Wait what? Are their playstyles similar?
On topic, I could see Jigglypuff getting replaced, now that "Original 12" status has been proven fallible (Ness). But I think it would have more to do with there being a lot of Pokemon reps, and Jigglypuff already being a low-priority character in Brawl, than the Villager stealing her playstyle.
Has it? O12 is still unbroken as of now. Sure, there have been considerations, but it's never been acted on. She and the rest of the original cast have made the cut time and time again, so until it
is broken, we can consider it a status that protects them. Just like there are talks to axe either Lucas or Ness(or were, at the time of the leak's writing), it's likely just due to precedent that Ness will be coming back and Lucas won't(if they arrived on a decision to make a cut in that regard).
Well... Jifflypuff has been outdated as the pokemon rep since ssb64. Even then she was not the best rep. Pokemon gets literally hundreds of new character options each game, and multiple new games (not just the main ones, but spinoffs which also bring new characters). It is immensely popular, and competition for spots is probobaly highest in this franchise.
Jigglypuff deserves to be retired.
Jiggly was a fantastic rep in the 64 days because Red/Blue were still quite recent and she was
IMMENSELY popular just about anywhere you went. Then people figured out how to actually use her in Melee and she became a beast.
Are you sure Jiggly is confirmed because it is, or because you want it to be? Veteran status is literally the ONLY thing bringing Jiggs back. But being a veteran worked for Mewtwo, that's for sure!
Jigglypuff is unimportant to Pokemon, and has been since 1998. Only her status as an original 12 makes people believe she'll come back. Charizard and Mewtwo are exceedingly popular and have been given newfound importance, Lucario plays pivotal roles in every generation he's in, Greninja reps generation 6 (the newest one), and Pikachu is obvious. Name one significant contribution Jigglypuff has made to Pokemon.
And the garbage tier thing is not a deal-breaker, it just adds salt to the wound. Characters like Sheik and Falco (less Sheik since Brawl) get many of their merits by being very good fighters in Smash. Jiggs used to be once upon a time, but not only is it fading from significance, its also fading from competitive popularity and is also WORTHLESS in pokemon competitive popularity and has been since generation 1. Even in-game, most people forsake Jiggs for Clefairy, whose better in literally every single way and is captured at the same point. Jiggs' only popular role was a season one nuisance. In-game, nobody even cared about it.
I'll concede that, for nostalgia's sake, it'd be cool to see it return as one of the original 12.
I'll also concede that it may get in on this alone.
However, I will not concede that it will DESERVE its inclusion.
At the end of the day, if the jig's up (pun intended) for a veteran, Jiggs seems among the most obvious to go. Even Lucas and Wolf are far more important. At least they're important to their series in some capacity. I've been playing pokemon for 16 years, and have never wasted time training a Jigglypuff, despite literally thousands of hours of play. That's how bad it is. And yes, how good or bad it is doesn't matter to Smash, but it certainly does hurt its usage, and how liked it is.
Mewtwo's not a veteran because he never came back. He was one-and-done in the most literal sense, he didn't even make it back in as a Pokeball or AT. So that label holds no water for him. No one's a veteran until they've come back from a prior Smash. Jigglypuff had seniority since 64, and she's not lost steam since.
As far as popularity, remember Sakurai's words and methodology as far as listening to fanservice. Sometimes he indeed listens and includes a character based on them(Little Mac/Ganondorf/Lucario), and sometimes he decides to tell the fans to screw off and does his own thing(WFT/G&W/R.O.B.). Jiggly's veteranship is likely that. She doesn't
NEED to do anything critical to the franchise(though she
HAS), she's got Sakurai behind her.
With regard to her contributions, Jigglypuff was
THE counterpart to Pikachu in Pokemon advertising in Japan. She was absolutely
massive there, and her popularity still lingers on, even if it has diminished a fair amount. Even if Mewtwo had more hype behind him and people were fawning over the Legendary, he still got cut and Jiggly didn't. This says something about her staying power.
Brawl's nerfs were pretty harsh yes, but then look upon the gnashing of teeth from the Falcon/Ganondorf crew. She's not alone in that regard, and given that there seems to be a stronger focus on air-to-air combat off the stage this time around with the death of edgehogging, Jiggly's playstyle makes even MORE sense to return. She's been practically custom-built for Smash 4 as far as her prior moveset, and given Sakurai's like of the character(Sakurai bias confirmed!), it should be a surprise to no one familiar with Smash that Jiggly will be hiding in the wings, waiting for her unlock, and likely given a few new tools due to her re-typing.
Also, as far as training pokemon, have you even touched a Raichu in the last four gens? There're far better electric types, yet Pikachu, time and time again, pops up on that CSS.
