I think I've found the pattern for series character announcements.

[FangedSniper]

I think it's Protagonist>Sidekick/Secondary Character>Villain.

Think about it:

Mario got into 64 first as the Protagonist. Luigi was then an unlockable character, therefore introduced after Mario and being the sidekick. Then in Melee Bowser got heavily promoted, being on the boxart and all as the Villain.

DK was also in 64 as the Protagonist, with Diddy Kong getting in Brawl as the Sidekick. K. Rool is presumed to be next in line as the Villain.

Kirby was in 64 as the Protagonist, and Meta Knight was annnounced a month before king Dedede as the Secondary Character (can't call him a sidekick) with Dedede being the Villain.

Link was in 64 as the Protagonist, Zelda was in the staring roster for Melee as the Sidekick, and ganondorf is unlocked after as the Villain.

Fox was in 64 as the Protagonist, Falco in melee as the Sidekick, and Wolf in Brawl as the Villain.

What do you think?

 

[Yetiplays]

Next for the Mario Series was a Newer Character that has High Popularity(Rosalina), that would tie in Bandana Dee, Impa, and Krystal, this could also tie in Dixie, or Cranky...

(I'm just humoring this Idea, Not completely Sold as to if it could mean anything.)

 

[FangedSniper]

Next for the Mario Series was a Newer Character that has High Popularity(Rosalina), that would tie in Bandana Dee, Impa, and Krystal, this could also tie in Dixie, or Cranky...

(I'm just humoring this Idea, Not completely Sold as to if it could mean anything.)

I'm not saying that this is a definitive thing, just an odd coincidence I've noticed. Hell if you consider mewtwo a villain you can apply it to Pokemon too.

 

[DoubleYooToo]

Citing an "example" that hasn't happened in K. Rool doesn't give any strength to your idea, when Dixie has come close to being a playable character and remains the more likely third Donkey Kong character. This idea is contradicted by Fire Emblem and Kid Icarus.

 

[Ffamran]

Like @ DoubleYooToo said, this becomes flawed when you use other franchises like Metroid; Samus can't be a sidekick to herself. She can, however, perform sidekicks.

 

[FangedSniper]

Citing an "example" that hasn't happened in K. Rool doesn't give any strength to your idea, when Dixie has come close to being a playable character and remains the more likely third Donkey Kong character. This idea is contradicted by Fire Emblem and Kid Icarus.

Dark Pit can count as a Villain IMO, but you got me there on Fire Emblem.

 

[Gene]

I think it's Protagonist>Sidekick/Secondary Character>Villain.

Think about it:

Mario got into 64 first as the Protagonist. Luigi was then an unlockable character, therefore introduced after Mario and being the sidekick. Then in Melee Bowser got heavily promoted, being on the boxart and all as the Villain.

DK was also in 64 as the Protagonist, with Diddy Kong getting in Brawl as the Sidekick. K. Rool is presumed to be next in line as the Villain.

Kirby was in 64 as the Protagonist, and Meta Knight was annnounced a month before king Dedede as the Secondary Character (can't call him a sidekick) with Dedede being the Villain.

Link was in 64 as the Protagonist, Zelda was in the staring roster for Melee as the Sidekick, and ganondorf is unlocked after as the Villain.

Fox was in 64 as the Protagonist, Falco in melee as the Sidekick, and Wolf in Brawl as the Villain.

What do you think?

There is no pattern, you can't predict Sakurai. Zelda is not a sidekick. Falco isn't a sidekick either and I'm pretty sure he would never want to be. Wolf is a not a villain and wasn't one in Star Fox Assault, the game Sakurai based this version of him from. If Sakurai was going to go by this criteria than we should've had Slippy and a sized down Andross. Maybe even Pigma.

 

[DoubleYooToo]

Dark Pit can count as a Villain IMO, but you got me there on Fire Emblem.

Dark Pit absolutely does not count as a villain, if anything he's an anti-hero or secondary protagonist. Meta Knight is more of a villain than he is.

 

[pupNapoleon]

There is a lot of superficial arguing in this thread over technicalities to phrases.

Main character.
Secondary character.
Protagonist character.

There. Now it fits more in line with the wording. It works for a few...
Mario and Zelda are debatable considering we got Each/Bowser and Ganondorf/Zelda at once.
However, given two heroes per villain in Mario, and the potential of such in Zelda if we get another Ganondorf or Vaati, then we have the ccle twice, in both scenarios.

And so far, DK, Metroid, Earthound, also followsuit, if they complete the trifecta.

 

[Ganreizu]

DK, metroid, nor earthbound will actually end up completing the trifecta though. Ever.

 

[pupNapoleon]

DK, metroid, nor earthbound will actually end up completing the trifecta though. Ever.

I disagree.
We seem very close to getting a playable Mother Brain.

 

[Ffamran]

I disagree.
We seem very close to getting a playable Mother Brain.

How will it move? Is it going to be like M.O.D.O.K. in Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3?

 

[IceAnt573]

Ehh...Fire Emblem brakes most of these patterns (just like how it broke the arbitrary drop less relevant lord for most recent lord that seemed to be believed during the speculation period):

Main Character + Main Character > Main Character > Main Character + Side Character

And to think a Fire Emblem antagonist would be a Smash character is laughable to me.

 

[Ffamran]

Ehh...Fire Emblem brakes most of these patterns:

Main Character + Main Character > Main Character > Main Character + Side Character

And to think a Fire Emblem antagonist would be a Smash character is laughable to me.

Technically, Robin and Lucina are main characters since Robin's the player's POV and personal character while Lucina's the only child character who you will meet no matter what. Now if it was say, Robin and Tharja, then it'd be a protagonist and a side character. Hell, you could even argue that Lissa who is Chrom's sister would be considered a side character despite her relation to Chrom and relevance to the plot. Fire Emblem: Awakening and the Tellius series - Ike's home series - are weird like that. Micaiah is either a main character or a decoy protagonist since Ike is the one who finishes the plot of the Tellius series while Micaiah sets things up or something. Ike himself doesn't appear until later in Radiant Dawn while Micaiah seems to be the main character through the beginning and I think, through trailers.

The issue with Fire Emblem antagonists is that most of them - not all - take on monstrous forms or involves a dragon that's probably as big or bigger than Ridley. There are some minor antagonists that could have been used like Gangrel and Walhart, but they're like "distractions" to the main villain who's this abomination of a creature.

I don't know about the Japanese-only games, though, so I can't comment. Fire Emblem might end up as a heroes-only franchise since side characters number in the hundreds and most of them aren't relevant or would cause wars over who should have gotten in. So, unless future Fire Emblem games future regular people who happen to be extraordinarily gifted in warfare, it's probably not going to be much aside from the Lords and other major protagonists.

 

[IceAnt573]

Lucina's status as a protagonist is kinda wishy-washy as some think she's a tritagonist and thus not deserving of all recognition as a "protagonist". Anyway, the antagonists you're talking about are all the final boss during the maps. They don't typically drive the plot for the majority of the game and just kinda show up at the end. Validar can be arguably called the main antagonist and he is the only antagonist with recognition as a trophy in the 3DS version.

 

[Ffamran]

Lucina's status as a protagonist is kinda wishy-washy as some think she's a tritagonist and thus not deserving of all recognition as a "protagonist". Anyway, the antagonists you're talking about are all the final boss during the maps. They don't typically drive the plot for the majority of the game and just kinda show up at the end. Validar can be arguably called the main antagonist and he is the only antagonist with recognition as a trophy in the 3DS version.

Really? No Walhart or Gangrel? Or Ashnard? Hell, the Black Knight would have been a perfect character to add even if he ended up as a semi-clone of Ike or even... sword-wielding Ganondorf.

Validar might not have been placed into the game as a playable character since unless you've played Awakening, you're probably not going to know who he is or how relevant he is. Also the fact he's a walking spoiler doesn't help.

The issue with Fire Emblem's antagonists is that most of them don't really do much besides act as a chapter boss. Some do drive the plot, but it's extremely spoiler-y compared to Ganondorf who you knew is evil by looking at him and it's not going to be a huge deal since he's the main villain in over half the games - it's common knowledge compared to revealing who's the big bad of Fire Emblem: Shadow Dragon or Sacred Stones.

Once again, I don't know much about the Japan-only games, but I think one game/series has a regular villain who isn't a "surprise, it was him all along" sort of villain and just wreaks havoc throughout the story like Ganondorf or Bowser. The issue is that it's Japan-only and they're not like Marth who's the first Lord of Fire Emblem or Roy who was promoting Rekka no Ken, his father's, Lyn's, and Hector's game.

 

[Burruni]

Really? No Walhart or Gangrel? Or Ashnard? Hell, the Black Knight would have been a perfect character to add even if he ended up as a semi-clone of Ike or even... sword-wielding Ganondorf.

Validar might not have been placed into the game as a playable character since unless you've played Awakening, you're probably not going to know who he is or how relevant he is. Also the fact he's a walking spoiler doesn't help.

The issue with Fire Emblem's antagonists is that most of them don't really do much besides act as a chapter boss. Some do drive the plot, but it's extremely spoiler-y compared to Ganondorf who you knew is evil by looking at him and it's not going to be a huge deal since he's the main villain in over half the games - it's common knowledge compared to revealing who's the big bad of Fire Emblem: Shadow Dragon or Sacred Stones.

Once again, I don't know much about the Japan-only games, but I think one game/series has a regular villain who isn't a "surprise, it was him all along" sort of villain and just wreaks havoc throughout the story like Ganondorf or Bowser. The issue is that it's Japan-only and they're not like Marth who's the first Lord of Fire Emblem or Roy who was promoting Rekka no Ken, his father's, Lyn's, and Hector's game.

Fire Emblem games tend to just have a 1-Villain-Per-Game basis, because basically the cast gets reshuffled each game and very rarely is a boss elaborate in character or repeats appearances. Gharnef in FE 1/3 (11/12) and The Black Knight FE 9/10 are the only moderate examples of it.

Fire Emblem 1&3/11&12: 's two games as a continued story and its remakes on the DS. The big roots of the series and the one that set up so many standards.
Fire Emblem 2: Used almost an entirely different system that is very rarely cited back. Had the protagonists Alm and Celica.
Fire Emblem 4&5: 5 is... meant to take place between chapters in the latter part of 4 and is a succession story. The first half of 4 is the story of how Sigurd tries to unite the continent, is killed along with some of his men, and then his son Seliph avenges his father. 5 stars Seliph's first cousin Leif in basically more backstory of the Child half of FE4.
Fire Emblem 6&7: The story of Lyndis, Hector, and Eliwood preventing the rebirth of a satanic dragon (7) and then Roy and Hector's daughter Lilina stop the rise of an ancient evil sealed by warriors of old (6)... basically the story of Paper Mario & The Thousand Year Door.
Fire Emblem 8: Erika and Ephiram's game. What's commonly called the weakest of the GBA games and shares many similarities to Fire Emblem 2.
Fire Emblem 9 & 10: 's two games in which he goes from the teenager as part of his father's groups of mercenaries to reuniting countries with their true rulers after attempted assasinations (9) to ending up slaying the very Goddess who shaped the world (10).
Fire Emblem 13: The story of the amnesiac / who accompanied Chrom as a tactician to end grand wars, fend off against a zombie-like spawn of enemies called The Risen, and ultimately joining forces with and other children returned from the future to prevent the revival of Grima. Basically the largest and most popular Fire Emblem game that namely brings together Marth's games and the land of Fire Emblem 2 with about 2,000 years of change after them.

So, when we look at the Fire Emblem reps...
: The only protagonists grand enough to be the stars of multiple games
: The far more interesting primary protagonist of the "best" and latest title, which ACTUALLY was an elaboration of a concept from FE12 (which was a duotagonist to Marth, meaning the My Unit also was a protagonist twice)
: Marth clones added in last minute to promote a game. Roy had the mystery of who he was going to be, Lucina had/has a lot of popularity

 

[fogbadge]

theres no pattern evry time someone thinks theyve found something its later disproved

 

[Smash_Veteran_Amtoj]

>Patterns
>Smash

Can't have both.

 

[pupNapoleon]

Pattern

Balance the equation

( Interesting Moveset + Time/Resources + Prominence to Nintendo ) / Allocation per franchise

 

[erico9001]

I think a plausible explanation for this pattern is that it actually reflects the normal public popularity of characters being in Smash. We tend to like the main character the most, second characters second, and the antagonist third. This explains the breaks in the pattern, since sometimes there are multiple secondary characters more popular than the antagonist. Unfortunately, this would mean the pattern wouldn't predict any better than polled popularity. In addition, the pattern does not account for characters not apart of a series already in Smash.