Official Newcomer/DLC Speculation Discussion

[TriggerX]

Crash Bandicoot would be interesting. Too many human type characters in the game, so I’d like to see more animal based Bipeds and Quadrupeds.

There was a conversation awhile back going on about Banjo and Crash. And as far as those two characters go Crash has always been more popular and has done more for the 3D platform genre than Banjo and Kazooie.
The B&K were good, and it was just a polished product. But it really just took elements from previous titles. I’m all for Banjo, but he really is one of those cult favorite picks. Had Rare not had the relationship they do with Nintendo, I doubt he would have made the roster. Thank goodness they do.

 

[Megadoomer]

That's funny given

Yeah, it's a flawed argument; Persona Q2 came out in Japan before Joker's announcement, but just barely, and Cloud only had cameos on Nintendo consoles at the point when he was announced.

Though in the case of Snake, Metal Gear had been on Nintendo consoles since the NES days (though it was a flawed port that didn't even have a Metal Gear in it), and Metal Gear Solid: The Twin Snakes had been fairly recent at the time of Brawl's announcement.

 

[Rie Sonomura]

Yeah, it's a flawed argument; Persona Q2 came out in Japan before Joker's announcement, but just barely, and Cloud only had cameos on Nintendo consoles at the point when he was announced. Though in the case of Snake, Metal Gear had been on Nintendo consoles since the NES days (though it was a flawed port that didn't even have a Metal Gear in it), and Metal Gear Solid: The Twin Snakes had been fairly recent at the time of Brawl's announcement.

Likewise, Dante has appeared on Nintendo systems before - in both Project X Zone games for 3DS. Guess that doesn’t count according to the DMC series director though...

 

[3BitSaurus]

There was a conversation awhile back going on about Banjo and Crash. And as far as those two characters go Crash has always been more popular and has done more for the 3D platform genre than Banjo and Kazooie.

The B&K were good, and it was just a polished product. But it really just took elements from previous titles. I’m all for Banjo, but he really is one of those cult favorite picks. Had Rare not had the relationship they do with Nintendo, I doubt he would have made the roster. Thank goodness they do.

... why are we comparing, though? They might both be 3D platformers, but the style is completely different. One is linear and level-based, the other is a collectathon. Can we just agree that both have done a lot for the genre instead of this petty competition?

For the second part... Banjo-Kazooie? Maybe. It took a lot from SM64 but with a few new gameplay dynamics. Tooie, though? To this day, there's no other collectathon that plays quite like it. Some are close, but the gameplay cycle is still very different.

In fact, I'd go as far as saying that one of the reasons people were disappointed with Yooka-Laylee is because it took more from Kazooie than Tooie, so it felt like a step back. As far as collectathons go, there's a reason Banjo usually comes right after Mario in terms of examples. Polish certainly helped, but it's far from being the only explanation for why the games are good.

And yeah, having that relationship with Nintendo was certainly a point in Banjo's favor. Then again, people say these things for basically every character. External reasons are always a factor - whatever they may be. To me, it's no different from wanting Crash because of his rivalry with Mario and Sonic nor from wanting Dragon Quest vs. Final Fantasy or Pokémon vs. Digimon.

 

[volbound1700]

I think we will get a Bethesda character and it will likely be Doomguy.

Honestly, Nintendo should finish out with Bethesda and Ubisoft to get more random third party characters. Ubisoft's likely character would be Rayman.

I think that would be a great way to finish. (Throw Geno in as a sixth reward character).

On a speculation note, I am thinking Geno is coming and could be the last of the 5. Sakurai knows the hype for Geno and has always wanted him in Smash.

 

[tenworldsguy]

Would you guys consider Master Chief and Sora to be deconfirmed too? I certainly do

Yep, alongside Steve, 2B, Crono, Geno (if the spirit weren't enough), any few FF rep, and more.

Agreed. Are characters that have been deconfirmed by their devs 100% out of the running? No, but using one misdirect to set precedent rather than to prove the exception is a mindset that will lead to disappointment. In these situations, truth is not the rarity.

Realistically, if a dev had their character in smash, they would be forced to remain silent/denying on the matter. That shouldn't be an excuse for some very obscure char to be back in the running- if a smallish dev team like Gears for Breakfast says they're not getting a rep in smash, that claim should be taken at face-value surefire (RIP Hat Kid). Kirkhope's case was an exception, not likely the common case.

How would people rank these 8 from most to least excited if they were to be the last characters in the fighters pass?

Spoiler: spoiler to make my post smaller

Edelgard
Sylux
Doom Slayer
Monster Hunter
Lloyd Irving
Crash Bandicoot
Ryu Hayabusa
Steve

Also please feel free to remind me of anyone other rumours that still hold some credibility.

Most rumors really don't have much credibilty. The only recent one not shown here is the Frisk/Waluigi leak and the plethora of Porky leaks, but I'll include em in this list anyways.

Spoiler: bad opinion alert! :>

1- Porky (assumed deconfirmed, series already has spirits): I would be overjoyed if Nintendo gave Mother a bone for once. Even if they refuse to localize the game after all these years, I'd be at peace w Mother.
2- Frisk: as mentioned, big UT fan, would be nice to get some indie in smash (even if it ain't Quote)
3- Sylux (Same boat as Porky): Metroid fan, and even if they added Ridley, I'd love more representation. (Rundas would've been cooler tho, heh)
4- Steve (deconfirmed because Banjo): lifelong Minecraft fan, and having him in might finally help remove some stigma from the game that pesters even to this day.
5- Edelgard (same boat as Porky): 3H was pretty cool, an axe user would be pretty cool, a chick that ain't a palette swap/clone from FE would be cool, and it would also fulfill a famous belief about Ult before launch in regards to FE.
6- Doom Slayer: DOOM is awesome! Doomguy is awesome! What else to say?
7- Monster Hunter (same as Porky): wouldn't be particularly interesting but cool none the less what they could do with all those weapons.
8- Ryu Hayabusa: a ninja archetype that isn't Naruto (Greninja) or the sad shape Shiek is in would be pretty cool.
9- Waluigi (hard deconfirmed): would sate the fans, if anything, and make Mario's lineup feel better by having the quartet made by Mario/Wario/Luigi/Waluigi.
10- Lloyd: Never played Tales of series, and he doesn't look like he could bring much cool to the table.
11- Crash: Seems to fulfill a similar role to Banjo and doesn't have much he could do to make up for that, at least imo

In another note, isn't it weird how we didn't get any retro rep this time? I get that PP kind of fulfills that role, but even if he is old he's hardly forgotten, appearing in nearly every Mario game.

 

[Dark Bagel]

It'd probably be a licensing nightmare, but imagine if Cygames and Nintendo (and Sakurai) collaborated with Arc System Works (with a little input from PlatinumGames, who've briefly worked with Cygames on a Granblue title) to bring a Granblue Fantasy rep to Smash. Now, you may not know what that series even is, and until I buy the upcoming spin-off fighter developed by ArcSys and the upcoming ARPG (shameless plug), I can't properly explain it either, but just know that it would be cool (and honestly I just want Platinum and ArcSys to collab on something for Nintendo).

Huh. Alright then, what Granblue fantasy rep in particular would you like to see? I'm curious.

 

[Door Key Pig]

In another note, isn't it weird how we didn't get any retro rep this time? I get that PP kind of fulfills that role, but even if he is old he's hardly forgotten, appearing in nearly every Mario game.

Puts Waluigi AND Lloyd over Crash smh grumble
Yeah, Piranha Plant proves there was totally still space for the "surprising yet unique retro newcomer", but they just decided to go a different direction that happened to come from an existing franchise. TBF, there's kinda only so many options they can pick from for such a character, we may have a lot of NES fellows already? and they already shot down some NES options like Balloon Fighter and Bubbles from Clu Clu Land in the past.

 

[SMAASH! Puppy]

... why are we comparing, though? They might both be 3D platformers, but the style is completely different. One is linear and level-based, the other is a collectathon. Can we just agree that both have done a lot for the genre instead of this petty competition?

If I'm not mistaken TriggerX was referring to an argument against someone claiming that "Crash was a Great Value Banjo". I don't really want to compare these apples and oranges again though so that's all I'll say on the matter.

It'd probably be a licensing nightmare, but imagine if Cygames and Nintendo (and Sakurai) collaborated with Arc System Works (with a little input from PlatinumGames, who've briefly worked with Cygames on a Granblue title) to bring a Granblue Fantasy rep to Smash. Now, you may not know what that series even is, and until I buy the upcoming spin-off fighter developed by ArcSys and the upcoming ARPG (shameless plug), I can't properly explain it either, but just know that it would be cool (and honestly I just want Platinum and ArcSys to collab on something for Nintendo).

I dunno about adding a mobile got-ya game character to smash. If they do add Katalina (or the like) I hope she isn't #5 because most hardcore gamers won't care about such a character. I'm also not sure how niche Granblue Fantasy is in the first place so casuals might not know her either.

EDIT: Also obligatory anime swords(wo)man comment.

Also why would Arc System Works and Platinum Games need to be involved? I get that they're working on games for the series but I don't think they own anything. I suppose Arc System Works could teach the animators how to make the character emulate the original artstyle but that's assuming that they wouldn't be able to figure that out themselves and that the system would be able to handle it. I know it can handle Dragon Ball Fighterz but said game doesn't allow up to eight players plus two Pokéballs and Assist Trophies and whatever the heck's going on in the stage at the moment (including a second render of everything on screen to simulate a mirror).

 

[andree123]

Decided to go through all the rumours that have definitively named characters and came up with this list of 8. Obviously we have a few generics like "A Capcom/Namco Rep". And not all of these are from rumours that are as valid as others (some have been completely debunked). But how would people rank these 8 from most to least excited if they were to be the last characters in the fighters pass?

Edelgard
Sylux
Doom Slayer
Monster Hunter
Lloyd Irving
Crash Bandicoot
Ryu Hayabusa
Steve

Also please feel free to remind me of anyone other rumours that still hold some credibility.

1. Lloyd - Would be happy that my prediction is right.
2. Sylux - Same as above.
3. Crash Bandicoot - I would be happy that we are getting another animal into the roster.
4. Ryu Hayabusa - Would be great to have one of the NES reps to join in.
5. Doom Slayer - Not really into Doom, but his uniqueness could be decent.
6. Monster Hunter - I wouldn't like it if SEGA, Square Enix and Capcom were the only already represented companies to get DLC fighters.
7. Steve - For the lord of god, I will say he is too OP if he is a playable.

 

[3BitSaurus]

If I'm not mistaken TriggerX was referring to an argument against someone claiming that "Crash was a Great Value Banjo". I don't really want to compare these apples and oranges again though so that's all I'll say on the matter.

I dunno about adding a mobile got-ya game character to smash. If they do add Katalina (or the like) I hope she isn't #5 because most hardcore gamers won't care about such a character. I'm also not sure how niche Granblue Fantasy is in the first place so casuals might not know her either.

EDIT: Also obligatory anime swords(wo)man comment.

Also why would Arc System Works and Platinum Games need to be involved? I get that they're working on games for the series but I don't think they own anything. I suppose Arc System Works could teach the animators how to make the character emulate the original artstyle but that's assuming that they wouldn't be able to figure that out themselves and that the system would be able to handle it. I know it can handle Dragon Ball Fighterz but said game doesn't allow up to eight players plus two Pokéballs and Assist Trophies and whatever the heck's going on in the stage at the moment (including a second render of everything on screen to simulate a mirror).

I think I know what you're referring to, but to be fair there were several of these discussions in the past few months. All of them equally unproductive. Might have had a bit of a knee-jerk moment there, I apologize.

About Granblue, I don't know much, but I think the series fully belongs to Cygames, despite the last two games being made in collaboration.

There was a rumor about Katalina a very long time ago. The fact that she uses ice and has a rapier makes me interested. Don't have any opinion on the rest of the cast - though I will once Versus launches, because that game looks really good and I plan to get it.

 

[Deleted member]

Honestly

Decided to go through all the rumours that have definitively named characters and came up with this list of 8. Obviously we have a few generics like "A Capcom/Namco Rep". And not all of these are from rumours that are as valid as others (some have been completely debunked). But how would people rank these 8 from most to least excited if they were to be the last characters in the fighters pass?

Edelgard
Sylux
Doom Slayer
Monster Hunter
Lloyd Irving
Crash Bandicoot
Ryu Hayabusa
Steve

Also please feel free to remind me of anyone other rumours that still hold some credibility.

Frankly, I see an scenario where only one or even none of these characters happen.

Plus which are the rumors for each one? I know Raysquad or whatever put Lloyd and Crash, but what about the others? If Doomguy and MH are from the 4chan post, that one got debunked by the poster.

It'd probably be a licensing nightmare, but imagine if Cygames and Nintendo (and Sakurai) collaborated with Arc System Works (with a little input from PlatinumGames, who've briefly worked with Cygames on a Granblue title) to bring a Granblue Fantasy rep to Smash. Now, you may not know what that series even is, and until I buy the upcoming spin-off fighter developed by ArcSys and the upcoming ARPG (shameless plug), I can't properly explain it either, but just know that it would be cool (and honestly I just want Platinum and ArcSys to collab on something for Nintendo).

Why go to ArcSys though? I would think that if Nintendo wants a Granblue character, they would only go to Cygames and develop from scratch.

 

[KillerCage]

Likewise, Dante has appeared on Nintendo systems before - in both Project X Zone games for 3DS. Guess that doesn’t count according to the DMC series director though...

You are correct in saying that Dante himself has been on Nintendo systems through the Project X Zone games; his home SERIES "Devil May Cry" hasn't been on Nintendo systems until this year with the DMC1 port to the Switch. Personally I think for a particular character to be considered for Smash Bros, their franchise has to have at least one entry on a Nintendo system. This has been the case for Cloud (Final Fantasy I-VI including spinoffs), Snake (Metal Gear NES port, Twin Snakes, and Snake Eater 3D), and Joker (Persona Q 1 & 2 as well as the Shin Megami Tensai franchise.)

 

[SMAASH! Puppy]

Might have had a bit of a knee-jerk moment there, I apologize.

Eh, Maybe. But you're argument wasn't disrespectful or anything so I'm not sure there's a need to apologize. Especially not to me.

There was a rumor about Katalina a very long time ago. The fact that she uses ice and has a rapier makes me interested. Don't have any opinion on the rest of the cast - though I will once Versus launches, because that game looks really good and I plan to get it.

Soo...Ice Marth? It's clearly not what would happen but it does sound cool. I would be fine with this gameplay wise.

Most of the Granblue Fantasy characters seem pretty archetypal to me. The generic anime protagonist, the typical FE lord, the short one that's compensating for something, etc. There's probably more to most of these characters and the banter I've seen thus far has me interested.


Random thought that's completely unrelated and off topic: Any doubles teams that feature Banjo & Kazooie and Dark Pit should be called Banjo-Pitooie.

 

[3BitSaurus]

Eh, Maybe. But you're argument wasn't disrespectful or anything so I'm not sure there's a need to apologize. Especially not to me.

Soo...Ice Marth? It's clearly not what would happen but it does sound cool. I would be fine with this gameplay wise.

Most of the Granblue Fantasy characters seem pretty archetypal to me. The generic anime protagonist, the typical FE lord, the short one that's compensating for something, etc. There's probably more to most of these characters and the banter I've seen thus far has me interested.

Random thought that's completely unrelated and off topic: Any doubles teams that feature Banjo & Kazooie and Dark Pit should be called Banjo-Pitooie.

I guess having a different style of swordplay, along with an element that's barely used in Smash is what makes the difference for me.

And yeah, they're pretty archetypal, but as expected of Arcsys, they made the aesthetics pretty cool-looking. I'm personally looking forward to trying out Charlotta, Lancelot and Ferry.

I wish we had some sort of Guidance for Banjo and Kazooie, but I don't think that's going to happen.

 

[GoodGrief741]

It'd probably be a licensing nightmare, but imagine if Cygames and Nintendo (and Sakurai) collaborated with Arc System Works (with a little input from PlatinumGames, who've briefly worked with Cygames on a Granblue title) to bring a Granblue Fantasy rep to Smash. Now, you may not know what that series even is, and until I buy the upcoming spin-off fighter developed by ArcSys and the upcoming ARPG (shameless plug), I can't properly explain it either, but just know that it would be cool (and honestly I just want Platinum and ArcSys to collab on something for Nintendo).

Man, remember when people were panicking over this being a possibility? Good thing we're past that.

That's funny given

You are aware that all of those franchises were on Nintendo consoles before their characters got added, right?

 

[tenworldsguy]

Random thought that's completely unrelated and off topic: Any doubles teams that feature Banjo & Kazooie and Dark Pit should be called Banjo-Pitooie.

Banjo-Ptooie would also work for Banjo-Kazooie and Plant.
Or Banjo-Shooty with Joker (GUN)/Samus

 

[Flyboy]

I'm glad others remember the Katalina rumors. I have a friend who is really into GranBlue and as established I'm an ArcSys fan so I'll definitely be getting GBF VS once it releases, so I'm fine with a GBF character being in. I've familiarized myself with the VS roster too so they all seem cool.

There are so many interesting and exciting potential picks coming up. I feel like in general I'll have fun with whoever makes it in.

 

[MrElectroG64]

Whelp, just finished my Fawful moveset. I posted it in the Fawful thread, but I just godda post it here because I love Fawful so much.

 

[Will]

Whelp, just finished my Fawful moveset. I posted it in the Fawful thread, but I just godda post it here because I love Fawful so much.

View attachment 234317

jesus christ how do you make these

 

[MrElectroG64]

jesus christ how do you make these

What do you mean?

 

[Will]

What do you mean?

i dont think i can be more specific

like how long does this stuff take

 

[MrElectroG64]

i dont think i can be more specific

like how long does this stuff take

It can take anywhere from a day to a week to brainstorm what the moveset will be then make the image, though I admit I’ve gotten pretty efficient at this.

 

[Michael the Spikester]

You are aware that all of those franchises were on Nintendo consoles before their characters got added, right?

For Cloud it was cameos tho prior to his announcement in Sm4sh. Cloud also seems to only represent Final Fantasy VII and not the franchise as a whole.

As for Persona I looked up each game none are on Nintendo consoles.

 

[lordvaati]

For Cloud it was cameos tho prior to his announcement in Sm4sh. Cloud also seems to only represent Final Fantasy VII and not the franchise as a whole.

As for Persona I looked up each game none are on Nintendo consoles.

Only the Spinoff PersonaQ games are on Nintendo systems currently.
However the Persona IP itself is a sequel to SMT IF..., which is a spinoff of the main SMT games that had all the main games on Nintendo systems except the 3rd one.

So yeah, spiderweb and all.

 

[GoodGrief741]

For Cloud it was cameos tho prior to his announcement in Sm4sh. Cloud also seems to only represent Final Fantasy VII and not the franchise as a whole.

As for Persona I looked up each game none are on Nintendo consoles.

If you're looking at games, Final Fantasy 1-6 were on Nintendo, and that's just the surface. Persona had every Megami Tensei and the main Shin Megami Tensei games. If you're looking at strictly Persona you have the Q games.

If you're looking at characters, Cloud had appearances and I wouldn't call his roles in Theathrythm or KH Chain of Memories cameos. Neither is Joker's role in Persona Q2 a cameo.

 

[Us3inMN]

Hey all (Scott here), I sure have missed a lot. What's the big debate happening now?

 

[SMAASH! Puppy]

Hey all (Scott here), I sure have missed a lot. What's the big debate happening now?

Not sure there is one at the moment. The closest thing to an argument I see right now is something about Cloud & Joker's appearances on Nintendo consoles before their inclusion in Super Smash Bros.

 

[blackghost]

i didnt think i would support a Fire emblem 3 houses character and while Claude is my favorite lord in a long time. And personally claude means a lot to me. Eedelgaurd is a highly important character not only to this fire emblem game but the series as a whole. she has a valid argument to get in if there is a season 2 with Nintendo characters.

Dante is still my number one with good old sepiroth at number 2.

 

[Super Nintendo Chalmers]

... why are we comparing, though? They might both be 3D platformers, but the style is completely different. One is linear and level-based, the other is a collectathon. Can we just agree that both have done a lot for the genre instead of this petty competition?

For the second part... Banjo-Kazooie? Maybe. It took a lot from SM64 but with a few new gameplay dynamics. Tooie, though? To this day, there's no other collectathon that plays quite like it. Some are close, but the gameplay cycle is still very different.

And yeah, having that relationship with Nintendo was certainly a point in Banjo's favor. Then again, people say these things for basically every character. External reasons are always a factor - whatever they may be. To me, it's no different from wanting Crash because of his rivalry with Mario and Sonic nor from wanting Dragon Quest vs. Final Fantasy or Pokémon vs. Digimon.

Both were huge back in the 90's and Crash would certainly be an excellent addition who'd be right at home in Smash.

Banjo-Kazooie/Tooie are pretty definitive titles within the golden era of platformers from that 90's period. Not only were the games very well received, the fact that bear and bird had sizable presences in various marketing and promotional materials despite being fairly new at the time, speaks volumes. And when you consider the "competition" in regards to other platformers, well that's a pretty impressive feat. I could search up evidence but its all pretty easy to find.

Though one piece of info is the Spotlight Nintendo 64 console It's pretty neat!

Anyone who disagrees or cannot comprehend that either was not around to fully appreciate them or are willfully ignorant. Put it this way, the fact that Banjo-Kazooie are actually in Smash is a testament to the series impact as a critically acclaimed platformer. It's fine to not like the characters, but if you can't begrudgingly acknowledge how popular and acclaimed they were/are with a bit of research (plus that they fit the narrative of older, seemingly "legacy" newcomers) then it says more about you as a person then the actual charcters themselves.

There;s a reason why BK didnt end up on the gaming scrapheap like Glover, Tonic Trouble,etc. Theyre high quality, memorable and notable games and characters, that's pretty much all there is to it.

There are crossovers and similarities in regards to Crash/BK, lets hope another thing in common between the two is that Crash eventually makes it into Smash as well!

 

[Us3inMN]

... why are we comparing, though? They might both be 3D platformers, but the style is completely different. One is linear and level-based, the other is a collectathon. Can we just agree that both have done a lot for the genre instead of this petty competition?

This is exactly what I was trying to say in an earlier post of mine.

Comparing Crash and Banjo is like comparing Call of Duty and Battlefield. Sure, they're both FPS games, but their mechanics are different.

While Call of Duty is meant to be fast-paced action, Battlefield wants you to think more tactically. And yet they've both left their mark on FPS history and are debated on when it comes to which is better.

 

[krokotopia101]

People really want Porky in Smash, huh? If not Ultimate, what chances would he have (It really depends on the size of the Smash 6 roster at this point, because it's doubtful of most characters to return to the next Smash due to....Licencing I think...?) (It's probably too early to debate this) but what are the odds of more 1st party characters in the next game if they can't make it on the next DLC pack (A BIG assumption on if there even IS going to be one) on Ultimate?

 

[NonSpecificGuy]

That's funny given

They're all on Nintendo consoles BEFORE they were present in Smash though...
Kingdom Hearts: Chain if Memories (GBA)
Persona Q2 (3DS)
Metal Gear (NES)

Then again. Dante has already been on a Nintendo console with Project X Zone so this whole statement is just dumb.

 

[Us3inMN]

Not to sound like a jerk, but why is there such a hype for wanting Geno in Smash? He's been requested for so long and I don't get it. Is it a nostalgia thing?

I also would ask the same about many other characters but it's easy to start with Geno.

 

[SMAASH! Puppy]

Not to sound like a jerk, but why is there such a hype for wanting Geno in Smash? He's been requested for so long and I don't get it. Is it a nostalgia thing?

I also would ask the same about many other characters but it's easy to start with Geno.

Maybe a little of that. My guess would be that it's more to do with how compelling he is as a character. Haven't seen much of the game though so I wouldn't know but I don't think a character would become so beloved without actually being interesting if it only appeared for one game.

 

[N3ON]

Not to sound like a jerk, but why is there such a hype for wanting Geno in Smash? He's been requested for so long and I don't get it. Is it a nostalgia thing?

I also would ask the same about many other characters but it's easy to start with Geno.

Honestly I think it comes down to Geno being perceived as a cool character, and SMRPG being held in high regard by a devoted subset of fans. That's how it kicked off, at least. But it was enough for Sakurai to take note. Now the "cool factor" has maintained, but I'd guess what has really guided Geno for a long time is the belief that he's likely, built partially on the backs of developments like the costume, Sakurai's statement, and Square's involvement. Before those elements, support was definitely waning. Still, I'd reckon a good portion of his fanbase hasn't actually played his game.

People flock to characters they believe stand a good chance. For example, the support for Doom Slayer between now and two years ago is night and day. Even though nothing about the character themselves has changed in that time-span. Nor, really, has the Nintendo support (not that that really matters). People say his series is seminal and the character "iconic". But that's as true now as it has been the entirety of Smash's existence. Then you get a Smash acknowledgement from Bethesda and some new releases on the Switch, perception changes, and popularity suddenly follows.

It's a self-fulfilling prophecy. People deem a character likely, enough people buy in, that character's popularity raises to the point it becomes true. Or at least, truer than it was. Geno had an appealing design with attractive moveset potential, so even people unfamiliar with his game agreed he would be nice to see. Soon the movement becomes larger than the fans of the game it began with, and new people are retroactively playing the game and becoming fans themselves. I've noticed a similar phenomenon within the Isaac thread, where people say they're trying Golden Sun out because of how the fanbase raves about it, then many become fans in their own right.

Despite all that, his situation is an anomaly. Even for diehard fanbase characters. At least characters like K. Rool, Isaac, Ridley... how they accrued popularity is more readily apparent.

 

[TheCJBrine]

I liked Geno before playing SMRPG simply for his design. I really liked it.

After playing SMRPG a while back this year, I now like him more because of what personality he shows in the game and what he can do as well. He’s very cool imo.

I also really like Mallow, but I’d like to see Geno as the main fighter. Mallow could show up in his victory screen or something, and maybe be a separate character in a later Smash game.

There’s a video by Jonathan Motes where he offers an explanation to Geno’s seemingly strange popularity, comparing him to the Velveteen Rabbit in its story. I thought it was nice - more than just nice, in fact, but I don’t know how to put it into words...

 

[KingBroly]

No character at this point is going to be seen as being from left field like Piranha Plant or Wii Fit Trainer.

 

[Door Key Pig]

No character at this point is going to be seen as being from left field like Piranha Plant or Wii Fit Trainer.

What about a first party for the Fighter's Pass lol

 

[3BitSaurus]

What about a first party for the Fighter's Pass lol

I'd say there are still some viable first parties, though they are very few. I think at this point the only truly left field first parties would be Spirit or Assist Trophy promotions, since we're pretty much convinced they deconfirm, for the most part.

Don't personally think it's happening, just throwing it out there.

Anyway, do we have something from dataminers?