So, I know that I said that Klonoa's my bet for Namco character, and also that I'm tentatively believing Vergeben on Namco being down for the count, but I got to thinking about something that lines up interestingly:
Thanks to Sakurai, we know development on Ultimate started in late 2015, that DLC was decided Spring 2018, and that the plans for the Fighter's Pass were finalized late Fall 2018.
Based on what Sakurai tweeted, DLC selection was finalized on like, November 3 2018. I don't really buy that, but iirc it's when he tweeted about it. I think early fall is probably a safer bet than late fall, but it's splitting hairs, really.
So, I love the Smash soundtrack, and video game soundtracks in general. I listen to them often while driving around and a song came on a few days ago that really got the gears turning, but they didn't turn
quite this much until today when it came on again after I read this post. It's an odd choice of a song, and to make it even stranger, it was removed from Ultimate, to my knowledge: Bravoman Retro Medley. So I said to myself - no, maybe I'm somehow overlooking it, or haven't met the condition to unlock it despite playing all of World of Light and having all of the challenges cleared and having cleaned out the shop...
So I went to confirm it on the Smash Bros Wiki, and sure enough, it was cut from Ultimate. To make matters a bit more odd, though, in the August 8, 2018 direct, Pac Man's song list said 13 titles, but the final game only has 11 - Bravoman Retro Medley and Yokai Dochuki Retro Medley are the only two Namco songs not to return, but they seem to have been planned to return during whatever build was being showcased during that direct.
It's super weird considering Springman had to hold an L and the two characters are pretty similar, but I'm kind of leaning towards Bravoman.