The voice of reason amidst the discussion of cuts. Thank you, N3ON.
As for characters I think
could be cut, I'd narrow it down to several categories. The more of these categories a character shows up in, the more likely they are to be lower priority in development in getting into the base roster:
Technically Multiple Characters:
Clones:
Nearly Cut In The Past:
Previously Cut Veterans:
Smash 4 DLC Newcomers:
Potential Flavor-of-the-Month:
Third-Parties:
Among the characters that show up twice,
Bayonetta,
Cloud and
Ryu were all third-parties that came out as DLC and might not get renewed for future appearances (depending on how differently DLC royalties are from base-game ones);
Corrin was DLC that was very likely only added due to their current relevance;
Roy and
Dr. Mario are clones that have been cut from Super Smash Bros. Melee meaning they've never had the same ability to be a "lock" the way most other veterans are; and
Lucina is a clone that may or may not also lean on recency or even end up being reverted to alternate costume status.
I still personally hold caution over several others as well.
Greninja absolutely relied on its recency as a representative of Generation VI and might be dropped the way Pokemon has seen more drops than any other series.
Robin might be under the same lense, though I believe he stands with his own merit more so than Greninja might have.
Lucas, as much as I love the boy, never really had a reason to be cut in the first place compared to Ice Climber's 3DS limitations, Snake's third-party contract renegotiation, and Wolf's last-minute status in Brawl. If he was dropped before in spite of nothing really holding him back as a veteran, he may be left to being DLC yet again. Dark Pit is a clone of Pit and might not return if the base roster isn't in the market for alternate-costumes turned last-minute clones. Finally, the
Mii Fighters definitely required a large amount of resources to create, relying entirely on having three separate character-types, completely unique custom moves, Mii functionality, and the plethora of fighter costumes. If they weren't prioritized over most everyone else above, they may or may not take too long to get into the game to the same extent they were in Smash 4.
In summary, I'd only be absolutely shocked over a cut if it's not one of the following characters:
Bayonetta
Cloud
Ryu
Corrin
Roy
Dr. Mario
Lucina
Greninja
Robin
Lucas
Dark Pit
Mii Fighters
I think that otherwise wraps up the potential cuts in this game, unless someone else suddenly suffers the same anomaly in priority the way Lucas did in Smash 4. I'm sure most characters here would return as DLC if cut, if they weren't already DLC to begin with.
