Which Newcomers Did You Predict/Not Predict to be on the Final Roster?

[BluePikmin11]

I'm curious as to which of the newcomers you guys predicted over the full year of Smash 4 Speculation. The newcomer list was certainly varied with the over half of them the majority did not predict. And I better not see Wii Fit Trainer being picked unless you have reasons to why actually predicted her.

The ones I predicted for a long time now were:
Duck Hunt, Dark Pit, and Bowser Jr.

(I trusted the Ninka_kiwi before the ESRB leak began, but Dark Pit was pretty obvious after the Palutena Trailer tease, and Bowser Jr. I had considered before, but now I saw his merits within the Mario franchise to add him in my prediction roster for a reason)

I consistently had put Shulk in and out of my rosters, mostly because I originally thought he was too new to be in Smash Bros., but as time went on there were merits within the Xeno series which I thought were worthy enough for him to have a spot in Smash Bros.

The rest were very obvious choices for me in Smash speculation.

The ones I didn't predict and sorta predicted:


I did expect a Pokemon newcomer due to the fact Sakurai posted a Pokemon newcomer criteria a long time back, I originally thought it would be Zoroark due to 6th Generation being too new to have a character, but it turns out that it's not the case, I was extremely surprised with Greninja.

I did predict that an Animal Crossing character would be in the game, but I thought Villager was too generic in terms of visuals, so I predicted Tom Nook, turns out it was the Villager who was playable, I ended up being a little ticked when I first saw him in action.

I thought an Awakening character would happen and Chrom was the main one I predicted for a long time because of the Gematsu leak, but I ended up being wrong and Robin and Lucina were revealed as the FE newcomers for this game. I didn't see Lucina coming mostly because I thought Dark Pit (and Dr. Mario, but at that time I didn't know why I added him) were going to be the only clones in the game. I wish I had predicted her sooner.

Wii Fit Trainer, I did not nor did anyone see her coming, so this is basically its own category.

I didn't expect a 5th Mario character, mostly because I was part of the stubborn crowd of people who didn't think she was going to be added because it wasn't necessary. When she was revealed, it was the time I took my speculation more seriously and turned away from the generic, popular character wish roster crowd that continued to feed people throughout speculation.

I got about 3/5 of the roster right, who did you guys get?

 

[LIQUID12A]

Sounds more fitting in the Character Discussion subforum.

 

[BluePikmin11]

Sounds more fitting in the Character Discussion subforum.

It's locked.

 

[RascalTheCharizard]

Honestly, only Pacman. I had no idea what characters would be in the game but I figured with Mario, Megaman and Sonic, it'd only make sense for Pacman to be in as well, given Namco's involvement.

 

[LordVacation]

I figured Mii had to be in or people would defecate.
Bowser Jr. was mostly hope so him being in is gravy.
I was expecting Waluigi in a way but oh well.

 

[Verde Coeden Scalesworth]

MegaMan, Mii(but not the Mii Fighters version), Little Mac, and Bowser Jr.

I got nobody else right overall. I mean, I did get most of the veterans right as well. I had every veteran on my roster than were back except Charizard. I had a new Trainer on my prediction, based upon Giovanni.

 

[PikaSamus]

Literally just Mega Man and Bowser Jr. (only counting those from before E3 2013).

 

[Mariohuge]

The only real prediction I had was Dr Mario after Lucina's announcement. Even then it was more of a hope than a prediction. But hey, it all worked out in the end.

 

[Wanderer from Roseyard]

The ones I was expecting (but in some cases not really hoping for) were Mega Man, Little Mac, Mii, Palutena, Pac-Man, Lucina and Shulk.

Before E3 2013, characters I considered but dismissed for various reasons were Villager, WFT, Rosalina, Robin, Bowser Jr., Duck Hunt and Dark Pit.

Since Sakurai had previously dismissed the idea of a playable Animal Crossing character, and the fact that Wii Fit's audience had zero overlap with Smash's target audience, those two characters were extremely avant garde choices, making me trash my previous prediction list altogether, opting instead to just ride it out.

Ones who I thought would make it but didn't: Dillon, Dixie Kong, Mach Rider, Ridley, Dry Bowser, Emolga, "Mewtwo X" (before we knew it was a Mega Evolution)

 

[GunGunW]

Palutena was the only one I knew pretty much for sure. She was painfully obvious to me.

I would have thought Chrom, but that was wrong. Shulk, the Miis, Pac-Man were ones I saw coming.

Rosalina, Little Mac, Mega Man, Villager and Dark Pit were not surprising to me. Bowser Jr. was surprising because I didn't start speculation until after Rosalina was already confirmed.

I never really expected King K. Rool or Krystal, I wanted them but I pretty much knew they weren't getting in. I thought Dixie was a somewhat likely but she was wrong.

Duck Hunt and Wii Fit Trainer are pleasant surprises. Same with Lucina.

Then again.... I never really knew what was coming.

I didn't start smash speculation/hype until a little after the April direct.

 

[Hammer B]

This was my Smash Bingo card, so, as you can see, I predicted correctly Pac-Man, Palutena, Shulk, Little Mac, Bowser Jr., Mega Man and Duck Hunt.

 

[yoonb]

I'm really surprised that I'm seeing two votes in WFT. I expected none, to be honest.

 

[Arcadenik]

I predicted Villager, Mega, Man, Little Mac, Mii, Palutena, Pac-Man, Shulk, Bowser Jr. (only after Toad was deconfirmed and Rosalina was confirmed too early), and Duck Hunt Dog (my most wanted character since 2002).

I expected Chrom but Robin and Lucina surprised me. I expected Mewtwo but Greninja surprised me. I hoped for Toad but he was BTFO by Rosalina. I didn't expect Dark Pit but in hindsight, I really should have seen Sakurai's bias coming. I never saw Wii Fit Trainer coming... in fact, I didn't know there was a trainer in the Wii Fit games because I didn't buy Wii Fit games during the Wii years (I have Wii Fit U now). But overall, I am very happy with the roster, including the ones I didn't expect.

 

[synesthe-sia]

I'm really surprised that I'm seeing two votes in WFT. I expected none, to be honest.

Well, she wasn't necessarily an impossible prediction. If someone looked at the sales of Wii Fit, they could have thought the trainer would be playable. Everyone was too hung up on predicting Metroid, DK and Golden Sun characters.

 

[κomıc]

Palutena, Pac-Man, Shulk and Miis were surefire and I was confident for them. The others, not so much.

Also, I doubted Mega Man realistically because of how Capcom has been treating that fanbase for the past 4 years as if they forgot about the poor dude. I don't think ANYONE genuinely predicted Mega Man. It was more "I hope he is in the game!" type of thing.

When I saw Megaman in that trailer I was like "No way?! Capcom FINALLY remembers!" not "OMG! I knew he was in it!"

 

[Joeyd123]

Only mii and Rosalina

 

[Raijinken]

Mac and Megaman were obvious choices, Shulk I hoped for and thought would be great (but admittedly didn't expect), and same for Robin (down to basically the same special moves aside from dark and making Thunder chargeable).

 

[yahooda]

I can honestly say that the one that surprised me most was the Duck Hunt Dog. Even after seeing gameplay of him, I'm still in denial, he just looks unreal to me for some reason.

 

[DraginHikari]

Pretty much the ones that still have proper images in my signature were ones I guessed. Everyone else was more or less over my head. However I will say that most of the ones I didn't get right were pleasant surprises for me.

 

[SmashWolf]

I didn't predict alot of them, but I guess alot of these newcomers just feel silly to me anyway. I predicted Megaman from the start for sure, even though personally I only would've actually cared if it were Megaman X.

Shulk I had a faint hope and longing for, and he came to be. Palutena I also called from the start, and it was true, which I'm happy with. Then there's Dark Pit, whom I never expected because I knew what the fanbase's reaction would be. But, he's here. And I'm very pleased with that alt-costume-in-his-own-slot-thus-causing-the-fanbase-to-whine-over-trivial-details character.

Everyone other newcomer I just don't care about, and never wanted to believe they'd get in.

 

[Deleted member]

It's funny how wrong a lot of us were.

Going by pre-E3 2013 predictions, these were the only ones I predicted that got in:


Palutena, Little Mac, and Shulk I all saw as near shoe-ins. I was more shaky on Mega Man because I was not sure if third-parties would return this game and if so, if Sakurai would go for him (because Capcom sure wasn't going to approach Sakurai, although I did think they would allow Mega Man to be in). Considering the roster's outcome seems to indicate that no Nintendo characters got in due to fan demand, this was a really bold guess on my part and I'm glad I stuck with it.

As for others, I felt that Bowser Jr. had a fair shot, but I was not sure if we were getting a 5th Mario character and even if we did, who they would be (I though Toad was the most likely should we get another character). After Peach's confirmation, I became suspicious that such an early confirmation occurred (although Toad did get disconfirmed) and started thinking that we might get a 5th Mario character again. However, I was not expecting to show up, let alone as a starter. Afterwards, I mostly gave up on him except as a possible clone. Turns out we did get him after all and Dr. Mario as well (who I was never expected).

I wavered on how I felt about Mii's chances, but before E3 2013, I had decided that they weren't going to be in since I did not expect Sakurai to change his mind on that. After he was leaked, I knew they were getting in. Sadly, they didn't turn out nearly as well as I expected. Fantastic concept for a character, but ended up being a pretty lame addition (especially since they took up three characters worth of space, seriously?).

I felt that was not going to happen because I did not expect non-Lords to be playable. I always leaned towards Roy, although I did feel that Chrom was a contender. However, after Rosalina's confirmation, I did start to think that Robin might be more likely than Chrom, but I gave up on him after Chrom was "leaked" on Gematsu. I was very happy that the Gematsu leak was not entirely accurate and that Robin got in over Chrom, so we finally don't have to worry about stereotype in Fire Emblem characters in Smash anymore (one of the highlights of the SSB4 character scenes). Would rather not have had though, but I'm less inclined to complain since Fire Emblem was already done justice (and like Robin, I did not see Lucina coming).

I actually was a very strong detractor of pre-E3 2013. I felt as he missed his chance in Brawl, that he had nothing going for him that he didn't already have in Brawl (super iconic status), and did not think Namco's involvement meant anything. Of course I was also strongly against Pac-Man's inclusion. After he was leaked I gave up and accepted he was in. That said, Pac-Man looks fantastic to play with, so I didn't have much of a reason to be against his inclusion anyway.

At some point I actually did predict Duck Hunt Dog (before E3 2012), but I gave up on him entirely. Seeing him in was a really nice surprise.

As for the rest, I felt as and Dark Pit had no chance of getting and was immensely shocked when they all did. Heck, I haven't even heard of Greaninja before his confirmation, showing how out of loop I was with Pokemon. Anyone who said they predicted Wii Fit Trainer is lying.

 

[BluePikmin11]

I'll go bump one more time.

 

[Storm Eagle]

I didn't really predict any character, but if you would have asked me, I would have said Little Mac, no doubt. No other character deserved it more than him imho. Sakurai would have been out of his mind to not include him!

 

[QuickRat]

I loved Punch-Out on the Wii system, so I really loved Little Mac to be here. I know Saku is a fan of these games, so I had faith.

Since Namco was involved, I knew Pac-Man was about to be confirmed at any time.

Finally, with Sora having made Kid Icarus reboot, I knew Palutena would be playable.

 

[ChikoLad]

I didn't outright predict a lot of characters, but...let me explain:

: I predicted we would get an Animal Crossing rep. I thought it would either be Tom Nook or the player character. So I suppose I predicted this one.
: Nope.
: He was on my wishlist since a few months before the reveal, so yes.
: On my wishlist since the Brawl days. Thought it may be a bit too wishful as the character was a guilty pleasure for me for many years (i.e. since I played Galaxy a week after release, until her Smash reveal) and I didn't realise she had such a strong following at the time. However, I did get a bit hopeful after her reveal for 3D World, and I was aware of the rumour of her being a cut Assist Trophy in Brawl. However, I thought she had been too prominent to be anything but a playable character at this point, so yeah, I did actually predict her. Was still gobsmacked when she made it in, though. And although I expected Luma to show up as part of a move and a taunt, I did not expect the character title to be "Rosalina & Luma" and for Luma to matter to her playstyle as much as he does.
: Yeah, I thought it was a crime he was only an AT in Brawl. They couldn't keep this guy on the sidelines forever. Probably one of the safest two predictions IMO.
: I predicted a Pokémon from X & Y, though because I never played it, I could never predict exactly who. I knew there would be one though, as that game would easily promote Smash.
: Yeah I kinda believed we'd get Miis after a while. Didn't predict their exact implementation though.
: I was a light supporter for a while due to moveset possibilities. Then I actually played Uprising and became full-on supporter. The other safest prediction, IMO.
: Always had a gut feeling he would make it in, even though I played devil's advocate to save others some disappointment in case he didn't make it.
//: The only possible Fire Emblem newcomers were Chrom, Robin, and Lucina, in my mind. So yeah.
: Early on I didn't even know he existed. However, closer to him being leaked, I had already read up on him a bit and with Monolith Soft's "X" turning out to be "Xenoblade Chronicles X", I came to expect his arrival.

Bowser Jr: I admittedly expected him more than any other Mario character before Rosalina showing up in 3D World. When she was confirmed for Smash, I somewhat doubted Jr, but certain conversations made me think he might have a shot and accompany Rosalina as new Mario reps (which I was OK with - Mario didn't get any new reps in Brawl, and Rosalina and Jr complete what I consider to be "the main 6" of the Mario franchise these days). Didn't predict the Clown Car or the Koopaling alts, though.

Duck Hunt: Nope, but I thought the dog may have been an AT, and did have a stage idea in mind too.

Dark Pit: Expected him to just be an alt for Pit a la Alph and the Koopalings, with the name "Pittoo".

 

[Aeon Lupin]

I expected Megaman, only because the outcry for him was too strong to ignore. Pacman as well, once I heard Namco was working on the game. Also Miis, but I thought they were going to be more like the character you completely customize, kinda like in Soul Calibur.

My other sure fire Newcomers before revealed were Palutena, Chrom, Bowser Jr, and Little Mac. I got 3 of those right.
I guess Shulk and Rosalina were also a possibility for me before but they weren't on my certainty list. Everyone else legitimately surprised me, namely WFT, and Greninja.

 

[Prism]

I was positive Megaman, Pac-Man, Bowser Jr. and Miis were in, but honestly all the others were surprising to me. Lucina was my favorite surprise.

 

[Wyoming]

Predicted:



Shulk was mostly later in development due to the tweets and the credible leaks always putting him in. Palutena seemed a bit obvious due to Sakurai working on Uprising and the added bonus of her being highly requested. Pac-Man was obvious due to Namco's involvement with the game, Mega Man was the clear candidate for a third party newcomer and Animal Crossing is too big to ignore and what better character to represent it than the main character? Miis were being added in every game and were successful in the Wii era so their inclusion was bound to happen, granted I did not expect three fighting classes.

Did not predict:

Bowser Jr., Duck Hunt and Dark Pit.

The first three annoy me as they made sense after they were revealed. I did not take the Galaxy or Boxing Ring stages as hints and Wii Fit Trainer never made sense to me before she was announced. Robin and Lucina were big blindsides as Gematsu was leading the trail to the remaining newcomers (or so we thought) and the last three are just strange. I never considered Duck Hunt as a serious contender for the entire year and while I did think a 6th Mario rep was possible due to how early the Mario cast was shown I never really pinpointed Bowser Jr. as a candidate. I honestly thought Dark Pit's appearance in the Palutena trailer disconfirmed him as a playable character but that he would still play a role in the game.

 

[Fatmanonice]

Really depends on the time frame. When Brawl came out, the only characters I figured were going to be in the next Smash were Megaman and Miis. Around the time SSB4 was announced though, I figured them, Palutena, Little Mac, a 6th gen Pokemon, at least one Fire Emblem Awakening character (I thought it would be Chrom with Lucina being an ALT or DLC), Pac-Man, and Shulk were pretty likely. Everybody else was a big surprise but I feel that's one of the best things about this game. When Brawl came out, a lot of people were really curious about what Nintendo was going to do for the next game and many people argued that most of the "good" characters had already been picked, which would force Nintendo to go into super obscure character to fill up more spaces. Time proved people wrong and Nintendo made a roster that nobody six years ago would have predicted.