- Arle, even though I'm a little biased I don't think Puyo gets the credit it deserves within the Smash community. It has a massive legacy as a foundational title in its genre, it's a distant second place for Sega behind Sonic, strong history with Nintendo (has been on nearly every single console), Puyo 2 was up there with Street Fighter 2 as one of the most popular arcade games in Japan. It's still going strong (stronger than ever, now that it's getting consistent worldwide releases) and has a great presence on Switch with not only Puyo Tetris 1&2 but Puyo Puyo 1&2 on the Sega AGES collection and Puyo 2 on NSO. If Puyo wasn't a puzzle game, there is no doubt Arle would be a much more frequent topic.
- An Arc System Works character. I think I've mentioned it here before, but with only a random spirit event to show for itself I think more ArcSys content seems like a possibility down the line. Many of its legacy titles are available on the eshop and the company has been a strong supporter of the Switch with Cross Tag and DBFZ ported over (would it be safe to say it has the strongest fighting game output on the console?). But let's briefly get into the nitty gritty of who that could be.
First one is Sol Badguy, as Guilty Gear is pretty much ArcSys' leading fighting game franchise and two classic Guilty Gear games are available on the eshop to point new players toward. But perhaps a more Nintendo pick would be Billy & Jimmy Lee, the stars of the genre defining Double Dragon series. Pretty weird that we don't have any beat 'em up characters yet right? Feel lke that would work perfectly in Smash. Only hesitation on both of these guys are potential overlap with Terry, but I'm certain they would find ways to differentiate them. I mean, certainly Sol's hulking sword would do the trick.
- Chosen Undead or Solaire from Dark Souls. I see it pop up here and there, but Dark Souls so often gets drowned out by the likes of Lloyd and previously Heihachi that I believe it's worth a mention. Dark Souls is one of the most influential series of the last decade of gaming, and I feel as if the Smash community often glosses over more modern successes like that in favor of nostalgic legacy picks. And there's nothing wrong with those for the record, just that I think it's just as important to keep in mind what's important in today's gaming climate. A massively successful series, it's got a presence on Switch and it would certainly stand out among the rest of the cast - Dark Souls would be a great pick. I don't really think we're getting a Namco character personally, but I wish that I heard a little more discussion about these guys outside of a passing mention.