I'm not going to push this list on any of you, but I think it's a very reasonable one. This list is based primarily off of tournament rankings.
Here is a recent post from Ankoku concerning tournament placement (not the list):
Below is a list of characters organized by how well they did in tournaments and how often they showed up. Apparently, Meta Knight and Snake are quite a bit more commonly top placing than the rest of the cast. There's possibly more characters taking wins and top4s than in Melee, but then you've got the huge list of characters barely placing top8 and the entire 9 characters not even making it that far.
Meta Knight (9 top8, 8 top4, 1 win, 28 pts)
Snake (7 top8, 4 top4, 4 wins, 27 pts)
Marth (5 top8, 4 top4, 4 wins, 19 pts)
Mr. Game & Watch (6 top8, 2 top4, 2 wins, 16 pts)
ROB (2 top8, 6 top4, 14 pts)
Pikachu (1 top8, 3 top4, 2 win, 13 pts)
King Dedede (3 top4, 2 wins, 12 pts)
Wolf (3 top8, 4 top4, 11 pts)
Lucario (2 top4, 1 win, 7 pts)
Ice Climbers (1 top8, 3 top4, 7 pts)
Olimar (7 top8, 7 pts)
Fox (3 top8, 1 win, 6 pts)
Falco (2 top8, 2 top4, 6 pts)
Peach (1 top4, 1 win, 5 pts)
Ike (1 top8, 2 top4, 5 pts)
Wario (2 top4, 4 pts)
Sonic (1 win, 3 pts)
Toon Link (1 win, 3 pts)
Pit (1 top8, 1 top4, 3 pts)
Zero Suit Samus (1 top8, 1 top4, 3 pts)
Ness (1 top8, 1 top4, 3 pts)
Luigi (1 top4, 2 pts)
Sheik (1 top4, 2 pts)
Bowser (1 top4, 2 pts)
Donkey Kong (2 top8, 2 pts)
Jigglypuff (2 top8, 2 pt)
Lucas (1 top8, 1 pt)
Mario (1 top8, 1 pt)
Diddy Kong (1 top8, 1 pt)
Captain Falcon
Ganondorf
Kirby
Link
Pokémon Trainer
Samus
Yoshi
Zelda
As you can see, we can't even rank some of the cast on tournament ranking yet unless we wish to venture into the top 16 for tournaments, which could easily get messy (considering some tournaments are below 20 people and thus we'd be included the majority of players which wouldn't help one bit). However, this information is good for dealing with the higher ranks.
Also, looking at how characters have faired in Japan's metagame helps to solidify some character placements as well as help us assign some values to other characters. It is important to see that this is not Japan's tier list by any means but rather their watching of character tournament performance. Thus each and every update shall be looked at as they all show character movement and thus characters doing well in tournaments.
4/10/08 japan キャラランク "chara rank" list
http://game13.2ch.net/test/read.cgi/famicom/1207761820/282-382
S. Snake, Falco(^), MK(^), ROB(v)
A. Fox(^)
B. G&W(^^^), Diddy(^), Toon(^^^), Pit(^^^^^), M4rfu(v)
C. ICs(vvv), Wolf(vvv), Olimar(^^^^^), ZeroSamus(^^^), Pikachu(vvv), *Mario(^^^), Lucas(v), *Lucario(^^^^^)
D. Kirby(^^^), Sheik(vvv), DDD(vvv), Luigi(^^^), Wario
E. *Koopa(vvvvv), Samus(vvv), Zelda(vvvvv), *DK(^), Ness(^^^), Peach(vvvvv), Link(^^^)
F. Ike(vvvvv), *Sonic(^), CF(^), Purin(^^^), *PokeTore(vvv), Yoshi(vvv)
G. Ganon(v)
4/3/08 japan キャラランク "chara rank" list
http://jbbs.livedoor.jp/bbs/read.cgi/game/42562/1204231339/l50
S. Snake, ROB, Falco, MK, Wolf(^), ICs(^^^)
A. Fox(v), Marfu(^), Diddy(v), G&W(vvv), Toon(v), Pikachu(v), Koopa (^^^)
B. Ike(^^^^^), Lucas(^), Zelda(^^^^^), Sheik(v), DDD(^), Peach(^^^^^), Pit(vvvvv), Zamus(vvv), Samus(^^^), Wario
C. Olimar (vvv), Mario (vvv), Luigi(vvv), Kirby(vvv), DK(^^^), Lucario(vvv), Yoshi (^^^), Ness(vvv)
D. PokeT(^^^), Sonic(v), Link(vvv), CF(v), Ganon (^), Purin (v) ;_;
3/29/08 japan キャラランク "chara rank" list:
http://jbbs.livedoor.jp/bbs/read.cgi/game/42562/1204231339/l50
S. Snake, ROB, Falco, MK
A. Fox
B. G&W, Diddy, Toon Link, Pit, Marf
C. ICs, Wolf, Olimar, Zamus, Pikachu, Mario, Lucas
D. Kirby, Sheik, Dedede, Luigi, Lucario, Wario
E. Koopa, Samus, Zelda, Ness, Peach, Link
F. Ike, Sonic, DK, CF, Jiggs, PokeTore, Yoshi
G. Ganon ;_;
3/22/08 japan キャラランク "chara rank" list:
http://game13.2ch.net/test/read.cgi/goveract/1206175501/l50x
S. Snake, Robotto
A. Falco, MK
B. G&W, Diddy, Toon Link, Pit, Fox, M4rf
C. ICs, Wolf, Olimar, ZeroSamus, Pikachu, Mario, Lucas
D. Kirby, Sheik, Dedede, Luigi, Lucario, Wario
E. Koopa, Samus, Zelda, Ness, Peach, Link
F. Ike, Sonic, DK, CF, Jiggs, PokeTore, Yoshi
G. Ganon ;_;
3/19/08 japan キャラランク "chara rank" list:
http://longsense.blog80.fc2.com/blog-date-200803.html
S. MK, Falco, Robo, Fox, Snake
A. Marusu, Pit, Toon
B. Wolf, G&W, Diddy, Mario, AiKura, Zamus
C. Pikachu, Luigi, Kirby, Dedede, Wario, Lucario, Lucas, Olimar
D. Peach, Samus, Sheik, Ness, Jiggs, PokeTore, DK, Koopa
E. Link, Ike, Zelda, Sonic
F. CF
G. Ganon, Yoshi ;_;
First character to look at, Snake: He's been dominating the NA metagame, only second to MK in points (by 1), however has more actual 1st place wins. In addition he has ALWAYS been S ranking for Japan tournament records.
Next character to look at, Metaknight: He's also been dominating the NA metagame, having the highest amount of points, but not too many 1st place finishes. In addition for Japan's metagame, he's mostly stayed S ranking with exception of 1 update where he didn't have amazing tournament results.
Next character to look at, Marth: He's been doing well in the NA metagame, having a lot of points (3rd), and just as many 1st place victories as Snake. In addition for Japan's metagame, he's constantly shifted between their A/B ranking.
Next character to look at, G&W: He's been doing great in the NA metagame, coming in 4th with points, and some 1st place victories. In addition for Japan's metagame, he's almost always remained B with exception of 1 update where he was A.
Next character to look at, R.O.B.: He's been doing good in the NA metagame, coming in 5th pointwise, however is lacking in actual 1st place victories. For the Japan metagame, he's always remained S rank.
Next character to look at, Pikachu: For the NA metagame he's 6th in points, however has 1st place rankings under his belt as opposed to numerous top 4/8s. For the Japan metagame, he's spent most of his time at C with 1 week spent at A.
Next character to look at, King DDD: He's fairing well in the NA metagame, getting 7th in points. However like Pikachu he has victories under his belt as well as numerous top 4s. For the Japan metagame, he's spent most of his time in D rank however sometimes has moved to C/B ranks.
Next character to look at, Wolf: He's doing fine in the NA metagame, getting 8th in points, however no victories are under his belt. For the Japanese metagame he's spent time from C ranks to S ranks.
Next characters, Lucario, ICs, Olimar: They are all tied for 9th in points for the NA metagame. However, Lucario gets his from a 1st place finish and top 4s. ICs get their points from mostly top 4s. While Olimar gets all of his from top 8s. As for the Japanese metagame Lucario has shifted between C/D mostly, ICs have shifted between C/B with an update at S, and Olimar has consistently found himself a C rank.
Next characters, Fox and Falco: They are tied for 12th in points for the NA metagame. Fox getting his from a tournament win and some top 8s. Falco getting his between top 4/8s. For the Japanese metagame Falco has almost always been S, and was once A. Fox on the other hand has been mostly A, which an update spent at S and an update spent at B.
Next characters, Peach and Ike: They are tied for 14th in points for the NA metagame. Peach using a 1st place and Ike with top 4/8s. For the Japanese metagame we have Peach usually at D, but once at B and once at E. For Ike, we see he's been usually in E/F being once at B.
Next character, Wario: Alone for 16th in points in the NA metagame from some top 4s. In the Japanese metagame we see him C/D with 1 update spent at B.
Next characters, Sonic, Toon Link, Pit, ZSS, and Ness: tied for 17th in points in the NA metagame. Sonic/Toon Link each did this from 1 notable win. Pit/ZSS/Ness did this through top 4/8s. For the Japanese metagame, Sonic has always been in the bottom ranks, while toon link has always found himself in A/B. Pit has almost always been a B, which 1 update at A. ZSS has usually been B/C. And Ness has almost always found himself low on the list.
Next characters, Luigi, Sheik, Bowser, DK, and Jigglypuff: tied for 22nd in points for the NA metagame. Luigi, Sheik, and Bowser did this by top 4, while DK and Jiggs did this from top 8s. For the Japanese metagame they've all been notably low with exception of Bowser getting A rank once and Sheik getting B rank once.
Next characters, Lucas, Mario, and Diddy Kong: tied for 27th in points for the NA metagame. This was through top 8 placing. For the japanese metagame Mario has been mostly B/C, Lucas has been mostly C with a B update, and Diddy Kong has been mostly B with an update as A.
Finally, we have the remaining characters with no evidence of note in the NA metagame. These are: Captain Falcon, Ganondorf, Kirby, Link, Pokémon Trainer, Samus, Yoshi, and Zelda. For the Japanese metagame Captain Falcon has always been very low in the ranks, Ganondorf has almost always been dead last, Kirby has found his home at C/D, Link has been notably low, Pokemon Trainer has never had any strong showing, Samus has normally been low with 1 update spent at B, Yoshi has been very low almost always 2nd to last and once being last, and finally Zelda has been found herself very low with an update spent at the B level.
Looking at all of this we can get a good idea of how the characters stack up to each other tournament-wise as opposed to in print. The list below is based primarily off of the NA metagame using only the Japanese metagame in order to help resolve some questions between characters.
TOP-A:
Snake
Metaknight
Marth
TOP-B:
G&W
Pikachu
King DDD
ROB
HIGH:
Wolf
Ice Climbers
Lucario
Olimar
Fox
Falco
MIDDLE:
Toon Link
Pit
Diddy Kong
Peach
Ike
Wario
Zero Suit Samus
Luigi
Ness
Sheik
Sonic
Bowser
Lucas
DK
Jigglypuff
Mario
LOW:
Zelda
Samus
Kirby
Pokemon Trainer
Link
BOTTOM:
Yoshi
Captain Falcon
Ganondorf
Tiers are separated by notable gaps within the metagame as a whole. This list does not reflect my personal opinion on characters, as I would fall into the notion of looking at things on paper as opposed to tournament results. Also I should note that this list has no separation of Pokemon Trainer as that is impossible with the information given. Please note that there is a
huge gap between Top-A and Bottom. Please note that the gap between Top-A and Top-B is very slight, but noteworthy. Also note that middle covers a huge span, such that between High and Middle the gap is small, and between Middle and Low the gap is small. However between High and Low the gap is large.
Any questions please ask. Everything should explain itself, and most will disagree, I know I definitely do. Any changes must be backed up with tournament showings and nothing else. This is not a list based on potential that you see in a character (such as saying "OMG XXXXXX can chaingrab like 20 characters, move them up!"). That does not effect this until XXX character actually uses that potential to net them results.
EDIT: a side fact, I've been keeping up with this thread since page 74 (I have it set to display whatever the max posts per page is, so this is page 104 for me). So I've seen all of those arguments. And many of you make very good points that I like. I also go and check all of the specific character boards a lot to watch videos and how people feel their character is performing. If you wish to see a detailed tier list based on my opinion I will do so and use this list as a skeleton. I feel it's important to keep this list in mind as a skeleton to base your list on, as this is reality and not what you think and what you have seen of a character.