Unpopular Smash Ultimate Opinions! - Read the OP before Posting

[Planet Cool]

I kind of agree that Assist Trophies aren't great. For one thing, they're kind of biting the Poké-balls' shtick, and for another... yeah, they seem to be the cause of some bitterness in the fandom. I don't want them gone entirely, though, so maybe they could work a bit like the summons in Midgar? Stage-specific, able to be turned off, and without the stigma of "this is a lesser character that doesn't get to be playable." More fun stage hazard, less character that couldn't quite make the cut.

 

[Xelrog]

Shadow's popularity is everywhere. I don't actively dislike Shadow. My friends like Shadow. Just, I think dude's a bit overrated.

I don't particularly like any Sonic character besides Eggman, personally. I'd support Shadow just because he makes the most sense as an echo, though. Tails and Knuckles have sadly long stopped being relevant, and Tails isn't much the fighter type of character anyway. Something about Knuckles getting in and not Tails would feel very weird and wrong to me, since he's the third character in the trio.

 

[Zero Suit Violet]

Member of the Assist Alliance here, if I can bring my own point of view, I would like to
The Assist Allaince isn't here to just say "Hey, All AT will get in because we're here !" or anything of the genre, it's more to stop those fanbase that get shamed on by the community to just stop supporting their characters because of that, we're just hoping to keep constant the support for characters that sometimes stop because people see AT as a mark of shame
In a sense, what we are trying to do, is restore that imaga of "Silver Medal" that those AT were supposed to be, while hoping that having those fan base active can make a sort of difference along the line
In a sense you are right, if one of the popular AT gets in, we would consider that a win for sure ! But that doesn't mean we would give up on the other haha, far from it actually ! It would just mean that all those fan bases we fight for will have an actual reason to believe in their characters, and not give up because people tell them to do so
Yes we know it might not happen, but we're still acting, so that those people with a character they love, are allowed to talk about them, and aren't shushed because "deconfirmation"
Hoped that helped clearing up any problems you guys may have about the AT Alliance ! If you have any other question about it, I'll be happy to respond to them to the best of my capacity !

 

[Cutie Gwen]

I kind of agree that Assist Trophies aren't great. For one thing, they're kind of biting the Poké-balls' shtick, and for another... yeah, they seem to be the cause of some bitterness in the fandom. I don't want them gone entirely, though, so maybe they could work a bit like the summons in Midgar? Stage-specific, able to be turned off, and without the stigma of "this is a lesser character that doesn't get to be playable." More fun stage hazard, less character that couldn't quite make the cut.

I'd say they're better than pokeballs because they can be so much more than whatever Pokemon of the week.

The bitterness is caused because the character isn't playable. The only way you'll get rid of the fandom's toxicity in that regard is by having the characters be playable. We all saw how that kind of Smash fans reacted to characters that weren't specifically for them. See Isabelle, a damn popular character who's the mascot of a franchise that sells better than Smash. She was met with a surprising amount of hate for not being Isaac or Skull Kid (Specifically those two as the direct that announced her was delayed by an earthquake in Japan making some loons think that the delay wasn't because it was a pretty big earthquake but rather because it HAD fo be a character involved with ground/disasters)

 

[Manonymous]

(Specifically those two as the direct that announced her was delayed by an earthquake in Japan making some loons think that the delay wasn't because it was a pretty big earthquake but rather because it HAD fo be a character involved with ground/disasters)

People really thought that -____- ?

 

[Cutie Gwen]

Member of the Assist Alliance here, if I can bring my own point of view, I would like to
The Assist Allaince isn't here to just say "Hey, All AT will get in because we're here !" or anything of the genre, it's more to stop those fanbase that get shamed on by the community to just stop supporting their characters because of that, we're just hoping to keep constant the support for characters that sometimes stop because people see AT as a mark of shame
In a sense, what we are trying to do, is restore that imaga of "Silver Medal" that those AT were supposed to be, while hoping that having those fan base active can make a sort of difference along the line
In a sense you are right, if one of the popular AT gets in, we would consider that a win for sure ! But that doesn't mean we would give up on the other haha, far from it actually ! It would just mean that all those fan bases we fight for will have an actual reason to believe in their characters, and not give up because people tell them to do so
Yes we know it might not happen, but we're still acting, so that those people with a character they love, are allowed to talk about them, and aren't shushed because "deconfirmation"
Hoped that helped clearing up any problems you guys may have about the AT Alliance ! If you have any other question about it, I'll be happy to respond to them to the best of my capacity !

Hi, quick question, when has anyone ACTUALLY been shamed for wanting an assist to get promoted? Most people agree that a good chunk of them can be cool newcomers. If people stop supporting characters because they're assists, that's on them. Cause I'm not gonna lie, if you think people saying "Hey they're assists, don't get your hopes up that they'll be DLC" is shunning/shaming you, then that's the biggest victim complex I've seen in the Smash fandom since "WAAAAAAAH WHY BAYONETTA AND NOT WHO I VOTED FOR?" 2 years after december 2015

People really thought that -____- ?

It was surprisingly common and incredibly tasteless. Hell, there were some conspiracies that Isabelle wasn't the actual planned fighter to get revealed but that they changed it because of the earthquake. It goes without saying that all the people who remotely thought this was a possibility don't know how anything actually works in the world

 

[Manonymous]

They just don't know that the world doesn't revolve around Smash Bros.

 

[Zero Suit Violet]

Hi, quick question, when has anyone ACTUALLY been shamed for wanting an assist to get promoted? Most people agree that a good chunk of them can be cool newcomers. If people stop supporting characters because they're assists, that's on them. Cause I'm not gonna lie, if you think people saying "Hey they're assists, don't get your hopes up that they'll be DLC" is shunning/shaming you, then that's the biggest victim complex I've seen in the Smash fandom since "WAAAAAAAH WHY BAYONETTA AND NOT WHO I VOTED FOR?" 2 years after december 2015

It was surprisingly common and incredibly tasteless. Hell, there were some conspiracies that Isabelle wasn't the actual planned fighter to get revealed but that they changed it because of the earthquake. It goes without saying that all the people who remotely thought this was a possibility don't know how anything actually works in the world

No, no I'm not talking about that, but I'm more talking about those people who keep shushing others down with "They won't happen"/"Stop wasting your time on them, they are deconfirmed", which is personally a behavior that I encountered more than once, and that by listenning to others around the server, it's far to common compared to what it should be ...
Believe me, if everyone was acting like you are about AT, the Alliance would have no reason to exist, but unfortunatly ... They aren't, which is why it's creation was justified, and is helping a large amount of people in being able to talk about their MW without problems

EDIT : I also totally agree on the distatste of those Issac fans ... I think that's the first time I was actively cheering against a fan base, people taking a natural disaster as a confirmation is not, and will never be acceptable, but not all Issac fans are like this, and since the Base Game is passed, and those disgusting people were clearly proven wrong, I have no reason to dislike this fan base or this character anymore

 

[Cutie Gwen]

No, no I'm not talking about that, but I'm more talking about those people who keep shushing others down with "They won't happen"/"Stop wasting your time on them, they are deconfirmed", which is personally a behavior that I encountered more than once, and that by listenning to others around the server, it's far to common compared to what it should be ...
Believe me, if everyone was acting like you are about AT, the Alliance would have no reason to exist, but unfortunatly ... They aren't, which is why it's creation was justified, and is helping a large amount of people in being able to talk about their MW without problems

Personally I just see that as a way of saying "Don't get your hopes up" like how I feel with Spirits. Plus, if it somehow happens, wouldn't it be more satisfying with people telling you to keep your expectations in check? It's why I went ****ing nuts when Ridley was revealed to the point I literally nearly fainted

 

[Zero Suit Violet]

Personally I just see that as a way of saying "Don't get your hopes up" like how I feel with Spirits. Plus, if it somehow happens, wouldn't it be more satisfying with people telling you to keep your expectations in check? It's why I went ****ing nuts when Ridley was revealed to the point I literally nearly fainted

Well, yes, keeping your hopes in check is something we all do, don't worry, but we should still be able to talk about how exited we are about them, or how great they would be in Smash, which is not always the case around here ... And that's something we want to correct
People don't have to worry about our hopes, we know to keep in check, but it's not fair to out the fan base that got an Assist Trophy like that ... And believe me, desepite actively campaining for those characters, we would still be surprised as heck to see them make it in haha

 

[Cutie Gwen]

EDIT : I also totally agree on the distatste of those Issac fans ... I think that's the first time I was actively cheering against a fan base, people taking a natural disaster as a confirmation is not, and will never be acceptable, but not all Issac fans are like this, and since the Base Game is passed, and those disgusting people were clearly proven wrong, I have no reason to dislike this fan base or this character anymore

Didn't see this until after I already posted and trust me, I know. I'm one of them even if I hopped on the bandwagon for him back in 4. Also his name is Isaac not Issac. Why does everyone misspell his name like that

 

[YoshiandToad]

Tails and Knuckles have sadly long stopped being relevant, and Tails isn't much the fighter type of character anyway. Something about Knuckles getting in and not Tails would feel very weird and wrong to me, since he's the third character in the trio.

Relevant to Smash or relevant in general?

Only asking because Tails and Knuckles have both just been a part of the massively successful Sonic Mania games after all. I guess neither appear to be in the Sonic the Hedgehog movie at current, but they're both hugely popular characters still. Tails, last I checked was just behind Shadow in terms of popularity amongst the Sonic crew taking third place overall.

Tails competency as a fighter is all over the place though, I gotta agree. In both the games and other media;
Sometimes he's built his confidence up and taking on the hero role by taking Eggman on 1 vs 1(Both Sonic Adventure games), sometimes he's cowering in fear (Sonic Forces), other times we see him teaming up with Sonic to kick the ever loving crap out of Eggman(Sonic Mania shorts), and sometimes he's just the tech guy(Sonic Boom animated series).

Sometimes I really wish Sonic Team would just make a decision on this. Preferably keeping him able to handle himself as I'm always down for more playable options in Sonic games other than Sonic, Smol Sonic and Dark Sonic.

 

[Planet Cool]

"Relevance" means nothing. It's the silliest, most vacuous argument. Every game introduces a bunch of "irrelevant" characters, and every single time, a certain type of fan bends over backwards to justify why they aren't really irrelevant so they can keep sneering at other people's wanted characters.

Ice Climbers? They don't count because they're a "retro rep." Wii Fit Trainer? She doesn't count because she's a "modern rep." Duck Hunt? They don't count because they're a "WTF rep." Little Mac? He doesn't count because Punch-Out Wii. King K. Rool? He doesn't count because Smash Ballot.

Personally, I'm all for Tails and Knuckles. I'm not dying to see them playable, but I'd be happy if they made it. Tails may not be as popular as Sonic and Knuckles but I'd never call him "irrelevant." He's in dozens of games, including many newer ones, and every gamer on Earth knows who he is.

 

[Ryu Myuutsu]

Assist trophies either need a big rebrand like the clones or be removed entirely. It's very clear that most of the community treat them as some mark of shame, as if Sakurai himself has a personal vendetta against them being playable E̶v̶e̶n̶ ̶t̶h̶o̶ ̶L̶i̶t̶t̶l̶e̶ ̶m̶a̶c̶,̶ ̶I̶s̶a̶b̶e̶l̶l̶e̶ ̶a̶n̶d̶ ̶D̶a̶r̶k̶ ̶S̶a̶m̶u̶s̶ ̶a̶l̶l̶ ̶b̶e̶c̶a̶m̶e̶ ̶p̶l̶a̶y̶a̶b̶l̶e̶ ̶b̶u̶t̶ ̶l̶e̶t̶'̶s̶ ̶i̶g̶n̶o̶r̶e̶ ̶t̶h̶a̶t̶
I'd suggest either making them playable in a special mode similar to the end World of Light (albeit with a simplified moveset) or just add a stage and music from their franchise if their series is new to smash.

This kind of proves my point of why such people shouldn't be taken seriously. ATs don't "need" to be rebranded or removed. Removing them won't cause them to automatically become playable, and calling them by another name is not gonna change what they are.
And "most of the community" is a big stretch. Boards such as this comprise of about 5% of the consumer base. Vocal and hateful minorities are always going to make enough noise to misrepresent the community. You said yourself that they act as if Sakurai has a personal vendetta against them; it's a sign of mental disorder when people insist on seeing bad intent behind others' actions, so they shouldn't be taken seriously.

 

[TyrantLizardKing]

Can we please steer away from Assist Trophy bashing? This is the unpopular opinion thread, not the "let's trash people for liking these unplayable characters".

 

[Swamp Sensei]

Wii Fit Trainer? She doesn't count because she's a "modern rep.

...

Wouldn't that make her relevant by definition?

 

[PhantomShab]

What really sucks about assist trophies is that they kill off a huge chunk of the support base and lower the character's chances of ever getting promoted.

"Relevance" means nothing. It's the silliest, most vacuous argument. Every game introduces a bunch of "irrelevant" characters, and every single time, a certain type of fan bends over backwards to justify why they aren't really irrelevant so they can keep sneering at other people's wanted characters.

Ice Climbers? They don't count because they're a "retro rep." Wii Fit Trainer? She doesn't count because she's a "modern rep." Duck Hunt? They don't count because they're a "WTF rep." Little Mac? He doesn't count because Punch-Out Wii. King K. Rool? He doesn't count because Smash Ballot.

Personally, I'm all for Tails and Knuckles. I'm not dying to see them playable, but I'd be happy if they made it. Tails may not be as popular as Sonic and Knuckles but I'd never call him "irrelevant." He's in dozens of games, including many newer ones, and every gamer on Earth knows who he is.

Oh god do I hate the relevancy arguments. It was funny how Wii Fit Trainer was on absolutely nobody's radar until she was shown and then the Smash fandom's colossal hindsight bias kicked in and suddenly she was a character who we all should have expected.

 

[Michael the Spikester]

What really sucks about assist trophies is that they kill off a huge chunk of the support base and lower the character's chances of ever getting promoted.

In b4 "Assist Trophy Upgrades" especially due to Waluigi outcry.

 

[slrigeigdew]

Can we please steer away from Assist Trophy bashing? This is the unpopular opinion thread, not the "let's trash people for liking these unplayable characters".

Agreed I only suggested removing and rebranding ATs since I thought it would improve the discourse around them somewhat (it worked for the clones). I'm rather ambivalent about ATs myself.

Oh god do I hate the relevancy arguments. It was funny how Wii Fit Trainer was on absolutely nobody's radar until she was shown and then the Smash fandom's colossal hindsight bias kicked in and suddenly she was a character who we all should have expected.

Expect something similar when we learn about the other DLC Fighters.

 

[Garteam]

This is my view on Assist Trophies:

I think they should stay, but the selection process should be slightly changed. Namely, I think Sakurai shouldn't be using them as a consolation prize anymore. It's still really cool to see supporting characters with little chance of joining the battle as a fighter get some acknowledgement. I don't think anyone minds seeing Klaptrap, Excitebikes, or Dr. Kawashima pop up to lend a helping hand.

Where the salt starts to pour is whenever a popular option gets assist trophied, as that's when people begin to argue that it's an insult to the character's worth and whatnot. Ultimately, most of the appeal of an assist trophy is the character they represent. There's a reason the Smash fanbase is largely ambivalent about every item other than assist trophies, they don't feel nearly as personal. As such, if the very people the Issac/Bomberman/Skull Kid/Whoever assist trophies are made to appeal to aren't pleased with them as a whole, then what's really the point of keeping those assist trophies?

I think Mii Costumes tend to work a lot better as consultation prizes for popular characters that couldn't join the battle. That way, fans of those characters can get the general experience of playing as them even though they aren't an official playable character in the roster. Likewise, the fanbase generally tends to take a character getting costumed better than getting assist trophied. Although there is a little bit of outcry and disappointment with popular characters becoming, it's practically nonexistent relative to the outrage some assist trophies get. Look at what happened with the K. Rool and Inkling costumes in Smash for's DLC, not everyone was happy but things went over much better than what would've probably happened if they were assists.

 

[Mogisthelioma]

"Relevance" means nothing. It's the silliest, most vacuous argument. Every game introduces a bunch of "irrelevant" characters, and every single time, a certain type of fan bends over backwards to justify why they aren't really irrelevant so they can keep sneering at other people's wanted characters.

Ice Climbers? They don't count because they're a "retro rep." Wii Fit Trainer? She doesn't count because she's a "modern rep." Duck Hunt? They don't count because they're a "WTF rep." Little Mac? He doesn't count because Punch-Out Wii. King K. Rool? He doesn't count because Smash Ballot.

Personally, I'm all for Tails and Knuckles. I'm not dying to see them playable, but I'd be happy if they made it. Tails may not be as popular as Sonic and Knuckles but I'd never call him "irrelevant." He's in dozens of games, including many newer ones, and every gamer on Earth knows who he is.

Inb4 everyone forgets about this AT bashing and suddenly a week later At fans are ripping each other apart over who's relevant

"Relevant" makes me want to puke. Relevancy is relative depending on what you enjoy, when you began to get into video games, and which parts of the gaming community you cherish most.

King K. Rool is probably very relevant to people who grew up in the NES/SNES era and experienced firsthand playing against him, but he's definately less relevant if you grew up in the mid 2000's or 2010's where his latest big appearance apart from Smash was that....thing....from Mario Super Sluggers.

I don't see how throwing the term "relevant," a subjective term by the way, on the internet is going to somehow increase a character's chances of becoming a fighter.

 

[slrigeigdew]

Don't know how unpopular this is but I dont like how 3.0 update wasn't delivered in a traditional smash direct format and hope this doesn't become a trend for the future major updates. Part of it is because I love the feeling of Sakurai speaking directly to us in a normal direct. Most it is because I want to see Chair Theory 2.0 manifest again and revel in the chaos when it falls apart.

I'm glad the next fighter hasn't been leaked but speculation has gotten so dry at this point that I'm just waiting for something, ANYTHING to happen

 

[Xelrog]

King K. Rool is probably very relevant to people who grew up in the NES/SNES era and experienced firsthand playing against him, but he's definately less relevant if you grew up in the mid 2000's or 2010's where his latest big appearance apart from Smash was that....thing....from Mario Super Sluggers.

I think it's important to have a mix of hero and villain characters. DK is a pretty relevant Nintendo series, and one of the very few without a villain rep. K. Rool's the only DK villain who made recurring appearances. I don't really see how an argument could be made that he's not one of the most relevant characters when it comes to the franchise as a whole, nor do I think relevance is nearly as subjective as you make it out to be. You have to look at the entirety of the series, it's not time relative at all.

As far as increasing chances... well, of course nothing on the internet is going to increase chances for a character except a Nintendo-sponsored character poll, if that. Why would you ever think otherwise?

 

[Ze Diglett]

I think it's important to have a mix of hero and villain characters. DK is a pretty relevant Nintendo series, and one of the very few without a villain rep. K. Rool's the only DK villain who made recurring appearances. I don't really see how an argument could be made that he's not one of the most relevant characters when it comes to the franchise as a whole, nor do I think relevance is nearly as subjective as you make it out to be. You have to look at the entirety of the series, it's not time relative at all.

The issue of relevancy is "subjective" in the way that nobody can seem to agree on what the term actually means. You think it refers to a character's overall importance to their series, which is a lot closer to the word's actual meaning, whereas the popular opinion is that it just means how recently said character has been in a game. (Which is a horribly flawed and short-sighted way of measuring so-called "relevancy" in my book, but I digress.) It's also subjective in that, as Mogisthelioma said, when you were born and what generation of games you grew up with can severely skew your view on what is or isn't "relevant" in the latter sense when it shouldn't even be up for debate.
TL;DR, Smash fans keep using the term "relevant" incorrectly, hence the ****ty meaning we're stuck with as it applies to speculation.

 

[Bonnelle D'Arc]

Oh! If we're talking about unpopular opinions, then here's my take:

I think when it comes to when a character is in or not and assist trophies, both sides of the aisle are just too childish and immature. I get it, you didn't get the character you wanted and you have the right to express your disappointment, but just don't take it to such extremes. It's not the end of the world if you don't get your desired character in Smash. But at the same time, the people who insult those disappointed are just as bad. They end up making certain criteria for characters and if your character doesn't fit that mold (say, assist trophy or spirit), then they'll never see their day in Smash. It still baffles me why they like to rub salt in the wound only to be proven wrong in the next Smash Bros when that said character is now a playable character (Ridley and K.Rool being prime examples of this, so they had to latch on to something else). It's just like shooting yourself in the foot. Both sides ruin the fun for the middlemen and to me, it's sad to see such division in certain parts of the Smash community. They're both cancer to the community, at least the extreme sides.

Online mode is a complete dumpster fire. The second worst in the franchise (Brawl being the first). Matchmaking is a hassle and ranking is a joke. Honestly, Smash 4 was way better when it came to online play. At least you could separate the serious players from the casual ones with For Glory and For Fun.

Plant Gang or any Character Gang was obnoxious as hell. No one gives a damn about your precious main. It was a circle jerk if I've ever seen one.

Sakurai has made some questionable choices and he always contradicts himself. In the end, his word is final, not the fans. The fans have some say, but Sakurai is the end all be all for fighter inclusion.

Relevancy... I ain't touching that argument with a nine and a half foot pole. It's subjective so it can take on many meanings.

Anime swordsmen characters aren't as bad as people say they are. For crying out loud, the majority of the roster has some sort of anime aspect to them, so why the complaints? Ok, Fire Emblem is a stretch, but it's not to bad as everyone says.

Subspace Emissary > World of Light. No, you can't change my mind.

Spirit Mode is boring. Fighting for PNGs gets really boring real quick. I kinda miss the trophies.

 

[Garteam]

I think the term "relevancy" should really be replaced with "recency". They're basically used interchangeably in Smash Speculation and the latter term seems to fit the general meaning better.

 

[Xelrog]

Not that I've spent as long on this forum as you guys, but I haven't heard that concept of relevancy before this discussion and I would personally prefer not to roll over and accept it, particularly since Smash is a celebration of gaming history, not gaming recency. In fact, people tend to complain a LOT when it's the latter, a la Playstation All-Stars.

Related: "Everyday" is an adjective. "Every day" is a phrase describing the frequency of an occurrence. Oh, who am I kidding? Twenty years from now it'll all be one word. RIP.

 

[Bonnelle D'Arc]

Not that I've spent as long on this forum as you guys, but I haven't heard that concept of relevancy before this discussion and I would personally prefer not to roll over and accept it, particularly since Smash is a celebration of gaming history, not gaming recency. In fact, people tend to complain a LOT when it's the latter, a la Playstation All-Stars.

Related: "Everyday" is an adjective. "Every day" is a phrase describing the frequency of an occurrence. Oh, who am I kidding? Twenty years from now it'll all be one word. RIP.

PlayStation All-Stars

Wow, I actually still have that game. Ah, memories. I remember being blasted by every Smash Bros. fan because I openly stated that I played and kind of liked that game. Interesting concept, but bad execution (Plus Sony's lack of support for the devs).

However, I'll have to disagree with you on recency. Actually, fans of that game wanted PS characters from all generations of the PlayStation brand aside from Crash Bandicoot and Spyro. Heck, Dart from the Legend of Dragoon was going to be a playable character until Sony pulled the plug.

Even if it was relevancy, the devs did an OK job with their first party characters, but a pretty poor job choosing third party. (Donte, Big Daddy, and Isaac Clarke? Really?)

 

[Michael the Spikester]

Donte

Also better known as Don'te or DINO (Dante In Name Only). As far as I was concerned that was not Dante but an pothead impersonator addicted to crack, weed and drugs that was trying to act like the Dante we all knew and love but failed miserly.

 

[UserKev]

Not that I've spent as long on this forum as you guys, but I haven't heard that concept of relevancy before this discussion and I would personally prefer not to roll over and accept it, particularly since Smash is a celebration of gaming history, not gaming recency. In fact, people tend to complain a LOT when it's the latter, a la Playstation All-Stars.

Related: "Everyday" is an adjective. "Every day" is a phrase describing the frequency of an occurrence. Oh, who am I kidding? Twenty years from now it'll all be one word. RIP.

Then you must have missed the Zelda discussions then. The series has a handful but amazing characters that are immediately dismissed as "One off" or "Irrelevant"

 

[Hadokeyblade]

I'm not as annoyed with Assist trophies as other people are, mostly because in my experience assist trophies seem to spawn a LOT more often in Ultimate than in the last few games. Makes the characters seem a bit more relevant than just one off cameos when I frequently see Isaac, Bomberman, Rathalos and Akira, kicking butt. (Even though Shadow still kind of stings since he fit the mold of an echo perfectly but I'll live)

Honestly I'm more annoyed with how the Rayman series has been treated in smash. I'm not even a Rayman fan but it actually annoys me to see him relegated to Trophy and spirit instead of at least an assist trophy or mii costume.

 

[slrigeigdew]

I don't always agree with his picks but I think Delzethin's mentality when it comes to speculating characters is very refreshing and much needed in the smash community.

On that note, the biggest hurdle in me supporting a character is their moveset and playstyle. I'd take a unique "nobody" over a beloved fan favorite that's more of the same anyday.

 

[Xelrog]

Then you must have missed the Zelda discussions then. The series has a handful but amazing characters that are immediately dismissed as "One off" or "Irrelevant"

But every Zelda character who's not Skull Kid or Tingle is a one-off.

 

[YoshiandToad]

But every Zelda character who's not Skull Kid or Tingle is a one-off.

Not entirely true. Each of these guys appear in more than just one title. You mentioned them but I included Skull Kid and Tingle too just for the sake of completion:

Impa: Ocarina of Time, Skyward Sword, Breath of the Wild, A Link Between World, Oracles of Seasons, Oracles of Ages, Legend of Zelda, Legend of Zelda II, referenced briefly in Wind Waker.
Tetra: Wind Waker, Four Sword Adventures, Phantom Hourglass, briefly refenced in Spirit Tracks
Vaati: Four Swords, Four Sword Adventures, Minish Cap
Beedle: Breath of the Wild, Wind Waker, Minish Cap, Spirit Tracks, Phantom Hourglass, Skyward Sword
Malon(and Talon): Ocarina of Time, Minish Cap, Oracle of Seasons, Four Sword Adventures
Skull Kid: Majora's Mask, Twilight Princess, Ocarina of Time, referenced but not seen in Breath of the Wild
Tingle: Majora's Mask, Oracle of Ages, Wind Waker, Four Sword Adventures, Minish Cap, Freshly Picked Tingle's Rosy RupeeLand and three Japan exclusive Tingle games, Slight reference in Breath of the Wild with DLC outfit and an island named after him

There's also Epona and Kaepora Gaebora but I'm not sure how either a horse or owl would be recieved as a new Zelda character. Impa is technically different people each time, but seems to be in only the same way Link and Zelda are different people nearly every game.

 

[Garteam]

In my opinion, the biggest problem with Impa is the lack of consistency in her appearances. Link, Zelda, and Ganon(dorf) are all relatively similar in terms of characterization, role, and general design across the series. Even if their character designs in Smash do reference a specific incarnation of them, there are enough shared characteristics between the various incarnations that it feels like the Smash depictions of these characters represents their complete list of appearances rather than feeling like a character from one game in particular.

Impa on the other hand tends to jump between a few archetypes. In the NES games, A Link Between Worlds, and Breath of the Wild, she's an elderly nursemaid who serves to mostly give advice to Link. In Ocarina of Time and Hyrule Warriors, she's a ninja warrior in her late 20s/early 30s who serves as Zelda's primary attendant, trainer, and bodyguard. Meanwhile, the Oracle games combine both incarnations, making her Zelda's nursemaid once again but making her a buff lady who acts as an agent on her behalf. Then there's Skyward Sword, where she plays both the role of a mythical warrior fighting on behalf of the goddess and a time-travelling old lady.

This is where the issue arises with translating Impa to Smash: you have to be specific enough to make the character feel like Impa, while being general enough to not feel like you're playing to a specific incarnation of Impa in particular. This is relatively easy for the Triforce 3, as you just need to give them the abilities and characterization that they generally hold over from one game to another. Obviously, a few game specific abilities are baked into their moveset to flesh them out (Ex. Link's Bomb Rune from Breath of the Wild and Zelda's spells being from Ocarina of Time), but most of their moveset adheres to this philosophy. Impa is so scattered in her characterization that it's very difficult to create a moveset that fulfills this criteria.

It's the same reason that I'm very iffy on Anna as a Fire Emblem character. She's so varied in her depiction that it makes it hard to create a moveset that represents the abstract idea of who Anna is.

 

[Lenidem]

Not entirely true. Each of these guys appear in more than just one title. You mentioned them but I included Skull Kid and Tingle too just for the sake of completion:

View attachment 221363

Impa: Ocarina of Time, Skyward Sword, Breath of the Wild, A Link Between World, Oracles of Seasons, Oracles of Ages, Legend of Zelda, Legend of Zelda II, referenced briefly in Wind Waker.
Tetra: Wind Waker, Four Sword Adventures, Phantom Hourglass, briefly refenced in Spirit Tracks
Vaati: Four Swords, Four Sword Adventures, Minish Cap
Beedle: Breath of the Wild, Wind Waker, Minish Cap, Spirit Tracks, Phantom Hourglass, Skyward Sword
Malon(and Talon): Ocarina of Time, Minish Cap, Oracle of Seasons, Four Sword Adventures
Skull Kid: Majora's Mask, Twilight Princess, Ocarina of Time, referenced but not seen in Breath of the Wild
Tingle: Majora's Mask, Oracle of Ages, Wind Waker, Four Sword Adventures, Minish Cap, Freshly Picked Tingle's Rosy RupeeLand and three Japan exclusive Tingle games, Slight reference in Breath of the Wild with DLC outfit and an island named after him

There's also Epona and Kaepora Gaebora but I'm not sure how either a horse or owl would be recieved as a new Zelda character. Impa is technically different people each time, but seems to be in only the same way Link and Zelda are different people nearly every game.

Tingle and Beedle (and Malon) too are "technically" different people: the Tingle we meet in Termina can't be the one we meet on the great sea in Wind Waker, for example.

Speeking of which, I'm divided about assist trophies. Skull Kid is my most wanted, and I was really, really pissed and disappointed when I learnt his shameful deconfirmation... but it's not really related to him being assist. I still don't have Ultimate, but yesterday I played a bit Smash for 3DS, and when he appeared, I paused the game to look at him, and was still glad that he was there.

Maybe the assist trophies should be divided in two categories, like silver and gold, ala regular ball and master ball? The common ennemies, like Lakitu, would only be silver and of an average power, while the "real" characters, like Midna, would be gold, more detailed and more powerful.

 

[Mario & Sonic Guy]

The idea of silver and gold Assist Trophies does seem good in theory. All the generic enemy Assist Trophies (such as the Hammer Bro) would be silver-ranked, while the more notable non-generic Assist Trophies (such as Waluigi) are gold-ranked.

 

[Planet Cool]

King K. Rool is probably very relevant to people who grew up in the NES/SNES era and experienced firsthand playing against him, but he's definately less relevant if you grew up in the mid 2000's or 2010's where his latest big appearance apart from Smash was that....thing....from Mario Super Sluggers.

See, this is me. I grew up in the SNES years; DKC2 is my all-time favorite game, and I remember a time when Nintendo's AOL used images of Diddy Kong instead of Mario to promote themselves. King K. Rool is my favorite Nintendo villain and I've been stanning for him since Brawl's pre-release. Haters, specifically younger Nintendo fans who started playing around the N64 and GameCube years, threw every excuse in the book at me for why K. Rool was a dumb, bad, or just plain improbable choice. But now that he's in, all of a sudden he makes all the sense in the world, and the meanness and snark has turned toward fans of other characters, like Waddle Dee and Waluigi. Although I don't think either of them can be denied in a post-Daisy, post-Piranha Plant world.

(Although I should point out that K. Rool did turn up with some regularity even in the GameCube and Wii years, in games like King of Swing and Jungle Climber. Hell, even to this day, he's appeared more recently than Ganondorf.)

So I don't think we should ask if a character is "relevant," if only because nobody can actually agree on what that actually entails. We should ask if a character is cool. That's obviously the only criterion Sakurai takes into account. Even seemingly hard rules like "Nintendo characters only" and "No realistic guns" have been utterly decimated.

 

[Mogisthelioma]

Online mode is a complete dumpster fire. The second worst in the franchise (Brawl being the first). Matchmaking is a hassle and ranking is a joke. Honestly, Smash 4 was way better when it came to online play. At least you could separate the serious players from the casual ones with For Glory and For Fun.

This is not unpopular at all. If anything it's the general consensus of the community.

It's better just to play with friends.

But every Zelda character who's not Skull Kid or Tingle is a one-off.

....Which Zelda games have you played?

 

[Planet Cool]

Don't forget classic Ganon. I'm talking blue pig Ganon. He's my #2 most wanted character for Smash 6, after Dixie Kong.