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These changes are outside the realm of possibility for an echo fighter. This is a Melee clone which would require balancing against the entire cast.
I think you can get away with one unique move as an echo. Chrom is basically a Roy echo with Ike’s up special. Thats why I suggested just giving him the surfboard as a unique attack while everything else is aesthetic.
I thought Fortine was very likely during FP2, as Chapter 1 just finished when FP2 was decided (Aparently the characters were decided around November 2019), basically Fortnite was at his peak, yet they didn't include it.
Would be better as an alt costume, I think.
No. Alt costume at best.
In my mind, the ideal Echo Fighter has two things:
how are they rivals? they have completely opposing goals
The Yiga are former Sheikah clan members, so their fighting styles are mostly similar.
that’s not what rivalries are
Yep, something similar happened to me. "We Like Fortnite" and other YouTube memes didn't help matters.
Nah
No no no, that wasn’t Carbuncle, that was “Has Bean”. They’re totally different.
A gem on the marks really marks the difference.
Interesting Pick!
Not too late to turn back
lol I definitely do not have enough time to regularly post on a forum like this either way, it is what it is.Not too late to turn back
I think that the term was invented just to avoid fan backlash to 6 out of the 11 base game newcomers being clones, considering that the reputation of clones in this community is quite negative.
That's a good point. Blocks are a big reason that Steve drives people nuts, and Fortnite's building mechanics would functionally be the same thing on a projectile zoner.
Jonesy, he and Peely (The anthropomorphic Bananna man) are the games mascots.
The MAin issue i have would be riju and thats for one reason:hey this is my first post and I don't really know how to break the ice, so I'm just gonna post my fanmade roster lol. I think it's kind of funny how we apparently all just feel it in our bones that Smash stuff is happening within a year or two, and it's surprising how active this forum still is.
This isn't really an actual roster, I obviously don't think we'd get this many new characters. I'm approaching it basically in the sense of like, characters I think have a notable shot for the next Smash in terms of having something going for them while still being characters Nintendo would realistically be willing to add. Essentially if I was Sakurai and Nintendo was looking over me as I was picking the next characters, what would be my shortlist of characters I think are worth adding, and then out of these picking a handful to be the full lineup. Also assume I've absorbed Sakurai's personality and memories to perfectly disguise myself as him so Harada doesn't notice his friend has been replaced and kill me while not fixing Tekken 8's matchmaking or battle pass.
I'm also approaching it in the sense of it being an Ultimate Deluxe, just because otherwise it would involve cuts and that'd be a whole separate discussion that I think would warrant its own post, and I feel like in that case newcomers would partially serve as a way to fill lost archetypes. If you lost Incineroar for example, I think it'd be important to add another grab-focused heavyweight character with a side special command grab and damage buffs but weak neutral, because that's an important playstyle that most closely aligns with traditional grapplers, and with how unexpected a lot of the playstyles can be for even popularly requested newcomers who get in, I think that's more difficult to judge.
Definitely heavy on the third-parties, I wanted to get a few picks I don't think you see as much. It would be boring if it was the same roster as everybody else's and I think a lot of these characters are just worth talking about. Like I said, I think for an actual game, only a handful of these would be picked. I didn't really try to heavily divide between DLC and base game, because it's somewhat arbitrary beyond DLC obviously needing to sell and generally focusing on new mechanics, and it seems like characters like Hero would have been base game anyways had Sakurai and the dev team had enough time to get them in. If I were to divide, I'd say basically every first party pick except Takamaru could work as DLC and be able to sell, while also still fitting in as base game characters, while for the third parties, I could see Doomguy, Akira, Rayman, and maybe Geno being base game. Also no echoes because I just don't have as much to say there.
Here's the explanations if you're at all interested, I tried to briefly suggest what their playstyle could be like for most of them. These explanations ended up being fairly long and I spent a few hours writing them all, so if you're interested you can just skip to whichever character you're curious about.
Mio: Xenoblade 3 is the obvious pick for understandable reasons, I think Xenoblade 3 getting nominated for GOTY really cemented it as one of Nintendo's newer A-list franchises, and it sells pretty well considering the type of game it is. Both Noah and Mio are valid picks, but while Noah definitely is more important to the game overall and is more of the main character with Lucky Seven as its symbol, I feel like Mio would get the nod for her weapons. You can use any kind of weapon with any character in the game, but Noah would undoubtedly need to focus on Lucky Seven for a lot of his moveset, while Mio would focus on her chakrams, I don't think their alternate weapons would be used for more than filling out some of their miscallaneous attacks. In that scenario, I think hand-held twin chakrams are a lot more obviously distinct both visually and likely playstyle-wise, though that's not to say Lucky Seven and Noah wouldn't be unique if they did get in. A lot of fan movesets incorporate Noah or Mio as a character the other summons, which I think is a bit clunky and not necessary, but could be done if you really wanted, and I don't think a tag-team fighter is impossible either assuming the Switch 2 is strong enough to handle it. I think both Noah and Mio would be great picks on their own merits either way. I also picked Mio just because I have a few other notable swordfighters on this list, and I didn't want to make it too heavy with them. Considering Sakurai has talked about sword user saturation and his misgivings with it for Ultimate, I do think that'd be worth keeping in mind.
Waluigi: Another pick which I think would mostly speak for itself, if the game does end up being Ultimate Deluxe, and the Switch 2 is backwards compatible with previous Switch games, you'd need a strong selling hook to convince people who already own Ultimate to buy it. I definitely don't think "hey we added Waluigi" would be what convinces your average person lol, but in terms of people more hooked into industry news who followed stuff like E3 in the past, I think he'd be a good fan-favourite pick to get some more eyes on the game alongside some other big hook in a similar way to Ridley, and I think Waluigi has plenty going for him beyond just that. He's a notable and long-lasting popular Mario character with a very distinct visual identity and personality. In terms of moveset, I think Delzethin's is probably closest to what I have in mind, I like the idea of spinning him as a character who cheats and breaks the rules, using random items (within reason) and pokes with his long disjointed limbs to zone and control neutral, think like Faust from Guilty Gear or Teddie from Persona 4 Arena. This would probably make him pretty annoying to fight against on paper, but like the examples I mentioned for this archetype, I think it'd be possible to control his chaoticness so he's not just playing a completely different game from everybody else.
Landorus: This isn't actually Landorus specifically, it's a placeholder for a new Pokemon character. I think if the timing works out then Meowscarada is definitely the likeliest, they have pretty much everything going for them as a unique and very popular and marketed starter with a gimmick and aesthetid that makes them easily stand out, and I think they'd be a cool pick. I like the idea of making a character who's not an actual magician, but a stage magician specifically, there's a lot you could do that with animation wise and gameplay wise, I imagine them being really heavy on set play. I picked Landorus instead to represent other options. I think Meowscarada could be cool, but there's over 1000 pokemon, and there's tons of other interesting options that I think would be fun to talk about as well if you wanted. Do Meloetta and give them a stance-switching mechanic, do Annihilape so we can get an Akuma function, do Genesect because they're cool, do like, I dunno, Volo because they were a memorable character and could use Garchomp lol. And of course, do Landorus so we can finally get stealth rocks in a smash moveset. Incineroar needs his intimidate partner. If it was up to me, I think Meloetta for some reason sticks out in my mind as having really fun moveset potential and a cool visual identity. If this even remotely worked as an actual character, I'd kind of also just want to add Zygarde himself. Basically just saying to get creative with what you talk about lol.
Octoling: As a pick their merits are pretty self-explanatory, especially since currently the Splatoon content in smash is almost entirely just from the first game. You could adjust this just by adding more content or changing up the Inkling's moveset a bit, but you could also adjust it by adding the Octolings with their new styles. I could see them as an echo, but I feel like a semi-clone moveset would also make sense. The later Splatoon games have a lot of new interesting weaponry that you could use to give an alternate take on the stage control bait-and-punish style, and it would fit with the Octolings' story. I'd want the Splat Brella to be in there somewhere.
On this note I'll say I think Animal Crossing could also get a new character given how massive it is, I could see Tom Nook getting in with a moveset more focused around bells that could be fun. It's not a series about action though, so I think it could go either way given this would be its third character.
Magolor: Kirby could obviously do with a new character and has popular requests. Bandana Dee is definitely the most popular and would make a lot of sense, but I think Magolor would be more interesting personally. Return to Dreamland was the game that essentially started the modern Kirby era, with Magolor as a very popular and well liked recurring character within the fanbase who just recently got a starring role, and above all I think his moveset would stand out a lot in a lot of cool ways. I imagine him basically having an install, where he builds up meter by attacking and is able to use his down special to morph into his Master Crown form when it's full, giving him super enhanced attacks reminiscent of his boss fight at the cost of it slowly damaging him and increasing his endlag to make him more punishable. You also couldn't revert out of the form if you activate it, so in essence it would be a risk-reward mechanic that rewards having a lot of confidence, kind of in a similar way to Magolor's own trickery at the end of the original RTTD. That's just one idea, but I think there's a lot of neat directions you could go. He's redeemed now though, don't worry. I think Dee is more likely, or I could see a world where both get in, but I just wanted to talk about Magolor.
Riju: Similar to Kirby, the merits of a Zelda newcomer speak for themselves, and there's a lot of good options you could do. Rauru is really important to TOTK and could have a really unique moveset using the fuse mechanics and light magic, but personality and presence wise I just don't think he's a very interesting character. Impa would be cool if you based her on her Warriors appearances, though that might complicate the rights, and Sidon is very popular and charming and could have a fun moveset with his trident and waterbending. I think overall Riju would be the best pick though, her moveset is cool and flashy with her lightning powers in a way that has a lot of obvious appeal, and twin scimitars would be a unique weapon that are easy to make stand out, with Riju herself having a neat small-but-mighty visual identity. Summoning movesets are very overused, but for the TOTK sages I think it would make sense to have them summon some of the other sages for their specials, because their teamwork is an important aspect and they feel a bit more cohesive. She'd also add a bit of diversity to the roster which is nice.
I'll also note here that a Metroid newcomer would make sense. Raven Beak is really popular and could have a super sick moveset, I think he could be great, but it might be a bit weird to include a one-off character from a game that's gonna be fairly old by the time a new Smash is likely to drop, and it's kind of unlikely Raven Beak will show up in any other game in a prominent role. I'll talk about Geno later lol. Sylux meanwhile I do actually like on his own merits, I thought he was cool in Prime Hunters and his weapon already has some interesting mechanics you could use, but he's also definitely the epitome of Potential Man, we just don't know if he'll actually be in Prime 4 at all, let alone what his actual role or abilities will be. Mahoraga-chan save me.
Officer Howard: Nintendo taking the Astral Chain IP would indicate they have some kind of plans with it, and the first game did really solidly for a new IP. They're an action game protagonist with a unique gimmick that essentially writes itself moveset wise, and I love Astral Chain's aesthetic, they'd have a great stage for sure. Also a good counterpart to Joker if you think about it, though obviously that's not an actual positive lol. Like Bayonetta they'd definitely be a fairly high skill-ceiling character that I imagine would focus on using the right Legion for whatever situation and matchup they're in. My only concern is that having both the Officer and the Legion on-screen at the same time might be too much for the hardware, unless the Legion was only on-screen for a certain amount of time, because they both have fairly complex designs like Rex and Pyra. Still, would be cool, and I think a good choice for a character from a new IP, their style is so unique that I think a lot of people unfamiliar with Astral Chain could think they're appealing.
The Ring Fit Adventure protagonists would also make a lot of sense and seem likely, that game sold amazingly and it's another action title, I just didn't really have much to say about them.
Karate Joe: Everybody has discussed Rhythm Heaven in Smash 4 to death a million times, but it is personally probably my favourite Nintendo series, and would be a great standout. The main issue likeliness wise is that the series is in limbo and doesn't seem likely to get a new title, but for what it's worth its sister series Warioware keeps chugging along with regular new games and notable marketing. I think Ashley is likelier in that sense, but idk I just wanted to talk about Rhythm Heaven instead. RH has a lot of characters you could pick from, but I think Karate Joe is the best choice, his game is significant to the series and prominent every time, and while any RH moveset would have to involve a lot of summoning because that's basically how the remixes operate anyways, Karate Joe being a martial artist means you can fill out his moveset with more standard attacks without having to rely on odd hitboxes or summoning for every single move. I think it'd be a lot more cohesive and appealing in that sense. There's a lot of ways you could implement the rhythm gimmick, though given precise input timing would likely be incorporated, this would be a good time to clarify that my actual most wanted character for Smash 6 is Rollback Netcode from the Street Fighter 6 franchise. Add Tekken 8 rollback as an echo fighter with twice as much endlag. Also reduce input lag please.
Takamaru: agfkhiugdihkdhufjffhifiu retro pick, I think Takamaru is the coolest choice out of them by far. I'd want him to go a similar direction to Pit with a redesign, but perhaps keeping the 8-bit sound effects and visuals effects for some of his attacks. That sort of classic vs modern duality fits his character and the plot of Murasame Castle. I'd want him to essentially be an MVC Dante function, because if the Murasame franchise continued, that's basically the direction it seems like it would have gone. Give him different stances based on the various chess pieces where he assumes different sword stances, each altering his stats, with his gameplan revolving around precise inputs switching between them to extend your combos, in trade-off for the stance switching itself being easily punishable and him being very lightweight. Also give him a monochrome alt. Personally Takamaru is probably my most wanted first party character, but I will say I don't think a new retro pick is particularly likely, we'd have to see.
Geno: I feel like this has also been discussed to death, but the fact that Super Mario RPG Remake sold so well and is about to become the best-selling Mario RPG feels like the leg-up Geno needs to actually get in. While it's not like the success of other Mario RPGs have let their characters get in, and like Raven Beak he's a one-off character who's unlikely to show up in anything else, with the amount of fan support he has which has been acknowledged in Smash itself, I think if he was ever gonna get in, it would be here. Obviously I'm sure that's also not an uncommon opinion lol, we'll just have to see. In terms of moveset, gun.
Doomguy: I don't think this is like a definitive thing or anything, but if you check the best-selling Smash DLC on the e-shop in most regions, the Doom Slayer Mii is always in the top 10, usually only beaten by Sans, Cuphead, and the Minecraft costumes, and that includes in Japan. The fact that he even got in as the last Mii costume is cool and I think indicates he had some strong fan demand, coming just off of the wave of costumes Sakurai acknowledged as popular requests. I think he has a lot going for him, with how massive his series is and its strong presence on Nintendo consoles combined with what seems like a lot of fan requests and demands. I think it wouldn't be too challenging to tone him down to fit the age rating, the Doom series is already somewhat cartoony and almost all of Doom's most iconic weapons are sci-fi equipment and not realistic guns. Even the Super Shotgun was already redesigned in Quake Champions to have a more stylised sci-fi look, so I think the chainsaw would the biggest hurdle. I disagree with anybody saying glory kills are too integral to the character to lose, but that's also my bias for classic Doom coming into play lol. In terms of playstyle I imagine him having an ammo and weapon switching mechanic, with his guns behaving as long disjoints on limited ammo, which can be replenished by hitting opponents with normal attacks similar to the recent Doom games. It would encourage against zoning and instead reward playing as an aggressive rushdown character who has to constantly keep moving. I will say though that while the Doom/Animal Crossing meme probably helped with fan demand, I definitely don't think Nintendo liked it for their image lol. I could also see Dragonborn happening instead.
Akira Yuki: People suggest a lot of different Sega and fighting game characters, but I rarely see Akira come up, which I understand given the state Virtua Fighter is in. I think Akira has a fairly solid shot, Virtua Fighter is outright just one of the most influential games ever made with massive legacy and significant representation in Smash already, it seems clear to me Sakurai holds a lot of reverence for the series. It's one of Sega's most important IPs, and is about to get a revival according to Midori's leaks. While I don't see why someone like Sakurai would necessarily be privy to something like that happening, I do think it helps counter the series being dormant for a while. The main issue with Akira I'd say is implementing Virtua Fighter mechanics into a game like Smash. Akira isn't your average fighting game martial artist, he plays nothing like someone like Ryu and is very complex. Sakurai even cited Virtua Fighter as a 3D fighting game that's difficult to translate into Smash in the Kazuya presentation, and the Virtua Fighter series is known for being relatively grounded, so Akira doesn't have any projectiles. The trade-off is that something Virtua Fighter is also known for is having fairly low gravity and high jumps, moreso than most Tekken games, which is somewhat adapted in Akira's assist trophy already. I could imagine Akira being somewhat like Jigglypuff, having no real recovery but high jumps to make up for it, but unlike Jigglypuff, having limited air mobility and attack powerso he's still a grounded fighter. This would make him easily punishable, but I think it's a fair trade-off. Virtua Fighter, unlike Tekken, is a 3-button game, with guard, punch, and kick buttons, so I could see a moveset adapting it as the attack button being punch, the special button being kick, and the shield button being guard, which would allow you to faithfully represent Virtua Fighter's grounded movement and Akira's moveset. Sakurai already considered giving Min-Min no actual special attacks, and I could see that coming into fruition here. It would make Akira very technical and difficult to master, but I think that's important to the series. Akira is very basic and standard visually, but to me that's part of the appeal of him and Virtua Fighter as a whole, and how the series has to evolve to attract a wider audience is something the people behind it have talked about in interviews, so it's something to think about.
Dante: Capcom has tons of characters who have a great shot and are requested and would be really cool, you could basically do an entire season of just Capcom guests. I think Jill and Monster Hunter in particular stand out the most, and I could definitely see Monster Hunter getting in. Still, Dante has been acknowledged as a very popular request by both Itsuno and Sakurai with a Mii costume that seems like it sold well based on e-shop charts and presence on Nintendo consoles for what that's worth, and his appeal really speaks for itself, so I think he has a fair shot. If the Switch 2 is comparable in specs to the PS4 and Xbox One, it would be nice to get a DMC5 port. Dante obviously has too much moveset potential, there's a million directions you could go. I think AShadowLink's moveset on Source Gaming did a decent job getting most of what you'd want down without being too overtuned from what I remember. This would definitely be another big crowdpleaser.
The Tarnished: This is the first more out-there pick I think, but I could see it happening. Dark Souls is up there as one of the most important and influential Japanese game series not yet featured in Smash, and is owned by Bandai Namco. There's a few suggestions you could do, Solaire is popular and has a lot of appeal, but his actual moveset is fairly limited, he only has one offensive miracle and he's pretty much perfect for an Assist Trophy role. Artorias is really cool and iconic to the series, but I think getting to play as him would kind of diminish his appeal. Part of what makes him so impactful is trying to understand what's going on inside him as he tries to fight the abyss, stuff like him using his weaker arm for his sword swings. I feel like it wouldn't be the best representation of Dark Souls's gameplay. The Chosen Undead is I think definitely the best pick for Dark Souls, but Elden Ring took Dark Souls's formula and really hit the mainstream with it and found massive success. Elden Ring is still getting new content, and FromSoft and Bandai Namco have said they plan to make it a full expansive franchise. Between the two, I feel like Dark Souls might be slightly better represented by a stage. Every soulslike (except Sekiro if you count that) is more about the world than the player character, but I think it'd be fair to say the Tarnished is more important to Elden Ring than the Chosen Undead is to Dark Souls 1. Part of the point of the original Dark Souls is I'd say the Chosen Undead being ultimately irrelevant and their actions not having any impact on the future games, while in contrast the story of Elden Ring places more prominence on the player character as an entity within the story. Personally speaking, given that and how massive Elden Ring is, the Tarnished as a playable character with a Limgrave stage, alongside an Anor Londo stage and a Solaire Assist Trophy I feel like would be the most solid way to feature both games. If the Switch 2 is powerful enough to handle Elden Ring like the base PS4, I could see a port happening. The main complication with the Tarnished specifically over the Chosen Undead is that FromSoft now owns the Elden Ring IP, not Bandai Namco, which could make licensing a bit more complex, though I imagine Bandai Namco would still have to be involved in discussions. The Tarnished also has way too much moveset potential, you could come up with 10 entirely unique movesets for them, so there's a lot you could do, I've already written too much here.
Rayman: I needed a scrimblo to break up the last few picks. Ubisoft seems like it has a solid shot of getting a character, and while I think Ezio also has a good chance, and I'd honestly personally prefer him, I think it'd be Rayman off the back of fan demand in a similar way to Banjo, and I think he'd be a good choice as well. I could see Ezio happening later. While likely not as requested, Rayman is a lot more relevant than someone like Banjo and just recently had a prominent role in a Mario game, with a moveset that pretty much writes itself given how Origins and Legends control. The biggest hurdle is him having pretty much no Japanese presence to my knowledge, which definitely hurts. If you wanted to argue against that, you could bring up Sakurai saying that Banjo scoring so highly in the ballot was surprising from a Japanese perspective I guess.
Ryu Hayabusa: Koei Tecmo also seems very likely to get a character, Nintendo higher-ups seem to view Smash picks in terms of getting new companies or representing popular games, and Koei would fit into that perfectly, with Hayabusa being the obvious choice, especially given the Hayabusa clan is also present in Dead or Alive and Nioh. It's sort of surprising he didn't get a Mii costume honestly. I see a lot of his fan movesets base him more on his classic appearance, but I disagree with that. While him being more NES-styled would fit in with how Mega Man and Simon are handled, I don't think a new character should be modelled based on how they would fit in with characters from entirely different franchises as opposed to being modelled based on what best represents their own franchise. In that sense, the modern style for Ninja Gaiden is much more prominent, still featured to this day, and offers a ton in terms of moveset with his weapons and ninpo. He's in a similar boat to Dante and Bayonetta as an action game protagonist with dozens of weapons to pick from for a moveset, and he'd undoubtedly be a difficult character to master. Give him a classic NES alt though of course.
Doctor Eggman: Eggman definitely shot up in requests after Sephiroth, and I could see that playing a factor in the next game. A new Sonic character has always been a significant request, and I feel like Eggman has the most going for him in that field with how unique he is visually and how prominent he is in the series, though I could see Tails, Knuckles, or Shadow getting the nod as well. I like the idea of giving him the Egg Walker as his basic appearance, and making him heavy on setplay with slow frame-data but odd disjointed attacks and stage control, most similar to K. Rool in that regard. I don't think he'd end up being a very good character, but it's good to have some variety in viability and have a few lower tiers. His final smash should be the Egg Fleet.
Shovel Knight: An indie character is always a slightly tougher sell, and there's tons of great picks if one were to happen. I'd say the strongest contendors are Sans or Frisk, Shantae, the Knight, and Zagreus. Undertale really speaks for itself and I think could be a really good pick with some really interesting movesets, I'd personally probably want Kris but I think Deltarune should get much farther along before that's considered. Shantae was acknowledged as a popular pick and has a lot of history even if the games have never been the most popular, with Wayforward doing work for Nintendo, and Hollow Knight was a massive success and is very popular within these kinds of spheres. Zagreus strikes me as being kind of a Joker-style pick, someone really surprising you wouldn't expect to be in Smash but from a very popular and well-liked game with an incredibly distinct style that lends itself well to Smash. I'd love Quote but I don't think that would happen. I think for an actual roster Sans or the Knight (or Hornet I guess) feel like the most likely, but I picked Shovel Knight partially out of bias and partially because I'd say Shovel Knight has strongly established itself as a proper franchise beyond just one game. You could say the same for something like Shantae, but while I think obssessing over sales numbers is a bit silly and leads to dumb arguments, I do think it's probably worth noting that Shovel Knight Treasure Trove on its own has sold as much as the entire Shantae franchise combined for example, it's not just a franchise but a fairly successful one. It is definitely bias involved as well though lol, I really like Shovel Knight. His moveset potential again writes itself, and the fact he was popular enough to get an Assist Trophy and a set of spirits helps.
I also have to give a shoutout to Reimu, Touhou's history is very notable and longlasting and she'd fit in well. I'm not sure how likely she is given Touhou's odd circumstances as a franchise, and I'm not even sure how much I want her, but I do love Touhou, EOSD is my favourite game in the series. Youmu is the real pick though.
Lara: I promise I'm not bandwagoning off of that BAFTA poll lol, I think Lara has always been a good pick. She's massively iconic and important and her games got released recently on the Switch which I think would help a bit, though Nintendo history definitely isn't the be-all end-all these days. Tomb Raider also does have some presence in Japan even if it's obviously not as popular as it is in the West. A hurdle is that it's currently owned by the Embracer Group, a very big but somewhat unstable company which might make negotiating difficult. Still, while I don't think she's particularly likely, I think Lara has a lot of merit. She'd most likely be based more on the classic games, with her reboot design as an alt, using some of her more grounded weaponry like the spear gun and fragmentation grenade, and maybe some of the artifacts like Mjolnir for her specials, she'd probably be somewhat of a zoner. Could have a great stage too, Tomb Raider has tons of iconic locations to choose from.
On a similar note, I also want to say I'd love Agent 47 to get in. He definitely has no shot, and I don't know what his recovery would be, maybe using a shortcut ladder, but he's also very iconic and I love the Hitman games, and their slight cartooniness really fits well in Smash. He's definitely my number one "not gonna happen but wouldn't it be crazy tho?" pick.
The Traveler: This is probably the second really out there pick, I don't tend to see them on other fan rosters at least. Genshin Impact is a massive title which is popular globally, especially in Japan, and mihoyo is definitely a company I could see Nintendo wanting to strengthen relationships with. Genshin was announced to be coming to the Switch a while ago, and while that probably won't happen until the Switch 2 so it can actually be powerful enough to run the game, it having a presence would help, I think a Genshin character would have a lot of appeal. You could also do Kiana from Honkai Impact or the Trailblazer from Star Rail, but Genshin is undeniably their biggest title with the most recognition. Genshin has a lot of player characters to choose from, Hu Tao is probably a contendor for the most popular and would be a good pick as well, and Raiden Ei is also really up there and could be very cool, but this is a case where I think picking the main character would make the most sense. The Traveler has access to (or in the future will have access to) all 7 elements of Teyvat so you represent all the nations of the game, and it gives them a ton of obvious moveset variety. It would basically be putting the Avatar in Smash, which really sells itself I'd say, and Genshin has some very nice visual effects to give their attacks a lot of flair. Would also be another character with a male/female alt which is probably good to have. It would definitely be a more controversial pick if it were to happen, and I don't think it's the most likely, but I could see it for sure.
Riven: League of Legends is one of the most popular games on the planet and, like Genshin, is popular globally with a massive playerbase even in the East. While they are obviously totally different teams that would require different negotations like Sakurai has mentioned for Banjo and Steve, Tencent technically already has content in Smash via the Warframe spirits, and Tencent owns Riot as well. League has especially been expanding recently, most prominently with Arcane making a huge splash, but also a ton of spin-offs across different platforms, including the Switch, alongside the planned future MMO. League is so popular and recognised by basically everybody that I could see one happening as a surprise, and there's certainly a lot of characters to pick from. Unlike Genshin, League is an ensemble cast with no one main character, and there are honestly like 30 characters I'd say would be valid picks for Smash. Yasuo and Ahri are both extremely popular and prominent, Lux ties into the Demacia storyline and is one of the most popular characters, Teemo is an icon of League's gameplay even if he has basically no story role, Jinx is prominent in Arcane and is the mascot of Wild Rift, and a ton of others. Ultimately I decided to pick Riven because I feel like she ticks the most boxes for a character. She's one of the oldest champions who was introduced in season 1 of the game, she's very popular with a lot of skins and marketing, she's played a lot competitively (though she's fallen off recently), she ties into a very important aspect of League's lore in the Noxus-Ionia war, and she's specifically designed to play like a fighting game character based on tons of games, including Smash, her codename while she was being developed was "Marth". This means her gimmick is animation cancelling, allowing her to quickly cancel her Q animation (her using a series of sword slashes) and begin moving again. She's built around dealing complex combos and has a well known high skill-ceiling because of that, so it's only fitting that she fits really well into Smash when she's partially based on Melee Marth in the first place. While she is technically a swordsman, her sword is massive Guts-style cleaver as big as her body which can disassesmble into component parts, so I think it stands out a lot more even in that field. She's also almost certainly gonna be in Project L/2XKO anyways. Like I said though, League has tons of characters to pick from, so there's a lot of options. My second choice would probably be Ekko, I had a tough time deciding between him and RIven.
Gordon Freeman: Despite everything I think Gordon is probably actually the least likely character out of any of these, given the Half-Life games have never been on a Nintendo console and he doesn't have much presence in Japan either. Still, Gordon is obviously very iconic and from one of the most important game series ever. While Half-Life itself isn't on the Switch, Portal got a fairly recent and notable port, and I do think Valve would be willing to play ball, I'm not sure to what extent Nintendo considers the Steam Deck a competitor to the Switch given that. I see TF2 characters get a lot of requests within these kinds of circles for understandable reasons, but I think Gordon is the best choice. Half-Life is an icon in much the same way Doom is, and is a respectable franchise with a few games, including a fairly recent entry. I'm also reminded of that weird Final Fantasy XV/Half-Life crossover from a while back. Either way, Gordon can be adapted to Smash fairly well. While he does use a lot of guns, his main weapon is a crowbar which is an easy fit, and a lot of his more well known weaponry i made-up sci-fi equipment. You could easily make his main gun the Combine Pulse Rifle from Half-Life 2 and it would be a perfect fit, Half-Life obviously isn't kid friendly but it's not like super focused on gore or anything. The main gameplay of Half-Life revolves around using every tool at your disposal to get ahead, having to both plan in advance and adapt quickly to sudden situations, and I think that element of strategy could be adapted into Smash by making him a stage control character most similar to Snake, who gets the opponent into tricky positions and then rushes in to deal damage. A lot of his moveset comes fairly naturally, with the Gravity Gun as a grab and the barnacle as a tether recovery.
Bomberman: On the flip-side, Bomberman has a pretty good chance I'd say with a lot going for him, he already has notable presence in Smash and his Mii costume seems to have sold really well, though ofc it being a good Mii costume helps a lot with that. The Bomberman franchise is currently plenty active and it's the next most popular Konami series that could feasibly get a character, unless they added a Power Pros rep lol. Moveset is tricker than most, but I think if you minimised the size of his explosions and took some inspiration from the Bomberman 64 games to give him a more standard adventure platformer kit, he could be adapted quite well into the game. Alucard also has a notable chance, and I think I'd personally prefer him, but I would say Bomberman is probably a bit likelier.
Lloyd: Mostly speaks for himself, Sakurai acknowledged him as a popular pick and he fits well into Smash. I could see him happening basically whenever, and Tales Of is definitely up there as one of the most notable Namco series to add. His weapons are pretty interesting and could be handled a few ways, but I like how his Smash Flash moveset used them from what I recall, and I think I'd want something similar to that. He also has a fairly unique aesthetic as a swordsman compared to others. It would most likely be Lloyd, but there's an off-chance of Yuri as well. I also have to mention Adol from Ys in a similar vein, I don't think he's really likely but he would definitely be a fun surprising pick from a nicher series with a strong history.
Terra: This list has gone on a long while without a Square Enix character, only one is Geno, and there's a lot to pick from. I'd personally want Neku but no way that's happening lmao, so I think Terra would be a great option. Final Fantasy VI is the second most iconic Final Fantasy game, with Terra as its mascot and the closest thing it has to a single main character. As a mage, she has access to a lot of the classic Final Fantasy spells which are yet to be featured in Smash. I could see her having an interesting MP gimmick where you can expend a full bar of mana to enter Trance and gain more powerful attacks, at the cost of not being able to use a lot of your spells and recovering MP more slowly when you exit it. It's not necessarily accurate to how her Esper form works in FFVI, but if balanced well I think it could be a really interesting risk-reward mechanic that helps her stand out. Hopefully she could bring representation from the entire rest of the Final Fantasy series, though the rights being all split up would make that easier said than done.
Crash: A very popular pick which again speaks for himself, and is also notable as a Western character with a lot of Japanese popularity. I'd personally like to see him use moves from some of the PS2 games to fill out his moveset, they're definitely less well liked but I think it would balance him out nicely. With Activision now owned by Microsoft officially, negotiating to get an Activision character would probably be a bit more stable than it was before, thanks corporate monopolies. I'd also personally like to see Kerrigan as an Activision-Blizzard character, but that's impractical for obvious reasons.
2B: I should have spaced her and Terra out more. Very popular modern character, from a popular and well liked game that's on the Switch, already in a ton of crossovers, Yoko Taro is friends with Sakurai, has a lot of obvious merits. I don't think her sexualisation would be an issue, her basic design isn't any more suggestive than Bayonetta's idle design is. All you really need to do is cover up her chest window and give her a skirt void. maybe lengthen the skirt, and I think you'd be fine. You'd just be missing out on the self-destruct, and I'm not sure how you'd incorporate that into her moveset anyways. She has tons to work with, and I think the pod would be an interesting gimmick. I could imagine the pod firing would be her neutral special, with her special mechanic being that she can keep firing as she's attacking with her normal attacks to mimic Nier's gameplay, with the shots doing no knockback so the opponent has to take the risk of building up damage to attack 2B directly.
Master Chief: No matter what I want Master Chief to be the last character added to whatever game he's in if he ever gets added, because "Finishes the Fight" is the perfect tagline. To my definitely limited understanding, the Halo games, while not crazy huge in Japan or anything, do have a presence and are known, and of course in the West Chief is one of the most iconic game characters ever. Chief has no Nintendo presence currently outside of like, Minecraft costumes, but I could see a case where Chief is so iconic and would sell so well as DLC that it mitigates that, though I don't want to LARP too much as Sakurai or Nintendo anymore lol. The biggest problem with Chief in Smash is that he'd almost certainly be a zoner using the bubble shield and plasma grenade as part of his specials and nobody would like fighting against him, but such is life. A Halo stage could be amazing. There's less to say here just cause Chief has already been discussed so much, but I could definitely see him as the big bombshell reveal of a future Smash game if Microsoft's game division continues down the path they seem to be heading. Who knows though, things could change on an instant.
I ended up writing way way too much lol, so I hope someone reads at least some of what I wrote. I think there's a lot of interesting options to discuss in general and a lot of directions a new Smash could go.
Dark Meta Knight should be a Meta Knight alt costume.
That I'm a bit more hesitant on. It would be pretty confusing to casual players without a lot of visual cues, and in terms of balance and implementation, there's just so many problems: How do you tackle the difference in power granted by high and low BPM songs like Kapp'n's Song and The Roost? What happens for weird rhythms like the waltzey beat in Marx's theme? How do you handle rhythm changes like when the stage morph feature changes the music. How do you handle items like the Super Star that lower the music's volume in favor of their musical sound effect? What kind of BPM do you set for "songs" like Electroplankton or Environmental Noises?
You did mention Portal and that's a HL spinoff that's on the Switch (fun fact: the Portal collection has every single model and texture from HL2 hidden in its files)
They should add meow skulls in that case
I mean, for one, Portal in on Switch, which takes place in the Half-Life universe. For two, Sakurai had big praise for Half-Life 2.
sourcegaming.info
And let's be honest, a re-creation of Half-Life 2's opening with G-Man talking to Gordon Freeman before sending him to the Super Smash Bros. universe would be wild, especially if Valve themselves helped recreate the trailer.
And then there’s also that it’s just annoying to play.
