I have compiled a HUGE list that consists of each franchise represented in Smash. Within each of these franchises are lists of possible reps you can expect to see together in SSB4. The first list of reps is usually the most likely set of reps for that franchise you can expect to see, then it continues in order of likeliness. With these compilations, I am not saying that this will be 100% correct in SSB4. I’m just giving some insight on the most possible roster and how well of a chance a certain character may have.
After each series, I will give an explanation of each of the Newcomers seen on each of the lists for that series. The description will explain why they were chosen, why they are in that particular spot on the list, and maybe a few other helpful points about them. On the bottom of the page is a complete roster, a roster that I feel is most possible for SSB4. By the time SSB4 comes out, this roster will be extremely accurate, though I’m not saying 100%. Discuss the roster and the lists, tell me what you agree or disagree with. I might end up changing a few things, but that isn’t very likely. I had a hard time coming up with any other Zelda reps than the ones listed, so if anyone has any input on those that is much appreciated.
Also, I would like to mention that each series is color-coded. So, if you're looking for a specific series, look for the color corresponding to the series listed below. Here's each series and it's color:
Mario
Donkey Kong
Legend of Zelda
Metroid
Yoshi
Kirby
Starfox
Pokemon
F-Zero
EarthBound (MOTHER)
Fire Emblem
WarioWare
Pikmin
Retro Series
Third Party Series
New Series
Possible Scrapped/Other
Anyway, here we go!
POSSIBLE MARIO REPS
1.)
-Mario
-Luigi
-Peach
-Bowser
-Bowser Jr.
2.)
-Mario
-Luigi
-Peach
-Bowser
-Toad
3.)
-Mario
-Luigi
-Peach
-Bowser
-Paper Mario
4.)
-Mario
-Luigi
-Peach
-Bowser
-Bowser Jr.
-Toad
5.)
-Mario
-Luigi
-Peach
-Bowser
-Bowser Jr.
-Paper Mario
BOWSER JR. ~ Bowser Jr. is a constantly recurring character in the Mario series and plays a vital role in some of the games. Bowser Jr. is both popular and recognizable, and would be a great pick for SSB4.
TOAD ~ Toad is one of the most familiar Mario characters not on the roster. Toad has been playable in many spin-off games and a few canon games, and has played a vital role in most of them. Toad is a very likely candidate for SSB4.
PAPER MARIO ~ Paper Mario has had a few popular games of his own and is another possible SSB4 Mario candidate. He isn’t quite as popular or familiar as Toad and Bowser Jr., so his chances aren’t quite as likely.
POSSIBLE DONKEY KONG REPS
1.)
-Donkey Kong
-Diddy Kong
-Dixie Kong
2.)
-Donkey Kong
-Diddy Kong
-King K. Rool
3.)
-Donkey Kong
-Diddy Kong/Dixie Kong
4.)
-Donkey Kong
-Diddy Kong/Dixie Kong
-King K. Rool
5.)
-Donkey Kong
-Diddy Kong
-Dixie Kong
-King K. Rool
DIXIE KONG ~ Dixie Kong was in the final Roster cut for Super Smash Bros. Brawl and a candidate for Super Smash Bros. Melee, so Sakurai has obviously had his eye on her. Plus, she is a recurring character and was playable in two of the Donkey Kong Country games.
KING K. ROOL ~ King K. Rool is a popular character and is the main villain of most Donkey Kong games. While he is popular and familiar, he just hasn’t gotten the attention from Sakurai that Dixie Kong has.
DIDDY KONG/DIXIE KONG ~ Apparently, this was the original idea for Dixie Kong; Sakurai was intrigued by the idea of these two on a tag team. In Brawl, Diddy’s Down B animation is an awkward pose that seems as if he is reaching back to tag Dixie. Plus, his Down B was obviously last minute, as the developers had to resort to him throwing items instead of creating a new animation or object for him. This makes sense because, Dixie was cut late anyway. You can probably expect to see a Diddy Kong/Dixie Kong tag team in the future.
POSSIBLE LEGEND OF ZELDA REPS
1.)
-Link
-Zelda/Shiek
-Ganondorf
-Toon Link
-Tingle
2.)
-Link
-Zelda/Shiek
-Ganondorf
-Toon Link
-Toon Zelda
3.)
-Link
-Zelda/Shiek
-Ganondorf
-Toon Link
-Toon Zelda/Tetra
4.)
-Link
-Zelda/Shiek
-Ganondorf
-Toon Link
-Tingle
-Toon Zelda
5.)
-Link
-Zelda/Shiek
-Ganondorf
-Toon Link
-Tingle
-Toon Zelda/Tetra
TINGLE ~ I hate to admit it, but Tingle actually does have a rather good chance of getting into SSB4. He has a few of his own games and is a familiar, yet annoying face of the Legend of Zelda.
TOON ZELDA ~ Toon Zelda was the other final roster cut along with Dixie Kong. So we know that Sakurai has had his eye on her as well, which boosts up Toon Zelda’s chances pretty good. The only problem is, she would most likely be a clone character. With Tingle’s new game, he probably has his chances over her.
TOON ZELDA/TETRA ~ Along with Toon Zelda and Dixie Kong, the mysterious Toon Shiek appeared as a final roster cut. Since there has never been a Toon version of Shiek, it is safe to say that it is Toon Zelda’s alter ego, Tetra.
POSSIBLE METROID REPS
1.)
Samus/Zero Suit Samus
2.)
Samus/Zero Suit Samus
Ridley
3.)
Samus/Zero Suit Samus
(New Metroid rep)
RIDLEY ~ There really aren’t much candidates in the Metroid series. Plus, the Metroid series is extremely controversial, so if we did get a new rep, it would be very hard to tell whom it would be. The most likely rep, though, is Ridley. Ridley is an EXTREMELY popular character; his only problem is size.
Some argue that he is simply too big to be a playable character and others say that he can easily be resized. I’m sort of nuetral on the debate. I believe he is very large and would work better as a boss, but I also believe that he has potential and popularity for a playable spot on the roster. In most games, Samus is about the size of his hand. Reducing him to about Bowser’s size would make him only slightly taller than Samus. Bowser’s size reduction really wasn’t that big, where as Ridley’ would have to be taken down a few sizes, which, when compared to Samus, would look very strange. Plus, if there were an Adventure Mode of some sort, Ridley would fit better as a boss.
But, Ridley does have a lot of popularity; almost equal (or equal to) Geno’s and Megaman’s popularity. He is also very deserving of recognition as playable and has enough potential for it. But, its up to Sakurai, so we can only wonder about Ridley’s chances.
(NEW METROID REP) ~ As I’ve stated earlier, Metroid is a very controversial series when it comes to Smash. It seems every major Metroid character that has potential also has something holding them back, and it’s very difficult to say what Sakurai would do. If Ridley doesn’t make it in, expect the unexpected. Anything can happen when it comes to Metroid, we’ll just have to wait and see.
POSSIBLE YOSHI REPS
1.)
-Yoshi
2a.)
-Yoshi
-Kamek
2b.)
-Yoshi
-Baby Mario Bros.
3.)
-Yoshi
-Kamek
-Baby Mario Bros.
KAMEK ~ Honestly, Kamek doesn’t have that great chances. We’ll most likely see the Yoshi series with still only one rep. But if a miracle occurs and we see another, it would be Kamek. Kamek appears as the main antagonist of the Yoshi’s Island games and plays a vital role in them.
BABY MARIO BROS. ~ The baby Mario Bros. are listed as “2b.” because they seem to have equal chances as Kamek. That means it still isn’t likely that we will get another Yoshi rep but if we do, expect Kamek or the Baby Mario Bros.
POSSIBLE KIRBY REPS
1.)
-Kirby
-Meta Knight
-King Dedede
Honestly, there is really no chance of seeing another Kirby rep in Smash. Okay, maybe I shouldn’t say NO chance, but they’re pretty dang low, too low to even be thinking of characters that could make it. However, I have seen Rick, Gooey, and Daroach suggested a lot, so if we happen to get a new Kirby rep, it will probably be one of those guys.
I know Kirby is Sakurai’s pride and joy, but the reason Meta Knight and King Dedede didn’t appear until Brawl is because Sakurai didn’t want to over include himself. Now, we got two new reps in one game, I don’t think we’ll be getting anymore anytime soon.
POSSIBLE STARFOX REPS
1.)
-Fox
-Falco
-Wolf
-Krystal
2.)
-Fox
-Falco
-Wolf
3.)
-Fox
-Falco
-Krystal
KRYSTAL ~ Krystal is one of the most (or should I say THE most) popular Starfox character not already represented in Brawl. While the series seems to be dead at the moment, they may just be in a small hiatus (Metroid didn’t get any console games in the N64 days). This doesn’t mean a popular, familiar character from one of the most recent games can’t be represented. Starfox is still popular, it will most likely happen.
Also, due to the series being in a hiatus, Krystal may not make an appearance, so don’t expect anything. Also, to save room on the Roster or limit representatives, she could very well replace Wolf, but this doesn’t seem likely, as Wolf is one of the few villains and is more recurring than Krystal. But, whose to say it couldn’t happen?
POSSIBLE POKEMON REPS
1.)
-Pikachu
-Jigglypuff
-Pokemon Trainer
-Lucario
-(Next-generation Pokemon)
2.)
-Pikachu
-Jigglypuff
-(New Pokemon Trainer)
-Lucario
-(Next-generation Pokemon)
3.)
-Pikachu
-Jigglypuff
-Pokemon Trainer
-(New Pokemon Trainer)
-(Next-generation Pokemon)
4.)
-Pikachu
-Jigglypuff
-Pokemon Trainer
-Lucario
-(New Pokemon Trainer)
-(Next-generation Pokemon)
5.)
-Pikachu
-Jigglypuff
-Pokemon Trainer
-Lucario
-Mewtwo
-(Next-generation Pokemon)
6.)
-Pikachu
-Jigglypuff
-(New Pokemon Trainer)
-Lucario
-Mewtwo
-(Next-Generation Pokemon)
7.)
-Pikachu
-Jigglypuff
-Pokemon Trainer
-Mewtwo
-(New Pokemon Trainer)
-(Next-generation Pokemon)
(NEXT-GENERATION POKEMON) ~ The next Generation Pokemon (5th Generation) can’t be decided right now for obvious reasons. But nevertheless, I am 99.9% confident that we will see the most popular, familiar, and deserving of the 5th Generation Pokemon cast in SSB4. I don’t know why they would leave one out…
(NEW POKEMON TRAINER) ~ Notice the word NEW does not say NEXT-GENERATION. What I mean by “new,” is a Pokemon Trainer new to Smash, not new in Pokemon. This trainer could be from any generation, or could represent all generations. He/she replaces Pokemon Trainer in one possibility because two Pokemon Trainers would create a lot of reps, and the slots some of those reps take up could be used for other deserving characters from other series. Just trying to limit the Pokemon series somewhere, its obviously what happened in Brawl.
In some cases though, if Sakurai decided to ignore the amount of reps (which doesn’t seem likely), then you can probably expect a New Pokemon Trainer to take Lucario’s place, or even more unlikely, appear on the roster along side Lucario and the original Pokemon Trainer (only if there were more than five slots).
MEWTWO ~ Mewtwo has his chances, though they are very small. If more than five slots were to be allowed for Pokemon, Mewtwo’s chances are considerably boosted. But, it still doesn’t seem very likely, as their would be a large amount of Pokemon reps that overshadow other series like Mario or Legend of Zelda. So don’t bet on Mewtwo appearing in SSB4. It’s just not very likely.
POSSIBLE F-ZERO REPS
1.)
-Captain Falcon
2.)
-Captain Falcon
-Samurai Goroh
3.)
-Captain Falcon
-Black Shadow
SAMURAI GOROH ~ The F-Zero series hasn’t gotten a new rep, and whether or not they are deserving of one is still on the fence. They seem to be on a small hiatus like Starfox, but that doesn’t mean the series is completely dead. Don’t expect to see any new F-Zero reps in SSB4. However, if we do, we will most likely see Samurai Goroh. Sakurai has obviously been paying more attention to Samurai Goroh. In Melee, he made a cameo appearance in the opening movie and was one of the five F-Zero racer trophies. Then, he was an Assist Trophy in Brawl, which boosts his chances even higher.
BLACK SHADOW ~ The Black Shadow is a popular choice, but not much more popular than Samurai Goroh. He was once a vital character in the F-Zero series, but that has dwindled considerably since he first appeared. Samurai Goroh is just way more deserving than he is; so don’t expect to see Black Shadow. In fact, don’t expect to see Samurai Goroh. I’m only saying that if there was a new F-Zero rep, it would most likely be Goroh.
POSSIBLE EARTHBOUND (MOTHER) REPS
1.)
-Ness
-Lucas
2a.)
-Ness
-Lucas
-(New Mother 3 rep)
2b.)
-Ness
-Lucas
-(New EarthBound rep)
3.)
-Ness
-Lucas
-(New EarthBound rep)
-(New Mother 3 rep)
(NEW MOTHER 3 REP) ~ First of all, don’t be surprised if we don’t see a new EarthBound (MOTHER) rep. This series is difficult, because while it is a dead series, it is obviously still very popular and recognizable by gamers everywhere. Plus, these were some of Sakurai’s favorite games, his actual favorite being Mother 3. Since Mother 3 is the most recent, it seems likely that if we did get a new rep, it would be from Mother 3. Candidates for this include Flint, Kumatora, Duster, and Claus.
(NEW EARTHBOUND/MOTHER 3 REP) ~ EarthBound (Ness’s game) was the only game in the series to be released internationally. Therefore, Sakurai may want to include more internationally recognizable characters from the series instead of more Japan Only ones. It is labeled “2b.” because I believe the two have equal chances for each of their own reasons that I mentioned above. Candidates for this spot include Jeff, Paula, and Poo.
Now the chances are very low, but Sakurai may decide to include a character from both EarthBound and Mother 3, just to get a newer character in, but also provide more recognizable characters from the beloved series. The chances of this are very low though, considering we may not even get a new rep for the series anyway.
POSSIBLE FIRE EMBLEM REPS
1a.)
-Marth
-Ike
-(Next-generation Fire Emblem Lord)
1b.)
-Marth
-Ike
-Micaiah
1c.)
-Marth
-Ike
-Lyn
2a.)
-Marth
-Ike
-Micaiah
-(Next-generation Fire Emblem Lord)
2b.)
-Marth
-Ike
-Lyn
-(Next-generation Fire Emblem Lord)
2c.)
-Marth
-Ike
-Micaiah
-Lyn
(NEXT-GENERATION FIRE EMBLEM LORD) ~ The Fire Emblem series is slowly growing more popular, and the series is still going. It doesn’t seem to be stopping anytime soon either. If there is a new generation of Fire Emblem characters appearing in a future game around the time of SSB4’s development, you can expect to see one of the new Fire Emblem Lord’s in SSB4.
MICAIAH ~ Micaiah was the other Lord along side Ike in the most recent Fire Emblem game. If we don’t get a new generation, we’ll most likely see her, as she is popular, deserving, and unique in that she uses magic instead of swords unlike the other Fire Emblem characters represented in Smash.
LYN ~ Lyn is just as popular as Micaiah and Sakurai has had his eye on her, making her an Assist Trophy and the such. Her only problem is she isn’t as recent as Micaiah. One of her other ups though is the fact that she represents the generation in the middle of Marth and Ike instead of a new rep for the recent generation like Micaiah. For these reasons, their chances are equal if we don’t see a new Fire Emblem rep.
If Sakurai decides to put in two more Fire Emblem reps and there happens to be a new generation, then either Lyn or Micaiah will appear along side the next-generation rep. They have equal chances. Micaiah would be good because she is newer and probably more recognizable by younger player being introduced to Smash and she is unique as well, but Lyn would be good because she is popular, familiar, and would fill the generation gap between Marth and Ike. She also has the side of Sakurai’s apparent favor. If there is no next-generation, there is a chance they may appear together, but this still doesn’t seem likely.
POSSIBLE WARIOWARE REPS
1.)
-Wario
2.)
-Wario
-(New WarioWare rep)
(NEW WARIOWARE REP) ~ Seriously, don’t bet on a new WarioWare character appearing in SSB4. Sure the series is doing pretty good, but they really don’t need that much representation. But on the freak chance that they somehow did get a new rep, it would be any one of these candidates: Captain Syrup, Mona, Ashley, and 9-Volt. But like I said, don’t bet on a new WarioWare rep, the chances are extremely unlikely.
POSSIBLE PIKMIN REPS
1.)
-Olimar
2.)
-Olimar
-Louie
LOUIE ~ Like the WarioWare series, don’t expect much from Pikmin. Chances of a new rep are extremely low, I’m almost confident that we won’t see a new rep for either the Pikmin series or the WarioWare series. But, if we somehow did get a new rep, it would no doubt be Louie. Louie was the co-star of Pikmin 2 so it makes sense. But seriously, don’t expect a new Pikmin rep, I am confident it won’t happen.
POSSIBLE RETRO REPS
I’m going to d this section a little differently. I’m just going to list all the possible reps and why they are deserving (in no particular order), plus the combinations. Here we go:
LITTLE MAC ~ Little Mac is from the popular game series Punch-Out!!, which has recently gotten a new game. This also brings up the question, “is he even Retro anymore?” but that’s not important right now. Punch-Out!! Was among one of Sakurai’s favorite NES games and Little Mac was even an assist trophy, so it definitely has its recognition. Little Mac is very possible for SSB4.
BALLOON FIGHTER ~ Balloon Fighter is from a game called Balloon Fight, which ranks among one of Sakurai’s favorite NES games along with Punch-Out!!. Balloon Fighter has his ups because he is a very unique character, and apparently Sakurai enjoys designing more when he can have fun with it, which wouldn’t be the case for Little Mac. But he doesn’t have the popularity and familiarity that Little Mac does, so it’s hard to say.
EXCITE BIKER/URBAN CHAMPION/BUBBLES ~ After seeing these characters, you may think, “WTF!?” I honestly don’t think any of these characters have much of a chance, but here is why they are here; Before Melee, Sakurai had a list of four Retro characters that he wanted to include in Melee. Ice Climbers, Excite Biker, Urban Champion, and Bubbles from Clu Clu Land. He felt that the Ice Climbers had the most potential and they made the roster. I don’t think any of the other characters have a chance, but I felt they were worthy of mention.
TAKAMARU ~ Takamaru is a Japanese Character, which is probably one of his cons. Sakurai has stated he wants to include mostly internationally known characters, but that doesn’t mean he won’t add a few every one in a while. In Melee, we got Marth and Roy. In Brawl, we got Lucas. Whose to say a Japanese character in SSB4 won’t happen? The chances really aren’t that great though.
After this, their really aren’t many other characters that would make the cut. The only other two would be Donbe from Shin Onigashima and Sukapon from Joy Mech Fight, but they really don’t have a chance. We usually get two retro reps per game, so we could very possibly get two in SSB4. The reps are usually a normal retro character and a WTF character. However, no one said there had to be a WTF character and no one said they had to be retro, that’s just how it turned out. So assuming we get two new retro reps as usual, we can get possibilities like this:
1.)
-Little Mac
-Balloon Fighter
2.)
-Little Mac
-Takamaru
3.)
-Balloon Fighter
-Takamaru
These three possibilities seem most likely. If you really insist on there being a WTF character, you can assume Little Mac or Balloon Fighter will be in there (but only one of them) along with a Japanese only character replacing a WTF character or one of the three Melee Candidates listed above. But like I said, there really doesn’t need to be a retro WTF character. Also, if the “two retro per game” trend doesn’t continue, you can expect something like this:
4.)
-Little Mac
5.)
-Balloon Fighter
6.)
-Little Mac
-Balloon Fighter
-Takamaru
POSSIBLE THIRD PARTY REPS
Third Party is very controversial right now. Nobody even knows if Sonic or Snake will return, though the chances of them being cut aren’t very low. Still, we can expect anything from Third Party characters, so here are the possibilities in no particular order.
1a.)
(None)
1b.)
-Sonic
-Snake
1c.)
-Megaman
1d.)
-Sonic
-Snake
-Megaman
1e.)
-Megaman
-Geno
1f.)
-Sonic
-Snake
-Megaman
-Geno
MEGAMAN ~ Megaman is the most obvious choice for a new Third Party rep. He is currently one of the most popular characters for Smash, and Sakurai can’t ignore that. Plus, he is familiar and very deserving with his wide variety of games. If there are New Third Parties in SSB4, Megaman will no doubt be on the list. It s also possible that he will be the only new Third Party, as you can’t overload the game with too much of these guys.
GENO ~ He’s only been in one game, and he wasn’t even the star. So it baffles me, why does he have such a large fan base supporting him for an SSB title? You can’t ignore his popularity, which almost matches Megaman’s. He’s just not as likely as Megaman. And for some reason, the whole Professor Layton/Twitter Incident has got me thinking, maybe its more possible than we think. He has chances, but don’t bet on him appearing in SSB4.
POSSIBLE NEW SERIES REPS
Any of the series listed below have a good chance of being represented either through a stage or through characters. The ones toward the top of the list have more of a chance of being represented through a character than those at the bottom.
-Golden Sun
-Custom Robo
-Advance Wars
GOLDEN SUN ~ With a new game on the way, this popular series seems like a good choice for representation in SSB4. The obvious character would be Isaac, no doubt about that. Isaac also got an Assist Trophy, so that is a boost. If we were to see any new series represented with a character in SSB4, you can expect it to be Golden Sun.
CUSTOM ROBO ~ Custom Robo has been a popular series in Japan for a long time, and it is becoming more popular in America. Ray Mk III was an Assist Trophy, so he would be a likely choice for representation. You can definitely expect some sort of representation possibly with a character or maybe with a stage. I’m not saying that it will for sure happen though.
ADVANCE WARS ~ Advance Wars is doing pretty good and slowly growing more popular. The series doesn’t seem dead yet either. This series also got an Assist Trophy in Brawl, which is a boost. Seeing an Advance Wars character wouldn’t be too surprising, yet it really doesn’t seem that likely. The only problem is the character that would represent it.
In Brawl, we got two new series (WarioWare and Pikmin), plus two new retro series (Kid Icarus and Gyromite). You can expect to see two new series represented along with two retro series. These two series would most likely be Golden Sun and Custom Robo with Isaac and Ray Mk III. If we got three, expect Advance Wars. If we got only one, expect Golden Sun or possibly a lesser chance of Custom Robo.
ACCURATE SSB4 ROSTER PREDICTION
This Roster prediction is a compilation of the most likely rep sets from each series listed above. Look to the bottom of the post for the roster status, which contains info on size, newcomers, etc. Also, there are five “possible scrapped” characters that are also listed towards the bottom.
MARIO
Mario
Luigi
Peach
Bowser
Bowser Jr.
DONKEY KONG
Donkey Kong
Diddy Kong
Dixie Kong
LEGEND OF ZELDA
Link
Zelda/Shiek
Ganondorf
Toon Link
Tingle
METROID
Samus/Zero Suit Samus
YOSHI
Yoshi
KIRBY
Kirby
Meta Knight
King Dedede
STARFOX
Fox
Falco
Wolf
Krystal
POKEMON
Pikachu
Jigglypuff
Pokemon Trainer
Lucario
(Next-generation Pokemon)
F-ZERO
Captain Falcon
EARTHBOUND (MOTHER)
Ness
Lucas
FIRE EMBLEM
Marth
Ike
Micaiah, Lyn, or (New Fire Emblem Lord)
WARIOWARE
Wario
PIKMIN
Olimar
RETRO SERIES
Ice Climbers
Pit
R.O.B.
Mr. Game & Watch
Little Mac
THIRD PARTY
Sonic
Snake
Megaman
NEW SERIES (1)
Isaac
POSSIBLE SCRAPPED CHARACTERS
(New Metroid rep)
(New EarthBound/MOTHER 3 rep)
Samurai Goroh
Balloon Fighter
Ray Mk III
ROSTER STATUS
Total Characters ~ 44
Veterans ~ 35
Newcomers ~ 9
Total Characters (With Transformations) ~ 48
Veterans (With Transformations) ~ 39
Total Characters (with scrapped/transformations) ~ 53
Newcomers (with scrapped/transformations) ~ 14
So, what do you think of this? This is my most accurate roster yet, I’m sure we’ll see something very similar to this in SSB4.
, but I think GS and Custom Robo have good chances of appearing. I don't have much to say about Advance Wars; I don't play the games, and I don't really hear as much about them as Golden Sun, and maybe even Custom Robo and Animal Crossing. So if I had to pick two, it would be Golden Sun and Animal Crossing. In Sakurai's situation, it'd probably be Golden Sun and Custom Robo OR Golden Sun and Advance Wars.