You know, this gets me to thinking about something that comes across my mind every now and again - how the heck is it that zoomers even end up wanting Geno? He's really in a more extreme boat than Mega Man, like, Mega Man at least had some games that had been released not too long before his inclusion in Smash, and even then, I was fully aware that there were kids who had no idea who he was - there legitimately might be children who think he's just a Smash Bros character. I'm not discounting the idea that kids aren't able to go back and play an old game, but it seems like it'd take a lot of outside influence to get them to.
Maybe I'm just jaded and hopeless regarding the taste of kids born after 1995, much less those born after 2001.
Quite a lot got me into knowing of Geno, but the Grinch Leak really got me knee-deep in here.
When much younger I was a fan of Brawl Taunts and through that found Rawest Forest, which got me interested in the cool design.
Little older now, but before Smash 4 I was looking at high requests for Brawl to see if any would make it in(Always wanted Mega Man, huge fan of the series, and used to really want Lloyd), and I recognized Geno's design from somewhere, though his base was kinda dormant at the time. Recognition furthered when he got the costume (with a unique splash screen). In Ultimate I knew who he was going in and grew to really appreciate him. He was, after Ridley (score!) and K. Rool (Double Score!) my most wanted. Then the Grinch Leak happened and I felt that it was super unfair on mainly Isaac and Geno (although it did get my Banjo gears turning), and I wound up here, where people like
Ovaltine
and
Fatmanonice
really showed me how much people cared about the dude, and from then on it's been a growing hype wave for Geno. I love him for all the reasons most of you guys love him (design, game, move potential), but if I'm honest the number one reason why I want Geno in Smash is because you guys would be over the moon for him. Decades of work paid off.