Mersh's character list.

[Mersh]

Uh, yeah.

Mario Series

Nintendo's most famous series, Mario is probably the most recognizable video game character in the world. Being Nintendo's flagship franchise, there's no doubt in my mind that this time around they'll include at least 6 Mario characters (compared to SSBM's 5).

1-Mario (1.5-Dr. Mario costume)

2-Luigi

3-Princess Peach

4-Bowser

5-Toad

6-Bowser Jr.

Not much surprises here. Mario, Luigi, Peach, and Bowser are all absolutely guaranteed. Toad has great chances, being one of the four original playable Mario characters. He has potential for a great moveset, combining his abilities from SMB2, Wario's Woods, Mario Party 3, and various sports titles. He's also the only member of the Big 8 to not make it into Smash as of yet, so why not? As for Bowser Jr., he's probably the next most important character in line after the other 5, and we could always use more villains. Plus, his paintbrush would make for a truly unique moveset. Dr. Mario, in my opinion, does not deserve to occupy his own character slot. However, as a costume for Mario, I am all for it.

Zelda Series

Another of Nintendo's most popular series, Zelda deserves it's fair share of representation in Brawl. However, a problem with this series is that it's somewhat lacking in important recurring characters. Link, Zelda, and Ganondorf are about the only characters who manage to hold an important role in almost every game.

7-Link

8-Princess Zelda

9-Ganondorf

10-Vaati

11-Midna

Link, Zelda, and Ganondorf are no surprise to anyone. Because this is TP Zelda we're talking about, unfortunately, Sheik players seem to be out of luck. Oh well. Vaati is a recurring villain in the Zelda series, debuting in The Minish Cap. Although he has only been in three games, he has become the second most recurring villain after Ganondorf. As far as Zelda characters go, Vaati's a good choice. As for Midna, I didn't want her in at first, due to the fact that she has only been in one Zelda game. However, the Zelda series having only 4 characters, when in SSBM they had 5 (counting Sheik) just seemed wrong to me. Midna' has become quickly popular through her spunky personality and overall uniqueness, and I think she'd represent the series quite nicely.

Pokemon Series

Completing the triangle of Nintendo's big-name franchises, the Pokémon series. When a series has over 493 representatives to choose from, it takes a lot for a character to stand out as a potential contender for Brawl. But, I've managed to choose what I beleive to be the best of the best.

12-Pikachu

13-Jigglypuff

14-Mewtwo

15-Plusle & Minun

16-Lucario

Pikachu is confirmed, and Jigglypuff is obvious. Many people say Mewtwo should be taken out, but I really don't know why. No matter how much he sucked in Melee, he's still the original Legendary Pokemon, and the star of 3 of the Pokemon movies. Plusle and Minun are in for lack of a better 3rd Gen representative. These two are very popular, have had recurring roles in the anime and movies, and would be the second double character in the series, following in the Ice Climbers' footsteps. Lucario was the star of his own movie, and is, without a doubt, the most popular Fourth Generation pokemon. Pichu gets taken out for obvious reasons.

Yoshi Series

Although it is a spinoff of the Mario series, Yoshi has managed to make a name for himself on his own terms. His series has spanned several games, complete with their own characters.

17-Yoshi

And really, Yoshi is all we need.

Wario Series

The second of three Mario characters who have managed to create their own series, Wario also has several games to his name.

18-Wario

Wario's already been confirmed for Brawl, and once again, that's all we need.

 

[Mersh]

Donkey Kong Series

Donkey Kong was originally created as the villain of the arcade hit Donkey Kong who stole the beautiful Pauline, leaving her rescue up to none other than Mario ("Jumpman" at the time). Donkey Kong has gone from Mario's enemy, to his rival, to his friend, all while juggling his own franchise, complete with several unique and quirky Kong characters. Originating in 1981, this series is now over 25 years old, and I say it's about **** time it gets some better representation.

19-Donkey Kong

20-Diddy Kong

21-King K. Rool

Yes, it's the generic hero-sidekick-villain format, but it works.

Kirby Series

The Kirby series was created by HAL Laboratories, the same company who makes the SSB games, so he has a place close to Sakurai’s heart. It’s also one of Nintendo’s most popular and well-known franchises, spanning almost 20 games.

22-Kirby

23-Meta Knight

24-King DeDeDe

Kirby and Meta Knight are already confirmed, and DeDeDe is the main villain of the series. Um, duh?










Metroid Series

The Metroid Series dates all the way back to the NES era. The star of the series, Samus Aran, is one of, if not the most popular female character in video game history. The series has gone unrepresented for the first two games, and it’s about time some more characters came in.

25-Samus Aran/Zero Suit Samus

26-Ridley

Samus/ZSS are already confirmed. Ridley is a heavily recurring villain throughout the series, is very popular, and would make for a very unique moveset. Mmhmm.

Star Fox Series

Star Fox is another well-known Nintendo franchise. It dates back to the original Star Fox for the SNES. Although it only has 5 games to it’s name, it has a slew of eligible characters for Brawl.

27-Fox McCloud

28-Falco Lombardi

29-Krystal

30-Wolf O’Donnell

Fox is already confirmed. Falco, being a clone, may be at risk of being taken out, but that risk is very small. I say he comes back with a new moveset based on Star Fox: Assault. Krystal is Fox’s love interest, and the series’ leading female character. She’s very popular among fans, and could combine her abilities from Star Fox: Adventures with those from Star Fox: Assault, making her some sort of badass futuristic machine-gun toting staff-weilding tribal fox girl… thing. Yeah. Wolf is Fox’s rival, and would, IMO, make for a great brawler.

 

[Mersh]

Fire Emblem Series

For some reason, Nintendo decided to hide this amazing SRPG series from everyone who didn’t live in Japan for the first 6 or so installments. Why the hell did you do that, Nintendo? This series is awesome, and it’s quickly becoming popular in areas outside of Japan.

31-Marth

32-Ike

33-Hector

Marth is the the main character of the very first FE, and was already playable in Melee. That’s enough to get him in. Ike is the main character of FE: Path of Radiance, the only FE game on the Gamecube, and also one of the most popular in the series. Hector is one of the main characters of Fire Emblem GBA. He’d also be the SSB series’ first axe user. Roy’s out because he was only included for promotional business in the first place, and really isn’t that popular.

F-Zero Series

Nintendo’s flagship racing series, F-Zero offers a fast-paced gaming experience unlike any other. As far as characters go, most are pretty generic and very few stand out.

34-Captain Falcon

So, IMO, Falcon is all we need.

Gamecube All-Stars

These are characters who debuted on the Gamecube. They haven’t been around as long as other characters, but they’re definitely on the rise to popularity.

35-Tom Nook (Animal Crossing)

36-Captain Olimar (Pikmin)

37-Chibi-Robo

Tom Nook runs the shop in Animal Crossing, and is more directly involved with the game’s progress than any other character. Using the menagerie of items from AC, he could be given an amazing moveset. Captain Olimar, standing at one inch tall, would need to be resized for Brawl, but with his pikmin-related abilities, he’d be a fantastic character. As for Chibi-Robo… well, I haven’t played the game, but why not?

 

[Mersh]

Obscurities

Ah yes, the obscurities. These are the characters the Smash series is known for. Characters who most people don’t even know exist, but come out of nowhere to smash with utmost glory. Let’s get to it.

38-Ness (Earthbound/Mother 2)

39-Lucas (Earthbound 64/Mother 3)

40-Mr. Game and Watch (Game and Watch)

41-Ice Climbers (Ice Climber)

42-Pit (Kids Icarus)

43-Demille (Tomato Adventure)

44-Muddy (Mole Mania)

45-Mike Jones (StarTropics)

Ness, G&W, and ICs are all obvious. Pit is confirmed. Lucas should be in to give the Mother series further representation. I’ve never played Tomato Adventure, Muddy Mole, or StarTropics, btu I’ve seen amazing movesets for all three characters.

Third Party Characters

With Brawl’s inclusion of third party characters, it seems a window to endless possibilities has been opened.

46-Solid Snake (Konami)

47-Sonic the Hedgehog (Sega)

48-Mega Man (Capcom)

Must I even explain?

 

[Vali]

49 unique character movesets is pushing it a bit, I estimate around 42 will be implemented and it could be as much as 49 but it's doubtful. Your number actually racks up to 49 by the way since Sheik is counted as a separate character in Melee as ZSamus will in Brawl since a completely new model, moveset and animations have to be added for her even if she isn't a complete addition.

I very much doubt Muddy, Mike Jones nor Demille will make the cut and Game+Watch and Ice Climbers will most likely get cut in favour of new retro characters, among the suggestions being Mach Rider and Balloon Fighter etc. Interesting that you didn't consider WW Link as a replacement for Young Link which is an incredibly popular suggestion. Chibi Robo seemed a bit random and Plusle & Minun was kinda but overall not a bad list.

 

[Mersh]

Game+Watch and Ice Climbers will most likely get cut in favour of new retro characters

Mind explaining how you'd know this?

I'm not trying to be a jerk about it, but why would they take out the first Nintendo character ever and the only double character in the current roster for other retro characters when they coudl just as easily have them all at once?

 

[Vali]

<i>Game+Watch and Ice Climbers will most likely get cut in favour of new retro characters</i>

Mind explaining how you'd know this?

I'm not trying to be a jerk about it, but why would they take out the first Nintendo character ever and the only double character in the current roster for other retro characters when they could just as easily have them all at once?

They weren't too popular in Melee and there's a lot of old franchises that might be better off with some representation. Game+Watch and Ice Climbers both served Melee well with some uniqueness and being (G+W in particular) WTF characters, but there's no real need to preserve them in Brawl.

There's only so many characters they're going to add in the end and while including returning Melee characters might be easier than adding new ones for sure you have to consider that they still have to do new textures, tweak movesets, do animations, include a stage etc. I'm certain Sakurai will see to it that we have a newer roster because while returning Melee characters will be nice, Brawl needs enough unique characters to feel more than just "Melee 2.0". They both had their time in the spotlight but there's no need for them to return. Wouldn't you agree it'd be better to let some other retro characters shine? After all they aren't going to add too many (considering Pit is already confirmed).

And I wouldn't have assumed you were being a jerk about it, it's just my opinion after all .

 

[bivunit94]

Nice list. Give or take a few people, it'd be exactly what my list would be like.

 

[Mersh]

They weren't too popular in Melee and there's a lot of old franchises that might be better off with some representation. Game+Watch and Ice Climbers both served Melee well with some uniqueness and being (G+W in particular) WTF characters, but there's no real need to preserve them in Brawl.

There's only so many characters they're going to add in the end and while including returning Melee characters might be easier than adding new ones for sure you have to consider that they still have to do new textures, tweak movesets, do animations, include a stage etc. I'm certain Sakurai will see to it that we have a newer roster because while returning Melee characters will be nice, Brawl needs enough unique characters to feel more than just "Melee 2.0". They both had their time in the spotlight but there's no need for them to return. Wouldn't you agree it'd be better to let some other retro characters shine? After all they aren't going to add too many (considering Pit is already confirmed).

And I wouldn't have assumed you were being a jerk about it, it's just my opinion after all .

Yeah, I'm still not following your logic here. Ness was the "WTF" character of SSB64, and he was preserved. And I don't see why any non-clone characters would be taken out. I mean, if you play Young Link and he's taken out, you still have Link. If you play Roy and he's taken out, you have Marth. If you play ICs, and they're taken out, you have no one. Every character in SSB returned for SSBM, and Melee sure as hell didn't feel like "SSB64 2.0" to me. I really don't see why you think they'd take out perfectly great characters for the sake of being different. And I still don't see why ICs and G&W make it impossible for other characters to "shine".

 

[Guglio]

I only have a few things to add.

G&W should stay, he represents Nintendo's early years and I love him.

I wouldnt put in Vaati, King K. Rool or Ridley. I'd put in Zant (he's crazy), Dark Samus (FOR SURE - I want my Dark Samus!) and Blood Falcon, but like Dark Samus, have different, altered C. Falcon Moves.

 

[smash~bomber]

its an ok list..
just ok...
WWlink would be cool.
never heard of demille though, also, i think peach should have a new move set because she had her own game recently, the one with the parasol? dont remember the name. ohwell~

 

[Toasty!]

I'm sorry, no Samurai Goroh and Chibi-Robo?

Plusle and Minun? Do we really need another two Pichu's?

 

[LordRalph_87]

Don't really see the need for Marth when you have Ike. Why not replace him with someone who could be more unique...there are many from Fire Emblem.

Don't really like Toad as a playable character, I'm not saying he couldn't work but all he really has is speed. Mewtwo could be good if changed nearly completely but there are other pokemon who could be used...and why Plusle and Minun? They look like Pichu x2 .

I also have to agree with Vali on the cutting of G+W and Ice Climbers. They just aren't great or memorable characters. The Ice Climbers aren't really used except by people who can use advanced techs due to the fact that they suck, basically .

What about Dark Samus...no not just a Samus clone. Could be a good character with an original moveset.