Official Next Smash - Speculation & Discussion Thread

[DarthEnderX]

Oh but Steve is?

No? Wtf still calls Steve an indie character?

I don’t know what that is either

checks Warning points

I'll tell you in a couple weeks.

 

[Swamp Sensei]

Sukon *********!!!

Wow. I cannot believe that Deez and then a slang term for an inappropriate part of the body is censored.

The joke was right there. It was perfect.

 

[Noipoi]

Wow. I cannot believe that Deez and then a slang term for an inappropriate part of the body is censored.

The joke was right there. It was perfect.

It didn’t used to be. But over in the social thread we got a little too into making deez and Candace jokes so they made them illegal.

 

[fogbadge]

Wow. I cannot believe that Deez and then a slang term for an inappropriate part of the body is censored.

The joke was right there. It was perfect.

Don’t worry it only made you look like a psycho

 

[PeridotGX]

Idk why you guys are using the JP/EU name for the series when it's clearly called Vault Boy.

Jokes aside, Fallout is underrated as a pick, as the fanbase seems to focus solely on Doom to the exclusion of two other very popular Bethesda IP. Fallout, like Skyrim, is also a lot bigger in Japan than Doom is.

Though Skyrim/ES is bigger, and Doom Slayer is more requested, (and for whatever it may or may not be worth, both have more/bigger Nintendo attendance), so I'm not sure exactly what Fallout's hook would be. Nonetheless, it's still overlooked given its size and prevalence.

My assumption is that Fallout is one series the mascot may trump the protagonist in likeliness. It's not like some power armor-clad protag couldn't happen, but Vault Boy overarchs across titles, is the face of the series, and is overall more recognizable. I think he'd represent the series as a whole better. Fwiw, that's also who got the costume, not the protag.

Obviously for Fortnite, a normal-proportioned human works better. Personally I think Vault Boy meshes better with the Smash cast.

I think adding Vault Boy would be weird, because he's fictional in his own universe. I know they did that with Reptar in NASB, but I assumed that was because they didn't want to have you beat up babies. He's iconic enough to maybe get away with it, but I don't know.

Okay you ignored something. Wow I wonder if the game about nukes would fly getting anything more than a costume in the Japanese children’s party game? I get we’ve gotten M Rated characters before, and a couple of my most wanted are from said mature rated games, but being the only country to ever get nuked is probably going to damage the chance of a character from a series about nukes from ever getting into the game.

The biggest obstacle, getting any recognition at all, has been cleared. Not saying it'll happen for sure, but it's not impossible

 

[Swamp Sensei]

Don’t worry it only made you look like a psycho

Ah. I'm moving up in the world.

 

[Dinoman96]

[Insider Gaming] DOOM: The Dark Ages to be Revealed at Xbox Games Showcase

https://insider-gaming.com/41814-2doom-the-dark-ages/

www.resetera.com

NateDrake: DOOM - The Dark Ages is a Multiplatform (PC/Xbox/PS5) release, and will be revealed as such

https://x.com/NateTheHate2/status/1794109253856161986 Another one from the Discord leak!

www.resetera.com

A new Doom seems to be getting announced next month, and it looks like it's gonna be multiplatform. This will definitely ensure Doomguy being a popular candidate the next time around.

 

[dream1ng]

I think adding Vault Boy would be weird, because he's fictional in his own universe. I know they did that with Reptar in NASB, but I assumed that was because they didn't want to have you beat up babies. He's iconic enough to maybe get away with it, but I don't know.

If we're going to start imposing canon you're going to find many holes in the roster, not the least of which being two Marios and two Samuses.

 

[Noipoi]

[Insider Gaming] DOOM: The Dark Ages to be Revealed at Xbox Games Showcase

https://insider-gaming.com/41814-2doom-the-dark-ages/

www.resetera.com

NateDrake: DOOM - The Dark Ages is a Multiplatform (PC/Xbox/PS5) release, and will be revealed as such

https://x.com/NateTheHate2/status/1794109253856161986 Another one from the Discord leak!

www.resetera.com

A new Doom seems to be getting announced next month, and it looks like it's gonna be multiplatform. This will definitely ensure Doomguy being a popular candidate the next time around.

And Isabelle better be in his reveal trailer

 

[pitchfulprocessing]

Idk why you guys are using the JP/EU name for the series when it's clearly called Vault Boy.

Jokes aside, Fallout is underrated as a pick, as the fanbase seems to focus solely on Doom to the exclusion of two other very popular Bethesda IP. Fallout, like Skyrim, is also a lot bigger in Japan than Doom is.

Though Skyrim/ES is bigger, and Doom Slayer is more requested, (and for whatever it may or may not be worth, both have more/bigger Nintendo attendance), so I'm not sure exactly what Fallout's hook would be. Nonetheless, it's still overlooked given its size and prevalence.

My assumption is that Fallout is one series the mascot may trump the protagonist in likeliness. It's not like some power armor-clad protag couldn't happen, but Vault Boy overarchs across titles, is the face of the series, and is overall more recognizable. I think he'd represent the series as a whole better. Fwiw, that's also who got the costume, not the protag.

Obviously for Fortnite, a normal-proportioned human works better. Personally I think Vault Boy meshes better with the Smash cast.

I'm not sure, I feel like the same applies to Slime vs Hero for the most part, and Hero was still favoured there. I would say part of Fallout's appeal is its unique aesthetic, and that's best captured by someone who wears the armour and iconography you see associated with the series. Plus, a Vault Boy moveset would basically just be riffing on what the protagonist does based on all the illustrations anyways.

In any case, I could see a Fallout character having a fun moveset, it would be cool. Plasmacaster which fires a slow but powerful plasma bolt for the neutral special, side special is a grenade launcher from New Vegas which fires an explosive shot in a specific arcing trajectory that can be adjusted based on how long you hold the button, down special places a cryo mine which deals damage and slows down the opponent if they directly touch it but which can't be automatically detonated like Snake's, recovery is riding an Eyebot to rise vertically. Make them kind of a stage control pseudo zoner type character who moves and attacks slow due to high start up but makes up for it with a number of high-utlity moves and their normals having little endlag, making them safe on shield, encouraging you to think ahead and get the opponent into position for one of their kill moves. They'd most likely have to be heavy and slow, so kind of automatically a big disadvantage, but archetype wise somewhere in between K Rool and Snake. Final smash is the mini-nuke launcher assuming that flies, and if not that you can use the Vertibird signal from 4.

 

[ninjahmos]

If Doomguy gets in and has a voice, they should make him sound like he does in Doom 1&2 (even though his voice clips are just edited stock vocal sound effects).

Maybe they could even add in his facial expressions, which they're probably not gonna do.

 

[JOJONumber691]

The biggest obstacle, getting any recognition at all, has been cleared. Not saying it'll happen for sure, but it's not impossible

Yeah, but beyond the basic recognition, what content, particularly music, that wouldn’t run into either copyright issues or something else? How do you include Fallout in a major capacity, one requiring a fighter, while also keeping your CERO A rating? That’s why I think Vault Boy is still incredibly unlikely even after the TV Show.

 

[chocolatejr9]

Yeah, but beyond the basic recognition, what content, particularly music, that wouldn’t run into either copyright issues or something else? How do you include Fallout in a major capacity, one requiring a fighter, while also keeping your CERO A rating? That’s why I think Vault Boy is still incredibly unlikely even after the TV Show.

Okay, for starters, don't call it "Fallout": call it "Vault Boy Adventures". Then, avoid using ANY game footage. Instead, only use the animated vids used in the games. Basically, pretend this is something completely different.

Um... I'm not sure where I'm going with this joke...

 

[LiveStudioAudience]

This kind of has me wanting Bethesda to put out an actual Vault Boy Adventures game for the Switch in the style of the first two Fallout titles with the conceit that it's a simulation that a vault is running to train its dwellers for eventually going out in the wasteland. It would be a lighthearted and clearly cleaned up idea of the wasteland made up of entirely inaccurate information the vault leaders have about the outside world but would serve to make the title essentially an affectionate parody of Fallout's early years.

 

[dream1ng]

I'm not sure, I feel like the same applies to Slime vs Hero for the most part, and Hero was still favoured there.

Yeah, they chose Hero over Slime. They chose Pikachu over trainer. They chose Terry over the MC of KoF. They chose Min Min over Spring-Man. I think when you take all the options they went with, you see that no one role automatically overrules the other so much as every situation is its own paradigm.

I would say part of Fallout's appeal is its unique aesthetic, and that's best captured by someone who wears the armour and iconography you see associated with the series.

Are you saying the mascot isn't part of a series' aesthetic? Including them isn't betraying the game's aesthetic... it's utilizing what the series itself volunteers as its face. I mean, currently the sole piece of content Fallout is represented by in Smash isn't the armor.

I think a big part of Fallout's aesthetic is juxtaposing dystopian post-apocalyptic and utopian vintage 30s-50s style. That sets it apart from any number of games that use a similar wasteland setting, or have main characters clad in power armor. You have the armor, which is obviously recognizable, but some of the most enduring imagery are things like Vault Boy or nuka cola. I mean the show's MC wears the vault jumpsuit.

Plus... we'd also get a stage. It's not like everything is represented solely through the character. And in some ways stages represent series' aesthetic even better than the fighters. Look at Dracula's Castle. Or Mementos.

Plus, a Vault Boy moveset would basically just be riffing on what the protagonist does based on all the illustrations anyways.

Ok... but we don't have the protagonist. Whoever gets in will still be original.

 

[GoldenYuiitusin]

Terry is still a protagonist.
Fatal Fury existed before KoF.

 

[dream1ng]

Terry is still a protagonist.
Fatal Fury existed before KoF.

Yeah but let's be real.

FF exists but KoF doesn't, what were the chances of getting an SNK character?

Terry got in because he's their mascot, not because he's FF's protagonist.

 

[HyperSomari64]

Yeah but let's be real.

FF exists but KoF doesn't, what were the chances of getting an SNK character?

Terry got in because he's their mascot, not because he's FF's protagonist.

Is "FF" Final Fantasy, Final Fight or Fatal Frame?

 

[GoldenYuiitusin]

Yeah but let's be real.

FF exists but KoF doesn't, what were the chances of getting an SNK character?

Terry got in because he's their mascot, not because he's FF's protagonist.

Literally doesn't matter.

The point is that "someone got picked over the protagonist".
Terry is still a protagonist and thus does not fit the point. Especially when he's listed as a Fatal Fury character, not a KoF character.
Which means....the protagonist got picked for the series.

 

[dream1ng]

Literally doesn't matter.

The point is that "someone got picked over the protagonist".
Terry is still a protagonist and thus does not fit the point. Especially when he's listed as a Fatal Fury character, not a KoF character.
Which means....the protagonist got picked for the series.

Or the point is they got picked because they were the protagonist, and then it does matter, because I dispute that being why Terry was picked.

 

[GoldenYuiitusin]

Or the point is they got picked because they were the protagonist, and then it does matter, because I dispute that being why Terry was picked.

It literally doesn't ****ing matter.
The series in question that is being represented is not KoF. It's Fatal Fury.

Terry is the protagonist of Fatal Fury. He didn't get in "over the protagonist of KoF" because KOF IS NOT WHAT HE'S BILLED TO REPRESENT.

 

[pitchfulprocessing]

Yeah, they chose Hero over Slime. They chose Pikachu over trainer. They chose Terry over the MC of KoF. They chose Min Min over Spring-Man. I think when you take all the options they went with, you see that no one role automatically overrules the other so much as every situation is its own paradigm.

Well I'm really not sure those three are comparable examples. Terry isn't the cartoon mascot you don't play as compared to Kyo, he's the main protagonist of Fatal Fury and is an important character in KoF, which itself has an ensemble cast and rotates main character. Terry represents both Fatal Fury specifically, that's the series he's highlighted as being from in his trailer, and KoF as a whole. It's not picking a mascot over a protagonist, it's picking a more popular and ubiquitous protagonist over a different protagonist. The same applies to Min Min, ARMS is an ensemble cast with no single main character, so the dev team picked the one who was the most popular. Sakurai goes out of his way to specify everybody is the protagonist in ARMS to explain why they didn't go with the obvious pick of Spring Man and that Min Min had the advantage of being the developer request.

Pikachu over Trainer is the closest example, but that was in Smash 64, Pikachu is the character who actually fights and does battle with the game's mechanics, and the Trainer got in later anyways.

I'm not saying I think Vault Boy would be an impossible pick or that he wouldn't make sense, I could see it happening for sure, I'm just saying I think historically Smash favours protagonists over someone who isn't one in pretty much every case.

Are you saying the mascot isn't part of a series' aesthetic?

Nope lol. I was just saying I think a protagonist would capture the aesthetic better inherently. In-game Vault Boy is used as marketing and a logo in juxtaposition to the setting, like you mentioned, the idea of it being a retro-futurist apocalypse is part of the appeal. In that sense, I think picking a protagonist works better because you see the game from that perspective and through the largely worn-down apocalyptic setting and armor and weaponry, in contrast to the highlights of corporate marketing and cartoony mascots. I feel like picking that, and the character who appears on the cover of every game, would better reflect the series than making the playable representation fully the cartoony mascot you don't experience the role of. Ofc there's other forms of representation and I'm sure a stage would be a direct translation, but the playable rep is a big part and definitely the most highlight role.

But again, that's also not to say I think Vault Boy would be a bad representation and that if you picked him it wouldn't work. It would be fine if you went with him and then had everything else be the same, I don't mind that much lol. I'm just saying I think a protagonist would work generally better and be more faithful in the context of both essentially having the same moveset opportunity if I were to pick one.

 

[chocolatejr9]

Is "FF" Final Fantasy, Final Fight or Fatal Frame?

None: it's Fur Fighters.

 

[Will]

[Insider Gaming] DOOM: The Dark Ages to be Revealed at Xbox Games Showcase

https://insider-gaming.com/41814-2doom-the-dark-ages/

www.resetera.com

NateDrake: DOOM - The Dark Ages is a Multiplatform (PC/Xbox/PS5) release, and will be revealed as such

https://x.com/NateTheHate2/status/1794109253856161986 Another one from the Discord leak!

www.resetera.com

A new Doom seems to be getting announced next month, and it looks like it's gonna be multiplatform. This will definitely ensure Doomguy being a popular candidate the next time around.

Nintendo’s already putting those porting boys to work the day after buying them, I see.

 

[pitchfulprocessing]

Nintendo’s already putting those porting boys to work the day after buying them, I see.

The Doom ports for Switch were done by Panic Button, who work pretty closely with Id, so I don't think it'd be Shiver, though Nintendo having a first party porting studio might help. I imagine if this game gets ported it will be a while later, cause it's PS5/Series X tier and that's still well above the Switch 2's paygrade based on reported specs.

The premise sounds pretty cool, I'm interested for sure, though it does make me wish for a new Quake or Hexen game lol.

 

[GoldenYuiitusin]

Simple logic.

Someone cannot be a valid case of "mascot being picked over the protagonist"....if said mascot is also a protagonist.

 

[Dinoman96]

Yeah, I think Microsoft's probably waiting on Nintendo's next platform before bringing their stuff over. I imagine we'll be seeing Doom TDA, Sea of Thieves, and whatever else goes to PS5 there as well.

I'd like to say Hi-Fi Rush would come over to Switch 2 as well, but...after everything that just happened in the past few weeks....

 

[dream1ng]

It literally doesn't ****ing matter.
The series in question that is being represented is not KoF. It's Fatal Fury.

Terry is the protagonist of Fatal Fury. He didn't get in "over the protagonist of KoF" because KOF IS NOT WHAT HE'S BILLED TO REPRESENT.

Yeah, it matters, because your argument is Terry = protagonist Terry = picked, so I am wrong. I know he's a protagonist.

But I think Terry got in to represent all of SNK, or at least all of SNK's fighters. Most characters aren't included to represent more than their series, so generally the scope doesn't exceed that. But I think it does here. So yes he is a protagonist, but I think he was included because he was a mascot. I think being a protagonist was incidental, because FF was a smaller fraction of the whole picture. I'm not disputing he was a protagonist.

So yes Terry is a protagonist, well spotted. He's not exempt from being a protagonist who got in, I didn't argue that he was. But Terry got in because he was a mascot. Which matters as soon as you start asking why characters get in instead of listing off their rote qualities.

So I do believe Terry did get in over the protagonist of KoF. And SamSho. And Art of Fighting. And all of SNK's other fighting game characters. Because that's what I believe the representation was truly for. I mean...

Terry was billed as FF... because that's his home series.

 

[GoldenYuiitusin]

Yes, Terry is a mascot.
Yes, that's likely a contributing factor because he transcends his franchise as a face of the company.

But the logic of "he got in over a protagonist" is completely invalid regardless because he IS one.

Trying to spin it as "Oh, but he got in over X protagonist of X series" is asinine and reeks of desperation to prove he fits the narrative.

By that logic Pac-Man fits the narrative.

 

[HyperSomari64]

If Terry isn't SNK's mascot, by that logic, the Simpson family (Homer, Marge, Bart, Lisa and Maggie) weren't (at one point) the mascots of 20th Century Fox

 

[GoldenYuiitusin]

If Terry isn't SNK's mascot, by that logic, the Simpson family (Homer, Marge, Bart, Lisa and Maggie) weren't (at one point) the mascots of 20th Century Fox

Literally no one is saying Terry isn't the mascot.

Can you for once stop trying to arbitrarily connect topics to things that are outside media as non-sequitors that add nothing to discussion?
You've been called out for this dozens of times now. And I know you see it every time someone does because you Like each post as if you're just happy to get attention.


Like right now. You just Liked the post but you're going to ignore it and keep doing it.

 

[Wonder Smash]

If Doomguy gets in and has a voice, they should make him sound like he does in Doom 1&2 (even though his voice clips are just edited stock vocal sound effects).

Maybe they could even add in his facial expressions, which they're probably not gonna do.

Actually, they just might do that somehow. I can picture them giving Doom Slayer facial expressions similar to the earlier games that you can only see if you look close enough through his helmet. Smash does tend to have sneaky little references like that, so that just might be the same case here.

 

[dream1ng]

Yes, Terry is a mascot.
Yes, that's likely a contributing factor because he transcends his franchise as a face of the company.

But the logic of "he got in over a protagonist" is completely invalid regardless because he IS one.

He did get in over KoF's protagonist. KoF is a much bigger series, and one that, unlike with most characters, is part of what Terry came representing, and had other options which, I believe, could have been eligible for the spot.

But I didn't say he got in over a protagonist, because that would imply Terry isn't one. I said KoF's MC. Because I believe the spot is for SNK/SNK's fighters (not FF specifically, but including FF), and if you were simply going for the protagonist role, you'd go for the one from the biggest series. Especially when it's so much bigger than the others.

Trying to spin it as "Oh, but he got in over X protagonist of X series" is asinine and reeks of desperation to prove he fits the narrative.

Well I think he does fit the narrative of a character getting in because they're a mascot. I think that's a bigger contributing factor than being the protagonist of FF. Because I don't think Terry gets in without those other series contributing to what I believe actually got SNK the character, being the sum of its parts.

If you're insinuating that I ever said him getting in because he's a mascot means he's not a protagonist... I didn't. But I'm looking at why a character was included, because I believe that's more germane than aspects of their portfolio which were less contributory.

 

[Louie G.]

I don't really know what this argument is about. Terry is a protagonist, and a mascot. That combination of things made him an ideal candidate. He represents the Fatal Fury series, of which he is the protagonist. The King of Fighters tournament originates from these games.

Whether you want to read it as an excuse or otherwise, Sakurai gave us a valuable sentiment about another character previously mentioned. When Yabuki suggested Min Min to be playable, he and Sakurai came to the consensus that everyone is technically the protagonist of ARMS. Even if Terry were chosen as a "King of Fighters" representative and not a "Fatal Fury" representative, this sentiment would be an easy justification for that game as well. So it feels like, if anything, fighting games are just the genre where this criteria becomes more lenient.

I think there are other scenarios where this could be flexible - after all, Slime was on the table if Hero was denied. I suspect Nintendo may have a backup plan if Monster Hunter were to be rejected as well (Palico, maybe?). Or a special case like Undertale where Sans is by far the more popular request. But as is, the precedent hasn't really been broken. The fact that Sakurai needed to give that protagonist excuse in the first place conveys where his mind is typically at with this. Which granted, I don't even personally agree with that decision sometimes, but he's laid it on pretty thick by now.

 

[SMAASH! Puppy]

Okay you ignored something. Wow I wonder if the game about nukes would fly getting anything more than a costume in the Japanese children’s party game? I get we’ve gotten M Rated characters before, and a couple of my most wanted are from said mature rated games, but being the only country to ever get nuked is probably going to damage the chance of a character from a series about nukes from ever getting into the game.

With Vault Boy as a Mii Costume I don't think the subject matter is an issue. Yeah a Mii Costume is not a character, but that would be a strange and arbitrary line to draw.

Also, in my quick Google search the only thing I found about any of the Fallout games being banned in Japan is Fallout 3 for its depiction of drugs. There's also a few sources saying that it does well in Japan. Granted it's chat rooms, so take it with a grain of salt, but it seems we're a far cry away from Napalm Man and his stage getting Mega Man 5 banned in Vietnam.

Sukon *********!!!

HA! *******!

 

[SharkLord]

I don't really know what this argument is about. Terry is a protagonist, and a mascot. That combination of things made him an ideal candidate. He represents the Fatal Fury series, of which he is the protagonist. The King of Fighters tournament originates from these games.

Whether you want to read it as an excuse or otherwise, Sakurai gave us a valuable sentiment about another character previously mentioned. When Yabuki suggested Min Min to be playable, he and Sakurai came to the consensus that everyone is technically the protagonist of ARMS. Even if Terry were chosen as a "King of Fighters" representative and not a "Fatal Fury" representative, this sentiment would be an easy justification for that game as well. So it feels like, if anything, fighting games are just the genre where this criteria becomes more lenient.

I think there are other scenarios where this could be flexible - after all, Slime was on the table if Hero was denied. I suspect Nintendo may have a backup plan if Monster Hunter were to be rejected as well (Palico, maybe?). Or a special case like Undertale where Sans is by far the more popular request. But as is, the precedent hasn't really been broken. The fact that Sakurai needed to give that protagonist excuse in the first place conveys where his mind is typically at with this. Which granted, I don't even personally agree with that decision sometimes, but he's laid it on pretty thick by now.

It would crack the game balance like an egg but the funniest possible option is to have an entire-ass monster as our Monster Hunter rep. We'll most likely get a Hunter, but it would be absolutely hilarious to watch something like a Valstrax doing combo strings and edgeguarding on a platform that it almost entirely covers with it's sheer size alone

@#$%posts aside, though, you're right in that the main character is usually favored. The only exception is Pikachu, and at that point in time the Pokemon were the ones actually doing the fighting in the first place anyways. And like you said, the rules are still flexible - Rather than a single "player character or bust" option, Sakurai seems to compile a short list of viable candidates and chooses the fighter he feels is best fit for the situation - For instance, Robin over Chrom, Pyra over Rex, and Kazuya over Heihachi. They're not necessarily the single most major character, but they're one of the main characters and are able to represent their game in Smash. And since they're easier to implement and/or more distinct than the other possible candidates, Sakurai goes with them instead. So in short, Smash strongly trends towards the "main characters," but there's just a bit of wiggle room as to how many main characters are being considered

Though yeah, Terry isn't really comparable to Pikachu or the Slime. He's a main character in his own right; Not quite as relevant nowadays compared to the later KoF heroes like Kyo, but he was still the OG SNK hero, not a funny marketable creature to put on the box art.

 

[cashregister9]

It would crack the game balance like an egg but the funniest possible option is to have an entire-ass monster as our Monster Hunter rep. We'll most likely get a Hunter, but it would be absolutely hilarious to watch something like a Valstrax doing combo strings and edgeguarding on a platform that it almost entirely covers with it's sheer size alone

I'm just saying, there is an entire Spinoff series of Monster Hunter that could justify the monsters being a smaller size

 

[Verde Coeden Scalesworth]

Let's do remember that Sakurai didn't really "choose" Kazuya in the same way as he chose Robin. But yes, it's easy to see why he'd gravitate to him once suggested. Easier to make work as representing Tekken's fun mechanics respectively.

Incidentally, Kazuya is also one of the main characters and mascots, so it wasn't that hard to see why. Min Min's also the main notable case where she was asked for directly by the Director to Nintendo first. Sakurai's main hangup is he wasn't aware anyone could be a Protagonist in ARMS. Otherwise, Spring Man or Ribbon Girl were just plain better choices in that regard. With the former edging a bit more out than the latter.

That said, Pythra doesn't much count anyway since Shulk was the first protagonist in the Xenoblade Chronicles franchise that got into Smash. Generally, a Mascot or Protagonist tends to take the reigns for the first character of a franchise, and it doesn't need to be the "completely main character" for the Protagonist route either. They're just a reasonable choice since usually the game is from their point of view in many kinds of genre(respectively, the Protagonist or a Protagonist is more likely than a Mascot, but the context matters. Min Min is not the same kind of example to work with, as she wasn't really chosen by Sakurai outright, and he would've taken anyone if he could justify it too. That, and her unique ARMS is what set her apart, not just because she could be a protagonist).

 

[SharkLord]

I'm just saying, there is an entire Spinoff series of Monster Hunter that could justify the monsters being a smaller size

I doubt we'd get a Rider before a Hunter, but I do suppose they could use that as an excuse to downsize the monsters if need be. Sakurai was bullish on adding Ridley for fear of having to downsize him, but it seems that he was downscaled based on his original Metroid appearance. So if Hunters won't work for some odd reason, somewhat-smaller-than-average Rathalos isn't a complete impossibility

 

[Scrimblo Bimblo]

Yeeeeah a new Doom game!
But Doom in the middle ages lol? It sounds so weird but it's probably going to work well.