I think we ran into an immediate problem; you are representing things that aren't characters. For example, Mona Lisa doesn't represent anything but herself as a prospect playable character.
As for your roster, here is where I disagree on the characters you put in your roster (from left to right, top to bottom):
- Toadworth: I don't mind Toad, but this choice is out of the blue.
- Captain Syrup: Not many people know who she is, she doesn't seem to be that important to Wario, Sakurai isn't big on Wario Land, and there are much better choices IMHO.
- N: I doubt N will appear in B&W2 or 3, and the 1 trainer is fine as is. We don't really want another.'
- Ghirahim: He's basically Midna with a lesser role or Zant with the same role and no Midna. His chances are minimal.
- Krystal: I think she's dead in the series. Her last "appearance" was literally Brawl, and her games haven't sold well by Star Fox standards before her existence. She also has a huge hate base. Add on to the fact there seem to be too many Space Animals, and the 3 we have are more important and well-liked/known. I think on the internet we tend to overrate Krystal compared to those not on the internet. Because quite frankly, not many Star Fox fans have even played any game Krystal is in.
- Saki: I like Saki, but I'm low balling his chances. While he fits in, his games haven't sold well, and his series isn't big at all. It's sold maybe a few hundred thousand copies at best. Plus he doesn't seem as liked as other Brawl Assist Trophy characters like Issac and Little Mac, who by the way come from much bigger (and I'd argue better) franchise that are much more well-known.
- The character next to Kirby: I think the 3 current Kirby characters are fine, and so does the rest of us, probably including Sakurai. NEXT!
- Shulk: I don't think he's too likely at all. His game barely made it stateside. If we're talking a decade down the road maybe, but at this point in time unless Sakurai wants to go out of his way to promote a newer-ish franchise, I think he's got next to no shot.
- Jill Dozer: I doubt this, but at least it's an original choice you made, it makes sense, and it truly is "WTF!?!?!?"
- Tom Nook: I think we tend to overrate his chances. He's really a fun character, but he doesn't "feel" like a smash bros character to me... if you catch my drift.
- Layton: Meah, not happening. 3rd party, not popular, and not random enough.
Here's where I disagree with the characters you didn't add:
- Dixie Kong: How you added Captain Syrup over her is a mystery to me. Dixie Kong stared a game that sold very well, was almost in Brawl, and Sakurai seems to like her... a lot to almost add her alongside Diddy Kong in Brawl.
- Zoroark/Victini (I'm leaning towards Victini): I think they'll get in over N. It's a lot easier to add one playable character than 3 or more. I doubt Game Freak would allow Sakurai to continue the smash bros franchise without a new Pokémon, either!
- Krom: I'm not going to argue he should get in over Roy or Ike. I'm just saying let's wait and see before throwing him in there. However, he is the only other true option for a Fire Emblem character that hasn't already been playable in a smash bros. game. Just keep him on your radar if he isn't already.
- Samurai Goroh/Black Shadow: While I don't see either as a lock, both have decent chances in my estimation. Sakurai so far has show quite a bit of love for Samurai Goroh and he seems to be popular amongst F-Zero fans in the West, whereas Black Shadow is very popular in Japan.
- Issac: Quite frankly, most of us will take him over Shulk (a character we know little or nothing about) or Saki (a character who most of us know nothing about outside of Brawl) any day. Plus, Golden Sun is awesome, and in the latest game, he grew an all-time great RPG beard!
- Pac-Man would be a great 3rd party replacement for Layton. Plus, everybody knows Pac-Man, and he's been in Nintendo games before!
Here's some other stuff I'd like to add:
- I don't think we'll get that many Mario characters. While characters don't represent anything truly except themselves (representation is done through trophies and stickers), I don't we will see 6 Mario franchise characters. I think we may get either Bower Jr. or Toad, but probably not both. IMO there is only a slim chance we get both.
- As for Donkey Kong, if we got only 3 characters we'd probably get a ton of Donkey Kong-related stuff to "make up" for a lack of new stuff like Sakurai did for Metroid in Brawl. Extra music, stages (from the DKC games), trophies, stickers, assist trophy characters, etc. would probably be required.
- Your assessment of characters in Fire Emblem characters seems perfect, even if the series isn't that big. That is because the series has many "main characters" because of different timelines/universes in the series, and games taking place in different eras. That is why I think Fire Emblem gets "extra" characters over the likes of Kid Icarus.
Also according to my math, your roster had 61 characters including transformations (assuming Zelda/Sheik, ZSS/Samus, & the PT is the same, and N has 3 Pokémon).
I doubt we'll even get 55 to be completely honest. I think 48-53 is the most accurate and "healthy" range of character roster size expectations... unless, of course, we get a crap ton of DLC characters or the game is in development for an absurdly long period of time; say 6 to like 8 years, which would be mind-blowing (and possibly skip a generation).
I'm a lazy replier, so I'll do do this really short and sweet:
My Stuff
Toadsworth - A fun alternative to Toad. Could do everything a Toad could, while standing out from the generic Toad crowd. I would also be fine with a regular ol' Toad, but I'd prefer Toadsworth.
Captain Syrup - That's Mona, silly. I like Syrup, too, though. But Mona is Wario's right hand gal in WarioWare, and I think there's a certain atmosphere of WarioWare that Wario didn't quite capture that could be personified by Mona. She's one of the ones I could most easily cut, though.
N - On the contrary, I think N will play a major super huge role in B&W 2. None of the Pokemon games before have had in-generation direct sequels, and this presents a neat opportunity for them to do some fun things with the plot. After you find all the Seven Sages in B&W (Ghetsis notwithstanding), Looker tells you that people have sighted N in a "far of region." That may just be dialogue, but it sounds to me like they're setting up N for future roles. Also, N is more than just another trainer. He's got a really touching backstory, and he is very representative of 5th gen. Plus, it's another way to feature as many Pokemon as possible.
Ghirahim - One-offs in the Zelda franchise admittedly haven't always stood the best chances, but hey, Sheik is still around. Ghirahim's popular and full of personality. I wouldn't be surprised if he didn't make it in, though.
Krystal - You'll be happy to know that I've removed her and replaced her with Isaac (I just haven't got around to uploading the image yet). I don't really know why I included her in the first place; I think I just got used to hearing her name.
Saki - I mostly agree with what you've said, but I kept him in because he's not terribly far fetched, and I'd like to see more new series represented. Also, what Venus said up there.
Prince Fluff - This is a sore subject for me. I don't know if you've played Kirby's Epic Yarn, but the game oozes personality and it was well-received. I don't include Prince Fluff to rep the Kirby series, I add him because he's one of Nintendo's most original creations ever. He was actually supposed to star in his own game, but Nintendo shoved Kirby in the game thinking that it would sell better. I'm really hoping that Fluff will eventually get his own series.
Shulk - Perhaps not likely, but an interesting character if you ask me.
Jill - Game Freak made her game, and she was an AT in Brawl, so I'd put her chances a little lower than 50/50. She would be one of the most fun characters in the game, I think. Brilliant game, brilliant character.
Tom Nook - From what I've seen here, everyone detests the idea of an AC playable character. I don't quite understand why they don't "fit in with Smash," because Smash takes elements from all of its types of franchises (even with playable characters). I would say that an AC character is one of my most wanted.
Layton - The Professor Layton series has been one of the most successful franchises on the DS. It had sold 10 million worldwide as of October 2010. Professor Layton is
insanely popular all over the world. Also, Level 5 and Nintendo are
very close. Layton's creator has expressed interest in Layton being in Smash. Layton is so closely connected with Nintendo, many identify him with the DS. I don't know about his chances, but he does make sense.
Your Stuff
Dixie - I don't want to make you angry, but I just don't like her all that much (don't hit me). She's the best choice for a DKC character after K. Rool, but honestly she just doesn't seem to be terribly necessary. I mean, I've played DKC all my life, and I think she's a fine character and all, she doesn't top anyone I've listed (including Mona) in terms of my personal opinion. DKC is a great franchise; fantastic actually. It isn't, however, so big that it absolutely needs Dixie right now, if you ask me.
That's only why I like Mona more, though. I wouldn't be heartbroken if Dixie showed up instead of Mona (not that I think Mona is terribly likely). I mean, I really like Mona more, but Dixie is naturally higher on the likelyometer. This roster was more of a lovechild of realism and a wishlist, hence Mona.
5th Gen Pokemon - I'm gonna sound like a butthole here, but I effing dislike Zoroark. Unfortunately for me, it's wildly popular in Japan. None of the legendary or flavor-of-the-month Pokemon really excite me in 5th gen. My idea for N was to have him control either 3 middle of the Dex Pokemon for some variety, or Victini, Zoroark, and Genesect. Either way, I'll just be a bit disappointed if we get a boring Pokemon like Zoroark or Victini for the 5th gen rep (boring to me, at least).
Krom - He is certainly on my radar. I mean, I leaned toward Roy because of his veteran status, but I do recognize that Krom is a factor.
F-Zero Newcomer This is one that's borderline for me. I agree that Goroh and Black Shadow are very close to being in. Again, this is a personal opinion deal. However the series has been long dormant, and it just feels to me like Sakurai doesn't want to add an F-Zero rep very badly.
Isaac - Replaced Krystal with him. Although I disagree that his franchise is bigger than S&P. When the original came out on the Virtual Console, the thing sold like hotcakes in the US. Anyways, he'll be on the updated roster. :D
Pac-Man - 3rd parties are a tossup. I won't comment on his chances since trying to predict 3rd party characters is almost impossible, but I'll just say that I like Layton more. I would be cool with Pac-Man, though.
New Mario Characters - I don't know that we will get six total Mario characters, but I certainly know that we should. One cannot understate how big Mario is. I mean, the series singlehandedly carried the 3DS through a very troubling time. Unfortunately, there doesn't seem to be much interest in adding two more reps.
DKC Stuff - Like I said above, I don't think DKC is carrying so much weight that it necessitates Dixie right now, but I would agree that there should be a lot of content. At least 2 stages, I would think.
Total Characters - I think it's totes possible. I posted some reasoning behind it forever ago, but it's long lost now. Big team, plenty of time to develop, powerful system. I'd say between 50 and 55 would be the magic number.
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