Official Next Smash - Speculation & Discussion Thread

[Hadokeyblade]

Y


You know what. Call me crazy but a side of me can weirdly enough see it happening. Sakurai gave that game a lot of praise when it came out and literally even saying their won’t ever be another game quite like it. Also the fact that they got some spirits at the end of smash ultimate so randomly is pretty suspicious if you ask me. And this situation almost reminds me of how much Sakurai praised Persona 5 and its UI etc before we got Joker in smash too.

Tho am curious how a moveset for 13 sentinels even work? Would it be our first truly giant character just being a whole Mech? Or would Sakurai make a character with all 13 protagonists somehow? No clue but it sure makes me think how that even work.

Im playing through the game right now, admitedly im not sure how you would about incorporating the mechs in there but the characters themselves fight hand to hand and have weapons in the games cutscenes where they arent in the robots.

The fact that we can see them doing these things gives them a leg up over fox and Falcon lmao.

 

[TheFirstPoppyBro]

They got Kiryu to be a party member in Project X Zone 2 and im pretty sure he was in some random golf game at one point.

They arent against guest spots and im sure in the Smash team walked up to them and asked they would go for it.

Yeah, this is basically how I think it'd go. Other games are one thing but Smash is a HUGE signal boost for any character in it, and I feel like even if they think cross-medium is a better avenue for growth, they'd still deem a Smash appearance worthwhile.

I mean Ultimate's sales figures alone are bigger than the entire Yakuza series as of October this year, so...

 

[GoldenYuiitusin]

This doesn't just shut down Kiryu in Smash but effectively ANYONE from that franchise.

Dang... Majima nowhere

Obligatory text.

 

[Louie G.]

Smash is obviously a big signal boost, but I think it's a bit dismissive to imply Smash has that much more esteem than say, Tekken. One of the most prestigious fighting games around where people have been requesting anything Yakuza to make an appearance for years now. I agree that Sakurai is a miracle worker who can shmooze the best of them, but I feel like Harada can't be that far behind.

I guess my bottom line is I'm not taking that statement as a surefire confirmation Yakuza x Smash can't happen, but I recognize Smash isn't just pure magic where they can get literally any character they want. I know it's ridiculous by default to imagine someone turning down that kind of advertising, but who knows how much integrity and commitment to these ideals these teams have about their characters and worlds. Yakuza certainly isn't having any trouble finding an audience right now, anyway.

I still think it's possible, but I'm not gonna handwave it on the premise of "Smash is Smash" alone.

 

[Gengar84]

Yakuza’s style is a bit too photorealistic to blend in naturally with Smash to me though that hasn’t really stopped characters like Snake. I know the series is known for crazy over the top humor but the characters still visually look like normal people to me. It feels a bit like Grand Theft Auto getting a character. Although, I suppose that could be part of the charm seeing a character that would normally feel out of place try to fit in with the rest of the cast. I think they could make it work if they really wanted to but it would probably require a bit more effort.

 

[Ivander]

If we got a new SEGA character and it was a new franchise but they somehow went out of their way to add another completely different Atlus series I think I'd cry

What about getting our first playable Vanillaware character in Smash Bros?

 

[Hadokeyblade]

Yakuza’s style is a bit too photorealistic to blend in naturally with Smash to me though that hasn’t really stopped characters like Snake. I know the series is known for crazy over the top humor but the characters still visually look like normal people to me. It feels a bit like Grand Theft Auto getting a character. Although, I suppose that could be part of the charm seeing a character that would normally feel out of place try to fit in with the rest of the cast. I think they could make it work if they really wanted to but it would probably require a bit more effort.

I mean, that is part of the bit, these normal guys getting caught up in over the top scenarios.

Its perfect for smash when viewed like that.

 

[GoldenYuiitusin]

Yakuza’s style is a bit too photorealistic to blend in naturally with Smash to me though that hasn’t really stopped characters like Snake. I know the series is known for crazy over the top humor but the characters still visually look like normal people to me. It feels a bit like Grand Theft Auto getting a character. Although, I suppose that could be part of the charm seeing a character that would normally feel out of place try to fit in with the rest of the cast. I think they could make it work if they really wanted to but it would probably require a bit more effort.

would like a word with you.

 

[Kirby Dragons]

What do you think of the potential of comparatively smaller series that still have some connection to Nintendo like Disgaea, Battletoads, Contra, River City, Chrono, and Octopath Traveller getting a character in Smash? I think we sometimes focus a bit too much on sales of a series when determining the possibility of seeing a franchise get a character in Smash. While there are several more mainstream options than these, I think each offers a lot and they could all bring something unique in a fighter. I think it makes things more fun when we can see a mix of both mainstream and smaller titles get representation.

There's definitely a lot of characters from smaller series that could be unique, but for them to become playable, I think Sakurai (or whoever develops the next game) would have to have played the series in their free time and fallen in love with the character. Otherwise they'd be looking at bigger series.

Anyway, time for a new topic: let’s say the reveal trailer showed five newcomers. Three of them would be first party, and the other two would be third party. What characters within that criteria would be best suited for that reveal trailer?

Dee, Waluigi, Isaac, Dante, Sol

 

[The Prankster 16]

If we get a Wild-era Zelda Character for the next game (that’s not another version of the Triforce trio) who would you like it to be? For me, I think the top 3 choices are either Sidon, Urbosa, or Rauru. Personally, I really want Urbosa but i’d be fine with the other two.

 

[Perkilator]

If we get a Wild-era Zelda Character for the next game (that’s not another version of the Triforce trio) who would you like it to be?

I’m still pretty sold on Delzethin’s take on Rauru.

 

[NotGenerico]

Smash is obviously a big signal boost, but I think it's a bit dismissive to imply Smash has that much more esteem than say, Tekken. One of the most prestigious fighting games around where people have been requesting anything Yakuza to make an appearance for years now. I agree that Sakurai is a miracle worker who can shmooze the best of them, but I feel like Harada can't be that far behind.

I guess my bottom line is I'm not taking that statement as a surefire confirmation Yakuza x Smash can't happen, but I recognize Smash isn't just pure magic where they can get literally any character they want. I know it's ridiculous by default to imagine someone turning down that kind of advertising, but who knows how much integrity and commitment to these ideals these teams have about their characters and worlds. Yakuza certainly isn't having any trouble finding an audience right now, anyway.

I still think it's possible, but I'm not gonna handwave it on the premise of "Smash is Smash" alone.

Isn't this a similar situation to what happened with the Dragon Quest Heroes? As far as I'm aware of, the main Heroes were usually off limits for crossover appearances and weren't even part of the roster for the Dragon Quest Musou spinoff.

The player can choose to fight as Hero from DQXI, III, IV, and VIII. Truth be told, up until now it was completely unheard of for Dragon Quest’s heroes to fight each other – this is a special case.

Sakurai got permission to use them and even notes how something like this has never happened before. I'd imagine the same thing would happen if Nintendo approached Sega and asked for Kiryu or Ichiban.

To be honest, I suspect the reason why Kiryu hasn't been added to Tekken is because he's most likely going to appear on the new Virtua Fighter.

 

[fogbadge]

If we get a Wild-era Zelda Character for the next game (that’s not another version of the Triforce trio) who would you like it to be? For me, I think the top 3 choices are either Sidon, Urbosa, or Rauru. Personally, I really want Urbosa but i’d be fine with the other two.

Sidon is probably my top pick. I’ve always had a soft spot for zoras

 

[Hadokeyblade]

Isn't this a similar situation to what happened with the Dragon Quest Heroes? As far as I'm aware of, the main Heroes were usually off limits for crossover appearances and weren't even part of the roster for the Dragon Quest Musou spinoff.
Sakurai got permission to use them and even notes how something like this has never happened before. I'd imagine the same thing would happen if Nintendo approached Sega and asked for Kiryu or Ichiban.

To be honest, I suspect the reason why Kiryu hasn't been added to Tekken is because he's most likely going to appear on the new Virtua Fighter.

Wasnt it a thing that they originally considered Slime but were told they could use the heroes?

I vaguely remember something like that.

 

[The Stoopid Unikorn]

Wasnt it a thing that they originally considered Slime but were told they could use the heroes?

I vaguely remember something like that.

Opposite, actually.

Sakurai intended to bring the Heroes from the start but was willing to make a compromise with Slime if he couldn't manage to pull that off, being aware that Square Enix limits usage of DQ Heroes so much even the franchise's own spin-offs can't have them to the point where he actually acknowledged it..

Slime was effectively Sakurai's backup plan.

 

[GoldenYuiitusin]

Isn't this a similar situation to what happened with the Dragon Quest Heroes? As far as I'm aware of, the main Heroes were usually off limits for crossover appearances and weren't even part of the roster for the Dragon Quest Musou spinoff.
Sakurai got permission to use them and even notes how something like this has never happened before. I'd imagine the same thing would happen if Nintendo approached Sega and asked for Kiryu or Ichiban.

To be honest, I suspect the reason why Kiryu hasn't been added to Tekken is because he's most likely going to appear on the new Virtua Fighter.

Not quite the same.

One was just an unspoken rule about the specific characters in question.

This is "we want to prioritize different promotional outlets than guest appearances in other games", which is a far different beast.

It isn't a hard no, but it makes the idea a bit of a crapshoot on if they want to do Smash.

 

[Ivander]

If we get a Wild-era Zelda Character for the next game (that’s not another version of the Triforce trio) who would you like it to be? For me, I think the top 3 choices are either Sidon, Urbosa, or Rauru. Personally, I really want Urbosa but i’d be fine with the other two.

I'd be good with anybody, since any of them would be fresh air from getting another Link/Zelda/Ganondorf. Any of Daruk, Yunobo, Mipha, Sidon, Riju, Urbosa, Revali, Teba, Tulin, Rauru, Mineru and Kohga I would be good with getting in.

Link I could see getting his Tears of the Kingdom look as an Alternate since his Breath of the Wild version is already in. I'm curious on what they will do for Ganondorf. Zelda...in all honesty, while it's possible for Smash Bros. Zelda to be changed into BotW/TotK Zelda, I'm expecting BotW/ToTK Zelda to potentially be a new character, especially if Sakurai wants to make a character that has many of the abilities Link can use in Breath of the Wild and Tears of the Kingdom. Rauru can somewhat fit into that gap if Sakurai wanted, but it's hard to imagine a mostly background NPC getting in over arguably the most important, and easily much more popular character of the BotW/ToTK duology.

Man, waiting for the next Smash Bros to see what will happen with Zelda and it's characters and what Sakurai and Nintendo choose to do is pain.

 

[Speed Weed]

What about getting our first playable Vanillaware character in Smash Bros?

Admittedly would be cool but getting more core SEGA stuff is still top priority for me

 

[GoldenYuiitusin]

What about getting our first playable Vanillaware character in Smash Bros?

Dragon's Crown? :V

 

[Ivander]

Dragon's Crown? :V

Well, the Elf is able to get in at the least.

 

[GoldenYuiitusin]

Well, the Elf is able to get in at the least.

Sakurai will find a way to get Sorceress in.
For....reasons. :V

 

[DarthEnderX]

I think it's a bit dismissive to imply Smash has that much more esteem than say, Tekken.

...but it does.

That's why Smash gets Cloud, Sephiroth and Sora. And Tekken gets...Noctis and Clive.

 

[Louie G.]

...but it does.

That's why Smash gets Cloud, Sephiroth and Sora. And Tekken gets...Noctis and Clive.

I’m pretty sure it’s simply because Sakurai negotiated for Cloud and Sephiroth, and Harada negotiated for Noctis and Clive. We have no indication that Tekken was denied more iconic and popular characters, or that Harada ever wanted FF7 characters instead.

In this video Harada talks about how he was inspired looking at images from FFXV to bring an RPG character into a fighting game, because it would be surprising to players. It seems likely they asked for Noctis directly, which they were granted. Has nothing to do with Cloud, or Tekken’s individual prestige.

 

[Folezicle Lives!]

...but it does.

That's why Smash gets Cloud, Sephiroth and Sora. And Tekken gets...Noctis and Clive.

I would tend to agree but mot due to third party reasons. But Smash can cater to a wider audience both casual and 'core' gamers. Tekken has been around longer but and I haven't double checked this but Tekken is another 2D fighter not an original concept like Smash Bros and outside core gamers I doubt your average joe would know of any characters. I feel Street Fighter would be more of a comparison to Smash when judging by esteem

 

[Hadokeyblade]

I would tend to agree but mot due to third party reasons. But Smash can cater to a wider audience both casual and 'core' gamers. Tekken has been around longer but and I haven't double checked this but Tekken is another 2D fighter not an original concept like Smash Bros and outside core gamers I doubt your average joe would know of any characters. I feel Street Fighter would be more of a comparison to Smash when judging by esteem

3D fighter actually

 

[SMAASH! Puppy]

Eh. His arms and legs don't enter into his moveset at all, so they're not necessary for replacing him.

A bit pedantic, but MODOK has an air normal where he does a flutter kick. IIRC he spams it in all of his longer combos.

Honestly what I'd be more worried about is Analyze Cube, since while you could just make up some sort of system that the Wily Machine is using as the reason for such a mechanic, from a character perspective I don't think the mechanic makes sense on Dr. Wily.

I also kind of feel like a closer to source material interpretation would have Dr. Wily be more similar to Arthur or Sentinel than MODOK due to the emphasis on projectiles, and he'd also likely have some sort of mechanic where he ejects at low (or 0) health (or just as a super) and you fight as Wily Capsule with teleport shenanigans.

 

[DarthEnderX]

I also kind of feel like a closer to source material interpretation would have Dr. Wily be more similar to Arthur or Sentinel than MODOK due to the emphasis on projectiles

Why would you replace Arthur with Wily? Arthur is already a Capcom character?

 

[Swamp Sensei]

So, how do you think Sakurai views echoes in regards to franchise representation? And to clarify, I don't mean "unique echoes" like Young Link, Wolf or Isabelle.

It's really easy for fans to look at Pit, Dark Pit and Palutena and say Kid Icarus has three characters. Do you think Sakurai sees it the same way? Does he see it as two characters and a bonus?

 

[Diddy Kong]

My oddball prediction is that if Skull Kid is in the next smash, then young link might tag along too. Would be a tad weird to not have them interact in at least a reveal trailer, you know?

The very reason Young Link is one of the most likely characters not returning is telling for Skull Kid's chances, at least to me. Thematically he doesn't fit in as easily then anymore.

Sure he's popular but in the end only has Majora's Mask to entirely rely on. I would like it if they remixed Young Link into a more unique character based on Majora's Mask however, but I also don't think of that as too likely.

 

[Louie G.]

So, how do you think Sakurai views echoes in regards to franchise representation? And to clarify, I don't mean "unique echoes" like Young Link, Wolf or Isabelle.

It's really easy for fans to look at Pit, Dark Pit and Palutena and say Kid Icarus has three characters. Do you think Sakurai sees it the same way? Does he see it as two characters and a bonus?

This is a good question, and I'm not totally sure what the answer is.

I'm sure Sakurai more than anyone is keen to how much work each character takes, and probably sees the extremely simple echo fighters as the "bonus" inclusions that they very much are. But all the same, I think he may be looking at eight Fire Emblem characters - four of them based on Marth, two of them echo fighters - and thinking that's quite a lot. Or perhaps he felt glad that he could boost Metroid up by two characters, with how long it took to meet those demands. It's all relative to context.

I believe Sakurai is perceptive of this understanding of representation more than people think. In Brawl, I'm confident Zero Suit Samus was added in an effort to boost Metroid's character count. There's a clear effort to make sure Mario and Pokemon have the most characters, there's a clear hierarchy in place that made Mother and Star Fox lose one. But under certain conditions I don't think it matters to him... particularly in Smash Ultimate, where representation was bound to be skewed by EIH anyway. Smash 4's additions of Lucina and Dark Pit were circumstantial, being costume upgrades I don't think they were added with any deliberate mind to character count. And if we think all the way back to Melee's clones, I doubt this kind of thing was much of a thought at all.

What we do know is echo fighters are included in the grand total of promoted playable fighters in the game - 89 characters. For that purpose they are referred to as individual characters. So does that answer our question, or is that just a big number they wanted to use to sell the game? The official numbers given to each fighter tell a different story. I think Sakurai would probably say Kid Icarus has three characters, but those three characters would not be seen as equal to Kirby's three characters... maybe I contradicted myself here, but that makes sense in my head.

Bottom line would be I think he probably sees it more as a bonus, or not a full fighter "value", but it may also boil down to when in development these are being planned out. Later stage additions like Lucina and Dark Pit were irrelevant to this fighter count, but maybe if Dark Pit is penned in from the very beginning he will be seen more as an additional Kid Icarus fighter? I mean, even as is he has his own victory theme and everything. I know I just rambled a bunch and didn't come up with a concrete answer but I think it's... complicated?

 

[SMAASH! Puppy]

I've recently started playing Mario & Luigi: Brothership. It's...definitely one of those slow burn starts where it takes a while for something interesting to happen, but more importantly, Mario and Luigi get a ton of voice lines here, and I've gotta say, Kevin Afghani's portrayal of Luigi is really good. I'm excited for how he'll sound in the next Smash game. His portrayal of Mario is pretty good, but I'm not quite as sold on it. Perhaps it's a voice direction issue, or I just got annoyed with the first 10 minutes of the game just being Mario shouting his brother's name nonstop, but I think Kevin is going to take a bit to really settle into that role so his portrayal of Mario in the next smash probably won't knock anyone's socks off. This is especially if they keep Mario's oddly serious voice direction from Brawl.

The very reason Young Link is one of the most likely characters not returning is telling for Skull Kid's chances, at least to me. Thematically he doesn't fit in as easily then anymore.

Sure he's popular but in the end only has Majora's Mask to entirely rely on. I would like it if they remixed Young Link into a more unique character based on Majora's Mask however, but I also don't think of that as too likely.

...eh? While it could be a bit of a missed opportunity to not have a trailer where Skull Kid fights Young Link, it's not like they can't do something similar with Link despite The Champion of Hyrule never having officially interacted with him, especially if the Fierce Deity costume is sticking around.

In terms of the lineup, Skull Kid is going to stand out anyway since his design is so crazy; There's really nothing else in The Legend of Zelda, or honestly even gaming in general that gives off the same vibes. That's not really a bad thing though since this is artstyle clash the videogame. He'll just be one of many who stick out in this way.

This logic would also have to extend to all of the non-current Legend of Zelda characters like Midna and Toon Link, and while one-off characters are unlikely due to relevance and recognition reasons...well we have Toon Link, and Sheik, the latter of which keeps getting their design updated as if she was still in the series. The fact that Sheik especially sticks around kinda shows that they are willing to keep a character despite them having 0 ties to the rest of The Legend of Zelda's current roster.*

*She is Zelda, but she's Ocarina of Time's Zelda, not A Link to the Past's Zelda.

 

[Lionfranky]

Joker’s inclusion is making me think of what other characters we could get in the same vein where they’re generally popular outside of Nintendo’s fandom but are rarely if ever speculated for Smash. I think we could see another unexpected but popular character like that as the first DLC character to mirror Joker. I suspect that the final DLC character could mirror Sora’s situation in that they’re very popular and requested but people might think they’re impossible for one reason or another. I have a few suggestions for who these could be but people are probably tired of me talking about them right now. So what do you all think we could see if we keep the same general pattern as Ultimate’s DLC?

Lara Croft and someone from Dungeon and Fighter. D&F recently began to expand again with lots of spin off. It's massively popular in China and Korea. It can be considered as Terry in regional popularity. It got even Japanese animation to boot.

But, I became less certain about Lara Croft due to Embracer... they are not in good shape. That may steer Nintendo away from Tomb Raider. Hope I'm proven wrong though.

 

[Thegameandwatch]

*She is Zelda, but she's Ocarina of Time's Zelda, not A Link to the Past's Zelda.

At this point Sheik in Smash isn’t even the one from OOT but a made up character based on TP Zelda that wears BOTW armor. She still has the same braid as TP Zelda in Ultimate and Palutena's Guidance just says Sheik is wearing a new outfit.

 

[Ivander]

So, how do you think Sakurai views echoes in regards to franchise representation? And to clarify, I don't mean "unique echoes" like Young Link, Wolf or Isabelle.

It's really easy for fans to look at Pit, Dark Pit and Palutena and say Kid Icarus has three characters. Do you think Sakurai sees it the same way? Does he see it as two characters and a bonus?

He might a bit. Sure, he looks at characters like Doctor Mario, Dark Pit, Lucina and likely Chrom and Dark Samus to be on the bonuses side, but he probably does understand, or at least doesn't deny, the complaints in regards to number of characters. He certainly doesn't deny the complaints about the number of Fire Emblem characters, cause even if you don't take Lucina and Chrom into account for being Echoes, there are still 6 Fire Emblem characters and one of them, despite having a different playstyle approach, still has a notable amount of similarities to both Marth(in terms of moveset) and Ike(in terms of being associated with fire and having a bit slower, but more powerful moves up close). Lucina and Chrom, both being Echoes of Marth and Roy, don't help much in regards to the FE character similarity complaints and making the number of FE reps bigger.

 

[DarthEnderX]

I've recently started playing Mario & Luigi: Brothership. It's...definitely one of those slow burn starts where it takes a while for something interesting to happen,

I'm pretty far in and it's boring as hell, with very little of the funny writing I expect from M&L games.

 

[CardiganBoy]

I’m pretty sure it’s simply because Sakurai negotiated for Cloud and Sephiroth, and Harada negotiated for Noctis and Clive. We have no indication that Tekken was denied more iconic and popular characters, or that Harada ever wanted FF7 characters instead.

In this video Harada talks about how he was inspired looking at images from FFXV to bring an RPG character into a fighting game, because it would be surprising to players. It seems likely they asked for Noctis directly, which they were granted. Has nothing to do with Cloud, or Tekken’s individual prestige.

I feel like another reason for their Tekken picks is to make collaborations more varied and not just keep choosing from the same pool (FF7). Sure they've could've picked Tifa who was requested a lot but at the end of the day someone like Clive brings a more unique moveset to the table, being the new guy also helps.

That said they should include some attires from other Final Fantasy characters to customize your fighters, they are lacking in that aspect. I just wanna dress my fighters like Black Mages or Garnet from FF9 dang it!

 

[Scrimblo Bimblo]

I'm pretty far in and it's boring as hell, with very little of the funny writing I expect from M&L games.

Yeah the writing is atrocious. I'm not sure what happened to Nintendo during the Switch era but the writing of their games has become so bad it's an active turn-off.
I can't figure out why. They used to be quite good at that.

Everything else about Brothership I'm really enjoying though, it's a little slower than most Mario RPG games but it also has a more open structure and they really nailed visuals and music.

 

[Diddy Kong]

I've recently started playing Mario & Luigi: Brothership. It's...definitely one of those slow burn starts where it takes a while for something interesting to happen, but more importantly, Mario and Luigi get a ton of voice lines here, and I've gotta say, Kevin Afghani's portrayal of Luigi is really good. I'm excited for how he'll sound in the next Smash game. His portrayal of Mario is pretty good, but I'm not quite as sold on it. Perhaps it's a voice direction issue, or I just got annoyed with the first 10 minutes of the game just being Mario shouting his brother's name nonstop, but I think Kevin is going to take a bit to really settle into that role so his portrayal of Mario in the next smash probably won't knock anyone's socks off. This is especially if they keep Mario's oddly serious voice direction from Brawl.


...eh? While it could be a bit of a missed opportunity to not have a trailer where Skull Kid fights Young Link, it's not like they can't do something similar with Link despite The Champion of Hyrule never having officially interacted with him, especially if the Fierce Deity costume is sticking around.

In terms of the lineup, Skull Kid is going to stand out anyway since his design is so crazy; There's really nothing else in The Legend of Zelda, or honestly even gaming in general that gives off the same vibes. That's not really a bad thing though since this is artstyle clash the videogame. He'll just be one of many who stick out in this way.

This logic would also have to extend to all of the non-current Legend of Zelda characters like Midna and Toon Link, and while one-off characters are unlikely due to relevance and recognition reasons...well we have Toon Link, and Sheik, the latter of which keeps getting their design updated as if she was still in the series. The fact that Sheik especially sticks around kinda shows that they are willing to keep a character despite them having 0 ties to the rest of The Legend of Zelda's current roster.*

*She is Zelda, but she's Ocarina of Time's Zelda, not A Link to the Past's Zelda.

Yeah I get your point. Toon Link especially is a good case here, but he was added because of these reasons. As he stood out from the Twilight Princess cast + Sheik, Sheik being somehow forced to fit in here. Ultimate did away with this whole thematic thing.

I guess that it's also very possible they'd keep Young Link over Toon Link in this case. Making Young Link more of a merged version of both the Toon and Young Link move sets. I could see that happening if they choose to add Skull Kid.

However what seems most likely to me is they'd include Impa, and possibly a Champion, or a Sage or Master Kogha even. In this case I think they'll keep Toon Link, restyle Zelda and Ganondorf after Tears of the Kingdom, and do whatever they did in Ultimate with Sheik.

 

[Amornal1]

Joker’s inclusion is making me think of what other characters we could get in the same vein where they’re generally popular outside of Nintendo’s fandom but are rarely if ever speculated for Smash. I think we could see another unexpected but popular character like that as the first DLC character to mirror Joker. I suspect that the final DLC character could mirror Sora’s situation in that they’re very popular and requested but people might think they’re impossible for one reason or another. I have a few suggestions for who these could be but people are probably tired of me talking about them right now. So what do you all think we could see if we keep the same general pattern as Ultimate’s DLC?

The most likely characters that fit that criteria and could happen as a DLC are the chosen undead from dark souls, adol from ys and maybe, just maybe, a GTA protagonist.

 

[Thegameandwatch]

My personal predictions on the Zelda characters.

BOTW/TOTK Link: More elements from those games but not a complete redesign.

ALTTP/EOW Zelda: She will have a new move from EOW but still mostly the same. Maybe Side B gets changed.

TOTK Ganondorf: Takes lot from this game and even previous games but still retains stuff from previous Smash Ganondorf.

Impa/Sheik: I feel like it will be one or the other.

Toon Link: Mostly the same.

Either Skull Kid or a BOTW Champion