Official Newcomer/DLC Speculation Discussion

[Megadoomer]

I’m willing to follow this viking trail for fun.
Potential Viking Characters:

1) Barbara - As seen in the post above, she’s got a large axe, had a trophy in 4, and looks pretty great. Would be weird to have a Rayman rep before Rayman though.

2) Assassin’s Creed Valhalla Promo Character - Would promote a AAA game and presumably guarantee a switch version. But also incredibly unlikely to have a third party promo character.

3) Lord Fredrik Of the Snowmads - I mean, not as much of a cold-day-in-hell situation as the above two, but before Dixie?

4) Thora from Jotun: she’s an obscure indie and as neat as her hand drawn sprite game, they had the shot with Cuphead. This also goes for anyone from the Banner Saga.

any other big viking video game characters you guys thinking of?

(examples from Fire Emblem immediately vetoed).

Not sure if Gilius Thunderhead from Golden Axe counts, but there's also the Lost Vikings from... the Lost Vikings.

 

[osby]

But also incredibly unlikely to have a third party promo character.

You forget that Nintendo added to Smash purely because they wanted to promote *checks notes* a spin-off, an enhanced port, and a bunch of retro game collection.

 

[King Sonnn DeDeDoo]

I’m willing to follow this viking trail for fun.
Potential Viking Characters:

1) Barbara - As seen in the post above, she’s got a large axe, had a trophy in 4, and looks pretty great. Would be weird to have a Rayman rep before Rayman though.

2) Assassin’s Creed Valhalla Promo Character - Would promote a AAA game and presumably guarantee a switch version. But also incredibly unlikely to have a third party promo character.

3) Lord Fredrik Of the Snowmads - I mean, not as much of a cold-day-in-hell situation as the above two, but before Dixie?

4) Thora from Jotun: she’s an obscure indie and as neat as her hand drawn sprite game, they had the shot with Cuphead. This also goes for anyone from the Banner Saga.

any other big viking video game characters you guys thinking of?

Dovahkiin from Skyrim may not be an actual Viking, but he’s very obvious inspired by Scandinavian Vikings so I say he’s the most famous Viking character

Let’s go full on For Honor and have Knights, Vikings, and Samurai

 

[Digital Hazard]

You forget that Nintendo added to Smash purely because they wanted to promote *checks notes* a spin-off, an enhanced port, and a bunch of retro game collection.

Wasn't a new KoF being developed for multiple consoles?

 

[pinshadow]

You forget that Nintendo added to Smash purely because they wanted to promote *checks notes* a spin-off, an enhanced port, and a bunch of retro game collection.

I like how people conveniently forget Nintendo has published all the Dragon Quest games on Switch outside of Japan. But no, clearly that had nothing to do with it, it's not like they literally shoved DQXI S in everyones face for months, to the point where it's literally Smash Bros X Dragon Quest XI S, not just Dragon Quest, no Nintendo clearly has no motivation to promote anything there. (Dragon Quest V is my favorite RPG by the way.)

 

[Idon]

Let’s go full on For Honor and have Knights, Vikings, and Samurai

Smash fanbase be like:

"Swordsmen, swordsmen, and swordsmen?"

 

[Cutie Gwen]

Wasn't a new KoF being developed for multiple consoles?

We have no clue how far in development the game is, for all we know we won't get it until 2022, this is like saying FF7R and the Switch port of 7 is why we got Cloud

 

[osby]

I like how people conveniently forget Nintendo has published all the Dragon Quest games on Switch outside of Japan. But no, clearly that had nothing to do with it, it's not like they literally shoved DQXI S in everyones face for months, to the point where it's literally Smash Bros X Dragon Quest XI S, not just Dragon Quest, no Nintendo clearly has no motivation to promote anything there. (Dragon Quest V is my favorite RPG by the way.)

Oh, Eleven was definitely picked for marketing (though, considering how DQ11 became one of the more well-known entry in the west, it's justifiable).

What I find ridiculous is that there were fans who claimed that he was the only reason they even considered adding a DQ character in the first place.

We have no clue how far in development the game is, for all we know we won't get it until 2022, this is like saying FF7R and the Switch port of 7 is why we got Cloud

I'm pretty sure someone on this site firmly believed that Cloud got into Smash for shilling FF7R.

 

[SNEKeater]

Yeah, I know. Even the Dorf shaved. Even Snake's character icon shaved.

We're still missing out on the best Ganondorf to date:

I also maintain that we need a few good viking barbarians in the cast (despite the default look having blond stubble more than anything else. Still, that's more than the other 70+ characters in Smash have.

Personally I still consider Wind Waker Ganondorf his best incaration, but yeah, Hyrule Warriors Ganondorf is great.

Wasn't a new KoF being developed for multiple consoles?

Yeah, it was announced at EVO last year, IIRC. But just a logo, like Nintendo did with Metroid Prime 4. And SNK didn't announce the platforms for KOF XV. Maybe they're waiting a bit longer to launch it on PS4/Xbox One and PS5/Series X at the same time, but assuming the game won't be a graphical juggernaut, I could see it being released on Switch.
I mean, Samurai Shodown came out on Switch, granted the game released on Switch a few months later in comparison to other platforms, but at least the game is on the Switch.

 

[Cutie Gwen]

Oh, Eleven was definitely picked for marketing (though, considering how DQ11 became one of the more well-known entry in the west, it's justifiable).

What I find ridiculous is that there were fans who claimed that he was the only reason they even considered adding a DQ character in the first place.



I'm pretty sure someone on this site firmly believed that Cloud got into Smash for shilling FF7R.

Yeah I saw someone a week or so ago claim every third party was a shill pick. Except for Banjo of course, that was For The Fans for pre-Microsoft Rareware is god

 

[Digital Hazard]

We have no clue how far in development the game is, for all we know we won't get it until 2022, this is like saying FF7R and the Switch port of 7 is why we got Cloud

The difference is that Square-Enix doesn't needs much publicity, at least with FF. Meanwhile SNK was a company with financial struggles years ago that only some years prior managed to get back on the public eye, and even then their popularity is mostly concentrated in Japan and Latin America, so their mascot character being in gaming's biggest crossover draws even more attention to them and future projects.

 

[Opossum]

any other big viking video game characters you guys thinking of?

(examples from Fire Emblem immediately vetoed).

I mean, you literally didn't even need to add this part because there aren't even any notable Vikings in Fire Emblem. The Berserker class, despite its name, has basically no Viking connections and is instead just a promoted axe fighter. Dice, an incredibly minor playable character, wears a stereotypical Viking helmet but is just a deadbeat gambler, and the Macedonian Vikings from literally a single chapter of FE3/12 are a group of no name generic enemy pirates.

Like come on guys, at least keep the Fire Emblem fearmongering contained to where it's at least tangentially relevant. :/

 

[CaptainAmerica]

I’m willing to follow this viking trail for fun.
Potential Viking Characters:

1) Barbara - As seen in the post above, she’s got a large axe, had a trophy in 4, and looks pretty great. Would be weird to have a Rayman rep before Rayman though.

2) Assassin’s Creed Valhalla Promo Character - Would promote a AAA game and presumably guarantee a switch version. But also incredibly unlikely to have a third party promo character.

3) Lord Fredrik Of the Snowmads - I mean, not as much of a cold-day-in-hell situation as the above two, but before Dixie?

4) Thora from Jotun: she’s an obscure indie and as neat as her hand drawn sprite game, they had the shot with Cuphead. This also goes for anyone from the Banner Saga.

any other big viking video game characters you guys thinking of?

(examples from Fire Emblem immediately vetoed).

I assume you're trying to test me here...

Not gonna lie though, I'm incredibly stoked about the new AC game. Eivor looks great. I love vikings, seriously. I don't know if I want to spring for a new Xbox yet, but I don't know if it'll still play well on the XBone.

 

[Cutie Gwen]

The difference is that Square-Enix doesn't needs much publicity, at least with FF. Meanwhile SNK was a company with financial struggles years ago that only some years prior managed to get back on the public eye, and even then their popularity is mostly concentrated in Japan and Latin America, so their mascot character being in gaming's biggest crossover draws even more attention to them and future projects.

I HIGHLY doubt that, if they wanted to build up hype and marketing, they'd have used their other mascot, Nakoruru, as SamSho got a new game. Not to mention Geese, Terry and Mai all made it in crossovers very recently with KOFXIV having been supported until 2018, with a Switch port strongly considered. SNK didn't do too hot, that's true, but them being dead is highly exaggerated

 

[SMAASH! Puppy]

We have no clue how far in development the game is, for all we know we won't get it until 2022, this is like saying FF7R and the Switch port of 7 is why we got Cloud

When I checked, it says the game (assuming we're talking about King of Fighters XV) is planned for release in 2020. Best taken with a grain of salt, but that's what I found with a quick Google search. If it is the case I expect we'll hear about it after Samurai Showdown's tournament at EVO or something (assuming they're not going to replace any of the games that have bad internet with other games...which would be all of them).

 

[osby]

I mean, you literally didn't even need to add this part because there aren't even any notable Vikings in Fire Emblem. The Berserker class, despite its name, has basically no Viking connections and is instead just a promoted axe fighter. Dice, an incredibly minor playable character, wears a stereotypical Viking helmet but is just a deadbeat gambler, and the Macedonian Vikings from literally a single chapter of FE3/12 are a group of no name generic enemy pirates.

Like come on guys, at least keep the Fire Emblem fearmongering contained to where it's at least tangentially relevant. :/

But Vikings are humans.
Humans are anime.
Fire Emblem is anime.
Therefore Vikings are Fire Emblem.

See? Perfectly logical, like most FE arguments in this fandom.

 

[ZelDan]

Characters can be added for more than one reason.

There probably was some promotional motivation behind Hero and Byleth, but Sakurai is a fan of DQ and FE so I imagine he had some passion behind those characters too.

 

[NonSpecificGuy]

I think people thinking that a character getting into promote something is actually kind of backwards. I think it’s actually the other way. I think Nintendo adds characters to entice developers to release their games on their console. It’s an easy way to convince a developer to put their game on a Nintendo console and help promote that console by saying “Hey, look, you’re game is already really popular with Smash fans. You could easily make money.”

I feel like it fits because after Snake we got Metal Gear Solid 3D Snake Eater, after Sonic we got well a lot, after Mega Man we got the Legacy Collections and 11, after Pac-man we got a new Namco museum and Championship Edition 2, after Ryu we got Ultra Street Fighter II, after Cloud we got FFVII on Switch, after Bayonetta we got more Bayonetta and the announcement of 3 (this one is different I know she’s basically Nintendo at this point), after Simon we got Castlevania Anniversary Collection, after Joker we’re getting P5S, after Hero we got DQ 1, 2, 3, and 11, and after Terry we got Samurai Shodown and I think KoFXV. The ONLY outlier right now is Banjo and I’m not putting it out of the realm of possibility that we get Rare Replay sometime soon.

Edit: I guess I should also say that this is really just my idea of how things work out. I know they vary but I think it’s a very possible outcome. A Smash character to entice developers to release games on Switch seems like a win win easily.

 

[SNEKeater]

The difference is that Square-Enix doesn't needs much publicity, at least with FF. Meanwhile SNK was a company with financial struggles years ago that only some years prior managed to get back on the public eye, and even then their popularity is mostly concentrated in Japan and Latin America, so their mascot character being in gaming's biggest crossover draws even more attention to them and future projects.

Any character in Smash draws more attention to the character's franchise and it's company, even if said character is someone like Sonic. Being put in a crossover draws more interest in the character and his games even if some are already familiar. We all know series because we heard about thanks to the internet or friends, but knowing a series doesn't mean you have actually played it. Maybe someone wasn't interested in SNK despite knowing the company, but maybe Terry's inclusion was the thing that person needed to check their games.

Not saying SNK's situation is the exact same as Square's because that's not the case, I mean, SNK has put his characters in multiple fighting games (Mai in Dead or Alive 6, Geese in Tekken 7, Terry himself in Fighting EX Layer and Smash, Haohmaru in Soul Calibur VI...) in the last years, probably in order to slowly regain the company's popularity.

 

[PeridotGX]

I’m willing to follow this viking trail for fun.
Potential Viking Characters:

1) Barbara - As seen in the post above, she’s got a large axe, had a trophy in 4, and looks pretty great. Would be weird to have a Rayman rep before Rayman though.

2) Assassin’s Creed Valhalla Promo Character - Would promote a AAA game and presumably guarantee a switch version. But also incredibly unlikely to have a third party promo character.

3) Lord Fredrik Of the Snowmads - I mean, not as much of a cold-day-in-hell situation as the above two, but before Dixie?

4) Thora from Jotun: she’s an obscure indie and as neat as her hand drawn sprite game, they had the shot with Cuphead. This also goes for anyone from the Banner Saga.

any other big viking video game characters you guys thinking of?

(examples from Fire Emblem immediately vetoed).

I think it's supposed to be a viking?

 

[Opossum]

View attachment 271125
I think it's supposed to be a viking?

Okay yeah I'm picking Perrserker. Forgot about him for a moment.

 

[Digital Hazard]

I HIGHLY doubt that, if they wanted to build up hype and marketing, they'd have used their other mascot, Nakoruru, as SamSho got a new game. Not to mention Geese, Terry and Mai all made it in crossovers very recently with KOFXIV having been supported until 2018, with a Switch port strongly considered. SNK didn't do too hot, that's true, but them being dead is highly exaggerated

That's why I said that putting their main mascot in gaming's biggest crossover draws attention to them and future projects...

Nakoruru is their other main mascot, yes, but Terry is still the mascot, who the company went as far as to genderbent him to include him in their waifu fighting game. Nakoruru would serve to promote SamSho effectively, but Terry moreso for the company in general. And yes, I know Nakoruru is in some KoFs, but she's a very recent addition compared to Terry who was always there.

 

[Cutie Gwen]

When I checked, it says the game (assuming we're talking about King of Fighters XV) is planned for release in 2020. Best taken with a grain of salt, but that's what I found with a quick Google search. If it is the case I expect we'll hear about it after Samurai Showdown's tournament at EVO or something (assuming they're not going to replace any of the games that have bad internet with other games...which would be all of them).

Ah right, google gave me TBA but they did indeed say they were hoping to get 2020, my bad.



Also replace SamSho with Garo for rollback at EVO baybeeeeee add Rock for Smash to kill Maximilian Dood

 

[SMAASH! Puppy]

But Vikings are humans.
Humans are anime.
Fire Emblem is anime.
Therefore Vikings are Fire Emblem.

See? Perfectly logical, like most FE arguments in this fandom.

That means Lu Bu is unquestionably eligible for Super Smash Bros. because his real life counterpart from Fire Emblem, which is a video game!

I think it's supposed to be a viking?

Yes, that is very much a viking. A drugged up one at that.


...What? That's what a berserker is.

 

[Cutie Gwen]

That's why I said that putting their main mascot in gaming's biggest crossover draws attention to them and future projects...

Nakoruru is their other main mascot, yes, but Terry is still the mascot, who the company went as far as to genderbent him to include him in their waifu fighting game. Nakoruru would serve to promote SamSho effectively, but Terry moreso for the company in general. And yes, I know Nakoruru is in some KoFs, but she's a very recent addition compared to Terry who was always there.

Again, SNK's dealt with a surprising amount of crossovers for the last few years and have gotten back on track, saying Terry's sole purpose lied here also suggests SNK went to Nintendo and said "Market our games by putting in Terry", which assuming you're right, means Nintendo found Terry valuable enough as is to include him, not because of potential future sales. You don't get crossovers in Tekken and DoA by being a nobody, you get in those by being deemed worth adding

 

[pinshadow]

Oh, Eleven was definitely picked for marketing (though, considering how DQ11 became one of the more well-known entry in the west, it's justifiable).

What I find ridiculous is that there were fans who claimed that he was the only reason they even considered adding a DQ character in the first place.



I'm pretty sure someone on this site firmly believed that Cloud got into Smash for shilling FF7R.

I mean, Nintendo is making their choices for a reason. They're picking certain characters over others, and it's not like Nintendo executives are sitting in a boardroom debating about moveset potential or who "deserves" to be in, they're looking at who they want to appeal to, what games they want to promote, what companies do they want to work with, there's a multitude of reasons. Did Nintendo add Joker because they wanted a character from a big game not on Switch to make a massive splash? To help their relationship with Atlus and try and get more games on Switch? Because they were already working with Sega and the character was easy to get a hold of? Who knows? But they didn't pick Joker because "Oh, Joker would be awesome to have in Smash Bros!", and acting like there isn't a buisiness motivation behind all this is silly.

 

[7NATOR]

Actually i do got to ask

I know Sakurai said he doesn't get hung up on Game ideas, but Might we be reading into that comment to literally. I'm not trying to say Moveset potential is not the only thing for a Character's inclusion. Characters with Seemingly less Moveset Potential can get in over others with far more. Like Dante isn't in the game yet and he probably has the Most Moveset Potential than 1st pass characters

But could be based of Character by Character basis. At the end of the day, there are 5 slots and there are lots of Gaming characters out there. Sakurai and Nintendo do have to agree on a request. it seems Sakurai could deny it, especially if Nintendo puts up more than 5 characters on the table (not including ARMS)

 

[Digital Hazard]

Any character in Smash draws more attention to the character's franchise and it's company, even if said character is someone like Sonic. Being put in a crossover draws more interest in the character and his games even if some are already familiar. We all know series because we heard about thanks to the internet or friends, but knowing a series doesn't mean you have actually played it. Maybe someone wasn't interested in SNK despite knowing the company, but maybe Terry's inclusion was the thing that person needed to check their games.

Not saying SNK's situation is the exact same as Square's because that's not the case, I mean, SNK has put his characters in multiple fighting games (Mai in Dead or Alive 6, Geese in Tekken 7, Terry himself in Fighting EX Layer and Smash, Haohmaru in Soul Calibur VI...) in the last years, probably in order to slowly regain the company's popularity.

True, but I'm sure that while both deals were made with similar yet different ideas in mind...

Everyone knows who Cloud Strife is, so in addition of promoting the series in general to Nintendo fans, it attracts attention from both the Final Fantasy fanbase, which is huge, to try Smash.

While Terry is more to bring attention to a business partner that is more niche and thus draws more attention to them and what will they do through Smash.

Again, SNK's dealt with a surprising amount of crossovers for the last few years and have gotten back on track, saying Terry's sole purpose lied here also suggests SNK went to Nintendo and said "Market our games by putting in Terry", which assuming you're right, means Nintendo found Terry valuable enough as is to include him, not because of potential future sales. You don't get crossovers in Tekken and DoA by being a nobody, you get in those by being deemed worth adding

You're right, Nintendo found him valuable... Because his company has been doing better in recent years and they're a good business partner, but they are still not the most famous company ever, so giving them a push by including their main mascot in their highly selling game would prove good for future investments in games.

Smash is the biggest crossover in gaming, and while I don't want to undermine the quality and sales of any other of those fighting games (moreso on Tekken), there's a difference in scale in saying "hey, who is this samurai guy in SoulCalibur" to "hey, who is this brawler hat guy in the same game as Mario, Pikachu, Sonic and Cloud Strife".

 

[pinshadow]

Actually i do got to ask

I know Sakurai said he doesn't get hung up on Game ideas, but Might we be reading into that comment to literally. I'm not trying to say Moveset potential is not the only thing for a Character's inclusion. Characters with Seemingly less Moveset Potential can get in over others with far more. Like Dante isn't in the game yet and he probably has the Most Moveset Potential than 1st pass characters

But could be based of Character by Character basis. At the end of the day, there are 5 slots and there are lots of Gaming characters out there. Sakurai and Nintendo do have to agree on a request. it seems Sakurai could deny it, especially if Nintendo puts up more than 5 characters on the table (not including ARMS)

I'm like 90% sure he said that Nintendo comes to him with specific character requests over time rather than just dumping all the characters on him at once.

 

[osby]

I mean, Nintendo is making their choices for a reason. They're picking certain characters over others, and it's not like Nintendo executives are sitting in a boardroom debating about moveset potential or who "deserves" to be in, they're looking at who they want to appeal to, what games they want to promote, what companies do they want to work with, there's a multitude of reasons. Did Nintendo add Joker because they wanted a character from a big game not on Switch to make a massive splash? To help their relationship with Atlus and try and get more games on Switch? Because they were already working with Sega and the character was easy to get a hold of? Who knows? But they didn't pick Joker because "Oh, Joker would be awesome to have in Smash Bros!", and acting like there isn't a buisiness motivation behind all this is silly.

I'm not sure what are you arguing against.

Of course, Nintendo has a business motivation behind every character they pick for DLC. They want people to buy these characters. That's why saying they were selected for no reason other than being walking ads for random Switch games that aren't even necessarily exclusives. Yes, Nintendo wanted people to want Joker, Terry, Hero, and even Byleth. Yes, characters from ongoing franchises can have active fans that want them in Smash (I know, shocking).

Ignoring that just comes off an indirect excuse for people to write off the fanbases of any third party that isn't Banjo they don't like.

 

[Dark Bagel]

Yeah I saw someone a week or so ago claim every third party was a shill pick. Except for Banjo of course, that was For The Fans for pre-Microsoft Rareware is god

This person be like: "Hmmm... Let's see..."

"Incredibly hype third-party character from a GOTY-caliber recent title that absolutely NO ONE expected? Uh, no. SHILL."

"Character from a renowned legacy franchise that is primarily responsible for JRPGS as we know them today? HA. SHILL AGAIN, outta here with dat."

"Character from another legacy series that's had a major-ass hand in shaping the landscape of the fighting game genre itself? Nuh-uh. SHIIIIIIILLLLL."

"What about Byleth? pfft, OBVIOUSLY a shill. What do you mean that there's more to them then that, with them having a fun, heavy-hitting moveset and design that makes them a definite standout against their peers? NO. IF AN FE CHARACTER BREATHES, THEY ARE A SHILL AND NOTHING MORE."

 

[pinshadow]

This person be like: "Hmmm... Let's see..."

"Incredibly hype third-party character from a GOTY-caliber recent title that absolutely NO ONE expected? Uh, no. SHILL."

"Character from a renowned legacy franchise that is primarily responsible for JRPGS as we know them today? HA. SHILL AGAIN, outta here with dat."

"Character from another legacy series that's had a major-ass hand in shaping the landscape of the fighting game genre itself? Nuh-uh. SHIIIIIIILLLLL."

"What about Byleth? pfft, OBVIOUSLY a shill. What do you mean that there's more to them then that, with them having a fun, heavy-hitting moveset and design that makes them a definite standout against their peers? NO. IF AN FE CHARACTER BREATHES, THEY ARE A SHILL AND NOTHING MORE."

If Sakurai says Byleth was only added because Nintendo wanted a character from a recent Switch game how the hell does that not make them a shill character?

 

[MBRedboy31]

I’m willing to follow this viking trail for fun.
Potential Viking Characters:

1) Barbara - As seen in the post above, she’s got a large axe, had a trophy in 4, and looks pretty great. Would be weird to have a Rayman rep before Rayman though.

2) Assassin’s Creed Valhalla Promo Character - Would promote a AAA game and presumably guarantee a switch version. But also incredibly unlikely to have a third party promo character.

3) Lord Fredrik Of the Snowmads - I mean, not as much of a cold-day-in-hell situation as the above two, but before Dixie?

4) Thora from Jotun: she’s an obscure indie and as neat as her hand drawn sprite game, they had the shot with Cuphead. This also goes for anyone from the Banner Saga.

any other big viking video game characters you guys thinking of?

(examples from Fire Emblem immediately vetoed).

Male used to permanently wear a sterotypical Viking helmet in his debut (which is also obtainable in many of the other games.) They didn’t add that to any of his alts in Smash, though...

 

[Perkilator]

I still can’t get over the fact that we didn’t get more bosses/boss rush in Smash, SO much wasted potential... pic.twitter.com/m8ZEWYslPd

— T.r.O.i.D (@McTroid) May 2, 2020

Alright, show of hands; if DLC bosses were possible as at least gifts in updates (a la the Tockles Spirit), which bosses would you’ve liked to see regardless? My picks would be:

-Queen Sectonia
-Grima
-Wingo (Captain Toad)
-Porky (returning from Brawl)
-Petey Piranha (returning from Brawl, except he actually fights like a boss in Ultimate)

 

[Dark Bagel]

If Sakurai says Byleth was only added because Nintendo wanted a character from a recent Switch game how the hell does that not make them a shill character?

I'm saying that yeah, they definitely can be considered a shill pick, sure. But they have a unique gameplay style and solid moveset design that makes them fun as heck to play and gives them validity for being on the Smash roster in their own right, not to mention the songs and stage they come with.

 

[Perkilator]

This person be like: "Hmmm... Let's see..."

"Incredibly hype third-party character from a GOTY-caliber recent title that absolutely NO ONE expected? Uh, no. SHILL."

"Character from a renowned legacy franchise that is primarily responsible for JRPGS as we know them today? HA. SHILL AGAIN, outta here with dat."

"Character from another legacy series that's had a major-ass hand in shaping the landscape of the fighting game genre itself? Nuh-uh. SHIIIIIIILLLLL."

"What about Byleth? pfft, OBVIOUSLY a shill. What do you mean that there's more to them then that, with them having a fun, heavy-hitting moveset and design that makes them a definite standout against their peers? NO. IF AN FE CHARACTER BREATHES, THEY ARE A SHILL AND NOTHING MORE."

Can I make this my signature, please? If you’re okay with that?

 

[7NATOR]

I still can’t get over the fact that we didn’t get more bosses/boss rush in Smash, SO much wasted potential... pic.twitter.com/m8ZEWYslPd

— T.r.O.i.D (@McTroid) May 2, 2020

Alright, show of hands; if DLC bosses were possible as at least gifts in updates (a la the Tockles Spirit), which bosses would you’ve liked to see regardless? My picks would be:

-Queen Sectonia
-Grima
-Wingo (Captain Toad)
-Porky (returning from Brawl)
-Petey Piranha (returning from Brawl, except he actually fights like a boss in Ultimate)

Rayquaza with Mega Evolution
Eggman, maybe shifting between mechs
The Power Glove
Missingno, Glitching the game out

 

[Digital Hazard]

I still can’t get over the fact that we didn’t get more bosses/boss rush in Smash, SO much wasted potential... pic.twitter.com/m8ZEWYslPd

— T.r.O.i.D (@McTroid) May 2, 2020

Alright, show of hands; if DLC bosses were possible as at least gifts in updates (a la the Tockles Spirit), which bosses would you’ve liked to see regardless? My picks would be:

-Queen Sectonia
-Grima
-Wingo (Captain Toad)
-Porky (returning from Brawl)
-Petey Piranha (returning from Brawl, except he actually fights like a boss in Ultimate)

>Return all bosses from Brawl
>Mother Brain and Metal Face just like in the Tweet
>Death Egg Robot
>Predictabo Geese Howard
>Medusa or Hades from Kid Icarus

 

[Cosmic77]

Byleth was likely added because his game was new and Nintendo wanted to draw more Smash fans to 3H and the FE franchise, not because they genuinely thought that Byleth was the kind of character that would sell better than their other first-party options. You can't convince me that they had that level of faith in the character when Sakurai himself felt the need to lower expectations seconds before Byleth's worldwide reveal.

Honestly, I think Nintendo cares more about the impact DLC characters have on stuff outside of Smash rather than direct sales. I'd imagine most characters sell decently regardless of who they are.

 

[Cutie Gwen]

True, but I'm sure that while both deals were made with similar yet different ideas in mind...

Everyone knows who Cloud Strife is, so in addition of promoting the series in general to Nintendo fans, it attracts attention from both the Final Fantasy fanbase, which is huge, to try Smash.

While Terry is more to bring attention to a business partner that is more niche and thus draws more attention to them and what will they do through Smash.

You're right, Nintendo found him valuable... Because his company has been doing better in recent years and they're a good business partner, but they are still not the most famous company ever, so giving them a push by including their main mascot in their highly selling game would prove good for future investments in games.

Smash is the biggest crossover in gaming, and while I don't want to undermine the quality and sales of any other of those fighting games (moreso on Tekken), there's a difference in scale in saying "hey, who is this samurai guy in SoulCalibur" to "hey, who is this brawler hat guy in the same game as Mario, Pikachu, Sonic and Cloud Strife".

We know that the first pass was greenlit behind Sakurai's back and while we don't have an exact timeframe for this, the most credible rumours we have say Banjo was negotiated around March 2018, meaning Terry must have been negotiated around that time, presumably around the time a bunch of Neogeo games were being negotiated to hit the Switch, which if I remember correctly, still sold pretty well on the eshop. I just don't see a character being chosen solely to shill a game that's still in development for at least 2 years by the time of negotiations and a year from Terry's release, especially when Switch owners already seem to liked Terry well enough just by buying old ports