Okay. Vonfinell, I was going to just kind of leave this thread as is, but your post kind of pissed me off mostly because. . . there are just several things I disagree with. So allow me to shed my point of view on the situation.
Okay, they've clearly been avoiding saying anything about Zelda since she was confirmed as returning, and in all the videos we haven't seen anything even remotely like a Down-B replacement move. Sakurai is clearly trying to build up the Sheik fanboy's nervousness, but in the end there is no real reason to take out Sheik.
That's hardly proof to support your claim. You're essentially saying "They're not showing Zelda's down B. It MUST be Sheik!"
That's like saying, "I can't see the type of ice cream in my bowl under all this topping. It MUST be chocolate!"
Makes NO sense, yo.
It would require less work to just keep the character in than to have to think of the stats for a new move for Zelda, not to mention that she hasn't done anything useful in the series
Not necessarily. My understanding is that it's not just a matter of copying and pasting character stats from Melee to Brawl. Even if a character has very similar moves to the ones they had in Melee, certain aspects must be tweaked to work with the new physics. Now, would it be easier to give Zelda one new special move, or to tweak parts of an entire character (Sheik)? I don't know the answer, but I don't think you do either. So it's not necessarily true that Sheik is the easier option to take. Besides, even if she is, who cares? This game isn't exactly being rushed. The easiest way or the fastest way to develop a character still will not be employed if it's not the
right way.
Like I keep saying, the Light Arrows solution is bull, because they were a useless ability that she had to a few of the games, and they were a dumb addition anyway.
That's a completely subjective statement. The light arrows can work entirely differently in Brawl, and thusly be infinitely more effective. And what's this about Light Arrows being in only a few games? I seem to remember a certain character that only appeared in
one game. . . .
They wouldn't fit her character
But transforming into Sheik, something this Zelda has never done before, would?
and if they were trying to follow the TP idea, than she wouldn't be able to hit the stage floor (that's right, she'd miss at missing)
Right. Since the moves in Smash always work exactly the same way they do in the game they were taken from. Din's Fire is a real good example of that. . . .
Sheik was hugely popular, had a large fanbase, an original character, and the much needed Ninja that we all want to be.
"Hugely popular" and "had a large fanbase" are essentially the same points expressed with different words, so you can't use them as different pros for Sheik. Regardless, the main reason Sheik was popular was because she's so newbie friendly. She's got combo skills AND plenty of killing strokes. A REALLY fun character to play as. But that's the main reason MOST people liked her. You know it; I know it; the world knows it no matter how much some people may deny it. There are SOME legitimate Sheik fans out there, but they're greatly outnumbered by the ones who loved her for her hitboxes.
Therefore, everyone who keeps getting pwned by Sheik and then forsaking him entirely for that very reason needs to just shut it.
Well THAT'S true.
Tires don exits, Sheik is just popular among skilled players.
. . . And yet even MORE popular with newbies, due to the combos and KO moves I mentioned earlier. >_>
In short, Sheik will return.
You don't know that.
Sakurai's silence has made it clear enough
No it hasn't.
and there have been no subtle hints thusfar (i.e. "could he even surpass Ness?") suggesting that he might not.
Nor any hints suggesting that she's back. There's no more reason to think Sheik will be back than there is that she won't be. Just because you give your opinion with certainty doesn't make it a certainty.
EDIT: Also, I'd just like to point out that I find it interesting how all the people I see who think that Sheik is more likely to be in than not are the ones who have her plastered all over their sigs and avatars. I don't know. . . it just kind of leads me to believe that there's some blind fanboyism involved.
