WE MANAGED TO AVOID DROWNING.
Chance: 1%
I don't see this happening. While MGS is a popular series, it kinda is in a limbo as of now due to the Konami Kojima drama of years ago, so i don't know the direction the series will take in the future and if it will benefit Raiden. Doesn't help he isn't particulary popular in MGS's fanbase either. Back when MGS2 was released he was so unpopular that as soon as MGS3 was being made they decided instead to have Snake instead, and the Raiden Expy in MGS3 is treated as nothing but a Butt Monkey, and only slightly changed after MSG4 and REVENGANCE. He has been never requested in the eyes of the hardcore Smash fanbase either, nor he is a particulary iconic game protagonist either (he is recognizable, but he will always be on the shadow of the legendary Clone Soldier)
The circumstances don't benefit his favor. His most popular outing was released years ago and is likely not gonna get a sequel anytime soon. Like what i stated with Sephiroth on Chun and Egg day, the lack of content in FF7 for base game was sus, something that clearly does not apply to MGS.
I don't see this character happening here nor in the future, i think we will see Bomberman or Frogger by the next entry before him, or hell even Big Boss as a Snake Echo (yes i know Snake in Smash takes cues from Big Boss in Smash, but so does Simon towards Richter)
Want: 0%
No thanks. I would rather see Bomberman first, now THAT is a Third Party that should have been in Smash since Brawl. Also i hate his Cyborg design, it's extremely unappealing, and i have an allergy towards most Platinum related things.
HU HA HU.
Chance: 1%
On terms of merit alone, this one i could see happening................for a sequel.
Zero is basically the most popular, recognizable, and iconic Mega Man charcter after the Blue Bomber himself, and is more well known and beloved than most of Mega Man's successors aside from the original and X. Once meant to be main hero of the X series, he was repurposed as big brother mentor to X in the first game, whose popularity allowed him to cheat death multiple times, turned into a major side quest in X2, became a playable character in X3 and only got more important in the series as it went on (Mega Man X4 is basically Zero's game, as the conflict of the Repliforce and Maverick Hunters can be seen more clearly in Zero's campaign compared to X's, which is another tuesday to him) and even finally gained his own subseries, the Mega Man Zero series, which takes place decades after the X series, gives Zero his own cast of friends and enemies unique to him, and was agruably one of the first big hits from Inti Creates, who went onto create games like Blaster Master Zero, Azure Striker Gunvolt and the like that clearly are influenced by the MMZ series.
He is, for all intents and purposes, one of the biggest examples of a breakout characters in gaming, alongside Isabelle, the Rabbids, Wario, Iori Yagami, and so on. I could even argue he is one of the most popular breakout characters in fiction alongside Popeye (literally meant to be a plot device) Boba Fett (another character that cheats death a lot) and so on.
He is so beloved and iconic in fact, that he has managed to appear as a playable fighter in Capcom Crossovers without Classic Mega Man or X or any Mega Man incarnation in sight, with SVC chaos and most infamously MVC3 (which is ironic as Classic Mega Man was a mainstay in those games before 3) and IF X shows up in any Capcom crossover, you can bet your ass Zero will follow suit, in the same way Sephiroth follows Cloud anywhere.
So why im not rating him higher despite being the clear cut example of a fan favorite that rises among the ranks?................Assist Trophy.
I mean, an Assist Trophy promotion can happen, we got a Spirit Promotion with Min Min, but i don't see Zero as particulary likely in that category either. Yes he could bring more X and Zero content since we are lacking in that area (there's not an Iris Spirit nor a Ciel spirit) but if i found Eggman and Chun unlikely why the hell would it be different for Zero?
Want: 50%
Seeing how harsh i was towards Chun and Robotnik, why am i giving Zero such a high rating? Simply put, bias. This is a want rating after all, and my connection towards Mega Man is strong, the X series in particular. MMX4 is my favorite Mega Man game, and that is admittedly thanks to Zero being playable in that game, where he was fully fleshed to his own unique character unlike in X3 where he felt really restricted. While i don't like how much he overshadows X and other Mega Man protagonists, i would be lying if i said i didn't prefer him. I still want to try the Zero series since i never gave it the proper love (even if Ciel was one of my first crushes and shaped my love for blue eye blondes) and he is always a joy to play as, plus his moveset is so easy to implement him, i guarantee Ryujin will be his Up Special.
I would still rather see love for more Nintedo franchises instead or see new universes from guests, but this character reminds me that even in the current direction is going, i might get a character i actually enjoy.
Oh, and Alucard.............i already rated this character, so let's quote my previous rating for a point of reference.
Adrian Farenheights Tepes (yes that's his real name, and then Warren complains about Grant Danasty's name)
Chance:1%
I never give any character a 0%. As long as it is a VG character, it can happen. But this one.........yeah no reason to think so for now. Back in the Smash 4 days i always thought that if it was a Castlevania character that was going to get into the roster, it was Simon. He is the most prominent, the original and most important of all he is usually the one that is used as the Castlevania mascot in Konami's crossover games. Simon Fought Optimus Prime, Simon went around Skateboarding, Simon became a pervert and started playing Mahjong (im not making any of this up), etc. Alucard sometimes appears in these types of games........3 games to be exact (japanese exlusive versions of Scribblenauts 1 and 2 and Oreca battle, and in the latter Simon also appears anyway).
It's like a Mega Man (and other incarnations of Mega Man) vs Zero situation, sure the series isn't named Simon or Belmonts, but Simon and his Belmont family are inseparable from the Castlevania franchise. Alucard may steal the spotlight once or twice, but he's not gonna ever be the mainline star in my eyes. Yes Symphony of the Night is the most critically acclaimed entry of the franchise (and i do believe it deserves a lot of its praise) but it is telling that despite the game's popularity, Alcuard has never starred on a sequel, all of his appearances after Sotn are as a side character (just like his debut in Castlevania 3). So im not surprised Sakurai considered Alucard just because of the praise of Symphony of the Night, only to realize his role in that game was an outlier of his common role as a side character, and went with the Belmonts instead.
So back in Smash 4 and Ultimate, i always saw Simon as the only choice. After all he is the hero whose gameplay style and role in the franchise would become a basis for the entire Belmont clan as whole, even non Belmonts (The Morris clan and Nathan Graves have similar playstyle) while Alucard debuted as a side character, became the main star of a very acclaimed game.............aaaaaaand went back to become a side character. Hell Soma got to star on a sequel of his own game while Alucard was just an extra unlockable in said sequel. I mean damn at least Zero got a tetralogy.
Now that Simon is in Smash and throwing crosses at people and making them cry every time he appears in an online match, this is no longer an issue. 3rd party Franchises can get multiple reps (hell Castlevania was the first one to ever do this) but only echoes so far have done this. Even then, i don't sea 3rd party DLC coming from an already represented series. All of Figther Pass 1's guests have been completely new to Smash, and i reckon Sakurai likes introducing new 3rd party universes instead of treading on old ground. That could easily change in the next Smash but as of now, i see this as being the status quo.
and if we get an AT promotion, i only see Waluigi or Spring Man. maybe after one of these 2 make it in i can see more, but i think Sakurai would go for First Party Assists instead. Honestly the only 3rd party promotion i see happening is Geno, anyone else is likely gonna be first party (because all the important non-playable Nintendo characters are spirits or Assists).
Yes there's the Netflix series too but..........seeing how Trevor's spirit in Ultimate (and his appereance in Grimoire of Souls) are based on Curse of Darkness, the cartoon likely had no effect in Smash at all and likely never will (thank god)
Want:10%
If this was before Simon's reveal, i would have given him a big fat 0. I hated how people overrate Alucard as this all mighty main face of the series when it couldn't be farther from the truth. But thankfully Simon won out so i don't have to be a petty fanboy.
I'm gonna be honest. I always hate it when the main character is overshadowed by:
-The overused edgy rival who is inevitably gonna fail at beating the hero and instead become its frenemy.
-The moody antihero side character who sometimes overlap with the above. Bonus points if its a bishonen.
-The waifu. Either it's a thot who only exists for sex appeal, or it's a kawaii female that tries too hard to show how "cool" she is.
-The annoying as generic mascot who's meant to be cutesy to sell merchandise, or it's an annoying comic relief (Chough Rabbids Cough)
So you can guess that i was quite miffed when all the evidence supporting Simon was always tossed aside just because "BUT MUH SYMPHONY WAS SO GOOD". Again, that is all in the past now thanks to Simon beign in.
Despite how harsh i have been towards Alucard in this post, i don't want you to think i hate Alucard. I like him, i can see his appeal. Sure he may have aspects of the above i mentioned (Bishonen Moody Antihero) but he is a likeable character (at least his game counterpart) and really fun to play as. I can see why people saw him as a breath of fresh air after all those macho Belmonts in the earlier games (you know when the Belmonts looked like masculine men, nothing against the likes of Leon Belmont or Juste Belmont but it kinda makes Alucard less unique, you know?) and im happy that despite Alucard's massive popularity after Symphony, they didn't try to milk him for all its worth like Capcom did with Zero (X should have been included in MVC3 too, no excuses) and instead used him to help heroes across the large timeline of the Castlevania series going from the middle ages from CV3 all the way into modern day in the Sorrow games. and Symphony is an amazing game. I consider CV2 the real first metroidvania, but Symphony is truly where the formula actually worked. It's one of my favorites alongside SCV4, Aria of Sorrow and Rondo of Blood.
Still despite that though, while i like him, i have no major interest for him in Smash. He definitely would be fun to play as, but when it comes to third parties, i prefer brand new universes getting a character for the first time. Like i rather have Bomberman for instance, that dude should have been in Smash as a playable character. and as for characters from already represented series, i prefer Nintendo ones like Dixie Kong or Bandanna Dee.
But i have to say i don't like him in the Neflix series, at all. I don't like how it feels like "The Alucard Show", he should be sleeping on his coffin after defeating his dad (at least until Symphony happens). But honestly i dropped the series after the first season entirely when i saw Grant wasn't involved so i really don't care about this show anymore.
Min Min got over Spring Man and Sephiroth got in over Geno. Has anything changed in Alucard's favor? No. While Sephiroth opened the floodgates, but i don't think this particularly raises his chances, anything may be possible now but not anything is likely. We still haven't gotten an AT promotion and i don't see him being the first.
I know that i repeated myself hammering the whole FF7 content deal with Sephiroth, but this really is a point that people should point a focus towards. Especially because using this past precedent, i see no reason to add Alucard because Castlevania is so far arguably the best represented Third Party franchise in Smash, with content that touches almost every single installment in the franchise, from Lords of Shadow to the Portable Metroidvanias to the Classic Series to ****ing Kid Dracula, there's nothing Alucard can really bring to the table in terms of content, as even his own game has proper representation. What he will bring? Chrstipher Belmont as a spirit?
I see franchise representation (stages, cameos, extra details that pay homage, etc) as much of a thing Sakurai wants to expand on as the characters themselves, which is why even with the One Winged Angel popping up, i don't see the likes of Chun Li as leading candidates. Maybe for the next game.
Honestly, my score is still the same:
Chance :1% Want: 10%
Unlike Zero, i don't have an attachment towards Alucard that much, and i still don't like how a lot of Alucard fanboys overhype him to no end (and yes, in know Zero fanboys do that same, and that sucks as much too) plus it's not a guarantee that Alucard's moveset in Smash will be as satisfactory in Smash as Zero's, as i am sure Sakurai would try to overcomplicated it with some random gimmick.
