Out of all the ATs, who got the worst fan backlash?

[Dee Dude]

Assist Trophies have a very mixed reputation.

To Sakurai and his team, they’re seen as a silver medal.
A consolation prize of being able to appear on the Battlefield to aid the fighters without necessarily being fighters themselves.

To fans? A death sentence.
Their fate is sealed and absolutely zero chance of DLC unless official word states otherwise, the only chance of having them playable is wait another 5-10 years for the next Smash (or stick to mods/fan games) and that can seriously bite.

Which of the characters do you feel got hit the worst by the infamous AT massacre during E3/August/November?

Please be civil and try to keep the salt to a minimum.

 

[RetrogamerMax]

Assist Trophies have a very mixed reputation.

To Sakurai and his team, they’re seen as a silver medal.
A consolation prize of being able to appear on the Battlefield to aid the fighters without necessarily being fighters themselves.

To fans? A death sentence.
Their fate is sealed and absolutely zero chance of DLC unless official word states otherwise, the only chance of having them playable is wait another 5-10 years for the next Smash (or stick to mods/fan games) and that can seriously bite.

Which of the characters do you feel got hit the worst by the infamous AT massacre during E3/August/November?

Please be civil and try to keep the salt to a minimum.

A lot of people were very upset that Waluigi and Ashley were Assist Trophies but didn't see it as being super likely for them to be upgraded to playable status. Isaac on the other hand people were expecting because he was like the most requested character behind and so the negative reaction was huge because of that.

 

[Swaggy-G]

so the negative reaction was huge because of that

Was it? Yes, Isaac fans were sad for a while, but I don't recall them sending abuse to Sakurai over Twitter because of this.

 

[RetrogamerMax]

Was it? Yes, Isaac fans were sad for a while, but I don't recall them sending abuse to Sakurai over Twitter because of this.

Isaac fans sorrow was greater than Waluigi fans abuse of Sakurai on Twitter.

 

[Dee Dude]

Let’s just get this out of the way.

Waluigi fans did not harass Sakurai on Twitter, it was just two kids that made edgy memes about him only to have them blocked and never spoken of again.

It was the media that started blaming and generalizing the whole fan base for the actions of two brats.

 

[Luigifan18]

Let’s just get this out of the way.

Waluigi fans did not harass Sakurai on Twitter, it was just two trolls that made edgy memes about him only to have them blocked and never spoken of again.

It was the media that started blaming and generalizing the whole fan base for the actions of two idiots.

Um... I don't think "idiots" is the right term here. "Brats" is much more suitable.

 

[T-Donor66]

Was it? Yes, Isaac fans were sad for a while, but I don't recall them sending abuse to Sakurai over Twitter because of this.

Imagine still unironically believing that the whole Waluigi fanbase sent Sakurai hate mail, and that it wasn’t just 2 little kids. Learn to fact check the drivel you are fed by others instead of blindly believing it.

 

[MasterOfKnees]

Waluigi probably as it reached all the way out to the general gaming community, hell I've even seen his deconfirmation mentioned on non-gaming related forums, it was pretty crazy and also very frustrating considering the huge announcements we had just gotten.

Isaac fans, while very passionate and loyal, aren't as plentiful, you saw a lot of disappointed people here on Smashboards, but his presence outside this forum is not as big. Not that he's a nobody, but on places like Reddit there were more people sad about the Banjo part of the Grinch leak not being true.

 

[Jovahexeon Joranvexeon]

I'm gonna be the odd one out and say Shadow.

Hope shots are one thing, but with echoes on the rise and his assist trophy nowhere to be seen, Shadow seemed like an absolute lock, that it wasn't even funny.

 

[T-Donor66]

Waluigi probably as it reached all the way out to the general gaming community, hell I've even seen his deconfirmation mentioned on non-gaming related forums, it was pretty crazy and also very frustrating considering the huge announcements we had just gotten.

Isaac fans, while very passionate and loyal, aren't as plentiful, you saw a lot of disappointed people here on Smashboards, but his presence outside this forum is not as big. Not that he's a nobody, but on places like Reddit there were more people sad about the Banjo part of the Grinch leak not being true.

I honestly think the Isaac fanbase strongly over estimates just how many supporters they really have. Some guy in this thread said that he was the 3rd most requested character behind Ridley and K rool (no?), but I understand that hanging out on a site like Smashboards can lead to your perception of what the community wants being inflated quite a bit. Most support threads are massive echo chambers.

 

[newsuperhackboys]

For me, Issac since he is the second most popular assist trophy in Smash. He was released so late that some people consider it an insult. Personally, I wish he was revealed somewhere around October so we don't have to follow fake leaks that cause excitement.

 

[Mogisthelioma]

Justice for Waluigi is a more popular result than Justice for women and workers. So......Waluigi.

 

[PF9]

Surprised no one said Krystal yet, considering we are now at 2 straight Smash games without a Star Fox newcomer, after having debuts from that universe in the first three games (I even consider Wolf, who originally got in over her in Brawl, to be a "joke" character).

 

[TMNTSSB4]

Besides Waluigi, definitely Shadow and Issac...moreso Shadow cause he was one of the most anticipated and unintentionally hinted at characters to join the Ultimate roster

 

[RetrogamerMax]

Besides Waluigi, definitely Shadow and Issac...moreso Shadow cause he was one of the most anticipated and unintentionally hinted at characters to join the Ultimate roster

I think that might have been Sega's fault as to why we didn't get Shadow as a Echo Fighter. I mean, it doesn't make that much sense at all that Street Fighter and Castlevania got a 2nd rep before Sonic the Hedgehog which, is the most iconic and popular 3rd party franchise in Smash. I still have faith that Tails could still show up as one of the 4 remaining DLC characters in the Season Pass because of his Mii costume back in Smash 4.

Knuckles shows up in GHZ in the background, is a Assist Trophy, and was a Mii costume back in Smash 4. Tails shows up in GHZ in the background as well, so you can't tell me that Ken and Richter got in and Knuckles got a Assist Trophy but Tails didn't. Tails is the 2nd most iconic co-protagonist in gaming so it would make sense if he received playable status as either a unique fighter or a Echo over them.

 

[VexTheHex]

Waluigi is really the only true answer as his popularity overshadows the other's combined, though I did vote for Spring Man. Outside of the echo chamber fans, most thought Spring Man was a solid shot at DLC and most figured they'd see or rally for him there. Nobody really expected for him to get deconfirmed while others like Bomberman, Krystal, or Ashley types were always on the edge of which is it going to be whether confirmed or deconfirmed with each direct.

So I do feel Spring Man's deconfirmation was one of the more shocking for people as his rallying and support really hadn't taken off based on the idea that he would be a later on addition and not someone for the base roster. Poor guy got crushed before he could get stable footing even on here.

 

[Robertman2]

Haven't a few people talked about how NOA got harassment from Isaac fans anout the AT?

also the only one with a truly negative reaction when deconfirmed was waluigi. everyone else was just thier cult fanbases

 

[Mogisthelioma]

Haven't a few people talked about how NOA got harassment from Isaac fans anout the AT?

also the only one with a truly negative reaction when deconfirmed was waluigi. everyone else was just thier cult fanbases

Wait, harassment? Where? That sounds ridiculous. (Also what's NOA, I seem to be out of the loop on that one, sorry).

Although I do have to say (and I'm not trolling or flame baiting, I learned this the hard way too), that being 100% sure a character is going to be a fighter without any regard to the possibility of otherwise is probably one of the dumbest things you can do. Because if that character isn't playable, all of your hope gets wasted. The problem is, people will blame Nintendo, Sakurai, or literally anyone for their character not being a fighter instead of accepting that they got their hopes up too high. And that seems to be where most of the backlash from an fanbase is coming from.

 

[T-Donor66]

Wait, harassment? Where? That sounds ridiculous. (Also what's NOA, I seem to be out of the loop on that one, sorry).

Although I do have to say (and I'm not trolling or flame baiting, I learned this the hard way too), that being 100% sure a character is going to be a fighter without any regard to the possibility of otherwise is probably one of the dumbest things you can do. Because if that character isn't playable, all of your hope gets wasted. The problem is, people will blame Nintendo, Sakurai, or literally anyone for their character not being a fighter instead of accepting that they got their hopes up too high. And that seems to be where most of the backlash from an fanbase is coming from.

This. This. This. If you go back to the moment Isaac was deconfirmed in his support thread, there were dozens of people unironically saying that they hate Sakurai and that they are boycotting the game. What??? Listen, I get that hoping for your favorite character is a big part of the appeal of smash hype, but thinking your character is an absolute given (especially a character from a dormant franchise) leads to absolute disappointment.

 

[TMNTSSB4]

I think that might have been Sega's fault as to why we didn't get Shadow as a Echo Fighter. I mean, it doesn't make that much sense at all that Street Fighter and Castlevania got a 2nd rep before Sonic the Hedgehog which, is the most iconic and popular 3rd party franchise in Smash. I still have faith that Tails could still show up as one of the 4 remaining DLC characters in the Season Pass because of his Mii costume back in Smash 4.

Knuckles shows up in GHZ in the background, is a Assist Trophy, and was a Mii costume back in Smash 4. Tails shows up in GHZ in the background as well, so you can't tell me that Ken and Richter got in and Knuckles got a Assist Trophy but Tails didn't. Tails is the 2nd most iconic co-protagonist in gaming so it would make sense if he received playable status as either a unique fighter or a Echo over them.

Shadow and/or Tails not getting in is definitely on Sega, but that’s likely because they’re making all of their future reps be from different series and companies under their ruling (Sonic from Sonic Team, Bayonetta from Platinum Games, and Joker from Atlus) as a way to get exposure on as many franchises as possible

 

[Guynamednelson]

Wait, harassment? Where? That sounds ridiculous. (Also what's NOA, I seem to be out of the loop on that one, sorry).

Nintendo of America. And there was no harassment, just people reacting negatively to the AT at the Nintendo World store.

 

[newsuperhackboys]

Nintendo of America. And there was no harassment, just people reacting negatively to the AT at the Nintendo World store.

While not Issac, Waluigi as a assist trophy was given so much harassment. I remember watching this one video that showed some pretty mean messages and Sakuari was blocking every single one of them.

I apologize f I offended some people with above message.

 

[Mogisthelioma]

Nintendo of America. And there was no harassment, just people reacting negatively to the AT at the Nintendo World store.

Oh I see. I usually refer to them as NoA so NOA looks like something else entirely to me.

I don't remember harassment but yes I can cite there was huge backlash. Waluigi? Yep. harassment.

This. This. This. If you go back to the moment Isaac was deconfirmed in his support thread, there were dozens of people unironically saying that they hate Sakurai and that they are boycotting the game. What??? Listen, I get that hoping for your favorite character is a big part of the appeal of smash hype, but thinking your character is an absolute given (especially a character from a dormant franchise) leads to absolute disappointment.

And what's worse is that a lot of them are coming from Grinch Leak salt. After the November direct so many people were like, "Stop acting like we were dumb for believing in the leak, it was done well." No one is saying anything against you for believing in the Grinch Leak, but standing behind a leak of all things to convince yourself that your most wanted was a guarantee was foolish beyond belief.

 

[Rumble Red]

I'm sympathetic to anyone whose #1 was an assist trophy instead of a fighter... but not that sympathetic, since Advance Wars doesn't even have an AT anymore. I'd long since given up hope that my favourite Nintendo franchise would get a fighter or a new game, but not even getting to keep the rep it had was a low blow.

You don't have to be grateful that you got a consolation prize, but maybe pour one out for the guys who weren't even deemed good enough for silver, y'know?

 

[Robertman2]

Nintendo of America. And there was no harassment, just people reacting negatively to the AT at the Nintendo World store.

There was harassment. Phone calls, emails, tweets, lots of angry nerds

 

[Hadokeyblade]

Gotta go with shadow, probably speaking from personal experience but damn, it really felt like he had a chance, the whole echo fighter concept feels like it was MADE for him and Ken.

 

[T-Donor66]

While not Issac, Waluigi as a assist trophy was given so much harassment. I remember watching this one video that showed some pretty mean messages and Sakuari was blocking every single one of them.

You know what? At this point, I don’t care if I get banned. It would be better than having to suffer around you idiots any longer. I wish i had never had the displeasure of communicating with people so easily manipulated and naive, it is absolutely insufferable. Literally two, and I mean TWO children sent Sakurai a couple of edgy memes, and he blocked them, end of story. But of course, people manipulated the situation to make everyone believe the entire Waluigi fanbase was “harassing” Sakurai.

And wouldn’t you guess what happened, you guys ate it up. No research, no looking further into it, nope, you guys just chose to target an entire group of people based on nothing but heresy. Shame on all of you, do you know what it is like to have to hear the same damn lie every time your favorite character is mentioned for months on end? Your childhood dream attacked for something you didn’t do? You people disgust me, and Ive hit my limit.

 

[Mogisthelioma]

You know what? At this point, I don’t care if I get banned. It would be better than having to suffer around you idiots any longer. I wish i had never had the displeasure of communicating with people so easily manipulated and naive, it is absolutely insufferable. Literally two, and I mean TWO children sent Sakurai a couple of edgy memes, and he blocked them, end of story. But of course, people manipulated the situation to make everyone believe the entire Waluigi fanbase was “harassing” Sakurai.

And wouldn’t you guess what happened, you guys ate it up. No research, no looking further into it, nope, you guys just chose to target an entire group of people based on nothing but heresy. Shame on all of you, do you know what it is like to have to hear the same damn lie every time your favorite character is mentioned for months on end? Your childhood dream attacked for something you didn’t do? You people disgust me, and as of this moment I am resigning from Smashboards. Ive hit my limit.

You're right. This thread was pretty touchy to begin with. I see people hating on the Geno/Isaac fanbases all the time because they're stereotyping one or two people who were angry about their misinclusion.

 

[Michael the Spikester]

Isaac.

I honestly felt the fans had it the worst because Sakurai made it seem like he was an definite lock only to screw them over at the last minute. It was like he intended to troll them I mean why he didn't just reveal Isaac earlier I don't know but it would had saved them all the pain and all this speculation he was gonna be in. Then Isaac was absent in Sm4sh from being an assist only to return as one in this game. That was basically a slap in the face if you ask me. I felt there was no point in bringing him back if he was gonna be an assist again.

This is the only time I feel Sakurai honestly screwed the pooch because they've been waiting for Isaac just as long as my boi and I feel that isn't fair that we got him but they didn't get their character.

 

[VexTheHex]

Isaac.

I honestly felt the fans had it the worst because Sakurai made it seem like he was an definite lock only to screw them over at the last minute. It was like he intended to troll them I mean why he didn't just reveal Isaac earlier I don't know but it would had saved them all the pain and all this speculation he was gonna be in. Then Isaac was absent in Sm4sh from being an assist only to return as one in this game. That was basically a slap in the face if you ask me. I felt there was no point in bringing him back if he was gonna be an assist again.

This is the only time I feel Sakurai honestly screwed the pooch because they've been waiting for Isaac just as long as my boi and I feel that isn't fair that we got him but they didn't get their character.

The idea that Isaac could be revealed as an AT at any point should of been accepted and expected. This lesson should of been learned with Ashley when she fell at least. It was fine to root for him till the end, but it was ridiculous to think cause he hasn't been deconfirmed yet made him a lock and that's basically what happened. They even tried to twist the sun being in King K Rool's reveal as evidence supporting them. And while some Isaac fans try to pull the Sakurai hurt them on purpose and personally approach. I can't agree unless you also have that same mindset for anyone deconfirmed in the final direct... and there was a lot since that was the end of the line minus DLC.

TLDR, the "it's personal" approach that some supporters of Isaac took in regards to his deconfirmation was ridiculous as there was always going to be more deconfirmations as we progress and he wasn't the only deconfirmation or slightly hinted at character. Outside of his cult following, I don't think his deconfirmation made any splash though. (though he probably got a little more naming cause of Grinch Leak)

 

[Michael the Spikester]

The idea that Isaac could be revealed as an AT at any point should of been accepted and expected. This lesson should of been learned with Ashley when she fell at least. It was fine to root for him till the end, but it was ridiculous to think cause he hasn't been deconfirmed yet made him a lock and that's basically what happened. They even tried to twist the sun being in King K Rool's reveal as evidence supporting them. And while some Isaac fans try to pull the Sakurai hurt them on purpose and personally approach. I can't agree unless you also have that same mindset for anyone deconfirmed in the final direct... and there was a lot since that was the end of the line minus DLC.

TLDR, the "it's personal" approach that some supporters of Isaac took in regards to his deconfirmation was ridiculous as there was always going to be more deconfirmations as we progress and he wasn't the only deconfirmation or slightly hinted at character. Outside of his cult following, I don't think his deconfirmation made any splash though. (though he probably got a little more naming cause of Grinch Leak)

I mean besides the sun other "evidence" that seemed to indicate that he was a lock was the Rathalos image and then the item. I don't know a part of me felt Sakurai was trying to screw with the fans otherwise you'd think he would had revealed him earlier saving the fans the pain of all the pointless speculation.

 

[MAtgSy]

I'm surprised bomberman wasn't the bigger blow up tbh. But yeah, we finally got Ridley confirmed & the internet would rather ***** about Waluigi than be happy about that. -_-

 

[VexTheHex]

I mean besides the sun other "evidence" that seemed to indicate that he was a lock was the Rathalos image and then the item. I don't know a part of me felt Sakurai was trying to screw with the fans otherwise you'd think he would had revealed him earlier saving the fans the pain of all the pointless speculation.

Again, we always get a boat ton of deconfirmations at the end cause we get the final roster. What about all the other characters that were speculated on here that didn't make the cut as well? Medusa? Spring Man? Rex? Black Knight? Bandana Waddle Dee? Dixie? Louie? Shadow? Any other Pokemon rep? Impa? Porky? Marx? Etc?

It wasn't personal.

 

[Michael the Spikester]

Again, we always get a boat ton of deconfirmations at the end cause we get the final roster. What about all the other characters that were speculated on here that didn't make the cut as well? Medusa? Spring Man? Rex? Black Knight? Bandana Waddle Dee? Dixie? Louie? Shadow? Any other Pokemon rep? Impa? Porky? Marx? Etc?

It wasn't personal.

Yeah but besides Shadow none of those characters seemed to had gotten any other "hints" that they were a lock.

 

[Coolboy]

when it comes to Shadow i kinda find it a big middle finger to everyone who wanted Shadow, if they showed him as AT right at the start then there wouldn't be anyone very bothered by it, Shadow was in my top 5 of characters i really wanted and there was so much info/leaks almost confirming he was going to make it, but after that Direct in November i was so salty,upset and i admit a bit mad at Sakurai, why giving me all this hope if he was a AT all along?! this could all be avoided but nope instead we are getting trolled with a middle finger and it still bothers me a little.

 

[Ark of Silence101]

Waluigi and it's not even close. Because of two immature brats, an entire fan base is frowned upon and looked down on just for talking about him being playable on a future Smash game.

 

[newsuperhackboys]

I'm sorry for my message if I offended anyone. Wasn't trying to say all were like this or any demonizing on a certain group of fans.

 

[Gyrom8]

Waluigi's made the most impact as the disappointment was the most widespread - but that's partly because more people know who Waluigi is than a lot of the other AT characters

Isaac's certainly had the potential to generate a lot of backlash as:
- The Grinch 'leak' made it seem like he was coming
- Even if you didn't believe the leak, there was that mysterious sprout item that people insisted was from Golden Sun
- Unlike the Wa, Isaac's reveal as an AT came quite late

Shadow's also had quite a lot of backlash potential as he seemed like a 'lock' for a long period of time (after Isabelle, he was probably the 2nd most cited 'echo')

However, I didn't really follow the backlash for each character so can't say for certain. Whatever the truth, Waluigi's fate as an AT definitely got the most media coverage

 

[Aurane]

Waluigi, no question. Although to be honest, the majority of the backlash felt more like trolling than legitimate concern or rage.

 

[soviet prince]

I mean besides the sun other "evidence" that seemed to indicate that he was a lock was the Rathalos image and then the item. I don't know a part of me felt Sakurai was trying to screw with the fans otherwise you'd think he would had revealed him earlier saving the fans the pain of all the pointless speculation.

I was like this in smash 4 thinking he was tainting us but as years go on I realized that would be a horrible business move and no way he meant that as taunting the fan base. The fans seen evidence when there is none which were prob all guilty of at some point but you can not blame the creater.

Yeah but besides Shadow none of those characters seemed to had gotten any other "hints" that they were a lock.

don't see the demand for black sonic rather have anyother sonic character.

Waluigi's made the most impact as the disappointment was the most widespread - but that's partly because more people know who Waluigi is than a lot of the other AT characters

Isaac's certainly had the potential to generate a lot of backlash as:
- The Grinch 'leak' made it seem like he was coming
- Even if you didn't believe the leak, there was that mysterious sprout item that people insisted was from Golden Sun
- Unlike the Wa, Isaac's reveal as an AT came quite late

Shadow's also had quite a lot of backlash potential as he seemed like a 'lock' for a long period of time (after Isabelle, he was probably the 2nd most cited 'echo')

However, I didn't really follow the backlash for each character so can't say for certain. Whatever the truth, Waluigi's fate as an AT definitely got the most media coverage

no character is ever a lock