Sheriff and Shulk have been added to the Directory.
If you have rated Shulk before, check to see what you said on his days!
Before I rate Sheriff, I will go with the absolute priority. I will rate Monado Boy first. I have prepared something for his rerate. While my post before was well-detailed, I wanted to go a step further and uncover the evidence as to why Shulk is one of the most likely newcomers to appear in SSB4. So, without further adieu, here is my rating for Shulk.
Oh! Shulk, Sheriff, predictions, and nominations will have Xenoblade quotes!
Heir to the Monado, Shulk
Chance: THIS IS THE MONADO’S POWER! (78%)
Here’s the thing, I don’t know why we are rating him again. Sure, I helped nominate him to the top again, but I don’t believe that he needs another rerate in a short amount of time. Nothing has changed other than Little Mac getting confirmed and more X gameplay was shown; both of these things don’t add or remove anything in Shulk’s case. Now, I have given Shulk a 3% increase from my previous rating; the reason for this is because some things have come to my attention. They’re nothing major, but they slightly help Shulk.
Now, this post is absolutely gigantic. As a result, I will sum up my post in one to three sentences. If you want more detailed reasoning, then click on the spoilers!
First off, let’s start by listing the negatives.
1.
Xenoblade is still a new franchise. However, it’s incredibly unfair to call Shulk “too new” when other characters were more new than him prior to their Smash debuts.
2.
Shulk has only appeared in one game so far. Despite the fact that he could be a one-off, we’ve seen various one-offs in Smash (like Sheik). The X protagonist won’t get in over Shulk as he isn’t demanded and we don’t even know whom he is.
3.
Xenoblade’s sales weren’t the absolute best. While this is true, some franchises represented in Smash didn’t have impressive sales either. Xenoblade’s sales won’t make Sakurai overlook him.
While these things hurt Shulk, I find them to be somewhat minor towards his chances. Why? It’s because there are so many positives to Shulk that they outweigh all of his negatives.
1.
Monolith Soft has been very active in Nintendo’s latest games, even participating in Brawl’s development. Monolith Soft is also a first party company to Nintendo, meaning the rights to use Shulk and other content from Xenoblade wouldn’t be difficult to get at all.
2.
Sakurai acknowledges Xenoblade and its existence.
3.
Shulk isn’t a generic swordsman; he could be one of the most unique characters in Smash thanks to his sword, the Monado. He would be one of the easiest characters to create a moveset with.
4.
Shulk has absolutely no competition. Isaac and Saki aren’t comparable to Shulk and could easily get on the roster; it’s absolutely pointless and stupid to say and start arguments that they are. Even if Shulk was competing against the other Rainfall heroes, Zael and Aeron, Shulk blows them away with the critical reception, sales, and popularity Xenoblade garnered.
5.
Nintendo has been acknowledging Xenoblade as of late. The series has an immediate future and Nintendo might push Xenoblade to become something even bigger.
6.
Shulk is one of the most requested characters worldwide. The casual fanbase might not know who Shulk is or what Xenoblade is, but there are already unknown characters to the casual fanbase that are already on the roster in Smash. This is a character that is impossible for Sakurai to ignore.
Honestly, this is what I think and believe his chances are. I am not convincing you guys that he is a shoo-in, but he is definitely an extremely likely contender for Smash. He just fits in so beautifully like a glove that I would be heavily surprised if he wasn’t added on the roster. When it comes to even several leaks, I always turn my head in doubt if they don’t mention Shulk or Xenoblade at all (especially worse when I see these leakers say that the Monado would be an item in the game).
Personally, I don’t know why we are rating him; he is perfectly fine where he is on the chance results. Regardless, I think that Shulk is one of the biggest contenders in Smash and is a force to be reckoned with. Shulk has earned a spot on the roster and I think that he is ready to claim it. He is not a shoo-in, but I find his chances to be incredibly strong. I guess this is a reason why people call him “The Incredible Shulk.”
Want: BEHOLD THE POWER OF THE MONADO! (100%)
Did this tell you anything? I am rather passionate when it comes to wanting Shulk in Smash. This is a character that needs to happen and if he doesn’t, I will be enraged.
As I’ve mentioned before, I’ve kind of supported Shulk before, but I wanted him to have a character from a brand new series get represented in Smash and he was my best bet. I mean, Pikmin was released in 2001 and Brawl was released in 2008; that’s a massive gap, but I digress. Now that I have played Xenoblade, I have grown to want Shulk so much! Just anything that I hear that could help him in his favor, whether it’s major or minor, makes me happy like a little kid on a sugar rush! (I was also heavily disappointed when I saw a leak of a picture featuring Shulk got debunked.)
I find Shulk to be an incredibly likable character. He isn’t an idiot like some RPG heroes are and he doesn’t use ferocity in his battles. He is a smart character that thinks his battles through and would do anything to save those from danger.
In case you don’t know, Shulk is currently my second most wanted newcomer, behind a confirmed Little Mac and not counting god tier Bomberman.
While many characters would offer a lot of things in the Smash universe, there is one thing that Shulk can do that many characters can’t: represent Xenoblade. Xenoblade is a fantastic game with amazing characters, graphics, music, gameplay, story, an incredible sense of exploration, a battle system that isn’t stressful to the player, and so much more. This game needs to be represented in Smash and not doing so is an absolute crime.
In regards to Shulk getting confirmed in the future, I cannot see this happen soon. I find it likely if there is a worldwide Direct and Monolith and Sakurai would show something in the Nintendo Direct. He might be a character that would be announced at E3 or a character we would find out about when the game is released.
Shulk needs to get in Smash and this will definitely be a character that I might main.
Seriously you guys, you must play Xenoblade if you haven’t already. You are missing out if you don’t.
If Shulk is in Smash, this better be his trailer theme:
Hopefully… all of you will know his name…
I just want to say that I am sorry if my fanboying or these arguments are annoying you. Please don’t let my support for Shulk discourage you from playing Xenoblade.
Sheriff
Chance: Good thing he’s here. No? Anyone? (5%)
He is one of Nintendo’s oldest characters. Sakurai definitely knows about him thanks to his trophy in Melee. Though, this doesn’t prove that Sheriff would be the most likely retro candidate for Smash; I haven’t seen this guy’s name pop up often.
Want: Not bad. Not bad at all. (50%)
He would be cool. Though, I wouldn’t care if he got in.
Adam Malkovich Prediction: His chances are weak, but don’t drop your guards! (.73%)
He’ll get lower than Anthony Higgs. I’m pretty sure the pessimism will definitely lower his scores.
2 DK Newcomers Prediction: The chances of this must become even stronger! (42.03%)
I took the overall chance score of 4 DK Characters because that is basically what this concept is.
Every character has hogged all the glory from him! Who is this character?
Nominations: Captain Rainbow 5x
In case you are curious, this post is 3839 words long.