Monkey paw newcomer movesets and portrayals you would like.

[Wario Wario Wario]

Smash nowadays is very devoted to giving fans what they want, and while that was really always the intent as far back as Melee if not 64, it's only quite recently they've gotten quite good at it, especially in regards to movesets, and if you ask me - regardless of intent - the game's worse off for it. Wario as a farting slob is far more interesting then what would essentially be a non-hunched Donkey Kong, Bowser Jr.'s clown car is a more distinct weapon than a paintbrush, and the Warlock Punch has a way more iconic oomph than Dead Man's Volley could ever have - so let's bring back the good ol' monkey paw of days past! This is not a troll thread, I'm asking for ideas you'd sincerely find quite interesting from a moveset or characterisation perpsective, less "I want to piss people off" and more "IDGAF if I piss people off".

For some examples:
Majora's Mask without Skull Kid

A shapeshifting abstract mess with whips for arms lends itself really well to a Smash moveset. You'd have to shorten the arms a little, we don't want Min Min 2: Electronic Boogaloo, but the motion of the arms would be delightfully uncanny.

AOSTH or Paramount Robotnik

two of the most iconic and distinctive Eggmen, with personalities larger than both life and the metal prisons they place them in. AOSTH Robotnik is certainly my preferance, I think it'd be cool to get a Smash character drowning in unapologetic "wacky cartoon" energy - but Paramount Robotnik has a really solid argument for him I feel (assuming likeness issues don't get in the way) - while I actually view this as a disadvantage myself, these two use an Eggmobile significantly less, with one having a glove and the other typically using remote-control-activated traps, but I know some people don't like mech characters all too much.

I'm sure I have more of these, but I'm sure I'll remember them.

 

[FazDude]

I can’t lie, seeing Akira from Virtua Fighter be playable with the original game’s model like he does for his AT could be cool.

 

[Champion of Hyrule]

This is barely a monkeys paw situation at all since the change isn’t very perceptible but people who want the Astral Chain protagonist in Smash usually want them to be named “Legionis” or “Officer Howard” because their first name is undecided in game.

I say they should add the non playable secondary protagonist that’s the playable protagonist’s twin and actually has a first name. It’s literally just the same character gender swapped and has an identical moveset. Let them be in Smash purely for the convenience of the announcer simply having to say “Akira.”

 

[Kirbeh]

Majora's Mask without Skull Kid

A shapeshifting abstract mess with whips for arms lends itself really well to a Smash moveset. You'd have to shorten the arms a little, we don't want Min Min 2: Electronic Boogaloo, but the motion of the arms would be delightfully uncanny.

I admittedly disagree with your takes 9 times out of 10, but this I can get behind. I've pushed for solo Majora before, but I'm surprised to see someone else actually entertain the idea. The way I approached it though was to use the first phase as the base character. So just the mask itself with tentacles coming out of it. More of an MvC Shuma approach.

As for monkey paws in general I kinda feel like we still get in both directions. As someone that actually wanted Byleth and MinMin, I can't say I'm a fan of how they turned out.

I disagree that the paintbrush for Jr. Or DMV for Ganon have nothing going for them but as a Ganon main I love him as is already (and the clown kart was a good call too imo.)

As for a new "monkey paw" I honestly don't know. I think there are a few different angles per character you could try in most cases that would still be generally well received.

I know you said that the idea was to go more out of the box for it's own sake rather than to piss people off but I feel like you'd need to deliberately be trying to do just that in some cases to really be considered a monkey's paw on a wider scale.

I'll have to think on it I suppose. For now, I guess Id say Tails but he's in his SA2 mech and Eggman is on foot with a Chao Garden moveset.

 

[Wario Wario Wario]

This idea began as a troll idea, but I'm starting to find it a little endearing: reworking Ganondorf into a different bruiser. I've always felt that Smash Ganondorf is a distinct entity from Zelda Ganondorf, and if he HAS to get a unique moveset, it'd be cool to distinguish him without rejecting the Smash iteration of the character.

I think that whenever a kart driver is brought up, it's typically Shy Guy, maybe Waluigi on some occasions, but I think Toad is more fit for the role - he doesn't really hold his own from a moveset perspective IMO, you either lean way too hard into the slightly gross spore element, or give him a Mario rework moveset in disguise - but he's a consistent and popular Mario Kart character so why not hand him the wheel? Perhaps it'd be cool to make the pit stop outfit the default Wario-style. I do wonder if the bodies/hitboxes would line up well enough for the likes of Koopa Troopa and Shy Guy to be alts as well.

Speaking of which, while I'd prefer to sideline him for one of his bosses, if the Crash rep has to be Crash... triple-drift-boost would go crazy.

Most of the popular Pokemon picks I find the prospect of their unevolved forms more interesting - Rowlet and Haunter are good examples - but I guess I should give a special shoutout (or callout I guess) to Gardevior for being, IMO, the hardest of its 4-Mon line to imagine. Ralts is clumsy and can barely control its powers, Krilia twirls in that short tutu dress, and Gallade has razor arms, but I have no idea what Gardevior would do.

Regular Waddle Dee is the classic, though admittedly to me that's less based on moveset and more on character, mooks >>>> all other character archetypes. Alt potential is way more cool too, I love the monkey and mecha leg Waddle Dees. Would be a fun detail for it to grow a bandanna when using spear moves like K. Rool's pirate hat

This one isn't really based on a popular pick, but - while he isn't my top advert rep - this character who may or may not be an adult Kiddy Kong would be a very fun, campy Smash pick. He's got a "dudes will see this and go hell yeah" energy I adore

 

[FazDude]

I think that whenever a kart driver is brought up, it's typically Shy Guy, maybe Waluigi on some occasions, but I think Toad is more fit for the role - he doesn't really hold his own from a moveset perspective IMO, you either lean way too hard into the slightly gross spore element, or give him a Mario rework moveset in disguise - but he's a consistent and popular Mario Kart character so why not hand him the wheel? Perhaps it'd be cool to make the pit stop outfit the default Wario-style. I do wonder if the bodies/hitboxes would line up well enough for the likes of Koopa Troopa and Shy Guy to be alts as well.

Late, but lately I've grown more accustomed to the idea of a standalone Standard Kart or Pipe Frame without a visible driver. Probably a huge stretch, but I can see it working. You can get around the "no limbs" issue by having it use a Potted Piranha Plant for a grab.

 

[Kirbeh]

Late, but lately I've grown more accustomed to the idea of a standalone Standard Kart or Pipe Frame without a visible driver. Probably a huge stretch, but I can see it working. You can get around the "no limbs" issue by having it use a Potted Piranha Plant for a grab.

Nah, our racing/kart representative should be the Krazy Kart Racing version of Pyramid Head.

 

[Perkilator]

We get a playable Monster Hunter character in the form of the chibi one from the first Monster Hunter Stories game, with a rider on top of it.

 

[KneeOfJustice99]

...I think characters should be able to get redesigned a little to better fit their vibe rather than having to worry about being perfectly "accurate" or whatever; even if that's by doing things that'd be kinda ridiculous in their source material. My best example for this would probably be Daisy; I know a lot of people tend to suggest she should represent the sports games or whatever, but I genuinely think it'd be way more fun for her to have a redesign that makes her royal attire more athletic and effective for a desert environment, then give her something like a giant Chain Chomp that she can use as a flail or something.

Like, as cool as it can be to see people's takes on "representing games" in these sorts of things, that'd be my big thing for a reboot of some kind; sure, you can have mechanical callbacks to functions in games or whatever, but that it'd be more important to recontextualise the characters as needed to bring about funky and unique movesets and the like, rather than thinking "right we need to add this character as accurately as possible".

 

[Quillion]

Pig Ganon... as an even SLOWER and stronger clone of Ganondorf as he is now.

(or make Ganondorf more of a Donkey Kong-type mid-speed heavy while Ganon gets his Brawl-Ultimate stats)

 

[Wario Wario Wario]

I've been very heavily critical of how a lot of Smash fandom believes that franchise instalments from the year whatever was 20 years ago are inherently more iconic than anything before or after just because it came out when they were kids, but if Crash has to get in, and he can't be kart-bound, the best way to do his moveset is to take from almost-entirely from the Titans games and Twinsanity - got a video timestamped here, Crash's attacks in Titans really show his personality in a distinct way, that I think would make him a lot more worthwhile than a strictly PS1 Crash - obviously I don't think any actual titan mounts should be in his moveset though (god forbid the tattoos)

And now when I saw Twinsanity, what I'm saying is... make Crash a NASB1 Patrick-style grappler with every special as a grab (but make sure his grabs work as well) , And give him a gimmick where every move has a hitbox on whoever he's throwing. Using foes as projectiles, Humiliskating on them, whacking them around - hilarious for FFA, adds an interesting strategy to 2V2, and virtually non-intrusive in 1V1.