Official Newcomer/DLC Speculation Discussion

[-crump-]

Crossing my fingers that the character isn’t Terry because he just looks like a bootleg Ryu to me, but it’s definitely looking that way. Kyo also seems boring but w/e. I trust Sakurai to do something interesting with whoever we get, so we’ll see what happens.

 

[AmphabulouSnake]

Welp guess we'll have to wait tomorrow for the direct announcement
I'd be surprised if there isn't a direct this week after everything lmao

 

[zferolie]

I wouldn't mind a tag team style fighter for SNK,Maybe have it be Terry, Mai, and Athena/Kyo or even Nakoruru for the samsho rep. would be very unique

 

[[Maple]]

I agree SNK wants to put as many different charcaters in different fighting games.

Geese in Tekken
Terry Bogard in Fighters EX Layer
Haohmaru in Soulcalibur
Mai Shiranui in Dead or Alive 6

At this point I think it is either Kyo or Nakoruru

KYO

Kyo is the main protagonist of King of Fighters (KoF), probably SNK's most important serie. Sakurai loved KoF in the 90s and the idea of smash letters is originated from KoF. It is also quite popular in Latin America and China (and Japan of course). KoF XV has been anounced at EVO this year and new informations will cme up next year. He has not made an appearence in a recent major third party fighting game.

Nakoruru

She may not be the main protagonist of Samurai Shodown (which is Haohmaru) but she is the face of the serie and one of SNK most popular character. She is also, alongside Terry, the mascot of the company. Samurai Shodown has been revived recently and the Switch version of the game is coming in December. Finally she is also in KoF XIV and has not made an appearence in a major recent third party fighting game.

OTHER CHOICES?

Maybe a Metal Slug rep but SNK seems to push more the fighting characters. Athena is also a possibility, but she doesn't have the aura of Kyo or Nakoruru even if she had an important role in SNK's history.

 

[SMAASH! Puppy]

As I've said before I'm in it for the gameplay so I decided to see what these characters had to offer by looking at their move lists.

Spoiler: Terry

• Power Wave-A ground spark attack. Would probably be his Neutral Special.
• Burn Knuckle-Basically Falcon Kick, but a punch. Likely a Side Special.
• Crackshoot-An overhead kick. Likely his Down Special.
• Rising Tackle-An upside down corkscrew kick that will definitely be his Up Special.
• Back Knuckle-A back handed punch. More fitting as a Forward Tilt or something.
• Rising Upper-Basically Ryu's Up Tilt.
• Power Charge-A shoulder tackle. Probably going to be a Dash Attack or something.
• Power Geyser-Terry punches the ground, releasing a burst of energy. It's pretty unimpressive for a Final Smash, but I could see it being used if they give him a super meter.
• Buster Wolf-Pretty much a combination of Burn Knuckle and Power Geyser. Pretty flashy.
• Trinity Geyser-Power Geyser, but much more powerful, and with more, erm, geysers. Definitely his Final Smash.

Terry is boring. He'd probably be interesting in terms of playstyle, but as a fighting game character he's going to have a high skill floor, and his special attacks aren't that interesting themselves so most players won't be able to appreciate it. Some of his special attacks could even be normals in Smash. A super meter would be his saving grace.

Spoiler: Kyo

• 144 Shiki-Aragami: A fire punch.
• 128 Shiki-Konokizu: Two fire punches.
• 127 Shiki-Yanosabi: Three! Three fire punches! Ah! Ah! Ah!
• Geshiki-Migari Ugachi: Three fire punches, but it inflicts knockdown.
• 125 Shiki-Nanase: Two fire punches and a kick.
• 115 Shiki-Dokugami: A lunging fire punch.
• 401 Shiki-Tsumiyomi: Two fire punches.
• 402 Shiki-Batsuyomi: Are fire punches all this guy can do?!? There's three this time.
• 108 Shiki-Yamibarai: Hey look it's a ground spark.
• 100 Shiki-Oniyaki: A flaming elbow strike that he does a little spin jump afterward. Up Special?
• 910 Shiki-Nuetsumi: An uppercut.
• Gesheki-Ryuu Iri: A counter.
• Gesheki-Tora Fuse: A counter, but it inflicts knockdown.
• 75 Shiki-Kai: Two upward kicks.
• R.E.D. Kick: An overhead kick.
• 101 Shiki-Oboroguruma: An upward jump kick, or three upward jump kicks depending on which button you press.
• 212 Shiki-Kototsuki Yo: A punch followed by a grab similar to Flame Choke, but the explosion knocks opponents away. I love it.
• Ura 108 Shiki-Orochinagi: An explosion attack that hits in front of him. Would see use if they gave him a super meter.
• Saishuu Kessen Ougi-Mu Shiki: An explosion followed by a flurry of punches. Could be either some sort of super meter or Final Smash attack.
• Ura 121-Shiki Ama-no-Murakumo: A small flame projectile followed by explosions. Explosions everywhere. Could be a Final Smash though I'm not sure how often it appears.

A lot of this guy's attacks are pretty much the same thing. Perhaps his side special could allow you to pick one of the fire punch attacks. That would be interesting. Otherwise he'll probably just have the 108 Shiki-Yamibarai as his Neutral Special, one of the fire punches as his Side Special, one (or perhaps both) of the counters as his Down Special, and 100 Shiki-Yamibarai as his Up Special. To be honest it's not much different from Terry from a presentational standpoint and I could see a lot of people finding him to be kinda boring as well though he does benefit from not looking like a default mascot character like Mario and Ryu. If Terry gets in this game and the next, I fully expect to see this character as his echo in the next game, and vice versa.

Spoiler: Mai

• Kachousen: A fan projectile that flies streight forward. Probably a Neutral Special.
• Ryuuenbu: A weird looking attack that seems to be a spinning slap that causes a burst of fire seconds later though it kind of looks like she farted. I could see this being a Forward Smash.
• Hakuro no Mai: A twirling fan attack that hits all around her. Down Special?
• Hishou Ryuuenjin: Flash Kick, but with fire. Probably her Up Special.
• Hissato Shinobi-Bachi: A...front handspring kick? that transitions into a lunging elbow strike. Could be her Side Special.
• Wall Latch: This wouldn't be a special move but it does mean she would be able to wall cling.
• Musasabi no Mai: A diving headbutt attack. I can see this being her down aerial.
• Sui Chou no Mai: Kachousen used four times basically. Or three times, but the fans are on fire. Could be a super meter attack.
• Houou no Mai: Flaming front flips kicks. Could be a super meter attack.
• Kuuchuu Houou no Mai: Literally the same thing as vanilla Houou no Mai. Could be a super meter attack.
• Cho Hissatsu Shinobi-Bachi: Shinobi-Bachi, but the elbow strike is on fire. Could be a super meter attack.
• Shiranui-Ryuu Kunoichi-no-Mai: Musabi no Mai used a bunch of times in different directions followed by an explosion. This will probably be her final smash.

Mai is probably the most interesting to look at. She attacks with her fan instead of her fists, and it seems like her Special Moves would be a bit less basic then Terry and Kyo's. Of the three she needs the super meter the least in order to make her look interesting (though it wouldn't hurt her in any way if she did have one).

EDIT: Also, if Terry gets in I fully expect to see haters bag on his thick Japanese accent mostly because in American media the accent is really only seen in awful stereotype characters and poorly done dubs.

 

[Llort A. Ton]

I think both Kyo and Terry look generic, but Terry looks better imo. I am a big fan if Ryu and Ken in ultimate, so I wouldnt object to another character that plays like them. His shockwavve punch thing looks pretty cool.

 

[CapitaineCrash]

Sorry to bother people here but does anyone have a source about Milk bosatu saying that the fifth character is "someone that already appeared in the franchise". I saw people talking about that earlier, but I can't find any source on that.

 

[Rie Sonomura]

Sorry to bother people here but does anyone have a source about Milk bosatu saying that the fifth character is "someone that already appeared in the franchise". I saw people talking about that earlier, but I can't find any source on that.

Unfortunately I think the guy nuked his Twitter, but just trust me when I say I remember it like it was yesterday.

 

[Deleted member]

Wasn't the whole already present in the game regarding companies?

Now that I think about it, at the risk of making a ****ty theory (so don't take it seriously), weren't the rights of Fighter 5 the same as Joker who was from an already present company? Does Joker in the game has his rights reserved to Sega or Atlus? Was Fighter 5 page taken down as well?

 

[zferolie]

Sorry to bother people here but does anyone have a source about Milk bosatu saying that the fifth character is "someone that already appeared in the franchise". I saw people talking about that earlier, but I can't find any source on that.

I made an Imgure post with the tweets in question

https://imgur.com/a/ynPXfJL

the last one seems to imply the 5th character is in the game already, most likely as a spirit

 

[Guybrush20X6]

"someone that already appeared in the franchise"?

What does that mean? Someone who was already in Smash in some form?

**Geno intensifies**

Could also mean Shantae, Commander Video or Rayman considering they're 3rd parties with spitits and no Assisst Trophy.

 

[CapitaineCrash]

Thanks for the screenshot! That's what I wanted.

But now I hate you because that gives me hope for Porky (he was a boss in Brawl and is mysteriously missing in Ultimate).

 

[Dr. Jojo Phantasma]

"someone that already appeared in the franchise"?

What does that mean? Someone who was already in Smash in some form?

**Geno intensifies**

I am confused though, did they mean someone who already appeared in Ultimate like a spirit or someone from an already represented franchise like FE(Byleth/Edelgard anyone? )

 

[Flyboy]

I always felt it meant a company already repped in Smash - Capcom, Namco, Koei, Sega, Nintendo themselves...

Personally I'm hoping, if Nakoruru is next, this means Velvet Crowe is our Tales rep, as there was an old Japanese leak that matched that.

Or....Phoenix Wright?

 

[Deleted member]

I made an Imgure post with the tweets in question

https://imgur.com/a/ynPXfJL

the last one seems to imply the 5th character is in the game already, most likely as a spirit

The translation for the last one seems to have the already appeared added, did the poster in question wrote this or is the translator?

 

[Flyboy]

The translation for the last one seems to have the already appeared added, did the poster in question wrote this or is the translator?

That was in the original tweets. I remember it clearly.

To me it's pretty clearly saying "this company is new to Smash, this one is not" but hey, who knows.

 

[Deleted member]

That was in the original tweets. I remember it clearly.

To me it's pretty clearly saying "this company is new to Smash, this one is not" but hey, who knows.

Yeah, but I remember the tweets were different as well by just putting the company if it was already present or not. This one only cuts the fighter 5 is....

And the translator adds the whole already appeared so I was wondering if the poster added something not in this pic.

 

[Llort A. Ton]

If were looking at spirit upgrades, my hopes go to mostly Rayman.
If its just companies in general, then my hopes go to Chief, Dante, Leon, 2B, and many more possibilities.

 

[Rie Sonomura]

I made an Imgure post with the tweets in question

https://imgur.com/a/ynPXfJL

the last one seems to imply the 5th character is in the game already, most likely as a spirit

If it’s a Spirit (Nintendo/already playable-repped third parties only): Elma, Bandana Waddle Dee, Octolings, Impa, Medusa, Black Shadow, Mecha-Fiora (if you wanna pull a Chrom at the same time), Geno, Rex (who already has a Mii costume), Proto Man (see Mecha-Fiora), Ninten, Tails, etc. not counting ATs or Pokeballs. Rayman (Ubisoft) and Shantae (WayForward) could apply if they meant just “appeared as a Spirit period”.

If it’s another rep from a represented party that ISN’T a Spirit: KOS-MOS (Bandai Namco), Heihachi Mishima (Bandai Namco; appears in ’s taunt as a sprite), Lloyd Irving (Bandai Namco), Soul Calibur character (Bandai Namco), Prince of All Cosmos (Bandai Namco; see Heihachi), Lara Croft (Square Enix), Neku Sakuraba (Square Enix), 2B (Square Enix), Crono (Square Enix), Sephiroth (Square Enix), Terra Branford (Square Enix), Phoenix Wright (Capcom), Amaterasu (Capcom), Resident Evil Character (Capcom), Kasumi Yoshizawa (Atlus via Sega), Dark Souls Character (From Software via Bandai Namco), Contra Character (Konami), Ori (Microsoft), Conker (Microsoft), Akira Howard (Platinum/Nintendo), Three Houses Character (Nintendo; doubtful if we didn’t get Spring Man or Rex as playable). Not counting Sora (Square Enix/Disney), Dante (Capcom) or Master Chief (Microsoft) as they’ve been deconfirmed by company reps themselves.

 

[Deleted member]

"already appeared?" is so vague it makes me want to believe it's a Koei-Tecmo character because of the question mark, so here's to hoping Dynasty Warriors is the last series added to Smash since it'll probably destroy people's expectations like how P5 Scramble did.

 

[volbound1700]

Too all the responses, I want a character that can actually grow the game and one that I can talk to people around me and they actually fing know who the character is and frankly who I know the game is. Sonic, Pacman, Megaman, Simon Belmont, Ryu, Hero, and Banjo are all GREAT picks. Why can't we follow their example? The Ninja Gaiden character or Sora would be great compromise picks.

 

[zferolie]

For that company/series already repped in smash, I think, keeping with third parties, its either Geno, Shantae, or Rayman. All 3 are big 3rd party characters that would make a great final show for the last character of this DLC.

If this is true or not, we need to wait till the next character is shown. If its a girl, then this leak is true, if its not, then its debunked.

 

[Rie Sonomura]

I have been wondering something. Remember when someone asked about Viewtiful Joe in Smash and Kamiya replied with basically, “um...well...”

What happened to that I wonder? I think it’s hinting at a Mii Costume for Viewtiful Joe at most

Wait I think it was Kamiya asking about Joe and Sakurai saying “um...”

 

[Predictabo]

Assuming it's Nakoruru, there's that old ballot leak that got Luminary as the DQ Hero main skin that said he heard about a RE rep from the same source.
It would line up with "company already repped in smash"

 

[volbound1700]

I agree.

Although KoF is huge in Central and South America and China; it has been THE fighting game franchise for decades. And in recent years, the company has been on an upswing. I mean, 6 years ago, I couldn't imagine SamSho getting the love it has, Geese being in Tekken, Kula and Mai in DoA, etc.

This is a lot for me to process, but SNK had a huge impact on the industry, and especially the FGC (and as aforementioned, even more so in certain parts of the globe where it reigned supreme). Whoever we get, if anyone, is going to be awesome, and they're going to introduce more people to their games, which is always a plus. With that being said, as unlikely as it is, King would be a dream for me, gratuitous English and all; she's just really cool and an AoF and KoF rep. Athena seems a little more likely, and is cool, too. Mai is also feasible, as are the big names like Terry, Kyo, etc. That's not even including non-fighters like a Metal Slug rep. This is just... so great lol.

Random tangent: Capcom vs SNK 2 is arguably one of the greatest crossover fighting games of all time. We might be able to reenact a part of that in Smash. Good Lord.

If SNK had a GREAT impact than how come I NEVER heard of them until today. I follow gaming very closely. I can make a video of me going around interviewing not just average joes but people that play video games and I guarantee 90% of the people don't know any of those characters.

They know Crash Bandicoot, Doom Guy, Sora, Rayman, Jill Valentine, etc. It is too much I guess to ask for known characters. Nothing SNK can produce touches some of the characters that I listed impact on gaming.

Obviously, I should have expected a let down on the DLC pack.

 

[CapitaineCrash]

It was actually Kamiya that ask Sakurai about Joe and Sakurai answer "hummm…". I don't think that means anything but it's kind of strange considering Sakurai isn't that active on Twitter and rarely answer to these kinds of tweet.
Source: https://twitter.com/perepereden/status/1138606651710164992

 

[CHAMPIONX9]

SNK characters & Google Trends
Google Trends can measure different popularities, although this is not enough and the benchmarks are not always right. It can not be completely representative.

World ranking:
1 - Mai Shiranui (34)
2 - Kyo Kusanagi (11)
3 - Nakoruru (6)
4- Terry Bogard (5)

Ranking in Japan:
1 - Mai Shiranui (38)
2 - Nakoruru (19)
2 - Kyo Kusanagi (7)
4- Terry Bogard (4)

Google trends is google searches so interpretation is not always straight forward. For example terry being well known might lead to people searching him less. Another thing is that Mai might be searched for other reasons as well since the search results for her are an order of magnitude above the rest.

 

[WaddleMatt]

Too all the responses, I want a character that can actually grow the game and one that I can talk to people around me and they actually fing know who the character is and frankly who I know the game is. Sonic, Pacman, Megaman, Simon Belmont, Ryu, Hero, and Banjo are all GREAT picks. Why can't we follow their example? The Ninja Gaiden character or Sora would be great compromise picks.

Not everything revolves around your little circle.

 

[SMAASH! Puppy]

Too all the responses, I want a character that can actually grow the game and one that I can talk to people around me and they actually fing know who the character is and frankly who I know the game is. Sonic, Pacman, Megaman, Simon Belmont, Ryu, Hero, and Banjo are all GREAT picks. Why can't we follow their example? The Ninja Gaiden character or Sora would be great compromise picks.

Ninja Gaiden is like SNK (and Crash Bandicoot and Spyro and Doom until recently and...) in that they were really big influential back in the old days, but they are almost no names now. That doesn't mean they don't matter or shouldn't be added, but if you asked someone if they knew who Ryu Hyabusa was they'd probably tell you they didn't know Ryu (from Street Fighter) had a last name.

If SNK had a GREAT impact than how come I NEVER heard of them until today. I follow gaming very closely. I can make a video of me going around interviewing not just average joes but people that play video games and I guarantee 90% of the people don't know any of those characters.

They know Crash Bandicoot, Doom Guy, Sora, Rayman, Jill Valentine, etc. It is too much I guess to ask for known characters. Nothing SNK can produce touches some of the characters that I listed impact on gaming.

Obviously, I should have expected a let down on the DLC pack.

Just because you haven't heard of it doesn't mean it wasn't big at some point or isn't big now, just in another country. In this case it's probably both. Also, if you want cultural impact then look up SNK Boss Syndrome.

 

[Megadoomer]

Too all the responses, I want a character that can actually grow the game and one that I can talk to people around me and they actually fing know who the character is and frankly who I know the game is. Sonic, Pacman, Megaman, Simon Belmont, Ryu, Hero, and Banjo are all GREAT picks. Why can't we follow their example? The Ninja Gaiden character or Sora would be great compromise picks.

I'm not sure why Ryu Hayabusa isn't in the game yet (they're already working with Koei Tecmo, given the presence of Fatal Frame, and K-T has recently worked on Zelda and Fire Emblem), but Sora's owned by Disney, which seems like it would be a massive barrier to his inclusion.

DLC (especially third party DLC) seems like it's meant to get new fans into Smash Bros., and to get Smash Bros. fans into new series. By my understanding, much like how Banjo and Kazooie are a North American and European phenomenon while Dragon Quest is huge in Japan, the King of Fighters is massive in Central/South America, along with other Neo Geo games like Metal Slug. (also, the King of Fighters was like Smash Bros. before there was Smash Bros. - it's a big crossover between many of SNK's games) This article might help to provide more context.

If you aren't familiar with a franchise or company, use their inclusion in Smash, or even the possibility of their inclusion in Smash (nothing's been confirmed, after all), to look into those games and learn about them. That's what got me into Metal Gear Solid and Persona 5, and those are easily some of my favourites now.

 

[Dr. Jojo Phantasma]

Ninja Gaiden is like SNK (and Crash Bandicoot and Spyro and Doom until recently and...) in that they were really big influential back in the old days, but they are almost no names now. That doesn't mean they don't matter or shouldn't be added, but if you asked someone if they knew who Ryu Hyabusa was they'd probably tell you they didn't know Ryu (from Street Fighter) had a last name.


Just because you haven't heard of it doesn't mean it wasn't big at some point or isn't big now, just in another country. In this case it's probably both. Also, if you want cultural impact then look up SNK Boss Syndrome.

Honestly some people need to understand that America is not the world, there are other places like Latin America and China where SNK enjoys a lot of popularity.

 

[Deleted member]

If SNK had a GREAT impact than how come I NEVER heard of them until today. I follow gaming very closely. I can make a video of me going around interviewing not just average joes but people that play video games and I guarantee 90% of the people don't know any of those characters.

They know Crash Bandicoot, Doom Guy, Sora, Rayman, Jill Valentine, etc. It is too much I guess to ask for known characters. Nothing SNK can produce touches some of the characters that I listed impact on gaming.

Obviously, I should have expected a let down on the DLC pack.

Dunno mate, but in all honesty apart from Mario, Luigi, DK, Bowser, Peach Pikachu and maybe Duck Hunt, I would find it hard to find people that widely know most of the characters in Smash.

I follow gaming closely as well and if I'm being honest, people just tend to miss certain things. I literally had zero idea about Arle of Puyo-Puyo and is a relatively big franchise. Not by not knowing what a thing is it means it doesn't exist. If they selected SNK due to popularity with certain regions and fans around the world I can guarantee you its not due to Sakurai decidedly chosed something that was not up to your tastes.

 

[RileyXY1]

Assuming it's Nakoruru, there's that old ballot leak that got Luminary as the DQ Hero main skin that said he heard about a RE rep from the same source.
It would line up with "company already repped in smash"

However, that rumor also claimed that Velvet Crowe would become playable.

 

[Deleted member]

However, that rumor also claimed that Velvet Crowe would become playable.

Was there any specifics other than that?

 

[SneakyLink]

However, that rumor also claimed that Velvet Crowe would become playable.

And it did not have Banjo and Kazooie, which automatically makes it less likely to be real.

Three characters in two slots is implausible unless Nakoruru appears in Resident Evil or something...

 

[Predictabo]

However, that rumor also claimed that Velvet Crowe would become playable.

As far as I can remember he claimed that Velvet/Tales and the other two weren't from the same source.

 

[SMAASH! Puppy]

Dunno mate, but in all honesty apart from Mario, Luigi, DK, Bowser, Peach Pikachu and maybe Duck Hunt, I would find it hard to find people that widely know most of the characters in Smash.

All of the "My older relative/non-gamer friend guesses the name of all Pokémon/Robot Masters/Smash characters" videos can attest to this.

Not by not knowing what a thing is it means it doesn't exist.

This reminds me of a sign one of my teachers had on her wall. It was something like "Anything that exists without my knowledge happens without my consent". lol

EDIT: Also, "Dragons exist if you believe they exist". I think that was from a novel I never read.

 

[yeet123]

Imagine posting fake leaks everyday, and then when Nintendo reveals info you say, "This is fake."

 

[Perkilator]

I’ve done research on other SNK games when doing my moveset for Geese (and by SNK games I mean Fatal Fury alone and mostly his Tekken 7 move list). Along the way, I’ve seen videos of every Fatal Fury game I could just for Geese, but I somehow got more of an attachment to Mai.

 

[Game2018]

If SNK had a GREAT impact than how come I NEVER heard of them until today. I follow gaming very closely. I can make a video of me going around interviewing not just average joes but people that play video games and I guarantee 90% of the people don't know any of those characters.

They know Crash Bandicoot, Doom Guy, Sora, Rayman, Jill Valentine, etc. It is too much I guess to ask for known characters. Nothing SNK can produce touches some of the characters that I listed impact on gaming.

Obviously, I should have expected a let down on the DLC pack.

My younger brother is not a gamer and barely follows gaming news (he didn't even know Smash 4 existed until after it came out), and he knows SNK and the awesomeness that is Metal Slug. I feel bad for you.