06/14/18 EDIT: Whew, boy... what a complete and utter curveball this week has been for us speculators! Indeed, it was such a curveball, I decided to completely redo my roster predictions! Many of my previous roster picks still made it onto this one, but I did add a few to account for the new focus on Echo Fighters and removed some to make room.
And this is it. Blue border = standard fighter, green border = Echo Fighter, yellow = DLC, didn't even bother trying to predict who's going to be unlockable after the incredibly vague statement we got about unlocking characters this time. Obviously, everyone from every previous Smash game is here, as well as Ridley, Inkling, and Daisy as they're already confirmed. But what about the rest? Well...
Geno - I'm of the firm belief that, due to a number of factors, this Smash game is likely to focus on fanservice rather than surprise factor when it comes to newcomers. That's not to say we won't get any unexpected characters, but this game seems to be Sakurai's ultimate swan song for his vision of the franchise, not to mention the man himself has indicated that there are fewer newcomer slots up for grabs this time, so it'd make sense to load those few slots up with heavy hitters and fan favorites. Enter Geno, an emblem of the Smash speculation scene since the early days of Brawl
and a character who's been atop Sakurai's personal wishlist for years. Now that his parent company is finally in on the Smash deal, I'd be genuinely surprised to see Geno miss out on Smash again, as he'd be easily one of the most fanservice-y picks possible, right up there with Ridley and K. Rool, in my opinion.
King K. Rool - See above, but to an even greater degree because it's f*cking K. Rool, the most popularly requested candidate of our time. Anyone who isn't keeping an eye out for the big green croc at this point is undeniably a King K. Fool.
Dixie Kong - Before yesterday, you wouldn't have caught me dead saying this, but I genuinely think Dixie's going to be an Echo Fighter of her cousin, Diddy, for one reason only: Diddy's new jab. If you recall, his old jab was the only move that made use of his tail, which was the main physical difference between the two as Dixie lacks one (for some reason). Bit suspicious that they'd choose to make that change now, wouldn't you say? Beyond that, the only weird stuff in Diddy's toolset for Dixie to use would be the Peanut Popgun, which could easily be reskinned for her Gumball Popgun, and the Rocketbarrel Pack, which doesn't really have a suitable substitute, but you already know they don't care.
Ashley - She's insanely popular over in Japan to the point where her fame extends well beyond her home series, and she's a decently requested character in the West as well. The fact that she hasn't shown up as an Assist yet also bodes well for her. She'd likely be easy to make a moveset for as well by virtue of simply being a magic user, a criminally underrepresented style of combat that has yet to be fully tapped into in Smash, and could also utilize potions and her little demon friend, Red, in some of her moves.
Dark Samus - Usually, I'd be against the idea of A.) any more Metroid characters after Ridley and B.) Dark Samus being a clone of Samus, as I think the series is fine in terms of character representation and it'd be selling the character short, but considering it's failed to appear either as an alt. costume for Samus thus far or as a reprisal of its Assist Trophy role in 4, I'm inclined to believe it'll be one of our new Echo Fighters. It's practically identical to Samus in build and is a reasonably popular character, likely right behind Ridley in terms of requests for a Metroid rep, making it a perfect candidate for an Echo Fighter.
Impa - Echo of Sheik. Mostly self-explanatory, as they're both Sheikah warriors and Impa is recurring and popular enough to earn a spot as an Echo Fighter, but may not have enough material to work with as a unique fighter. There's also the matter of
Sheik's new Final Smash, which fits Impa to a T to the point of even featuring the Sheikah eye symbol. Based on the information we have right now, she's the most likely Echo yet to be revealed IMO.
(Also, worth noting that one of the few 3D Zeldas yet to be represented by a character is Skyward Sword, which just so happens to feature one of Impa's only combat-viable appearances. Hardly an outright confirmation of anything, but food for thought regardless.)
Bandanna Dee - He's incredibly popular, at least if the polls I've seen are any indication, and pretty much
the choice for a new Kirby rep. He doesn't quite have the raw star power that fanservice picks like Geno and K. Rool would, but he has the relevancy, popularity, and staying power to more than make up for it in my book.
Decidueye - I was a lot more confident in this pick before E3, but now that we have a whopping seven Pokemon slots in the roster as is, I've been having doubts as to whether we'll even be getting a Pokemon newcomer this time around. In the end, however, I decided that a Gen 7 mon is still likely, and the way I see it, it's gonna come down to Incineroar or Decidueye, depending on whether Sakurai likes the idea of a flaming wrestler tiger or a ghostly archer owl better. I'm leaning towards Decidueye as I feel he'd stand out as more unique to Sakurai as a dedicated archer compared to the prospect of Humanoid Brawler #56, not to mention his Ghost-typing may offer some unique stuff moveset-wise that Incineroar's Dark-typing really can't. Also, he was in Pokken, a major appearance he has that Incineroar can't boast, which may entail a future for the character.
And no, Ivysaur does not discount his chances. He has merits beyond the garbage "starter trio" argument, dammit!
Chrom - I gotta admit, things have lined up just perfectly for this guy. Sakurai spends the entirety of Smash 4 railing on him for being a "carbon copy" of Ike (
even dedicating an entire in-game conversation to the point), and then the next game... he standardizes the practice of adding carbon copies of existing fighters for the sake of giving popular characters a chance. We'll have to wait and see if Robin's Final Smash is untouched to know for sure, but if Chrom is absent from it, I'm gonna say he's in the clear as an Echo Fighter.
Chorus Men - Gematsu and Smash 4 datamines seem to indicate that Sakurai intended for these guys to be in Smash 4, but they had to be scrapped, likely due to the 3DS bottleneck. If Sakurai wishes to return to the concept of adding the Chorus Men, now would be the time. They're weird, yes, but I can see him springing for them one last time.
Simon Belmont - Vergeben is God. In all seriousness, with Konami officially returning to Smash with Snake's readmission, I wouldn't be surprised to see them granted a second rep like SEGA and Capcom got in Smash 4, and with his main competition in Bomberman out of the running, Simon's got a straight shot to victory if that is indeed the case.
So that's our base roster, leaving us at nine unique newcomers, five new Echo Fighters, and a total cast of 75 fighters (going by CSS slots). What a nice number! But we're not done there, because I decided to be extra ballsy and put down DLC predictions, too! I am truly going for broke tonight.
Spring Man - Considering Ultimate's project plan was apparently finished in December of 2015, I wouldn't exactly say that bodes well for anything beyond 2016 as far as the base game, and that's exactly where I think that leaves us with Spring Man. He's an obvious pick, being the face of a new first-party IP that's even another fighting game series, but I can very realistically see him just barely missing the boat for the base roster seeing how ARMS was a mid-2017 release. That said, if that happens, he's practically a shoo-in for DLC.
Rex & Pyra - See above, but for Xenoblade 2 instead of ARMS. Bonus points for them because Sakurai
really, really likes Xenoblade 2.
Isaac - Isaac was highly requested during the days of Brawl and Smash 4 DLC, but unlike folks like K. Rool and Geno, support for him largely fell off after that point, especially after failing to make it into Smash 4 after being demoted from his previous role as an Assist Trophy. He does, however, still have a cult following yet, and that past support for him may just get him a slot after the juggernauts are all squared away. Fanservice is the name of the game here, after all.
Rayman - Ubisoft and Nintendo have been notoriously buddy-buddy as of late; as such, I can see them rewarding said working relationship with a character in Smash, and I doubt even Sakurai would be ballsy enough to put the Rabbids in over this guy. He had a trophy in Smash 4, for Pete's sake! He'd also likely be a pretty popular request when all is said and done, so I can see him getting in on a popularity clause.
Crash Bandicoot/Spyro - Gonna cover these two at the same time as I think if one gets in, the other will, too. They were often paired with each other back in their heyday as Activision icons of the Playstation era, they'll both have remasters under their belts pretty soon (on the Switch, no less), and I feel they're iconic and popular enough to earn a spot as DLC. Plus, it helps their chances that Sakurai already let slip that westerners' requests are being considered for this game, and besides,
who doesn't want to see this legendary beef reenacted in present day?
Banjo & Kazooie - We already know Microsoft would be more than okay with them joining the fray, so that's already half the battle won for the bear and bird. They also have a heavy history with Nintendo, having originated on Nintendo hardware and starred in two of the standout titles of the N64, so they have that pretense for being added in. I can also see Banjo sneaking in as a particularly popular candidate after all the big boys like Ridley (har), K. Rool, and Geno make the cut, thus pushing him through the gate by popular demand. Hey, it wouldn't be the first time.
And there we have it. My Ultimate roster predictions. Do I think that's gonna be it for DLC? Honestly, no. I just ran out of ideas, quite frankly. That said, I do think DLC could be the place for true oddball picks to shine through, so really, who knows what might happen when the time comes? Now, if you'll excuse me, this post is too big, so I'm going to go get some shuteye.
