Official Newcomer/DLC Speculation Discussion

[merchantofsalt]

Here's a dumb theory: every pass character is originally from a company that is now part of another company. Atlus is now Sega, Enix is now Square Enix, Rare is now Microsoft, SNK is now... whoever owns SNK.

Following that logic, potential fifth characters could include:

Arle (Compile/Sega)
Hayabusa (Tecmo/Koei-Tecmo)
Kunio (Technōs/Arc System Works)
Anyone from Namco/Bandai-Namco

 

[Llort A. Ton]

Here's a dumb theory: every pass character is originally from a company that is now part of another company. Atlus is now Sega, Enix is now Square Enix, Rare is now Microsoft, SNK is now... whoever owns SNK.

Following that logic, potential fifth characters could include:

Arle (Compile/Sega)
Hayabusa (Tecmo/Koei-Tecmo)
Kunio (Technōs/Arc System Works)
Anyone from Namco/Bandai-Namco

Doomguy (Id/Zenimax)
Yup. I wasnt so sure but hes gotta be in now.

 

[Calamitas]

Here's a dumb theory: every pass character is originally from a company that is now part of another company. Atlus is now Sega, Enix is now Square Enix, Rare is now Microsoft, SNK is now... whoever owns SNK.

Following that logic, potential fifth characters could include:

Arle (Compile/Sega)
Hayabusa (Tecmo/Koei-Tecmo)
Kunio (Technōs/Arc System Works)
Anyone from Namco/Bandai-Namco

For that, Monolith Soft is also worth considering. They started under Square Enix (or at least their staff did? I'm not sure), went on to Bandai Namco, and are now part of Nintendo.

 

[Deleted member]

At this point, we're all kind of spinning our wheels here, myself included. We're hung up on the handful of characters that just gotta be #5. Collectively, I think we've more or less narrowed it down to five real hopefuls: Ryu, Doomguy, Leon/Jill, Crash, and Sora (coincidentally listed by order of probability haha).

I'm pretty sure these are also the five characters we've been circling around since E3, right? There wasn't nearly this much serious speculation around an SNK rep, much less Terry from Fatal Fury.

I'm not saying that these characters don't have a chance (literally all of them have an impossibly high chance, and you've all done a great job at detailing why), but I'm also beginning to wonder if we're all so certain about at least Ryu, Doomguy, and an RE rep only because we've been talking about them for so long. Like how we were all so sure that Steve was definitely going to get in, especially over Banjo, mostly due to Vergeben's insistence and the whole "relevancy" debate.

I have this huge superstition where if more people talk about a certain character possibly being in Smash the less likely they are to actually be in it. There's no reason for me to believe in such a thing, but it's always been a thing stuck in my head whenever I hop on and talk about Smash DLC. Ever since Terry's reveal, I started going super hard on a Dynasty Warriors character being in the 5th Fighter Pack mainly because expecting Hayabusa and everyone else you mentioned being revealed after Terry is too predictable and might not happen if they kept on being brought up in regards to Smash. Every character in the Fighter Pass so far has shattered what a lot of people expected from the Fighter Pass.

People expected Erdrick but it turned out his name was actually Arusu and was only 1/4 of a character in Hero.
People expected Steve but it turned out Banjo-Kazooie was in Smash.
People expected either Hayabusa or a rep from Capcom/Bandai Namco, but it turned out to be Terry from SNK instead (and even then, people were thinking of other SNK characters when it did get leaked).

No matter what we might believe, Nintendo and Sakurai has managed to subvert our expectations with the current DLC lineup, and they'll probably end up giving us another character that we might've not expected. I'm mostly going for a Warriors character like Zhao Yun to be in Smash next because people don't expect to see it happen for whatever reason they have (don't know the series, "non-video game characters", isn't requested as much as Bandana Dee, etc.). Perhaps behind them would be someone from 1 of Arc System Works' games like Sol Badguy for similar reasons, though I don't really got much to comment on them.

 

[Pallex]

Eh, could be fun. I’ll throw in some often speculated characters to fill in the blanks (plus some of my own choices)
Magician - Shantae
Empress - Edelgard... not a lot of other options here
Emperor - Nightmare/Siegfried
Hierophant - Geno (because he serves a “higher authority”)
Wheel of Fortune - Octoling (just go with it idk) and yes they’ll be semi-unique using some of the weapons Inkling doesn’t
Temperance - Neku
Tower - Doom Slayer (Tower represents ruin so I guess)
Moon - Ryu Hayabusa
Sun - Amaterasu
Judgment - KOS-MOS
World - Elma (cause Xenoblade X has a vast world... sue me ok)

I bit a like this but for Tower I can only think of a certain thing in NieR: Automata...

■ 9S
■ A2

Also, a lot of Drakengard/NieR characters would fit this now that I think about it but particularity with Drakengard with Caim and Angeleus of a certain tragic event,

Spoiler

"End of Dragon Sphere" where Caim and Angelus, brought a lot of ruin to their world but they would be good people if they didn't suffer in their upbringing and tried to stop the efforts that would end the world in a roundabout way in their own way. They got an undeserving and contrived shot down for it from humans acting so brash which end up causing a chain of events and the Tokyo Tower symbolizes this which will forever be burned in memory or at least my memory.

They deserve better.

 

[Cutie Gwen]

I have this huge superstition where if more people talk about a certain character possibly being in Smash the less likely they are to actually be in it. There's no reason for me to believe in such a thing, but it's always been a thing stuck in my head whenever I hop on and talk about Smash DLC. Ever since Terry's reveal, I started going super hard on a Dynasty Warriors character being in the 5th Fighter Pack mainly because expecting Hayabusa and everyone else you mentioned being revealed after Terry is too predictable and might not happen if they kept on being brought up in regards to Smash. Every character in the Fighter Pass so far has shattered what a lot of people expected from the Fighter Pass.

People expected Erdrick but it turned out his name was actually Arusu and was only 1/4 of a character in Hero.
People expected Steve but it turned out Banjo-Kazooie was in Smash.
People expected either Hayabusa or a rep from Capcom/Bandai Namco, but it turned out to be Terry from SNK instead (and even then, people were thinking of other SNK characters when it did get leaked).

No matter what we might believe, Nintendo and Sakurai has managed to subvert our expectations with the current DLC lineup, and they'll probably end up giving us another character that we might've not expected. I'm mostly going for a Warriors character like Zhao Yun to be in Smash next because people don't expect to see it happen for whatever reason they have (don't know the series, "non-video game characters", isn't requested as much as Bandana Dee, etc.). Perhaps behind them would be someone from 1 of Arc System Works' games like Sol Badguy for similar reasons, though I don't really got much to comment on them.

First of all, Suda51 believes this as he talks about Smash a lot less now, second, more people on this site expected Banjo because he's been considered an absolutely shoe-in ever since Phil Spencer tweeted he liked free money

 

[SNEKeater]

I still think that the last newcomer of the pass will be Leon Kennedy. He have a much wider appeal than Doomguy (Resident evil his huge in Japan), he also represent a genre not reprensented in Smash and dealing with Capcom is probably easier for Nintendo than with Bethesda. Also game awards would be the perfect moment because Resident evil 2 Remake will most likely get some nominations, maybe alongside some project resistance information or an announcement of another mainline title (resident evil 8 or 3 remake?). Also Resident evil is getting a lot of games on the switch just like doom (resident evil 5 and 6 will release next month).

I think that a RE rep will happen but in the next DLC. I don't see it happening with fighter 5. Of course maybe I'm wrong but that's my feeling. But it's true what you're saying: RE doesn't lack appeal among japanese like Doom does, so that helps a bit.
And like you said there's a lot of RE games on the Switch.
The segment of Resident Evil 5 and 6 at Nintendo E3 was a bit strange for my taste, that was quite a lot of screentime for two ports. Yeah, these 2 never released on Nintendo consoles but I don't know, it has his own segment. When I was seeing that I was thinking about a new Resident Evil game, I'd expect a regular short trailer to announce a port and not what we got.

Besides that. Sometimes I ask myself why people tends to put Jill in first place talking about a RE newcomer. Don't get me wrong, I really like her and my ideal scenario would be Leon and Jill in Smash (or even better if we add Chris and Claire), but I think it's pretty clear Leon is the most popular character from Resident Evil and probably the most popular character among the fans. On top of that he is the co protagonist in the acclaimed Resident Evil 2 and the main character of the also acclaimed Resident Evil 4, which was exclusive for Gamecube back then and it's probably the most popular game in the series (despite being quite different from the classic ones).
I get some people prefer Jill even if it's only for getting more female representation, which is fine, but in my honest opinion I think expecting Jill in first place is a bit "dangerous" and setting yourselves for a potential disappointment, like happened with some people expecting Nakoruru over Terry. That was a bit naive.

 

[YoshiandToad]

I think that a RE rep will happen but in the next DLC. I don't see it happening with fighter 5. Of course maybe I'm wrong but that's my feeling. But it's true what you're saying: RE doesn't lack appeal among japanese like Doom does, so that helps a bit.
And like you said there's a lot of RE games on the Switch.
The segment of Resident Evil 5 and 6 at Nintendo E3 was a bit strange for my taste, that was quite a lot of screentime for two ports. Yeah, these 2 never released on Nintendo consoles but I don't know, it has his own segment. When I was seeing that I was thinking about a new Resident Evil game, I'd expect a regular short trailer to announce a port and not what we got.

Besides that. Sometimes I ask myself why people tends to put Jill in first place talking about a RE newcomer. Don't get me wrong, I really like her and my ideal scenario would be Leon and Jill in Smash (or even better if we add Chris and Claire), but I think it's pretty clear Leon is the most popular character from Resident Evil and probably the most popular character among the fans. On top of that he is the co protagonist in the acclaimed Resident Evil 2 and the main character of the also acclaimed Resident Evil 4, which was exclusive for Gamecube back then and it's probably the most popular game in the series (despite being quite different from the classic ones).
I get some people prefer Jill even if it's only for getting more female representation, which is fine, but in my honest opinion I think expecting Jill in first place is a bit "dangerous" and setting yourselves for a potential disappointment, like happened with some people expecting Nakoruru over Terry. That was a bit naive.

Tbh I personally think Chris is the most likely.

He's the co-star(heh) of resident Evil 1, the reason Claire and Jill go through the events of resident Evil 2 and 3 respectively, was the star of Resident Evil 5 which is the best selling Resident Evil game to date, starred in 6 alongside Leon and is even the only reoccurring character in Resident Evil 7.
Hell, he's the foil to the biggest antagonist in Resident Evil, Albert Wesker.

Resi 4 is the only game Chris's not even slightly involved in, and whilst it's the most critically acclaimed it's clear Capcom uses Chris the most overall.

Chris is the protagonist of the series overall from what I can tell but he always gets overlooked here for Jill and Leon.

 

[merchantofsalt]

Probably because Chris is boring lol

 

[NoOtherPersona]

Probably because Chris is boring lol

sad but true Chris is less interesting compared to Jill and Leon heck even his sis Clarie is more interesting than him

 

[YoshiandToad]

Probably because Chris is boring lol

Ryu's pretty boring compared to the rest of the Street Fighter cast.

Terry's not the most exciting option from SNK but he's the poster boy.

Springman would likely be the one to make the playable cut if ARMS ever got anyone.

Chris is the protagonist. Nothing Leon can do ability wise that Chris can't either. Plus he punches boulders and monsters. Gonna be honest, I still think he's more likely than Leon given the amount Capcom use him.

 

[BlueMonk]

Ryu's pretty boring compared to the rest of the Street Fighter cast.

Terry's not the most exciting option from SNK but he's the poster boy.

Springman would likely be the one to make the playable cut if ARMS ever got anyone.

Chris is the protagonist. Nothing Leon can do ability wise that Chris can't either. Plus he punches boulders and monsters. Gonna be honest, I still think he's more likely than Leon given the amount Capcom use him.

I don't know much about RE, but isn't Leon also super popular in addition to being a frequent protag, while Chris is comparatively much less popular? Number of game appearances isn't everything.

 

[NoOtherPersona]

Ryu's pretty boring compared to the rest of the Street Fighter cast.

Terry's not the most exciting option from SNK but he's the poster boy.

Springman would likely be the one to make the playable cut if ARMS ever got anyone.

Chris is the protagonist. Nothing Leon can do ability wise that Chris can't either. Plus he punches boulders and monsters. Gonna be honest, I still think he's more likely than Leon given the amount Capcom use him.

why can't we get all of then Chris Jill Leon and Clarie? use there RE1 and RE2 looks

 

[ze9]

I think Doom fits the direction of the Pass way more than Resident Evil.
They've not gone for super-mega-hyper popular series like Resident Evil; rather they've gone with series that could specifically use the Smash boost.
-Persona has become mainstream only recently and including it in Smash is a good way to cement its relevance
-Dragon Quest could use a boost in the West
-Banjo-Kazooie has been mismanaged for years/decades + its audience is on Nintendo, if there's a way to re-launch the series, this is the one
-Fatal Fury/King of Fighters/SNK in general are not in their best shape
Doom of course is popular in the West but not as much in Japan, kinda like a reverse Dragon Quest. Meanwhile Resident Evil doesn't really gain much from being included in Smash. Not trying to say that it will be Doomguy, but this might be something to consider.

 

[Flyboy]

I don't know much about RE, but isn't Leon also super popular in addition to being a frequent protag, while Chris is comparatively much less popular? Number of game appearances isn't everything.

Jill was used in Marvel vs. Capcom 2 as the first Resident Evil rep, and Leon is both super popular and even had a CG movie made about him and Claire.

Chris is possible but it's disingenuous to compare him to the iconic Ryu or the popular Terry.

 

[SNEKeater]

Tbh I personally think Chris is the most likely.

He's the co-star(heh) of resident Evil 1, the reason Claire and Jill go through the events of resident Evil 2 and 3 respectively, was the star of Resident Evil 5 which is the best selling Resident Evil game to date, starred in 6 alongside Leon and is even the only reoccurring character in Resident Evil 7.
Hell, he's the foil to the biggest antagonist in Resident Evil, Albert Wesker.

Resi 4 is the only game Chris's not even slightly involved in, and whilst it's the most critically acclaimed it's clear Capcom uses Chris the most overall.

Chris is the protagonist of the series overall from what I can tell but he always gets overlooked here for Jill and Leon.

I won't deny that. I like Chris, but in comparison to Leon, Jill and Claire I don't know, he feels less interesting.
His RE7 version is the one I liked most if we talk about design and personality.

But I think is wrong saying people around here overlooked Chris in favour of Jill and Leon, because that happens everywhere. Maybe Chris is the character that Capcom pushes more from RE but in all my time as a RE fan people usually talk more about Jill and Leon. Chris doesn't have that much fans in comparison to these two.
I don't think he won't happen if we got a RE character, but I don't know. Jill and Leon feel more natural choices.

I don't believe it's the same case for Street Fighter and SNK, because Ryu and Terry are the main faces, and that don't happen or at least not in the same level with Resident Evil.
About Terry well, I think he's the coolest and more interesting character from SNK in general, so I guess every person has his preferences.

 

[N3ON]

This Chris/Jill/Leon argument is giving me flashbacks to the Chrom/Lucina/Robin arguments.

Now we just need a leak with one of them. True or fake, doesn't matter, just needs to be believable. It'll help people make up their minds.

 

[Playstation Guy 1000]

I always wonder if we ever get a sports genre rep who would get that spot.

 

[andree123]

Here's a dumb theory: every pass character is originally from a company that is now part of another company. Atlus is now Sega, Enix is now Square Enix, Rare is now Microsoft, SNK is now... whoever owns SNK.

Following that logic, potential fifth characters could include:

Arle (Compile/Sega)
Hayabusa (Tecmo/Koei-Tecmo)
Kunio (Technōs/Arc System Works)
Anyone from Namco/Bandai-Namco

I'm going with the bottom, because of Lloyd Irving.

 

[King Sonnn DeDeDoo]

On the topic of a Resident Evil, In Capcom's virtual card game called Teppen that released this year, Jill was chosen to be one of the heroes while Leon and Chris were made regular cards. Doesn't grantee anything on which of them would be chosen for Smash if we do get someone from Resident Evil, but it looks like Capcom considers Jill still pretty relevant.

Also for some reason, her character art features her with a weird sci-fi gun, has nothing to do with smash but it's odd to me.

Spoiler

 

[YoshiandToad]

why can't we get all of then Chris Jill Leon and Clarie? use there RE1 and RE2 looks

That's honestly the ideal solution tbh but with their builds being so different in modern RE I'm not sure if Capcom will blast back to the past for this or not. They have remade the original RE a fair few times now so possibly!

Hell we might get something unprecedented and end up with Albert Wesker who is both popular and offers a lot more than all four of the (most likely) protagonists combat wise. Pretty unlikely though.

 

[BlueMonk]

I always wonder if we ever get a sports genre rep who would get that spot.

It's time for football manager to finally join the battle

 

[NoOtherPersona]

That's honestly the ideal solution tbh but with their builds being so different in modern RE I'm not sure if Capcom will blast back to the past for this or not. They have remade the original RE a fair few times now so possibly!

Hell we might get something unprecedented and end up with Albert Wesker who is both popular and offers a lot more than all four of the (most likely) protagonists combat wise. Pretty unlikely though.

it would be the best case scenario everyone gets a character they like if your a RE fan that is plus 2 girls what's not to love

 

[Guybrush20X6]

I always wonder if we ever get a sports genre rep who would get that spot.

Well Boxing is a sport.


And Waluigi uses a Tennis Racket in his assist.

 

[Nquoid]

I think a lot of people think Leon is the most likely for a variety of reasons. Resident Evil 2 was the first game on a Nintendo console, Resident Evil 4 is one of the most critically acclaimed games of all time and Resident Evil 2 is the one that got the acclaimed remake this year. It's all circumstantial, and I'm less confident in a Capcom rep as the pass continues, but I think Leon matters more to Nintendo and I hope Sakurai would fact that in.

Otherwise it should be Chris & Jill together rather than just chosing one to reflect the original Resident Evil

 

[King Sonnn DeDeDoo]

I always wonder if we ever get a sports genre rep who would get that spot.

Mark Evans/Endou Mamoru from Inazuma Eleven by Level-5.

Basically a soccer player with super powers.

 

[BlueMonk]

I think it's important to remember that Sakurai is approaching these series as a fan, not as the manager. Capcom might push Chris, but that doesn't mean Chris is the character that Sakurai would want. Now, if Capcom were a company like Square Enix then they might try and make Sakurai use the character that they're trying to market, but Capcom is probably one of the most lax companies when it comes to crossovers, so they would likely let Sakurai use whoever he wants.

 

[Playstation Guy 1000]

I know it's not going to happen but I would love to tony hawk as WTF character.

Mark Evans/Endou Mamoru from Inazuma Eleven by Level-5.

Basically a soccer player with super powers.

I'm surpise that character wasn't mention as much as the other level-5 characters in the dlc speculation

 

[Flyboy]

I always wonder if we ever get a sports genre rep who would get that spot.

I joke a lot about Dan Marino from NFL Blitz being in because I always picked the Dolphins in the N64 game and he was OP. That said, i would love Ryota Hayami or Akari Hayami from Nintendo's own Wave Race/1080 Snowboarding series. I wish they kept making them - Wave Race: Blue Storm is one of my favorite racing games/sports games. I even have a Wave Race/Ryota support thread linked in my signature, plug plug.

 

[N3ON]

I always wonder if we ever get a sports genre rep who would get that spot.

Spoiler

Truly the Jim Thorpe of our time.

 

[King Sonnn DeDeDoo]

I know it's not going to happen but I would love to tony hawk as WTF character.

I'm surpise that character wasn't mention as much as the other level-5 characters in the dlc speculation

He's kind of overshadowed by his competitors, Professor Layton is still the best selling and popular worldwide of Level 5 games and Yo-Kai Watch is more popular in Japan than Inzuma Eleven.

 

[Godzillathewonderdog]

Give us Leon and add Jill as an echo fighter (or vice versa) pls.

 

[Guybrush20X6]

I think it's important to remember that Sakurai is approaching these series as a fan, not as the manager. Capcom might push Chris, but that doesn't mean Chris is the character that Sakurai would want. Now, if Capcom were a company like Square Enix then they might try and make Sakurai use the character that they're trying to market, but Capcom is probably one of the most lax companies when it comes to crossovers, so they would likely let Sakurai use whoever he wants.

I just have it in my head Sakurai is given the list at the meeting as they're wrapping up on Piranha Plant and as soon as he sees Joker is a possibility he just warps right out of there and starts working on it ASAP.

 

[BlueMonk]

I just have it in my head Sakurai is given the list at the meeting as they're wrapping up on Piranha Plant and as soon as he sees Joker is a possibility he just warps right out of there and starts working on it ASAP.

This made me remember that he's choosing off of Nintendo's list lol. That makes things a little different, though Nintendo probably gives him a bit of lenience with the list.

 

[yeet123]

You know what? Here's a theory. I'm calling it Major Arcana theory. We will get 22 total newcomers (unique) for the game, and here's who they'll be.

1. Fool - Joker
2. Magician - ???
3. High Priestess - Isabelle
4. Empress - ???
5. Emperor - ???
6. Hierophant - ???
7. Lovers - Banjo & Kazooie
8. Chariot - Piranha Plant
9. Justice - Hero
10. Hermit - King K. Rool
11. Wheel of Fortune - ???
12. Strength - Simon Belmont
13. Hanged Man - Inkling
14. Death - Ridley
15. Temperance - ???
16. Devil - Incineroar
17. Tower - ???
18. Star - Terry Bogard
19. Moon - ???
20. Sun - ???
21. Judgement - ???
22. World - ???
23. Happy Squirrel - ???

...by the way I'm kidding but I thought it was interesting, I don't have anything substantial to add. I'll shut up now...

Is this... A MOTHER****IN JOJOS REFERENCE?

 

[EricTheGamerman]

I can't say I'm really seeing much reason for us to get Echoes during the post Fighter's Pass DLC. I just don't think they carry enough weight anymore to be worth Nintendo and Sakurai's time.

 

[ThatOneAnon]

I'm not a Tales Of fan but personally I would love Lloyd as he's been a long-time request from a number of fans since the Brawl days and thus his inclusion would weed out the fake, non-epic gamers who are very cringe and unbased.
It'd be funny.

 

[Hypercat-Z]

H... Hudson?!?!
Ohhh my goodness he's in!!!

Spoiler: People will be salty

Yeah! And with Wonderboy as alt!

 

[DaybreakHorizon]

You know what? Here's a theory. I'm calling it Major Arcana theory.

you ****in' wot m8???

...by the way I'm kidding but I thought it was interesting, I don't have anything substantial to add. I'll shut up now...

Thank gosh. We don't need any more theories going around. Besides. We all know Nihilist Theory is the one true theory.
Tying newcomers with Arcana is a pretty cool concept though. No need to be so self-deprecating man.

 

[yeet123]

BEARRY CONFIRMED