There are going to be 12 newcomers, technically 14 in a sense. 40 veterans are returning.
<u>Veterans</u>
Mario
Luigi
Bowser
Peach
Yoshi
Wario
Donkey Kong
Diddy Kong
Link
Toon Link
Zelda
Sheik
Ganondorf
Kirby
King Dedede
Meta Knight
Samus
Zero Suit Samus
Pikachu
Jigglypuff
Mewtwo
Lucario
Pokémon Trainer (Squirle, Ivysaur, & Charizard)
Fox
Falco
Wolf
Ness
Lucas
Marth
Ike
Pit
Pikmin & Olimar
Captain Falcon
Ice Climbers
Mr. Game & Watch
R.O.B.
Sonic
Snake
<u>Additional Information</u>
-Wanted to keep as many veterans as possible, in order to prevent distaste.
-Putting extra care into balancing Meta Knight and Snake. Also taking care in fixing the problem with multiple grabs from the likes of Falco and King Dedede.
-Conversely, trying to adjust characters like Samus and Link to become stronger.
-Ganondorf has several new attacks, an earth shattering punch that produces dark energy as his down smash and a delayed burst of dark energy as his neutral aerial attack.
-Falco has some new attacks, a wing slash attack similar to Pit's down aerial that causes a meteor smash in the center, and a "break dance" 360 spin kick as his down smash.
-Wario has his down smash attack replaced with the Earthquake Punch from Wario Land: Shake It! and the up throw replaced with the Piledriver. Apparently this was done in order to make more reference to the Wario platform games.
-The stamina mechanic for Pokémon Trainer is removed.
-Jigglypuff now produces sparkle effects with it's attacks, referencing it's new Fairy typing.
Lucario's aura mechanic modified; Lucario now starts out a tad stronger in terms of power, but the effects of the aura mechanic are less apparent.
-Ike has a new style based on his Hero attire from Fire Emblem: Radiant Dawn.
-Projectiles like Pit's Palutena's Arrow, R.O.B.'s Robo Beam, and Falco's Blaster were weakened in order to discourage cheap projectile tactics.
<u>Newcomers</u>
-Villager
-Mega Man
-Wii Fit Trainer
-Rosalina & Luma
-Ridley
-Palutena
-Chibi-Robo
-Lip
-Chrom & Lucina
-King K. Rool
-Shulk
-Little Mac
<u>Additional Data</u>
-Ridley is a massive character, larger and heavier then Bowser. This gives the character a lot of range and power, but his speed is lacking and his massive size turns him into a liability. Commented as the most difficult character to balance. Has moves that unleash the brutal nature of the character, for example his pummel attack is biting the opponent.
-Palutena is probably the opposite of Ridley; she's built more like a pacifist who relies more on highly ranged attacks to keep the opponent away, and she is also deceptively heavy. Her down smash involves creating a ball of light next to her that has a delayed explosion, while he side special attack creates a large shield of light that blocks projectiles.
-Chibi-Robo is by far the smallest fighter on the roster, smaller then the likes of Squirtle and Olimar. He attacks using cleaning appliances, and the plug he lugs around. For example, Chibi-Robo's down tilt involves him scrubbing the ground with a toothbrush that causes damage and causes the floor to become slippery, causing characters to slip like crazy.
-Lip is an interesting character, since she's a character that gets stronger from building up damage. Every time she lands a successful hit, her power increases slightly, but resets when ever she fails to land a hit. Additionally, her attacks also inflict the "flowering" effect. This means that Lip has the ability to inflict a lot of pain quickly, but she's actually pretty weak. Many of her attacks are based on different aspects from the likes of cheerleaders, ribbon dancers, and magical girls.
Chrom & Lucina function differently from Ice Climbers and Rosalina & Luma, where you play as one character at a time, but you have the option to either swap between the characters or make the other character assist you to extend combos. Chrom and Lucina have their own properties, for example Chrom falls faster while Lucina has faster attacks.
King K. Rool is massive and powerful, and similar to a tank boosts very powerful projectiles. Many of his attacks involve using the comically exaggerated blunderbuss, ranging from shooting cannon balls to cheap punts, and attacks based on real life crocodiles like the "Death Rool". He's got a more realistic and intimidating voice, including realistic crocodile snarls.
-Shulk is an odd character, with really long range of his Monado with the power being based on how close the opponent is to Shulk (similar to Roy from Melee) and a unique dodge mechanic where Shulk can counter attack during the middle of dodges like roll dodges. In addition to swinging the Monado, several of his attacks involve manipulating ether to create explosions or shoot projectiles.
-Little Mac is a straight forward character who uses speed and power to overwhelm his opponent. Has a mechanic where he can block attacks more similar to other fighting games if his attacks clash with another.
