I think you don't understand characters. The series matters less than the actual character.
This would be understandable if it could be justified. Look at the Mario franchise, where there are plenty more viable characters that just WON'T BE added due to it being the Mario franchise and having a lot of characters already.
When I look at characters, I look at both franchise and character. You can't just look at one of the two. For example, you can't have a roster filled with an assortment of different Pokémon, ever single character from the Mario universe, and the whole cast of Sonic characters. This is because you need fair franchise representation. That was one of the core purposes of smash in the first place: to allow characters from different Nintendo universes to battle each other.
You also need to look at the character themselves, and their individual merits. This is pretty self explanatory.
Does Mother deserve two characters. Probably not. It's only had one game oversees and has never been a hit. Yet, it has one.
Lucas and Ness were very similar in design and moveset, and it is kind of disappointing to see them as they are. I would say that having both of them included was unnecessary, but this is from a character point of view as much as from a franchise point of view.
Does Fire Emblem need 3 characters. Maybe not. It's never been a big hit. Yet it has 3.
Fire Emblem currently has two characters, and I think that is an okay place for it to be. It's a series that has a whole lot of similar characters, but Marth and Ike differentiate from each other enough, and I don't feel like Fire Emblem is being overrepresented.
The Donkey Kong series is a series that matches Zelda in sales and probably with fewer games. Yet it only has 2 characters
This is a mistake, in my opinion. Donkey Kong is one of the biggest franchises for Nintendo (top 5 material), AND it has a variety of interesting characters to choose from. King K. Rool and Dixie Kong are obvious stand-outs, and I think the series would be fine with four characters, too.
Metroid is one of Nintendo's longest running series and even became more successful with Metroid Prime. But it still only has Samus.
Most people will also agree that this is not right. Metroid may not have much as far as character options to choose from, but it has more than just Samus. Also, Zero Suit Samus is her own character, and adding Ridley would put the franchise about where it should be in my eyes.
StarFox has gotten a character in every game. Yet the series has been going downhill. Yet it has 3 characters.
Starfox is the opposite of Metroid and Donkey Kong. It doesn't deserve what it's getting, and the fact that people are advocating for yet another rep is unnerving. The three Starfox characters are already too similar to each other and need to be shifted around a bit if they're going to be kept (which they should be).
I can keep going, but you see the point. The characters are not chosen because their respective series. They are chosen based on the characters themselves. Palutena and Medusa works because they are both prominent characters in their own series and are obviously good enough to get their own little movies. Consider that you want to replace them with Tingle, a character people outright hate.
I think you should stop acting like you know why characters are chosen to be in smash. Industries are more complicated than that, and Sakurai's criteria (if he has any), are unreliable at best because they can never be adhered to. A character should be added on their own merits, sure, but you have to be reasonable in what constitutes a merit. It's better to stick to personal speculation, or speculation on what would make the most
sense. Who knows what outside factors are influencing Sakurai? Trying to find a trend in why characters are added is pointless. I'm going to ignore the last point due to subjectivity and bias, however true it may be.
All that said, I definitely do not think Kid Icarus is a franchise that is deserving of three characters, no matter how interesting those characters may be. Smash only has so many slots, and Nintendo has a lot of interesting characters.
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