Media Theory on the sixteen-slot conundrum

[soyperson]

I'm certain you all remember the datamine from earlier this year (around March) that told of 16 "dummy" character slots, which prompted lots of speculation about more fighter passes. Well, I did a little (read: very little) math and implemented some iffy graphic design into this, showing how a roster with the sixteen DLC slots would work out nicely. Seeing as how Sakurai is a known perfectionist, wouldn't it make sense to have these nice even rows? I think that maybe (big maybe here) there will be an additional two seasons of Smash Ultimate DLC, rounding out the roster with 80-85 fighters (depending on whether or not one of the fighter passes is comprised of echo fighters).

Anyways, that's just my small theory, and I'm curious to see what you all think on this.

 

[Elmorethemagician]

I was wondering about this as well...
definitely interesting, wonder if this means more fighter passes or bonus fighters

 

[FelFlick]

This will be the perfect scenario!

 

[Mogisthelioma]

Don't alternate poses count as more slots? IIRC Cloud, Corrin and Bayo took up 2 slots each in Smash 4. This would mean PP and Joker take up 2 each and Hero takes up 4, meaning we've used 8 of the DLC slots already. Between the other 3 DLC fighters we could see a similar organization but who knows. I could be wrong about all this.

 

[Rie Sonomura]

Don't alternate poses count as more slots? IIRC Cloud, Corrin and Bayo took up 2 slots each in Smash 4. This would mean PP and Joker take up 2 each and Hero takes up 4, meaning we've used 8 of the DLC slots already. Between the other 3 DLC fighters we could see a similar organization but who knows. I could be wrong about all this.

That’s only for the full 31 or so datamined slots that would include alts. The 16 for WoL don’t.

 

[Rangez]

I have had my own ideas about these unused slots, that the second fighter pass is dedicated to 1st Party characters (specifically those who aren't spirits, mind you), while the 3rd fighter pass can bring the introduction of indie characters in the series:

Fighter Pass 2: #76 - Fjorm - Fire Emblem Heroes (my personal Fire Emblem character pick, Fire Emblem Heroes is still popular to the FE community.),
#77 - Porky - Earthbound (weirdly doesn't appear in the game as a spirit, got interested in a possible inclusion thanks to this group of concept pieces by Starbirb.),
#78 - Poochy - Yoshi (got interested thanks to TKOWL's moveset concept, Yarn Poochy being in as a spirit wouldn't be a hindrance as having a different iteration/version of a character in the roster doesn't particularly matter.)
#79 - A Rhythm Heaven character that isn't a Spirit (I think that either Marshall, Tippi, or even the Barista would be the best canidates, either one of the three. Plus there is Kevin Fagaragan's own moveset video made based around the latter.)
#80 - The protagonist(s) of Astral Chain (it'd be nice to represent a brand-new IP, given if Astral Chain itself does well enough.)

Fighter Pass 3: #81 - Juan - Guacamelee!, #82 - Gunvolt - Azure Striker Gunvolt, #83 - Fillia (Skullgirls) #84 - The Drifter (Hyper Light Drifter)
#85 - CommanderVideo (Bit.Trip.)
(most of these canidates have made multiple guest appearances & cameos in a variety of indie titles, their home games were very well-received and recognized, Sm4sh had an unlockable trophy of CommanderVideo in the Wii U version.)

So, what do you think?

 

[Wigglerman]

This would be amazing but it's uncertain to say the least. I'm sure the DLC is doing well for Nintendo right now and I hope that they have plans to keep fresh faces in the roster for at least another year. If they went on a 3 year plan that would just be a dream come true. I wouldn't even beg for another Smash game at this point. XD

 

[ThoughtfulWanderer]

It wouldn't work out to a perfect square on a CSS with Echos and Miis stacked, but it's close enough that no developer will be pedantic about it when the characters they create are more important.

However, Smash 4 was also not a perfect square when its DLC was complete. Keep in mind that whatever manpower and resources they still have available and willing is going to dictate future plans before anything else.

In any case, the non-stacked version does make me wonder where the Miis will go when Banjo and the next two DLC characters will take over those spots? Seems like they'll have a brand new row to themselves below, but perhaps they'll become stacked instead?