If you were in charge of roster picking for an upcoming Smash!!

[The Novice Sword]

I'll jump on in here with a roster, following the restrictions laid out by OP.
Returning Smash 4 Veterans

Spoiler

Mario
Luigi
Dr. Mario
Peach
Rosalina and Luma
Bowser
Bowser Jr.
Yoshi
Wario
Donkey Kong
Diddy Kong
Link
Toon Link
Zelda
Shiek
Ganondorf
Samus
Zero Suit Samus
Kirby
Meta Knight
King Dedede
Fox
Falco
Pikachu
Jigglypuff
Mewtwo
Charizard
Greninja
Captain Falcon
Ness
Marth
Lucina
Robin
Mr. Game and Watch
Pit
Palutena
Olimar
R.O.B.
Little Mac
Villager
Wii Fit Trainer
Duck Hunt
Mii Fighters
Sonic
Mega Man

Cuts

Spoiler

Lucario
Shulk
Pac Man
Ike
Dark Pit

My logic on cuts is that Lucario is gone to make room for a newer Pokemon newcomer, Pac Man to make room for new Third Party, Dark Pit has a little less potential as a clone than Lucina or Doc in my opinion, and Ike and Shulk are mostly bias (Ike because there are FE characters I like better and Shulk because ugh)

Newcomers

Spoiler

Mario:
King Boo: Another villain for the roster! He'd be surprisingly heavy and slow for a ghost, but with the ability to hover with a strong air game.
Captain Toad: A popular choice. Bad jumps and air game to reflect his inability to jump in his home game. Makes up for it with hard hitting ground combos and throws. Maybe uses 3D World power ups for specials?
Wario:
Waluigi: Counting him as a Wario rep, but his moveset would make more use of the Mario side games. Tennis ball projectiles, dice blocks, karts. Speedy and light hit and run fighter.
Mona: My preferred WarioWare character. She's got her moped, guitar, and tons of minigames to make use of. Her moveset and characteristics have a lot of possibilities, but I suspect she'd be a more keep away fighter.

Donkey Kong:
Dixie Kong: An obvious choice. A semi-clone of Diddy, but I imagine her as actually slightly heavier. Uses her hair propeller as a Duck Hunt-style recovery and her Bubblegum Gun as opposed to Diddy's peanut gun. It'd have a stun capability at full charge because it's sticky.
King K. Rool: Another obvious/popular choice. A good candidate for the new heaviest character. I imagine him being projectile based.

Legend of Zelda:
Impa: I like the idea of her as a semi-clone of Shiek. A little heavier and with unique Neutral, Side, and Down specials.
Midna: In her Imp form. A speedy little sprite who summons Twilight wolves to protect and fight for her.

Pokemon:
Regional Champion: My idea for a new style of Pokemon Trainer. Instead of standing in the back and switching between mons they'd be in the thick of things and rapidly send out their team for their attacks. They'd likely be the player character(s) from whatever gen is current at the time.

Fire Emblem:
Anna: A recurring character. She's usually a shopkeeper, but also appears as a Trickster. She could be a speedy, rogue type as a nice counter point to the other sword wielding FE characters.

Kid Icarus:
Medusa: A recurring villain. She'd probably be mechanically similar to Palutena, but with unique specials.
Viridi: Leader of the Forces of Nature. She'd be all about stage control and summoning puppets to keep opponents at arm's length. Her direct combat ability would be lacking though.

Punch Out:
King Hippo: The iconic baddie of Punch Out (arguably). Would end up being a heavier version of Mac himself most likely, deadly combos on the ground, but get him off stage and he's screwed.

Animal Crossing:
Tom Nook: I think he's got potential. He could make use of furniture and items from his home series to attack. I guess Villager's final smash would need to be altered slightly.
Isabelle: Is adorbs. She'd probably be the resident joke character, but I'll admit to being biased here. I imagine her using public works and fruit to attack.

Others:
Sami (Advanced Wars): A Snake style character focused on projectiles and control. Surprisingly heavy due to all the explosives she carries.
Henry Fleming (Code Name S.T.E.A.M): Assuming it does well I could see a place for him in the roster. Very projectile-y, but with strong melee potential.
Inkling (Splatoon): Same as above. Would be control oriented due to putting down paint of various colors to hinder the enemy and boost themselves.

Third Party:
Bayonetta: The new Third Party rep. She brings a lot of star power and a fresh playstyle with guns and prehensile hair. I imagine her light like Zero Suit Samus, but more combo oriented to reflect her beat em up game origins.

Other notes: I'd cut Mewtwo, but they're going to the trouble to bring him back in DLC so he's probably got to stick around for awhile. Nostalgia is a powerful and frightening thing. Wolf and Lucas could come back, but I'm pretty satisfied with the existing clones and semi-clones. I'd consider them for DLC or for alt skins. Ice Climbers should be allowed to enjoy their retirement as I think Rosalina does the two characters/puppet thing better than them. There are other characters I'd like to put in, but we're already tight on room and certain series probably don't need more rep right now/I can't think of anything cool to do with them.

 

[Loungemen]

Returning Cut Veterans:
Ice Climbers
Wolf

Newcomers:
Captain Toad (With 4 Toadette alts)
Dixie Kong (Donkey & Diddy semi-clone)
New character from Zelda U / Impa (Sheik semi-clone) / Tingle
New character from Metroid U or 3DS
Bandana Dee
New Pokemon from Gen 7/8
New Fire Emblem character / Henry Fleming (S.T.E.A.M.)
Cross (Xenoblade Chronicles X)
Inkling (Splatoon)
Wonder Red (The Wonderful 101)
Excitebike
Ray-Man / Bayonetta

In total that's 12 newcomers and 2 characters coming back, and with the veterans returning brings us to 64 characters. That number was however intentional and I really hope there will be that number of characters in the next smash.

 

[ShinyRegice]

My logic on cuts is that Lucario is gone to make room for a newer Pokemon newcomer

People still see Lucario as cut material? Come on, he's basically a Pokémon staple now, not some random gen 4 mon. Cutting him would be like cutting Meta Knight or Diddy Kong at this point.

As I missed an important part of the pre-SSB4 era (I joined after Little Mac's reveal) I'm going to follow the pre-SSB5 era much more actively and earlier, while trying to learn from the SSB4 roster choices in order to imagine how the SSB5 ones could be. I have some ideas for new characters right now, but it's obvious that we will have to wait for a few years in order to do at least semi-believable rosters without too many filler slots like "[insert name here] series new character".

- Release date: I'm expecting SSB4 to have a longer lifespan than Melee and Brawl (who are about 6 years each), possibly 8 years. Those two more years will allow to take into account two more years of Nintendo's hirtory when putting contents in the next game (characters, stages, musics, Assist Trophies, etc.), as well as allowing SSB5's development to be longer in order to prevent many undeserved cuts, as it will be very hard to put everyone from Smash 4 plus or usual newcomers with the same development time as SSB4. It will also make SSB5 feel more special as a new Smash game. Only problem I see is an increase of the game's budget if development lasts for longer.

- Returning veterans: pretty much everyone from SSB4 (which includes Mewtwo and whoever else is going to be DLC) with a few unlucky exceptions. The only characters in SSB4 who scream cut material imo are Lucina and Dark Pit, as they don't have for purpose to give actual added value to the roster, plus the games they come from are already represented by other characters in the roster. Dr. Mario can stay due to being the first cut veteran to ever come back in a Smash game and he represents a classic Nintendo game series no one else could represent (okay, Dr. Luigi, but... no); in fact I'd give Dr. Mario his own series icon. Other than that I could see Greninja potentially in danger as he was somewhat of a random addition according to Sakurai himself but I'm expecting him to stand the test of time as a new Pokémon staple so I don't really imagine him being cut (I'm already expecting Mega Greninja X and Y for the next Pokémon games tbh).
Other than that the only cut veteran I can really see returning is Wolf due to Starfox getting an IP revival early during SSB4's lifespan. I see him returning like he was in Brawl with a few revamps in order to make him feel less like a Fox and Falco derivative in concept. I don't care about bringing back most cut veterans as I'm mostly apathetic towards them.

- Newcomers from established franchises: obviously we will have to see how well do already existing characters in upcoming games and who appears while being important in their source series and bringing something new to the table. But regardless, I have some ideas for potential newcomers who seem to have a decent shot right now:

Spoiler

- Ridley: probably the most legendarily requested character ever, but it's to be believed that Sakurai never saw him as playable material. It's likely that a new Metroid game is going to be released in SSB4's lifespan and will very possibly feature Ridley. Hopefully a new director could try to be creative with him as a playable character.
- King K. Rool: huge fan support, great moveset potential, and one of the most prominent and popular Nintendo villains (or characters for that matter) not currently playable in Smash. However, he will probably still struggle if he doesn't reappear in the new Donkey Kong Country games, but hopefully those who will create new Donkey Kong games will notice how popular he is and bring him back in major DK games. If it happens then he's basically a shoo-in for playable role in SSB5.
- Captain Toad: he's the new rising star of the Mario series, arguably the most viable way to have a playable Toad in Smash (the species itself being very iconic to the Mario franchise), his levels from Mario 3D World were very popular, he got his own game, and he has more than enough material to take from SM3DW and Captain Toad: Treasure Tracker, making him a very logical choice for a newcomer. Gameplay-wise, I see him as a weight-changing character: he can't jump because his backback is too heavy, but he can throw items from it with his neutral B so he will become lighter and thus able to jump, but he can't use some attacks who depend of the use of a given item (for example, Captain Toad's dash attack consists of his pickaxe swing, but if he thrown it he can't dash attack anymore). Thrown items can be got back manually with the neutral B again after some time have passed.
- Xeloblade Chronicles X character: okay I know we don't know much about characters from this game and I generally dislike talking about characters we don't know much about when it comes to roster discussions but with how well received Xenoblade Chronicles was and how ambitious and promising this game is it's safe to say this one will be acclaimed, and since the Xenoblade series is probably not going to have new games as frequently as Fire Emblem for example it will probably be the only Xenoblade title to be released in SSB4's lifespan. All of these factors make a Xenoblade Chronicles X character a very logical addition to SSB5's roster, though only if there's potential for a unique moveset because otherwise Shulk would be fine as the only Xenoblade rep.

- Newcomers from new series: like Pikmin in Brawl and Xenoblade in Smash 4, we will probably get a newcomer from a notable new series. Let's see:

Spoiler

- Wonderful 101: a kind of prominent game on the Wii U which gets more representation in Smash 4 than your average series without playable character (seven trophies including two of them unlocked through challenges, plus two musics). Plus Nintendo doesn't really have a flagship beat 'em up series and from what I read his creator is interested in creating a new game in the series. However, the first game suffered from poor sales and a lot of people complained about controls. It all depends on if Nintendo plans to push the series enough or if it's not going to stand the test of time (popularity-wise). It's a shame if the series is going to be forgotten due to "the controls" because they're really not bad if you use the right stick and not the Gamepad's screen to draw forms and it really screams Smash material imo.
- Splatoon: getting a following since it was announced at E3, it is created by an internal development studio and Nintendo is clearly pushing the game (several Nintendo Direct appearances and presented at APEX). Not to mention it's a genre that doesn't really overlap with any other notable Nintendo franchise. At the same time it could end up to be a commercial failure, so...
- Codename S.T.E.A.M: of all the newest Nintendo IPs, I feel this one has the slimest chances to get a newcomer in Smash 5. Don't get me wrong, I loved the demo and I'm definitely looking for this game, but it's just not Smash material imo. Fire Emblem is much more established as a tactical series from IS both in Smash and for Nintendo in general, the game seems difficult to adapt to the Smash format, and its characters are not original as they are taken either from real life people or popular culture. Unless the game gets Xenoblade-level acclaim it's not going to happen. Though I hope it will get an Assist Trophy and maybe a few musics.

- Third-party characters: I think it's safe to say that Smash 5 will include a few third-party characters, regardless of it's veterans or newcomers, because they're an important part of the appeal of the new Smash games. However, the appeal of them is probably going to go down if we're stuck to only Sonic Mega Man and Pac-Man, so we will probably get one or two newcomers to increase hype. However, regardles of the administrative hell it's going to be, I don't want any new third-party character if they're going to replace any of the Smash 4 ones, as they are all classic gaming characters with strong ties with Nintendo and a huge fan support prior to their confirmation (okay, a bit less of the later in Pac-Man's case I admit, but still, his moveset is very creative and fun plus Pac-Man himself is a great fit in Smash). Of course I'd add Rayman who seems to be the kind of third-party who would fit in Smash (and I have a bias towards him as shown in my sign); I could consider Bomberman as well even though I care much less about him than I do for Rayman. BUT I'd put first the single best third-party newcomer choice, who represents the most important third-party franchise related to Nintendo, in fact even more important to Nintendo than Sonic Mega Man and Pac-Man combined:

Spoiler

As crazy as this idea sounds, I legitimately imagine and want a playable Tetromino (aka Tetris block) in Smash. It would be so much of an awesome addition: third-party hype, WTF hype, represents a very important part of Nintendo's history, and incredibly unique. I'll just copy-past what I said in another thread:

Tetris Block. Imagine it using moves inspired from Tetris' gameplay, like changing form (just its hitbox, not as drastic as Brawl's Pokémon Trainer), summoning small blocks with the same shape as its current one to complete lines and do a powerful explosion, overlapping S-blocks under it to create a staircase as its recovery, or having a dair based of the fast drop mechanic. It could also have moves inspired from its shape mechanic, like having its Smash attacks based on projections of its current shape. Add cute eyes to its design so it will not feel like a soulless thing.

Well, at least a Tetris Block like this wouldn't be a complete joke character, actually the concept would be like Wii Fit Trainer, using a character from a series which does not rely on a plot and adapting gameplay elements to Smash Bros. even though those games have nothing to do with fighting, as well as representing an important part of Nintendo's history. Sure, Nintendo does not own Tetris (actually the company which own the franchise is... the Tetris Company ) but the Gameboy version of Tetris is the most famous version of the most famous game of all time and it helped a lot to sell the system at the time, and thus deserves a playable character. Though at least it's good that Tetris is already acknowledged in Brawl and Smash 4 with cool remixes of A and B type musics.

So I'm going to post a preliminary SSB5 roster which looks like a semi-believable base with obviously some bias involved:

The first line of for the Mario series and those which derivated from it (Yoshi series; Dr. Mario; WarioWare; Donkey Kong Country). Yoshi is still between the elite four and the new stars of the Mario series, as Yoshi is still very related to the main Mario series, more so than other characters from derivated series. Every other first-party series is listed by chronological order, while third-parties are near the end before Mii Fighters and listed by chronological order as well. Of course the ? filler slots are not reserved for characters from new IPs; in fact it's likely that the roster's appearance will be screwed up when I'll have an idea of who those characters could be ahah. And for the XCX character I went with the most straightforward choice and took the protagonist named Cross, hopefully he will be able to distinct himself from Shulk potential-wise.

Miscellaneous:

Spoiler

- Ganondorf is somewhat similar to his previous incarnations in Smash, but a few of his moves are changed: Warlock Punch is changed to a powerful energy projectile with the same starting lag and the possibility to reverse it, Dark Dive just inflicts knockback instead of grabbing but can now reflect projectiles (still same animation as before), and Wizard's Foot is less powerful mid-air but shakes the ground when it hits it and can burry opponents (plus it acts the same when used both mid-air and in the ground, and still same animation as before but with a less dense wave of dark magic). Also forward smash and neutral air need to be changed because they look out of place: forward smash is now a ground punch (first hitbox is a forward punch charged with dark magic and second hitbox is a ground-shaking punch) while neutral air consists of him summoning a small ball of energy between his hand and quickly crushing it in order to discharge electricity around him.
- Jigglypuff gets some moveset changes: neutral B becomes Sing, side B becomes Rollout, dash attack becomes Pound (it still keeps the increased shield damage effect) and up B becomes Wake-Up Slap (a multi-slap jump which gives moderate vertical height and slight horizontal distance; becomes stronger if the first hit is landed against an enemy who was sleeping).
- Pokémon characters get slight elemental weaknesses and resistances depending on their type: Pikachu resists electricity but takes more damage from burrying attacks; Charizard resists grass but takes more damage from water; Lucario resists dark magic but takes more damage from fire; and Greninja resists fire but takes more damage from electricity. (I don't give anything to Jigglypuff as I have no idea about how translating her actual weaknesses and resistances from Pokémon as of gen VI in Smash; I also wanted to give Mewtwo an Aura resistance in order to translate his resistance to Fighting-type moves in Pokémon but it would do nothing outside of screwing up the Lucario matchup so I didn't gave him any weakness or resistance as well)
- More custom shields à la Yoshi: for instance, shield for Pokémon characters looks like the move Protect, shield for Fire Emblem characters looks like the Pavise skill, and Duck Hunt hides himself behind a bunch of 8-bit grass.
- Dr. Mario now has his own series icon which consists of a pill. He's still a clone of Mario though.
- Xenoblade's series icon is changed to an X letter, unless the Monado reappears in XCX of course but I doubt it.
- In-battle transformations characters like Pokémon Trainer do not return. Instead, a new game mode allows players to choose between two or three different characters in the CSS so they can freely switch during battle in a similar way to Brawl's Trainer, but this mode requires to drop every character's down B as it's the way to switch characters in this mode. But that's for the better, because you don't have to deal with most counters anymore

 

[TCT~Phantom]

People still see Lucario as cut material? Come on, he's basically a Pokémon staple now, not some random gen 4 mon. Cutting him would be like cutting Meta Knight or Diddy Kong at this point.

As I missed an important part of the pre-SSB4 era (I joined after Little Mac's reveal) I'm going to follow the pre-SSB5 era much more actively and earlier, while trying to learn from the SSB4 roster choices in order to imagine how the SSB5 ones could be. I have some ideas for new characters right now, but it's obvious that we will have to wait for a few years in order to do at least semi-believable rosters without too many filler slots like "[insert name here] series new character".

- Release date: I'm expecting SSB4 to have a longer lifespan than Melee and Brawl (who are about 6 years each), possibly 8 years. Those two more years will allow to take into account two more years of Nintendo's hirtory when putting contents in the next game (characters, stages, musics, Assist Trophies, etc.), as well as allowing SSB5's development to be longer in order to prevent many undeserved cuts, as it will be very hard to put everyone from Smash 4 plus or usual newcomers with the same development time as SSB4. It will also make SSB5 feel more special as a new Smash game. Only problem I see is an increase of the game's budget if development lasts for longer.

- Returning veterans: pretty much everyone from SSB4 (which includes Mewtwo and whoever else is going to be DLC) with a few unlucky exceptions. The only characters in SSB4 who scream cut material imo are Lucina and Dark Pit, as they don't have for purpose to give actual added value to the roster, plus the games they come from are already represented by other characters in the roster. Dr. Mario can stay due to being the first cut veteran to ever come back in a Smash game and he represents a classic Nintendo game series no one else could represent (okay, Dr. Luigi, but... no); in fact I'd give Dr. Mario his own series icon. Other than that I could see Greninja potentially in danger as he was somewhat of a random addition according to Sakurai himself but I'm expecting him to stand the test of time as a new Pokémon staple so I don't really imagine him being cut (I'm already expecting Mega Greninja X and Y for the next Pokémon games tbh).
Other than that the only cut veteran I can really see returning is Wolf due to Starfox getting an IP revival early during SSB4's lifespan. I see him returning like he was in Brawl with a few revamps in order to make him feel less like a Fox and Falco derivative in concept. I don't care about bringing back most cut veterans as I'm mostly apathetic towards them.

- Newcomers from established franchises: obviously we will have to see how well do already existing characters in upcoming games and who appears while being important in their source series and bringing something new to the table. But regardless, I have some ideas for potential newcomers who seem to have a decent shot right now:

Spoiler

- Ridley: probably the most legendarily requested character ever, but it's to be believed that Sakurai never saw him as playable material. It's likely that a new Metroid game is going to be released in SSB4's lifespan and will very possibly feature Ridley. Hopefully a new director could try to be creative with him as a playable character.
- King K. Rool: huge fan support, great moveset potential, and one of the most prominent and popular Nintendo villains (or characters for that matter) not currently playable in Smash. However, he will probably still struggle if he doesn't reappear in the new Donkey Kong Country games, but hopefully those who will create new Donkey Kong games will notice how popular he is and bring him back in major DK games. If it happens then he's basically a shoo-in for playable role in SSB5.
- Captain Toad: he's the new rising star of the Mario series, arguably the most viable way to have a playable Toad in Smash (the species itself being very iconic to the Mario franchise), his levels from Mario 3D World were very popular, he got his own game, and he has more than enough material to take from SM3DW and Captain Toad: Treasure Tracker, making him a very logical choice for a newcomer. Gameplay-wise, I see him as a weight-changing character: he can't jump because his backback is too heavy, but he can throw items from it with his neutral B so he will become lighter and thus able to jump, but he can't use some attacks who depend of the use of a given item (for example, Captain Toad's dash attack consists of his pickaxe swing, but if he thrown it he can't dash attack anymore). Thrown items can be got back manually with the neutral B again after some time have passed.
- Xeloblade Chronicles X character: okay I know we don't know much about characters from this game and I generally dislike talking about characters we don't know much about when it comes to roster discussions but with how well received Xenoblade Chronicles was and how ambitious and promising this game is it's safe to say this one will be acclaimed, and since the Xenoblade series is probably not going to have new games as frequently as Fire Emblem for example it will probably be the only Xenoblade title to be released in SSB4's lifespan. All of these factors make a Xenoblade Chronicles X character a very logical addition to SSB5's roster, though only if there's potential for a unique moveset because otherwise Shulk would be fine as the only Xenoblade rep.

- Newcomers from new series: like Pikmin in Brawl and Xenoblade in Smash 4, we will probably get a newcomer from a notable new series. Let's see:

Spoiler

- Wonderful 101: a kind of prominent game on the Wii U which gets more representation in Smash 4 than your average series without playable character (seven trophies including two of them unlocked through challenges, plus two musics). Plus Nintendo doesn't really have a flagship beat 'em up series and from what I read his creator is interested in creating a new game in the series. However, the first game suffered from poor sales and a lot of people complained about controls. It all depends on if Nintendo plans to push the series enough or if it's not going to stand the test of time (popularity-wise). It's a shame if the series is going to be forgotten due to "the controls" because they're really not bad if you use the right stick and not the Gamepad's screen to draw forms and it really screams Smash material imo.
- Splatoon: getting a following since it was announced at E3, it is created by an internal development studio and Nintendo is clearly pushing the game (several Nintendo Direct appearances and presented at APEX). Not to mention it's a genre that doesn't really overlap with any other notable Nintendo franchise. At the same time it could end up to be a commercial failure, so...
- Codename S.T.E.A.M: of all the newest Nintendo IPs, I feel this one has the slimest chances to get a newcomer in Smash 5. Don't get me wrong, I loved the demo and I'm definitely looking for this game, but it's just not Smash material imo. Fire Emblem is much more established as a tactical series from IS both in Smash and for Nintendo in general, the game seems difficult to adapt to the Smash format, and its characters are not original as they are taken either from real life people or popular culture. Unless the game gets Xenoblade-level acclaim it's not going to happen. Though I hope it will get an Assist Trophy and maybe a few musics.

- Third-party characters: I think it's safe to say that Smash 5 will include a few third-party characters, regardless of it's veterans or newcomers, because they're an important part of the appeal of the new Smash games. However, the appeal of them is probably going to go down if we're stuck to only Sonic Mega Man and Pac-Man, so we will probably get one or two newcomers to increase hype. However, regardles of the administrative hell it's going to be, I don't want any new third-party character if they're going to replace any of the Smash 4 ones, as they are all classic gaming characters with strong ties with Nintendo and a huge fan support prior to their confirmation (okay, a bit less of the later in Pac-Man's case I admit, but still, his moveset is very creative and fun plus Pac-Man himself is a great fit in Smash). Of course I'd add Rayman who seems to be the kind of third-party who would fit in Smash (and I have a bias towards him as shown in my sign); I could consider Bomberman as well even though I care much less about him than I do for Rayman. BUT I'd put first the single best third-party newcomer choice, who represents the most important third-party franchise related to Nintendo, in fact even more important to Nintendo than Sonic Mega Man and Pac-Man combined:

Spoiler

As crazy as this idea sounds, I legitimately imagine and want a playable Tetromino (aka Tetris block) in Smash. It would be so much of an awesome addition: third-party hype, WTF hype, represents a very important part of Nintendo's history, and incredibly unique. I'll just copy-past what I said in another thread:

So I'm going to post a preliminary SSB5 roster which looks like a semi-believable base with obviously some bias involved:

The first line of for the Mario series and those which derivated from it (Yoshi series; Dr. Mario; WarioWare; Donkey Kong Country). Yoshi is still between the elite four and the new stars of the Mario series, as Yoshi is still very related to the main Mario series, more so than other characters from derivated series. Every other first-party series is listed by chronological order, while third-parties are near the end before Mii Fighters and listed by chronological order as well. Of course the ? filler slots are not reserved for characters from new IPs; in fact it's likely that the roster's appearance will be screwed up when I'll have an idea of who those characters could be ahah. And for the XCX character I went with the most straightforward choice and took the protagonist named Cross, hopefully he will be able to distinct himself from Shulk potential-wise.

Miscellaneous:

Spoiler

- Ganondorf is somewhat similar to his previous incarnations in Smash, but a few of his moves are changed: Warlock Punch is changed to a powerful energy projectile with the same starting lag and the possibility to reverse it, Dark Dive just inflicts knockback instead of grabbing but can now reflect projectiles (still same animation as before), and Wizard's Foot is less powerful mid-air but shakes the ground when it hits it and can burry opponents (plus it acts the same when used both mid-air and in the ground, and still same animation as before but with a less dense wave of dark magic). Also forward smash and neutral air need to be changed because they look out of place: forward smash is now a ground punch (first hitbox is a forward punch charged with dark magic and second hitbox is a ground-shaking punch) while neutral air consists of him summoning a small ball of energy between his hand and quickly crushing it in order to discharge electricity around him.
- Jigglypuff gets some moveset changes: neutral B becomes Sing, side B becomes Rollout, dash attack becomes Pound (it still keeps the increased shield damage effect) and up B becomes Wake-Up Slap (a multi-slap jump which gives moderate vertical height a slight horizontal distance; becomes stronger if the first hit is landed against an enemy who was sleeping).
- Pokémon characters get slight elemental weaknesses and resistances depending on their type: Pikachu resists electricity but takes more damage from burrying attacks; Charizard resists grass but takes more damage from water; Lucario resists dark magic but takes more damage from fire; and Greninja resists fire but takes more damage from electricity. (I don't give anything to Jigglypuff as I have no idea about how translating her actual weaknesses and resistances from Pokémon as of gen VI in Smash; I also wanted to give Mewtwo an Aura resistance in order to translate his resistance to Fighting-type moves in Pokémon but it would do nothing outside of screwing up the Lucario matchup so I didn't gave him any weakness or resistance as well)
- More custom shields à la Yoshi: for instance, shield for Pokémon characters looks like the move Protect, shield for Fire Emblem characters looks like the Pavise skill, and Duck Hunt hides himself behind a bunch of 8-bit grass.
- Dr. Mario now has his own series icon which consists of a pill. He's still a clone of Mario though.
- Xenoblade's series icon is changed to an X letter, unless the Monado reappears in XCX of course but I doubt it.
- In-battle transformations characters like Pokémon Trainer do not return. Instead, a new game mode allows players to choose between two or three different characters in the CSS so they can freely switch during battle in a similar way to Brawl's Trainer, but this mode requires to drop every character's down B as it's the way to switch characters in this mode. But that's for the better, because you don't have to deal with most counters anymore

I can tell lot of thought went into this roster, and I do LOVE the idea of a Tetris character. However, a few things.
1. I think that Ice Climbers and Lucas are reasonable characters to re include, as Ice Climbers will no longer face technical issues, and Nintendo has been flirting with the idea of re releasing Mother 3. I think these would strengthen the roster.
2. Id reserve a slot for a new FE and Pokemon character. We know its inevitable, but we don't know who it is at this point.
3. I think that Rhythm Heaven is more than deserving of a newcomer, as it has been found that a RH character was planned. I think that Chorus Kids would fit in greatly within your roster.
An amazing roster overall though. I love a lot of your ideas.

 

[The Novice Sword]

People still see Lucario as cut material? Come on, he's basically a Pokémon staple now, not some random gen 4 mon. Cutting him would be like cutting Meta Knight or Diddy Kong at this point.

The thing about Lucario is that he was the breakout of the 4th gen of Pokemon, but his popularity with his home fandom has waned slightly as time has gone by. (It hasn't gone away, just...died down a little). It's not that I think he's somehow less deserving of a slot or something (not that "slots" exist in a physical sense) It's just that I needed to cut someone else to make the roster less cluttered and Lucario seemed as good a choice as any.

P.S.: I enjoyed your roster ideas a lot. The Tetris Block idea is pretty neat, though I'm not 100% sold on it.

 

[Dastardly Ridleylash]

Returning Fighters:

Spoiler

Super Mario:
Mario
Luigi
Bowser
Peach
Yoshi
Wario

The Legend of Zelda:
Link
Zelda/Sheik
Ganon

Donkey Kong:
Donkey Kong
Diddy Kong

Metroid:
Samus/Zero Suit Samus

Pokemon:
Pikachu
Jigglypuff
Lucario
Mewtwo
Charizard

Kirby:
Kirby
King Dedede
Meta Knight

Kid Icarus:
Pit
Palutena

Punch-Out!
Little Mac

EarthBound:Ness

Star Fox:
Fox
Falco
Wolf

Other:
Sonic
Mega Man
Pac-Man
Mr. Game and Watch
Duck Hunt Duo

New Fighters

Spoiler

Super Mario:
Waluigi
Daisy

The Legend of Zelda:
Skull Kid

Donkey Kong:
King K.Rool

Metroid:
Ridley

Star Fox:
Leon

Pokemon:
Tyrantrum

Stages:

Spoiler

Smash Brothers:
Battlefield
Final Destination

Super Mario:
Yoshi's Island
Rogueport

Donkey Kong:
Jungle Japes
Gangplank Galleon
Rumble Falls

Star Fox:
Corneria
Orbital Gate Assault
Venom

Pokemon:
Pokemon League
Lumiose City
New Island

Kirby:
Green Greens
Fountain of Dreams
Halberd
Dedede's Castle

Metroid:
Brinstar
Brinstar Depths
Norfair
Frigate Orpheon

Kid Icarus:
Underworld
Reset Bomb Forest
Skyworld

Punch-Out!:
Boxing Ring

Other:
Emerald Coast
Air Man
Pac-Land
Duck Hunt
Flat Zone

 

[Schnee117]

Looks like I'll need to add Rayman to the roster given the recent video leak of the CSS screen.

 

[Superior Spider-Mew]

How would I do it? Bring everyone back! All clones are no longer clones and have their own mechanics as well as movesets. As for newcomers it would be Geigue, Excite Bike (that unexpected retro character), Rayman, Wonder Red (imagine a sort of playstyle like Viewtiful Joe in MvC3), Krystal (more love for the StarFox franchise), Geno (to please the masses), and Shovel Knight

 

[Schnee117]

Full on roster revision:
All veterans aside from Roy (Hugely unpopular in the FE fandom for being a cardboard character and a really late promotion making him weak. He's a Marth skin instead for the few fans he has), Pichu (Weaker version of Pikachu that damages itself), Young Link (Do we need 3 Links? And I'm going on the assumption that transforming won't be back), Squirtle (Too much Gen 1 (7.8/10) plus we have a water starter already) and Ivysaur (See Squirtle but minus the Grass type for now).

Toon Link uses stuff like the Deku leaf and Skull hammer
Dark Pit gains Viridi Weaponry like claws
Lucina get' lance usage and skills (plus 8 Chrom skins. Robin has Morgan appear for pair up) alongside some light healing from Parallel Falchion.
Dr Mario uses Viruses.
Falco get's an Arwing and more significant differences.
Ganondorf is revamped into HW version.
Wario has moves that reference the Land/World games as well as the Ware inc stuff
Solid Snake has some Old Snake skins and pilots REX for the Final Smash.
All other captains from Pikmin are alts for Olimar.

Newcomers:

Ridley: Main villain, not "Too big" contrary to popular belief, second most recurring named character of the series (behind Samus) and Metroid needs reps that aren't Samus.
Sylux: More love for the hunters and uses his various weaponry and Delano.
Rundas: More hunter love plus he has ice. We need more of it aside from PK Freeze and the IC.
K Rool: More villains on the roster and he has a diverse background to make a moveset from.
Dixie Kong: Guitars and Helicoptor hair feature here for this Kong.
Rayman: In light of the recent fake leak. Ubi's main character (even if Ubi have been dummies of late).
Wonder Red: Wonderful 101 deserves attention and there's the possibility of another Wonderful title.
Inkling: Splatoon is being marketed the hell out of. Area control is key and alts are easy to do.
Tiki: One of the most important FE characters in the series.
Anna: Most recurring FE character being in almost every game.
Kamui: Avatar from the upcoming FE 14
Dr Eggman: Uses his Egg Walker to fight and is the main antagonist of Sonic
Spooky: Pac-Man World 2's final boss. Leads the Ghosts.
Zero: NOT just another swordfighter given how the Mega Man games work with boss abilities.
Captain Syrup: Another villain this time from the Wario Land series
Fawful: Main antagonist of the M&L side series (so far). Gadgets.
Porky: Main antagonist of the Mother series

Xenoblade Spoilers ahead

Spoiler

Mumkhar: Main antagonist for the first half of the game and is responsible for killing Fiora which sets Shulk on his quest. Final Smash is Metal Face.
Seven: Dual sword user with a great degree of customisation down to the talent arts. Final Smash is Face nemesis

Cross: Xenoblade X's avatar character. I can see great potential in this.
Fleming: Codename: STEAM's main character (alongside Lincoln who get's 8 alt skins).
Sceptile: Fills the role of Grass Starter for Pokemon.
Krystal: Uses a Staff and can call on the Sauria inhabitants for her FS.

DLC:
Medusa
Hades
Zelgius
Giegue
Captain Toad
Waluigi
Marx
Bandanna Dee
Impa (HW version)
Tingle

 

[ErenJager]

Toon Link
- Skull Hammer, Mirror Shield, Deku Leaf, and Bombchu added to move set to distinguish him further from Link.
- Minish Cap alt costume added.

Villager
- An alt costume spot dedicated towards appearing like your avatar in Animal Crossing New Leaf, this would use save file data from your 3DS, and would be a neat connectivity feature.
- Final Smash change to Bee Hive.

Link
- Dark Link to become a full fledge character alt costume. Including cosmetic changes to some attacks, for example a Dark Triforce Slash. With the announcer also proclaiming "Dark Link" when selected.

Donkey Kong
- A new Final Smash either Coconut Gun or Rambi.
- A true Super Kong palate swap (with a blue tie).

Olimar
- Rock Pikmin Final Smash.
- Perhaps more captains as alt costumes.

Yoshi
- Every Yoshi colour as a palate swap option.

Mega Man
- Final Smash changed to Super Adapter.
- Helmetless alt costume.

Pokemon
- Each Pokemon gets their Shiny palate swap.

Ganondorf
- His large two handed sword is some how incorparted into his move set, even if its only one move, in which he summons it quickly and disappears.

Ness
- Lucas as an alt costume.

Dr. Mario
- Receives his own series icon which is either a pill or DRx.

Charizard
- Rock Smash removed in favour of a fire type attack such as Fire Blast or Fire Spin.

 

[Saikyoshi]

Here's my list:

[collapse=Returning Veterans (57)]






Nobody should ever be cut. Ever. There's no excuse for it.

*I'm assuming Roy has his Project M revisions, and Dark Pit is made more distinct.
**I did not include Young Link because, really, Toon Link is Young Link.[/collapse]

[collapse=Newcomers (13)]
[/COLOR]

• Ridley: There's no denying that he's the #1 most requested character. I'm saying this as someone who absolutely hates Metroid and nearly everything associated with it; just put him in already.
• Abraham Lincoln: Codename S.T.E.A.M. is one of Nintendo's two latest bids to reattain relevance. Pretty close ties to Fire Emblem, too (and the hilarious-in-hindsight moment at E3 '14 sure doesn't hurt).
• Inkling: There's no question that Splatoon made a huge splash (ba-dum-tss) when it was announced. It will likely be a huge success when it goes gold.
• Waluigi: This is, of course, assuming he actually appears in a game by that time. He has this weird status right now where he's a shadow in the corner – someone with a clear connection to various existing characters that's never built on. He needs to appear as a major character in the next Wario Land or WarioWare title at long last; THEN he'll be a viable roster choice.
• Isaac: Golden Sun is a beloved IP that is widely agreed needs more attention. He's the #1 request for the next Project M character, above Ridley for goodness sakes!
• Sukapon: It's pretty much common knowledge by now that Nintendo's tried fighting games before. His moveset could easily bring a TFG flair unseen in other characters.
• K. Rool: I don't like the DKC series either, but at the same time, can't deny the demand for him.
• (Space reserved for character debuting in 2016-2019)
• (Golden Sun Dark Dawn character):Isaac only represents a small portion of the fighting abilities in GS. As I haven't played Dark Dawn yet, I don't know any specific characters, though...
• Mr. Sandman: The world champion in the Punch-Out!! series. He'd represent a big part of those games lacking in Mac; the opponents all use skills and special techniques that should, by all logic, make them far outclass him in a fight. He's also well-known for being a revival of Mike Tyson's playstyle in '09, which was definitely an... interesting and well-known part of Nintendo history. (And for the record, he'd be the first black playable character in the series.)
• EVR Racer: Nintendo's absolute first experiment with video games. This guy predates Mr. Game & Watch by five years. SSB's always looking for new parts of Nintendo's video game history to cover, and if you ask me, they missed a pretty damn important part!
• Rayman: Like Electronic Gaming Monthly's hoax put Sonic in Brawl, the recent fiasco with the "leak" made a lot of noise. He's turned from "fat chance" to "pretty damn likely" over the course of a single weekend.
• Master Hand: Tell me, what do Super Street Fighter II Turbo/IV/IVAE2012, Soul Calibur I/III/IV/V, and so many other fighting games have in common? They all allow you to unlock a stripped-down version of the final boss as a full character. Not only that, Super Smash Bros. is easily one of Nintendo's most successful IPs by a landslide – it's about time that it had a rep for itself.

So, eight popular (assuming a future IP is popular, which it probably will be) additions, two off-the-wall but historically-important additions (EVR, MH), and three niche/WTF additions (Sandman, Sukapon, GSDD character). Pretty typical pattern for the series.[/U][/U]

64 had ten popular additions (Jiggly was popular in Japan at the time), and two niche/WTF additions in Ness (from what was a very poor-selling and critically panned game at the time) and CF (who was likely only in to reuse resources from the Dragon King build).
[Melee and Brawl added quite a few popular characters, but quite a few "what"s and blatantly niche fanservice (The ICs, whose game wasn't very well liked, Roy, who HADN'T EVEN DEBUTED YET, and Lucas, everything about Lucas).
And 4's roster is pret-tay controversial with its Pittoo, Lucina, and DHD.


I added no new additions to Mario/Zelda/Pokémon series because those are pretty well-saturated, and I'm assuming Waluigi joins the Wario series here – he would not be in if he's not important in a game by then due to there being eight Mario characters already.
[/collapse]

Then again, I'm just basically saying the first things that come to mind.

 

[Chase]

Seeing as my opinions have changed a bit, a want to redo mine.

• Dry Bowser - With the reintroduction of transformations, Dry Bowser seems like a logical inclusion.
• Captain Toad - The most logical Mario inclusion. Unique moveset and mechanic potential, just a logical inclusion.
• Paper Mario - My 2nd most wanted character overall, and someone with an exuberant amount of potential.
• Kamek - If Yoshi got a second rep, it would be him. Yoshi's archnemesis is a force to be reckoned with.
• King K. Rool - DK's archnemesis, and the best choice for a third DK character. Full of personality and potential.
• Dixie Kong - She's gone up on my want list as of late, so seeing her in Smash would be awesome. She has potential, but not as much as K. Rool.
• Captain Syrup - Wario Land needs some love, and Captain Syrup is the most recurring character in that series after Wario himself. She has tons of potential that is often overlooked.
• Ganon - The most recurring Zelda villain, and it is a massive travesty he isn't in Smash. Ganondorf would be revamped to be faster and lighter, while Ganon would become the slower, heavier one.
• Impa - Hyrule Warriors really put some juice into her popularity, and it would absolutely great to see her in Smash.
• Vaati - The third most recurring Zelda villain (after Ganon and his Dorfy counterpart), and a unique character in that he is a small villain. He could have a moveset revolving around wind, being able to gimp the hell out of opponents but not being able to stand up to that much.
• Takamaru - His game is rad, he is rad, he's had a resurgence...what reasons are there to not include this guy?
• Lip - Panel de Pon needs some love, just as Wario Land does, and Lip is the perfect way to represent that. She can wield her stick in battle, finally getting rid of that godawful item.
• Mallo - Mallo is a vastly overlooked character, who I feel deserves more appreciation. He was among my most predicted characters for this game before the ESRB leaks, and I feel he could have a great moveset and playstyle.
• Dillon - Dillon and Mallo are kind of grouped together for me. I love both their games, and I would love to see them in Smash. Dillon could be extremely unique by defending a tower, or he could be generic. Either way, he could be fun!
• Bandana Dee - Sort of the Toad of the Mario series, Bandana Dee is the perfect 4th Kirby character, and he needs some love in Smash Bros., because Sakurai's biased *** ain't giving him any.
• Samurai Goroh - F-Zero needs a second character, and the most obvious choice is Goroh. He could wield a katana and have a blitz-based playstyle. It would be great!
• Sceptile - Wanted a Grass Starter, Sceptile fit the bill. Consider Serperior and Meowth runners up for this spot.
• Isaac - He should've been in Brawl, and I would give him some retribution here. Has massive moveset potential.
• Ridley - Honestly should've been there in Melee. Samus' archnemesis needs some love, and without Sakurai on board, I'm sure he'd finally get it.
• Inkling - Splatoon is shaping up to be awesome. Inkling in Smash would also be awesome.
• Captain Fleming - See Inkling.
• Karate Joe - A rhythm-based fighter would be amazing, and Karate Joe is the best fighter to fill that slot.
• Rayman - I've been playing a lot of Legends recently, and my god is Rayman awesome! He might be in my top 10 now, so Rayman gets a spot.
• Shovel Knight - I STILL LOVE YOU BABY. Shovel Knight is an amazing game that deserves representation, as it has become a legend in a really short amount of time. You go, Shovel Knight!
• One Mii - Why have three Miis with bland movesets when you could have one mii, who is only customizable aesthetically, with a really fun moveset that Miis actually use! It's pure gold!

CUTS:

 

[SMAASH! Puppy]

Here is my roster (Although its more of a list). Let me know what you think. (But don't say it has too many Pokémon.)
Mario, Luigi, Peach, Bowser, Dr. Mario, Toad/Toadette, Rosalina & Luma, Bowser Jr., Donkey Kong, Diddy Kong, Dixie Kong, Yoshi, Wario, Villager, Samus/Zero Suit Samus, Slyux(Probably spelled that wrong) Mega Man, Proto Man, Zero, Tron, R.O.B., Link, Zelda, Sheik, Toon Link, Ganondorf, Young Link, Wolf Link & Midna, Toon Zelda/Toon Sheik, Fox, Falco, Wolf, Captain Falcon, Wii Fit Trainer, Sukapon, Marth, Ike, Roy, Lucina, Robin, Shovel Knight, Little Mac, Kirby, Meta Knight, King Dedede, Bandana Dee, Pikmin & Olimar(or Alph), Amaterasu, Nintendog(or cat), Pit, Palutena, Dark Pit, Lloyd, Chibi Robo, Parappa, Ice Climbers, Mr. Game & Watch, Bomberman, Black Mage, Rayman, Duck Hunt, Boy & Blob, Shulk, Pikachu, Pokémon Trainer(with Treeko/Marshstomp/Blaziken), Lucario, Mewtwo, Jigglypuff, Greninja, Plussle & Minun, Pichu, Squirtle, Ivysaur, Charizard, Meowth, Ness, Lucas, Sonic, Tails, Snake, PAC-Man, Primid, Mii Fighters(with a new Caster class).
Characters with a / in between their names are swappable. Characters in parenthesis are palette swaps.

 

[Saikyoshi]

Here is my roster (Although its more of a list). Let me know what you think. (But don't say it has too many Pokémon.)
Mario, Luigi, Peach, Bowser, Dr. Mario, Toad/Toadette, Rosalina & Luma, Bowser Jr., Donkey Kong, Diddy Kong, Dixie Kong, Yoshi, Wario, Villager, Samus/Zero Suit Samus, Slyux(Probably spelled that wrong) Mega Man, Proto Man, Zero, Tron, R.O.B., Link, Zelda, Sheik, Toon Link, Ganondorf, Young Link, Wolf Link & Midna, Toon Zelda/Toon Sheik, Fox, Falco, Wolf, Captain Falcon, Wii Fit Trainer, Sukapon, Marth, Ike, Roy, Lucina, Robin, Shovel Knight, Little Mac, Kirby, Meta Knight, King Dedede, Bandana Dee, Pikmin & Olimar(or Alph), Amaterasu, Nintendog(or cat), Pit, Palutena, Dark Pit, Lloyd, Chibi Robo, Parappa, Ice Climbers, Mr. Game & Watch, Bomberman, Black Mage, Rayman, Duck Hunt, Boy & Blob, Shulk, Pikachu, Pokémon Trainer(with Treeko/Marshstomp/Blaziken), Lucario, Mewtwo, Jigglypuff, Greninja, Plussle & Minun, Pichu, Squirtle, Ivysaur, Charizard, Meowth, Ness, Lucas, Sonic, Tails, Snake, PAC-Man, Primid, Mii Fighters(with a new Caster class).
Characters with a / in between their names are swappable. Characters in parenthesis are palette swaps.

Bold: ???

(Also, I counted twelve third-party characters in that list. That's five over the thread's limit.

• Sonic/Tails/Pac-Man/Megaman/Snake you already know.
• Rayman is owned by Ubisoft.
• Bomberman is owned by Hudson Soft.
• Black Mage is owned by Square Enix.
• Boy & Blob are owned by Majesco Entertainment.
• Shovel Knight is owned by an independant developer.
• Tron is owned by Disney.
• PaRappa is owned by Sony.

)

 

[SMAASH! Puppy]

Sorry... (guess I should read the first page before replying.)

 

[Saikyoshi]

Sorry... (guess I should read the first page before replying.)

I do, of course, understand the confusion regarding Bomberman, BM, and B&B. Hudson and Majesco aren't exactly well-known as developers, and Bomberman and BM fit seamlessly in SSF2.

So while some choices were confusing, personally, others were understandable.

 

[SMAASH! Puppy]

Confusing? How so?

 

[Saikyoshi]

Confusing? How so?

Well, Tron is from a movie (so he would be about as well-recieved as... well, Mr. Incredible in SSF1).
And PaRappa is still owned by a direct and fierce rival to Nintendo – it's not like Sonic where it faded down to friendly fights over time, Nintendo and Sony are still at all-out war.

 

[Laniv]

Returning Veterans:


()



Pokémon Trainer returns as his own character.

Cut Veterans:

Dr. Mario, Dark Pit, and Lucina are alts for Mario, Pit and Marth.

Greninja, Charizard, Sheik, and Toon Link are unfortunately cut to make room for other characters.


Newcomers:

Toad: IMO, the most deserving Mario series character. Peach can have her B move replaced by something from Super Princess Peach. Captain Toad appears as an alt.

Daisy: In her sports outfit. Deserves the spot slightly more than Waluigi.

Tingle: Again, another deserving character, with or without the hatebase. Uses Rupees to fight and a balloon as a recovery.

Impa: The other deserving Zelda character, and a personal favorite. Uses a blend of magic and her weapons from Hyrule Warriors.

Bandana Dee: Is being pushed pretty hard in the Kirby games, so he seems likely as the next Kirby character.

Adeleine: An admittedly long-shot character who could still be unique with her painting ability.

Dixie Kong: A new fighter who fights with high air speed.

King K. Rool: This guy wins the award for "Most Obvious Choice That's Still Not Yet Playable". He has the highest potential of most would-be newcomers.

Ridley: Another obvious choice.

Medusa: One of the main villains of Kid Icarus.

Rhythm Girl: Arguably the "face" of Rhythm Heaven.

Chorus Kids: I feel Rhythm Heaven deserves two characters, and these guys fit the bill.

Lip: The newest retro character, she can use the garbage blocks to fight.

Sablé Prince: The other retro character, he would fight using his transformations from his home game.

Inkling: Master of stage control with their ink gun.

Captain Syrup: Wario Land really needs more representation.

Mona: A fun, unique WarioWare character.

Savvy Stylist: A new oddball character, she fights with designer clothes.

 

[ErenJager]

 

[BandanaWaddleDee]

Wat?

 

[ErenJager]

Wat?

At least it would have a hope at being balanced.

 

[BandanaWaddleDee]

At least it would have a hope at being balanced.

But 18 characters only? Roster is 3smaLL5me

 

[ErenJager]

But 18 characters only? Roster is 3smaLL5me

I'm intrigued by a refined balanced roster.

 

[BandanaWaddleDee]

I'm intrigued by a refined balanced roster.

I can't. I just can't. No offense, but I couldn't see this being enjoyable unless it was the 2nd game.

 

[ErenJager]

I can't. I just can't. No offense, but I couldn't see this being enjoyable unless it was the 2nd game.

I think it would be neat to of had the Wii U version be exactly what it is today, and maybe have the 3DS version a more refined balanced version. Maybe not this roster exactly or that small but yeah.

 

[PhantomShab]

Updating my list to include Ridley (he can be done, it's not impossible) and Rayman since the recent troll stunt involving him made me realize just how much he'd work and fit in Smash. I'm also removing Dillon (Dillon's Rolling Western) and Captain Fleming (Codename S.T.E.A.M) since I'm not sure on the future of those IPs, but keeping Inkling since Nintendo really seems to be banking on Splatoon being a mainstay franchise.

VETERANS

Spoiler

Mario
Peach
Bowser
Yoshi
Wario (with Wario Land/Wario World inspired moveset and appearance)
Donkey Kong
Diddy Kong
Link
Zelda
Samus
Pit
Palutena
Marth
Ike
Kirby
King Dedede
Meta Knight
Little Mac
Fox
Falco (with changes made to make him further different from Fox)
Pikachu
Charizard
Lucario
Ness
Captain Falcon
Villager
Wii Fit Trainer
Ice Climbers

UNLOCKABLE VETERANS

Spoiler

Luigi
Bowser Jr.
Mr. Game & Watch
Ganondorf (FINALLY no longer a Captain Falcon clone, this is a top priority)
Toon Link (with changes made to make him further different from Link)
Robin
Wolf
Jigglypuff
Greninja
Mewtwo
Duck Hunt
R.O.B
Olimar
Shulk

NEWCOMERS

Spoiler

Ashley (a way to still have representation for the WarioWare games after the overhaul done to Wario)
Dixie Kong (would be made as different from Diddy Kong as possible)
Impa (her Skyward Sword design unless she get's an updated one in a future Zelda game)
Inkling (Splatoon is a new IP that will likely become a mainstay Nintendo franchise)
Takamaru (fills the "retro character" role that Ice Climbers, Pit, and Duck Hunt filled in their respective Smash debuts)
Isaac (from Golden Sun)

UNLOCKABLE NEWCOMERS

Spoiler

Captain Toad (Toad has always been heavily requested, so Captain Toad would fill those demands, plus Toadette as an alt skin)
Vaati (second most reoccurring Zelda villain after Ganondorf and adds a villain for the "toon" Zelda game branch)
K. Rool (most iconic and reoccurring villain for the Donkey Kong games)
Ridley (size is equal to the one in the Melee opening movie, with wings folded in when not in use)
Dark Samus (unique Phazon powers plus a villain rep for the Prime branch of the Metroid games)
Monita (fills the "random/silly" character role similar to Jigglypuff, Game & Watch, R.O.B, and Wii Fit Trainer)

3rd PARTY CHARACTERS (limit of 5)

Spoiler

Sonic (also an unlockable veteran)
Mega Man (also an unlockable veteran)
Pac-Man (also an unlockable veteran)
Snake (also an unlockable veteran)
Rayman (also an unlockable newcomer)
Banjo & Kazooie (my next pick if I couldn't get Rayman, also an unlockable newcomer)

CUT CHARACTERS

Spoiler

Rosalina (too much Rosalina pandering from Nintendo as it is, she simply doesn't deserve to be in Smash Bros imo)
Sheik (only appeared in one Zelda game over a decade ago, plus Impa is an actual Sheikah)
Zero Suit Samus (just Samus without her power suit, get out of here with that lol)
Dr. Mario (clone)
Dark Pit (clone)
Lucina (clone)
Mii Fighter (blegh)

Total characters=60

Almost forgot to add Mii Fighter to the cut characters list.

 

[ErenJager]

 

[KimKarsmashian]

Well, I've wanted to do something along these lines for a while. *cracks knuckles* Prepare yourselves, because the roster is barely going to change. This is mostly a roster to suit my tastes, so if something's nonsensical...

Spoiler: roster

Mario:

1. Mario
2. Luigi
3. Peach
4. Bowser
5. Bowser Jr
6. Rosalina and Luma

Zelda:

1. Link
2. Zelda/Sheik (the merger returns)
3. Ganondorf (decloned)
4. Toon Link

Fire Emblem

1. Marth
2. Ike
3. Robin

Kirby

1. Kirby
2. King Dedede
3. Meta Knight

Donkey Kong

1. Donkey Kong
2. Diddy Kong

Metroid

1. Samus
2. Zero Suit Samus (the Final Smash transformation was really awkward)
3. Ridley (yes, I went there.)

Star Fox

1. Fox
2. Falco
3. Wolf

F-Zero

1. Captain Falcon
2. Black Shadow (with Ganondorf's old moveset?)

Pokémon

1. Pikachu
2. Jigglypuff
3. Charizard
4. Mewtwo
5. Greninja

Kid Icarus

1. Pit
2. Palutena

Animal Crossing

1. Villager
2. Tom Nook

SERIES WITH ONE REP

1. Ness
2. Yoshi
3. Wario
4. Captain Olimar
5. Shulk
6. Wii Fit Trainer
7. Mii Fighter

RETRO CHARACTERS

1. Little Mac
2. R.O.B.
3. Duck Hunt
4. Mr. Game & Watch
5. Ice Climbers

THIRD PARTIES

1. Mega Man
2. Sonic
3. Pac-Man
4. Snake

Cut Characters:
Dr. Mario
Lucina
Dark Pit
New Characters:
Tom Nook
Ridley
Black Shadow

Spoiler: explanation

As you can tell, I removed the incontrovertibly cloney characters and only added characters to existing series.

I'm on the fence about K Rool (DK is very underrepresented in terms of stuff overall, but idk if I can justify giving them 3 reps) and Chorus Kids (I am ignorant of how popular or significant Rhythm Heaven as a series is).

I'm unsure about bringing back Lucas. Despite being a huge MOTHER fan, there's no denying the series is dead (Itoi has no intention of making future MOTHER games and I'm okay with that) and that it wasn't some kind of revolutionary game in the industry. It's a wonderful series, but frankly it's a miracle Ness is in it at all. Nevertheless, Lucas does have a pretty different moveset from Ness ignoring Specials, and I dislike throwing original movesets away for no good reason. I am throwing Black Shadow in and it's not like F-Zero is a vibrant icon of Nintendo, so perhaps Lucas should come back.

I'm unsure about Pokemon Trainer. On the one hand, you bring Squirtle and Ivysaur back, which is essentially two movesets. On the other, I don't know to what extent Charizard fans want to have PT back; I recall his transformation being fairly laggy. Perhaps it's unfair of me to put Sheik and Zelda back together, as well.

I feel like the roster is in danger of getting too unweildy. Personally, I think future new admissions would have to be based on not just their potential as fighters, but their significance to Nintendo. WFT is representative of the entire "casual" games that basically kept the Wii afloat. Nintendo seems to have plans to expand Xenoblade as a franchise. Animal Crossing should have had a representative last game. Duck Hunt is a pretty recognizable NES era game. Little Mac... well, Punch-Out isn't Duck Hunt level famous but it's definitely very recognizable among gamers, I'd say, and that remake of Punch-Out came out around the time of Brawl, right?

Basically my guiding principle is remove redundant characters ('true' clones), keep as many original movesets as possible, and avoid adding new characters unless they offer something extraordinary in terms of moveset potential or series repping. I don't know of new series that could be worthy of being added; I mentioned Chorus Kids above and the squid girls from Splatoon are a possibility, but I can't say I feel strongly about either of those choices. This is why even though there are characters and series I'd love to see represented in Smash, I don't have them added here because I don't think they deserve to get in.

I added Black Shadow because I hate Falcondorf and think it's out of touch with whatever Ganondorf is. His fans shouldn't have to suffer because of a last minute decision Sakurai made like ten years ago. Nevertheless, I know there are people who love Falcondorf's moveset, and I also know that F-Zero is ignored ignored ignored. Two birds, one stone.

I added Ridley because it seems odd that Metroid has as many reps as Kid Icarus... and I'll be honest, it's fanservice. I don't buy the "too big" arguments; I've seen mods that show Ridley as a character and the size and model they chose didn't seem out of place to me at all. While I don't personally desire Ridley, I feel like he's one of the few "obvious" newcomers left, and he'd make a lot of folks happy. If Sakurai can change his mind about AC having a fighter, turn Little Mac from AT to fighter, and lift Palutena out of Pit's Final Smash, he can change his mind about Ridley only ever being a boss.

I added Tom Nook because he's one of the few characters I'm rooting for. I was kind of annoyed the generic Villager got in over Tom Nook, but eh, what can you say? I wouldn't mind a moveset based around smacking people with bags of gold, stealing their money, and saddling them with loans. He'd own coin battles.

I feel we're running out of "obvious" 3rd party reps. Sonic, Megaman, and Pac-Man were the big ones. Finding someone who can stand next to those three is gonna be tough. Snake may not be in that same level of iconic that everyone and their mother can recognize him, but he's iconic within gaming itself (and I love him why did he have to go Kojima plz bother Sakurai again).

The total remains 51, which is a good number.

 

[MrGame&Rock]

I'll go by how they would appear in the Character Select Screen. Bold indicates Newcomer, Italic indicates unlockable

Spoiler

Mario | Luigi | Bowser | Bowser Jr | Peach | Rosalina & Luma | Yoshi | Wario | Mr. Game & Watch | Duck Hunt Duo
Donkey Kong | Diddy Kong | King K. Rool | Ganondorf | Zelda* | Link | Toon Link | Samus | Zero Suit Samus | Ridley
Pikachu | Jigglypuff | Mewtwo | Blaziken | Serperior | Greninja | Pit | Palutena | Dark Pit* | ROB
Marth | Hector* | Robin | Chrom* | Ness | Olimar | Villager | Wii Fit Trainer | Little Mac | Shulk
Fox | Wolf | Kirby | King DeDeDe | Meta Knight | Bayonetta | Inkling | Mega Man | Sonic | Rayman
(?) | (?) | (?) | Mii Brawler | Mii Swordfighter | Mii Gunner | Mii Mage | (?) | (?) | (?) |
* Zelda's moveset is a combination of her old set and Shiek's
* Dark Pit has a completely new moveset, totally decloned
* Hector is functionaly similar to Ike
* Chrom has Lucina as an alt

 

[Stratos]

Ivan from the "Devil's Third"

 

[jaketheknight]

Before I get started, I am making this way too long, and my crazy ideas are most likely pretty amateur. I apologize in advance.

Right now I have two plans, the first being just add a ton of characters like normal, but my second plan is a bit more radical.
This might make me hated, but turn all clones into alt costumes, and have a new mechanic called character modifiers that are unlocked from the start and allow you to alter a characters traits to match that of previous clones styles or new styles but other than that bring back everyone.

Plan 1

Spoiler

I know there is a limit of 70 characters, but I can't resist adding a ton; sorry.
For Newcomers:
LoZ: Impa (Replaces Sheik), Ganondorf reworked into a unique fighter
DK: Dixie Kong
Kirby: Bandana Dee
Metroid: Ridley
Mario: Captain Toad
FE: Ephraim/Eirika Tag Team, Tiki
Star Fox: Krystal, Wolf returns.
F-Zero: Samurai Gorho, Black Shadow
Kid Icarus: Hades, Viridi
Earthbound: Porky
Nintendo History: Captain N, Takamura
3rd Party: Rayman, Guacamelee's Juan, Shovel Knight, Simon Belmont, James Bond (Oh Yeah)
Cuts: Falco, Dark Pit, Lucina, Palutena, Sheik (Replaced by Impa)

Plan 2
Character modifiers would be a custom option that alters how a character behaves, like making Marth's blade behave like Lucina's or Roy's. Alternate costumes do change hitboxes, while character modifiers change speed/weight/damage/defense values.

Spoiler

I'll list some of my ideas for it, but not go into every character

Lucina and Roy as alt costumes for Marth.
Character Mods: Shadow Dragon (Marth), Binding Blade (Roy), Future Past (Lucina).

Dr. Mario as alt costume for Mario
Character Mods: The Main Man (Mario), Fever & Chills (Dr. Mario), Old School (Melee Mario)

Chrom as alt costume for Ike
Character Mods: Radiant Hero (Ike), Shepard (Lighter and Faster than Ike, meant for Chrom), and something else meant as a heavier Ike, can't think of an appropriate character for it though.

Deathborn and Black Shadow as alt costumes for Cpt. Falcon
Character Mods: Blue Falcon (Cpt. Falcon), Black Bull (Faster than Falcondorf, slower than Cpt. Falcon), Dark Schneider (Falcondorf for Deathborn)

Young Link and Toon Link as alt costumes for Link
Character Mods: Hero of Twilight (Link), Hero of Time (Young Link, lighter than Toon Link with a Slingshot, Link's Bombs and Toon Link's Boomerang). Hero of Wind (Toon Link).

Lucas and Ninten as alt costumes for Ness (I'm not well versed in Earthbound lore, so I can't come up with good names for the mods)
Character Mods: Smash 4 Ness, Brawl Lucas, Ninten (Brawl Ness)

Sylux and Dark Samus as alt costumes for Samus
Character Mods: Bounty Hunter (Samus), Fugitive (Sylux, based loosely on @LIQUID12A 's version), Prime (Dark Samus, similar to Samus with her N-Special replaced with the 3 shot attack of the AT, and a D-Special similar to Sonic's using the ball form)

Note to Moderators: If you feel this doesn't belong in this discussion, move it here http://smashboards.com/threads/you-...tor-of-smash-5-coming-out-in-feb-2016.391522/

 

[Yomi's Biggest Fan]

Before I get started, I am making this way too long, and my crazy ideas are most likely pretty amateur. I apologize in advance.

Right now I have two plans, the first being just add a ton of characters like normal, but my second plan is a bit more radical.
This might make me hated, but turn all clones into alt costumes, and have a new mechanic called character modifiers that are unlocked from the start and allow you to alter a characters traits to match that of previous clones styles or new styles but other than that bring back everyone.

Plan 1

Spoiler

I know there is a limit of 70 characters, but I can't resist adding a ton; sorry.
For Newcomers:
LoZ: Impa (Replaces Sheik), Ganondorf reworked into a unique fighter
DK: Dixie Kong
Kirby: Bandana Dee
Metroid: Ridley
Mario: Captain Toad
FE: Ephraim/Eirika Tag Team, Tiki
Star Fox: Krystal, Wolf returns.
F-Zero: Samurai Goroh, Black Shadow
Kid Icarus: Hades, Viridi
Earthbound: Porky
Nintendo History: Captain N, Takamaru
3rd Party: Rayman, Guacamelee's Juan, Shovel Knight, Simon Belmont, James Bond (Oh Yeah)
Cuts: Falco, Dark Pit, Lucina, Palutena, Sheik (Replaced by Impa)

Plan 2
Character modifiers would be a custom option that alters how a character behaves, like making Marth's blade behave like Lucina's or Roy's. Alternate costumes do change hitboxes, while character modifiers change speed/weight/damage/defense values.

Spoiler

I'll list some of my ideas for it, but not go into every character

Lucina and Roy as alt costumes for Marth.
Character Mods: Shadow Dragon (Marth), Binding Blade (Roy), Future Past (Lucina).

Dr. Mario as alt costume for Mario
Character Mods: The Main Man (Mario), Fever & Chills (Dr. Mario), Old School (Melee Mario)

Chrom as alt costume for Ike
Character Mods: Radiant Hero (Ike), Shepard (Lighter and Faster than Ike, meant for Chrom), and something else meant as a heavier Ike, can't think of an appropriate character for it though.

Deathborn and Black Shadow as alt costumes for Cpt. Falcon
Character Mods: Blue Falcon (Cpt. Falcon), Black Bull (Faster than Falcondorf, slower than Cpt. Falcon), Dark Schneider (Falcondorf for Deathborn)

Young Link and Toon Link as alt costumes for Link
Character Mods: Hero of Twilight (Link), Hero of Time (Young Link, lighter than Toon Link with a Slingshot, Link's Bombs and Toon Link's Boomerang). Hero of Wind (Toon Link).

Lucas and Ninten as alt costumes for Ness (I'm not well versed in Earthbound lore, so I can't come up with good names for the mods)
Character Mods: Smash 4 Ness, Brawl Lucas, Ninten (Brawl Ness)

Sylux and Dark Samus as alt costumes for Samus
Character Mods: Bounty Hunter (Samus), Fugitive (Sylux, based loosely on @LIQUID12A 's version), Prime (Dark Samus, similar to Samus with her N-Special replaced with the 3 shot attack of the AT, and a D-Special similar to Sonic's using the ball form)

Note to Moderators: If you feel this doesn't belong in this discussion, move it here http://smashboards.com/threads/you-...tor-of-smash-5-coming-out-in-feb-2016.391522/

These choices makes me a very happy camper.

10/10 would buy and play again.

 

[jaketheknight]

These choices makes me a very happy camper.

10/10 would buy and play again.

M'Azure

 

[Muskrat Catcher]

I would only cut doctor mario, dark pit, and the Wii fit trainer, and replace Lucina with another Fire emblem rep, either Roy or Chrom probably, and if mewtwo turns out to be a lucario clone, cut him too (I really hope this doesn't happen though), and I don't think Snake should return, being dead and all, and pichu, young link, squirtle, and ivysaur won't return. All the other cuts would return and the veterans would stay.

Newcomers:
Black Shadow (F-Zero) - We need another rep from F-Zero so that people actually recognize that Captain Falcon is actually from a racing game and is not a "smash bros character" and nothing else
King K. Rool (Donkey Kong) - He would make such a great heavy character, and the DK series needs a villain rep
Red (Pokémon) - replacing the Pokémon trainer, Red would have Charizard, Blastoise, and Venusaur, and possibly the rest of his team, lapras, snorlax, and pikachu, but that would mean Pikachu would be included in his team, when I think he should stay his own character, not to mention a fair moveset for lapras and snorlax would be hard to make (but it would be so cool!).
Tom Nook (Animal Crossing) - he could use various items he sells as weapons, as well as debt!
Daroach (Kirby) - This is where things get personal for me. Kirby could use another rep, being Sakurai's creation and all, and this villain from squeak squad is easily the most viable fighter. (Sorry bandana dee, but you aren't cut out for smash IMO)
Mii sorcerer - This is a good idea.
Mii scientist - If there is magic, there must also be science!

Third party newcomers:
Tails (sonic) - sonic games are too big a part of gaming history to only have one rep
Wreck-it-Ralph - the best marketing decision ever. You couldn't pass a game up with Ralph in it, and he is well known as a gaming icon due to the movie, and nintendo characters were in that movie, so they have already collaborated to some extent. I think this is a good idea.
Don-Chan (Taiko no Tatsujin) - I have no personal connection to the Taiko games, but I know a bunch of people that would completely loose it if Don-Chan was added into the game. Also, this would be a very popular decision for the Japanese audience, and Don-Chan has already been a playable character in Mario Kart Arcade, so this is a possibility, I quite honestly believe.

Stuff that I personally would love to see in the game, but I would never put into it realistically:
Flygon (Pokémon) - very similar to charizard, but attacks are sand based rather than fire based. Could actually be easily done since clones aren't that hard to make! (Favorite Pokémon alert, obvious bias)
Goodra (Pokémon) - another of my favorites. Prepare yourself, there will be a few more.
Milotic (Pokémon) - Don't get mad at these, I wouldn't put them in the game because I know not everyone would be nearly as excited over them as I would be.
Mawile (Pokémon) - most are going to be ridiculous, just bear with me here.
Darmanitan (Pokémon)
Serperior (Pokémon) - ok, that's the last of the mons
Leon (F-Zero) - my favorite racer from the series. Obvious bias again. Also, he looks way too similar to wolf.
Fawful (Mario) - He is not a direct fighter, so I can't imagine him being in the game, but I would love to play as him. Maybe he could pull a bowser jr. and ride in a vehicle that does all his attacks.

There would be more newcomers, but this is all I can think of for now. I may edit this later

 

[N3ON]

 

[Yomi's Biggest Fan]

View attachment 40807

I have a question, what type of playstyle or attacks that Nikki would have in comparison to the Mii Fighters. Just curious about that.

 

[N3ON]

I have a question, what type of playstyle or attacks that Nikki would have in comparison to the Mii Fighters. Just curious about that.

I doubt it would happen now because of the whole Swapnote situation, but I envisioned her playstyle as a mix between how Maxwell from Scribblenauts would play and the Pictochat stage hazards, whereby Nikki could draw something on the 3DS she's holding that would then become an attack or hazard on the battlefield (in the Pictochat/Swapnote style).

She could also summon things like Face Raiders and other stuff from the 3DS a la DHD's use of content from the Light Gun games.

It also wouldn't be the Mii version of Nikki, rather the version I used as the roster image (which is still official). To set her apart from the Mii Fighters.

I mostly just put her there because every roster needs an out-of-left-field pick to surprise and potentially piss people off, but I also figure she's going to stick around in some capacity. Nintendo has been using her on their website as of late. And she sort of represents hardware as G&W, ROB, and DHD have done previously, even if she's not retro.

 

[splat]

If only Mach Rider and Isaac had proper renders that wouldn't stick out like a sore thumb...
Fire Emblem PH would be one of the main characters from the upcoming If (possibly the blue haired dancer)
Pokémon PH would be a Pokémon from genertaion 7. I really hate it when people do this, but Pokémon would probably get a new character and it'd just be odd to put in one from an older generation, I'd say.

 

[Diddy Kong]

-Returning Fighters:






-Characters on the chopping block / low priority / potentially replaced :
: No surprise for some, but her return will depend if Impa will appear as a character similar to her or not. If Impa appears in Zelda Wii U acting similary to Sheik, Sheik will get cut and Impa will be recreated out of her. If not, and Sheik will return in an upcoming Hyrule Warriors game, she will fight using her Harp. If Impa will be the full character, will still appear as an alt to Impa with her own name and all.
: Depending on his new appearance he will need a new moveset, or be replaced by the main big bad: Ganon. If he appears in Hyrule Warriors using a sword, he will use that. If his skillset is too exclusive, Ganondorf will get a treatment and literally receive unique movesets for Sword, Mage and Fighter styles. Fighter style being most close to his old moveset, but with range buffs cause he's now enchanting his fists with magic like in HW as this:

: Young Link could replace him depending on the future of the cell shaded Toon Link games. It seems that Adult Link appears more in cell shaded style than Child Link now, so that could pose as a problem, as well as the rerelease of Majora's Mask, making -ironically- a more unique choice.
: Depending if the new Fire Emblem game comes up with a new Tactican or not, Robin could be replaced with that character keeping mostly the same Special attacks, but perhaps without the usage gimmick / Levin Sword. Would prefer Robin though.
: Could be replaced with the new protagonist of Xenoblade's sequel.
: New starter Pokémon being more popular or Blastoise.

-Significant changes in characters:
: See above ^^^^
: Down B is Mario Cyclone again. F.L.U.D.D becomes an item. is degraded as an alternative which will automatically adjust his Special Custom moves, who are exclusive to alone.
: No more Gale Boomerang.
: Din's Fire can now be cancelled into itself, Zelda can cast another fire ball if she releases her old one. Which would travel at max range and then explode. Nayru's Love is also more of a barrier now than a reflector, though it can still reflect projectiles.
: Aura mechanic is gone. Kill power is significantly better, as if he has around 70-90%. Down B is now Reversal, and surprisingly: does more damage if Lucario has high %.
: Can glide again, and Down B is now Fire Blast, a charge up projectile attack which is very powerful but doesn't travel very far or very fast. Flare Blitz and Dragon Rush are now fused in one move, Dragon Rush is the standard attack, but upon pressing B; Charizard uses Flare Blitz instead. Standard jumps are also higher and faster now.
: Gets Custom Moves which reflect his EarthBound PSI better. PK Rockin, PSI Paralysis, PSI Sleep, PSI Lifeup, all should be part of his moveset, maybe even his standard set. PK Flash also works differently, and can instantly break shields when fully charged, and has a 'secret' hitbox that can trigger a OHKO. His bat also will be used more in his attacks as well as PSI to give him more disjointed hitboxes. PK Rockin will work like PK Flash mostly, but when fully charged it will literally hit everyone on the stage.
: Like Ness, will use more moves true to Mother 3, but more defensive than Ness, focussing more on stat ups and barriers. Can OHKO with PK Flash as well. Mostly still a semi-clone to Ness, but he's now a little lighter than him and faster. Can combo better, but has less kill power.
: Will play more like . 's Neutral B is also a Custom Move now. is a alternative character much like how is.
: Will ofcourse also have a costume which retains all his edginess.
: Neutral B will now be chargable, Final Smash is different now : it will summon the StarWolf team on screen, which will work like Arwings on StarFox stages but with good AI focussed on attacking enemies. Smart Bombs will also be used by the StarWolf team.
: Becomes bigger, slower, heavier, and more based on power instead of looking like a doofus. Wario Ware and Land will both be ample represented in his moveset. Shoulder Barge is now his Side B.
: All Koopaling alts have different stats and slightly different Special moves based on Jr.'s customs in Smash 4. are heavier, stronger and slower, are lighter, weaker and faster. is mostly the same to but floatier.
*Speaking of all these alt characters: they all count as different characters in game.
or will be one of each other's alts. As well as and Impa if Impa is not unique.

Newcomer Characters:

- King K.Rool
The new top notch heavy weight of the roster. Like Ganondorf, he also has three movesets. One for King, one for Kaptain, one for Baron. Only Specials would change however. Fast walking speed, but slow running speed, and insane range with good projectiles which make him hard to approach.

- Dixie Kong
About as similar to as is to . Dixie is floatier, has a way more safe recovery, is lighter and runs slower than Diddy.

-Cranky Kong
Because him fighting Mario needs to happen.

-Isaac
The Venus Adept from Weyard fighting with his earth-based Psynergy and trusty sword (which will either be the Gaia Blade or Sol Blade). Alternative characters will be Felix and Matthew.

-Impa
As explained before.

-Ganon*
*Only in case Ganondorf doesn't reappear as main villain or cannot be made more unique than he already is.

-Captain Toad

-Bandana Dee

-Some New Lord from Fire Emblem 14 because duh

More to be added.

Characters I consider bringing back:

: They won't wobble though, Nana won't be able to grab.
: Fully evolved as Blastoise
: Fully evolved as Venusaur
: Provided he is still popular as a choice or FE6 gets an international release
: As paid DLC.