Velvet Crowe
Chance: 25%
A Tales rep is likely. I don't believe the copyrights that were filed are Smash-related but it just makes sense to me, and from there I see it as a toss-up between Lloyd Irving, Velvet Crowe, and Yuri Lowell. Sorry, Ludger fans. Like me. I'm the Ludger fan.
Anyway, Tales is one of the Big Three JRPG series' with Final Fantasy and Dragon Quest (and hey, Persona is muscling in to possibly create a Big Four) and is one of Bamco's premiere series along with Tekken. I really feel that a rep from a series with such longevity is very possible, especially when you consider that Lloyd was already a Mii costume last game and has had fan requests since Brawl.
Velvet herself has less of a chance than Lloyd, and I recognize that. Luckily for me I like them both!
Also, I'm just gonna say, it's funny seeing people claim that they always knew who Yuri was before the Vesperia port considering it was a weird Xbox-only release for a while there and it wasn't until "Brave" and the port that people started considering him but I digress.
It's a toss-up right now. I'd say Velvet is solidly in the middle between Lloyd and Yuri, with Lloyd being the most likely but Velvet has recency and being a super unique and recognizable protagonist of one of the best recent Tales games on her side.
Want: 100%
The thing is, my last point is my biggest - Velvet is unique as ****. Unlike Yuri who uses a katana or Lloyd who uses a dual sword, Velvet has a ****ing demonic hand. Like no offense to Lloyd fans, but as much as I love the guy's spells and cool moves, you're not gonna get cooler than a demonic hand that consumes people.
Velvet is a badass. Her whole village was sacrificed in a dark ritual and she was tossed into prison for years where she fostered hatred and the desire for revenge, her old villager outfit rotting away over the years as she struggled to escape and get revenge on the ones who ruined her life. She's a much darker protagonist than your usual Tales fare, and Berseria itself is a polished and gorgeous game. And then she becomes part of a ****ing pirate crew! How cool is that? She gets to team with dragon people, holy warriors, fellow prisoners, and then go on a heartrending and fascinating journey across the world leading to plenty of great twists and turns.
She's awesome. Berseria is awesome. She's my most-wanted Tales rep by a mile (sorry Lloyd). She's interesting, can be funny due to her interactions with her crew mates (like Magilou - love you Magilou) and again she has a demon hand. She'd be such a fun Tales protagonist and she's immediately captured the minds and established herself in the protagonist gang just by virtue of being so cool.
I really hope Berseria gets a Switch port one day. I'd love to play that on the go.
Nominations: Heihachi x5