Super Smash Bros. Ultimate Roster Thread

[Golden Icarus]

Thought that I would throw something out before E3. Barely a prediction, but some semi-plausible ideas that I would love to see!

 

[Delzethin]

I suppose I should post these here before all hell breaks loose. These are the rosters featured in my two part prediction that you've probably watched by now.

Scenario 1: The "Safe Roster"​

Scenario 2: The "Wild Roster"

 

[Souless_shadow]

Figured I might as well post my prediction/wishlist before the Direct today! I chose both who I wanted but who also seems the most plausible based on what we know.

 

[edde]

newcomers i want:
1) Rex with pyra/mythra (maybe make these 2 a separate char)... Adan-Mythra clone
2) Elma
3) Shovel Knight
4) Decidueye
5) King K Rool
6) Krystal (wont make it )
7) Shadow The Hedgehog
8) Dark Shadow
9) Dark Samus (K enough darkness and shadows)
10) Impa
11) Rayman
12) Springman
13) Sora
14) Banjo & Kazooie

 

[The Animator]

*June 14 2018

So here is my prediction based on the information now available. I think this will probably be Sakurai's last Smash Bros., and the last we see of the series for a while. So I'm expecting that there will be a focus on fan favorites for most if not all the character reveals. I'm predicting about one new character reveal per month with the total playable characters being around 70-75, up to 80 if they add DLC later. The characters I believe will be revealed are:
- King K. Rool & Geno do to their mii costumes in the last installment.

- One of Sakurai's wild trolling picks that will have a very mixed reaction.(This will probably be one of the next couple reveals. And I think Rabbids is a high possibility.)

-A couple new 3rd party characters. I don't think there will be to many more given how many are in already. They will most likely be 2 or 3 from the following list: Crash Bandicoot, Spyro, Simon Belmont, Rayman, Rabbids, another classic character from Capcom or Namco., or ugh... Steve from Minecraft.

- Another female character( There is a lot of possibilities for this one, none I am particularly sure of.)

-There maybe one or two more echo fighters revealed as well.

-Anything else hidden in game will likely be characters Sakurai picks.

- If there is DLC it will probably be characters from newer releases chosen primarily to advertise those games.


*July 24 2018

I've been thinking about it a lot and this is my final Super Smash Bros. Ultimate roster prediction. The main block is pretty much what I expect for the base roster, red are echos, Green are lower possibilities/potential DLC. In the end I think people will be underwhelmed when it comes to new characters but most will say 'at least we got the big 3'.

*August 9 2018
Now knowing that 3rd parties can have more then one character I think Shadow The Hedgehog, Ms. Pac-Man echo fighters are highly probable.

 

[Ze Diglett]

EDIT: Disregard this post, I forgot you're not supposed to post twice here. I went back and edited my old post instead, so go there if you care to see a massive wall of writeups detailing what I changed.

 

[SuperSceptile15]

I made this chart that shows how much representation each series has currently in the form of playable characters, including echo fighters. I know it may seem pointless to post, but stuff like this interests me and I was wondering if anyone would feel the same.

 

[Geno Boost]

this is my roster prediction without the DLC:
-the newcomer sign is for Spring Man and its a successesful new IP just like Splatoon i could see nintendo pushing for him (even thought the game became boring when i played it for few days)
-i couldnt decide between Nester or a 2nd xenonblade rep or Labo man so i went with Nester because he represent nintendo power and it was important in nintendo history just like the zapper and wii fit and R.O.B. and Game & watch so i feel he is the next to represent a "piece" of Nintendo history and could have moveset using nintendo console stuff such as the wii remote and virtual boy and zapper and power glove and many more which would be really unique i feel like he wouldnt get revealed until the game gets released just like Duck hunt because of how old he is and I am aware the he is unexpected choice and it would be a surprise
-i would prefer Frogger over Simon but as for smash popularity i think he is a more popular pick even though i want the 2nd Konami rep to be cartoonish and not a human looking one but castlevania had a long history with nintendo.
-if sakurai really likes the idea of echo fighters since he wouldnt be able to add alot of unique newcomers this time around and this idea would take less time for the development then i could see few more coming i do feel the yoshi and f-zero seires could get a 2nd rep since they were here since the original smash so an echo fighter for yoshi and captian falcon would be a great idea so i thought of Blood falcon since Ganondorf has been decloned as for Boshi since we have square-enix this time around and Geno is likely (because Sakurai is making this smash and he wanted him since brawl) i think its safe to count him as a yoshi rep because even in SMRPG he was in a yoshi island i think both Geno and Boshi could be revealed at the same time as for Ninten i see Mother seires is getting more love this time around and the only game left to be represented in that series the first and since it has been released worldwide few years ago i could see him become an echo fighter for Ness but as for Dark samus since the black and blue Samus skin has been taken out and wasnt revealed as assist trophy yet i think its safe to say Dark Samus is the next echo fighter after Daisy.
-at some point Heihachi and Chorus men both were considered playable during the development of SSB4 and that might be because sakurai couldnt make it work but i think this time around just like Ridley worked out they could end up being playable too.
-King K. Rool and Isaac are popular ballout picks and also Isaac dissappearence from SSB4 is still a mystery so i think that there is something going for him
-Excitebiker i feel nintendo do care about him and he has alooooot of cameos and his franchise has 7 games and could see him being added as the next retro rep and just like Isaac his assist trophy has dissappeared during SSB4 but at least got a trophy with a new design for him also he would be a very unique type of fighter using bike moves.

 

[DarkShadow20]

Updated roster. Tried to make a fairly even split between new movesets and echo fighters. Added ones based on popularity and things like past AT's not being seen.

Edit: Just changed the placement of a couple of characters.

 

[Luxent]

Birdo as an Echo Fight PLS. T__T

Its so easy to do, all they need to do is change her NeutralB to an egg/fireball spit and shes DONE~

 

[Shroob]

Hyper conservative roster based on Sakurai's claims, and Verg's source apparently telling him there's "About half-a-dozen" characters left to be revealed, keyword being about.

If we start getting one newcomer a month starting in July, we'd have 5 new characters up to launch, bringing the base roster to 69, not counting Pokemon Trainer or Miis as seperate.

While I personally don't believe Verg, a newcomer a month does seem likely as to keep hype flowing until December, and by July, there will only be 5 months left until launch, so "About Half-A-Dozen" would be completely correct.


As for my choices, they're pretty obvious.

A new Pokemon Rep is almost a lock, despite us getting back soo many this game.

Elma or Rex+Phyrra is also likely, I'll say Elma for now due to Sakurai's toy tweet.

Dixie or K.Rool, interchangable. Dixie would be an Echo Fighter, especially since Diddy lost his tail-based attacks, leaving me as to believe that's why.

Simon because, if Verg is right, Simon is in.

And the last spot is a wildcard. It could be a new Retro character, but it could also be anything.

 

[Deleted member]

Here's my roster. It's COMPLETELY IDEAL and features several disconfirmed characters.
I don't expect it to be the final roster for Ultimate nor any future Smash game (Assuming there will even be one). With that in mind...

81 characters, with 4 of them being Echo Fighters.
If any newcomer for Ultimate is announced, I will add them. I may also add new characters just because I discover a new character that I'd want to add.
Might go into detail about my choices later.

 

[QrowinSP]

Made my version of a Smash Ultimate Roster. Went a bit ham with the echo fighters for symmetry sake.

Overall the newcomers are:

• Inkling
• Springman
• Ridley
• Bandana Dee
• Simon Belmont
• Excitebiker
• Celica
• Captain Toad

With nearly as many new echoes. For the record

• Chrom is an echo of Ike
• Galacta knight is an echo of meta knight
• Dark Samus is an echo of Samus
• Alm is an Echo of Roy
• Shadow is an echo of Sonic
• Twili Midna is an echo of Zelda
• Pichu is there because there was no room in the pokemon section and also Haha Pichu

All in all I think this is incredibly optimistic, but not entirely unrealistic. If I got this, I would ecstatic, but I'd be fine with less.

 

[Guybrush20X6]

Now E3's done and the dust has settled, here's my rosters. ones that are plenty big on the hedging.

MY first one is a grand list of all the characters I think may be in (New characters on top, Echos on bottom)

My second one is a theoretial one where all 3rd parties have an echo. (Final Fantasy 7 was short on icons, imagine that's Zack next to cloud.)

How do they look? Anyone wanna help me narrow down the 1st one?

 

[papagenos]

Here is my prediction roster:

7 Newcomers after E3: Simon Belmont / Waddle Dee / K. Rool / Mach Rider / Geno / Dixie (semi-clone of diddy) / Chrom (echo of ike)

EDIT 6/18/18: Decided to take out Elma and replace her with Mach Rider, as I was only predicting Elma due to an interview with Sakurai where he says he bought a toy robot with a gun to model for some upcoming game he's working on. I initially bought into the theory that toy gun was for Elma's skell but after the new theory it could be used for Mach Rider was brought up, I've changed my mind about Elma.

 

[Bernlord]

Predictions

1: Geno (Sakurai and his team got the right to use Cloud from Square Enix, why not him)
2: Ken (echo of Ryu)
3: Simon Belmont
4: King K Rool
5: Dixie Kong
6: Spring Man

Dream character that's never gonna be in smash
Ryo Hazuki

 

[Vanguard227]

So including the entire roster we've seen so far, here's who I would like to see join the roster. Character names who are in bold are echo fighters. Characters with an asterisk beside them are characters who probably have a slim chance of getting in IMO.

-Decidueye
-King K. Rool
-Springman
-Rex and Pyra
-Shovel Knight
-Simon Belmont
-Spyro the Dragon *
-Crash Bandicoot
-Sora *
-Rayman
-Banjo Kazooie *
-Ken or Akuma (Ryu)
-Shadow the Hedgehog (Sonic)
-Dixie Kong (Diddy Kong) *
-Black Shadow (Captain Falcon) *
-Dark Samus (Samus)
-Impa (Sheik)

 

[Deleted member]

Sorry to be a backseat mod, but this really isn't the place for discussion.

 

[Verde Coeden Scalesworth]

Sorry to be a backseat mod, but this really isn't the place for discussion.

Already moved the posts. Probably best if you just report it instead of responding.

 

[ATH_]

hello everyone! haven't been on smashboards in a while but here's my prediction for newcomers and related stuff!

here's my original prediction post e3:

blue border: in order from most likely to least likely characters i think genuinely have a shot at getting in the game, don't really think many other characters outside of these few have any chance, personally.
yellow border: possible alternate skin/echo characters! all tied for likeliness in my opinion.
red border: definitely not going to happen characters but i'd LOVE to see them in smash and i'd be so overly hyped for them! in order of most likely to least likely.

i'll be updating this post with additions to my original predictions as more gets announced about the game! so excited!

 

[Billybae10K]

Alright, here's my attempt at a Roster Predicition - Post E3 (19th of June)

So, let me explain a few of my picks.

Red Border means that the character is announced/confirmed. Fun times, brilliant!
Yellow Border means that this character is part of my prediction for the base roster.
Green Border means this character is part of my prediction for DLC post-launch.

Now, let's list the newcomers I'm predicting!

Base game -

Dixie Kong - Echo of Diddy (I don't expect there to be many more echo fighters, but if there's going to be another echo, this feels like the most likely character to receive it, in my eyes)
Isaac - Not only is Isaac my one character I want to see in the game, with the theme of Smash Bros Ultimate, there's a chance Sakurai revisited the cut assist trophies and Pokeball Pokemon, putting Isaac on his radar. Golden Sun is one of the few notable Nintendo IPs that has yet to become playable and could you imagine a Venus Lighthouse Stage.
Decidueye - If I'm picking a Gen 7 rep, I'm sticking with the grass starter. While many have lowered their chance due to Pokemon Trainer, myself included, I still think it's the most logical choice for a new Pokemon Rep as we'll then have the final form of a Fire, Grass and Water started in the game with Charizard, Decidueye and Greninja.
Bandana Waddle Dee - Sakurai loves his Kirby and I want to see the Return to Dreamland Quartet become playable in Smash. Plus we've got no spear users and with Krystal out of the running, he's got... a chance?
King K Rool - He's one of the most requested villains on Smash Boards and would be an awesome unique Donkey Kong rep. I could see him arriving in the same trailer as Dixie too, sort of how Lucina and Robin did it in Smash 4.
Geno - Sakurai has mentioned how close Geno's been to playable before. Why not just go all the way this time? Having a second Square Enix rep who feels less like a SE rep and more like a Mario Character could be a good way to please the fans.
Ashley - Personally, I've got no interest in Ashley, but she has a massive following in Japan and seeing as we got Ridley and Little Mac through Western influence, it's safe to assume Ashley could get in via Eastern influence.

DLC -
Revali - While not the base game, adding a Champion would give Breath of the Wild more exposure which is never a bad thing, and Revali is the one I'd like to see the most, if only so he can meet Falco.
Shadow - If the Sonic series were to get a second rep, Tails or Shadow would be it, and I think Shadow might be easier as either an Echo Fighter or an enhanced Sonic AKA Dr Mario.
Elma - Elma's here on the chance she doesn't make the base roster and a Xenoblade Rep is on the cards, though I'd interchange her with Rex & Pyra.
Spring Man - ARMS is too new right now for a character, but DLC I could see them adding Spring Man as the main face of the franchise.
Captain Toad - With Peach and Daisy's Toad updates, Captain Toad is the only hope we have left of seeing this boy in Smash.
Rex & Pyra - Same as Elma.

Will update if other characters spring to mind, or I see someone is playable/disconfirmed.

 

[Loungemen]

Newcomers:
Bandana Waddle Dee - Since HAL is also developing the game, we will probably get to see another Kirby newcomer. The Waddle Dee would complete the quartet.
Decidueye - Originally was going to be Mimikyu, but it’s obvious that Sakurai planned out the final roster before the Japanese popularity poll for US/UM.
Elma - Originally was going to be Rex & Pyra, I thought that maybe Xenoblade X could use some representation before jumping into Xenoblade 2.
Dixie Kong - A semiclone of both Donkey Kong and Diddy Kong, Dixie utilizes most of Diddy’s attacks, while sharing Donkey’s Up B and grab.
Impa - We have representation for every 3D Zelda title, except for Skyward Sword; Impa would be perfect as an echo fighter for Sheik.

DLC:
Spring Man
Captain Toad
Rex & Pyra
King K. Rool
Third-Party

 

[DarthEnderX]

My ideal roster would be:
Start with Ultimate's roster
Add my other character picks
Subtract Pokemon Trainer
Add Charizard
Turn Dr. Mario, Young Link, Pichu, Lucina, Dark Pit and Daisy into alt costumes.

 

[PsySmasher]

Update Post-E3 Roster. This is probably the absolute max # of characters we can get on the base roster. After much debate, I decided to add newcomers based off of Melee's additions:
8 unique newcomers (including Inkling and Ridley)
6 newcomers based off of previous veterans (echo fighters in this case/ including Daisy)

Newcomers:
Inkling
Ridley
Ashley
Bandana Dee
Elma
Rex & Pyra
King K. Rool (interchangeable w/ Dixie)
Simon Belmont (3rd party rep)
Dark Samus (echo of Samus)
Daisy (echo of Peach)
Impa (echo of Sheik)
Chrom (echo of Ike)
Shadow (echo of Sonic/3rd party echo)
Medusa (echo of Palutena)

Honorable Mentions:
Captain Toad
Dixie Kong (hopefully as an unique fighter, but possibly as a clone/echo)
Hilda (echo of Zelda)
Lycanroc (7th gen rep)
Roll (echo of Mega Man/3rd party echo)
Octoling (echo of Inkling)
Geno (3rd party rep somewhat?)

Other Characters I Like but don't seem as likely
Dry Bowser (echo of Bowser or uses Bowser's Melee/Brawl moves)
Anna
Micaiah
Susie Haltmann
Isabelle (echo of Villager or unique newcomer)
KOS-MOS (2nd Bandai Namco rep)

There are two bold predictions that I'm making with this roster:
1. Despite the lower # of newcomers, I think that both Elma and Rex & Pyra will make it into the base roster (as unique characters)
2. No new Pokemon reps (in the base roster)

 

[lurxy]

This is my roster, which basically is what I expect mixed with what I want to happen. Green are all Echo characters, Red are semi-clones (which may or may not be less effort for the development team), Yellow are unique newcomers and Purple is DLC.

Echo Fighters:
I personally think the fact that clones now have an official name means that we will get some more of them and I'm very fine with that. I always like the concept of clones and always have been a fan of those small nuances between similar fighters.
Dark Samus: (Echo to Samus)
I feel with the lack of Samus' skin and her assist trophy not shown at E3 Dark Samus has a good chance to be playable. Maybe give her the shotgun custom for her neutral B and add some phazon effects (visually and gameplaywise) to her attacks. The phazon could stick to other players for some extra damage. Side and Up B can stay the same with phazon, Down B could be changed but I do not really care if it will stay the same. I had the idea that Dark Samus could 'run out' of phazon and her attacks will stop spawning phazon. But maybe this would be to much alternation for an Echo character (I personally think the rules for Echo characters are not as strict as Bill Trinen made them look)
Impa: (Echo to Sheik)
Give her a mix of her Hyrule Warriors and her Skyward Sword look and make her attacks stronger and a bit less combo heavy. I really think it would be very interesting to have a Sheik with pretty strong and good kill moves so give her that for example. And also give her Sheiks final smash since that one is pure Sheikah gold.

Semi-Clones:
Even with Echo Fighters being a new thing, I think semi-clones are still possible and would be the logical step considering the short development time. The two semi-clones I want only have some slight changes to give them some of their signature moves.
Dixie Kong: (Semi-Clone to Diddy Kong) Basically give her her hair cargo throw, her helicopter hair and change the peanuts to gumballs. Since we do not know Diddy's final smash right now maybe give her landmaster the same or something different. Can't really think of something right now.
Medusa: (Semi-Clone to Palutena) Her biggest problem as an Echo Fighter would be her lack of a shield. So change all of Palutena's moves that use the shield to Medusa's claw hand and give her Auto Recticle stun, different forward and up smashes and change the light effects to dark effects. Give her a final smash that turns other fighters into stone and voila.

Unique Fighters:
Even with Sakurai's 'don't expect many newcomers'-line, I do expect round about nine unique newcomers with Inkling and Ridley. In my opinion you have to consider that Smash Bros. is one of the biggest franchises to Nintendo and newcomers always were the biggest thing about it. I can not imagine that Sakurai tells the Nintendo bosses he will bring everyone back and give us only four newcomers and some clones on top and the bosses would be okay with that. Many of my friends who do not know any games from Nintendo besides maybe Mario, Zelda, Pokemon and Donkey Kong first ask which newcomers are in a new smash game when we talk about it. Newcomers are the biggest source of hype and I think they sell the game for many people. With that being said, here are the newcomers:
King K. Rool: I think his popularity will get him in this time. I read in another thread that Smash Ultimate and the Smash 4 DLC were developed at the same time so why not use his new model for Ultimate for a Mii costume for Smash 4? Donkey Kong is the only franchise of the original eight to not have an antagonist/villain. I wanted him since Brawl and I hope he finally makes it!
Simon Belmont: So maybe the Vergeben's leak was wrong on this one but I highly doubt this changes anything. With Konami back on the ship and Bomberman being an Assist Trophy I think Castlevania will get a fighter. In my opinion Castlevania always deserved the spot more than Metal Gear since it had so many games on Nintendo consoles while Metal Gear always was a 'Sony thing' for me. And i really want a Castlevania rep and the killer music in this game. And finally someone to use a whip in this game.
Rayman: With Nintendo and Ubisoft being close again I think Rayman has a fair shot at being playable this time. If i remember it correctly he was considered for Smash 4 but when Ubisoft decided to bring Rayman Legends to the other consoles he did not make it. With Mario & Rabbids being a thing now I do not see any hinderance. His moveset could be really interesting since he is a melee fighter with a big range.
Bandana Dee: With Donkey Kong, Metroid and Kid Icarus having four reps each, Kirby needs another one. And since Bandana Dee has been pushed to be the fouth player character, I really see him coming to Smash Ultimate. He would be very interesting since he has a spear and nobody uses that right now. Also I think it would be fairly easy to make his model from Kirby/Jiggs or Meta Knight but I'm not sure about this.
Ashley: To be honest I do not really care about her, but her sheer popularity in Japan make me think she will be in. And on paper a goth witch sounds not too bad so why not?
Isaac: Like K. Rool (and Ridley), I wanted Isaac since Brawl and while he had way better chances around that time, I really hope he will get playable in Ultimate. I always wanted him to play a bit like the Avatar with an emphasis on Earthbending. For his final smash give him one of the big summons from Golden Sun. And while we're at it, give us Golden Sun back, Nintendo!
Mach Rider: I do not remember where I read that but someone suggested a Mach Rider character with ideas from Exite Biker. That sounded really cool and I always loved the Retro reps since they always were surprising and very unique. You could argue that his archetype of using a vehicle is taken by Bowser Jr. but I think a motorcycle with guns is a completely different thing than the clown car. And Sakrai intended to add her in Melee, so she got that going for her.

Lastly, let me talk shortly about my DLC picks:
Decidueye, Rex & Pyra, Spring Man, FE Rep: Since we know now that Smash Ultimate's project plan was finished in December 2015, all those characters are too new to be in the base game. But I really think each of them would fit into Ultimate so just make them DLC. (To be honest I do not care about another FE Rep but I can see it happening)
Geno: He was a pick for my base roster, but I am not too sure about him. I never played Mario RPG so who I am to judge but he never seemed very interesting to me. I played him in Legacy XP where you would expect him being well represented but I never liked him that much. But he is requested much so whatever i guess?
Crash and Spyro: With Sega, Konami, Capcom, Square Enix, Bandai Namco and Ubisoft having a Character, I really want to see Crash and Spyro come to Smash Bros. While both also are on the 'Sony side' like Metal Gear for me, I played their Gamecube Games as a child and I liked them both. To me both are some of the last big icons of gaming that are realistic for Smash Bros. next to Banjo & Kazooie (but I guess we will never get those two back). And with the N Sane Trilogy coming and the Reignited Trilogy rumored to come to Switch, why not use the chance to have those two playable?

Wow, that was more text than i intentionally planned. That would leave the base game with:
9 newcomers (including Inkling and Ridley)
3 new Echo Fighters (including Daisy)
2 new Semi-Clones

which makes a total of 75 slots. While that number may seem unrealistic, I still doubt that Nintendo will be fine with one of their biggest franchises only have a handful of newcomers since they are a big part of what generates the hype for that game.

As a bonus, I tried to sort the roster by franchise first (which I think will be an option in the final game), which you can see here:

 

[GalacticPetey]

NEWCOMERS:
King K. Rool - Ballot gives me hope, especially with the project plan being so soon after the ballot wrapped. Also my most wanted so I may be biased.

Ashley - Huge presence, even outside of her home series. sakurai has even called her a rising star before. I think she's pretty safe.

Bandanna Dee - Might be a dark horse for some, but I think he has a shot. Popular and relevant.

Captain Toad - I don't think Toad in Peach's move set counts him out just yet. Pretty big name character with some fun move set potential.

Simon Belmont - Might be bandwagoning because of the leak, but that combined with a general history of being important to Nintendo, makes me think he's the most likely third party.

ECHOES:
I honestly don't think we're getting too many more of these. That's why I only included two.

Impa - I initially had Shadow here, but my own bias got to me I guess. I see Impa as an easy echo for Sheik, likely with her Skyward Sword design.

Isabelle - Might be the biggest Nintendo character not yet playable. An easy echo for Villager, it just seems natural.

 

[Impa4Smash]

I'm gonna post the characters that I'm really rooting for as newcomers still:

1) Impa - Obviously. I think she has a good shot as a Sheik clone
2) Chrom - My favorite FE lord. I think he'll only get in as an Ike clone, but I'm here for that
3) King K Rool - He's overdue. And I think he's a lock
4) Dixie Kong - As a Diddy semi-clone. No echo though. Her hair deserves better
5) Banjo-Kazooie - Honestly, I think they have a good shot too. Nintendo and Microsoft are warming up to one another now. Banjo's in Minecraft on Switch, so baby steps
6) Meowth - Mimikyu or Decidueye are far more likely, but all I want is Meowth. Let's Go Pikachu/Evee is his last chance. Everyone is here! - even the cut characters lol
7) Ashley - My fave WarioWare character. And most people's, so she probably has a good shot
8) Bandanna Dee - Kirby deserves his 4th main character in. And he has spear which is cool. (Plus he's adorable...)
9) Anna - Fire Emblem merchant. She's appeared in more FE games than any other character. I think she's probably more deserving that any other FE rep tbh
10) Rayman - Ubisoft deserves a rep I think. Plus, I've loved Rayman since I played Rayman 2 as a kid. Give him a Rabbids based final smash as a nod to Mario + Rabbids and we're good to go

 

[Questionmark222]

(UDPATED ON JULY 30th, 2018. I consider this as my definitive post-E3 Smash Ultimate roster prediction. I PROMISE THIS TIME.*)
I just revamped my roster to correlate with what was shown at E3, since some characters I previously expected were disconfirmed and vice-versa. I added 6 more unique newcomers and 3 more echo fighters. Sakurai may have told us not to expect too many newcomers, but we were also told this for Smash 4 and ended up with 15 unique newcomers and 2 last-minute clone newcomers (Lucina and Dark Pit). And since the game likely entered development in 2016 (the first project plan was presented in December 2015), it's hard to imagine the Smash team showing the entire roster at E3 without a few surprises up until the game releases in December. Overall, counting Ridley, Inkling and Daisy, this would give us 12 newcomers (including 4 echo fighters), which I don't think is too unreasonable. Sakurai has surprised us countless times after all, so we shouldn't take what he said about newcomers in a literal way. Finally, given the fact that the project proposal was made a few short months after the Ballot ended in October 2015, I took that into account as well. Now I'll give a piece of short reasoning for each of the remaining newcomers:

Spoiler: Newcomer reasonings

King K. Rool- We don't know what Sakurai thinks of the character, but the Mii Costume is an indication of his significant popularity. Could stand out among other heavyweights as a "weapon master", complete with his crown, Blunderbuss, canonnballs and helicopter hack. He's also probably the most campaigned for character online, both in the West and in the East.

Lycanroc- I'd argue he's the face of Gen 7 at this point, given the marketing push that TPCi has given him for the games, the anime, the TCG and other forms of marketing alike. Given that the initial project plan was made less than a year before Sun and Moon came out, his design was probably more advanced than the concept art stage (unlike Greninja for Smash 4). Also good moveset and unique fighter archetype potential, as Smash doesn't have a quadruped earthbender yet.

Elma- Rex and Pyra aren't looking likely for the base game (given the project plan's date, which, according to Source Gaming, was a year behind the finalization of their design), and couple that to Sakurai buying an action figure that HEAVILY resembles XCX's Skells, and Elma seems designated as a newcomer. A dual-weapons wielder is something Smash has yet to see, which helps her chances all the more.

Chorus Kids- There has been evidence in Smash 4's data that a character from Rhythm Heaven has been planned for the game but cut during development for unknown reasons, although most point to the 3DS's technical limitations as the cause, much like in the Ice Climbers' case. Now that Sakurai isn't limited by developing on two systems simultaneously anymore, I believe that he'll implement a character from that franchise, from which he already saw the potential uniqueness in Smash's environment as a hypothetical rhythm-based character. The tough question is: which character to add? I think it's a toss-up between Tibby (from Rhythm Heaven Megamix, which was released in Japan a few months before the initial SSBU project proposal) and the Chorus Kids. I think the latter will get the edge because the former is a one-off character: plus, they feel like a more appropriate "blank slate" to represent their franchise in a Game and Watch-esque moveset.

Erdrick- The West got Ridley, so it's only fair that Japan will get a popular and requested character in the game. And what feels more appropriate than a Dragon Quest rep for that? The series is a cultural juggernaut unlike anything in Japan (check its Wikipedia page for more info...), and is more or less the father of modern JRPGs, and RPGs as a whole. Also Erdrick is to DQ what Cloud is to FF: its most recognizable character (solving the problem most people have with a potential DQ rep). He could stand out from the many swordsmen in Smash by heavily incorporating his shield (something the Links don’t really have), as well as magic (which wouldn’t be affected by limited use like Robin, so Erdrick wouldn’t be a redundant character).

Simon Belmont- Even without taking Vergeben into account, Simon has a lot going for him. In an interview alongside Tetsuya Nomura, Sakurai expressed his fondness of Castlevania and its importance in his early gaming days. Add Konami's involvement in this Smash game (we shouldn't forget about the Bomberman Assist Trophy) as well as Castlevania's iconicness in the NES era and its legacy in gaming's history (having spawned an entire subgenre of games alongside the Metroid series), and Simon Belmont seems like one of the safest third party options this time around. We haven’t seen a whip wielder in Smash yet, as well.

Dark Samus (Samus echo)- Her assist trophy is missing, her palette swap is missing, Sakurai could easily use her Smash 4 assist trophy model and port it over... it makes too much sense to me, honestly. An echo moveset might not do her justice, but Daisy is proof that Sakurai probably looks past that for echo fighters.

Chrom (Ike echo)- Initially, Sakurai's statement on Fire Emblem having too many characters in Smash 4 made me hesitant about Chrom's chances. But then, a few things occurred to me: Sakurai can and is allowed to change his mind, Robin's Final Smash hasn't been seen yet, Ike is currently missing his Chrom palette swap, Chrom has an model in Smash that can be ported to Ultimate as a recycled asset, and Viridi made a joke about Chrom and Ike being too similar in Palutena's Guidance. Add the massive outcry following his disconfirmation in Smash 4 and Sakurai denying him a playable position in that game because of his lack of potential uniqueness, and this is what made me change my mind on the matter. Also, he would make sense as an Ike echo, since he can learn most of his moves in Awakening.

Isabelle (Villager echo)- I think that Isabelle is a safe bet for Smash Ultimate, echo or not. Besides, she's one of Nintendo's most prominent characters that have not been playable in Smash yet, being the mascot of Animal Crossing. As for me thinking she'd be an echo fighter, I personally don't think there's enough substance to make her completely stand out from Villager. And to address the "pacifist" issue, her facial expressions would just need a slight touch-up to make her look like she's dropping Villager's attacks by accident. She's also roughly the same proportions as him, and had a model in SSB4 that can be reused as an asset to develop her as a playable character.

*I know that I edited my post on August 8th, the day of the direct, but the image link was broken so I had to remake my roster image. I had just checked my prediction roster (as of me writing this paragraph, we’re roughly 2 jours away from the Smash direct) out of curiosity, I didn’t totally revamp my character choices, don’t worry!

 

[Eagle]

My prediction which I have changed since the official reveal of Belmont. I don't actually think Decidueye is the Gen 7 but I couldn't be bothered making my own Incineroar.

 

[Smashoperatingbuddy123]

Ok now im going to post my first post E3 roster prediction

Blue = Confirmed so far
Purple = Official predictions (gyromite just means a retro rep)
Green = Predictions for the newcomer slots in the Purple squares
Red = Retro reps for the Gyromite slot (could be anybody else that nobody thought of
Yellow = possible echo fighters i say 1-3 more are in the game

exclamations for each coming soon

 

[WertQuadNine]

Alright, so I decided to update my prediction with the reveal of some new news. That being the Simon Belmont Rumor (6 new characters + Simon), the December 2015 final planning period, and the obvious relevance of the Smash Ballot...

Here's my prediction

*Before reading realize the bottom line is potential DLC (except Mii's)

Additions (Non-DLC, 6 fighters, and 2 Echoes)
Dark Samus - An echo fighter of Samus. There are a lot of hints towards this (missing costume and no AT yet), and it would really work. Although I think Dark Samus should be an original fighter, she's more likely as an Echo
Dixie Kong - Echo of Diddy. I see a lot of people saying it wouldn't work, but I could easily see it. Moveset would need some tweaking, but every echo has a slightly different moveset in some regard.
Simon Belmont - Basically confirmed, and I would be down with it anyway.
Bandana Dee - Probably did pretty well with the Ballot, and would be a nice easy (as in simple mechanics) addition to the roster anyways.
Chorus Men - These guys were nearly in Smash 4, but the 3ds limitations prevented it. With no 3ds version to worry about, this addition makes sense to me. I could see them scrapping the idea, but I hope not.
King K Rool - I feel like Rool, Ridley, and Geno dominated the ballot. Most fan polls have King K Rool winning the poll, so it would be a smart addition.
Rayman - Imo the most likely 3rd party rep. Ubisoft has an incredible with Nintendo right now, so this makes sense. Also, the trophy inclusion in the last game is a good hint.
Geno - Like I said, Rool, Ridley, and Geno probably did incredible on the Ballot. This would be an incredible inclusion to please the fans.

DLC Additions (Note: I doubt ALL these characters will come)
Springman - Like most of the DLC, probably would've missed the cut due to the December 2015 thing.
Decidueye - Not sure if the 2015 thing would affect him, but I feel like we'd likely see him as a DLC fighter rather than a core game one.
Rex / Pyra - Same situation as Springman. I don't think Elma will be added since that game wasn't super popular, while Xenoblade Chronicles 2 definitely was.
Crash - Iffy, but I feel like Activision would be willing to play along. Would, of course, be a nice surprise
Isaac - Probably did pretty well in the Ballot, but not as well as the main 3, and probably not as popular to be a main-game inclusion. DLC would be a great treat though.
Banjo & Kazooie - Could definitely be in the works with the Nintendo/Microsoft love going on right now, but I think it's too late for the base game.
Doomguy - Bethesda and Nintendo currently have a solid relationship and this makes the most sense character-wise. Is a gaming icon and currently has a successful game on the Switch.​

 

[StormC]

Here's my first serious stab at a prediction roster. 6 newcomers, 3 echoes. Here's my loooong post explaining my thoughts on this, that will almost certainly be proven wrong by next month.

Spoiler

For Newcomers, I am thinking around 4 more are to be revealed. Sakurai’s translated quote: "We’ve made including every single fighter ever our number one goal, so I’m kind of hoping you aren’t expecting too many new challengers.” Sakurai says every game “don’t expect too many characters,” but the fact that he was upfront about it this time, along with the fact that we already almost have 70, and the lack of time between now and release date, makes me think we don’t have a ton left, but he didn’t say “there’s only a few new characters the time around,” either. If we get a full fledged newcomer announced in July, I’ll be more bullish and say we have 5+ more. Otherwise, 6 sounds about right. Melee got 8 non-clone newcomers.

For Echoes, some people think they’re going to go wild on Echoes but Echoes are just rebranded clones. Melee had a ton of clones because the game was in development for only 13 months and Sakurai needed a fast and easy way to pad out the roster. Brawl only had a couple of “semi-clones,” and Smash 4 only had three clones that resemble Echoes. So I feel there will be a few here, but not enough to be more noticeable than previous games.
Before I establish these individual characters, I’m going to use this information as a basis: the first project proposal for Smash Ultimate was completed in December 2015, two months after the Smash Ballot was closed and when the last of the DLC was still being developed. Although it’s very possible changes were made since then, with Brawl and 4, the first things that were decided on were the characters. My gut tells me most of the characters in the game now were already decided on in December, meaning the ballot was still fresh, but also there were less games to promote at the time (seriously, Nintendo’s slate was dead in 2015).

So here’s my rundown:

Inkling: Woomy.

Ridley: Too big.

Elma: Xenoblade X had just been released and Sakurai is a fan of the series. We know he bought some sort of mech toy for the project he was working on (which we know now is obviously Smash). If there’s a “promotional” character in the game, it’s most likely her. Rex/Pyra are probably going to be DLC if they are in the game at all.

Bandana Dee: Bandana Dee fills an interesting niche of being a popular character while also being a promotional one; HAL has pushed him hard on all of their advertisements and social media, as well as a consistent presence in the series since 2011. He has a sizeable following in the west but is a clear favorite in Japan. Out of a sample size of 2K Japanese votes, Bandana Dee is the highest ranking newcomer after K. Rool. When Ridley was announced, 2ch was filled with people asking where Bandana Dee is. By far the most talked about newcomer after K. Rool there. I feel Sakurai will want to honor Japanese requests for the character the same way he honored the western Ridley fans.

Simon Belmont: There’s the leaker who so far has not been disproven. He has a decent track record and predicted Ridley being in the game, along with Snake, Ice Climbers, and Simon Belmont. Not sure how right he is so far, but I’ll humor the leak. But also tellingly, Sakurai has said Castlevania had a big influence on him. Konami is in the game and the only other plausible Konami newcomer, Bomberman, is an Assist Trophy. With Ridley being the major E3 reveal instead of a third party character like past E3s, I have the feeling there are no “major” third party characters (Sora, Banjo, etc.) in the game. Simon is a bit more niche, but still an icon in his own right.

K. Rool: Y’all know why. But seriously. Incredibly popular character both in the west and in Japan. He got a Mii Costume made out of entirely original assets, with his classic character design. He’s been a common request since the Brawl era and Sakurai knows this (he was on an informal poll back then as well). Ridley set a precedent and I think K. Rool is truly teed up this time. I don’t believe his relevance to be a factor when Geno has been considered as a fighter on a couple of occasions. There are simply very few if any big fan favorites left to add that come close to K. Rool.

Brief note because I want to address it: people might consider Dixie a threat but I cannot see a situation where Dixie gets picked instead of the character with overwhelming popularity. I am confident both characters will be judged on their own merits rather than competing for the same spot. I believe if we have 5+ newcomers left, Dixie has a solid shot at being in the game. I am not sure if she can easily be made an Echo with all of her differences, so at this time I’m not including her in that list.

Daisy: Hi.

Shadow: Shadow is in a strikingly similar situation to Daisy. Popular but controversial character who would cause a lot of outrage as a unique fighter, but please fans as an easy skin-over of an existing one. Not only is his Assist Trophy MIA, but Knuckles has gotten one instead. While the absence of alt outfits like Dark Samus and Ike’s Chrom colors can be speculated endlessly, the Assist Trophy situation sticks out to me. I think Shadow is going to be the first character added to an existing third-party franchise.

Octoling: Splatoon is ridiculously popular and Nintendo gave the Octoling DLC for Splatoon 2 a ton of spotlight. Echoes can be added virtually any time in the roster while the “main” characters are all decided on in the beginning with a few rare exceptions. I think there is a high chance Octolings will be added in as a sort of cross-promotion, as well as a chance to have some Splatoon 2-ish content since so far everything else focuses on the first game.

And finally here’s my prediction for how the schedule is going to shake out. As a note, I don’t believe there will be any “secret” characters this time because of how unlocking works. I think every character will be known before the game is released, partially to try to combat leaks. So without further ado:

July: Shadow will be revealed to tide over people who want more content, being such a noteworthy character, even as an echo, without a ton of fanfare on the Smash site.

August: Elma will get a full trailer in a Nintendo Direct. She is not a particularly hyped up character but people will be hungry for any Smash newcomers.

October: There will be a Smash Direct. It will start with Bandana Dee’s trailer; the semi-esoteric nature of the character means he would not be meant to be the “main” reveal but would create anticipation for the rest of the Direct. Octoling will be revealed in the middle of it, and it’ll close out with Simon.

November: One more trailer will be announced.

 

[MoonlitIllusion]

First off, ignore the kinda dumb layout, it was a struggle making this lmao. If only I had 2 more characters, then it would all work out.

Anyways. 12 newcomers are added here, 3 echoes and 9 unique fighters.

The echoes are:
Daisy - Duh
Octoling - Feels like a pretty natural inclusion, Nintendo has been pushing them lately with the octo expansion and they feel like a natural and easy inclusion.
Shadow - With his assist trophy missing while a new assist in Knuckles has been introduced, it would not shock me to see Shadow added as an echo fighter, he works pretty perfectly as one imo and he's no doubt popular, I wonder how he would've performed on the ballot though.

Unique fighters:
Inkling - ...
Ridley - yup.
Dixie Kong and King K Rool - yes I think both could very get in, on their own they're both extremely strong candidates for very different reasons, K Rool cause of his immense popularity which caused him to be acknowledged as a mii costume in smash 4 and Dixie due to being very relevant and popular as well in her own right. The only hurdle is that they're both DK characters but as Mario, Zelda, Pokemon and Kirby have shown us in the past it's more than possible for a franchise to have 2 unique characters introduced at the same time, while there's less characters in this game these 2 both stand out over a lot of other characters.

Bandana Dee - The Kirby series has always been popular, but it's exploded in popularity pretty much right after smash 4 came out and Bandana Dee now feels like a natural inclusion, he's popular, relevant and would be a unique character and in terms of series that are lacking representation in the fighter department Kirby stands out after not getting an inclusion in Smash 4.

Isabelle - Isabelle's popularity has exploded in such a short time, she's since become a face in Animal Crossing, appearing all across various products and merchandise so her inclusion in smash bros after nintendo pushing her so heavily feels very likely.

Simon - I'll admit that this is partially because of leaks but it still makes a lot of sense, from sakurai's fondness of the series, it's successful TV show and rumoured gaming comeback, Simon makes a lot of sense to me.

Elma - Nintendo has been heavily pushing the Xenoblade series and Sakurai himself is a fan of it, although it may be a little too late for Rex to be included Elma feels like another great option, while her game has fallen out of relevancy due to newer releases in the franchise, a sequel is practically confirmed meaning Elma has a future as a character unlike Rex probably does. Elma would also make a very unique fighter which we know sakurai looks for and would represent a very different but equally important side of the Xenoblade franchise which Shulk doesn't.

Impa - A new Zelda character feels overdue and Impa feels like the next natural inclusion due to her prominence in the series following her appearance in Skyward Sword, and subsequently in games like A Link Between Worlds and Breath of the Wild, she may have been an old woman in those games but Ganondorf is sometimes a huge pig monster, basically, both interpretations of the character are valid. Along with this there's her major breakout role in Hyrule Warriors where she's a fairly large player in the games narrative and was the second character revealed for that game after Link. I doubt she'd be based on that version but it no doubt helped her popularity.

 

[Chase]

Here is my current roster prediction. This likely will not end up being accurate at all, but I think the things on it make a lot of sense.

Unique Newcomers:

• Inkling (Splatoon) - Already confirmed.
• Ridley (Metroid) - Already confirmed.
• Elma (Xenoblade) - [July] The action figure tweet, along with Sakurai being a huge fan of Xenoblade to begin with, makes me think that Elma is the likely Xenoblade candidate for a newcomer, with Rex & Pyra being added as DLC later down the line. I'd say she's the most likely of the newcomers on this list that have yet to be confirmed.
• Bandana Dee (Kirby) - [August] Enormously popular and prominent character in his own series. The only thing that is really in his way is that he was never prominent under Sakurai, but he's popular enough in Japan and is easy enough to design a moveset for based on the Spear and Parasol abilities.
• Lycanroc (Pokémon) - [September] Yes, Lycanroc is out of the time period, but the Pokémon Company is very consistent about being the only ones able to force Sakurai's hand over who they want in Smash Bros., and I think they'll push for Lycanroc. This slot could also be Decidueye or Mimikyu.
• Simon Belmont (Castlevania) - [October] The leak that included him has proved thus far true, and his inclusion makes a lot of sense. Simon could have a fun moveset based on the Castlevania NES games, and he has a deep history with Nintendo. Plus, a Halloween reveal!
• King K. Rool (Donkey Kong) - [November] Definitely the most popular character yet to be confirmed, and definitely one who deserves it enormously. He'll be who they reveal to boost hype just before release, and he definitely has tons of moveset potential, and has the ballot backing up his popularity.
• Geno (Mario) - [December] To give hype one more push before release, the reveal of Geno will be on the night before the game comes out. Geno is an infamously popular character for Smash, and this will finally give him the push to get in, especially with the ballot having helped him.

Echoes:

• Daisy (Mario) - Already confirmed for .
• Dixie Kong (Donkey Kong) - For . Getting rid of Diddy's tail attacks seems to have given Dixie an avenue to get in as an echo. While I personally thinks she could easily be a unique character, I think, for now, she'll at least START as an echo for Diddy, maybe becoming a semi-clone over the course of development?
• Shadow (Sonic) - For . His Assist Trophy is gone, echoes are a thing that exist. He would be controversial as a unique character, but as an echo he makes perfect sense. He and Dixie are both incredibly likely echoes.

 

[Takasmash]

Gosh I love my own roster isn't it awesome.Before

Then after I replace characters that makes more sense.

 

[AquaSol]

King K. Rool: Not much to be said here. Extremely popular among Smash fans all over the world. The top scoring character on multiple online polls. Got his own Mii costume at the time of the ballot. Sakurai's comment from E3 about fan demand is also promising. I see him as the Little Mac of the game - a longtime fan request that is finally getting in.

Dixie Kong: The way I see it, Dixie Kong can happen without King K. Rool. However, King K. Rool cannot happen without Dixie Kong. As much as I like K. Rool, I really don't believe that Sakurai would add a character that hasn't had a mainline appearance since the 1990s over a relevant and easily implementable (Diddy semi-clone) fighter from the same series who is popular in her own right. There is a general outcry for more Donkey Kong content, and I doubt that he'd ignore Dixie Kong altogether.

Elma: The relevant Xenoblade character at the time of development. She could have a gimmick where her special moveset changes from guns to swords.

Bandana Dee: Very popular and seems to score well on most online polls.

Mimikyu: Midday and Midnight Lyranroc were never marketed as special Pokemon the way Dusk Lyranroc is, and the latter was probably made way after Sakurai saw the generation 7 designs. Poipole has taken over Lyranroc's "ace" position in the anime, and has many more interactions with Ash and Pikachu. Decidueye would work well, but I just see him as the popular starter. Every generation has one, like Blaziken, Infernape, and Serperior. Incineroar has made way more anime appearances (Ash is even getting one), and Primarina is more popular in the East. His Pokken appearance is noteworthy, though. Mimikyu scored #2 on an official Alolan Pokemon popularity poll from the Nintendo Dream magazine. He is the most marketed character of the seventh generation. I remember when he was revealed to the public back in 2016. I've been playing Pokemon since 2005, and I've never seen a bigger reaction for a new Pokemon on social media from the general public than I did for Mimikyu. Nintendo had a plan with this Pokemon, and Sakurai probably knew about it.

Chorus Kids: I just posted in the Chorus Kids support thread about my reasoning.

Simon Belmont: Vergeban leak.

There will definitely be more echoes, but I honestly can't predict who. Those are my unique newcomers predictions. I also think that Ashley, Captain Toad, Spring Man, Geno, and Decidueye (despite what I just said about Mimikyu) have serious chances. As for who I want, I wish for Skull Kid, Ray MK III, and Isaac.

 

[LuffyLink]

Here's my take on how Ultimate's base roster could look like !

Spoiler: Pre 8.8.2018 Direct

Unique Newcomers (and Semi-Clone) : 7

Echo Newcomers : 3

Either Semi-Clone or Echo Fighter : 1

Reasoning for each unconfirmed Newcomer :

Simon : That one leak that seems to be legit so far.

Elma : Correct me if I'm wrong, but I think Sakurai said that he finalized the roster around december 2015. Taking this, and the fact that he is a fan of the series into account, I think Elma has a pretty decent chance of being playable. Given how well Xenoblade Chronicles 2 did in terms of sales, I'm sure Rex/Pyra is gonna be DLC (I hope so).

Isaac : That may sound like a weak reasoning, but I feel like Sakurai wouldn't leave Isaac behind like that, especially after his complete absence in Smash 4. Just a hunch.

King K. Rool : If Ridley got in due to popular demand, then so will King K.Rool, I'm sure of it.

Chrom : We have yet to see Robin's final smash, and from what I've heard, Ike no longer has the Chrom-inspired Alt, similarly to how Pit's black Alt had changed in Smash 4 because of Dark Pit.

Shadow : Shadow seems to have been replaced by Knuckles as an assist trophy so who knows. He could be more unique but, him being an echo fighter is the most likely outcome in my opinion.

Dark Samus : Dark Samus is quite an oddball... She definitly is likely to join the fray since Samus has lost her Alt costume based upon her, and she hasn't been sighted as an assist trophy yet. The main question is : is she gonna be an echo or a Semi-Clone ? While many say that she would be an Echo Fighter, being physically almost identical to Samus. I can't help but think otherwise, because it wouldn't make much sense, even though they change the animation of her attacks. I can see Shadow as one despite having unique abilities because he plays exactly like Sonic in some games, Dark Pit makes sense as a full clone because lore-wise, this is basically what he is. Dark Samus on the other hand is a completely different entity that only mimics Samus' abilities but doesn't fully copy them (except a few), meaning that they would have to make several changes to make her moveset, which would make Dark Samus more than an Echo Fighter. Then again, they did make Ganondorf a clone of Falcon due to them sharing similar bodies. That being said, I might be misunderstanding the definition of an Echo Fighter, it might not be as restrictive as I think it is. Either way, I think Dark Samus has a decent chance to join due to the aforementionned reasons.

Post 8.8.2018 Prediction

Unique Newcomer : 9
Echo Newcomer : 7

Reasoning for each unconfirmed fighter :
Isaac (Golden Sun) : Still no sight of him as an AT, I really don't think Sakurai would remove him from the AT list like that (well he did in Smash 4 but it still feels strange to me)

Elma (Xenoblade Chronicle X) : The same reasons as before.

Monster Hunter : With Rathalos making an appearance as an AT/Boss, the fact that some newcomer were previously mii costume, as well as the series' popularity in Japan, I believe that the Hunter joining the battle is no longer out of the realm of possibilities. Okay I'll admit, I also put them in because they're my most wanted characters.

Heihachi Mishima (Tekken) : Bandai Namco is still part of the game's development so I wouldn't be surprised if they decided to add another Namco character, could be Lloyd for Tales of Symhphonia, but Heihachi was the first character that came to mind

Geno (Super Mario RPG) : The main commonality between each newcomer that has been announced so far is that they're all highly requested characters. Moreover, most of them have appeared in the previous installment either as Alt costumes (Dark Samus, Chrom, Daisy) or as mii costumes (also Chrome, King K. Rool, Inklings). Geno fits both categories as he's been requested since Brawl and was a mii costume in Smash 4. Even Sakurai planned on making him playable in Brawl, and considering we got Cloud, I don't think Square would mind Geno being added to the roster anymore.

Shadow (Sonic the Hedgehog) : At this point, with the confirmation of Dark Samus, it's safe to say that Shadow's 100% confirmed.

Dixie Kong (Donkey Kong Country) : Not sure about this one since I feel like they would confirmed her alongside King K. Rool, but Dark Samus is in so Sakurai might want to add a 4th DK character as well. I suppose she would an echo fighter but with unique specials.

Isabelle (Animal Crossing) : Doesn't seem to be an assist trophy and is pretty popular, so I could see her added.

Et voilà !

 

[Icedragonadam]

Alright Here's my updated Roster. Includes DLC wishlist too!

So the order of my base newcomers.

King K. Rool: Rumored to be revealed in July.
Lloyd Irving: Tales of Symphonia's 15th Anniversary is in August
Simon: Castlevania's Anniversary is in September
Ashley: October is perfect for her.
Bandana Dee: Post launch newcomer
Mach Rider: Post Launch newcomer

Alright DLC reasonings.

Rex & Pyra: Too Early for the Base Roster, but is still current enough to be the first DLC character added a few months after release.
Spring-Man/ARMS character: Another obvious DLC choice. Could mainly be Springman, Twintelle, Ribbon Girl etc.
Edelgard- Used the Fire Emblem Newcomer icon as her's isn't on the roster maker yet. But pretty easy choice here. Her use of axes helps add variety to the FE characters and can be used to promote FE: TH.
Dillon: More of a wishful thought here. But his Series is still current and adds another IP to Smash.
Isaac: A darkhorse character and he could make it in as DLC.
Arle Nadja: A requested character, and it could be a perfect thing to do to promote Puyo Puyo Chronicle if it gets localized and ported to the Switch.
Banjo: Duh. Phil Spencer is still open to him being Smash, not to mention Microsoft's sudden friendliness with Nintendo, of course it's too late for Base but perfect for DLC.
Crash: Also popular and iconic. Put him last as I feel he's very suited to be saved for the best for last.

 

[AEMehr]

Here's what I'm kind of expecting. This roster has 67 playable fighters: that's 7 brand new characters,2 returning veterans, with the potential of having a couple re-worked characters in as well. Though most of the new fighters listed are added to fit a "niche" which is a huge cop-out but I'm here explaining it anyways.

- Ashley could be replaced with any other newcomer from a bigger IP, (Zelda/Mario/Kirby). I just feel that her popularity has enough merit to justify making her playable. Allowing her to inflict debuffs of sorts onto other fighters seems interesting, and she was able to receive a Mii Fighter costume based off of herself.
- King K. Rool could be any other DK character. I feel the demand for a character has been pretty high. K. Rool is just the one I think can be more unique, and like Ashley, he saw a Mii Fighter costume added. He's on the mind.
- Wolf was a character that got a kind of weird amount of outcry for being cut. I've heard a lot of people wanting him to come back, and I think it's plausible.
- Decidueye could be any Pokemon really, but objectively I think it makes the most sense. The fighting archer does boast promise for a unique moveset. Assuming Link doesn't start using his bow a whole lot more.
- Ice Climbers are likely to return, assuming the Nintendo Switch doesn't have issues running multiples of them. I guess they get to act as the "retro" character for this game.
- Rhythm Girl could be anyone from Rhythm Heaven. Honestly it would probably be smarter to put in the Chorus Kids, but I love how Ko Takeuchi designs girls so I'll put who I want on lol. I feel that this is the time to finally give Rhythm Heaven the spotlight it's deserved. Assuming the Chorus Kids ran into similar problems the Ice Climbers did, if the Switch can run well with them, I believe they'll show up.
- Professor Layton could be any new Guest fighter. I just don't know who they could get next. I enjoy Layton, and realistically I see him happening before Crash or Quote (other fighters I'd like), so I decided to put him in there.
- A New Mii Fighter type should probably appear. I don't expect it to be mage-based though, it has to fit a playstyle more than a theme. If I had to guess, maybe something akin to the heavies. Slower and more powerful, a Mii... Tank? Though, I will admit passing a Miigician is terrible for the pun alone. The featured Mii of the new Fighter type would likely be female, I used Guest Mii E since she fit in color-wise. Could be based on D instead iunno.

Couple bonus notes:
- The major draw of this game may be a reworking of it's custom move system. Giving characters actually different specials instead of variations to existing moves.
- Link will likely see changes in how some of his tools work. Perhaps the older versions of some of these moves will be translated into his customs.
- Zelda may see some similar changes like Link, but probably to a lesser extent.
- I think Lucina and Dark Pit may receive some new neutral attacks, to declone them a little bit.
- Corrin's default appearance might change to female Corrin. It's very evident that she is the more popular design, and Fire Emblem Warriors adopted that change. It's a small change, but I figured it was worth bringing up.
- I considered the possibility of upgrading Alph to be playable as a clone-fighter. But I didn't want to go through the trouble of organizing that. It is possible, though.
- I decided against a character from ARMS because, as Yabuki said, it might be too early for one to appear. As much as I'd love Min Min, I've had second thoughts. Granted, I could be wrong. Who knows? Assuming the dev team never changed their plans from the start of development, it's likely an ARMS character just wasn't possible at the time.
- Muddy Mole would make a stellar retro character choice.
- Dillon is cool. Add Dillon pls.
- Something this roster lacks is a surprise. Sakurai loves surprising the fans, so I'm sure someone unexpected is bound to appear. I can't guess the unexpected, so just remember to keep that in mind.

- - - - - - - - - - - -
It's been a couple weeks since the new game was formally shown off. So since then my thinking surrounding the project has shifted a bit. Here's an, optimistic view, of what Super Smash Bros. Ultimate could look like.

Over time, the new fighters added each game grows exponentially.
12 in the first title.
14 in the second (6 of which were clone fighters).
18 in the third (3 of which were built off of other fighters).
21 in the fourth (this includes dlc and 2 clone fighters).
We were asked to not expect as many new fighters this time around because the goal was to bring every fighter back.

Looking at the returning fighters, the amount that haven't returned for the 3DS / Wii U games are 7 (two being clones from Melee).
I think we could still see a decent amount of new fighters, so I put down 6 with an additional echo fighter because Daisy just can't be the only one they add after making a big deal about it.
Objectively, I feel like there would be more Echo Fighters and maybe an original fighter less. But I'm not really sure what characters really fit their criteria for that. Do Dark Samus and Shadow work as Echo Fighters? Sure! Would fans be happy if they got in that way? Eh...

So here is the roster, the Echo Fighters are present next to the characters they are based on.

The new fighters are:
Inkling (Splatoon): The No-Brainer
Ridley (Metroid): The Fan Favorite
Simon Belmont (Castlevania): An Iconic Third-Party Fighter, that got leaked I guess?
Chorus Kids (Rhythm Heaven): A Challenger from a new Nintendo Universe
Ashley (WarioWare): A Friend from an Existing Universe
King K. Rool (Donkey Kong Country): Kongquerer Returns
Lip (Panel de Pon): A Blast from the Past
Geno (Super Mario RPG): The Dream

The Echo Fighter I'm pretty confident in appearing is Dixie Kong. She'd likely have her Up Special changed and a different take on Diddy's neutral special. As far as normals go, you can only use her hair for so much that I feel the two would feel samey in a lot of areas since their builds are practically identical.

So why each Fighter?

Simon Belmont was leaked I guess. He's definitely a classic gaming icon that would fit right in, and I'm not opposed to having a Captain N reunion or having Metroidvania become a reality.
How would they play? A ranged fighting style utilizing the whip isn't something we haven't really seen realized since Zero Suit Samus in Brawl, and even then she only used a whip like beam for around 5 attacks. With his other weapons at his disposal, you have a lot of potential for an interesting take on a ranged fighter.

I firmly believe the Chorus Kids, or SOMEONE from Rhythm Heaven was planned for the 3DS/Wii U. Sakurai always tries old ideas again, so this might be the time for them. If not them, I think someone from Rhythm Heaven would have priority over any other Miscellaneous new fighter.
How would they play? I don't really know what Sakurai had in mind for them. In the Rhythm Heaven franchise, the game always wants you to follow a beat and sets you up to know when to do something based on timing. A fighter focusing on timed hits would be unique in Smash, there are a few moves in the game spread across several fighters that follow a similar ideology, but a character based on that mechanic could be very interesting. I've always thought it would be neat if you could kinda make music while you combo with a Rhythm-based fighter (though I considered something like that for Commander Video).

When it comes to adding fighters, there's always a new face from a familiar franchise. Like Ridley, I think we'll see another one. I don't really know who in particular it could be. Whether they're going to be from Kirby, Pokemon, Fire Emblem, Mario, or Xenoblade (to name a few) is hard to tell. But, I think many players would be very happy to see Ashley to join the ranks. Her popularity is very high in Japan, and I believe many people are fond of her outside of it as well. Her constant cross-promotional appearances in Nintendo's Badge Arcade on the 3DS means the character must have a market of some sort. While this spot could really go to a number of other characters, I think Ashley has the fan support to work out nicely.
How would they play? It's been said in the past that Assist Trophies act like a condensed version of how they would act as a playable fighter (or something like that). This holds some truth if you look at Little Mac from Brawl to 3DS/Wii U. So Ashley would likely hold focus on detracting from her opponents' Quality of Life. Think of Shulk's monado arts, but they do bad things and she puts it on other people, not herself. Witches are usually mischievous in nature, so while Ashley isn't normally like that, having that character trait in her fighting style wouldn't feel out of character. I also saw a cute idea where she has a mechanic where she could get more and more moodier as the match progresses, likely affecting the strength of her attacks but also the success rate of some of them (she can't just always get away with messing with your controls). Additionally, she would probably have Red present similar to how Luma, Pikmin, and the Pokemon Trainer appear. Though in terms of functionality, Red would act most like Pikmin (though you shouldn't be able to KO him since he acts mostly as a weapon for Ashley).

While I do believe that we may see a new fighter from one of the many franchises present in Smash already, I am confident we will see a contender from Donkey Kong's line of games. That said, for a brand new fighter that fans would love to see, it's safe to assume that King K. Rool should be the best choice for that. I would normally opt away from him, but the addition of a Mii Fighter costume in the previous game is really hard to ignore. The demand exists, I think it's something they would follow up on after Ridley. With the new focus on Echo Fighters, it allows an opportunity for the relevant Dixie Kong to appear alongside this Klassic villain.
How would they play? King K. Rool is a big body, and his chest is like Armor. He may have a similar mechanic like Bowser Jr. where attacks that hit his chest actually do less damage, but probably without the extra damage Jr takes if it hits him (also hopefully better realized too). As far as his fighting style, a lot of others have gone over concepts for him in the past. I have little to no experience and/or interest with K. Rool, he's a big body that has projectiles. Closest you have to that is R.O.B. and the two definitely wouldn't share the same moveset.

Something Sakurai has gotten us on each time was deciding a classic character from Nintendo's history. The character I chose is someone I don't really think will get in, because I honestly believe it could be someone like the Excitebike Racer instead. But, for the time being, I will choose to lend my support to Lip of Puzzle League fame. Puzzle League is by no means retro, but Lip definitely fits that bill. With references of her going back to Melee, will this be the time for her to finally debut alongside Nintendo's other greats??? (Kirby still turns into a Garbage Block for stone so probably not)
How would they play?
In the previous Smash titles Lip was represented through a weapon, Lip's Stick. In those games, hitting opponents with her Wand caused Flowers to grow on their heads, which would cause damage over time. The more they get hit while in this state, the bigger the flower grew, and the more damage they get over time. This theme seems beneficial for a character focused on landing Combos, which actually does mesh pretty well with what Panel de Pon / Puzzle League is all about. A quicker than average fighter that's pretty weak on her own, but if you're able to land strings she'll rack damage up very quickly. I would also imagine she would have a magical girl motif, probably posing before / after several attacks.

The true surprise character, I think the shock factor of this character really carries the desire to add him. For such a minor character in the grand scheme of their franchise of origin, it's pretty crazy to think that this character has legitimately been looked a couple of times. I am of course referring to Geno, from Super Mario RPG. I never really considered Geno anything more than a rabid fantasy before we began learning stuff about Ultimate, but the whole philosophy surrounding Ultimate is "making fans happy". You can argue this has always been a goal into any Smash game, because Sakurai and his team surely never tries to intentionally half-ass anything in the previous titles. Though, this one is definitely a special case. Bringing back every fighter, because they believe that is what players want... Smash is already a dream come true for so many, the dream match-ups already realized are ridiculous. But, I think Geno is the ultimate dream character. The entire situation surrounding the character just makes him seem impossible to realize, I wonder. If Sakurai decided to finally set his sight onto the character, would we finally see Geno return after 22 years?
How would they play?
Sakurai has stated that the Mii Gunner was similar to how he may imagine Geno in Smash Bros. So you can look at them for a similar bases. The Mii Gunner is a fighter that focuses on controlling their opponent's approach options using different projectiles to keep them at bay. They're pretty slow and use energy projectiles from an arm-cannon, but they trade that off with a wealth of pretty good projectile options that can be used as shield / deal good % / and even maneuver with. However, they need to usually come up close when they finally want to KO somebody.
Geno is the fastest character in SMRPG, so obviously he will be speedier than the Mii Gunner. Geno also mostly uses physical ammunition, with a couple exceptions. Similarly to Gunner/Villager, I would imagine several of his normals would be projectile moves as well. In SMRPG, timed hits were key to making the gameplay in it engaging. Geno would likely incorporate this into his normal attacks as well! His forward smash could be an incredibly overdramatic punch, but if you can time a second input correctly... his fist will fly out and become a projectile! Likewise, his Special Moves would probably be timing based as well. But instead, focus on releasing the button at the correct time.
This would make the concept kinda similar to what I put down for the Chorus Kids, so I would imagine the difference is that Chorus Kids would use timed hits for extension while Geno does it to change how the attack works.

Overall I think this is how the roster might look, I'd only add a couple echo fighters, but I'm too lazy to make them look good on the roster

 

[UberMadman]

Here’s my roster prediction. I’m counting Dixie as an echo despite her having to have at least her Up-B different than Diddy because the Bill Trinen interview implied that being an “Echo Fighter” was more about having a similar weight, frame, playstyle, and set of mobility stats, so Dixie may still qualify even with a move or two changed. Most of the newcomers are based off of ballot popularity, Simon is there both because Vergeben and he’s just a likely 3rd party in general, Elma is there because of the timeframe when the project plan was completed in, and the Echoes are based off of both their popularity at large and reading between the lines, (like how Samus and Ike now lack their Dark Samus and Chrom palettes, just like Pit lost his “Dark Pit palette” in Smash 4.) Some other Echoes that have been requested, like Ninten, I feel are just a little too obscure by comparison. Ken is the least likely, but he’s the original echo fighter, and I think he has a good shot.

EDIT: I would like to add that of the characters I didn't include here, I think Ashley has the highest chance of making the base roster. On top of this, if this game receives DLC, I think Rex & Pyra (as a single character) and Spring Man have the highest chance of being DLC.