Double 0 for bubsy and I shouldn't have to explain
Now for the one I've been waiting for. I'm glad we got to her before E3. Even though it seems the third party character has already been decided on.
LARA CROFT
let me start by saying that I've never actually played Tomb Raider. My connection to the series is limited to the movies. But I do want to play her games. I nominated her because of how iconic she is. After watching her most recent movie, I realized just how big an impact she would have.
But first let's move on to her cons
"Very little connection to Nintendo"
This is definitely not needed or necessary, I can understand why this would affect the want score, but for chance. We already have Cloud and Snake who both have little connection to Nintendo. She still has games on Nintendo systems so it's not like she's exclusive to other systems like Master Cheif or Kratos
"She's not popular in Japan"
This is her biggest con, but perhaps not as Big as you think. Her games still do well enough to chart Media Create week despite the state of the home console market in Japan. In fact Rise of the Tomb Raider was only beaten by Monster Hunter Stories and stayed in the top ten in the next week
https://nintendoeverything.com/media-create-sales-101716-102316/
"Guns"
Yes her most iconic weapons are her dual pistols but they're not necessary. Her recent games have basically dropped them in focus of the bow and climbing axe. And even then, it probably wouldn't take much to stylize them a bit. Bayonetta got away with it, and Snake got in without guns.
"Competition"
Third party spots are limited, she faces a lot of competition. But she has her own pros to put her above a fair few of her competition.
Now for Pros.
"She's owned by Square Enix"
Square Enix already has shown that are willing to cooperate with Smash, and while Cloud didn't get much, neither did Ryu so it was likely just a consequence of being DLC, and Bayonetta just got Special treatment for being the ballot winner and just being the last in general. Lara Croft is the most logical choice for a second Square character. She's a bigger name than all her competitions. Dragon Quest doesn't have a stand out character, Sora has too much connection to non video game content and Geno shouldnt even be a consideration
"She's one of the most iconic characters not in Smash"
If not she's THE most iconic character not in Smash. She has 3 movies to her name and was even played by Angelina Jolie and proved video game movies could be successful. She holds three Guinness World Records to her name and Tomb Raider helped pioneer the action adventure genre. She's a very iconic character from a very successful franchise. Even if her eastern appeal is a bit limited, her western impact is so great it should not be ignored
"She appeals to a wide audience"
This ties to her Iconic status. But she's loved by "casual" audience thanks to her wide media presence, she appeals to "hardcore" audience thanks to her more serious games and appearance and positive promotion or media with great promotion of equal opportunity with another strong female protagonist. This is probably less important overall and I find it difficult to explain without accidentally offending someone. But it would be great to have another female role model on the roster. And this did seem to impact the last roster.
Chance 30%
She's still third party and faces tough competition from more classic characters like Bomberman and Simon. I think she's more likely as DLC. But I definitely consider her an inevitable, maybe not in this Smash, but one day.
Want 80%
She's probably my most wanted third party nowadays, well that I consider reasonable anyway, I've pretty much given up on Banjo.
And extra nominations!
If allowed, I'd like to grant a nomination to anyone who nominated Lara Croft and helped me rise her to the top before E3. All unclaimed noms to go to Parabo and Satebo. (or just Parabo and Satebo x10 if it makes things too difficult)
Prediction
Cranky 7%
The bear 0.05%