Nobody was asking for Terry... and that's ok

[Ryu Myuutsu]

Just because a character inclusion is unexpected it doesn't make them unwelcome. The Smash series has had several of these inclusions since the beginning; it's unlikely that a significant number people were campaigning for Ness, Lucas, Captain Falcon, Ice Climbers, G&W, Marth, Roy, Sheik, Snake, ROB, Duck Hunt, Ryu, Cloud, Pit, etc. yet several of these choices became fan favorites. To accept characters like Ice Climbers and Ness and then pretend that a character choice is good only if there was a group of vocal fans were asking for them is hypocritical; they may not always admit it but the reason they like those characters is because of the initiative of the devs to have them in the first place.

Terry is no different. I like Terry, but I never vocalized any support for his inclusion in Smash. I've always played as him in KOF and the SNK crossovers. And it's because that he was announced in Smash that I want to play as him now.

Some reactions have showed me that people don't want unexpected or obscure characters. What they want is an unexpected or obscure characters that only they knew about so they can be smug about it towards everyone else.

 

[Jurae818]

Absolutely. What I really like about Terry is that he alone outed every 'leaker', 'insider' and outright smug ass who thought they knew what was coming based on things that did not and have not had any basis on who comes in the Smash roster. The amount of people who don't know about SNK is baffling and it shows how very casual and limited Smash fans are when it comes to video games. For this whole notion that Smash is supposed to celebrate video games, you would think someone like Terry would be welcomed with open arms, but it's like you said - it's only characters they want personally and know personally that matters and anything else is uninteresting, lame, or the big one: Irrelevant. Terry not shilling some Switch title got them up in arms, same with Banjo-Kazooie and now, no one knows who's coming next.

Funny thing, during Banjo's waiting period everyone was sure that Ryu Hayabusa and Doomslayer were getting in and so many 'leakers' were sure of it, then suddenly, Nintendo (Yes, this was Nintendo themselves) had that supposed, keyword - supposed slip-up with SNK's copyright and suddenly everyone was in a panic. Come the direct, Terry showed up and everyone is crying about him being Ken with a hat. You also don't see an influx of SNK/Fatal Fury 'fans' compared to Castlevania and even Banjo-Kazooie, furthering my respect for Terry, even if I don't care for him personally only because he destroyed everyone's expectations and now no one can make a claim on who's coming next. It's always a matter of "This is a character I like so it's happening because -insert nonsense reasons-". It's okay to admit you want a character personally but don't claim it's going to happen without any evidence, if you can call it that.

Terry vindicated himself with forcing the hand of a massive chunk of Smash fans and that alone is enough reason to acknowledge his inclusion.

 

[lady_sky skipper]

You guys are pretty spot on about Terry Bogard. Heck, Terry was on my list of characters I wanted to see in Smash Bros but I've noticed that a lot of people didn't seem to think he'd have a shot at Smash or they didn't know how important SNK was to the fighting game scene back in the 90s. So when I first heard about the leak I was almost like 'don't give me hope' since I prefer to take leaks with a grain of salt until the Nintendo Direct airs. When I finally found out that Terry Bogard made it into Smash I was so happy since even if today's gamers don't know much about Fatal Fury it meant that Sakurai knew how important Terry actually is in video game history and I cheered. So seeing Terry's vindication by being in Smash Ultimate brought a huge smile to my face as an SNK fan.

 

[Jedisupersonic]

You guys are pretty spot on about Terry Bogard. Heck, Terry was on my list of characters I wanted to see in Smash Bros but I've noticed that a lot of people didn't seem to think he'd have a shot at Smash or they didn't know how important SNK was to the fighting game scene back in the 90s. So when I first heard about the leak I was almost like 'don't give me hope' since I prefer to take leaks with a grain of salt until the Nintendo Direct airs. When I finally found out that Terry Bogard made it into Smash I was so happy since even if today's gamers don't know much about Fatal Fury it meant that Sakurai knew how important Terry actually is in video game history and I cheered. So seeing Terry's vindication by being in Smash Ultimate brought a huge smile to my face as an SNK fan.

Yeah he was always on my "I'd love for him to be in Smash but I don't expect him to be" and now he is and it's glorious.

 

[Homelessvagrant]

Its the problem with forum bias. Its easy to forget that a large majority of the fans don't mull around the internet daily looking for smash news. To these fans every character can be a surprise. That and you get kind of a mob mentality on smashboards where a lot of people flock to a character that is deemed "a proper inclusion" amongst smash fans. It gives a real warped perception on who is possible, proper, or even popular. I'm in the mindset that any videogame character could be added at this point. I already got my ballet request in this game of dreams so I couldn't care less who else gets added; every character feels like a new present.

Personally I couldn't care less for Terry, but I could say the same thing about Incineror before I played him. As long as he's fun to play, he'll be a fun addition. I just hope Terry plays more like Captain Falcon or Incineroar and less like Ryu or Ken. Regardless I'm happy he made it in. If he keeps his engrish then I may play him more often for that trait alone.