Something I posted elsewhere:
So I went and did some math. By dividing the final roster in Brawl by the amount of characters playable in the E for All Brawl demo, and then multiplying the resulting amount by the characters playable in the Smash 4 demo, I ended up with a result of 52-53. Then I divided the final roster in Brawl (counting the Pokemon Trainer as a single character) by the amount of revealed before release characters, and multiplied that by the amount of revealed characters in Smash 4 (counting Mii as a single character) + 2 more (assuming one more veteran and newcomer reveal before release, which I think is what we're going to get), which resulted in about 52. This 52 number is also inline with the expansion amount of the previous games (and assuming all unrevealed + third parties are unlockables, it fits in with the previous Smash games' approximate starter-unlockable ratio).
So if Sal's leak is completely true, assuming Squirtle/Ivysaur/Lucas/Snake are cut while every other Brawl character returns, and this pattern holds true, we're at 47, with approximate room for five more unknown newcomers.
Someone in the K. Rool thread also brought up a good observation, of how outside the third parties, all the newcomers so far and those implicated in Sal's leak, are characters from recent games and/or revived franchises, making it appear that the newcomers being revealed before release are for marketing/promotion of other series, while the more fan popular newcomers who have nothing to promote are being saved as secrets until release (such as Ridley, K. Rool, Isaac, Mewtwo, etc.). It also ties into the theory that Sal's leaker is/was a guy involved in marketing, who would sensibly have access to the newcomers they plan to reveal and promote, while not having access to the more secret newcomers.
