Except he literally said he wanted to bring in a female character.
http://i0.wp.com/www.sourcegaming.info/wp-content/uploads/2015/07/Scan-Translation-3.png
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He talks about Rosalina and Luma here.
Mentions her attacks feel intergalactic and her specials have a Zero G Motif (so it's not weird to think he pulled that through in her normals
Not salty, just saying that brushing of Paper Mario as Mario #3 is like saying Rosa is Blue Petch.
Yes, Paper Mario is an incarnation of Mario but that doesn't mean he isn't unique enough or not a contender.
I liked Rosalina in MKW for being non-hyperactive in the Mario series (like, the only other characters that aren't hyperactive are both dead)
Oh and maybe it helps when I say I was talking about when the roster was decided, in which case she had "only" Galaxy under the belt.
Now she's core cast.
About Toad who, unlike Koopas, has been introduced multiple times as a unique character starting at Super Mario Bros. 2
Koopa has only had an unique version of himself in some spin-offs.
Key difference.
That was from a concept board that doesn't reflect the final game at all. He said there that "many specials will employ Zero-G", but none of her specials do. Gravitational Pull employs gravitokinesis, not Zero-G. None of Rosalina's moves in the final game employ Zero-G. Zero-G is specifically floating around WITHOUT any sense of gravity. Rosalina simply manipulates gravity in Smash, but never to the point of Zero-G (because that would be completely broken in a game like Smash). In the final product though, her animations have obvious inspiration from dolphins, as well as puppets (this one is more complex to explain though), and then she manipulates gravity and has other things too. None of this contradicts Sakurai's "intergalactic" feel comment either - the fact that she moves around like a dolphin, while floating about and literally using the cosmos as her ocean, is as intergalactic as it gets.
I didn't brush off Paper Mario. Yes he could be unique from a moveset standpoint (as can any character with Sakurai), but he LITERALLY would be a third Mario, that's not even a snarky comment. He is Mario. And we already have two. We don't need another. It's also a particularly niche version of Mario too.
And Rosalina didn't have only the Galaxy games under her belt when the Smash roster was decided, she had a few other ones too. She was core cast the moment she started recurring in Mario Kart like she did. Miyamoto stated as much (and that says a lot since he originally didn't like her).
Toad was never a unique character before Captain Toad (not counting the Paper Mario OC stuff since every generic Mario NPC gets those it seems). He was either spin-off fodder, a clone of Mario to fill out blank spots in rosters, or an NPC. Not much different to Koopas in this regard.
Just something I want to note.
Rosalina, before Smash 4, had this: Galaxy's Spin in 3D World and a general cosmic theme. (edit: and the protective barrier she'd erect if you tried to hit her with a star bit)
Junior had his natural combat abilities that are similar too but more dimmunitive than his father, E.Gadd's paintbrush, and a history of mechs/ships including but not limited to the Junior Copter.
What is it with people purposefully spreading biased misinformation against best girl today?
Rosalina had/has way more than you are giving her credit for, and more than Bowser. Jr:
-Gravitokinesis (pretty much everywhere that isn't Mario Kart)
-Levitating objects (the Galaxy games, and Mario Golf)
-Flight (pretty much everywhere that isn't Mario Kart)
-Teleportation over seemingly limitless distances (again, most games)
-The ability to teleport large structures with her (very first thing she does in Galaxy)
-Casting amazingly powerful protective barriers around herself and others, and large structures like the Comet Observatory (another recurring one)
-Great physical strength and fitness/endurance even in her early years (heavy classing in Mario Kart, and the storybook)
-Mechanical prowess (hinted at in Galaxy's main game, outright shown in the storybook)
-The ability to cast cosmic projections of herself across the universe, effectively a cloning ability (Galaxy 2's Cosmic Spirits)
-Mind control, EVEN THROUGH the aforementioned projections of herself (Galaxy 2 again)
-Summoning comet storms at will (Mario Golf)
-Summoning Lumas of all kinds to her side, even Lubba (Mario Golf)
-Turning gigantic at will (Galaxy games)
-Manipulating and wholly recreating the universe at will without effecting her own memory (Galaxy and Mario Golf - Smash even elaborated on this by having her house an entire universe
inside of her gown, and she kicks galaxies from it)
I'm pretty sure I'm forgetting some things but I don't think I need to say anymore. But also, she was always going to be the obvious choice to represent Galaxy mechanics, since she is inherently tied to Lumas, whom were the providers of many mechanics, and Rosalina often provided the means for them to do so.
Rosalina easily had tons to work with. All of this was before Smash, mostly within the Galaxy games. She's continued to gain more powers beyond Smash too, and has had some of her existing ones elaborated on.
