what characters would you cut if smash 6 happends

[2010_kid]

which characters would you cut ?

 

[txhy8]

Dark Samus
Daisy
Ice Climbers
Sheik
Dr Mario
Pichu
Lucinina
Young Link
Roy
Chrom
Dark Pit
Zero Suit Samus
Lucas
R.O.B
Toon Link
Wolf
Villager
Wii Fit Trainer
Rosalina and Luma
Little Mac
Mii Fighters
Bowser Jr
Ken
Corrin
Bayonetta
Richter
Incinaroar
Prinina Plant
Joker
Hero
Terry
MinMin
Sephroith
Pyra and Mythra
Kazuya

 

[Wario Wario Wario]

Depends on the direction.

If I'm to do "Nintendo all-stars", every 3P is getting cut indiscriminately including characters like Banjo and Mega Man, the FE fat will be trimmed (Marth, Robin, and Byleth would have to stay, and maybe I could keep Lucina or Ike too), the Pokemon lineup is getting swapped out to be less safe and bland with only Jigglypuff, Squirtle, and Mewtwo (maybe Incineroar and Ivysaur too, would only bring back Charizard in the wider Pokemon Trainer stance trio though) remaining, and some main protags and mascots would get the axe in exchange for more interesting and surprising side characters (cut Ness and Lucas for Paula and Kumatora, cut Little Mac for Glass Joe or King Hippo, maybe even scrap Inkling for a few of the idols). I think I'd swap out Young Link for OOT Young Zelda as well, also tempted to remove ZSS and Sheik but I don't really have valid reasons or replacements for them.

If I'm doing "celebration of gaming history", virtually every 1P, Banjo, Bayo, and maybe the Belmonts are getting the axe (with only super-iconic characters like Mario, Peach, Link, Pokemon Trainer, and Duck Hunt getting spared on the 1P side)

 

[Geno Boost]

i would cut these

i dislike having the same character represented multiple times

 

[Oracle Link]

If i get trigger happy these:
BOTW Link (Replaced with TOTK/OOT/TP Link)
Daisy
Sheik (Replaced with Impa)
Sheik
Sheik
+ OOT, TP and TOTK Zeldas
Dr. MArio
Pichu
Lucina
Young Link
OOT Ganondorf (Replaced with TOTK Ganondorf)
Chrom
Dark Pit (Turned into costume)
Zerosuit Samus
Snake
Rosalina
Greninja
Ken
Richter
Incineroar
Pirahna plant
Joker
Terry
Sephiroth
Sora

 

[FazDude]

From a general perspective, and assuming I couldn't alter clones in any way (less decloning them and bringing them to Ken's level of cloneliness, to put it that way):

• Dark Samus
• Daisy
• Sheik
• Young Link
• Chrom
• Zero Suit Samus
• Rosalina & Luma
• Corrin
• Richter
• Min Min
• Aegis

 

[nirvanafan]

Havent done one of these in a while, will sort by priority. Once again it is subject too approach & categories arent in a specific order (fighters within interchangeable)

Gaurenteed
(could be merged with Alear)

Likely



Likely if Multiple Series Reps


Possible


Possible (3rd Party)


Legacy Picks


Echoes


Not Likely


Not Likely (3rd Party)
(this one pains me)

 

[BritishGuy54]

Staying:

1. Mario
2. Luigi
3. Peach
4. Bowser
5. Yoshi
6. Wario
7. Bowser Jr
8. Rosalina
9. Donkey Kong
10. Diddy Kong
11. Link (now TOTK)
12. Zelda
13. Ganondorf (now TOTK)
14. Samus + ZSS
15. Ridley
16. Kirby
17. Meta Knight
18. King Dedede
19. Fox
20. Pikachu
21. Charizard
22. Mewtwo
23. Lucario
24. Marth
25. Roy
26. Robin
27. Byleth
28. Olimar
29. Shulk (now w/ Future Connected alts)
30. Pyra & Mythra
31. Inkling
32. Villager
33. Isabelle
34. Pit
35. Captain Falcon
36. Ness
37. R.O.B.
38. Mr Game & Watch
39. Bayonetta
40. Sonic
41. Mega Man
42. Ryu
43. Pac-Man
44. Kazuya
45. Steve

 

[Quillion]

For me, we should just have either Greninja or Sheik, but not both. I don't care who gets cut between the two, we don't need two ninjas on the roster.

 

[nirvanafan]

For me, we should just have either Greninja or Sheik, but not both. I don't care who gets cut between the two, we don't need two ninjas on the roster.

Im ok with multiple ninjas on the roster depending on roster size but if we have 3rd parties & room for only 1 ninja id say cut them both for Ryu Hayabusa.

 

[Zakawer2]

I'm 100% getting rid of . Useless crap. Also gonna remove a substantial portion of the available Fire Emblem fighters too (my personal choices are ) since there are too many of them relative to the franchise's importance to Nintendo.

I might also remove too, or even as well. Also, all of the third-party fighters are probably also gonna get removed too due to the sheer amount of time and resources it probably takes to obtain licensing rights to use them in the first.

However, I am 100% keeping , but with a heavily decloned and reworked moveset to the point where she feels like a brand-new character.

Other than that, I can't really think of anyone else who'd actually warrant getting removed from the roster.

 

[UserKev]

Ok. Before I address my opinions, I'm not counting any third party due to how obvious they are. I'm addressing Nintendo characters that don't really need to be on the roster anymore.

* Mother 3 is pretty obsolete, so Lucas is rather unnoticeable. And a strong niche of a bye gone release. Earthbound and Mother 1 are just more important games. Lucas won't be missed.

* Pokémon Trainer. Terrible gimmick, unfun
mechanic and absolute. I believe anyone who supports this gimmick needs a brain check.

* Zelda. Yes I said it. Zelda is incredibly misplaced and tediously unfun. She's irrelevant gameplay wise.

* R.O.B. I hate to say it but R.O.B has ran his course. I liked R.O.B's story in Brawl, but in actuality, he's just a character that screams "Yeah. I can sit the next Smash out." He's a perfect root for character.

* Dr. Mario, Young Link and Pichu are redundant. And roster slots should go to fresher additions.

* Duck Hunt Dog can go if it means a diminished roster and making room for newer additions.

* Palutena doesn't need to be on the roster anymore.

* Pirahna Plant can go. He's a fun addition but definitely should not remain if it ruins chances for newer Mario reps. And lastly, Bowser. Jr. Based off the fact that the Koopalings has ruined his individuality. He'd stay if otherwise.

 

[Soy_Man]

 

[Oracle Link]

Not Likely

That hurts!

 

[txhy8]

Keep:
Mario
Luigi
Peach
Bowser
Yoshi
Wario
Donkey Kong
Diddy Kong
King K Rool
Link
Zelda
Sheik
Ganondorf
Samus
Ridley
Kirby
Meta Knight
King Dedede
Fox
Falco
Pikachu
Jiggypuff
Mewtwo
Pokemon Trainer
Lucario
Gerninja
Ness
Capatin Falcon
Marth
Ike
Robin
Byleth
Mr Game and Watch
Pit
Paultena
Snake
Sonic
Oilimar
Mega Man
Little Mac
Pac-Man
Shulk
Duck Hunt
Ryu
Cloud
Inklings
Isabelle
Banjo and Kazooie
Steve
Sora

 

[MAtgSy]

Other fans: You can't cut Jigglypuff, the original 12 are sacred!

Me: cuts Jiggs, Ness, & Falcon Look, F-Zero 99 aside, both F-Zero & Earthbound are far from relevant franchises for Nintendo & are at this point more SSB characters than they are reps from their own series. It's time.

Also I'd cut Adult Link & Young Link & make Toon Link the default Link from now on because WW Link is the best Link!

 

[Kirbeh]

I would cut everyone and cancel the project in favor of making PlayStation All-Stars 2 only for Sony to once again have no faith in or care for the project and cancel that too. Then I'd petition Capcom for a sequel to Vulgus instead.

 

[Venus of the Desert Bloom]

Cutting....

 

[nirvanafan]

Cutting....

Spoiler: Veterans

Yes i was bored & checked to see if someone snuck in.


Also every alt after corrin i guess?

 

[Venus of the Desert Bloom]

Spoiler: Veterans

Yes i was bored & checked to see if someone snuck in.


Also every alt after corrin i guess?

Sephiroth slaughtered the entire cast resulting in him ruling Smash and recreating it to his personal tastes. This is both canon to Sephiroth's character and his modus operandi.

 

[Oracle Link]

Other fans: You can't cut Jigglypuff, the original 12 are sacred!

Me: cuts Jiggs, Ness, & Falcon Look, F-Zero 99 aside, both F-Zero & Earthbound are far from relevant franchises for Nintendo & are at this point more SSB characters than they are reps from their own series. It's time.

Also I'd cut Adult Link & Young Link & make Toon Link the default Link from now on because WW Link is the best Link!

I disagree with the first two takes but oh boy the toon link take is fire!

 

[KneeOfJustice99]

I'd cut Mario but leave every single other character in. All promotional material that would feature Mario just has him replaced with Dr. Mario instead. This is never explicitly mentioned in any of the marketing material until the release of Mario as paid DLC.

 

[BritishGuy54]

Everyone I would keep.
(Honestly, Steve/Banjo could be swapped out for Hero/Cloud if SquareEnix plays ball, but Microsoft doesn’t)

 

[Oracle Link]

Im still cursing the fact that you cant just make toon link and alt because thats not how this works!
If we could have Somehow Toon Link and heck throw Toon zelda in as alts that would make them easier to implement but alas size is a B**ch!

 

[Pupp135]

The final character selection is mostly based on time/monetary/technical/licensing constraints than anything else, so I’ll order characters by priority. Also, we don’t have an idea on how large the roster is next game, so priority is the best way to organize the fighters. I’ll leave echoes with their parent fighter as I don’t know how these will be handled next game (I guess Lucina, Daisy, and Ken are the safest). Mii Fighters, Pokemon Trainer, and Mythra/Pyra are treated as one unit in this case as Mii Fighters were always a packaged deal, Pokemon Trainer was brought back instead of permanently split up in Ultimate, and Mythra/Pyra were a packaged deal. Even though Falco, Chrom, and Toon Link are lower priority, I think they could be finished later in development:
Safe even for a Melee sized roster (25 give or take)


Safe or considered in a Brawl sized roster (40 give or take)


Moderately Low Priority or Competing with Characters with a Similar Priority (Maybe half of these fighters return if we’re lucky)


Lowest Priority


Edit: I updated my order from what it previously was.

 

[Louie G.]

are at this point more SSB characters than they are reps from their own serie

Very strange logic for removing them from the Super Smash Bros series of video games then. No, I don't think it's time. Smash Bros without the Falcon Punch is no Smash Bros at all and I think anyone who suggests otherwise should do some soul searching.

Anyway, I don't really like participating in this sort of thing directly since I don't really want to cut most characters, but I would cut . There are several little nitpicks I have that kind of ruin the character fundamentally for me... the idea that the more agile Samus is in fact the one without her power suit, the addition of those tacky high heels. I'm okay with Smash taking some liberties, but putting Samus in heels is never not going to be stupid to me.

In a way she feels like kind of a relic from Brawl era when I have to imagine Sakurai looked at Metroid and acknowledged it needed something new, but wasn't convinced yet that there was anyone other than Samus worth adding. After getting Ridley, I just don't think this is necessary anymore.

---




All that aside, here is the absolute bare minimum roster in my opinion. I would have many more characters on it (Little Mac and Mewtwo at minimum) but I think these are fundamentally the most essential characters.

 

[Perkilator]

Spoiler: For sure

Spoiler: Iffy

Spoiler: Not going away

 

[toonito]

 

[Oracle Link]

The smash fanbases attachment to sheik just elludes me i mean OOT Was my first 3d Zelda and yet i feel nothing for sheik!
I somewhat get the "But its a unique Moveset Argument" But considering this moveset has 0 Reffrences to zelda that is pretty tepid!
I Probably speak for most zelda fans when im saying this:
But is the first to go than and THAN Toon link has been not only in the most Zelda games but i think cutting toon link is the zelda equivalent of cutting Luigi because both are basically another major playable character!
And I dont get how anyone can look at the zelda series and prefer Zeldas one time cosplay over Impa i just DONT Get it!
This would be like having one Mario in Smash but having Peach and Cat Peach!
And than we have sheik and Impa fans say: Impa shouldnt be a Costume when thats the one way i think Sheik can be turned into a Worthwhile addition!
And this comes less from, a place of hate and more utter confusion!

 

[Louie G.]

I somewhat get the "But its a unique Moveset Argument" But considering this moveset has 0 Reffrences to zelda that is pretty tepid!

I personally could part with Sheik, but a lack of concrete references doesn't matter. Sheik is a character I like to look at as an archetypical pick, designed to be a rushdown ninja type character which is very obviously a role Sakurai loves to explore.

I think, similarly to someone like Captain Falcon or even most recently Incineroar, building a character letting a core fighting style guide rather than trying to be a showcase of every series reference you can think of is welcome from time to time. I get that you think Impa would be more suited to the role, but Smash doesn't usually just functionally replace characters outright with another like that unless it's Young Link -> Toon Link. As is, Sheik was the first to fulfill an important archetype within the roster and her presence remains pretty unique.

Like Jigglypuff she's carried more by her legacy role in Smash than she is her role in Zelda at this point. Which might sound like a downside to some people, but I think being important to Smash Bros is the best thing you can have in your pocket when the question is... whether or not you get into the next Smash Bros.

 

[Pupp135]

The smash fanbases attachment to sheik just elludes me i mean OOT Was my first 3d Zelda and yet i feel nothing for sheik!
I somewhat get the "But its a unique Moveset Argument" But considering this moveset has 0 Reffrences to zelda that is pretty tepid!
I Probably speak for most zelda fans when im saying this:
But is the first to go than and THAN Toon link has been not only in the most Zelda games but i think cutting toon link is the zelda equivalent of cutting Luigi because both are basically another major playable character!
And I dont get how anyone can look at the zelda series and prefer Zeldas one time cosplay over Impa i just DONT Get it!
This would be like having one Mario in Smash but having Peach and Cat Peach!
And than we have sheik and Impa fans say: Impa shouldnt be a Costume when thats the one way i think Sheik can be turned into a Worthwhile addition!
And this comes less from, a place of hate and more utter confusion!

While she’d probably never be considered if SSB was created today instead of the turn of the century, I agree with Louie G. that the community’s attachment Sheik most likely corresponds to her 20+ year presence in the series like with Ness, Captain Falcon, Mr. Game & Watch, and to lesser degrees, Jigglypuff and Falco, making it feel jarring to them if she or one of those other fighters was scrapped.

 

[BritishGuy54]

Everyone I would keep.
(Honestly, Steve/Banjo could be swapped out for Hero/Cloud if SquareEnix plays ball, but Microsoft doesn’t)

Looking back on this, it’s taken a while to solidify my feelings on who gets cut and who gets to stay.
So this is now everyone who I would keep.

 

[NintenRob]

Hmm, this is definitely a toughie. Here's what I'd look at

First, the Easy ones

Don't like either of them, neither are particularly popular and both come from franchises with an abundance of characters.

Next I'd cut

I'd prefer to keep them but they're pretty expendable

Going deeper, I'd remove



And then I'd cut any Third Party I couldn't get the rights to base game.

 

[AlRex]

I'd say it's like Wario's answer, depends on the direction of the roster and game overall, but my cuts might be different. My "Nintendo VS Everyone Else" idea would keep the third parties currently barring one or two (would probably sacrifice Banjo for Crash and flip a coin between Cloud and Sephiroth), about 20 or so first parties, then add up to about 28 to 32 or so on each side. If it's more focused on being a "regular" Smash, probably more of a ratio of 40 Nintendo to 15 third parties or so, or a smaller roster, and eventually add over time, which may result in there eventually being technically no cuts, at least with a lot of heavy customization that allows you to play as some of the more "derivative" characters in some form.

Here are various thoughts overall, because I can never put things just simply, unfortunately.

Spoiler: Thoughts extended

• All Echoes go under the "customization" ideas I saw the Duke of Dorks have, same for all the FE Marth-derivates, Link-derivates, Fox-derivates, etc. As an aside, this might also work for new types of variations, such as having, say, a more Cappy or FLUDD or RPGs focused Mario, a Fusion Suit or Justin Bailey Samus, a Classic or Modern Sonic with more tools, that sort of thing, though again, these wouldn't necessarily count as "new" characters. This all also depends on if it's a relatively small roster early on, though, but the "clones" are obviously the least safe.
• The FE roster gets brought up the most. I'll say for sure Marth and Robin are safe, Ike and Byleth are probably safe, Corrin is not safe because even if they're unique, they're way too divisive to be considered safe on a more limited roster where I could keep more fan-favorite characters or add new series instead. The three other "Marths" fit under the last point.
• Jigglypuff is the least safe of the original 12, there's a lot of Pokémon, even in Gen 1, she has stiff competition, and she isn't her own series, unlike Ness or Captain Falcon. Plus it has almost happened a few times. Not a guarantee, but I'm just saying.
• Pokémon itself is also an odd case with a lot of characters in already, but also being a huge franchise and having a lot of potential for new characters from both past and current generations. Pokémon Trainer is tricky in that they absolutely deserve their spot, their 'Mon placement makes sense, they represent the games in a way a few other character types cannot. I'd say if you're only keeping three Gen 1s, keep them, Pikachu, and Mewtwo, but if that counts as like five instead of three, I'd keep Charizard again, or, if I'm going full bias and want of something a little new, Blastoise. If not the Trainer, maybe Meowth & Team Rocket, but IDK. After them, Greninja seems sort of safe, Lucario with a lot of recommended tweaks perhaps, and Incineroar might get cut in favor of a grappler from a new series, but that's not a guarantee, also.
• Ice Climbers are the least safe of the retros. I like their playstyle, but they have the least historical importance compared to Mr. Game & Watch, ROB, Duck Hunt, or especially the arguable cases like Little Mac or Pit. Put simply, their game is not so good, and they are, well, irrelevant, not just now but kind of then, as well. This is a Jigglypuff case, though, and it'd only happen if cuts were getting drastic. I don't especially like cutting an entire series off, even if it's only one game.
• Biting the bullet and swapping Ganondorf out for pig Ganon with spells, a trident, etc. Nobody would be asking for Ganondorf to be worse Captain Falcon if it hadn't happened, let's be real, and unlike Luigi, who also shares the "starts as clone but moves away from it a bit more over time
  , it makes no sense other than a rushed decision and Ganondorf being humanoid enough to fit over Falcon's model. Could work out under the "customization" to bring back this old style of Ganondorf, though.
• Wario is not getting cut, no way. Biker Wario might get cut, though, or, at least, this is a good candidate for VERY heavy customization, maybe like Ganondorf, where both Smash purists and original series purists can get their preferred different forms of the character. I prefer the Smash Remix style of Wario, as well as this video. Might be where I'd go towards for the "base" Wario.
• I'll flip a coin between Villager and Isabelle, but I dunno. Villager represents the series more overall, but Isabelle is more of an actual character. Perhaps try and move Isabelle more and more away from being like Villager, at least. I'd like to see an additional, non-Villager-derived Animal Crossing character, also, perhaps Tom Nook or KK Slider.
• The newer Mario characters past the core four are all in danger if it's a more limited roster, IMO, but I wouldn't want to cut Rosaluma, Bowser Jr./Koopalings, or even Piranha Plant. Maybe Piranha Plant, if any, but I'd swap them out for a Goomba or Koopa Troopa.
• Palutena is nice as a character, Kid Icarus Uprising is nice, but her moveset always seemed underwhelming to me, and I rarely see people get really hyped to play her, especially after custom moves went away. Plus Kid Icarus is, itself, a niche franchise.
• Mii Fighters would not be entirely cut, but I'd have preferred a more fluid "Create a Character" kind of thing over the four standard types we got. You can keep Mii Costumes/additional cosmetic customization options for very cheap, though I'd still want a decent amount for base game, too. Maybe bring in Miitopia's Mii Maker, too.
• Min Min...unique, but people don't like playing against her, and ARMS didn't set the world on fire. She's safe if it's first party focused more so, but if it's broader in scope yet more limited in space, she is not safe.
• Out of all the third parties, I feel like Banjo and Joker are in the most precarious spot, though Persona 5 will stick around for a bit, it seems. A different Persona/SMT game to put in might be interesting, but it really does depend on a lot of things. I'd personally want Jack Frost, but the mascots generally haven't been the ones who got in aside from Pokémon, whose whole appeal and driving gameplay factor is the "mascots", so to speak. Banjo & Kazooie, for as Nintendo/Smash fan demanded as they were, had low sales and low reception, even though I personally found the duo fun to play as. But if I'm really going to pick between them and another currently Microsoft owned 3D Scrimblo Bimblo, it'd be Crash Bandicoot. Objectively, he has more long term popularity and entries in his series to pull from. But that also depends on what style the roster takes on.

You can take or leave all of these thoughts, I know full well some could be hot takes and Smash fans will never agree on anything, which is fine.

 

[FazDude]

From a general perspective, and assuming I couldn't alter clones in any way (less decloning them and bringing them to Ken's level of cloneliness, to put it that way):

• Dark Samus
• Daisy
• Sheik
• Young Link
• Chrom
• Zero Suit Samus
• Rosalina & Luma
• Corrin
• Richter
• Min Min
• Aegis

Looking back at this, I wanna try this again to have more of an endgoal in mind; I'm going to be trimming the roster down to 58, the same roster size Smash 4 had and a fairly reasonable estimate for the next Smash as well. I'm also making the assumption that I can't change fighters in anyway, and all third-parties are willing to play ball. So let's get this show on the road:

• - Cutting Echoes is probably the most bland and basic way I could start this off, but I'm choosing these five specifically since the majority of them have very little, if any gameplay changes from their parents. The only exception to this is Chrom, but between him, Lucina, and Robin, I wanted to trim the fat when it comes to FE Awakening representation specifically - Lucina can be kept due to the Parallel Falchion making her feel considerably different from Marth, while Robin has his spellbooks to keep him fresh.
• - I felt it was inevitable that I'd have to cut at least one Zelda rep, but between Young and Toon Link, I feel Young Link is a smidge more expendable. We have OoT representation in the form of Ganondorf, while Toon Link is the only fighter repping the "toon" games - You could argue that Yink could serve as a Majora's Mask rep, but he doesn't really do anything specific to that game here, so I'm not taking that into account here. Yink goes, Tink stays.
• - This was a tough one. If I were going completely off bias here, Corrin would be out. However, since I'm shrinking the FE cast rather than reorganizing it with the same number of fighters, I want to go for as much weapon variety as I can. As such, I have to ask Roy to leave.
• - I had it between cutting Sheik and ZSS, but I would feel bad if I cut one of the Zelda franchise's only "original" characters. If I adding fighters, it'd be a different story, but here, I'm cutting ZSS.
• - God, this is a cut I didn't want to make, since Pokemon Trainer is such a cool concept. In the interest of trimming the roster, though, cutting a 3-in-1 fighter makes the most sense.
• - Lucas is the first cut that I considered "tough". I don't have anything against him, but if we're trimming the roster, I feel it makes sense to cut the one character whose home game still hasn't been localized. Having a Japan-only character is a cool concept, but not cool enough to help Lucas stay on a reduced roster, unfortunately.
• - Couldn't decide between keeping Falco or Wolf, so I let bias take the lead. I like Falco.
• - I've mellowed out on Rosalina's inclusion over the years, but I probably wouldn't bring her back given the chance.
• - The thing about Piranha Plant is that it's a great joke character, and probably one of Ult's best DLC offerings. However, I feel like it's gonna be a "one-and-done" character that has slim chances of returning to the roster barring another EIH. Would love to be wrong, though.
• - If I'm being completely honest, I'd be fine with keeping Min Min if I was allowed to give her a moveset overhaul. Since I can't change movesets here, though, I'm axing her.
• - Leaving Xenoblade with only a rep for the first game feels weird, I'll admit, but I've never really vibed with these two gameplay-wise.
• - Made the decision to limit all third-parties to one rep each, with an emphasis on making each of them feel distinct from each other gameplay-wise rather than focusing on those with ties to Nintendo. This does result in some harsh losses, notably Mega Man and Hero, but I think this is a good direction to go in. (also yes ik sora is technically owned by disney but shhh)

Aaaaaand that's all, folks! If I were allowed to add characters, I'd probably feel more comfortable axing a few more fighters (Pichu, Corrin, Byleth, etc.), but for a cuts-only job I feel pretty satisfied.

 

[TheZizz]

Just give us Tenpachi or whatever his name is (old guy from Tekken), replace Kazuya if necessary. I don't mind Kazuya but the old guy fills a funny niche that Smash could benefit from. I don't care how many other crossover cameos he's made in other games, that is not relevant to me and probably a lot of people who recognize him despite knowing nothing about Tekken.

Well if we're talking about a sequel to Ultimate: Remove the redundant fighters from character select, but put them "behind" the normal characters to where each character has exactly one "echo" counterpart. Dub the game Smash Bros. Duality or something over-the-top like that, or simply Smash Ultimate 2 where the theme is "two sides", yin/yang etc. Then we get a roster that feels more measured but with tons of characters too, best of both worlds?

 

[RileyXY1]

Corrin: They're clearly the most expandable FE character, and if there are cuts it's obvious that the more repped franchises are getting cut down. Fates isn't exactly a very popular entry in the FE franchise.
Piranha Plant: Again with cutting down the more repped franchises, and being a joke fighter and a generic enemy it's obvious that it's on the lower end of the priority scale.
Lucas: Unfortunately, Earthbound's gonna lose a character here, and Ness has the priority here because he's been in Smash longer, his game was actually released outside of Japan, and as a result of this he's far more iconic. Sorry Lucas.
Pokémon Trainer: This is one of the most complicated fighters to develop, with three times the work of a standard fighter. So, I think they're gonna go and Charizard will be back to being on his own.
Steve: He's another very complicated fighter, and the most complicated fighter to develop at that. His inclusion literally took five entire years, and he has one of the most complicated gimmicks out of all the fighters. In fact, his gimmick was so complicated that they literally had to modify every single stage (and Ultimate has well over 100 of them) just to make sure that his gimmick worked properly.
All Square Enix reps: SE has a fixation on all of its characters in crossovers being DLC, and this applies to Smash too. I think that Everyone is Here was the only reason why we even got Cloud back in the base game at all. Unless they're doing Everyone is Here again I think that the Square Enix reps (those being Cloud, Hero, Sephiroth, and Sora) are gonna all be cut and held off for DLC.
Roy: I also wanted to cut an additional FE character. Marth is safe due to him being the first and most iconic lord, while Chrom, Lucina, Robin, and Byleth are all safe due to how popular Awakening and Three Houses are, so it was between Roy and Ike. I originally wanted to keep Roy because his games sold better, but Ike won out due to him being among the most popular lords in the series despite the fact that his games are massive flops that nearly killed the entire franchise, and so Roy was given the axe.
Bowser Jr.: Despite his newfound presence in the Mario series Bowser Jr. was very low priority when it comes to Smash. He barely even made it into Smash 4 at all. I don't have much hope for him sticking around as a result.
Jigglypuff: Another very low priority character despite being a part of the series since Day 1. Jigglypuff barely made into Brawl, and would've been cut had the game not been delayed as a result of Sonic's inclusion. I debated between cutting her or cutting Pichu, but Pichu got the edge here because he's the only playable rep of Gen 2 and I wanted to represent more of the franchise's history.
Wolf: Wolf is another character that's known for being very low priority. Like Jigglypuff, he also barely made it into Brawl, and Star Fox is not a very active series. So, it's probably gonna lose a character like in Smash 4, and as he was already cut once I think that Wolf will get the axe once again.
Dr. Mario: I'm also saying that we're gonna lose some clones, and despite him coming back in Smash 4 I think that Doc is gonna get cut again. I debated between cutting him or Daisy, but due to Mario Wonder bringing Daisy back into prominence I decided that Daisy would be the one to return.

So these are the fighters that I think will stay:

 

[MasterCheef]

All current , as of 2/14/2024 ; 3rd party reps = ( let Ultimate stay Ultimate )

Fox , & , Falco , & , Wolf , = no new ( Star Fox ) game , & I hate the characters
Ness , & , Lucas , = no new ( Earthbound ) game , & I hate the characters
Captain Falcon , = no new ( F-Zero ) game , & I hate the character
Mr. Game & Watch , = no new game , & I hate the character
Ice Climbers , = no new game , & I hate the characters

Dr. Mario = should be an alt
Toon Link & Young Link = Should be alts

Zero Suit Samus = should not have become a character
Sheik = should not have become a character
Marth & Lucina = should be merged into , Alear
Wario = basically an unexciting Mario

Robin = can be replaced by a Mii Sword Mage
Villager = Isabelle is just WAAY cuter & the face of animal Crossing , just her move-set should be reworked.

Pichu = a very boring Pikachu clone
Bowser = he loses to Mario all the time

maybe a few more.

 

[darkvortex]

Wario = basically an unexciting Mario
Bowser = he loses to Mario all the time

maybe a few more.

There others I can kinda see even if I sign agree but that Bowser one is insane to me. When has canon actually mattered like that in smash

 

[MasterCheef]

There others I can kinda see even if I sign agree but that Bowser one is insane to me. When has canon actually mattered like that in smash

For me it is all about play-ability. Bowser is just not fun to play.