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I think Battletoads are a bit of a long shot but I do think that Fulgore and Joanna Dark actually have a reasonable chance to make it in the next Smash assuming things line up correctly. If the Perfect Dark game in the works doesn’t end up getting cancelled and instead somehow becomes a huge hit, I think that would greatly help her chances for Smash. There have been rumors of a new Killer Instinct game in development by Bandai-Namco as well. If those prove true and it ends up being a big budget title that builds on the hype from the 2013 game, I think that would shoot a KI rep to a potential front runner for Smash. I think their ties to Nintendo would give them the edge over many other popular characters in that case but it would still require the right things to fall into place first.
I do not think what I am writing is like that, but from 3rd party characters who come to the Super Smash Bros. series as fighters, they are the video game characters that are also mascots of the companies, at least that is how it seems to me.
I think the best way to describe why James Bond from Rare's Goldeneye as a Smash fighter was a thing is because of what's been highlighted, the poll the item nod etc. It's not saying literally he was seriously considered for Smash 64 or even any of Rare's characters popular in 1997. So close as in if Rare had actually not become a pariah inside Nintendo.
I think the best way to describe why James Bond from Rare's Goldeneye as a Smash fighter was a thing is because of what's been highlighted, the poll the item nod etc. It's not saying literally he was seriously considered for Smash 64 or even any of Rare's characters popular in 1997. So close as in if Rare had actually not become a pariah inside Nintendo.
Is it, though? To me veterans have to be in at least 2 games. Which begs the larger question in my head all the Ultimate newcomers could become veterans by coming back in the next game but will they?
I forgot who pointed it out but the number of characters Not returning (eventually in Snake's case, etc.) is actually really low. But I feel some of these characters who've been in ONLY 2 games may be closer to the 1-Game-so-far category and so are all kinda in their own thought bubble.
I dunno who's all on this list there's lots tho.
Regarding Pokemon I think this leads to a broader category. Nintendo has historically been very careful about brand and brand dilution. So I feel they've done an excellent job keeping Smash from becoming " that pokémon fighting game" or "that fire emblem fighting game"
I feel like Ultimate disproves that assertion with it bringing back the single-entry participants. I don't see how appearing twice is a qualification for being a veteran of the game more than I see it as a testament to other things about the character like their importance to Nintendo, their legacy in gaming and/or Smash itself, whether they're first or third party or their general popularity.
So yeah I think you become a veteran the moment you step foot into Smash.
Given that the closest thing to non VII Final Fantasy content in Smash is a Chocobo hat, it's hard to say there's enough franchise wide material to justify any sort of separation yet.
Given that the closest thing to non VII Final Fantasy content in Smash is a Chocobo hat, it's hard to say there's enough franchise wide material to justify any sort of separation yet.
Just to point out, the Ifrit summon on Cloud's stage is based upon the VIII design. But generally, yeah, it's pretty much VII-coded. We even got the regular VII Ifrit as a Spirit. XD
Not insofar as Mario's brand cohesiveness. Or Pokemon or FE even... When FF gets any other game as a playable character I'd equate it to Ike vs Marth... And forgive my ignorance on the matter regarding Roy bc I have no clue why he wasn't in Brawl.
I'm gonna be blunt, the main thing I want for Final Fantasy content beyond VII in smash is just the music. FF has so many bangers that would be the perfect fit for Smash as a whole. Imma just dump a bunch of good *** Final Fantasy music in here that would be perfect for Smash.
This was a very very conservative list of good Final Fantasy songs beyond VII that would fit well into Smash. In particular Liberi Fatali, Man with the Machine Gun, and Seymour Battle would be perfect for Smash imo.
I'm gonna be blunt, the main thing I want for Final Fantasy content beyond VII in smash is just the music. FF has so many bangers that would be the perfect fit for Smash as a whole. Imma just dump a bunch of good *** Final Fantasy music in here that would be perfect for Smash.
This was a very very conservative list of good Final Fantasy songs beyond VII that would fit well into Smash. In particular Liberi Fatali, Man with the Machine Gun, and Seymour Battle would be perfect for Smash imo.
I think with the series icon being FF that it opens up the floor for other FF characters to be considered alongside Cloud and Sephiroth. So I don't think they'll be considered separate series in the same it is with Mario and the Mario-adjacent characters (I think that's first-party privilege on top of spin-offs being such a prominent factor in the Mario series' success) but that also opens the door for Final Fantasy music to be generalized and thus allowing the entire series musical catalog to be shared cross stage should a newcomer come from a different entry in the series! I'd like that a lot.
I think as far as Nintendo-era Final Fantasy is concerned it just borderline HAS to be FF6, namely Terra and Kefka as they'd be a nice parallel between Cloud and Sephiroth. My feeling would be that they'd be representing the entire era but with the major caveat being that they'd come with music from FF1-FF5 including their own entry's music. Obviously with Square's music rights situation I wouldn't envy the work that'd go into dealing with all of that as well as I don't know how happy fans would be with this idea being that both it'd handwave any small shot of characters between FF1-FF5 ever getting it and/or FF6 being sort of bogged down by carrying the music of the entire Nintendo-era on its back but I personally think this kind of approach would be the ideal way to represent that era. It could also open the floodgates for FF music post-Vll as well.
Sorry to go a bit off-topic here but I gotta say beyond my love for the entire FFVll cast being so strong I'd love to force them all into the game I still think Tifa and Barret deserve to be included on their own merits so I'd be perfectly happy if Smash team just stuck to FFVll. I don't that is unreasonable either considering that FFVll will be relevant for the coming years and maybe even beyond because I'd personally love to see an FFVll-2 get made someday. Additionally the potential for future compilation entries also extends the series presence. So if FFVll reps the entire series in Smash then I say so be it because it's one of the few times my preferences are being catered to.
I think with the series icon being FF that it opens up the floor for other FF characters to be considered alongside Cloud and Sephiroth. So I don't think they'll be considered separate series in the same it is with Mario and the Mario-adjacent characters (I think that's first-party privilege on top of spin-offs being such a prominent factor in the Mario series' success) but that also opens the door for Final Fantasy music to be generalized and thus allowing the entire series musical catalog to be shared cross stage should a newcomer come from a different entry in the series! I'd like that a lot.
I think as far as Nintendo-era Final Fantasy is concerned it just borderline HAS to be FF6, namely Terra and Kefka as they'd be a nice parallel between Cloud and Sephiroth. My feeling would be that they'd be representing the entire era but with the major caveat being that they'd come with music from FF1-FF5 including their own entry's music. Obviously with Square's music rights situation I wouldn't envy the work that'd go into dealing with all of that as well as I don't know how happy fans would be with this idea being that both it'd handwave any small shot of characters between FF1-FF5 ever getting it and/or FF6 being sort of bogged down by carrying the music of the entire Nintendo-era on its back but I personally think this kind of approach would be the ideal way to represent that era. It could also open the floodgates for FF music post-Vll as well.
Sorry to go a bit off-topic here but I gotta say beyond my love for the entire FFVll cast being so strong I'd love to force them all into the game I still think Tifa and Barret deserve to be included on their own merits so I'd be perfectly happy if Smash team just stuck to FFVll. I don't that is unreasonable either considering that FFVll will be relevant for the coming years and maybe even beyond because I'd personally love to see an FFVll-2 get made someday. Additionally the potential for future compilation entries also extends the series presence. So if FFVll reps the entire series in Smash then I say so be it because it's one of the few times my preferences are being catered to.
i would like Black Mage and Kefka and Exdeath to be the next FF reps if we get more in the future.
but would having Kefka and Exdeath before Terra and Bartz be seen as something would make no sense because of putting a main villain before the main character? i think Kefka and Exdeath feels a lot more unique than Terra and Bartz in terms of playstyle
here are some examples of Exdeath kind of moveset
as you see he rips space while fighting
he also use the void which sucks things so far only has something like this but its only a final smash
but Exdeath could pretty much provide the void as part of his moveset besides just throw it as a final smash and that opens up the potential of a whole new playstyle in smash due to gravity pulls making Exdeath really terrifying to fight him
i would like Black Mage and Kefka and Exdeath to be the next FF reps if we get more in the future.
but would having Kefka and Exdeath before Terra and Bartz be seen as something would make no sense because of putting a main villain before the main character? i think Kefka and Exdeath feels a lot more unique than Terra and Bartz in terms of playstyle
here are some examples of Exdeath kind of moveset
as you see he rips space while fighting
he also use the void which sucks things so far only has something like this but its only a final smash
but Exdeath could pretty much provide the void as part of his moveset besides just throw it as a final smash and that opens up the potential of a whole new playstyle in smash due to gravity pulls making Exdeath really terrifying to fight him
I generally think villains are more interesting than heroes overall. In cases of long running series like Final Fantasy where we already have the most iconic hero represented, I don’t think we should be obligated to include the hero of each game over the villain when the villain is much more interesting and unique. My only real knowledge of Exdeath is from Dissidia since I never played Final Fantasy V for more than a couple hours but he did have a really cool moveset in that game.
If it were me personally making the roster, I wouldn’t necessarily default to adding the main protagonist of a game even as its first rep in Smash. It definitely makes logical sense to go with the main character first but I think there are often more interesting characters to bring in than always going with the obvious choice. However, I feel like this would be pretty controversial where some people would love the variety and some would just want to play as the protagonists so it makes sense to go with the approach they have been. I wouldn’t mind a few more surprise picks here and there like Min Min and Pyra/Mythra (even if they were chosen for other reasons).
I think we should remember that was chosen over Decidueye because Sakurai wanted a wrestler and how was chosen over Heihachi due to devil gene
I think a case like that could happen to Kefka or Exdeath if he wanted a crazy clown fighter or gravity space ripping fighter to be picked over Terra and Bartz
I think we should remember that was chosen over Decidueye because Sakurai wanted a wrestler and how was chosen over Heihachi due to devil gene
I think a case like that could happen to Kefka or Exdeath if he wanted a crazy clown fighter or gravity space ripping fighter to be picked over Terra and Bartz
Yeah, that’s what I’m saying. Terra is actually a really interesting protagonist in her own right so I’d be totally fine with either her or Kefka. She’s also another iconic female protagonist which is always great to have where it makes sense. I haven’t played enough of FFV to know if Bartz offers much unique but going strictly off design and their movesets in Dissidia, I personally think Exdeath is a lot more interesting. I think Cecil and/or Kain from Final Fantasy IV are also really solid options for other classic Final Fantasy reps from back when they were with Nintendo.
Mario and the Rabbits from the Raving Rabbids series first met in Mario + Rabbids Kingdom Battle and the Raving Rabbids series is a spin-off of Rayman. Rayman as well as the Rabbits will have to appear as newcomers to future Super Smash Bros. games, moreover the Rayman came to Brawlhalla as a fighter, so why not in the Super Smash Bros. series as well?
pretty sure both Ubisoft and Bethesda were trying to get their characters to smash seeing the Mii costume DLC but I guess they were too late or Sakurai or Nintendo just skipped them in favour of someone else
pretty sure both Ubisoft and Bethesda were trying to get their characters to smash seeing the Mii costume DLC but I guess they were too late or Sakurai or Nintendo just skipped them in favour of someone else
I think we should remember that was chosen over Decidueye because Sakurai wanted a wrestler and how was chosen over Heihachi due to devil gene
I think a case like that could happen to Kefka or Exdeath if he wanted a crazy clown fighter or gravity space ripping fighter to be picked over Terra and Bartz
only in retrospect for terra. FF6 was designed with no main character in mind. the idea that terra was the overall protag was suggested by the fans first. or dissidia bit unsure which came first
Branford always had the advantage of being the first playable character in the game, having a very distinct design, and showing up in the ending even if not recruited from the World of Ruin. You can make a case for many in the cast from VI having main character status, Terra just happens to be one of the easiest claims.
my first playthrough of ff6 I noticed the story was multi layered... a love story between Celes and Locke, the two brothers, and a broken father, a proud granddaughter, God what an epic. The story of FF6 would read like a classic in any century. I would say Terra Branford is the main character though. In the same sense Frodo is the main character in LoTR. Maybe....
This is a concept I've been kicking around for Pokémon in Smash in a while. A HUGE part of Pokémon battling has been neglected in Smash since its debut in Generation 3: Abilities. These are what make the Pokémon stand out from one another and succeed in battle, granting various passive perks to enhance their abilities or counter their opponent's.
What if these were incorporated into the next Smash game? Here's a list of the abilities I think would fit each Pokémon fighter in Smash the best. All of them are canon accurate in the sense that these species can have them in the games, but do occasionally take liberties in order to synergize with the playstyle of Smash Bros. more effectively.
Pikachu gains the ability Lightning Rod, which gives it a 1/4th resistance to electricity attacks (reduced launch power and damage taken) and raises its attack power by 1/3rd when hit by them. Already a tricky fighter, it now surprises foes that rely on electricity attacks heavily and can make some of Pikachu's matchups even more oppressive. Sorry.
You might be wondering, why is it nerfed to not be immune? Because that would make it overpowered and make Pikachu dittos borderline unwatchable.
I considered Static but that'd be horrifying given how it works here on Pichu. Plus, Pikachu Libre will always have Lightning Rod.
Jigglypuff gains the ability Friend Guard, which does absolutely nothing in 1v1 matches. In multiplayer, Jigglypuff automatically reduces damage and knockback taken by all allies by 1/5th. The reason it isn't higher is because it is permanently active until Jigglypuff loses all stocks, and in time matches it outright lasts forever, so making it too high would make Jigglypuff unreasonable to deal with. However, it does not effect Jiggs itself.
Mewtwo gains the ability Pressure, the iconic legendary ability, which would be described in game as "Mewtwo's very presence puts pressure on its foes, making their attacks weaken faster." In practice, this translates to Mewtwo doubling all opponent staling effects, meaning moves get stale twice as quickly.
Pichu gains the ability Static, which does not work like in canon. Instead, the hitstun formula for any of Pichu's attacks that use electricity is slightly higher than usual, around a 0.45x multiplier or so. This is to add to that risk-reward element of Smash Pichu, making the electric attacks more powerful at the cost of them still dealing self damage.
Pokémon Trainer would all get a shared ability called "Type Boost", although each of them individually have a unique name. For Squirtle, it's Torrent, Ivysaur gets Overgrow and Charizard gets Blaze. These are the iconic starter abilities all starters have in each game, and they fit best on Pokémon Trainer to me. I think they almost go without saying, but for those not in the know; at over 100%, all Pokémon would gain a 1.15x multiplier to their launch power on all of their moves. Again, you kind of have to pull your punches, but this would allow for some big finishers.
Lucario gains the ability Inner Focus, which grants immunity to flinching in canon. The literal translation would be an immunity to hitstun but that is so ungodly broken as to be impossible to consider. Instead, I think it would give Lucario a weaker hitstun ratio when getting launched, something like 0.3 to 0.35x, meaning he can act after getting hit much sooner than other characters. Alternatively, it could have the Brawl hitstun cancel.
Greninja already has Battle Bond in Smash Ultimate due to Secret Ninja Attack, so we have our hand forced here. It's not like we could fit Protean into Smash's context anyhow, and Squirtle took Torrent already... whenever he (all Battle Bond Greninjas are male, to date) scores a KO, Greninja will turn into Ash-Greninja for a short time or until KO'd, resulting in slightly improved stats and some notable buffs to the move Water Shuriken (launches two shurikens at once on both sides of Gren, and they charge faster, move faster and hit harder).
Lastly, Incineroar gains the ability Intimidate, which would reduce the incoming damage of physical attacks by about 1/4th. This does not affect knockback or Revenge calculation. I felt like making up for Incineroar's lacking speed and ability to force approaches with a bulk increase overall.
I feel like these would be amazing for potential future newcomers, but I didn't want to leave the veteran cast out of it, which means some of these would probably need further fine-tuning, balance and stat distribution (alongside more thorough reworks) in order to not feel strange, underpowered or overpowered. Let me talk about a Pokémon from each generation that doesn't have a unique playable character yet (two of them I personally desire, the other two are simply there because they're what I think of when I think of those gens getting a Pokémon in Smash), and what this could bring to them:
Heracross could have Moxie, which gives it a power boost after getting a KO for a short amount of time. Compared to Battle Bond, you'd be way more powerful but nothing else would increase. If it's still too similar to Battle Bond, Guts is a viable alternative. Since Smash doesn't have status ailments in the same way that Pokémon does (in a prominent enough role to work here), it would be reworked into a... comeback mechanic, where after any attack with a special effect lands on Heracross, it gets said power boost.
Sceptile or Grovyle would have Unburden, which would give them a speed boost after discarding an item for a short amount of time. This one is matchup-specific for competitive play, but would synergize extremely well with 1P play or free-for-all matches. I imagine throwing battering items would count as discarding them, as would equipable items having their timers run out and automatically deactivate.
Apparently the Grovyle from Explorers has Overgrow, but I want it to be distinct from Ivysaur. Plus, that's most likely the case because Explorers is older than Hidden Abilities.
Axew or Haxorus, to tie in with its tagline ([X] Breaks the Mold!), would have Mold Breaker. Mold Breaker grants them an immunity to armor, intangibility or invulnerability states granted to fighters from any source that isn't the following: K. Rool's belly armor, Super Star, spot dodge, roll, or air dodge. Ledge intangibility or any attack with intangibility frames, among others, are bypassed.
With Gen 8 I have choice paralysis but the fan fave is typically Toxtricity (from what I recall, it's the one people wanted, while Cinderace and Rillaboom were the ones people expected, but memory may be playing tricks on me) so it's gotta be Punk Rock. The offensive portion of the ability can really just be represented by making Toxtricity's sound based attacks stronger than its physical/electrical/poisonous/other ones. The defensive portion, however, is trickier as most fighters do not attack with sound as a notable element to them. To represent that element, the best I could think of is that Toxtricity's taunts give it slight damage and knockback resistance... yeah this will need fine tuning. Now that I think about it, most of the Gen 8 candidates I can think of have ability issues:
Blaze is taken by Charizard and Libero is like Protean, so I have no idea what Cinderace would have.
Terrains seem more like a down special thing for Rillaboom, so Grassy Surge doesn't quite fit in my eyes (maybe it auto sets a terrain at the start of the match?). Overgrow is taken by Ivysaur.
Guess what happened to Torrent? Plus, Sniper feels like it'd either have to step on Hero's turf or on Marth's, so sorry Inteleon.
Sirfetch'd would probably get Steadfast since Scrappy can't work in Smash. However, a speed boost for getting hit sounds insanely annoying.
Urshifu would have Unseen Fist, which would probably allow certain moves to penetrate shields. However, this sounds broken as hell, but it's also Urshifu's literal only ability.
Clear Body on Dragapult is probably the best option, giving it immunity to stat lowering but that's pretty much not a thing in Smash. Infiltrator would be Unseen Fist 2 and Cursed Body would be broken as losing access to moves in Smash is a massive deal.
If we cheat a bit and allow Hisuian Pokémon to be the Gen 8 rep, Ursaluna's Bulletproof would actually be really easy to translate into Smash! It'd give a 50% damage reduction to projectiles. Not at all how it works in Pokémon, but it's there. And since Ursaluna would probably struggle with zoners, this could be a nice help.
The main reason why I did this thought experiment was because I think it would up the prospects of how interesting potential Pokémon can be, perhaps taking the sting out of the idea that Pokémon is one of two series with slots reserved in every title (attempting to do something similar for Fire Emblem with Skills is basically impossible, as neither Marth nor Roy are in games with skills, and with Fire Emblem the issues are different). Perhaps not every Pokémon in Smash would have its ability represented, which would be worse for canon accuracy but could allow other potentially interesting concepts to be shined upon without the limitations of having a Smash-compatible ability. I'd at least want it for Pokémon Trainer, who is the Pokémon fighter I personally find is most representative of the games rather than the anime or movies, even if there's still quite a bit of anime in them.
And before anybody asks about Decidueye, it'd be Long Reach (by default). How to incorporate it would be tricky, but I think Long Reach would be represented by having all of Decidueye's seemingly contact moves actually have a slight disjoint to them. For Meowth, Pickup is apparently canon to Team Rocket's Meowth who would be the one getting into Smash. It'd give him an extended pickup range for items and have him automatically pick up items, as well as having an easier time catching them.
This is a concept I've been kicking around for Pokémon in Smash in a while. A HUGE part of Pokémon battling has been neglected in Smash since its debut in Generation 3: Abilities. These are what make the Pokémon stand out from one another and succeed in battle, granting various passive perks to enhance their abilities or counter their opponent's.
What if these were incorporated into the next Smash game? Here's a list of the abilities I think would fit each Pokémon fighter in Smash the best. All of them are canon accurate in the sense that these species can have them in the games, but do occasionally take liberties in order to synergize with the playstyle of Smash Bros. more effectively.
Pikachu gains the ability Lightning Rod, which gives it a 1/4th resistance to electricity attacks (reduced launch power and damage taken) and raises its attack power by 1/3rd when hit by them. Already a tricky fighter, it now surprises foes that rely on electricity attacks heavily and can make some of Pikachu's matchups even more oppressive. Sorry.
You might be wondering, why is it nerfed to not be immune? Because that would make it overpowered and make Pikachu dittos borderline unwatchable.
I considered Static but that'd be horrifying given how it works here on Pichu. Plus, Pikachu Libre will always have Lightning Rod.
Jigglypuff gains the ability Friend Guard, which does absolutely nothing in 1v1 matches. In multiplayer, Jigglypuff automatically reduces damage and knockback taken by all allies by 1/5th. The reason it isn't higher is because it is permanently active until Jigglypuff loses all stocks, and in time matches it outright lasts forever, so making it too high would make Jigglypuff unreasonable to deal with. However, it does not effect Jiggs itself.
Mewtwo gains the ability Pressure, the iconic legendary ability, which would be described in game as "Mewtwo's very presence puts pressure on its foes, making their attacks weaken faster." In practice, this translates to Mewtwo doubling all opponent staling effects, meaning moves get stale twice as quickly.
Pichu gains the ability Static, which does not work like in canon. Instead, the hitstun formula for any of Pichu's attacks that use electricity is slightly higher than usual, around a 0.45x multiplier or so. This is to add to that risk-reward element of Smash Pichu, making the electric attacks more powerful at the cost of them still dealing self damage.
Pokémon Trainer would all get a shared ability called "Type Boost", although each of them individually have a unique name. For Squirtle, it's Torrent, Ivysaur gets Overgrow and Charizard gets Blaze. These are the iconic starter abilities all starters have in each game, and they fit best on Pokémon Trainer to me. I think they almost go without saying, but for those not in the know; at over 100%, all Pokémon would gain a 1.15x multiplier to their launch power on all of their moves. Again, you kind of have to pull your punches, but this would allow for some big finishers.
Lucario gains the ability Inner Focus, which grants immunity to flinching in canon. The literal translation would be an immunity to hitstun but that is so ungodly broken as to be impossible to consider. Instead, I think it would give Lucario a weaker hitstun ratio when getting launched, something like 0.3 to 0.35x, meaning he can act after getting hit much sooner than other characters. Alternatively, it could have the Brawl hitstun cancel.
Greninja already has Battle Bond in Smash Ultimate due to Secret Ninja Attack, so we have our hand forced here. It's not like we could fit Protean into Smash's context anyhow, and Squirtle took Torrent already... whenever he (all Battle Bond Greninjas are male, to date) scores a KO, Greninja will turn into Ash-Greninja for a short time or until KO'd, resulting in slightly improved stats and some notable buffs to the move Water Shuriken (launches two shurikens at once on both sides of Gren, and they charge faster, move faster and hit harder).
Lastly, Incineroar gains the ability Intimidate, which would reduce the incoming damage of physical attacks by about 1/4th. This does not affect knockback or Revenge calculation. I felt like making up for Incineroar's lacking speed and ability to force approaches with a bulk increase overall.
I feel like these would be amazing for potential future newcomers, but I didn't want to leave the veteran cast out of it, which means some of these would probably need further fine-tuning, balance and stat distribution (alongside more thorough reworks) in order to not feel strange, underpowered or overpowered. Let me talk about a Pokémon from each generation that doesn't have a unique playable character yet (two of them I personally desire, the other two are simply there because they're what I think of when I think of those gens getting a Pokémon in Smash), and what this could bring to them:
Heracross could have Moxie, which gives it a power boost after getting a KO for a short amount of time. Compared to Battle Bond, you'd be way more powerful but nothing else would increase. If it's still too similar to Battle Bond, Guts is a viable alternative. Since Smash doesn't have status ailments in the same way that Pokémon does (in a prominent enough role to work here), it would be reworked into a... comeback mechanic, where after any attack with a special effect lands on Heracross, it gets said power boost.
Sceptile or Grovyle would have Unburden, which would give them a speed boost after discarding an item for a short amount of time. This one is matchup-specific for competitive play, but would synergize extremely well with 1P play or free-for-all matches. I imagine throwing battering items would count as discarding them, as would equipable items having their timers run out and automatically deactivate.
Apparently the Grovyle from Explorers has Overgrow, but I want it to be distinct from Ivysaur. Plus, that's most likely the case because Explorers is older than Hidden Abilities.
Axew or Haxorus, to tie in with its tagline ([X] Breaks the Mold!), would have Mold Breaker. Mold Breaker grants them an immunity to armor, intangibility or invulnerability states granted to fighters from any source that isn't the following: K. Rool's belly armor, Super Star, spot dodge, roll, or air dodge. Ledge intangibility or any attack with intangibility frames, among others, are bypassed.
With Gen 8 I have choice paralysis but the fan fave is typically Toxtricity (from what I recall, it's the one people wanted, while Cinderace and Rillaboom were the ones people expected, but memory may be playing tricks on me) so it's gotta be Punk Rock. The offensive portion of the ability can really just be represented by making Toxtricity's sound based attacks stronger than its physical/electrical/poisonous/other ones. The defensive portion, however, is trickier as most fighters do not attack with sound as a notable element to them. To represent that element, the best I could think of is that Toxtricity's taunts give it slight damage and knockback resistance... yeah this will need fine tuning. Now that I think about it, most of the Gen 8 candidates I can think of have ability issues:
Blaze is taken by Charizard and Libero is like Protean, so I have no idea what Cinderace would have.
Terrains seem more like a down special thing for Rillaboom, so Grassy Surge doesn't quite fit in my eyes (maybe it auto sets a terrain at the start of the match?). Overgrow is taken by Ivysaur.
Guess what happened to Torrent? Plus, Sniper feels like it'd either have to step on Hero's turf or on Marth's, so sorry Inteleon.
Sirfetch'd would probably get Steadfast since Scrappy can't work in Smash. However, a speed boost for getting hit sounds insanely annoying.
Urshifu would have Unseen Fist, which would probably allow certain moves to penetrate shields. However, this sounds broken as hell, but it's also Urshifu's literal only ability.
Clear Body on Dragapult is probably the best option, giving it immunity to stat lowering but that's pretty much not a thing in Smash. Infiltrator would be Unseen Fist 2 and Cursed Body would be broken as losing access to moves in Smash is a massive deal.
If we cheat a bit and allow Hisuian Pokémon to be the Gen 8 rep, Ursaluna's Bulletproof would actually be really easy to translate into Smash! It'd give a 50% damage reduction to projectiles. Not at all how it works in Pokémon, but it's there. And since Ursaluna would probably struggle with zoners, this could be a nice help.
The main reason why I did this thought experiment was because I think it would up the prospects of how interesting potential Pokémon can be, perhaps taking the sting out of the idea that Pokémon is one of two series with slots reserved in every title (attempting to do something similar for Fire Emblem with Skills is basically impossible, as neither Marth nor Roy are in games with skills, and with Fire Emblem the issues are different). Perhaps not every Pokémon in Smash would have its ability represented, which would be worse for canon accuracy but could allow other potentially interesting concepts to be shined upon without the limitations of having a Smash-compatible ability. I'd at least want it for Pokémon Trainer, who is the Pokémon fighter I personally find is most representative of the games rather than the anime or movies, even if there's still quite a bit of anime in them.
And before anybody asks about Decidueye, it'd be Long Reach (by default). How to incorporate it would be tricky, but I think Long Reach would be represented by having all of Decidueye's seemingly contact moves actually have a slight disjoint to them. For Meowth, Pickup is apparently canon to Team Rocket's Meowth who would be the one getting into Smash. It'd give him an extended pickup range for items and have him automatically pick up items, as well as having an easier time catching them.
For Scizor, I could see its ability being Light Metal Swarm, which would greatly increase the power of its special moves in a pinch, but also make it lightweight and slightly weaker to fire attacks.
I actually think it's quite notable that Sakurai recognized Dovahkiin (Dragonborn) as a highly requested fighter. Before he acknowledged that I wouldn't have seen that, at least online that is. Dante definitely accumulated his support during the Ultimate cycle but he's still obviously very worthy of a spot. The rest (Lloyd and Shante) are kind of terminally online character requests up there with the likes of Geno and that bullethell girl from Japan. I'm not sure how much real-world support they realistically have versus how vocal their online support is. That isn't to say I don't think they'd be fun to play or good additions to the series, especially with Shante being a shapeshifter, something we don't have enough of in smash (including dedicated archers and summoners) but I'm just saying that they're not recognizable outside of Smash spec. I'd have no idea who some of them were if not for Smash spec and while it's cool to get introduced to these characters it still remains true that the overwhelming majority of Smash's audience aren't involved in Smash spec.
I also wonder if Sakurai's acknowledgment extends to some if not most of the paid DLC third-party mii costume characters? Impossible to say for sure but I'd like to think Altair, Tails, Knuckles, Tifa, Barret, Bomberman, Zero and Doomguy are similarly worthy and/or highly requested.
I just hope that alts for Dovahkiin would be the other races with some female swaps thrown in for good measure. This is another reason why I'd like the costume default to double to 16.
my first playthrough of ff6 I noticed the story was multi layered... a love story between Celes and Locke, the two brothers, and a broken father, a proud granddaughter, God what an epic. The story of FF6 would read like a classic in any century. I would say Terra Branford is the main character though. In the same sense Frodo is the main character in LoTR. Maybe....
Stories oftentimes have multiple main characters. I think it's basically Terra, and Celes with the likes of Locke, and Edgar not being too far from that but they're ultimately still primary supporting characters. Locke you could make the argument as a third main character better than Edgar but you could say all 4 are I guess. It's really up to the player's interpretation and that's part of the beauty of that game. The game doesn't tell you who it is because it's not really that important to the narrative which is absolutely amazing writing.
It's legitimately my all-time favorite GBA game even though it's a SNES game. I even played it twice when I realized I was missing party members. Looked up a guide on my dial-up internet which unfortunately led me to GameFAQs. That plus FFVII with my print guide and then thankfully FFlX after that... I didn't actually play FFVlll until that remaster came out and while I felt there were some great moments it still fell flat with me... Yeah but 6, 7 and 9 were such an amazing introduction to the series. I should play 1-5 but I'll either wait for a potential bundle of the pixel remaster collection or emulate them. Seems to me that 1-5 would each be perfect candidates for that "2.5D remaster" treatment like with what Octopath Traveler or Triangle Strategy (minus the FE gameplay) did for those games.
I'd love 6 or 9 to get the remake treatment next after 7. I think 6 getting it might be a pipedream though.
Curious how did Bomberman end up getting the special colored Mii costume treatment?
I think he might been heavily considered to become a fighter.
I do currently think he is the most likely 3rd party newcomer in the next smash game it’s kinda weird to not have him playable alongside it’s really long legacy stable character in gaming and an icon.
Also here is a recommended video of Bomberman entire history pretty much covers up everything
I actually think it's quite notable that Sakurai recognized Dovahkiin (Dragonborn) as a highly requested fighter. Before he acknowledged that I wouldn't have seen that, at least online that is. Dante definitely accumulated his support during the Ultimate cycle but he's still obviously very worthy of a spot. The rest (Lloyd and Shante) are kind of terminally online character requests up there with the likes of Geno and that bullethell girl from Japan. I'm not sure how much real-world support they realistically have versus how vocal their online support is. That isn't to say I don't think they'd be fun to play or good additions to the series, especially with Shante being a shapeshifter, something we don't have enough of in smash (including dedicated archers and summoners) but I'm just saying that they're not recognizable outside of Smash spec. I'd have no idea who some of them were if not for Smash spec and while it's cool to get introduced to these characters it still remains true that the overwhelming majority of Smash's audience aren't involved in Smash spec.
I also wonder if Sakurai's acknowledgment extends to some if not most of the paid DLC third-party mii costume characters? Impossible to say for sure but I'd like to think Altair, Tails, Knuckles, Tifa, Barret, Bomberman, Zero and Doomguy are similarly worthy and/or highly requested.
I just hope that alts for Dovahkiin would be the other races with some female swaps thrown in for good measure. This is another reason why I'd like the costume default to double to 16.
Stories oftentimes have multiple main characters. I think it's basically Terra, and Celes with the likes of Locke, and Edgar not being too far from that but they're ultimately still primary supporting characters. Locke you could make the argument as a third main character better than Edgar but you could say all 4 are I guess. It's really up to the player's interpretation and that's part of the beauty of that game. The game doesn't tell you who it is because it's not really that important to the narrative which is absolutely amazing writing.
It's legitimately my all-time favorite GBA game even though it's a SNES game. I even played it twice when I realized I was missing party members. Looked up a guide on my dial-up internet which unfortunately led me to GameFAQs. That plus FFVII with my print guide and then thankfully FFlX after that... I didn't actually play FFVlll until that remaster came out and while I felt there were some great moments it still fell flat with me... Yeah but 6, 7 and 9 were such an amazing introduction to the series. I should play 1-5 but I'll either wait for a potential bundle of the pixel remaster collection or emulate them. Seems to me that 1-5 would each be perfect candidates for that "2.5D remaster" treatment like with what Octopath Traveler or Triangle Strategy (minus the FE gameplay) did for those games.
I'd love 6 or 9 to get the remake treatment next after 7. I think 6 getting it might be a pipedream though.
I've only ever played the SNES version but there's soo much to do in that game I love it.
I agree with your valuation of the story. As a video game it's amazing how well the narrative was shared. As with most stories I visualize everything in my head as I'm reading/viewing/etc an odd mental quirk when gazing a painting of a man painting a painting of a man painting....
But anyway...
If they cast the movie you'd have 3 or 4 people on the box. Kinds like DragonLance, Tolkien, Lewis, Homer..... Best works of fiction, the Epic.
