Rayman:
Chance: 30%
Rayman's in a bit of an odd spot. While I am expecting a fairly sizeable number of new third party characters (three more at least), he has the unfortunate distinction of being the least recognizable of the third parties I could see making it in. His competitors have their own pitfalls, but their names tend to be more known than his. Steve, Bomberman, Phoenix Wright, Amaterasu, Professor Layton, Crash, Dovahkiin, and Sora are all arguably bigger industry names.
That said, Ubisoft is uniquely friendly with Nintendo as of late, consistently releasing titles even for the Wii U, and being one of the very, very few companies entrusted with the Mario brand when developing Mario + Rabbids. Considering how close the companies have been, I would honestly say Rayman's got some great chances...
But there's still a catch. Even from his own company, there's a chance that the Rabbids could be chosen before Rayman to represent the company in Smash, especially considering how well Mario + Rabbids was received.
Overall, I'd say he's in a good place as far as third parties go, but I wouldn't consider him a lock by any means.
Want: Abstain
I understand the appeal of the character from an outside perspective, but I've never played any of the Rayman games, so I have no investment in the character.
Krystal Prediction: 4.65%
Nominations: Concept - Historical Character x5
TCT~Phantom
I noticed that my nomination name was changed to include Retros, but I would like this concept to discuss exclusively the idea of a Mr. Game and Watch, R.O.B., or (arguably) Duck Hunt-like character whose inclusion serves as a nod to Nintendo's past history. I would consider this a separate concept from the "retro" characters like Ice Climbers, Pit, and (arguably) Little Mac. Would you be willing to rename the concept in the nomination list?
For Little Mac, see this quote:
Sakurai said:
“Punch-Out!!” arcade machines were in operation thirty years ago. The game was copyrighted in 1983–the same year that saw the birth of the Famicom.
Everything about the game was incredible to me: the wire-frame avatar and the cartoonishly exaggerated opponents, the multi-screen display reminiscent of the Nintendo DS, the synthesized speech. In a genre that tends toward launching punches at random, this game stood out as one that encouraged you to logically consider how to attack the opponent.
I suppose the Famicom version of the game is far more popular–which I of course understand, but its arcade predecessor is a classic in its own right.