Farmer (also known as Pete) is, in my opinion, is the likeliest character nobody talks about. While people are quick to mention Travis Touchdown in regards to Marvelous characters, no one ever really considers the Farmer.
To begin with, Story of Seasons (known as Harvest Moon in the West
until 2012–it's a long story) is a long-running series with prominent ties to Nintendo. It began on the SNES and has continued to this day, with the most recent release,
Friends of Mineral Town, releasing a little under two months ago on the Switch. The series is most notable for its influence on the farming genre of gaming, which has seen a notable resurgence with games such as
Stardew Valley achieving incredible success with the same premise. The farming genre is surprisingly popular as of late with
Stardew Valley selling
a staggering 10 million copies as of 2020. Story of Seasons as a whole is no slouch either when it comes to sales. As of 2011, the series had reached a
lifetime sales of almost 1 million units (counting titles in the
Rune Factory spinoff series it launched), which it has surely passed by now. Story of Seasons games were the fastest selling game of all time for XSEED (Marvelous' Western publishing brand) not just
once, but
twice. The most recent release has sold at least 300,000 copies as of July
between Japan and North America (with most of those sales being from Japan), meaning that the series still sees prominent success.
Another interesting point for Farmer is Sakurai's acknowledgement of the farming genre itself. In his Famitsu Column titled "
Man, Farming is Dangerous," he says exactly what the title says, citing the addictive nature of the simple tasks and the "sense of liberation when you start to get powered up" as positive traits for the genre. I think his focus on the gameplay is interesting, because it provides a basic framework of how a Story of Seasons character could work. Thing something like Frank West in Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3, except instead of miscellaneous weapons it's farming tools that continually power up and make the Farmer stronger as the match goes on. Moveset potential is far from an argument against Farmer, considering the presence of Villager, and I believe that he could provide a unique edge moveset-wise compared to Villager by focusing on farming actions and a continually strengthening tool set per stock.
Finally, it ought to be noted that Marvelous has with the Smash team
to bring Daemon x Machina Spirits to Smash ought to be noted, as it sets a precedent of communication between the two. While many cite this in favor of Travis, I would just as much cite it in favor of Farmer. At the very least, I would consider him a real contender when considering Marvelous characters.
‘s inclusion has nothing to do with promoting an upcoming title unlike 
Regardless of how Bug Fables actually is in terms of quality, it just feels like nostalgia pandering. But there's also like, the Mighty No. 9, Yooka Laylee, and Bloodstaineds in the world so I guess the more the merrier.
