1) Sakurai's tweet of a real life Monado. 8/30/2013
http://operationrainfall.com/2013/08/30/sakurai-tweets-xenoblade-press-start/
Sakurai tweeted a picture of a monado that was at the press-start concert. It seems to have just been on the concert floor, by the musicians, for some reason. Perhaps Xenoblade music was being played? Nobody knows. Also, nobody knows the true intentions behind Sakurai's tweet. He could be a huge fan of the series or could have just found it neat. However you want to take it, there's only positives that can be taken from this as far is Shulk's inclusion in Smash 4.
2) Shulk is a commonly wanted character
Out west, as seen by this thread, Shulk's support thread, vgtribune's Smash Poll 2012, and "Shulk for Super Smash Bros 4" fb page, Shulk is a largely requested character. Furthermore, out in Sakurai's habitat, Japan, Shulk seems even more popular than he is here.
SmashChu said:
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Other: Shulk gets quite a lot of requests. Shulk is easily the most requested Nintendo character from a series not represented yet with a playable character in Smash Bros. A distant second would be Starfy. There are several Japanese Smash fans that mention Punch-Out and Little Mac's "overseas" popularity. Isaac (Robin in Japan) and Matthew get few requests. Saki and Isa also get few requests.
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Sakurai is paying attention to the people's requests which is seen by an interview with him about his decision not to put chrom in. Also, many of our top requested characters have made it into the game, whether characters, assist trophies, or stage hazards.
3) Shulk can be easily translated into Smash 4
This may seem obvious to people but it's nonetheless important. The main argument people had against Ridley before that Nintendo Direct was that he is too big, implying he would not easily translate into Smash. The opposite can be used as an argument for Shulk. It's easy to make and implement a unique moveset for him. His auto attacks, arts, and monado arts lay out the potential moves he can have. When making the moveset for my ssbb mod, I didn't have to be very creative at all; although, I could have been had I had the resources Sakurai does.
4) "But I am no ordinary swordsman!"
Robin said this in the announcement today, and the truth of the matter is, this is important to people and Sakurai. In the interview about his decision about Chrom, Sakurai said a part of the decision is that Chrom would not have been unique enough and would have been essentially just another swordsman.
The "no similar swordsmen" argument derived from the "no clones" argument, and it's valid for characters like Chrom or Lucina. While this argument is often used by people looking for arguments against Shulk, it actually is more of an argument for Shulk since Shulk isn't just another swordsman, he is the wielder of the Monado, a powerful and unique weapon. For those who haven't played Xenoblade, the Monado opens up like a banana (Bonado
5) Voice actor of Shulk has stated he's Voice acting in new game(s)
"I have been working on a new game recently. I can't say what it is yet but I was very pleased to see it trending on Twitter when it was announced. It's very satisfying to know there's a buzz and anticipation for a project you're involved in."
http://www.nintendolife.com/news/2013/03/ninterview_meet_adam_howden_voice_actor_for_shulk
"Done some VO on several very exciting games so far this year. I'll tell you what they are when I know my balls won't be cut off for telling."
https://twitter.com/A_HOWDZ
6) Monolith Soft is the maker of Xenoblade
Monolith Software used to be third party but came to be owned by Nintendo before Xenoblade was released and so is 1st party. This means Sakurai is free to use Shulk if he wants, without special permissions having to be made. This also makes Monolith the only 1st party developer company without a representation in the Smash bros series. Furthermore, Monolith Soft also worked on Smash bros brawl, which puts into place even further connections to Sakurai.
7) Gematsu leak is hurt but not dead
It's not necessarily dead. The Gematsu leak predicted a ton of characters, and we still have that sneaky spirit from Rythm Heaven that was spotted in Smash Run. It's possible that the Gematsu leaker came across some misinformation, like, perhaps, seeing a completed Chrom model and assuming he's a character. He explained that he doesn't know when the characters will be announced and that Sakurai changes his mind, but he asserted that Shulk is definitely in the game. It's probably best we hear an explanation from the leaker before we officially declare it 'dead.' Also, there are rumors that suggest that perhaps Shulk was planned to be announced but then was moved to a later date for some reason (possibly because people were expecting it), and the monolith developer who retweeted the character reveal could have been mistaken because of the same reason the Gematsu leaker could have been. However, it's no doubt that there is some explaining that needs to be done in order for the Gematsu leak to hold much credibility.
8) Xenoblade's sequel
The sequel to Xenoblade, Xenoblade Chronicles X, has an unknown amount of connection to Xenoblade. We know some guy at Nintendo treehouse said, "It's more of a spiritual sequel" when roughly asked how much the game relates to Xenoblade. We know there's a girl with two monado hairpins. We know that there's a nopon with the Satata's Japanese name (also sports similar glasses to Satata). I have my own theories about the game, but I won't go into them here. Anyways, connections to Shulk raise his relevance by lowering his obscurity and raising his foot print in Nintendo's timeline of gaming.
The sequel also improves the '6) Monolith Soft argument' because it means Monolith will play an even larger role in Nintendo.
9) Xenoblade is a masterpiece
Some awards (only the ones where Xenoblade got first place):
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The reason why you might find that Shulk supporters want him so bad is because of how great of a game Xenoblade is. It's seen as the game that turned around the JRPG genre. It has great story, astounding music, fun combat, and the best graphics that a wii game can have (this game tried to be hd on a non-hd platform!).
Xenoblade being such a highly rated game improves Shulk's chances because it makes it more likely for Sakurai to appreciate the game and Shulk, even if he has not played the game.
10) Japanese voice actor of Shulk, Asanuma Shintaro, tweeted that he is hoping he can fill us in with some good news soon with #Xenoblade
https://twitter.com/sogorukyo/status/476017276584333313
As is the nature with Smash 4 newcomer discussion, these arguments do not individually prove his inclusion but each serve to raise his chances by a little bit. However, it's these arguments that keep the chances for Shulk at a place higher than any other potential newcomer.