I'll be extremely honest here, I believe this game will be the peak of the Super Smash Bros. series in quality. Nintendo has pretty much everything they have to make this the best Smash game in existance and I hope it becomes that way. As such, after SSB4, I can't imagine the series keeping it's pristine quality so as long as we get at least a mid 40s roster, great online play, and a game that is excellent, I would be okay with this being the last installment of the game. It's probably all going downhill after this anyway. Without further ado, my character roster is below (And despite my analysis, I don't claim to be a genius, I am after all, just speculating):
[COLLAPSE="My Character Roster For the Wii-U Version of Super Smash Bros. 4 (Version 1)"]*: Unlockable
Mario:
- Mario/Dr. Mario
- Luigi
- Peach
- Bowser
- Bowser Jr.*
Donkey Kong:
- Donkey Kong
- Diddy Kong or Diddy Kong/Dixie Kong
- King K. Rool/Kaptain K. Rool/Baron K. Roolenstein or Dixie Kong*
Yoshi:
- Yoshi
Wario:
- Wario/Classic Wario
The Legend of Zelda:
- Link
- Zelda/Sheik
- Ganondorf*
- Toon Link or Young Link*
Metriod:
- Samus
- Ridley*
Kirby:
- Kirby
- Meta-Knight
- King Dedede
Star Fox:
- Fox
- Falco*
- Wolf*
Pokemon:
- Pikachu
- Jigglypuff
- Pokemon Trainer
- One of Mewtwo, Lucario, or another 1st gen rep*
- Zoroark or Victini*
F-zero:
- Captain Falcon
- Samurai Gorah*
Earthbound:
- Ness
- Lucas*
Fire Emblem:
- Marth*
- Ike
Retro:
- Ice Climbers
- Mr. Game & Watch*
- R.O.B.*
Kid Icarus:
- Pit
- Medusa*
Pikimin:
- Olimar
Punch-Out!!:
- Little Mac
Sin & Punishment:
- Saki Amamiya or Isa Jo
Custom Robo:
- Ray MK III*
Nazo No Murasame Jo:
- Takamaru*
3rd Party:
- Snake*
- Sonic*
- Mega Man*[/COLLAPSE]
[COLLAPSE="General Information Regarding The Roster"]Characters: 46 (50 with transformations)
Nintendo: 43
Third-Party: 3
Newcomers: 10/11
Starter: 26
Unlockable: 20
Characters From Previous Installments: 34/35
Characters Removed: 4/5 {Pichu, Dr. Mario, Roy, Mewtwo/Lucario)
Alternate Costume:
Mario: Dr. Mario
Wario: Classic Wario
King K. Rool: Kaptain K. Rool/Baron K. Roolenstein[/COLLAPSE]
[COLLAPSE="General Analysis About The Roster"]Predicting a roster is difficult to do and it gets much, much harder on this roster because we have to deal with two versions. This doesn't just mean the 3DS version will be smaller then the Wii-U version, both will be different, so we can expect different characters. Characters already in the game that originated from the handheld game or have a heavy presence in handhelds that overshadows console games probably won't be affected much, but it won't be the same for consoles. There will almost certainly be system exclusive characters, which is why a couple of likely SSB4 characters are on the 3DS version because they have no apperance on consoles and as such, are unlikely to arrive on consoles unless (hopefully) we buy the 3DS version and transfer their to this version. This is why Issac and Starfy are exclusive to the 3DS version.
I would not be surprise if we did not reach 50 characters. It certainly has a decent chance of happening, especially with the Paradise rumor debunked and there are a lot of characters that we want in the game. However, even if Issac and Starfy made it into the Wii-U version, that's forty-eight, not fifty. So when it comes to the final roster, our best bet is somewhere between 45 and 50, which is where my roster falls betweeen. From what I've seen, all these characters stands a respectable chance of getting into the game.This is determined by relavency, popular support, if a character could potentially be unique, and based off previous appearance in Smash games as playable characters. My predictions probably have a flaw or two in them so I'm not expecting this to be the last roster I make before the game comes out by any means. As a matter of fact, it is merely my first.
In terms of removed characters, I find the roster in Brawl to be superior to Melee. Clones are less obvious and there are no characters that people can generally agree on are going. The only exception to this is Lucario and even then, he's less likely to be removed then the ones that were removed from Melee due to not being a clone and not being terrible.
Regarding starters, I think the majority of new Smashers will have to be unlocked. This gives more of a sense of accomplishment and those who don't know beforehand will be pleasantly surprise to see these characters in. That said, I believe this is the game where all twelve original players will not only come back, but be a starter. The reason why I say this is because new villains should be unlockable and that if the roster had all four of the original Smashers unlockable again, the amount of unlockable characters would go over the amount of starters and I highly doubt that will be happening. Plus someone semi-familiar with Smash character roster will know that Ness, Luigi, Captain Falcon, and Jigglypuff are in the game, so no point is making us unlock them again, just put them up from the start already.
There are some patterns to note, even if it may be broken in SSB4:
- The vertical rows length increase by one character per series. The original had two characters per vertical rows, Melee had three, and Brawl had four. I predict that SSB4 will follow a vertical row length again, so if the pattern continues, we should expect five in a vertical row. That means that two of Nintendo's biggest franchise, Mario and Pokemon, have a good chance of having five reps.
- Relavence has almost always played a part in Super Smash Bros. Like User33 said, it helps that a character is relavent to the game and I'm willing to give him credit for bringing that up. That said, I don't think it's the absolute barrier to getting a character in, as there is still popular requests and other factors that could still get characters in, nor is relavence a requirement.
More detailed information on why I included these characters in are below.[/COLLAPSE]
[COLLAPSE="Specific Character Roster Explanation (Warning, very long)"]- Mario: Mario is almost guarantee a fifth rep. After losing Dr. Mario and not having any replacements in the game, there's not a reason why Nintendo won't make that up with a worthy rep. The question is, who will that person be? I still highly doubt it's going to be Toad, but that's my opinion, but we have two other choices: Bowser Jr. and Paper Mario. Of those, Bowser Jr. is the only likely choice we have and as such, the one I picked. He has potentials to be unique, is popular with fan requests, and is very important to the Mario series ever since Super Mario Sunshine. The question isn't if a fifth rep will occur, it's who will that person be? Bowser Jr, Toad, or Paper Mario? The debates will continue for a couple of years if not more, but I think Bowser Jr. will win this time. A sixth rep is also possible, but not likely.
- Donkey Kong: I would not be surprise if we get three reps, although four is pushing it. As a matter of fact, I would say the chances are 85%, which is really good when you think about it. Dixie Kong was in the Brawl Code, so this leaves the potential for her to be either a single character or with Diddy Kong. King K. Rool is also a likely villain with being the second most requested villain next to Ridley himself. Also, note that both characters was in Super Mario Sluggers, so there's no reason to rule them out yet. In all honesty, I would be happy with two reps if Diddy Kong and Dixie Kong were a tag team.
- Yoshi and Wario: Neither needs any rep right now, the only potential I see from the Wario franchise is Kat & Ana and even so, will probably not make it into SSB4.
- The Legend of Zelda: Only needs four rep. It would be nice to see Fierce Diety Link and all, but there's not really a deserving rep aside from those four. They should focus on getting Ganondorf and Toon Link fixed up, thought it's possible that Toon Link could be dropped with either no replacement or Young Link.
- Metroid: Ridley is almost guarantee for a spot. People want him, he's the most requested villain, and there's nothing going against his inclusion. It's time and there are no other character (Moreso then Mega Man, my most wanted) more deserving of a rep.
- Kirby: A fourth rep is possible, since after all, this was developed by Sakurai originally, but it's not likely. Thus, three Kirby rep. Waddle Dee could happen, but I can't really see him in Smash.
- Star Fox: Krystal is certainly possible and I can see her getting into the next game, but not among the most likely characters in the game. While four would be preferred, I'll be okay with three and hopefully, no one gets dropped and all three Star Fox players gets their own Final Smash (Falco with Airwing, Wolf with Wolfen).
- Pokemon: Pokemon is almost as big as Mario and has even more potential characters to work with, so it's also very likely to receive not four, but five reps. If a vertical trend continues, I'd be quite surprise if we had just four. Arcadenik brings up a good point in which each game brings 1st gen rep. Receiving a new rep in some form is decently possible and something I'm willing to experiment with for now. As such, I would not be surprise if Lucario stay, Mewtwo comes back to replace in his place (Both ways for developers to cut back in time, since Lucario was playable in Brawl and they could finish up Mewtwo from Brawl and bring him back), or get a new rep, which the least unlikely is Meowth.
- F-zero: This franchise, regardless of relavency, stands a good chance of getting a second rep. Samurai Gorah is the most likely since he has been an Assist Trophy in Brawl and with Assist Trophies being upgraded to playable characters a near guarantee, we should be looking at Assist Trophy as a potential factor for playable characters in SSB4. Black Shadow is also possible, but not as likely and will probably serve as a Assist Trophy in place of Samurai Gorah.
- Earthbound: Very unlikely to receive more rep, but won't lose any characters. No reason to do so anyway.
- Fire Emblem: Again, possible that we'll see a third Fire Emblem rep, but that's up in the air. I'm sure Marth and Ike are staying around, thought.
- Kid Icarus: Kid Icarus is almost guarantee to have a second rep. Of those, the most likely is Medusa who is already starting to get a lot of support. The size argument doesn't matter in this case.
- Punch-Out!!!: Little Mac is another almost guarantee rep and easily the most likely Assist Trophy character to be in the game. I suspect he'll appear as he does in the Punch-Out!!! Wii game and I think that's the best design of him so far.
- Sin & Punishment: This series stands a very good chance of getting a rep, whenever you believe it or not. Relavency I don't think apply to Saki Amamiya since I consider anything three generations or further back to be retro. In this case, since the next installment will be on the Wii-U, Saki fits into this description with his only appearance in a game outside of Brawl was his game was Sin & Punishment back in 2000. Plus he's an Assist Trophy in SSBB, which also helps his case as he have move sets potential and I have seen support for him in SSB4. If not him then I want to at least see Isa Jo in the game as playable.
- Custom Robo: Also a popular request among fans, has move sets potential, and is an Assist Trophy in SSBB. Not as likely as a Sin & Punishment rep, but I would put his chances at 70%.
- Nazo No Murasame Jo: Takamaru is the best WTF character we have that has not been reprsented in the game yet and since we get at least one new Japan-exclusive characters since Melee (If you count just the original version), I wouldn't be surprise if we got this guy in. Nice surprise but anyone who does extra research (Although I'll have to give User33 credit for this) will know that this is not a character to rule out an appearance of. The fact that Sakurai said he would be considered also helps his chances.
3rd Party: I very much doubt that Snake and Sonic will be removed from the next game, since both companies appear to have good relationships with Nintendo, especially Sega. This leaves Mega Man, the only likely third-party character not in the game. If he doesn't get in, no one does, so he's pretty much the only shot we have at a 3rd third-party character. A fourth third-party character is certainly possible as there are at least three potential candidates for it, but I'm not expecting more then three and quite frankly, unless a SSB5 gets made, it shouldn't be a concern whenever or not we get it because third-party characters are guests.[/COLLAPSE]I have a modest expectations for the roster, so this can't be too far out of reach, especially when including transformation. I hope that we get at least 46 characters in the game (Not including transformations) because this roster should be enough to satisfy most people and all of these slots have a chance of happening.
Also, Prince Fluff can still be considered because of his uniqueness--something that is looked at when thinking of newcomers. Whether or not he makes it in is another story.
