Smash fighters you would rather have replaced

[Electric-Gecko]

We've all heard about "every character in Smash Bros history" in Smash Ultimate. It's a nice attention-grabbing claim to make, but I don't exactly agree with the decision. It means they're religiously forcing themselves to repeat all the roster mistakes they've ever made. I think some of them I would have been better off if someone else took their slot.

So what are some Super Smash Bros fighters that you think would be better-off replaced with someone else, given the choice?

Note this isn't the place to talk about whether you overall agree with the choice to include all past Smash characters. No need to tell me I'm crazy for disagreeing with the decision, as I've seen towards others who share my feelings (see this comments section).

Guidelines:

1. Try not to replace Nintendo characters with non-Nintendo characters. I wouldn't mind you breaking this once, although it's not very realistic if you consider the extra effort required for licensing.
2. Don't suggest crazy crazy ridiculous joke characters, like Shrek.
3. Don't suggest anything too far out. If you don't expect a significant number of hardcore Nintendo fans or Nintendo employees to recognize this character, then it's too far out.
4. Try to make a roster you think would be better for the Smash Bros community, not just shoving-in ultra-personal favourites for your personal "dream roster". For example, replacing Kirby, Mario, Link, and Samus with the whole Starfox crew (because you love Starfox) would be way too personal. There are other threads to talk about your dream roster, but this one is meant to be more realistic.

Edit: I want people to pay more attention to the last guideline. People seem to be just making their dream rosters, and putting in obscure personal favourites that would appear very strange if they made it into the actual game. Replace characters with ones that more deserve to be in Smash, not the reverse. The point is to make a roster you feel would be better for the Smash Bros playerbase, not just say who you like.


For me, I'll start with Pokémon & Fire Emblem. Given the huge number of characters in these franchises, it takes the most care to select representatives.

Corrin is an unpopular protagonist in Fire Emblem Fates, and not too well-liked in Smash 4 from what I can tell. Who to replace with? It's a 3-way choice between Lyndis (Lyn), Anna, Tiki, and Camilla (JK not Camilla). Lyn ranks very high in FE character polls, but she would be too similar to other FE representatives, so eliminate her. Tiki has appeared in many FE games, and she can transform into a dragon (like Corrin) making her different from the sword-wielding FE characters we have in Smash. Anna has appeared in more FE games than anyone else. She's a swordwielder, but would be more agile than the other FE fighters. I'm leaning towards Anna over Tiki, but this should be decided based on moveset.

This one is more controversial, and I'm not against the current version of Lucina, but my idea is to instead have a character named "Lucina & Chrom". Instead of Lucina as a clone of Marth, this would be a unique two-character fighter controlled like the ice climbers. It is a reference to the pair-up mechanic central to Fire Emblem Awakening. Also, Chrom is as important as Lucina in Awakening.

For Pokémon, I'll replace Pichu with Gengar. Jigglypuff isn't well-liked either. Grovyle or Combusken? Combusken!

So here's our FE & Pokémon roster:

• Pikachu
• Jigglypuff Combusken
• Pichu Gengar
• Mewtwo
• Pokémon Trainer (Squirtle, Ivysaur & Charizard)
• Lucario
• Greninja
• Marth
• Roy
• Ike
• Robin
• Lucinia Lucina & Chrom
• Corrin Anna (or maybe Tiki)

Moving beyond FE & Pokemon, I would replace Palutena as she's not very relevant in Nintendo's history and she's unpopular in Smash 4. But who to replace her with? Kamek, Impa, Skull Kid? This will come across as strange, and I've never seen it suggested before, but I'll go with Tengu. I don't know what the moveset would be, but from what I've heard these Tengu cards were popular in Nintendo's early days.

I also wouldn't mind replacing Rosalina with Impa or Skull Kid. She's my main in Mario Kart, but she's still not such an important character in the Mario franchise overall, and I don't think she's fun to play as.

 

[Kraken8888]

Pichu for maybe something like Victini? I couuld see it working

 

[PeridotGX]

I don't want to see any characters gone, but here's what I'd do.

Replace with a Plusle-Minun duo like the Ice Climbers. Same general moveset but no recoil.

Replace with Leif from FE5. The SNES games are the only era of FE that doesn't have a character.

Replace the in with . Why? Because I hate Charizard and love Typhlosion.

 

[DaUsername]

Nobody.

Unless I get to retroactively replace them in previous appearances, too. Then I'd replace Bayonetta with K. Rool and Corrin with Inkling, which would have been a much better ending to Smash 4 DLC. And as a result of being in Sm4sh, Inkling's newcomer spot in Smash Ultimate would go to none other than Bandana Dee.

Also,

Combusken!

What's wrong with Blaziken?

 

[Idon]

I'd replace Roy with Lyn.
Roy is bland, uninspired, unchanging, with rather bland animations, and is an terrible unit in his own games on top of ONLY getting into Smash as an advertisement for FE6.

Now Lyn? Lyn... is also a terrible unit. But boy oh boy does she look cool while doing 2 points of damage.
Lyn is the first international Lord (If you count her first appearance before Eliwood and then Hector), the lord with the coolest animations that hasn't been matched before or since, has a fun personality, is only a lord by technicality, and has goals beyond being a Lord, which she only is by technicality.

But let's talk about her actual gameplay and why she wouldn't just be another sword user.
Lyn uses Iaijitsu which is THE coolest way you can wield a sword and is wholly different, unique, and more interesting than every other sword wielder. She has dozens of different animations to draw from on top of decades of years of looking at other fighters from other games that use iaijitsu such as Vergil, Baiken, Johnny, Setsuka, etc etc etc.
And did I mention she is the most popular female lord in the series even despite the fact her game is fifteen years old now and is still loved even to this day compared to Roy who people only have affention for because of Melee and because his name rhymes with Boy.

Oh yeah, and I'd replace Young Link with Hyrule Warriors Young Link and replace Ganondorf with Project Ganondorf... Ganondorf.

Also, Corrin with an SMT rep, preferably Kazyuya with all the other SMT protags as koopaling alts or the Demifiend alone, but that's against the rules so...

 

[Al-kīmiyā']

Rule 1 is stupid and I won't be bound by it.

Anyway, I usually constrain my ideal rosters by low character counts, so replacing characters while simply removing none is a slightly different project. I'll post a few here and post more as I think of them or change my mind.

I'll start with characters I actively want out of Smash:

• Replace Bayonetta with Neku
• Replace Snake with Sami
• Replace R.O.B. with Ray (any model)
• Replace Jigglypuff with King K. Rool

Okay, now I'll replace some characters I just don't like taking up dev time:

• Replace Rosalina with Skull Kid (He makes more sense as a puppeteer, damnit!)
• Replace Young Link with Masked Link
• Replace Ganondorf with a fully decloned Ganondorf who's mostly a wizard but has some sword moves.
• Replace Ike with a more faithful-to-canon Ike - faster, has a sword beam, etc.
• Replace Lucina with Ephraim
• Replace Roy with Hector
• Replace Robin with Isaac

I like the idea of the Plusle and Minun team, but otherwise I think I'm done with that type of gimmick. I want to remove randomness from characters.

 

[Ultrashroomz]

Replace Roy with Lyn, Hector, or Ephraim.
Replace Corrin with Celica.

Everyone else is fine.

 

[Al-kīmiyā']

I forgot I want Pac-man out, so replace him with Simon, or some other Belmont - or even better, someone with a whip-sword other than Ivy.

 

[ZelDan]

I'd replace Megaman with Megaman X. I do like his games (the good ones anyways) more than the classic games, and like X's design more. That and I just want to be able to smash to Megaman X1's soundtrack.

Also I probably would have replaced Sheik with Impa, and give Impa a similar moveset (not 100% similar).

 

[Idon]

Replace Sheik with Impa and keep everything mostly the same. Keep sheik as an alt. Costume.

Keeps sheik fans happy and gives importance to Impa.

 

[Cetus]

Sheik-Rex & Pyra
Dr. Mario-K. Rool
Young Link-Oceana Louvier
Jigglypuff-Isabelle
Dark Pit-Lillie

 

[ZelDan]

While I don't dislike the inclusion of the Robins or even the Corrins, I'd probably replace them both with different, less "avatar-ish" FE characters.

Lyn and Edelgard come to mind.

 

[Electric-Gecko]

Whoah! Getting wild. You people aren't afraid to suggest controversial things. Although I don't mind what anyone has said, I was hoping for this thread to be more realistic.

I notice many people trying to get rid of Bayonetta. Am I missing something? I don't go here much, so I'm not aware if she has a bad reputation.

I don't want to see any characters gone, but here's what I'd do.
Replace with a Plusle-Minun duo like the Ice Climbers. Same general moveset but no recoil.
Replace with Leif from FE5. The SNES games are the only era of FE that doesn't have a character.
Replace the in with . Why? Because I hate Charizard and love Typhlosion.

Don't really like the Plusle-Minun idea. I don't mind Pichu if the devs treat it as a joke character (deliberately underpowered), but Plusle & Minun are neither lovable or laughable enough for me.

Remove Lucina? Oh no! But I suppose you chose her because she's an echo of Marth.

Typhlosion for Pokétrainer? I was actually considering this as my second Pokémon suggestion. But this is meant to be a Kanto trainer. Hopefully they will overhaul the Pokétrainer in this game. I did have an idea for a Hoenn trainer in Smash with Mudkip, Combusken, and Sceptile, though it wouldn't make sense given that you can't get all 3 starters in the Hoenn games.

Nobody.
Unless I get to retroactively replace them in previous appearances, too.

Why? Because you don't want to upset the fans of those returning characters?

What's wrong with Blaziken?

I almost wrote Blaziken, but didn't due to being an awkward-looking mix of bird and long-haired karate dude. But sure. Either way, a Fire/Fighting Pokémon would fit well in Smash.

I'd replace Roy with Lyn.
Roy is bland, uninspired, unchanging, with rather bland animations, and is an terrible unit in his own games on top of ONLY getting into Smash as an advertisement for FE6.

Alright. It sounds like you know what you're talking about. I wouldn't know, as I'm part of the recent Awakening crowd and haven't played the old FE games yet. The problem with me speaking my game ideas/opinions is that I'm not a very huge gamer, and haven't played such a huge number of video games in my life.

Rule 1 is stupid and I won't be bound by it.

I toned it down.
But I was just being realistic. Getting a character license is more work for the devs. The idea of this thread was to talk about decisions they realistically could have made, not being too greedy. However, I do really want Rayman.

Anyway, I usually constrain my ideal rosters by low character counts,

So you prefer smaller rosters? I respect that. There are advantages of a smaller roster (which some people see comments don't understand).

 

[Gallowglass]

I would keep mostly the same.

I would however swap out Cloud for Chrono. At least Chrono actually has his game on a Nintendo console. Also in my opinion Chrono Trigger is a far superior game than the railroad Japanese shadowrun known as FFVII.

 

[Al-kīmiyā']

Rule 1 is stupid and I won't be bound by it.

Anyway, I usually constrain my ideal rosters by low character counts, so replacing characters while simply removing none is a slightly different project. I'll post a few here and post more as I think of them or change my mind.

I'll start with characters I actively want out of Smash:

• Replace Bayonetta with Neku
• Replace Snake with Sami
• Replace R.O.B. with Ray (any model)
• Replace Jigglypuff with King K. Rool

Okay, now I'll replace some characters I just don't like taking up dev time:

• Replace Rosalina with Skull Kid (He makes more sense as a puppeteer, damnit!)
• Replace Young Link with Masked Link
• Replace Ganondorf with a fully decloned Ganondorf who's mostly a wizard but has some sword moves.
• Replace Ike with a more faithful-to-canon Ike - faster, has a sword beam, etc.
• Replace Lucina with Ephraim
• Replace Roy with Hector
• Replace Robin with Isaac

I like the idea of the Plusle and Minun team, but otherwise I think I'm done with that type of gimmick. I want to remove randomness from characters.

I guess it would have made more sense for this thread to have Cloud replaced by Neku. That still leaves Bayonetta in, though, so I guess I'll replace her with Banjo and Kazooie.

 

[YoshiandToad]

Replace Dr. Mario with Paper Mario*
Replace Rosalina with Captain Toad*
Replace Jigglypuff with Meowth
Replace Lucina with Lyn
Replace Lucas with Bandana Waddle Dee
Replace Sheik with Impa
Replace Young Link with Tingle
Replace Wii Fit Trainer with Dixie Kong(Wii fit did really well but tbh I don't think it needed a character to begin with)
Replace Dark Pit with Medusa
Replace Corrin with K. Rool
Replace Falco with Isaac

*Alternatively replace Doc with Toad and keep Rosalina instead of Captain Toad.

Tried to replace with characters that made sense at the time of the actual veterans inclusion. K. Rool since DK was in hot demand during the ballot and Corrin upset many.

 

[Idon]

I would keep mostly the same.

I would however swap out Cloud for Chrono. At least Chrono actually has his game on a Nintendo console. Also in my opinion Chrono Trigger is a far superior game than the railroad Japanese shadowrun known as FFVII.

YES CHRONO. Akira Toriyama making Smash art? Yassssss

 

[smashingDoug]

=Impa
=Lyn
=Vaati
=Human Minda as a Zelda clone.
=
= metal sonic the real sonic

 

[DaUsername]

I notice many people trying to get rid of Bayonetta. Am I missing something? I don't go here much, so I'm not aware if she has a bad reputation.

Bayonetta winning the ballot just seems like a bunch of shenanigans to me, but what do I know.

Why? Because you don't want to upset the fans of those returning characters?

Yeah, I've always wanted everyone back, even if there were some characters I didn't like.

I almost wrote Blaziken, but didn't due to being an awkward-looking mix of bird and long-haired karate dude. But sure. Either way, a Fire/Fighting Pokémon would fit well in Smash.

Blaziken has always been more popular, though. This isn't some Braxien situation. Heck, Blaziken even got a Mega before the other Gen III starters did.

 

[Kevandre]

I don't want to see any characters gone, but here's what I'd do.

Replace the in with . Why? Because I hate Charizard and love Typhlosion.

My man.

Charizard's treachery from Smash 4 is unacceptable. I'll take that Typhlosion. Though part of me wants to replace Squirtle w/ Mudkip if we're going multi-gen lol



As for me. Take out Bayonnaise, replace with Dixie Kong. One hair-based girl for another. But Dixie rules and Bayo is the worst

 

[Putuk]

Replace Cloud with anyone from SNES FFs.
Cecil, Bartz, Gilgamesh, Terra, I don't care, they all have prettier designs than Cloud.

 

[Pyra]

YES CHRONO. Akira Toriyama making Smash art? Yassssss

Wait

I didn't know how much I needed this until you said that

 

[Eternal phoenix Fire]

So

Replace Roy with Lyn

But keep Lucina?

Ok

 

[Idon]

So

Replace Roy with Lyn

But keep Lucina?

Ok

One obviously uses more resources than the other.
Equivalent exchange and the such.

 

[nirvanafan]

Replacing Fighters
Rosalina - Captain Toad
Dr. Mario - Waluigi
Sheik - Impa
Young Link - Skull Kid
Toon Link - Tingle
Pichu - Eevee
Lucario - Gengar
Greninja - Meowth
Falco - Andross or Krystal
Lucas - Giygas or Porky
Roy - Anna
Ike - Edelgard
Maybe replace Shulk for Elma or Rex, not as sure on that one

Replacing Series
ROB - Andy
Duck Hunt - Spring Man

Replacing Echoes
Lucina (Marth) - Alm (Marth)
Dark Pit (Pit) - Medusa (Paluntena)

 

[Eternal phoenix Fire]

One obviously uses more resources than the other.
Equivalent exchange and the such.

They are not at all equivalent.

Roy is much like Falco at this point, where he has been completely reworked into his own character. His aerial speed, ground movement, aerial attack speed, throws, tilts and smashes, spacing sweet spot follow ups are all completely different.

Lucina is an echo fighter

I’m honestly surprised that Lucina got in over Lyn but thems the brakes.

 

[Idon]

They are not at all equivalent.

Roy is much like Falco at this point, where he has been completely reworked into his own character. His aerial speed, ground movement, aerial attack speed, throws, tilts and smashes, spacing sweet spot follow ups are all completely different.

Lucina is an echo fighter

I’m honestly surprised that Lucina got in over Lyn but thems the brakes.

No, you missed the point. I'm saying that they're NOT equivalent.
Replacing Lucina would be replacing a series of alt costumes. Replacing Roy would be replacing an actual character.
I want Lyn to be an actual character.

Ergo, I replace Lyn with someone of equal value, Roy. Equivalent Exchange.

 

[DarthEnderX]

We've all heard about "every character in Smash Bros history" in Smash Ultimate. It's a nice attention-grabbing claim to make, but I don't exactly agree with the decision.

Same here. "Everyone is here!" is a nice gimmick and all, but some of those characters were removed for good reason and shouldn't have come back.

I mean, if I had a time machine, I'd have made a LOT of changes to the series rosters over the years. But sticking with the thread premise of only being able to switch out Ultimate characters...

Replace Pokemon Trainer with Charizard again.
Replace Sheik with Impa.
Replace Dr. Mario, Pichu, Young Link and all Echo Fighters with alt costumes.
Replace Ganondorf with a Ganondorf that is 0% Falcon clone.

 

[Idon]

Same here. "Everyone is here!" is a nice gimmick and all, but some of those characters were removed for good reason and shouldn't have come back.

I mean, if I had a time machine, I'd have made a LOT of changes to the series rosters over the years. But sticking with the thread premise of only being able to switch out Ultimate characters...

Replace Pokemon Trainer with Charizard again.
Replace Sheik with Impa.
Replace Dr. Mario, Pichu, Young Link and all Echo Fighters with alt costumes.
Replace Ganondorf with a Ganondorf that is 0% Falcon clone.

Yeah, people overglorify Smash tradition.
Sakurai, most of all.

 

[DarthEnderX]

Yeah, people overglorify Smash tradition.
Sakurai, most of all.

There's so many characters on the roster that people only care about, or even KNOW about BECAUSE they were in Smash.

Nobody would care about Ice Climbers, Game & Watch, R.O.B., Duck Hunt or Wii Fit Trainer if they hadn't been added to Smash. Those characters deserve to be Assist Trophies at most.

YES CHRONO. Akira Toriyama making Smash art? Yassssss

Even though I like Chrono Trigger more than any individual Dragon Quest game, if I was gonna get a Toriyama character, I would want it to be a DQ character. It's just a more important series overall, and it deserves to be repped.

 

[Idon]

There's so many characters on the roster that people only care about, or even KNOW about BECAUSE they were in Smash.

Nobody would care about Ice Climbers, Game & Watch, R.O.B., Duck Hunt or Wii Fit Trainer if they hadn't been added to Smash. Those characters deserve to be Assist Trophies at most.

Even though I like Chrono Trigger more than any individual Dragon Quest game, if I was gonna get a Toriyama character, I would want it to be a DQ character. It's just a more important series overall, and it deserves to be repped.

I'm honestly a huge fan of both so I wouldn't mind which got in as they both have their unique flavor to bring to Smash.
The only issue I see with a DQ rep, is which protagonist design they'll go with.

They could either go the Marth route and pick Erdrick or the Cloud route and pick Eight. Either way, I'm hoping they'll have plenty of alternate costumes to dress up as the other protagonists.

 

[SuperSceptile15]

Nobody.

Unless I get to retroactively replace them in previous appearances, too. Then I'd replace Bayonetta with K. Rool which would have been a much better ending to Smash 4 DLC. And as a result of being in Sm4sh, Inkling's newcomer spot in Smash Ultimate would go to none other than Bandana Dee.

I want K. Rool in Smash too, but not at the cost of Bayonetta. She is legitimately a cool character. And Hat Goomba, really? I'm so glad people like you aren't in charge of the roster.

 

[NintenZ]

I’d replace and with Elma and Arle Nadia respectively.

And if we absolutely have to promote Fire Emblem Fates then I’d still replace Corrin with Azura.

 

[DarthEnderX]

The only issue I see with a DQ rep, is which protagonist design they'll go with.

They could either go the Marth route and pick Erdrick or the Cloud route and pick Eight. Either way, I'm hoping they'll have plenty of alternate costumes to dress up as the other protagonists.

Personally hope they go the Erdrick route, as no DQ protagonist has ever broken out the way Cloud has. The fact that they're all nameless mutes probably doesn't help. Also, Erdrick is probably the most Goku looking of the bunch.

 

[Arthur97]

Same here. "Everyone is here!" is a nice gimmick and all, but some of those characters were removed for good reason and shouldn't have come back.

I mean, if I had a time machine, I'd have made a LOT of changes to the series rosters over the years. But sticking with the thread premise of only being able to switch out Ultimate characters...

Replace Pokemon Trainer with Charizard again.
Replace Sheik with Impa.
Replace Dr. Mario, Pichu, Young Link and all Echo Fighters with alt costumes.
Replace Ganondorf with a Ganondorf that is 0% Falcon clone.

Do not underestimate people who like those characters and want them to come back and have a chance to change as things progress. I am admittedly dissatisfied with Lucina's lack of changes, but I still want her here. You kind of sound like if you were in charge, Luigi never would have become what he is today.

 

[DarthEnderX]

I am admittedly dissatisfied with Lucina's lack of changes, but I still want her here.

She'd still be there. Just in an Alph/Koopalings sense instead of a "separate character, but not really" sense.

You kind of sound like if you were in charge, Luigi never would have become what he is today.

Luigi would have gotten a pass, but nobody else would have. Like, if it were up to me, Melee would have taken the development resources used to create Ice Climbers and Game & Watch, and used them to make Ganondorf and Falco completely unique characters right from the start. And Dr. Mario, Young Link, Pichu and Roy would never have existed. Or at least, wouldn't have existed until alt costumes became a thing in the series.

 

[lordvaati]

I'm fine as is fam. Every character is someone's character, and the series getting an MvC2 esque installment that brings the whole band together was inevitable.

But if I absolutely needed to make switches-Puff with Mewoth, Pittoo with Medusa, Dr. Mario with Paper Mario and Lucina with a Lance wielding Lucina.

 

[Vanguard227]

So I'll be replacing characters that are in largely represented series with other characters in said series, and characters that are by themselves, in terms of series representation that I'm sort of meh about, be replaced with other series that I'd like to see included.

Mario series: Replace Dr. Mario with Waluigi
Zelda series: Replace Sheik with Impa, replace Young Link with Majora's Mask Link, complete with his transformation masks
Pokemon series: Replace Pichu with Decidueye
Metroid series: Replace Zero Suit Samus with Sylux
Fire Emblem series: Replace echo Lucina with either Lucina using a Lance, or a different lance user, Replace Corrin with Hector, so we have an Axe user in smash. (I would have chose Roy over Corrin, but I love Roy and am really meh about Corrin. )
Kid Icarus series: Replace Dark Pit with either Medusa or Hades

Now onto the stand alone character replacements

Replace Ice Climbers with Spring Man
Replace Duck Hunt with Isaac
Replace ROB with Chibi Robo

To be honest, I'm cool with every character that's currently in Smash and would rather not have anyone cut, but hey, this is all for fun anyways.

 

[soviet prince]

replace pichu with ridleys pet rock

 

[NintenRob]

Given the theme of the game, I wouldn't change anyone, not even Corrin or Pichu. I think it's so cool that Everyone is Here and I wouldn't jeopardise that for the world.

Also 4/5 of my favourites would likely be in danger with a much smaller roster so it's just good to have the safety of their return.