet.

doubt the next mario character is gonna be Pauline. She doesn’t have any moves to use. It’s most likely to be captain toad, king boo, gooigi or E gadd.

 

[True Blue Warrior]

Just give him a win button. It's fine.

Give us Ice Climbers-style King Dededes with Armoured Multi Jumps, Float, Melee Marth Grab Range, Aura, Luma, Power Meter, Limit Gauge, Ink Attacks, Revenge, Rebellion Gauge, Critical Hits, Super Special Moves, Min Min's Range, One Winged Angel, Foresight and Kazuya's Rage.

 

[subterrestrial]

Are you happy with the way was implemented in Smash?

god no, mans is broken with true 0-death combos on every character + a comeback mechanic AND the strongest reflector in the entire game by far

tf is this powercreep

 

[Sucumbio]

So super Mario Odyssey characters and Pauline is an og... That could work I guess. Never played odyssey tho and I'm assuming there's other cast members but her being in several games now like the Mario vs DK series I think she could get in... Not sure what her moves would be. Maybe she'd type stuff or pass legislation against you.

 

[Idon]

god no, mans is broken with true 0-death combos on every character + a comeback mechanic AND the strongest reflector in the entire game by far

tf is this powercreep

0 to deaths which are extremely difficult to do even for professional Kazuya specialists, a comeback mechanic that relies on landing a command grab and also can be knocked out of, and a reflector that is almost impossible to use feasibly.

He's powerful in the right hands, no doubt but comparatively speaking he's certainly not a better character than Joker or Pyra/Mythra whom are both easier to use and more flexible in their playstyles.

 

[Þe 1 → Way]

I honestly think if the Base Roster wasn’t so small we’d have characters like Waluigi and Isaac by now. Since Sakurais goal with Ultimate was to pack in as much fan service as possible, I find it hard to believe massively requested characters like them weren’t at least on Sakurais mind for the roster when designing the game.

I wonder what alternate timeline versions of Ultimate are.

 

[Trevenant]

AND the strongest reflector in the entire game by far

tf is this powercreep

People should consider the reflector is actually really committal to throw out as you literally need to dash towards your opponent. I've been seeing a surprising number of people say it's busted when it really isn't. If they were gonna add a reflector on the move to begin with, which they obviously were, then there would have needed to be some kind of incentive to actually use it as it's really committal to throw out. Not gonna open the can of worms that is individual balancing of Kazuya as a whole but I will say he's got what is probably one of the worse disadvantage states in the game and has trouble getting into advantage due to his slow speed so high risk, high reward is the best way to sum up Kazuya. Not some "Omg he's BROKEN because i say this when every new dlc fighter releases" or weak because of his bad frame data, just high risk, high reward. The comeback mechanic definitely helps him get out of disadvantage but it seems kind of trivial to give Kazuya an additional incentive from disadvantage when all the older characters have to rely solely on the baseline design traits they've had from melee and brawl onward.

 

[Verde Coeden Scalesworth]

So super Mario Odyssey characters and Pauline is an og... That could work I guess. Never played odyssey tho and I'm assuming there's other cast members but her being in several games now like the Mario vs DK series I think she could get in... Not sure what her moves would be. Maybe she'd type stuff or pass legislation against you.

She's a Donkey Kong series character who got a new role in a Super Mario game, basically. And like various DK characters, she's starting to appear in the Mario Sports/Kart titles, which does tend to happen for characters who get revived, anyway.

Overall, there's not much from Odyssey to really work with for her, but there's stuff from Donkey Kong(Arcade) and Mario VS DK that could be worked with that at least relate closer to her. An issue is that she herself does actually very little on her own. She also has a Microphone, though that doesn't give her a clear moveset. Being a representation of the Arcade saga might work well, at least. Her being a summoner character is one possible way to do things, though unlike Pikmin & Olimar, she'd be more literally summoning while not much attacking herself for this to work decently. Remember Dedede's old Down Special, where he summons a Waddle Dee, Waddle Doo, or later, a Gordo? This kind of thing makes for an interesting focus. In a sense, Bowser Jr. does play like this, using summon-like jabs for various moves, so you could also look at that for a similar enough concept. If you combine both things, you get the idea I'm going for here.

I don't think she's likely, though. Besides it being hard to imagine her suddenly summoning her old enemies, she hasn't made that much of a splash or got massive demand either. Though to be fair, there's only a small amount of notable Mario characters who would be normally looked into; Toad, Captain Toad, Paper Mario, Waluigi, King Boo, Gooigi(as an Echo), and that's kind of the big list right now. Pauline is worth noting(albeit, she's still a DK character from the start, but yeah), much like E. Gadd is, but she's not on the big toppers right now.

 

[Idon]

I honestly think if the Base Roster wasn’t so small we’d have characters like Waluigi and Isaac by now. Since Sakurais goal with Ultimate was to pack in as much fan service as possible, I find it hard to believe massively requested characters like them weren’t at least on Sakurais mind for the roster when designing the game.

I wonder what alternate timeline versions of Ultimate are.

That's precisely it. Smash Ultimate wanted as much fan-service as possible and there's nothing more fan-servicey than including every character of every previous Smash Bros iteration. By including every character thus far, that limited their newcomer selection heavily which is why our base newcomers (ignore Bayonetta and Richter) are:

6 very obvious characters.
Assuming Inkling, Isabelle, and the new Pokemon were obligatory, along with the historic 3rd party, that left only 2 long-standing requests.
Ridley and K Rool of course being the obvious picks.

 

[Shroob]

The unfortunate thing is that Fire Emblem basically is a shoo in for the next game because Nintendo wants Smash to be an advertisment for Fire Emblem, so they're gonna keep making Sakurai add FE characters to Smash just so people care about it, even if it's against Sakurai's wishes.

That's the problem with Nintendo choosing the DLC. Sure we've had some cool characters, sure a lot of them are unexpected, but they don't care about what people want, only what makes financial sense or they can advertise, which sucks because Smash is a celebration of gaming, it's meant to compile huge gaming characters from all different types of games, not serve as an advertisement for Nintendo.

Smash has always been a walking advertisement.


It's just also a celebration of gaming as well.

 

[KoopaSaki]

Hey guys, I know we may be in a dry period, but I will go ahead and drop this here if anyone wants to check it out. This video goes over the many memories I got over the smash speculation cycle for the past 10 years.

 

[SMAASH! Puppy]

doubt the next mario character is gonna be Pauline. She doesn’t have any moves to use.

That has never stopped them from adding a character.

It’s most likely to be captain toad, king boo, gooigi or E gadd.

They're all possibilities (except Gooigi unless we're talkin' costumes or something), but I'd say Pauline is more likely due to being the new character that they're pushing a la Rosalina.

 

[True Blue Warrior]

So I guess everyone agrees that the new Event Tourney means nothing in terms of AT promotions?

 

[Idon]

So I guess everyone agrees that the new Event Tourney means nothing in terms of AT promotions?

My stance is the same as it's been from the start...

We are not getting AT promotions.

 

[Evil Trapezium]

So I guess everyone agrees that the new Event Tourney means nothing in terms of AT promotions?

Normally people would believe this disconfirms an assist trophy character.

 

[subterrestrial]

He's powerful in the right hands, no doubt but comparatively speaking he's certainly not a better character than Joker or Pyra/Mythra whom are both easier to use and more flexible in their playstyles.

of course kazuya isn’t better than pyra/mythra or joker, never said he was.

all 3 of these characters are broken as **** and clear evidence of the dlc powercreep in fp2. TBH idek why or how people attempt to defend it at this point, literally every character in fp2 is busted lmfao

 

[TheCJBrine]

I will never understand these ResetEra folks. I dig human compassion and tolerance and all that jazz. You could even say I'm a fan of both of these things. But these people are just paranoid to a surreal extent. What an innocuous thing to read that far into - seems like a (rather unfortunate) coincidence at worst.
They're like the strawman your local chud makes up, but actual real people. I do not get it.

iirc they or some people also tried to twist Min Min getting in instead of Twintelle as racist.

Heck, back around when she was still new to Smash, I saw someone on Twitter try to say Min Min was a racist depiction; I don’t get these people ._.

 

[True Blue Warrior]

I wonder if the last character will end up being as broken as was.

 

[Wunderwaft]

Sometimes I can't tell if Resetera is genuine or if it's trolls trolling trolls. Poe's law is a *****.

My stance is the same as it's been from the start...

We are not getting AT promotions.

You ain't getting Lyn with that attitude

 

[3BitSaurus]

I think this DLC cycle has been incredibly balanced compared to 4s, really. People say that every new character is broken, but the fact that almost none of the DLC picks are top or even high tier in competitive kinda shows that's not true.

"Joker is the new Bayo" - his skill floor at top level is incredibly high, though, unlike Sm4sh Bayo.

"Hero's RNG is broken" - but it's inconsistent, and his normals aren's anything to write home about.

"Wonderwing is too good" - but it has very clear weaknesses and counterplay.

I could go on, but I think others have made the point by now. I don't feel like anyone is overtuned at all. They have a lot of new mechanics, sure, but these new mechanics come with clear limitations and can't just be spammed or KO easily.

Unless you'retalking about casual play, because no amount of balancing can help you there, really.

 

[SharkLord]

Astral Chain and Ring Fit strike me as a Xenoblade X type deal. People assume they are shoo-ins for the next Smash game simply because they're new Nintendo games, only for them to be old news by the time it actually comes out.

To be fair, XCX couldn't crack the one million copies mark, and the Wii U in general just didn't do so hot, not to mention how XC2 took X's place as the most relevant title at the time. Astral Chain sold about a million and convinced Nintendo to fully own the property, and Ring Fit sold about eleven million, plus the fact that they're on a considerably more successful system. Even if they're not the hot new stuff by the time Smash 6 swings around, they're both successful new IPs that made a pretty solid impact.

That being said, yeah, I'm not gonna say anything's an absolute lock for the next game, solid impact or no. I just think they're at least in a pretty decent spot.

 

[Idon]

of course kazuya isn’t better than pyra/mythra or joker, never said he was.

all 3 of these characters are broken as **** and clear evidence of the dlc powercreep in fp2. TBH idek why or how people attempt to defend it at this point, literally every character in fp2 is busted lmfao

Well being good isn't as big as a problem if you never actually see them. Characters like Pikachu and Shulk are undeniably top tier but considering how rare they are, it's less of an "issue" than it really is.
Besides If you want to talk about "powercreep", base roster has plenty of heavy hitters that place around Kazuya, or even, outdo him.

Spoiler: gsmVoiD

Spoiler: Scend

I think this DLC cycle has been incredibly balanced compared to 4s, really. People say that every new character is broken, but the fact that almost none of the DLC picks are top or even high tier in competitive kinda shows that's not true.

"Joker is the new Bayo" - his skill floor at top level is incredibly high, though, unlike Sm4sh Bayo.

"Hero's RNG is broken" - but it's inconsistent, and his normals aren's anything to write home about.

"Wonderwing is too good" - but it has very clear weaknesses and counterplay.

I could go on, but I think others have made the point by now. I don't feel like anyone is overtuned at all. They have a lot of new mechanics, sure, but these new mechanics come with clear limitations and can't just be spammed or KO easily.

Unless you'retalking about casual play, because no amount of balancing can help you there, really.

The entirety of FP2 is at minimum high tier though along with Joker from FP1. Byleth's public opinion is drastically rising too for what that's worth with Terry generally placing high as well.

It seems with FP2, there's a much more concerted effort to make them quote-unquote "good" though.

 

[Theguy123]

That has never stopped them from adding a character.


They're all possibilities (except Gooigi unless we're talkin' costumes or something), but I'd say Pauline is more likely due to being the new character that they're pushing a la Rosalina.

gooigi could be an echo and Pauline has literally not got much to pull from. The recent games she’s appeared in is odyssey, tennis and golf. She’s basically got nothing to pull from. I personally don’t see them making an entire moveset for her just because they wanna shill her. I still think personally captain toad or kamek would be more likely.

 

[subterrestrial]

I think this DLC cycle has been incredibly balanced compared to 4s, really. People say that every new character is broken, but the fact that almost none of the DLC picks are top or even high tier in competitive kinda shows that's not true.

the fact that ultimate dlc is always compared to sm4sh dlc to justify it being balanced is proof that this **** is not balanced

sm4sh dlc was extremely broken idek why people compare them in the first place tbh 2 completely different games with completely different metas

 

[Guynamednelson]

the fact that ultimate dlc is always compared to sm4sh dlc to justify it being balanced is proof that this **** is not balanced

sm4sh dlc was extremely broken

ah yes, Roy, the #1 threat to competitive Smash 4.

 

[Shroob]

the fact that ultimate dlc is always compared to sm4sh dlc to justify it being balanced is proof that this **** is not balanced

sm4sh dlc was extremely broken

I mean, there's only ever been one other game in the series with DLC so there's nothing else to compare it to.

 

[BlondeLombax]

Sometimes I can't tell if Resetera is genuine or if it's trolls trolling trolls. Poe's law is a *****.

Are you talking about the leak/speculative side?

Or the zealously politically correct side?

 

[Rie Sonomura]

Are you talking about the leak/speculative side?

Or the zealously politically correct side?

Yes. The latter

 

[Idon]

You ain't getting Lyn with that attitude

I hardly believe it is my "attitude" that's preventing her from being included.

 

[Sucumbio]

I just watched all the reveal trailers again I think min min is still my favorite but sephiroth is also up there. Also noted that Terry didn't have a post credits scene, well scene after the splash with ssbu x insert franchise... Plant doesn't either but that makes sense cause he's a Mario character... Alas I believe I am wrong about Pokemon getting another rep this game so they're out actually and my bet is now nearly 100 percent it'll be a third party franchise and within that well I'm not sure
... But I'm leaning toward it being another well established series (4 or even 5 or more titles).

 

[SKX31]

Are you happy with the way was implemented in Smash?

Absolutely. He plays not only akin to Tekken, but also in a way that makes sense within the context of Smash. He's explosive but at the same time liable to being blown up himself if the Kazuya player's not careful. Rage is also a good comeback mechanic where it's certainly has a lot of reward but also a lot of risk, emphasising the overall trend. His survivability helps even if his recovery is rather linear.

My only issue is that his commands can be really precise. I'm not just talking about timing EWGFs here: the tilts can be rather easy to misinput (his down tilt especially since he has not only down Smash but also crouching attacks). Playing against a Kazuya can be difficult since an opening he gets = a lot of damage (especially if the Kazuya knows the command throw, then characters with poor vertical recoveries are just deleted), but it's certainly doable due to the above.

I wonder if the last character will end up being as broken as was.

TBF that's extremely unlikely: since the last character would practically need to have a more polarizing aspect than any other character in the game and by a large margin. Sure, Ultimate's balance is not perfect (nor can perfect balance ever be achieved) but I find it rather telling when none of the percieved best characters so far are polarizing even to the degree was; nor when the consensus best player can pick characters like and win tournaments just because he happens to like the character and 3H (no really). Ultimate is really the kind of game where - to quote PK Gaming:

For a give match. 99.9% of the time I lost because my opponent outplayed. And while that's true for just about every fighting game ever, lopsided character imbalances don't feel that pronounced here.

is a great example of a character who's potent but not overwhelming to the same degree: while she excels at walling out opponents her ARMS are also very commital (and if the Min Min player throws out the second ARM too fast she's in a bad spot momentarily), and since she doesn't have many options when she's hit it encourages Min Min players to be at least somewhat cautious with them. Her kicks are a good second line of defense, but aren't a get-out-of-jail-free card either since they're also rather commital when used.

While this quote by Thinkaman is a bit out of context (since it compares balancing / with , and ), I think it's applicable here too:

Contrast [Pyra's N-Air and Mythra's U-Air / N-Air as low risk high reward moves] with Smash 4 Sheik/Diddy, whose power was spread out over a dozen+ moves and came with no underlying weakness anchoring them, or Bayo, who had a very intricate and complex kit whose capabilities were hard to understand. (A surprising amount of Bayo's power ended up coming from fair1, which was not on the general radar initially.) Those cases, as well as imo Joker and Palutena (who also have an abundance of stellar moves), are harder balance problems to solve.

Although I'm using this quote to lead into another aspect of the "polarizing" factor: while Joker and Palu both share that trait they are anchored by some more prominent weaknesses than 4's Sheik. Joker doesn't have many good KO moves outside of Arsene, and his recovery is exploitable both with and without Arsene. Palu has a kinda sluggish ground game and not many options on the ledge. Sure, 4's Sheik died as early as Fox and could have trouble securing stocks sometimes, but those could be more easily worked around - especially early on in 4's life before she got a lot of her kill confirms nerfed.

So to summarize: I'm feeling pretty confident that the last character won't be that broken. And if (s)he is, there's hopefully 3 or more patches to amend that.
*Fair 1 could combo into After Burner Kick / Witch Twist in Smash 4 and was a significant reason for 's combo / off stage shenaningas. This was noticeably nerfed in Ultimate with a smaller hitbox and much more endlag.

 

[SMAASH! Puppy]

She's a Donkey Kong series character who got a new role in a Super Mario game, basically. And like various DK characters, she's starting to appear in the Mario Sports/Kart titles, which does tend to happen for characters who get revived, anyway.

Overall, there's not much from Odyssey to really work with for her, but there's stuff from Donkey Kong(Arcade) and Mario VS DK that could be worked with that at least relate closer to her. An issue is that she herself does actually very little on her own. She also has a Microphone, though that doesn't give her a clear moveset. Being a representation of the Arcade saga might work well, at least. Her being a summoner character is one possible way to do things, though unlike Pikmin & Olimar, she'd be more literally summoning while not much attacking herself for this to work decently. Remember Dedede's old Down Special, where he summons a Waddle Dee, Waddle Doo, or later, a Gordo? This kind of thing makes for an interesting focus. In a sense, Bowser Jr. does play like this, using summon-like jabs for various moves, so you could also look at that for a similar enough concept. If you combine both things, you get the idea I'm going for here.

I don't think she's likely, though. Besides it being hard to imagine her suddenly summoning her old enemies, she hasn't made that much of a splash or got massive demand either. Though to be fair, there's only a small amount of notable Mario characters who would be normally looked into; Toad, Captain Toad, Paper Mario, Waluigi, King Boo, Gooigi(as an Echo), and that's kind of the big list right now. Pauline is worth noting(albeit, she's still a DK character from the start, but yeah), much like E. Gadd is, but she's not on the big toppers right now.

I'd imagine that since she uses a standing mike a lot of her attacks will use that. She could also use the Mini Marios from Mario Vs. Donkey Kong (rather than Donkey Kong enemies), or her band members from Super Mario Odyssey.

The latter makes the most sense since her character at this point seems to have boiled down to "I sing Jump Up, Super Star!".

gooigi could be an echo and Pauline has literally not got much to pull from. The recent games she’s appeared in is odyssey, tennis and golf. She’s basically got nothing to pull from. I personally don’t see them making an entire moveset for her just because they wanna shill her. I still think personally captain toad or kamek would be more likely.

That's exactly what they did with Rosalina though. Almost her entire kit comes from the gameplay quirks of Super Mario Galaxy rather than anything she actually did. It's not at all farfetched that they'd make up some mike swing moves, throw in her band members and say "hey, look at Pauline".

I wouldn't be floored if they picked someone else, but I'm fairly confident in saying that she's the most likely.

 

[Dukefire]

It is the same incomplete tune regarding the many attempts to remix it. We will get that final piece of the music track soon and eventually refueled for the next game.

I think most of us should at least walk off the speculation with this much tension at the dam.

 

[Theguy123]

I'd imagine that since she uses a standing mike a lot of her attacks will use that. She could also use the Mini Marios from Mario Vs. Donkey Kong (rather than Donkey Kong enemies), or her band members from Super Mario Odyssey.

The latter makes the most sense since her character at this point seems to have boiled down to "I sing Jump Up, Super Star!".


That's exactly what they did with Rosalina though. Almost her entire kit comes from the gameplay quirks of Super Mario Galaxy rather than anything she actually did. It's not at all farfetched that they'd make up some mike swing moves, throw in her band members and say "hey, look at Pauline".

I wouldn't be floored if they picked someone else, but I'm fairly confident in saying that she's the most likely.

except rosalina uses things from Mario galaxy that she can do or has used.

the luma’s are her pets and they’re known for defending rosalina so that’s not made up

she can use the star to transport so that’s not made up

you can shoot starbit’s at luma’s in galaxy so that being apart of her moveset Isn’t made up.

she’s an established god with god like abilities. They pulled moves from galaxy. Pauline doesn’t have much to go off when she’s been established as a human with nothing special.

Blame Nintendo on that one. They’re soo careful with their characters and enemies that we never really get a character who has a moveset from the get go. When we do they usually come one lifetime

 

[spicynun]

Gonna be honest this speculation cycle for the last character isn't quite as exciting as I expected. I figured tensions would be high but many seem to have fizzled out and just want it to be over at this point which I understand. There aren't really any rumors to talk about, a lot of the potential reps have been deconfirmed. Even the smash youtubers have slowed down. I'm still really excited to see the last character but the speculation side of things has been pretty boring.

 

[Idon]

I've actually been curious about how many "shill" characters we've gotten over the years so I've made a pretty decent list:
Suppose it goes to show that no Smash game is without recency bias.

 

[Laniv]

I'd imagine that since she uses a standing mike a lot of her attacks will use that. She could also use the Mini Marios from Mario Vs. Donkey Kong (rather than Donkey Kong enemies), or her band members from Super Mario Odyssey.

The latter makes the most sense since her character at this point seems to have boiled down to "I sing Jump Up, Super Star!".


That's exactly what they did with Rosalina though. Almost her entire kit comes from the gameplay quirks of Super Mario Galaxy rather than anything she actually did. It's not at all farfetched that they'd make up some mike swing moves, throw in her band members and say "hey, look at Pauline".

I wouldn't be floored if they picked someone else, but I'm fairly confident in saying that she's the most likely.

FWIW, I came up with a Pauline moveset that sorta follows that mindset:

At long last, my Pauline moveset is completed!

Spoiler: Pauline Introduction

Pauline Puts On a Show!!
View attachment 284423

The beloved mayor of New Donk City, Pauline shoots for the moon! In the world of Smash Bros., Pauline pulls from all her life experiences, from her humble origins as Nintendo’s first leading lady, to the mayor of a sparkling metropolis, to tussle with the best of them! As befitting a city planner, Pauline is a master of stage control, using both the toys from her tenure as a company spokeswoman and her masterful singing voice to keep foes on their toes. Odyssey, ya see...

Spoiler: Mechanics

Weight: 91 (tied with Toon Link and Palutena)
Walk: 1.18 (tied with Mr. Game & Watch)
Dash: 2 (inbetween Young Link and Kirby)
Jumps: 2
Air Speed: 1.17 (tied with Mii Swordfighter)
Fall Speed: 1.7 (tied with ZSS and King K. Rool)

Spoiler: The Moveset

Jab: Slaps twice with her leading arm. Like Peach and Daisy's, but stronger and with a little more pop to it. 3%, 5%.
Forward Tilt: Takes off her hat and swats with it. 8%.
Up Tilt: Pauline jumps up with her fist in the air. It's that one motion she does during the New Donk City Festival. 4%.
Down Tilt: Swipes her leg low to the ground. 8%.
Dash Attack: Pauline spins around twice as she moves forward before posing with her hand up. 2.3% (first two hits), 6% (end).

Forward Smash: When this move is used, Pauline will take out a familiar looking hammer. There’s a sweetspot at the head of the hammer. 19% (head), 10% (handle).
Up Smash: Pauline pops up her parasol and opens it when it's above her. This move protects her from attacks from above. 3% (hit 1), 14% (hit 2).
Down Smash: Pauline throws her hat around her in a wide circle, leaving behind a rainbow trail. The hat spins around her twice, with a slightly bigger radius the second time around. 15% (max range), 11% (point blank).

Neutral Aerial: Pauline twirls her purse around her. The animation resembles Palutena's n-air. 1.5% (hits 1-4), 4.5% (hit 5).
Forward Aerial: Pauline takes her hat and swipes it downward, swinging her arm so hard she tumbles forward. This is very similar to Peach and Daisy’s f-air. 17% (hat), 14% (arm).
Back Aerial: Pauline takes her hat and swipes it backward while spinning, hitting twice. 4.7% (hit 1), 5.8% (hit 2).
Up Aerial: Pauline tosses her hat upwards a short distance. 7%.
Down Aerial: Pauline stomps downward with one leg. 8.1%.

Grab: Pauline grabs with one hand.
Pummel: Pauline knees the opponent. 1.4%.
Forward Throw: Pauline pushes the foe away with both hands. This causes the foe to trip, allowing for follow-ups. 4% (hit), 3% (throw).
Back Throw: Grabs the opponent by the arm, and forcibly yanks them around and behind her. 10%.
Up Throw: Pauline will grab the foe, bounce them on her parasol, and toss them up. 7% (hit), 4.2% (throw).
Down Throw: Pauline takes out a barrel and smashes it over the opponent's head. Her most damaging throw. 18%.

Neutral Special—Cap Throw: Pauline throws her hat in front of her like a boomerang. The range is slightly shorter than that of K. Rool’s Crownerang. Her hat spins as it flies, hitting opponents multiple times. If the button is held, the hat will home in on the nearest opponent. Much like Mega Man’s Metal Blade, the hat can be thrown in different directions by flicking the control stick after the button is pressed. Additionally, there's a 1/6 chance that Pauline’s hat will have Bonneter eyes on it when it’s thrown, but this is purely an aesthetic bonus. 5% (initial throw), 1.2% (spinning attack), 3% (return).

Side Special—New Donk Melody: Pauline takes out a microphone and sings a couple of notes. Her music moves slowly forward in the form of up to three music notes in bubbles. If one touches an opponent, they will be forced to taunt, no matter what they were doing. This specific taunt will be non cancelable If an opponent is in midair, they will taunt as soon as they touch the ground, unless they grab a ledge.

Up Special—Jack Lift: Pauline bounces off a jack/spring/whatever those things are called. It’s basically Sonic and Mega Man’s up special, with Pauline being able to act out of it. Other characters can bounce off the jack as well.

Down Special—Mini-Toy: Pauline holds up a capsule with a ? Mark on it. From there, she can cycle through a selection of Mini Toys that act like Bowser Jr.’s Mechakoopas. They don’t explode upon contact with a foe, but they can be attacked and defeated. The available toys are:

Mini-Mario: Walks forward at the same speed as Young Link's walk. Deals 5% if touched.
Mini-Luigi: Walks forward at the same speed as Mini-Mario, but will jump occasionally. Also deals 5% and makes opponents trip if they touch it.
Mini-Peach: Walks forward at the same speed as Lucario's walk. Deals 6%, launching the foe up with a parasol.
Mini-Donkey Kong: The slowest toy, but also the strongest. Deals 12%, attacking with a double-armed swing if touched.
Mini-Toad: The quickest toy, but also the weakest. Deals 4%, attacking with a spin.

Each of the Mini-Toys has a set amount of health, and only 2 can be onscreen at a time. Mario and Luigi both have 15 HP, Peach has 20 HP, DK has 25 HP, and Toad has 10 HP.

Final Smash—New Donk City Concert: A microphone appears in front of Pauline. In a flash, she summons the Super Mario Players to play that hit song, “Jump Up, Super Star!” It’s such a toe-tapping beat, that opponents will be forced to dance (taunt) along, even if they respawn! They won’t be able to recover, either, so go wild! If someone is right next to Pauline when this Final Smash is activated, they'll be launched upwards for 30% with strong knockback by the appearance of the band!

Spoiler: Other Stuff

Entrance: A curtain is parted, revealing Pauline, facing away from the camera. She then turns around and removes her hat with a flourish.

Boxing Ring Title: The Showstopping Mayor of New Donk City

Idle Pose 1: Pauline will briefly pull her hat over her eyes and trace her finger and thumb along the brim, her eyes gleaming from underneath.
Idle Pose 2: Pauline briefly poses with arms akimbo and looks slightly upward.

Taunts

Taunt 1: Pauline spins around and points to the sky with one arm. “Whoo!”
Taunt 2: Pauline takes off her hat and spins it on her finger.
Taunt 3: Pauline takes out a New Donk City regional coin and flips it, catching it in her hand As with her Neutral Special, there is a 1/6 chance that a Bonneter's eyes will peek from her cap and wink at the camera.

Victory Poses

Victory Pose 1: The Super Mario Players appear behind Pauline as a Multi Moon floats down from above. Pauline catches it, it swirls around her and she poses with her hand in the air, the Multi Moon floating just above it.
Victory Pose 2: Pauline appears standing in front of a microphone, covering her face with her hat. She takes it off with a flourish and sings along to her own victory theme.
Victory Pose 3: Pauline shimmies in place, then points at the camera with a wink. She then does that thing during the “Odyssey, ya see” part of the song.

Lose/No Contest: Pauline claps politely for the winner.


Victory Theme: A rearrangement of "A Traditional Festival Ends!" from Super Mario Odyssey that transitions into a loop of the "Odyssey, ya see" refrain of "Jump Up, Super Star!"

 

[spicynun]

I've actually been curious about how many "shill" characters we've gotten over the years so I've made a pretty decent list:
Suppose it goes to show that no Smash game is without recency bias.
View attachment 330662

I feel like there could be an argument for Hero to be recent release since DQ11 S came out right around when he was added to smash.