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Who are the top contenders for the new Big Three?

Dan

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Dec 26, 2013
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Smash 4 DLC voting via Japan:

3. Geno/Banjo/Paper Mario
2. Magolor... had to look his name up
1. Bandana Dee

Think of how none of this would be an issue if they put Wii Fit Trainer's development time toward say Isaac; I'm okay with any character, as long as it's a known character people want.

GameXplain put out a good video explaining why Shadow, Skull Kid, Isaac and Isabelle will likely be playable.
 
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FunAtParties

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I don't think we can rightfully say anyone just yet. We'll see who people focus their efforts on now. Based on old stuff, I'd say Isaac and Geno are locks.
 

Xebenkeck

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Its kinda curious but this question might be better answered after the final roster is announced. Sometimes a deconfirm can be what galvanizes support for a character.

Earlier i said nintendo’s three atm are Dixie, Toad and Bandana Dee, but as weve seen with waluigi and Ashley, to some extent, if say someone like Issac gets deconfirmed I could easily see him skyrocket to the top of the list.

Which could be a good thing cause that may be the type of support needed for a dlc choice.
 

New_Dumal

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Isaac, Geno and Banjo-Kazooei.
The first two are long requested characters that had great following in the past and still have good fanbase nowadays.
Banjo is more of a recent thought, but a very special one.
The character and series is very famous and is a solid icon of N64 era. I think the unique cause that Banjo was not that popular in the prior games is that people thought that reach him (of Rare hands) would be impossible. Third party were less requested before Ryu/Cloud happened. It's possible to see this since Ryu was never that popular either.

I never played Banjo-Kazooei, but I know it would make a impact to have them. The same can't be said to Isabelle, Waddle Dee, Ashley or even Dixie. Maybe Waluigi is the main runner-up, but I think his peak of hype happened mainly because of the early deconfirmation. There are people who would make a fuss, like Sora or Rayman, but it just isn't at Banjo level of importance at this moment.
 

SirCamp

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According to the support count thread, Isaac, Dixie, and Bandana Dee are the top three, with Banjo and Captain Toad not far behind (and Ashley, but she is disconfirmed already).

Of those Isaac, Dixie, and Banjo have all been around since the Brawl days. Toad has as well, though not specifically in the form of Captain Toad. But I feel like the Isaac, Dixie, and Dee make for a good top three, with Banjo as a 3rd party option and Ashley potentially being a DLC option.

Geno on the other hand is actually only at 15. I'm gonna be honest here I think the speculation about him is a little echo chamber-y. I don't want to come off as though I'm writing him off, but I would bet that his performance in the ballot doesn't match his perceived popularity on these boards. Simply because the attitude on the boards is that he is sort of inevitable. He's a bit of a speculation meme at this point I think, and that leads to people talking about him even when they care about other characters more and may have voted for them instead in the poll. Again, he is definitely very popular and a longstanding request, I just think his popularity relative to other popular contenders may be a bit overstated.

As evidenced by how omnipresent he is in this thread.
 

Royaru

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Aug 7, 2018
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We will know it when DLC end, obviously if there are DLC.
But is probably that characters that are AT now, like Waluigi (Honestly i hate that guy), Ashley and Krystal will have a lot of support for the next game, dunno if for big three, but definitely they will be important candidate.
 

timrtabor123

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Sidenote: I kinda feel like seasonal characters (Fire Emblem rep X, Pokemon Gen XYZ rep) can't qualify for these spots due to their bandwagony and time based nature

THE INITIAL CONTENDERS (AKA THE ONES MOST LIKELY TO BE DISQUALIFIED VIA CONFIRMATION BEFORE SMASH 6 SPECULATION EVEN BEGINS):

Geno- Has has a big ass fanbase since Melee, has stabilized but never outright declined in demand despite theoretically niche appeal.

Dixie Kong- Fills a missing hole in the roster ala Ridley and Melee speculation era Diddy, a rivalry with a growing Cranky Kong fanbase could generate some online sensationalism like the hatebase of a certain purple character we will discuss later.

Issac- See Geno but add in a harsh rejection in Smash 3DS/Wii U via the cut assist trophy that gives him a "a too big/forbidden fruit" affect in the eyes of Smash players. The cult status of the games and the smash revival effect also add fuel to the fire.

FIRST PARTY FAVORITES (AKA RELATIVE "GIVE MEs" FROM AN IMPLEMENTATION STANDPOINT SINCE NO LEGAL RED TAPE):
Bandana Dee- Perceived as filling a roster hole since he premiered and represents a game that launched a new era of 2D games we are currently in (Return To Dreamland)


Paper Mario- Mario RPGs are one of the few franchises not repped outside of Peach's frying pan move. Fans may feel a need to get him an RPG based moveset so it has a chance of getting the series on track.

Waluigi- harsh deconfirmation since Brawl+underdog effect+dwindling first party alternatives+part of the second most successful Nintendo brand (Pokemon actually beats out literally every other fictional franchise going off a Wikipedia article) and thus more well known then other characters

PURE THIRD PARTIES(AKA WHAT I REALLY THINK WILL BE THE BIG THREE GOING OFF THE TREND OF SPECULATION EVER SINCE SNAKE'S BRAWL ANNOUNCEMENT IN 2006):

Banjo-Kazooie- N64 nostalgia is huge right now (look at the secondhand game market for proof)+ plus breaking the platform holder barrier+seen as possible due several tweets by Phil Spencer and a Melee era Sakurai interview/email thing

BomberMan- harsh deconfirmation like Waluigi and Issac and seen as possible due to "Konami being easy to work with".

A second unique Sonic rep- sonic fans are ****ing insane (see the likes of Chris Chan) and Sakurai is opening the flood gates if he puts Shadow in. I expect Tails or Ridley Eggman/Docter Robotnick to win out after a game speculation cycle or two. Oh and a Classic Sonic echo fanbase will be a thing they can't get enough Classic Sonic.

DARK HORSE CANADIATES

A WII era character that gets super popular in China/India- As others have mentioned China is looking to be a major growth area for Nintendo and the Nvidia Sheild rerealeses are the biggest Nintendo thing in that region at the moment. Don't know enough about India's place in industry to comment.

Sora- Disney nostalgia is a hell of a thing. Video game nostalgia is hell of a thing. Kingdom Hearts 1 and Chain of Memories are getting older by the day and its only a matter of time until that bomb explodes

Agumon/Goku/Naruto/Luffy/Mickey Mouse/Popeye/Darth Vader/BatMan- breaking the medium barrier is the next logical place to go after we got "Mario vs Sonic" in Brawl, "Link vs Cloud Strife" in 3DS/Wii U, and "Everyone is here!"in Ultimate. A lot of smash's hardcore fanbase it going to hate this idea but the casual players will eat it up going off the reactions to guest characters in other fighting games. I know Agumon is technically a game character by some metrics but a lot of people perceive him/her as a toy or anime character primarily. I just included "4th parties" that were somewhat affiliated with Nintendo for this list.
 
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Ultinarok

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In terms of longest-running characters that have been heavy hitters for over a decade, Isaac, Geno and Dixie Kong. In terms of new and trendy options that garnered popularity very quickly and rather recently, Bandana Dee, Ashley and Waluigi. Skull Kid and Chorus Kids have lingered in both realms on and off.

Many will disagree about my claim that Dee, Ash and Wal are all more recent additions, but they obviously did not have the massive fan following they've had recently for a long time.

Back in the Brawl days, it was all the Big Three show with Isaac and Geno sitting up there too. Dixie picked up rapidly right after the game's release when people found unused code for her on Brawl's disc ("Forbidden 7"). Bandana Dee was hardly a thing yet, Ashley hadn't gained much momentum outside of her popular theme, Skull Kid lost out overall to Midna, Waluigi was still seen as a joke character and Rhythm Heaven wasn't a big thing just yet. People will say Ashley and Waluigi deserve big 3 but they simply have not been in contention nearly as long as Geno, Isaac or Dixie.

So those are the big three to me.

Edit: Forgot about Banjo, but he's always been in a weird place for everyone because he's a no brainer addition, but he's also been enslaved by Microsoft. It's pretty difficult to evaluate where he lies on the overall spectrum. He's up there for sure, his situation is just very different.
 
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spoilerowl

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For the remaining months before Ultimate. I'll say it's definitely some combination of Geno, Banjo, Isaac, Skull Kid, and Bandana Dee. This obviously includes 3rd-parties but not Echoes.

Looking at DLC and beyond, throw in Rex/Pyra and Spring Man as big names, and of course Waluigi, Ashley, Shovel Knight, and Bomberman in the Assist Trophy crew. And anyone from above who doesn't make it
 

ErenJager

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Geno & Skull Kid are definately like the Bobba Fett's in regards to popularity and screen time.
 

Dan

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Skull Kid, Gardevoir and Gothitelle (Gardevoir Echo... is Echo a proper noun? :laugh:)

Geno on the other hand is actually only at 15. I'm gonna be honest here I think the speculation about him is a little echo chamber-y. I don't want to come off as though I'm writing him off, but I would bet that his performance in the ballot doesn't match his perceived popularity on these boards. Simply because the attitude on the boards is that he is sort of inevitable. He's a bit of a speculation meme at this point I think, and that leads to people talking about him even when they care about other characters more and may have voted for them instead in the poll. Again, he is definitely very popular and a longstanding request, I just think his popularity relative to other popular contenders may be a bit overstated.

As evidenced by how omnipresent he is in this thread.
I think Sakurai's comments are what really turned him into what he has become and made supporters confident/overconfident (whatever you wanna call it).

Geno & Skull Kid are definately like the Bobba Fett's in regards to popularity and screen time.
Like x1000; I am very familiar with Geno cause Mario RPG is in my top 3 fave games of all-time, but I really want Skull Kid in just because he looks cool, lol.
 

SirCamp

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Skull Kid, Gardevoir and Gothitelle (Gardevoir Echo... is Echo a proper noun? :laugh:)


I think Sakurai's comments are what really turned him into what he has become and made supporters confident/overconfident (whatever you wanna call it).


Like x1000; I am very familiar with Geno cause Mario RPG is in my top 3 fave games of all-time, but I really want Skull Kid in just because he looks cool, lol.
Agreed, I should have mentioned that as well.

And if you're going to take direct hints into account, I would say that Isaac is up there with Skull Kid as well.
 

KurouKamen

Smash Cadet
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Aug 13, 2018
Messages
50
Third party, I’ll say Bomberman, Rayman, and Crash Bandicoot.

First party is a mess, not gonna talk about people wanting one offs in over protagonists of originl game franchises.
 

Blackwolf666

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As of now I'd say it's Dixie, Banjo & Kazooie and Bandana Dee.

Other contenders would be Isaac, Geno, Crash, Paper Mario, Sora, and... Goku? (not trying to be rude or anything but no matter how much I hear people wanting Goku in smash it still sounds odd to me... I'm sorry). Pains me to say however that my 2nd most wanted character at the moment, Rex & Pyra, do not get enough of a buzz from what I've seen to be among the communities most wanted characters.
 

grizby2

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"Isaac" and "geno" are the most used words in the English dictiona-

just kidding.

but those two names are getting into at least every 2nd post I see!
I lean more towards geno because the people that ive ran into that support him LOVE geno. they didn't need a smash game telling them who geno was. I cant say the same for Isaac though, but maybe I haven't ran into them yet. all I know is that people have been SCREAMING for another SMRPG game for quite some time now.


these are some of the more popular names that I keep seeing.
1.geno
2.isacc
3.banjo
4.bandana dee
5.dixie
6.skull kid
7.crash
8.rayman
9.shantae
10.chorus kids
11.sora


shadow
ninten
impa
ken
and dixie (when discussed as a diddy echo)
 
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DjinnandTonic

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I'm leaning towards Geno, Isaac, and Bandana Dee as the most widely-talked about potential newcomers. Dixie and Ashley are up there, too.
 

Cyberfire

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Based on the current roster and fan outcry - probably Waluigi, Ashley and Bandana Dee.

Historically though, I'd say Geno, Isaac and Skull Kid. These guys have had strong support since the Brawl days.
 

Fatmanonice

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Is he really that big, or is his fanbases just tenacious? I think both size and tenacity are important to what made the Big Three more than merely the top three. Right now Geno has a fraction of the posts that Ashley has, but like I said, I'm not sure if that's really a useful measurement.
The tenacity is really notable though because he's basically the only character that hasn't been confirmed or disconfirmed that has had active support since even before Melee.

Post 64 poll results

That's nearly 20 years of fan support and a good number of us even have kids that are the same age we were when we first played Super Mario RPG now. In the Smash fandom, the only fanbases that had been that consistent were Ridley and K. Rool, Isaac not getting a strong following until Brawl speculation started in 2005. That in mind, it should also be noted that he has regularly made top 10 lists in that time period and the fanbase has never gone away. Whether it's just a very vocal fanbase is kind of irrelevant given the fanbase has been vocal for as long as a good number of you have even been alive and that's extremely notable.
 
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