Official Newcomer/DLC Speculation Discussion

[osby]

If anything the promotional pick in this pass was already revealed with Luminary.

There's no rule saying we can only get one promotional character per DLC, not to mention Hero is 3/4 not a recent character by any means.

 

[Flyboy]

There's no rule saying we can only get one promotional character per DLC, not to mention Hero is 3/4 not a recent character by any means.

I know there's no rule saying we can't get another promotional pick, my dude. We could get Astral ChainMan and uhhh Captain Toadette next week for all I know. But would a new Metroid character or new Fire Emblem character be able to bring everything needed in a pass character? Sure, with a stretch perhaps, but man, I just don't see it, y'know?

As for Hero, he's a combo of a legacy and fan pick yeah, but specifically including Luminary as the default and following it up with a trailer for DQ11S shows that the intent is clearly promotion. Which is fine - **** it it's working for me, I'm hyped to pick up 11S as soon as I can.

There's just this irritating specter around specifically Fire Emblem, Sylux, and several others and there has been since the pass was first announced. It's lame.

 

[Nquoid]

I know there's no rule saying we can't get another promotional pick, my dude. We could get Astral ChainMan and uhhh Captain Toadette next week for all I know. But would a new Metroid character or new Fire Emblem character be able to bring everything needed in a pass character? Sure, with a stretch perhaps, but man, I just don't see it, y'know?

As for Hero, he's a combo of a legacy and fan pick yeah, but specifically including Luminary as the default and following it up with a trailer for DQ11S shows that the intent is clearly promotion. Which is fine - **** it it's working for me, I'm hyped to pick up 11S as soon as I can.

There's just this irritating specter around specifically Fire Emblem, Sylux, and several others and there has been since the pass was first announced. It's lame.

I guess it depends how promotional that pick was. Like a Three Houses rep or Metroid Prime 4 could come with music and spirits and a stage from those games. It's highly unlikely based on how Rex got relegated to costume and Xenoblade Chronicles 2 was out in 2017, but a fully promotional character would be promoting the game they're pulled from. Much like how most of Joker's content is Persona 5 based.

 

[Flyboy]

I mean to be frank I'd love certain promotional picks if it meant Travis Touchdown had a shot.

One day...one day.

 

[Deleted member]

Hell, I could even argue that Crash could be added as a promotional pick for Crash 4 or whatever the next Crash game will be.

And outside of him, I would love many other "promotional" picks like Travis, Elma, Sylux (as a Metroid fan of course), an Arms rep or even someone from Astral Chain.

Having picks from pretty recent games can be sweet.

 

[Dragoncharystary]

I assumed that the reason there was no Sylux spirit was because they were planning on releasing one as part of a patch concurrent to Prime 4's release like they did with the Pikachu and Eevee spirits for the Let's Go games.

 

[Guynamednelson]

Metroid Prime 4 could come with music and spirits and a stage from those games

Except it could be outdated thanks to MP4 having restarted its development.

 

[3BitSaurus]

I mean to be frank I'd love certain promotional picks if it meant Travis Touchdown had a shot.

One day...one day.

Hell, I could even argue that Crash could be added as a promotional pick for Crash 4 or whatever the next Crash game will be.

And outside of him, I would love many other "promotional" picks like Travis, Elma, Sylux (as a Metroid fan of course), an Arms rep or even someone from Astral Chain.

Having picks from pretty recent games can be sweet.

I guess people are sour about promotional picks because most first party characters people would like are already Spirits, ATs or already have some sort of base game content that hinders their chances for the FP.

It's so weird... like, if they had held ARMS and Xenoblade 2/X content from the base game and Spring Man and Rex/Elma were the final 2 characters for the pass, I'd be satisfied. Three Houses and Sylux, however? Not exactly my cup of tea.

I think there is a balance in being a promotional character and being a character fans want. Travis and Crash would fit that bill, imo.

 

[Nquoid]

Except it could be outdated thanks to MP4 having restarted its development.

I assumed that the reason there was no Sylux spirit was because they were planning on releasing one as part of a patch concurrent to Prime 4's release like they did with the Pikachu and Eevee spirits for the Let's Go games.

Absolutely to both of these. I think this is more based off that old leak that said a Square character, Banjo, Joker, Sylux and a Three Houses rep.

I dont think it's true because both games have been delayed and Three Houses rep would make the most sense if it came in either the Hero or Banjo slot.

But in terms of speculation of how a 1st party promotional character would work, Sylux fits quite nicely even if Metroid Prime 4 is a year or two out at best.

 

[Ultomato]

I assumed that the reason there was no Sylux spirit was because they were planning on releasing one as part of a patch concurrent to Prime 4's release like they did with the Pikachu and Eevee spirits for the Let's Go games.

Pikachu and Eevee also had normal Spirits though

 

[MissingGlitch]

After Banjo I think the only other characters that would make me hype is Doomguy, Phoenix Wright, Geno, and Heavy from TF2.

 

[IsmaR]

The phrase "promotional pick" has always rubbed me the wrong way. The entire game is, by definition, promotional material/marketing for every series involved.

I don't know why people need to justify something being new/recent to a one time occurrence (Corrin was "because we thought it would be neat to include someone from an upcoming thing" at that, not an explicit decision by the company heads/teams that work with Sora like how we know new Pokemon are decided on).

A series having success or upcoming things to be excited about obviously generates more excitement about them, but it's not the sole reason they were decided on unless it's explicitly stated. Unless I'm missing something, Joker wasn't picked solely to sell P5R/P5 Scramble, Snake wasn't in Brawl to advertise MGS4, etc.

As an example, I'd really like Doom Slayer/Shantae, but it'd be asinine of me to believe they would only get in to push Doom Eternal/Shantae 5 and nothing else.

Every character is going to be sold with the angle of "fans of ____ might like/want to get ____." With both Smash and the series involved in it being interchangeable.

 

[MissingGlitch]

The phrase "promotional pick" has always rubbed me the wrong way. The entire game is, by definition, promotional material/marketing for every series involved.

I don't know why people need to justify something being new/recent to a one time occurrence (Corrin was "because we thought it would be neat to include someone from an upcoming thing" at that, not an explicit decision by the company heads/teams that work with Sora like how we know new Pokemon are decided on).

A series having success or upcoming things to be excited about obviously generates more excitement about them, but it's not the sole reason they were decided on unless it's explicitly stated. Unless I'm missing something, Joker wasn't picked solely to sell P5R/P5 Scramble, Snake wasn't in Brawl to advertise MGS4, etc.

As an example, I'd really like Doom Slayer/Shantae, but it'd be asinine of me to believe they would only get in to push Doom Eternal/Shantae 5 and nothing else.

Every character is going to be sold with the angle of "fans of ____ might like/want to get ____." With both Smash and the series involved in it being interchangeable.

Hero only rubbed me the wrong way because they made the main skin the main character from the newest game. And the smash reveal transitioned directly into an ad for the switch version of said game.

 

[Verde Coeden Scalesworth]

Luminary also was in the spotlight the most, and the most "relevant" Hero to make a main face. It was likely to be chosen because of relevancy. But every 3rd Party was kept relevant in some way anyway during the time they first appeared in Smash, so it makes sense.

Eight was the only other main face that felt remotely realistic. Eight and Luminary are the only worldwide recognizable DQ Heroes among the alts as is, as well as the two most worldwide recognizable as is. Solo to some degree, but not as talked about even as much as Erdrick was since the leaks.

 

[Idon]

Hero only rubbed me the wrong way because they made the main skin the main character from the newest game. And the smash reveal transitioned directly into an ad for the switch version of said game.

In my opinion it's not too much different than Isabelle's trailer transitioning into a new Animal Crossing game announcement.

 

[Akg0001]

If we get a 2. Fighters pass, Rex is a lock. Sakurai will have no excuses. Imo we will get a 2. Fighters pass focused on Nintendo characters.

The first Fighters Pass attract people to buy a Switch and Smash. The second Fighters Pass will attract people (in particular the new fans Fighters Pass 1 brought to Switch) to buy switch games (For example Xenoblade, Fire Emblem, Zelda, Pokemon, and so on...)

 

[GoodGrief741]

For sake of argument, let's assume there's a Fighter Pass 2 and potentially more beyond.

I think these are all the possible newcomers (barring potential bonus fighters):

Spoiler

View attachment 228683

What do you guys think?

The thought of another Pass with no first parties makes me shudder.

 

[SwordOfSeals]

I won’t be on here to often so I’m just gonna put my input in from what I’ve been hearing in recent rumors, theories and the fact that Nintendo is somewhat using the DLC promote and cater to fans here’s what I think my last prediction of the last 2 characters will be...


Rundown of what we have so far:
#1 Joker (Persona Q2/Persona 5 Scramble)
#2 Hero (Dragon Quest XI Definitive Edition)
#3 Banjo (Banjo Kazooie/Xbox Pass)


Expectation:
#4 seems to me might be Resident Evil: The fact Megaman and Street Fighter are in already means Capcoms best selling series is most likely to come next. Leon, Claire, Chris and Jill could all be alts similar to the Dragon Quest character as well and with Resident Evil 5 and 6 getting ports to the switch this fall it’s almost a perfect opportunity. *(Other note is that Smash 4 had Sega, Capcom and Square Enix participate in DLC so I don’t see them missing this chance).


Final DLC:
#5...Oh boy...I’ll start with some honorable mentions: Doomguy, Crash, and Hayabusa.

The character I think is coming is where all the theories and rumors come in play. I’ll come out and say right now I don’t believe in Mii costume theory due to the fact that I don’t think they would cut the Virtua Fighter costumes for no reason and that Sakurai didn’t see any potential in any Namcos characters in the past other than Pac-Man.

I actually think the lack of the Virtua Fighter costumes hint at a fighting game character instead. I’ll rule out Namco right away by saying I expect Lloyd to return as mii costume along with Heihachi so I’m not thinking Tekken. So I actually think the 5th DLC is a SNK character.

Who I think the character will be is not Terry, not Kyo, not Mai, not even Haohmaru I actually think it’s “Nakoruru”. I know it sounds crazy but when you think about it, King of Fighters XIV is very popular and is even at EVO along with the new Samurai Shodown coming this winter to the Switch. With China also getting the switch sometime this year this could a huge push in Nintendo’s part in advertising to that audience as in some countries SNK is a big deal from what I hear.

So that’s what I’m going with into the end of the year. Not personally what I want, but what I could see happening.

 

[N3ON]

The phrase "promotional pick" has always rubbed me the wrong way. The entire game is, by definition, promotional material/marketing for every series involved.

I don't know why people need to justify something being new/recent to a one time occurrence (Corrin was "because we thought it would be neat to include someone from an upcoming thing" at that, not an explicit decision by the company heads/teams that work with Sora like how we know new Pokemon are decided on).

A series having success or upcoming things to be excited about obviously generates more excitement about them, but it's not the sole reason they were decided on unless it's explicitly stated. Unless I'm missing something, Joker wasn't picked solely to sell P5R/P5 Scramble, Snake wasn't in Brawl to advertise MGS4, etc.

As an example, I'd really like Doom Slayer/Shantae, but it'd be asinine of me to believe they would only get in to push Doom Eternal/Shantae 5 and nothing else.

Every character is going to be sold with the angle of "fans of ____ might like/want to get ____." With both Smash and the series involved in it being interchangeable.

Characters will get promotion by virtue of simply being in Smash, of course, but the "promotional pick" tends to differ in that the impetus behind the inclusion was to capitalize on Smash's audience, rather than being an incidental side-effect.

I do agree it's used too liberally to describe additions, personally I think the only characters culpable are Corrin, Greninja, Incineroar (and maybe Lucario, even though the character could've got in "normally" anyway).

Regardless, it seems evident that third-parties won't find inclusion this way, they have to stand on their own merit. Luminary might have the benefit of being merged into an overarching character of "Hero", culling together the prestige of protagonists across the series, but it's still no exception. If, for example, we were to get Doom Slayer, the upcoming game would inform the inclusion far less than the fact that DOOM is a seminal gaming series.

 

[dezeray112]

So if we did get a 1st party character in this fighters pass who would be most likely? Feels like Elma and Porky are pretty much where the line stops? With Sylux, Gen 8 Pokemon and FE: 3H reps as a second tier if we assume Nintendo want to promote upcoming titles?

1. A Xenoblade Chronicles rep - I predict this would be between Rex & Pyra or Elma.
2. Fire Emblem rep - I know Fire Emblem has got a lot of representation in Smash, although I have a feeling if they were to plan to bring in another character from the franchise, I would say this would be between Edelgard or Byleth.
3. Astral Chain rep - If Astral Chain achieves success when it releases, I could see either the male or female iteration getting represented in Smash.
4. Pokemon rep - A Pokemon from Sword and Shield would be the most likely candidate.

 

[Deleted member]

Yeah, I never see someone from recent games as a promotional pick and nothing else.

More so with Joker being added due to Sakurai's love for Persona 5.

Smash representing many periods of the gaming industry by adding characters from many decades is wonderful

 

[Flyboy]

I really feel like a first party pack would contain a lot of new characters that have had proven staying power, with a big one being Captain Toad. A spin-off that also got a port, a unique moveset, no downsides to me. He'd be really fun. Toadette echo for sure or at least an alt costume - Nintendo is pushing her as seen in SMM2.

I wouldn't rule out characters like Pauline or even Waluigi either, though I'd love to see Mona, Chibi-Robo, and others.

 

[SKX31]

Characters will get promotion by virtue of simply being in Smash, of course, but the "promotional pick" tends to differ in that the impetus behind the inclusion was to capitalize on Smash's audience, rather than being an incidental side-effect.

I do agree it's used too liberally to describe additions, personally I think the only characters culpable are Corrin, Greninja, Incineroar (and maybe Lucario, even though the character could've got in "normally" anyway).

Still, I don't think that "promotional pick" describes such picks fully - they often serve as testing grounds for new gameplay styles (Corrin, Incineroar) or tweaks of such (Roy in Melee, Greninja, Lucario) without having to start the characters from scratch. Just gameplay has been a bit harder to sell; when Smash's promotion and hype has always been based around, to qoute Don LaFontaine: "Introducing Super Smash Bros. where all of your favorite characters go toe to toe in one four player star studded slamfest!"

 

[TheCJBrine]

If there's a second Fighters Pass, I'd really like Steve, Geno, Sans & Papyrus, and some first-parties, mainly Skull Kid, Porky or Ninten, and Gengar.

I would also like Bandana Dee, Marx, Dark Matter, Gooey, or Adeleine.

Maybe Louie or The President too if they don't just make Alph separate. Other options include Bulborb and Plasm Wraith.

 

[StrawHatX]

I would definitely prefer a Nintendo Fighter Pass if we got another. I think this is our third party Pass.

 

[MissingGlitch]

A Nintendo fighter pass would allow for characters Nintendo didn't realize there was a demand for before....Like Skull Kid, Isaac, Waddle Dee.

Just...give me another Zelda character that isn't Link.

 

[Opossum]

I'm just hoping for Edelgard and Crash at this point, since odds are we aren't getting Celica sadly.

Give me code names Eagle and Spin, datamine. :V

 

[KirbyWorshipper2465]

I'm just hoping for Edelgard and Crash at this point, since odds are we aren't getting Celica sadly.

Give me code names Eagle and Spin, datamine. :V

Edelgard's my safest bet at the moment. I just wonder how much can be done to stand her apart from the sword collective.

Hell, I could even argue that Crash could be added as a promotional pick for Crash 4 or whatever the next Crash game will be.

And outside of him, I would love many other "promotional" picks like Travis, Elma, Sylux (as a Metroid fan of course), an Arms rep or even someone from Astral Chain.

Having picks from pretty recent games can be sweet.

Well, depends on how recent, given the dev timeline. Sakurai basically had deconfirmed Rex outright because of his game being too recent.

I assumed that the reason there was no Sylux spirit was because they were planning on releasing one as part of a patch concurrent to Prime 4's release like they did with the Pikachu and Eevee spirits for the Let's Go games.

Seems to me like they only give out spirits for games that are 100% guaranteed to be out. In the meantime, we just get mostly pointless spirit events that don't have anything new to offer.

So as it is right now, since we have yet know why Sylux isn't in, it gives the impression that they completely forgot to include him despite having art assets handy.

 

[MissingGlitch]

Seems to me like they only give out spirits for games that are 100% guaranteed to be out. In the meantime, we just get mostly pointless spirit events that don't have anything new to offer.

I completely forgot all about the Link to the Past spirit event. So I will never have a complete spirit collection now :v

 

[Scoliosis Jones]

Every pick is a promotional pick by virtue of being from a series that isn’t Smash.

The way the fanbase has cast “promotional picks” is basically to immediately make the pick in question viewed negatively, which is...kinda dumb.

Like let’s stretch the definition. Sure, we have Cotton and Greninja. But l, like, isn’t adding a 3rd party meant to promote Smash itself? Sonic himself didn’t promote Brawl?

Even if they’re a promotional pick, who cares as long as they’re fun? I have fun playing as Corrin, and Greninja was one of my Wii U mains.

What if Banjo-Kazooie ends up getting a Switch game in a year? We wouldn’t hate them for “promoting” a new game, right? That’s silly.

 

[StormC]

I think the term "promotional pick" mainly came around because a lot of Smash 4 characters felt like "here's what Nintendo's been up to between Brawl and now" and less mining of classic and beloved characters. Ultimate's roster, for my money, hits a healthier balance of fan favorite and recent characters. Most Smash characters are from commercially successful games that are in Nintendo's interest to advertise, but it felt the most transparent in Smash 4.

That's not saying they're necessarily bad, Palutena was a wishlist character of mine for Smash 4 after all and Greninja was a neat surprise. But I would definitely say the Brawl and Ultimate rosters are more my speed.

 

[StrawHatX]

A Nintendo fighter pass would allow for characters Nintendo didn't realize there was a demand for before....Like Skull Kid, Isaac, Waddle Dee.

Just...give me another Zelda character that isn't Link.

Isaac, Skull Kid, BWD, Rex or Pyra/Mythra, and Waluigi is who I’d prefer. Krystal would be cool too.

 

[Flyboy]

I think the term "promotional pick" mainly came around because a lot of Smash 4 characters felt like "here's what Nintendo's been up to between Brawl and now" and less mining of classic and beloved characters. Ultimate's roster, for my money, hits a healthier balance of fan favorite and recent characters. Most Smash characters are from commercially successful games that are in Nintendo's interest to advertise, but it felt the most transparent in Smash 4.

That's not saying they're necessarily bad, Palutena was a wishlist character of mine for Smash 4 after all and Greninja was a neat surprise. But I would definitely say the Brawl and Ultimate rosters are more my speed.

I feel that Ultimate really balanced the roster and between the newcomers in it and 4 it's a solid, representative lot. I was big on Little Mac being added as he was a longtime want of mine and Wii Fit Trainer was my personal nice surprise. The roster just feels so comfortable and solid now with only a few you could add here and there for fun.

 

[KirbyWorshipper2465]

I think the term "promotional pick" mainly came around because a lot of Smash 4 characters felt like "here's what Nintendo's been up to between Brawl and now" and less mining of classic and beloved characters. Ultimate's roster, for my money, hits a healthier balance of fan favorite and recent characters. Most Smash characters are from commercially successful games that are in Nintendo's interest to advertise, but it felt the most transparent in Smash 4.

That's not saying they're necessarily bad, Palutena was a wishlist character of mine for Smash 4 after all and Greninja was a neat surprise. But I would definitely say the Brawl and Ultimate rosters are more my speed.

For me, 4 was approximately 1/8 hardcore fan wishes, 5/8s Nintendo marketing and 2/8s Sakurai's canon KI fanfic.

A Nintendo fighter pass would allow for characters Nintendo didn't realize there was a demand for before....Like Skull Kid, Isaac, Waddle Dee.

Just...give me another Zelda character that isn't Link.

I'd go for Linkle.

On a related note, I'm glad we finally got another swordsman with a shield that isn't just yet another version of Link.

 

[Nquoid]

Whilst every character in Smash is in some way promotional, I think they all feel different to characters like Roy, Corrin and Greninja, all of whom debuted in Smash less than a year after their debut games. Those characters were added to expressly draw attention to new entries in their series.

To me a promotional character means someone added to Smash, who's home game was probably in development at the same time as the Smash game.

 

[Verde Coeden Scalesworth]

Whilst every character in Smash is in some way promotional, I think they all feel different to characters like Roy, Corrin and Greninja, all of whom debuted in Smash less than a year after their debut games. Those characters were added to expressly draw attention to new entries in their series.

To me a promotional character means someone added to Smash, who's home game was probably in development at the same time as the Smash game.

Greninja isn't any more of a promotional pick for X/Y than Cloud was for FFVIIr. Both games were either not even close to out or already out beforehand. Greninja was literally picked because Sakurai liked its design and was able to make it dance in his head right away. Otherwise, he wanted a Pokemon from X/Y because it's Pokemon, one of the biggest franchises in the world. Like Greninja, Incineroar pretty much got in because Sakurai wanted a Pokemon from the latest game, but both Smash games were still out after the actual Pokemon games released, making them pretty lacking in the idea of adding to advertise an upcoming game. Never mind that it had nothing to do with why he saved a spot for Pokemon. Cause again, it's Pokemon. That's all the reasoning that's needed. They were also added significantly before the Pokemon games were coming out, more in-line of "they were relevant timing of when to add that Pokemon".

Only Roy and Corrin were actually chosen with advertising as part of their reasoning. They needed a clone, and Roy was picked to also help promote his game. If it weren't for the clone factor, he wouldn't have been in. Corrin was from an upcoming game, something being looked at, but if it weren't for the fact they could be unique, they wouldn't have gotten in. There is no such thing as pure advertising picks in Smash either. There's always more context than that, which Sakurai literally mentioned the full story, to make sure people realize that.

Keep in mind it is possible that they chose Hero as Luminary being the main face for advertising reasons. But we have zero evidence of that. It was closer to "the most relevant hero to use as a face" instead. Which, like every 3rd party so far, had some kind of relevancy in their franchise around the time they were added. It's not just games. Franchises are often multi-media. For all we know, a big part of why B&K got in is so they can have a game announced soon to coincide with the release. Who knows. Obviously, as said before, any character added is effectively promoting their franchise to some degree, but that's just a bonus, not an inherent reason.

 

[GoodGrief741]

Greninja isn't any more of a promotional pick for X/Y than Cloud was for FFVIIr. Both games were either not even close to out or already out beforehand. Greninja was literally picked because Sakurai liked its design and was able to make it dance in his head right away. Otherwise, he wanted a Pokemon from X/Y because it's Pokemon, one of the biggest franchises in the world. Like Greninja, Incineroar pretty much got in because Sakurai wanted a Pokemon from the latest game, but both Smash games were still out after the actual Pokemon games released, making them pretty lacking in the idea of adding to advertise an upcoming game. Never mind that it had nothing to do with why he saved a spot for Pokemon. Cause again, it's Pokemon. That's all the reasoning that's needed. They were also added significantly before the Pokemon games were coming out, more in-line of "they were relevant timing of when to add that Pokemon".

Only Roy and Corrin were actually chosen with advertising as part of their reasoning. They needed a clone, and Roy was picked to also help promote his game. If it weren't for the clone factor, he wouldn't have been in. Corrin was from an upcoming game, something being looked at, but if it weren't for the fact they could be unique, they wouldn't have gotten in. There is no such thing as pure advertising picks in Smash either. There's always more context than that, which Sakurai literally mentioned the full story, to make sure people realize that.

Keep in mind it is possible that they chose Hero as Luminary being the main face for advertising reasons. But we have zero evidence of that. It was closer to "the most relevant hero to use as a face" instead. Which, like every 3rd party so far, had some kind of relevancy in their franchise around the time they were added. It's not just games. Franchises are often multi-media. For all we know, a big part of why B&K got in is so they can have a game announced soon to coincide with the release. Who knows. Obviously, as said before, any character added is effectively promoting their franchise to some degree, but that's just a bonus, not an inherent reason.

Seems like alien logic to compare "character was added to Smash before debuting in a game" to "iconic 1997 character was added to a game in 2015 to promote a game that was barely entering full development, wasn't going to release on Nintendo consoles and wouldn't get a release date until 4 years later".

Wanting a character from the latest game of a series, for no reason other than being the latest, is the stupid decision making process that most people label as being 'promotional'. The association is not without merit.

 

[Nquoid]

Greninja isn't any more of a promotional pick for X/Y than Cloud was for FFVIIr. Both games were either not even close to out or already out beforehand. Greninja was literally picked because Sakurai liked its design and was able to make it dance in his head right away. Otherwise, he wanted a Pokemon from X/Y because it's Pokemon, one of the biggest franchises in the world. Like Greninja, Incineroar pretty much got in because Sakurai wanted a Pokemon from the latest game, but both Smash games were still out after the actual Pokemon games released, making them pretty lacking in the idea of adding to advertise an upcoming game. Never mind that it had nothing to do with why he saved a spot for Pokemon. Cause again, it's Pokemon. That's all the reasoning that's needed. They were also added significantly before the Pokemon games were coming out, more in-line of "they were relevant timing of when to add that Pokemon".

Only Roy and Corrin were actually chosen with advertising as part of their reasoning. They needed a clone, and Roy was picked to also help promote his game. If it weren't for the clone factor, he wouldn't have been in. Corrin was from an upcoming game, something being looked at, but if it weren't for the fact they could be unique, they wouldn't have gotten in. There is no such thing as pure advertising picks in Smash either. There's always more context than that, which Sakurai literally mentioned the full story, to make sure people realize that.

Keep in mind it is possible that they chose Hero as Luminary being the main face for advertising reasons. But we have zero evidence of that. It was closer to "the most relevant hero to use as a face" instead. Which, like every 3rd party so far, had some kind of relevancy in their franchise around the time they were added. It's not just games. Franchises are often multi-media. For all we know, a big part of why B&K got in is so they can have a game announced soon to coincide with the release. Who knows. Obviously, as said before, any character added is effectively promoting their franchise to some degree, but that's just a bonus, not an inherent reason.

But Cloud literally isn't an example of what I said?

I just said, characters that debut in Smash less than a year after they debut in a video game have a whiff of promotionality to them. Sakurai could have chosen a gen 5 Pokemon who had been established, but obviously he went with Greninja. And it paid off.

Cloud, a character introduced in 1997 showing up in Smash in 2015 is promotional of Final Fantasy and the remake. But also he was added to the game because he has almost 20 years of legacy.

To me, when I say promotional, I mean, there is no way that Sakurai or Nintendo could know whether this character has actually landed with fans when they chose them, because they're in development at the same time. Greninja is 100% that risk. Pokemon X and Y came out in October 2013, Greninja was announced in April 2014 for Smash 4. It just so happened that gamble paid off.

 

[Nemuresu]

On promotional characters, I'd like to say that I was angry at Corrin, not for that as much as it was because of being yet another Fire Emblem character on a big pile of 'em.

If you're gonna make me pay for an ad, might as well make sure said ad is for something new and not something I'm already sick of. Hence why I'm not bugged by Hero (who's mainly representing an upcoming Switch title) at all.

 

[KirbyWorshipper2465]

I bet that Sakurai wanted Erdrick as the face of Hero at first since he's fond of III, but it ultimately went to Luminary, so that there'd be awareness for DQXI's forthcoming Switch version (especially important, since it'll get a simultaneous worldwide release).

On promotional characters, I'd like to say that I was angry at Corrin, not for that as much as it was because of being yet another Fire Emblem character on a big pile of 'em.

If you're gonna make me pay for an ad, might as well make sure said ad is for something new and not something I'm already sick of. Hence why I'm not bugged by Hero (who's mainly representing an upcoming Switch title) at all.

Heck, Sakurai himself had to be convinced to even add Corrin in the first place.