We are less than 4.5 days away from Ridley possibly being confirmed for Smash 4. I have wanted Ridley in Smash Bros. for over a decade, and like now, honestly, there have been several points to where I actually thought he had a really good shot at getting in.
1999:
This marked the beginning of my hope for Ridley in Smash Bros. I first saw Ridley flying in the background to Planet Zebes a month or two after getting Smash 64. I thought it was peculiar that they chose to give Ridley a cameo in this game especially considering how few other characters were given cameos or mentions in a game like Smash 64. I thought that maybe the developers were also fans of Ridley like I was, and that he possibly would be included in the next game (especially if they decided to go with a heros versus villains theme). However, if the heroes vs. villains theme did not happen for Smash 64, I felt Ridley would take a backseat to them adding new characters from series like Mario (Bowser, Peach, Wario), DK (Diddy Kong), Zelda (Zelda, Ganondorf), Kirby (King Dedede), and Pokemon (Mewtwo/Meowth).
2001:
The E3 2001 unveil for Melee is where Ridley really became my single most wanted character for Smash Bros. Ridley being shown fighting Samus not only convinced me that the developers really did like Ridley, but that Ridley had a good chance of being in the actual Melee. I felt the combination of Ridley's cameo in Smash 64, the Ridley vs. Samus part in the trailer, and the two new Metroid games that were in development, meant that there was a good chance Ridley would be one of hidden characters we would get.
However, as with Smash 64, I did have my doubts about Ridley getting in as well. When the character selection screen was first shown, there were only five hidden character boxes. I assumed that two out of three of them were Luigi and Jigglypuff (whom a lot of people thought was going to be cut to be honest, though I personally thought Jigglypuff would return), while the last three were Ganondorf, a Pokemon newcomer (Mewtwo/Meowth or a second-generation Pokemon like Heracross), and one out of Diddy Kong/Wario/King Dedede (I was personally leaning towards King Dedede).
Due to the high competition, and so few hidden character boxes, I thought Ridley may not get in for Melee. As it turned out, there were a lot more hidden characters than the ones confined to the hidden character boxes. Although I had my doubts about Ridley getting in, I was still nevertheless disappointed that he did not get in.
2006:
More than four years after the release of Melee, Ridley had become one of the most wanted characters for Smash Bros. 3, possibly even within the Top 5 overall (I know characters like Wario, Diddy Kong, Meta Knight, Pit, Wolf, King Dedede, and Ridley were all among the most wanted characters at the time, and I forget the specific order for them, though I know Wario was at the top). I felt that for Smash Bros. 3's unveil that it could be very much Ridley's time.
I knew at the very least that we would get Wario (due to him being the single most wanted newcomer for Smash 3), Pit (due to him being by far the most wanted retro revival character and Sakurai showing a a preference for reviving old Nintendo characters with the IC and Mr. G&W in Melee), and one of Meta Knight/King Dedede (I felt a Kirby newcomer was long overdue especially considering the Kirby creator himself was behind Smash Bros., and I felt Meta Knight's chance was better due to return to prominence with Nightmare in Dream Land having a mode where you can play as Meta Knight, being playable in Air Ride, being an integral character in the Amazing Mirror, being playable in Canvas Curse, and being the most popularly requested Kirby character).
I felt the fourth character in the unveil (Melee had four characters in its unveil) would be Ridley due to how much attention the developers gave him in the previous two Smash Bros. games, the high demand he had, as well as the return to prominence of the Metroid series (six new Metroid games had been released after Melee).
It turned out that I was right in my predictions (with the exception of Snake), however, while I was right about the reason why we got a Metroid character (the series becoming far more popular with its revival), I was wrong about WHO it was going to be.
Needless, to say I was very disappointed they went with a fanservice character over Samus's arch-nemesis. However, I was definitely not disappointed with the Brawl unveil, considering I got some of my most wanted characters for Smash Bros. (Wario, Pit, and Meta Knight). However, Zero Suit Samus's addition to me was worse than Dr. Mario or Pichu, because not only was it Sakurai's idea of giving Metroid its due but also one of the other reasons he used for including her, was what made many of the pre-Brawl female newcomer fanbases so crazed, loud, and arrogant.
However, with Wario, Meta Knight, and Pit out of the picture, Ridley was solidified into the Top 5 most wanted characters for Brawl (I think after the announcement the Top 5 was pretty much Sonic, Diddy Kong, Ridley, King Dedede, and either Mega Man or Wolf).
2007:
Pretty much I thought Ridley still had a really good shot at getting in because of how highly requested he was, his overall importance to Metroid, and that ZSS for many was not really a true newcomer.
However, as things dragged on towards the last six months prior to Brawl's release (beginning in August 2007), I started to (like with pre-Melee) privately have doubts about Ridley getting in. The beginning of this was pretty much the confirmation of bosses for Brawl.
I thought at this point, that there was feasibly another position for Ridley within Smash Bros. that Sakurai would think Ridley could fulfill. I thought Ridley was either going to be a playable character or a boss, and I honestly felt it could go either way (50/50 for playable or boss).
With the second round of newcomers we were getting, I became more nervous with each each newcomer update that was not Ridley.
As some of you know, I was also at the forefront of the roster leaks, and I was the one to piece together what Brawl's roster would probably be based on what various "prophets" who had been vindicated up until that point, had been saying.
This was a roster that did not have Ridley. I was pretty distraught, though I held out on some hope that there were some details that the leakers did not know. By mid-January though (about two weeks prior to the Japanese release of Brawl), I had already been privately convinced that Ridley was not going to be in Brawl.
It was there that I started to plan ahead, and help further fortify Ridley's position as one of the most wanted newcomers, if not the single most wanted newcomer.
2008:
Unlike many other characters, Ridley's position as among one of the most wanted newcomers for Smash Bros. did not disappear. He still remained among the Top 3 most wanted newcomers for Smash Bros., and in some polls he was even the single most wanted character.
I felt at this point that Ridley would definitely be a character chosen for Smash 4 due to how few notable characters left.
2013:
Throughout the long pre-Smash 4 period, Ridley has maintained his position of being the single most wanted true Nintendo newcomer for Smash 4.
Nearly all fan rosters for Smash 4 have Ridley as one of the characters on it.
In terms of veteran characters from veteran Nintendo franchises, no character left has the starpower that Ridley has. Even K. Rool is not quite up to where Ridley is within the Metroid series, and Palutena is a relatively "new" character. Outside of K. Rool and Palutena, you get into side character territory for the veteran franchises.
I feel Ridley as a character, would be the perfect choice for one of the few newcomer confirmations for the Smash 4 unveil, not only due to his very high popularity and extremely high importance to Metroid, but also due what a great cinematic character would be. People who know nothing about who Ridley is, will easily be captivated by him, "Oh look at that badass dragon, I want to play as him."
However, like with previous epochs, I do see ways for which again for Ridley not to show up. The two ways I can see it are:
1. Sakurai feels K. Rool fills the villain niche better than Ridley (however, I think K. Rool is overall a very comical character as opposed to a serious villain).
2. Sakurai feels Little Mac fills the "caters extremely to the Western crowd" better than Ridley (I think though Ridley has better potential to captivate the Japanese audience than Little Mac would).
Overall, I am expecting this pool of characters to consist of Smash 4's first set of newcomers:
2-4 of these characters:
Ridley
Takamaru
Palutena
Little Mac
K. Rool
Mewtwo
Conventional third-party newcomers (only 1-2 of the below list):
Mega Man
Pac-Man
Lloyd Irving or Cless Alvein
"Shock" third-party newcomers (only one of them, however, personally I don't think any of them would be shocking aside from maybe Cloud, since there is at least a sizable number of people asking for them and/or thinks they have a shot of being a darkhorse third-party newcomer):
Cloud
Professor Layton
Geno
Bayonetta
Ryu Hayabusa
) and I really don't like wall-jumping technique. It feels sloppy compared to Mega Man X (and that game came out a year before Super Metroid). The Grappling Beam is a good concept but the controls/physics felt a bit off compared to the whip swinging in Super Castlevania IV (and that game came out 3 years earlier).
