Smashboards Mini-Recreates: The SSB Series Rosters

[KneeOfJustice99]

Job #14:
Seems as there'll probably be quite a few characters that spring to mind (some of whom have already been mentioned), I'll suggest some more... unorthodox picks.

Lip was a reoccuring candidate from the previous game's rounds, and still has some interesting potential as a mix between a retro/puzzle rep while maintaining her own visual and character identity that I don't really think any other character in Nintendo's library would bring to the table. Plus, while the Puzzle League series is by no means massively active by 2008, there is a reasonably recent Dr. Mario & Puzzle League title on the GBA in 2005 to consider...

While the Metroid franchise is in a... surprisingly decent spot right about now, I'm going to restrain myself from suggesting a Hunters character and instead propose a villain that's quite iconic to the series already, by this point - Dark Samus. Despite appearing as an Echo Fighter in our world's Ultimate, Dark Samus's Phazon-based abilities and boss fights from Metroid Prime 2: Echoes would lend to something really unique and visually striking. Plus, it'd be in a unique spot to really represent the Prime series specifically... even if there is a certain pirate from the series that I imagine people would also like to see.

Lastly, a bit of an oddball, but... Piplup is in a really good spot around now! Gen IV's one of the more recent ones at this time period, and Piplup - being one of the three starters from Diamond and Pearl - has by this point already developed quite the following, helped by a continuous anime presence. Plus, we've not really explored the water typing thus far - not to mention the potential that a funky little penguin brings to a moveset.

Obviously shoutouts to some vets, Ganondorf is one that really stands out on this front. I have a few characters I'd honestly like to suggest, but I'll keep myself tempered for the time being. (I'm not really sure how this round works in terms of whether this already counts as votes, but hey - if I can plant seeds in people's heads, that might be worth something down the line.)

Job #15:
Mario, Pikachu, Kirby, Marth, Fox. A weirder lineup, but I think it has decent logic behind it, such as...

• Leaves space open for us to showcase the unified "Triforce Trio" in (presumably) their new Twilight Princess designs as a big later reveal.
• Also leaves space for a big "rivals/villains" theme in future promotional material, after we reveal characters like Bowser, Ganondorf, etc.
• Has a variety of visual styles, while still keeping three of Nintendo's most iconic characters (Mario, Pikachu and Kirby) front and centre.
• Showcases that fan-favourite characters from both previous games' lineups will be returning (through Marth).

 

[DragonRobotKing26]

Job 14: My Most Wanted Characters

1. Ganondorf
2. Lucario
3. Bowser Jr.

Job 15: E3 2006 Veterans

 

[BritishGuy54]

1. Bowser Jr.
2. Ganondorf
3. Olimar

I’d like to see a take on Junior with more influence from Sunshine and NSMBDS eventually.

Job 15:

 

[TheLastMaverickHunter]

Most wanted newcomers:

1. Meta Knight
2. Ganondorf
3. Tom Nook

E3 2006:

1. Mario
2. Donkey Kong
3. Link
4. Kirby
5. Pikachu

 

[darkvortex]

1. Pit
2. Meta Knight
3. Ashley

Pit is a new series and fills the same role he did in the Brawl reveal, Meta Knight is the same, Ashley I think makes sense since Wario has been around since 64 here and would be deserving of a second rep and she is pretty popular, if recent at this point. I considered Isaac but probably makes more sense as a mid way through reveal.

roster thoughts:

Our melee roster is good though I might have held Yoshi or a clone off to get another series in there. Lots of fun picks. Had never heard of Celica before but I think she's a good opportunity to diversify our FE line up from here on out. I think it might have been too early for Daisy though if I'm honest. She'd probably be a really easy clone to be fair but I think she could could have waited.

In terms of brawl, I think keeping Sonic and Snake is a smart move. I think Snake is pretty important as he represents the start of outside non Nintendo -y characters getting into smash, something that would later lead to what we got in 4 and Ultimate. It may have been fun to instead use someone like Cloud or Leon Kennedy but it is what it is.

As for cuts in Brawl. I think DK JR. is doomed sadly, Diddy is coming and I don't know if we have the room to have both (though I wouldn't mind having a Diddy \ Dixie duo like was planned) other than that I could see Celica and one of the Pokemon leaving. I'd quite like to keep Black Shadow since we could always use more villains. I wouldn't mind us cutting one of our 64 picks (I'd say cut Mewoth, keep Mewtwo, just to stand out from RL).

Newcomers? I think Ganondorf is a must. Meta Knight too. We could probably also add Ridley here. I do want to add some new series to our line up. I don't think we need a third guest character right now but if we do I think Mega Man is the best pick, though this might be the right time to add Geno honestly.

 

[Qwerty UIOP]

1. Mario
2. Link
3. Marth
4. Kirby
5. Pikachu

1. Ganondorf(Let's hope he's not a Captain Falcon Clone in this timeline)
2. Pit
3. Olimar

 

[ssbashworld]

1 Ganondorf
2 Meta Knight
3 Andy

E3 Veterans

 

[LoZ00]

Job #14: Submit the Brawl newcomers:

1. Mii: so Miis were the hot stuff during the Wii era. They represented that time like no other character did. Therefore I think they should get their shot in this timeline's Brawl. Though personally I'd rather have them being based on the plethora of casual games they were available in, instead of going through the Brawler/Swordfighter/Gunner path. This way we can also save some space in the roster too, since Miis now only take one slot
2. Villager: yup, I'm aware that he was considered in Brawl but Sakurai had no idea on how to implement him, but that didn't stop me for the Miis, so I don't see why it should stop me with Villager. Villager is a cute and nice addition to the roster, it has a very distinct look and flow and definitely represents Nintendo extremely well. No wonder he was the first newcomer in Smash for. Also Animal Crossing was getting pretty popular at that time, I think, so this also helps.
3. Little Mac: I think that he is a great retro pick. Honestly, the idea of Nintendo having this somewhat famous bruiser joining Smash only in Smash for is a bit wild to me, as he would have been imo the perfect retro pick to start things off in Melee, of all things.

With these three newcomers I wanted to add new Nintendo series to the mix. So far, we only have 12/13 (depends on how you consider Yoshi) series represented, which is fine, but we should boost series representation a bit. Shoutout to Olimar, Isaac, and Nell too: they were very close to being nominated but in the end they lost to Little Mac and Villager (I knew beforehand I wanted to add Mii).

Job #15: Choose five veterans for E3
I'm going to play it safe and boring:


SURPRISE! Bet you were expecting Pikachu, were you not? Well, I've always felt that Pokémon kind of live in their own bubble, where they are indeed Nintendo characters, but a bit less involved than the other big names. This, along with my desire to have a female character and a villain in made me drop Pikachu for Samus and Bowser. I don't think anyone would question me on Mario, Kirby, and Link

 

[Louie G.]

SURPRISE! Bet you were expecting Pikachu, were you not? Well, I've always felt that Pokémon kind of live in their own bubble, where they are indeed Nintendo characters, but a bit less involved than the other big names. This, along with my desire to have a female character and a villain in made me drop Pikachu for Samus and Bowser. I don't think anyone would question me on Mario, Kirby, and Link

I’m actually gonna copy your homework on this one, because I feel similarly about Pokemon and seeing the outpour of Ganon support I’m convinced maybe this first trailer could have something of a “rivals” theme, which makes Bowser kind of essential.

And leaving out Samus is something I almost immediately regretted. I just wanted to deviate a bit so we didn’t all do the same thing, but we’ve got a surprising amount of variety going on.

 

[Northsouthmap]

1. Ganondorf
2. Meta Knight
3. Diddy Kong

Mario, Link, Kirby, Pikachu, Luigi

 

[Pupp135]

Here are the votes

Spoiler: Votes

Bowser Jr. 4
Diddy Kong 1
Little Mac 4
Ice Climbers 3
Ganondorf 19
Dark 2
Pit 7
Ike 1
Meta Knight 9
Ashley 1
Lip 3
Pokemon Trainer 2
Piplup 1
Lucario 4
Ray MK III 1
Villager 2
Tom Nook 2
Olimar 2
Andy 1
Mii 3

Ganondorf and Meta Knight are added to the roster.

I wonder, instead of going through the voting process should we just nominate five each and then tally up and see who shows up the most? I remember another one of these rounds where we voted on each other's proposals individually, but I think it'd just be more efficient to round it all up and go with the majority instead of listing off everyone's specific lineups... does that make sense? The last time just felt a little clumsy.

I think this probably is a better approach since it shows where the consensus is for selecting fighters.

Spoiler: Votes

Mario 11
Luigi 1
Bowser 2
Donkey Kong 1
Link 10
Samus 5
Marth 3
Captain Falcon 1
Kirby 10
Fox 2
Pikachu 9

Mario, Link, Samus, Kirby, and Pikachu remain as the E3 2006 veterans.

Job 16: Submit a Newcomer for E3 2006 that‘s from a Series without A Fighter. (Note, Ganondorf, Meta Knight, and Snake would appear in this E3 2006 trailer).

Spoiler: Ineligible Franchises

Game & Watch
Super Mario
Donkey Kong
Yoshi
Wario
Legend of Zelda
Metroid
Fire Emblem
F-Zero
Kirby
Star Fox
Mother
Pokemon

Nominating Ice Climbers here as I think the gimmick is cool.

Job 17: Submit a Veteran

Spoiler: Eligible Veterans

Mr. Game & Watch
Luigi
Bowser
Princess Peach
Princess Daisy
Donkey Kong
Donkey Kong Jr.
Yoshi
Wario
Princess Zelda
Marth
Celica
Captain Falcon
Black Shadow
King Dedede
Fox
Falco
Ness
Meowth
Mewtwo
Pichu

I’ll nominate Princess Zelda here based on the submissions below as she was confirmed pretty early on in Brawl’s canon timeline.

Then again, this does bring to mind whether or not we'll be covering Assist Trophy rosters. Although the potential for a third non-Nintendo character in Brawl does raise some eyebrows for the better IMO.

We’ll only focus on playable fighters.

 

[Master Hero Sock-on-Rye]

Thanks for telling me only the playable fighters will be focused on.

Job #16: Submit an E3 2006 Newcomer.
Considering my options here, I submit Pit from the Kid Icarus series.

And yes, I am also considering redesigning the character for a new generation.

Job #17: Submit a Veteran
I submit Marth as the other veteran for this trailer. I'm pretty sure we already have the big IPs marked down for showing the graphic capabilities.

 

[Perkilator]

Ignore this

 

[DragonRobotKing26]

Job 17: Captian Falcon

Cap. Falcon will back same on OG Brawl roster

 

[KneeOfJustice99]

Job #016:
This job's a difficult one. We want someone big enough to stand on their own alongside Ganondorf and Meta Knight, but not someone who'll steal the show from Snake - a decently placed candidate who'll mesh with the darker tone of this E3 reveal, or maybe stand out for a unique vibe of their own. Hence...

Character Name: Sami
Character Origin: Advance Wars (2001)

Sami's in a really good spot this time around as a more realistic new face for the roster. Firstly - she's a popular and prominent character in a fairly well-regarded breakout series before Brawl's development, the Advance Wars series - which itself is essentially a new-generation take on the long-running Wars series of strategy RPGs developed by Intelligent Systems - the same folks behind Fire Emblem.

Specifically, Sami's a member of the protagonist Orange Star forces, acting as a Commanding Officer (which essentially means she's a prominent NPC who controls units on the field.) She's also got ostensibly the most militarily-themed look of the bunch - Andy and Max are ostensibly more mechanic-looking, and while Nell would be unique, I don't think her overall design is well-suited to combat in a more cartoony platfighter (yes, even Brawl is ostensibly pretty

cartoony.) Additionally, other characters from the series have a lot of potential - I'd love to see Sturm calling down meteors, for instance - but a protagonist of some kind makes sense, and despite Sami's role as a side character, she's logical in this role.

Additionally, she plays off the other characters in the E3 reveal trailer decently well. She shares a military theme with Snake, meaning a teamup of sorts where they do battle with Ganondorf wouldn't seem too out of place - but her slightly more colourful design than the other three characters would let her stand out, given she's likely to be unfamiliar to a lot of more casual fans.

That said, she'd also have plenty of unique moveset potential all of her own - most likely, we'd give her more of a "scout" role compared to Snake's "commando", being lighter on her feet, but relying on keeping her head and making good strategic decisions by perhaps commanding her Orange Star forces to attack on her behalf.

Overall, I think she'd be neat. Makes sense for the era, decently popular character, plenty of moveset potential, plays off other characters well.

Job #017:
Probably an obvious one, but I think King Dedede coming back would be ideal. Getting the Three Trouble Kings all together in the roster would be hella cool.

 

[Louie G.]

Job 16: Tom Nook

I'm gonna choose to double down on this one for now. I do want to push hard for Little Mac as well, but there's a reason I'm going to emphasize Nook.

Brawl's IRL trailer is very much a "cool" trailer up until the climax. Meta Knight, Pit and Zero Suit Samus are all portrayed as serious competitors. Ganondorf would be no different. And then Wario comes sliding in and changes the mood entirely, from serious to silly. So that's why I think Tom Nook would be a fun character to appear as the final newcomer in this trailer - since Wario is already in the game, we need another character to ease the tension and end it on a surprising and goofy note. It's a good balance to have, especially in contrast with Brawl's otherwise more rugged tone.

While it may strike some people as a bit early to bank on Animal Crossing, Wild World was already performing quite well on DS and the future seemed bright. There's a reason it demanded stage representation even without a playable character. And I choose Tom Nook over Villager, simply because my preference lies with more established characters over avatars - and at this point, he's clearly the face of the series. His tanooki tail may also give the team a bit more material to work with, so they wouldn't be as totally stumped for ideas.

Job 17:
We've got Ganondorf back, so let's get Bowser in here as soon as possible. Simple as that. Hell, Meta Knight is here too and while he's not a villain... he is at least portrayed as a rival of Kirby's in Smash. I think focusing on this dynamic for our main heroes is a strong way to kick us off, and perhaps a good framework to decide on some additional newcomers too. But we gotta have THE Nintendo villain here before any of that.

 

[DragonRobotKing26]

Job 16: Olimar (Pikmin)

Olimar will be the newcomer,and also same from OG Brawl roster

 

[BritishGuy54]

Job 17: Princess Peach

 

[darkvortex]

Little Mac
Iconic. I think he'd stand out as just a normal guy in a reveal trailer with characters like Ganon and Meta Knight. I honestly think he should have been in Smash earlier than he was and makes perfect sense for a pick around this time.

Job 17
Donkey Kong. After people waited to get him in the last game I think it's important to show he's back

 

[Qwerty UIOP]

Job 16: Mike Jones (StarTropics)

Job 17: Bowser

 

[Pupp135]

Job #16: Sonic
I dunno if he’s part of the roster officially but I feel like E3 2006 is a perfect time to reveal him.

Sonic would not be allowed unfortunately, and he’s currently the roster but as Sega approved of him later, he’d be revealed later.

 

[LoZ00]

Job #16: Villager
Again, an Animal Crossing character works super well, imo. I'm yet again choosing Villager instead of Tom Nook because I am starting to like him better than the animal characters, probably because he feels a bit more customisable and has a wider breath to him, you know. But either way, I think that a cutesy and a fun character is just the one thing we're missing for our newcomers lineup and Villager fits the bill just perfectly.

Job #17: Bowser
I mean, having Ganondorf show up before Bowser feels somehow wrong to me. Bowser is the quintessential, ultimate Nintendo villain and having him, Ganondorf, and Meta Knight show up in the same trailer fighting against Mario, Link, and Kirby is just icing on the cake

 

[ssbashworld]

Newcomer: , this counts as a new series right? If not no big deal, Miis & Wii Sports in particular were really big at the time.

Veteran: , still a pretty active series at this point.

 

[TORNADO BUS DRIVER]

Isaac
Series is still pretty active around this point in time. I think we need a full on hero to go with Ganon (villain) and Meta Knight (rival) and it would be fun theming. I know he's overplayed for these rosters but I think this is the point in time he makes the most sense as a new GS game is about to come out. Anything after is just too late.

Job 17: Gotta agree with the masses here.

 

[Northsouthmap]

Lip (Panel De Pon)
At the time Puzzle League got games for the GBA and DS, so she's still relevant to Nintendo fans.

 

[Pupp135]

Here are the nominations
Pupp135 Ice Climbers
M Master Hero Sock-on-Rye Pit
KneeOfJustice99 Sami
Louie G. Tom Nook
DragonRobotKing26 Pikmin & Olimar
D darkvortex Little Mac
Qwerty UIOP Mike Jones
LoZ00 Villager
ssbashworld Mii
TORNADO BUS DRIVER Isaac
Northsouthmap Lip

Vote for your three most wanted where yours is not first.

1. Isaac
2. Ice Climbers
3. Pit

For the Veterans, there were four submissions for Bowser, so he’ll join as the Nintendo World 2006 veteran reveal.

For the seventh veteran, here are the nominations.

Pupp135 Zelda
M Master Hero Sock-on-Rye Marth
DragonRobotKing26 Captain Falcon
KneeOfJustice99 King Dedede
D darkvortex Donkey Kong
ssbashworld Fox

Vote for your three most wanted, where yours is not first.

1. Fox
2. Marth
3. Princess Zelda

 

[BritishGuy54]

1. Olimar
2. Pit
3. Isaac

1. Donkey Kong
2. Marth
3. King Dedede

 

[DragonRobotKing26]

1. Isaac
2. Pit
3. Olimar

1. Marth
2. Donkey Kong
3. Fox

 

[darkvortex]

1. Pit
2. Little Mac
3. Tom Nook

1. Fox
2. Donkey Kong
3. Zelda

 

[Louie G.]

1. Little Mac
2. Tom Nook
3. Pit

Lots of good options here that I’d like to revisit later, but I’m still mostly keeping the E3 reveal in mind. I like Pit or Little Mac fulfilling the exciting retro comeback angle, and Tom Nook as the goofy punctuation to an otherwise pretty serious / “cool” trailer. Giving some extra love to Little Mac since I suspect Pit will be doing very well.

Olimar slots in for this too, but I think Animal Crossing sells it a little harder and would be a bit more recognizable at the time. Mii could also work here but… later, maybe. In general would be nice to keep it contemporary and contrast the inevitable retro pick. Isaac and Sami qualify for this but aren’t giving the roster the sillier edge I think it needs right now.

1. Donkey Kong
2. Fox
3. King Dedede

DK ought to be here for a few reasons. He was the most requested character last game, he’s kinda sorta also a rival to Mario, and DKC is primed to get another character soon. Fox is just a series staple, and Dedede doubles up on Kirby rivals. I feel like we can wait and give some other series a chance, but Dedede is my boy so I’m not complaining either way.

 

[KneeOfJustice99]

Here are the nominations
Pupp135 Ice Climbers
M Master Hero Sock-on-Rye Pit
KneeOfJustice99 Sami
Louie G. Tom Nook
DragonRobotKing26 Pikmin & Olimar
D darkvortex Little Mac
Qwerty UIOP Mike Jones
LoZ00 Villager
ssbashworld Mii
TORNADO BUS DRIVER Isaac
Northsouthmap Lip

Vote for your three most wanted where yours is not first.

1. Isaac
2. Ice Climbers
3. Pit

For the Veterans, there were four submissions for Bowser, so he’ll join as the Nintendo World 2006 veteran reveal.

For the seventh veteran, here are the nominations.

Pupp135 Zelda
M Master Hero Sock-on-Rye Marth
DragonRobotKing26 Captain Falcon
KneeOfJustice99 King Dedede
D darkvortex Donkey Kong
ssbashworld Fox

Vote for your three most wanted, where yours is not first.

1. Fox
2. Marth
3. Princess Zelda

1. Tom Nook
2. Olimar
3. Little Mac

1. Donkey Kong
2. Zelda
3. Marth

 

[Qwerty UIOP]

1. Donkey Kong
2. Marth
3. Fox

1. Pit
2. Mike Jones
3. Tom Nook

 

[Master Hero Sock-on-Rye]

1. Pikmin and Olimar
2. Villager
3. Little Mac

1. Donkey Kong
2. Captain Falcon
3. Marth

 

[Northsouthmap]

1. Pit
2. Olimar
3. Villager

1. Donkey Kong
2. Fox
3. Captain Falcon

 

[ssbashworld]

Sami
Tom Nook
Mii

HM - Lip

Marth
Fox
C Falcon

 

[TheLastMaverickHunter]

Isaac
Nook
Mike Jones

Donkey Kong
Captain Falcon
Fox

 

[LoZ00]

Newcomer:
Ok, so one point I didn't stress when coming up with my proposal is that my idea for this newcomer is one that is cool and doesn't fall behind Ganondorf, Meta Knight, and Snake, but doesn't overshadow them either. Think about Pit in OT Brawl reveal trailer: doesn't overshadow Wario, Meta Knight, or Snake but still holds up decently along with them. With that being said:
1. Little Mac: I think he is the perfect retro pick, being a bruiser and all. Again, I'm honestly appalled he didn't join Smash up until Smash 4.
2. Olimar: Pikmin is an odd, but charming IP for Nintendo, especially at that stage. He'd also be somewhat unique in terms of moveset, making him a god addition that doesn't excessively overshadow Ganondorf, Meta Knight, and especially Snake.
3. Villager: self vote, but I still stand by the idea that Animal Crossing should be referenced somehow and, again, I like Villager better than Tom Nook, so...

Shoutout to Lip, Isaac, Mii, Sami, and Pit. All of these characters were good ideas, but in the end I like the ones I chose ever so slightly better. Lip in particular was this close to edge out Villager.

Veteran:
1. Donkey Kong: he'd probably be the BIG name for Melee, so we want to reintroduce him as soon as possible, in my opinion
2. Captain Falcon: I imagine that in this timeline Falcon would be even more strongly associated to the Smash series, due to being a starter in the original Smash 64.
3. Zelda: it's hard to ignore the fact that the one exciting name in this trailer is going to be Ganondorf. So the idea of having Link, Zelda, and Ganondorf together is tempting. The only thing that prevents her from being my #2 pick (DK is the undisputed #1 imo) is that I can't see them focusing excessively on one series for a trailer other than the Mario series. For the same reason I have dropped Dedede out of this trio (despite Dedede being EASILY my favorite character out of the ones listed)
Tbf, both Fox and Marth also have their merits. This was a tough one

 

[Pupp135]

Here are the votes:

Ice Climbers 3
Pit 15
Sami 3
Tom Nook 10
Pikmin & Olimar 13
Little Mac 10
Mike Jones 3
Villager 4
Mii 1
Isaac 10
Lip

Pit and Olimar are the E3 2006 Newcomers.

Zelda 5
Marth 14
Captain Falcon 8
King Dedede 2
Donkey Kong 28
Fox 15

Donkey Kong is the seventh veteran reveal.

Job 18: Submit a Character Who Debuted in 2005/2006.

I’ll nominate Ike as Path of Radiance was released right before Brawl’s planning, and he’d be our first Fire Emblem protagonist with a Western release.

 

[Master Hero Sock-on-Rye]

Job 18: Newcomer from 2005/2006
I submit Lucario from Pokemon Diamond and Pearl.

Honestly, I should be happy The Pokemon Company saw great things in this particular pocket monster, considering his current status as a fan favorite.

 

[KneeOfJustice99]

Job #018:
Character Name: Piplup
Character Origin: Pokémon Diamond & Pearl (2006)

There's a lot of pretty cool candidates from Gen IV specifically, with one of them - Lucario - already having been mentioned. That being said, I think the generation's also got a few other Pokémon that'd work well - and on that note, I'm submitting Piplup.

Aside from being a really popular Pokémon with a neat design - and a starter of water typing - I think Piplup's got plenty of potential in terms of moveset, too. He's a penguin with water-based abilities, after all - and on top of that, he's pretty resistant to cold! Even if he's not capable of flight.

Also... come on, just look at the lil guy! He fits right in!