Official Newcomer/DLC Speculation Discussion

[Speed Weed]

If it isn't it would have to be Rex unless we're getting a fighter from some unknown game coming out in 2021.

To be frank I'm not sure if I agree with this level of tunnel-vision. I know this is my bajillion-zillionth time ragging on this thread's extremely limited viewpoint on first-parties, but it be what it be.

I can understand thinking that promotional (or at least Switch-era) choices are more likely, but straight-up shutting off any character that doesn't fit that criteria is something I struggle to buy tbh. Can't we at least try to branch out just a little more, even if only for fun? Cause I don't know about y'all, but I find discussion on Nintendo characters dreadfully boring when people only want to talk about like 2 or 3 characters and the rest of it is scrounging for potential candidates that don't even exist.

 

[7NATOR]

For Byleth being planned for TGA, but being delayed to Janurary theory

I have a theory on that theory, that perhaps there might have been plans to announced the Three Houses DLC at TGA, and then Reveal Byleth in smash there. However I'll take a guess and say DLC was not finished on time

 

[FJA147]

From what I have heard about TLOU2 of why people don’t like it is a combination of numerous factors. I have never played the game. The first one I heard about was a leak that spoiled most of the game which pissed people off a bit a month before the release. Another was killing off Joel a character a lot of people liked. Also the developer pushing a political agenda regarding LGBT rights that some people felt it was forced down their throats. Finally some holes in the story of the game.

 

[SharkLord]

To be frank I'm not sure if I agree with this level of tunnel-vision. I know this is my bajillion-zillionth time ragging on this thread's extremely limited viewpoint on first-parties, but it be what it be.

I can understand thinking that promotional (or at least Switch-era) choices are more likely, but straight-up shutting off any character that doesn't fit that criteria is something I struggle to buy tbh. Can't we at least try to branch out just a little more, even if only for fun? Cause I don't know about y'all, but I find discussion on Nintendo characters dreadfully boring when people only want to talk about like 2 or 3 characters and the rest of it is scrounging for potential candidates that don't even exist.

I mean I did give my opinion on Isaac a couple pages back.

On that note have this remix of Isaac's battle theme. It doesn't have much to do with Smash, but I think it's neat.

 

[Swamp Sensei]

I dont want to get too into the LoU2 discourse but I will ask that people stop saying its writes or treats LGBTQ characters well.

It doesn't. At all.

 

[Speed Weed]

I mean I did give my opinion on Isaac a couple pages back.

Which was very much appreciated on my part! cause it was a breath of fresh air amongst all the "rex, gen 8, or protag from literally nonexistent game and NOTHING ELSE" people.

 

[Jocario Zero]

Can we go back to smash speculation now?

 

[Aerospherology]

I mean I did give my opinion on Isaac a couple pages back.

On that note have this remix of Isaac's battle theme. It doesn't have much to do with Smash, but I think it's neat.

You sure about that?

 

[7NATOR]

On 1st Parties and actual Smash speculation

My Friend wants Dixie Kong, and I Know many people in Smash fandom want Dixie Kong. How do you feel about Dixie Kong and her chances for Fighter Pass 2, and do you think if she were playable she'll have that Planned duo Gimmick from Brawl?

 

[Miles of SmashWiki]

On 1st Parties and actual Smash speculation

My Friend wants Dixie Kong, and I Know many people in Smash fandom want Dixie Kong. How do you feel about Dixie Kong and her chances for Fighter Pass 2, and do you think if she were playable she'll have that Planned duo Gimmick from Brawl?

My take is that Dixie would be best as a semi-clone of Diddy, but I'm not optimistic on her chances as DLC. She seems more like something they would've done in the base game if they were going to include her, like they did with Isabelle.

 

[LiveStudioAudience]

On 1st Parties and actual Smash speculation

My Friend wants Dixie Kong, and I Know many people in Smash fandom want Dixie Kong. How do you feel about Dixie Kong and her chances for Fighter Pass 2, and do you think if she were playable she'll have that Planned duo Gimmick from Brawl?

I'll fully admit that to many outside the DK fandom Dixie isn't the most exciting of first party characters, but as someone within that fanbase I'd be thrilled. The music alone would make her worth it, but even beyond that there's so many potentially interesting mechanics from DKC2, 3, and Tropical Freeze to utilize for her. To me she would effectively complete the DKC representation in Smash and pay real tribute to the games she's been in.

 

[BlondeLombax]

Now that the train is back on the rails, I’ve been growing ever more curious about Marvelous and its chances of getting a rep. Now, I’m not saying anything so as to get my hopes up for nothing, but it’s clear that one of their biggest names is out of the running, leaving them with many options...

 

[Verde Coeden Scalesworth]

On 1st Parties and actual Smash speculation

My Friend wants Dixie Kong, and I Know many people in Smash fandom want Dixie Kong. How do you feel about Dixie Kong and her chances for Fighter Pass 2, and do you think if she were playable she'll have that Planned duo Gimmick from Brawl?

Honestly, I think that's more likely than her alone, if she isn't going to be an Echo(which she'd be an easy one). It's getting a little silly that she's still not in, but it does make a lot more sense than Sakurai really wants that gimmick, so hasn't figured out how to implement it. It wouldn't be plausible in Smash 4 to do, and King K. Rool would be easier to make in Ultimate either way. Dixie was created with the team-up stuff in mind too, and it's the last core aspect of DKC unused.

Problem is only Kiddy Kong she directly teams up with, and he's not that popular. And while you could easily team her up with Cranky Kong(as both are team-up characters in the games, it's not even a stretch, really), that's not a popular option for fans.

Nintendo might suggest her if they have a DKC game in the works, but Sakurai's exact implementation of her is pretty much a clear thing. What he does is up to him in this case, outside of literally the character choice. Does he want her a semi, a team-up? I can guess he's not interested in making her an echo(and she wouldn't even be a difficult one to make, as Diddy got all his core issues removed in the first place. She'd be around Chrom levels of differences practically. The haircopter can be easily retooled from DK due to similar bodyshapes, and all of Diddy's moves in Ultimate are easy to reskin. Give her a new Throw with her hair otherwise, and you're good to go). It's possible, as well, King K. Rool just had way more requests and Sakurai had no clear plan of what to do with her at that point, so... go with the one you can do and not have to change your plans for the ideal gimmick you want.

Someday I'm sure we'll see her. I wouldn't really count on her being a standalone semi-clone either way.

 

[cashregister9]

On 1st Parties and actual Smash speculation

My Friend wants Dixie Kong, and I Know many people in Smash fandom want Dixie Kong. How do you feel about Dixie Kong and her chances for Fighter Pass 2, and do you think if she were playable she'll have that Planned duo Gimmick from Brawl?

I don't think Dixie has a great chance especially since K. Rool was already added in Base game and I can really only see her being added if a new DK game is coming where she is the star or a DK game with incredibly unique mechanics that she could bring to smash. I also personally think she is boring AF but that is me I know a lot of people like her and I don't want to diminish her fans or her presence in the DK games.

Now that the train is back on the rails, I’ve been growing ever more curious about Marvelous and its chances of getting a rep. Now, I’m not saying anything so as to get my hopes up for nothing, but it’s clear that one of their biggest names is out of the running, leaving them with many options...

I could see a Rune Factory or Story Of Seasons rep, Story Of Seasons I think has a better chance because of how influential it is in gaming.

 

[I.D.]

To be frank I'm not sure if I agree with this level of tunnel-vision. I know this is my bajillion-zillionth time ragging on this thread's extremely limited viewpoint on first-parties, but it be what it be.

I can understand thinking that promotional (or at least Switch-era) choices are more likely, but straight-up shutting off any character that doesn't fit that criteria is something I struggle to buy tbh. Can't we at least try to branch out just a little more, even if only for fun? Cause I don't know about y'all, but I find discussion on Nintendo characters dreadfully boring when people only want to talk about like 2 or 3 characters and the rest of it is scrounging for potential candidates that don't even exist.

Alright let's talk about Officer Howard

We need a puppeteer character that isn't lameass Rosalina

 

[Ornl]

Now that the train is back on the rails, I’ve been growing ever more curious about Marvelous and its chances of getting a rep. Now, I’m not saying anything so as to get my hopes up for nothing, but it’s clear that one of their biggest names is out of the running, leaving them with many options...

Grasshopper Manufacture Inc. owns Travis Touchdown. Farmer was the best candidate before the Miner appeared IMO.

 

[JCKirbs]

On 1st Parties and actual Smash speculation

My Friend wants Dixie Kong, and I Know many people in Smash fandom want Dixie Kong. How do you feel about Dixie Kong and her chances for Fighter Pass 2, and do you think if she were playable she'll have that Planned duo Gimmick from Brawl?

I kinda wish she had already gotten in by now, cause I don't think there's much room for her to be a DLC fighter anymore.
Although, I'd be SUPER down if they actually doubled back and made a DLC pack with her promoting Tropical Freeze or something. Especially since Modern DK (and just DKC in general) isn't as well-repped as I would've hoped at this point. I mean, it literally lost its only modern stage after getting one back in the Sm4sh days.

 

[SharkLord]

Continuing with the topic of first-parties, I'm of the mindset that the DLC is built around representing the "new worlds," with world potentially meaning a single game, an entire series, or in some more extreme cases, an entire company (see: Terry). The problem that most popular first-parties have is that the majority of Nintendo's big series have been represented, with only a select few left to represent. As such, the most popular first-parties are from already-represented series, with the exception of Isaac.

Waluigi is, for better or worse, just Waluigi, without much content that has strong ties to him beyond Waluigi Pinball as a stage. Heck, we even have a Waluigi Pinball remix already. Dixie and Bandana Dee are a bit better, seeing as the more recent games in their series are lacking in representation, but I have my doubts. Bandana Dee at least has the advantage of coming to prominence in the modern era of Kirby and having closer ties to the content from those games, while Dixie is an older character who isn't really associated with the recent DK games any more than other supporting characters. I mean, sure, she made a return in Tropical Freeze, but Cranky and Funky got to be playable for the first time too.

I think that's why a lot of these characters are deemed "base game picks." Base game reveals like Ridley and K. Rool only brought themselves and a cool new remix of their theme, and that's it. The main selling point then was "Woah, look at all these characters!," and the only newcomers who got a new stage were Inkling and the Belmonts, who represented new series. Then the DLC came in, and represented only new settings; Even Byleth was from a different continuity than other FE games. ARMS had the most representation in the base game, but it still didn't have a fighter.

Long story short, the DLC favors the main protagonist of the setting, most likely because they have the closest ties to the game/series as a whole. Even Min Min was justified with ARMS having an ensemble cast, and the fact that she had to be justified in the first place says a lot. As a result, I'm not as optimistic for popular supporting characters, and this is coming from a pretty big Bandana Dee supporter.

 

[7NATOR]

When Joker was revealed intially, I thought he'd be the Cool Puppeteer Character of the Game, Where he uses his Persona as a Summon and Just stands back or looks cool, or do Cool Poses, like a Jojo Character

How he was implemented in Smash, personally to me was a little underwhelming. I Like Playing as Arsene Joker because he feels really Powerful and Meaty, but I'd have prefer if he worked like a Jojo Character.

 

[Evil Trapezium]

On 1st Parties and actual Smash speculation

My Friend wants Dixie Kong, and I Know many people in Smash fandom want Dixie Kong. How do you feel about Dixie Kong and her chances for Fighter Pass 2, and do you think if she were playable she'll have that Planned duo Gimmick from Brawl?

I don't think Nintendo would bother with Dixie Kong. As far as I believe they're concerned, the Donkey Kong series is complete and there wouldn't be much reason for them to add her to the pass other than filling more Donkey Kong reps which I don't believe they're worried about. Their choices definitely don't seem to be swayed by the fans so that's a big knock against her.

 

[Idon]

Alright let's talk about Officer Howard

We need a puppeteer character that isn't lameass Rosalina

This is the perfect excuse for me to talk about the moveset I made for them:

"The protagonist of Astral Chain, the hot new Nintendo-owned Platinum-made action game, arrives on the scene! With their X-baton in hand and a little help from their loyal sword legion, they'll be more than a match for anyone! Along with their crushing kicks and baton strikes, their power is amplified with the combination attacks they can do with their legion!"

Spoiler: Miscellaneous Animations

Introduction: Exit Gate
A portal from the astral plain opens up and the sword legion flies in from it. It then yanks the astral chain, pulling out Ofc. Howard, who readies to fight while putting away the sword legion.

Stance: Police Training
Does his default battle stance from the game.

Down Taunt: Legionis
Calls Legion and spirals the chain around himself in a stylish pose yelling "LEGION!"

Up Taunt: Respect
Salutes the enemy yelling before resuming battle stance.

16 Taunt 3
holds his Legatus up to his face, activating it briefly and making his eyes and hair go blue, exclaiming "YOU'RE UNDER ARREST"

1st Victory: Awakening
Leaps into frame with the Sword Legion and slashes downward in an X shape

2nd Victory: Legion Capture
Sends out Legion who who is flung around in a circle by their astral chain before settling behind Officer Howard.

3rd Victory: Case Accepted
Turns around and walks to the camera swiping by a "CASE ACCEPTED" hologram.

Victory Fanfare: Savior
Plays the first few notes of "Savior"

Spoiler: Defensive Moves

Shield: Axe Defense
Holds their legatus up.
N/A
With Legion active, the Sword Legion crosses its arms as the shield becomes a permanent full shield similar to Yoshi's egg and can only be broken and not shield poked.

Parry: Interception
Does a stylish pose that shows off the legatus

Sleeping: Vacation Day
Sits on the floor leaning on his knee while mumbling "5 more minutes..." During this time, a hologram will pop up saying that someone is calling them. If they manage to wake up in time, they'll act shocked, deny the call, and resume fighting.

Backroll: Backflip
Does a backflip backwards

Forward Roll: Cartwheel
Does a side roll forwards

Spot Dodge: Lean back
Does a little lean back

08 Dodge Air: Air Spin
Twists his body to dodge out of the way of attacks:

Get-up attack: AED defibrillator
Unleashes a shockwave from the AED, shocking Ofc. Howard back to life and pushing away any enemy close.

Tech: Legion Assist
Unique to Ofc. Howard, when they have their legion out, they are not only capable of teching in back, forward, and neutral, they can also tech upwards by launching themselves off their Sword legion

Spoiler: Specials

Neutral Special: Call Legion
Ofc. Howard holds up his Legatus and calls the Legion forth, modifying his entire moveset temporarily. It'll only last ~10 seconds before disippating and having to recharge for another 30 seconds. However, it can be turned on and off at will with almost zero lag. However, any turn off will burn the entire gauge and always force a recharge. A new spin on the "power boost" modes of Cloud and Joker. Moments of power must be chosen carefully and deliberately instead of just being hit and given the power.

While in this form, tendrils of blue will streak across Ofc. Howard's face, their eyes will glow blue, and so does their hair. On top of that, their X-baton gains a blocky digital appearance. He'll have blue light trails instead of white ones and any hit with the baton will have an "electric" effect which is purely superflous. Using the Raven costumes will instead make the effects red colored.

Also it has a single frame of invulnerability, which when activated, calls the legion out to immediately counter

Side Special: Send Legion
A multi-part special move that begins with Ofc. Howard sending out their legion a set distance along the same vein of Luma. However, instead of mimicking attacks, it will simply do a followup attack depending on which input is done next, similar to Marth's Dancing Blade.

Side Special; Up followup: Upperslash
Pressing Up and B will make the sword legion do an uppercut with his 2 blade arms, launching the enemy into the air.

Side Special; forward followup: Chain Jump
Pressing forward will have the sword legion yank the chain, pulling Howard forward while he does a flying knee. This also serves well as a recovery option and strikes anyone between the legion and Howard.

Side Special; backward followup: Triple Sword
Pressing back has the legion summon 3 swords that travel the length of the chain

Side Special; downward followup: Round Swords
Pressing down will summon a set of flying blades that hover around the legion which then dissipate when the legion does a spinning attack launching enemies up and away.

Regardless of the action, the Legion then returns to Howard.

Down Special: Slash Stance
A risky maneuver that instantly uses all of the legion gauge. Using it enters into a special stance wherein an additional attack button will make a vertical slice downwards. It doesn't do much damage or knockback, however if the opponent is doing any kind of attack while getting hit, they will automatically get shield broken. This attack is canceleable with shield, but it takes a while to deactivate, making it a risky all-or-nothing attack either way. pressing left or right will do a little repositional hop, but it has no invincibility, making it purely for spacing.

Up Special: Chain Recover
Throws legion into the air who flies up and then yanks Ofc. Howard towards themselves. As this move is vital in general smash gameplay, it is usable without any legion meter, however doing so, will cause 15% damage, punishing desperate recoveries and said feature is also accurate to the games.

Spoiler: Normals

Jab Combo: Baton Rush
Does a 3 hit combo consisting of an inwards baton swing, an outwards baton swing, and then a stab upwards.

With Legion active, an additional jab finisher is added wherein the legion does an uppercut slash that launches the opponent upwards.

Forward Tilt: Assault Attack
Launches themselves in a flying kick at the enemy.

With Legion active, it will do a kick side by side with Ofc. Howard.
N/A

Down Tilt: Disarming Sweep
Does a low sweep which sets the enemy up for a combo.
With legion active, a second input throws out the legion who spins across the floor in the z-axis, elongating the range of the sweep.

Up Tilt: Evasive Anti-air Combination
Does a high kick while balancing themselves with their hand before following up with an aerial dropkick. A bit of a difficult angle, but does a ton of damage and knockback.

With Legion active, the sword legion does a drop kick back-to-back with Ofc. Howard increasing its power.
N/A
Dash Attack: Sliding Rush
Football slides into the enemy, going so fast as to create sparks across the ground.

With Legion active, the legion flies above and flies forward along spinning with its blades outstretched, increasing the vertical hitbox of the move as to not just hit the feet.

Spoiler: Smashes

Forward Smash: Charge Attack
Throws the X-baton up and catches it backhanded before rushing forward and doing a horizontal slash forwards.
Howard rushes towards the opponent at lightning speed so while the startup is high, the range and speed of the attack is unparalleled.
Due to how fast he rushes forward, he is completely invulnerable mid-slash and has little endlag after so punishes must be made before he catches the X-baton.

With legion active, the first part of the attack only stuns, while a new second part has been to the smash which involves him holding the baton normally and stabbing forward with Legion stabbing simultaneously. This version is much more powerful, combos from the first part, and launches at a lower angle making recoveries hard and kills early.

Down Smash: Gladiator Kick
Does a spinning axe kick that causes a shock wave on the ground, spiking opponenets hanging on ledge.
N/A
With Legion, the legion stabs the ground, causing an explosion and giving the move some AOE damage and hitting behind

Up Smash: Shine Kick
Does a flip kick. If hit with the front side of the attack, it will launch the opponent straight up. If hit at the apex, it will instead launch the enemy behind.

With legion active, the legion does a flip kick along with Ofc. Howard increasing the power of the attack.
N/A

Spoiler: Aerials

Neutral Aerial: Circular Kick
Does a spinning horizontal kick that hits front and then backwards. Slower than the average nair, but more powerful for it.

With Legion active, the legion stands upside down back to back with Ofc. Howard, completing the circle and making the attack hit both sides at once, twice.
N/A

Forward Aerial: Baton Barrage
Three part forward air which starts with a diagonal right to left down swing, diagonal left to right down swing, finished with a horizontal right to left swing, knocking opponents away.

With Legion active, he fills in the gaps between the attacks with his own attacks, making it truly a 6 hit aerial attack

Back Aerial: Hammer Kick
Ofc. Howard raises his foot over his head in a circular manner and slams his heel over the enemy, spiking them. It's quite a slow move, but that's where the legion comes in

With legion active, the legion does a vertical spin hitting the opponent twice locking them into position for the kick.

Down Aerial: Skull Smasher
Ofc. Howard raises the baton up and then rushes to the ground slamming it to the floor.
N/A
With Legion, the legion mirrors the action increasing its damage.

Up Aerial: Baton uppercut
Ofc. Howard backhands the X-Baton and does a short range upper slash with decent killing power.
N/A
With legion active, he repeats the action from the opposite direction increasing the power even further.

Spoiler: Throws

Grab: Judge
Reaches out with his off-baton hand.
N/A
With Legion active, the grab is enhanced into a tether where the Sword Legion rushes out and grabs the enemy, pulling them in, and binding them to the floor with the astral chains.

Pummel: Jury
Hits the opponent with the back of the baton like Link and the Master Sword
N/A
With Legion active, they are full baton swings mixed with the legion doing swings as well.

Up Throw: Executioner
Howard does a diagonal flip kick, knocking the opponent into the air.

With Legion active, the kick launches a set distance into the Legion who then does a bicycle kick, launching the opponent at an aggressive angle downwards horizontally, making it extremely difficult for most characters to recover, while also killing earlier if facing the right direction.

Forward Throw: Convict
Howard slashes away while jumping back.

With legion active, he will followup by throwing the legion forward via the chain which stabs the target.

Back Throw: Pardon
Leaps past and does a circular horizontal kick to the back of the enemy's head.

With legion active, the legion ducks under the kick and does a horizontal slash in the opposite direction.

Down Throw: Retrial
Ofc. Howard slams the opponent with the X-baton downwards, bouncing them up.

If Legion is active, the legion leaps over and slams the opponent again, bouncing them a second time.

Spoiler: Final Smash; WARNING SPOILERS

When Close: Prime Execution
The Sword Legion lets out a loud roar shockwave. Anyone hit is transported to the Astral Plain wherein Ofc. Howard does a complex combination attack featuring all the Legions that were not included. First Howard rides on the Beast Legion, impaling them on the Gladius X-Baton. Then he flips them up and calls forth the ARMS Legion which juggles the opponent in a flurry of punches. Afterwards, while the opponent is still in the air, Howard summons the Arrow Legion wherein they simultaneously shoot a light arrow at them. Then, the Axe Legion is summoned who slams the opponent back on the floor. Finally, he summons the original Sword legion who wraps the opponent up in the astral chain, finishing with a simultaneous stab, which inexplicably causes a giant explosion knocking them away

When Far: Legionic Fusion
If no one is near, Ofc. Howard instead rips out the legion core of the legatus and slams it into his chest, the core dissolving into his heart. This activates his fusion with the legion and transforms him into a giant beast that rushes forward in a flash of light slamming the first person or people with an uppercut claw slash that knocks them to the center of the stage wherein they are assaulted by a barrage of claw slashes, kicks, and energy blasts. When finished, the fusion claws them downwards, bouncing them off the floor of the stage, and into the sky above.

Bonus Content:

Spoiler: Music Tracks (No Links)

01 Savior
02 Emergency
03 Awakening
04 Central City (Combat Phase)
05 Invaders from Another World
06 Astral Plane (Combat Phase)
07 Maison Forest (Combat Phase)
08 Ark Mall (Combat Phase)
09 Homonculus A
10 Harmony Square Station (Combat Phase)
11 Legion Assault
12 Zone 09 Daytime (Combat Phase)
13 Suspense
14 Holy Order of the Digital Hermit
15 Hermit training
16 Chimera Takedown
17 Homonculus B
18 Homonculus Y
19 Jena Anderson
20 Jena (Rebellion and Salvation)
21 Jena (Catastrophe)
22 Grand Avenue (Combat Phase)
23 Rush!!
24 Zone 09 Night (Combat Phase)
25 Ark Sewer Mangement (Combat Phase)
26 Madness
27 Sector V Night (Combat Phase)
28 Case Trial
29 Dark Hero (Male)
30 Dark Hero (Female)
31 Aegis Research Institute (Combat Phase)
32 The Only One
33 Yoseph Calvert
34 Noah Core
35 Noah Prime
36 The Answer

Spoiler: Alternate Costumes:

Spoiler: Stage

The Ark and Astral Plane
A shifting stage that starts on the neon blue city rooftops of the Ark which then transitions to the somber red tones of the Astral Plane:

 

[JCKirbs]

Continuing with the topic of first-parties, I'm of the mindset that the DLC is built around representing the "new worlds," with world potentially meaning a single game, an entire series, or in some more extreme cases, an entire company (see: Terry). The problem that most popular first-parties have is that the majority of Nintendo's big series have been represented, with only a select few left to represent. As such, the most popular first-parties are from already-represented series, with the exception of Isaac.

Waluigi is, for better or worse, just Waluigi, without much content that has strong ties to him beyond Waluigi Pinball as a stage. Heck, we even have a Waluigi Pinball remix already. Dixie and Bandana Dee are a bit better, seeing as the more recent games in their series are lacking in representation, but I have my doubts. Bandana Dee at least has the advantage of coming to prominence in the modern era of Kirby and having closer ties to the content from those games, while Dixie is an older character who isn't really associated with the recent DK games any more than other supporting characters. I mean, sure, she made a return in Tropical Freeze, but Cranky and Funky got to be playable for the first time too.

I think that's why a lot of these characters are deemed "base game picks." Base game reveals like Ridley and K. Rool only brought themselves and a cool new remix of their theme, and that's it. The main selling point then was "Woah, look at all these characters!," and the only newcomers who got a new stage were Inkling and the Belmonts, who represented new series. Then the DLC came in, and represented only new settings; Even Byleth was from a different continuity than other FE games. ARMS had the most representation in the base game, but it still didn't have a fighter.

Long story short, the DLC favors the main protagonist of the setting, most likely because they have the closest ties to the game/series as a whole. Even Min Min was justified with ARMS having an ensemble cast, and the fact that she had to be justified in the first place says a lot. As a result, I'm not as optimistic for popular supporting characters, and this is coming from a pretty big Bandana Dee supporter.

Honestly.
Although, I probably won't be too burned about it since I wouldn't hear the end of the Smash Community if any of these "anti-hype" characters dared to show their faces as paid DLC at this point.

 

[LiveStudioAudience]

Its funny that more regionally popular third party picks and first party non-protagonists essentially fall into the same category of being really ideal base game selections whose chances drop quite a bit when it comes to DLC. Its not often one could place the likes of Scorpion and Bandana Dee in the same category, but for all intents and purposes both are considered as lacking a certain appeal to being paid fighters.

 

[AmphabulouSnake]

Alright let's talk about Officer Howard

We need a puppeteer character that isn't lameass Rosalina

I'm still pissed they had the audacity to reveal they were only coming as spirit like a week before Byleth was revealed.
Biggest gut punch EVER

 

[SharkLord]

I'm still pissed they had the audacity to reveal they were only coming as spirit like a week before Byleth was revealed.
Biggest gut punch EVER

Legionis getting the boot was probably the most crushing deconfirm I've experienced so far. Maybe Bandana Dee would've been bigger if I was more invested, but when the Astral Chain event swung around I was deeper into the speculation and it hit a lot harder.

 

[metalhydra273]

Its not often one could place the likes of Scorpion and Bandana Dee in the same category, but for all intents and purposes both are considered as lacking a certain appeal to being paid fighters.

Hard disagree that Scorpion would be a bad option as DLC over base game. Tbh I think he'd fit better as DLC than base game due to how outlandish he is (moreso his series rather) compared to most smash characters, much like Steve. Not that it takes away your point, but I feel like I have to say Scorpion is a bad example for that.

 

[Mushroomguy12]

All my posts on my profile under "Postings" disappeared except for the most recent ones, has this happened to anyone else?

 

[Rie Sonomura]

All my posts on my profile under "Postings" disappeared except for the most recent ones, has this happened to anyone else?

Yes this has happened to me too

 

[SharkLord]

All my posts on my profile under "Postings" disappeared except for the most recent ones, has this happened to anyone else?

Huh, that is weird. It's the same for me too.

 

[LiveStudioAudience]

Hard disagree that Scorpion would be a bad option as DLC over base game. Tbh I think he'd fit better as DLC than base game due to how outlandish he is (moreso his series rather) compared to most smash characters, much like Steve. Not that it takes away your point, but I feel like I have to say Scorpion is a bad example for that.

I mean in the sense that Scorpion's perceived lack of interest by Japanese fans (and hypothetical risk if offered as paid DLC) would essentially be muted by being a base game pick. I think a lot of the region specific characters are very safe inclusions once they're in the core game; an American fan may not be enthused to buy Sakura or a Japanese fan fan Doom Slayer, but are easily accepted when included with a Smash game, at least in theory.

 

[DX_E]

I think Dixie would be pretty hype. Just saying.

 

[Verde Coeden Scalesworth]

I mean in the sense that Scorpion's perceived lack of interest by Japanese fans (and hypothetical risk if offered as paid DLC) would essentially be muted by being a base game pick. I think a lot of the region specific characters are very safe inclusions once they're in the core game; an American fan may not be enthused to pick Sakura or a Japanese fan fan Doom Slayer, but are easily accepted when included with a Smash game, at least in theory.

Mortal Kombat isn't able to be properly sold in Japan. It's not actually unpopular in itself.

It's probably a lot more mixed than "lack of interest". He's still a very popular worldwide character, just not as popular in Japan due to not being able to outright buy the games.

 

[Droodle]

Long story short, the DLC favors the main protagonist of the setting, most likely because they have the closest ties to the game/series as a whole. Even Min Min was justified with ARMS having an ensemble cast, and the fact that she had to be justified in the first place says a lot. As a result, I'm not as optimistic for popular supporting characters, and this is coming from a pretty big Bandana Dee supporter.

I brought this up a month or so back, but it is really telling that the only 2 characters that have been DLC and AREN'T the main protagonist have had other circumstances surrounding them. First we have Mewtwo, who was not only the first DLC character but also a returning character. Then we have Plant, who definitely has enough things pointing to it being a base game character that couldn't be finished/got held off (the guidance and the fact that it was being playtested around September 2018 both indicate this). And yeah, they pretty much explained that they consider Min Min a main protagonist as well. We know characters like K. Rool, Ridley, and the like did ridiculously well on the ballot; but they waited until the next game to add them in (they opted to add in Cloud, Bayo, and Corrin instead who are all the main protag for their respective games).

This obviously doesn't deconfirm secondary or spin-off characters, but it does definitely showcase some of Nintendo/Sakurai's trends for favoring certain characters. It's fun to note that Sakurai's backup pick for a DQ character was Slime, and not someone like Erik from DQ 11 or Bianca from DQ 5 (who is really popular). The slime is the mascot of the series obviously, but a fun coincidence is that it has it's own series of games with it/them as the main character (though the last release was like in 2011).

I think characters like Waluigi, Geno, Dee, Toad, Dixie could still happen but it's just another hurdle that they have to overcome.

 

[PacificFun]

Even if Lara Croft is announced at The Game Awards, I'm going to still be pissed off with Nintendo.

 

[Gentlepanda]

sorry y'all but TGA just got leaked

Spoiler: spoilered for a word in quotes i can't censor

There was a problem fetching the tweet

 

[Wunderwaft]

sorry y'all but TGA just got leaked

Spoiler: spoilered for a word in quotes i can't censor

There was a problem fetching the tweet

Well there's our Mario anniversary rep lol

 

[JCKirbs]

I brought this up a month or so back, but it is really telling that the only 2 characters that have been DLC and AREN'T the main protagonist have had other circumstances surrounding them. First we have Mewtwo, who was not only the first DLC character but also a returning character. Then we have Plant, who definitely has enough things pointing to it being a base game character that couldn't be finished/got held off (the guidance and the fact that it was being playtested around September 2018 both indicate this). And yeah, they pretty much explained that they consider Min Min a main protagonist as well. We know characters like K. Rool, Ridley, and the like did ridiculously well on the ballot; but they waited until the next game to add them in (they opted to add in Cloud, Bayo, and Corrin instead who are all the main protag for their respective games).

This obviously doesn't deconfirm secondary or spin-off characters, but it does definitely showcase some of Nintendo/Sakurai's trends for favoring certain characters. It's fun to note that Sakurai's backup pick for a DQ character was Slime, and not someone like Erik from DQ 11 or Bianca from DQ 5 (who is really popular). The slime is the mascot of the series obviously, but a fun coincidence is that it has it's own series of games with it/them as the main character (though the last release was like in 2011).

I think characters like Waluigi, Geno, Dee, Toad, Dixie could still happen but it's just another hurdle that they have to overcome.

Well now that you mention it, I that think the only way for those characters to actually have a decent chance is if they were sold just like characters such as Mewtwo, Piranha Plant and Corrin. More specifically, as DLC set aside from passes and sold individually, with room for flexibility since they wouldn't have to come with a stage or spirits. A music track or two could work just fine, akin to premium Mii costumes.

Granted, what are the odds? The Fighter Passes have been a sure-fire and clean way to deliver DLC fighters, after all.

 

[Guynamednelson]

sorry y'all but TGA just got leaked

Spoiler: spoilered for a word in quotes i can't censor

There was a problem fetching the tweet

No one is allowed to say a character isn't DLC worthy if this is real.

 

[Lamperouge]

sorry y'all but TGA just got leaked

Spoiler: spoilered for a word in quotes i can't censor

There was a problem fetching the tweet

I want this to be real so ****ing bad.

 

[AceAttorney9000]

sorry y'all but TGA just got leaked

Spoiler: spoilered for a word in quotes i can't censor

There was a problem fetching the tweet

... I have not clicked on the tweet, I have not watched the video in it... all I want to know is, does this mean Nintendo is revealing something at the Game Awards this year (and by "something", I don't mean just Smash, I mean anything in general)?