YOU are in charge of cutting 5 characters from the Brawl roster...

[The Real Gamer]

Sakurai himself said one of the hardest parts of his job is figuring out who to cut from the Brawl roster in favor of opening up slots for newcomers in Smash 4... Lets attempt to put ourselves in his shoes and figure out just how difficult this is exactly.

5 characters must be cut from the Brawl roster and you are now put in charge of deciding which 5 shouldn't make it... Which 5 do you cut and why? Please avoid thinking along the lines of "x character should leave because I don't like him/her." Remember you're trying to keep the greatest amount of people happy in order to make as much of a profit as possible. One last thing...

NO FLAMING OTHER POSTERS FOR THEIR OWN OPINIONS. LETS KEEP THIS THREAD CIVIL.

I'll start us out:
1) Lucas - Earthbound never needed 2 reps and I'm trying to get rid of as many "semi-clones" as possible.

2) Lucario - With Gen 6 around the corner I struggle to find a good reason to keep the Gen 4 icon around. Would probably replace with a Gen 5 rep or Mewtwo and his new form.

3) Wolf - As relevant he is to his series, Starfox never needed 3 reps due to its waning popularity and it's another semi-clone to get rid of (and one less Landmaster to deal with). Between him and Falco I think most would rather have Falco stick around.

4) Snake - This was a tough one, but in my opinion Smash 4 won't get any more than 3 third party reps. Snake was an awesome and unexpected addition to the Brawl roster but honestly he's not going to be the difference maker between many people buying Smash 4 or not (unlike Sonic). Plus with Smash 4 going back to the "cartoony" style seen in previous Smash games, I just don't think he'd be a good fit visually next to the rest of the cast. I'd replace him with a Namco Bandai rep such as Pac-Man.

5) Ike - This was THE toughest choice for me. After the above cuts there were only 4 semi clones left on the roster: Luigi, Ganondorf, Toon Link, and Ike. The first 2 are far too relevant to their respective franchises to get cut. So then I went with the last two and thought "who would cause the most controversy if he didn't return?" I came to the conclusion that Ike was more expendable since he could be replaced with the newest Fire Emblem star: Chrom, while Toon Link/Young Link wouldn't have any proper replacements to fill that void.

 

[Branman64]

Wolf,Sonic,Snake,R.O.B and Lucas.

 

[Eternal phoenix Fire]

Toon Link, Wolf, Lucario, Game & Watch, Lucas

 

[smashbrolink]

Toon Link, Mr. Game&Watch, Jigglypuff, ROB, and Snake.
Sonic, I'd keep around just to get a three-way battle between him, Mario and Mega Man going.

 

[Renji64]

Toon link, Olimar,Lucario,Snake, Sonic.

 

[kackamee]

1) Toon Link: Better choices for a LoZ rep.
2) Jigglypuff: Funner pokemon to choose from.
3) Lucario: I like him, but other pokemon are just cooler.
4) Marth: Time for him to take a break. Replace him with Lyn.
5) Snake: I like him and all, but meh.

 

[Eternal phoenix Fire]

4) Marth: Time for him to take a break. Replace him with Lyn.

Not gonna happen.

 

[kackamee]

Not gonna happen.

I know it's not realistic, but if I had to I would. I just have no attachment to Marth himself. I like him and all, but I just like other people more lol.

 

[The Real Gamer]

Olimar

This would be an odd choice considering Pikmin 3 will be dropping for WiiU in August.

 

[TweetyPurd]

Toon Link - Too Cloney
Wolf - Falco is too popular, but change falco's moves a bit more (luigi was a clone in 64, but underwent small changes each game to eventually become his own character by brawl)
Lucario - Get the next gen of new pokemon in
Snake - Not really what comes to mind when i think "nintendo"
Jigglypuff - its time to go, you were only in smash bros because you looked like kirby

 

[Vann Accessible]

Ooh how fun.

1. Toon Link: I love him, but Zelda could use a different fourth rep. In exchange, they could just alter Link to be more agile and play more similarly to TL.

2. Lucas: Earthbound doesn't need two reps. Besides I never liked Lucas.

3. Ike: Again, while I love Ike, Smash Bros, is a marketing machine and we have newer FE games to promote. Can be replaced by Chrom.

4. Lucario: Continuing the rotating pokemon roster tradition, lets loose this unbalanced character. Replace with 6th gen poke.

5. Wolf: For the same reasons you said. We don't need three different versions of Fox.

 

[FalKoopa]

5 characters? Nightmarish to cut. I really mean it.

But here goes: Sonic, Snake, Lucario, Toon Link, Lucas.

If we had to lose a character or two, I'd axe the 3rd parties first.

 

[BridgesWithTurtles]

I've thought about this, and while I don't want anyone in Brawl's roster to go, I'm prepared for some cuts. If I could choose myself, it'd be:

1. Lucas - I never felt that Ness was lonely as the sole fighter from the Mother series, and Ness is more iconic to the series and has a perfect attendance record in all Smash games. Additionally, Lucas is a semi-clone, albeit a very distinct one. I'd miss Lucas, but I could give him up pretty easily.
2. Toon Link - Listed because I expect him to be cut more than I want him to be. I find it very fitting to have a "toon Zelda" representative, and I want Toon Zelda to join in as well. That being said, it looks like Toon Link will be cut, and if so, I can deal with his removal, but it'll be a bit of a let-down.
3. Jigglypuff - I have nothing against Jigglypuff, but the Pokemon series can risk shaving a character from its lineup, and I think she's the most fitting to boot, despite her "Original 12" status. I wouldn't shed a tear if Mewtwo took her spot.
4. Snake - He was a great guest and a surprise treat in Brawl, and I love the Metal Gear series, but he's probably not much of a deal breaker for many people and as a guest, it's customary for him to go eventually.
5. Sonic - Same logic as Snake; he's a guest. As much as Sonic fits in with the rest of the cast, especially amid the current relationship between Nintendo and Sega, it'd feel incredibly awkward, in my opinion, to have a third-party guest return while some Nintendo characters end up cut. I'd really miss Sonic, but I think cutting him would be fair.

I would consider Wolf and Falco as well. It would be sensible to cut either of them (but not both). If Toon Link weren't so likely, I'd have listed those two in his place.

 

[Rayopuff]

Pokemon Trainer- the gimmick while interesting, did not work as well as I thought it would
Snake- While his inclusion was great, he's not relevant to Nintendo
Ike- could be replaced by another swordsman from FE
Lucario- Pokemon usually gets a representative from a newer generation
Sonic-3rd party, we could get a Nintendo character in his place

shame on all of you wanting to cut Jigglypuff, she's not going anywhere, she's an original 12 and still a popular Pokemon

 

[The Real Gamer]

Surprised so many people are listing Sonic. Remember how much of an uproar there was when Mewtwo didn't make it into Brawl? Just picture that times 5 and that's what Sonic getting cut would look like lol.

 

[Swamp Sensei]

Hmm... Tough question.

If I absolutely HAD to cut five characters...

Jigglypuff
Toon Link
Wolf
Lucas
Sheik

Reasons for cutting:
Jigglypuff: Jiggly's not all that popular anymore. Sure her inclusion made sense at the time but she's not all that popular anymore. She's riding on her veteran status. Just because she is a member of the original twelve does not ensure her a spot. She was almost axed in Brawl after all.

Toon Link: Two Links aren't really a necessity. And the bad rep clones get doesn't really help the situation. Of all Zelda characters, he is the most expendable.

Wolf: Starfox is a pretty small series actually. Most people wouldn't even think twice about it if we got a character cut. It has been argued that Starfox is over represented and I can see where they are coming from. Of the Starfox characters. I feel Wolf is the most expendable. Falco is a two time veteran and I feel he's more important.

Lucas: Mother is another small series. And Lucas is more expendable then Ness.

Sheik: Inb4 Diddy loves me forever! Sheik is a one time character who hasn't really been important since the N64. I would be able to accept her removal.

Wow. Just figuring out five characters was painful. I can only imagine how Sakurai feels.

Now. In my ideal world I don't think any character should be cut.

 

[Branman64]

Surprised so many people are listing Sonic. Remember how much of an uproar there was when Mewtwo didn't make it into Brawl? Just picture that times 5 and that's what Sonic getting cut would look like lol.

I guess a lot of people want sonic to go because he is really only a one time charater and people want different charaters in.

 

[Starbound]

Cuts are inevitable in nearly every fighting game, but it still sucks cutting characters. One of my friends was really sad to see Toon Link in the main trailer and assuming that Toon Link would be cut.

That being said:

1. Toon Link
The most obvious cut in my opinion. It's more efficient use of roster space to make Link a conglomerate of the best of Melee Link, SSB64 Link, Young Link, Toon Link and Brawl Link, like Project M's Toon Link. Taking the best from five different characters would really help Link's metagame too.

2. Ike
While his personality can't directly be inherited, Chrom could pick up an Ike-like moveset, or he could give it to Roy if Roy comes back. I know relevantness isn't a criteria for cutting, but, as far as I'm aware, Intelligent Systems has input in who they want in Smash, and I can't see them wanting Ike when they can promote their new best seller.

3. Lucario
Similar to Ike above. Gamefreak plays some role in determining the characters for Pokemon, and, again, I can't see them wanting to use Lucario. Mewtwo could use a lot of Lucario's moves, possibly only leaving behind Force Palm and Double Team.

4. Snake
While Kojima and Sakurai are buddies, Snake's history with Nintendo pales to the large resumes of Sonic, Mega Man and Pac-Man. Guests spots are coveted positions in Smash Bros., and Snake really can't hold a candle to them. Not too sure what to do with the moveset though. =/

5. Lucas
Compare Lucas and Ness. In anything that Lucas wins, transfer that to Ness and call it a day. I would've liked to do this the other way around because Mother 3 <3, but the chances of Ness leaving are pretty low.

 

[Chauzu]

This is just if I had to, but you know that. I've also made it the six which have - imo - acceptable arguments.

Lucas - One Mother char is enough.
Snake - I've never felt like he fits into the Smash group.
Ike - I would like if it became a tradition to switch FE char in every game. They could then just add older FE chars as DLC and such.
Toon Link - I've always thought that one Link is enough.
Falco - two Star Fox reps are enough and imo Wolf is more unique.
Lucario - Like Ike, Pokemon could change this char every new game as well, and maybe add some back as DLC later.

 

[Tree Gelbman]

Toon Link
Falco
Lucas
Snake
Zero Suit Samus

 

[TheTuninator]

1) Toon Link - Clone characters are expendable.

2) Snake - Some third parties rotating makes sense to me, and Sonic should stay so he, Mega Man and Mario can fight it out.

3) Lucario - Pokemon's got a million reps already. Swap him out for the inevitable Pokemon newcomer.

4) Lucas - Nothing against either of the Mother reps, they're great, but if push comes to shove the series just doesn't need 2 reps.

5) Falco - See above re: clones, and I find Wolf to be a more attractive option as the second Star Fox rep than Falco.

 

[Kapus]

Snake - Mega Man can take his place as the second third party (Sonic being the first). He doesn't fit in that well anyway.
Lucario - Swap him with a more recent pokemon, I dunno.
ROB - He's barely a real character...
Falco/Wolf - Not sure which one of them I'd axe. If it were to be Wolf, I would declone Falco some more.
Ike - This is a tough choice, as I like Ike a lot. However, there are tons of other characters from the FE series to use, so he can swap for someone else.

 

[Swamp Sensei]

Snake - Mega Man can take his place as the second third party (Sonic being the first). He doesn't fit in that well anyway.
Lucario - Swap him with a more recent pokemon, I dunno.
ROB - He's barely a real character...
Falco/Wolf - Not sure which one of them I'd axe. If it were to be Wolf, I would declone Falco some more.
Ike - This is a tough choice, as I like Ike a lot. However, there are tons of other characters from the FE series to use, so he can swap for someone else.

Okay. That is your opinion but how is R.O.B. barely a real character?
I mean if you want to cut R.O.B. that's fine but....

 

[The Real Gamer]

I guess a lot of people want sonic to go because he is really only a one time charater and people want different charaters in.

What exactly makes him a one time character though? He's more than just some random 3rd party. He was the most wanted newcomer in the Smash series. People wanted to see Mario vs Sonic for AGES... Heck even that piece of crap knows as Mario and Sonic at the Olympic games sold TONS of copies just because of how popular the "Mario vs Sonic" theme is.

IMO cutting him from the roster would cause too much of an uproar from the Sonic fan base.

 

[Tree Gelbman]

Okay. That is your opinion but how is R.O.B. barely a real character?
I mean if you want to cut R.O.B. that's fine but....

More of that ''HE TOOK OUR ROSTER" butthurt coming out probably. People are never gonna get over that.

 

[Swamp Sensei]

More of that ''HE TOOK OUR ROSTER" butthurt coming out probably. People are never gonna get over that.

People got over Game and Watch.

If R.O.B. appears again then I think most of the hate will subside.

 

[Tree Gelbman]

What exactly makes him a one time character though? He's more than just some random 3rd party. He was the most wanted newcomer in the Smash series. People wanted to see Mario vs Sonic for AGES... Heck even that piece of crap knows as Mario and Sonic at the Olympic games sold TONS of copies just because of how popular the "Mario vs Sonic" theme is.

IMO cutting him from the roster would cause too much of an uproar from the Sonic fan base.

Basically this. This is how I feel about Snake. Snake should be one time. I don't think he's special enough to return outside of the ''hardcore" gamers who worship the ground MGS walks on.

Sonic is a true icon and a big part of Nintendo's history as first their primary rival and now one of their most common acquaintances. He should definitely stay in the series. He's a special case like Mega Man I feel.

 

[`dazrin]

1) Lucario -- Makes no sense in this current generation to keep him around. He was added because he represented the 4th gen of the Pokemon series. Now that he's old news, I'd say the new "Mewtwo" form is more likely. If not, maybe a 5th gen rep like Zoroark-- idk. Anything but Lucario.

2) Pokemon Trainer -- Pokemon is easily the most oversaturated franchise in smash, and with 3 different "characters" built into one transformation character, I don't see why PT should stick around. Not to mention it's going to cause a lot of problems on the technical side of things when you consider the 3DS. He is unique though, I'll give him that.

3) Lucas -- I really don't feel like both Ness and Lucas need to be around repping the Earthbound franchise. Ness is part of the original 12 of the series, so-- sorry Lucas, but we don't need you around. Not unique enough compared to Ness to warrant staying in.

4) Sheik -- She just isn't relevant anymore, and as I briefly touched on before, transformation characters would more-than-likely cause problems on the 3DS, seeing as they already cause some problems in Brawl on the wii (loading times, lag, etc). Zelda will stay for sure, but I'm not sure if sheik will stick around.. The Zelda franchise is a bit oversaturated, and I just don't think Sheik brings enough to the table as a "main series character" to warrant her inclusion.

5) Snake -- Third party character. Sakurai says that there will not be very many of these in smash4, and with Megaman coming in, and Sonic being featured in various nintendo exclusives (Sonic: Lost World wiiu/3ds, Mario vs Sonic: Winter Olympics), I just don't see room for Snake anymore, especially with the new vibrant, more cartoony, atmosphere Smash4 brings. I could see a namco bandai rep to be far more likely to replace snake (pacman) if a different 3rd party were to replace him.

Other likely canidates:

-Ike -- He's another generic sword wielder with no real reason to be in other than to be a more modern FE rep. I could see him being replaced by someone like Chrom or Lyn something, if replaced at all.

-Toon Link -- As much as I like the guy, and even with WWHD coming out, I do think he's a bit similar to Link, and the Zelda franchise is pretty over-represented as it is. However, Sakurai likes the idea of having a smaller, faster, version of link. I'd expect to see him more diversified in smash4 than outright removed, but I could just be biased here ;P

 

[[Corn]]

Pokemon Trainer-Honestly if he was Red I wouldnt cut him, but being so generic makes me want to cut him.
Snake-Mega Man takes his spot, never really a cartoony character that fit well.
ROB-Not really unique or anything. One of those characters your friends would forget his name.
Sonic-Never a sonic fan, bland in the actual game.
Falco-He is the Luigi of Starfox in a way, but so is Louie in Pikmin and I wouldnt approve that character either due to no appearences lately.

 

[Waluridleykryrool]

Lucas- Never got why a dormant/dead series needed two reps in the first place.

Falco- The rival/antagonist is a better rep for the series than the second in command IMO.

Toon Link- Surely there are better zelda reps than a shorter link in a different art style..

Lucario- Two more gens have arrived since brawl, time to pass on the promotional character torch.

Kanto Pokemon Trainer- 6 of the 8 pokemon that have been playable in the smash series are gen 1. There are 4 soon to be 5 more generations of pokemon to choose from why not give them some love? (charizard can stay though.... charizard pikachu and mewtwo are all you need out of gen 1 IMO.)

Honorable Mentions
Jigglypuff- jigglypuff prominence in the pokemon series is long gone, only issue is that she is one of the original 12, and is protected by that status (i guess...)

Sheik- OoT was a long time ago, time to make zelda a better character on her own rather than relying on her ninja alter ego, i could see parts of her moveset going to Impa if she becomes playable

 

[Swamp Sensei]

Pokemon Trainer-Honestly if he was Red I wouldnt cut him, but being so generic makes me want to cut him..

Except that is Red.

He's just not called Red.

 

[Tree Gelbman]

Everytime I see someone say that R.O.B. isn't unique in the slightest I want to punch small kittens into a wood chipper.

Don't encourage my violent tendencies people.

 

[Steelia]

Poor Lucas )':

In no specific order:

• Ike - one of the easiest to consider. Added due to his relevance of his games, the most modern then. But his time has come; an easy replacement for Chrom, coming from a game that literally saved the FE franchise, and who is popular in his own right (especially in Japan).
• Lucario - another easy one. Was added for similar reasons as Ike. Now with the 5th and 6th generations looming over, he doesn't hold the same significance.
• R.O.B. - never understood this one...
• Jigglypuff - no doubt kept not because she's apart of the original 12, but for being a female Kirby. Her popularity waned long ago.
• Pokemon Trainer - an interesting concept on paper... but having 3 characters in one is so much unnecessary work, especially for a franchise bursting at the seams with reps. I get where they were going with this concept, but this isn't a Pokemon game. Pokemon reps do just fine on their own. Production could be spent working on 2 other fighters, versus 1 actually popular rep and 2 significantly less supported ones.

...Wow. That really was harder than it sounded.

 

[The Real Gamer]

Everytime I see someone say that R.O.B. isn't unique in the slightest I want to punch small kittens into a wood chipper.

Don't encourage my violent tendencies people.

LETS KEEP THIS THREAD CIVIL.

:D

 

[PsychoIncarnate]

Mario
Marth
Kirby
Link
Samus

 

[Tree Gelbman]

:D

Oh, but I am civil.


There's just a difference in a valid opinion that has basis in facts and just making stuff up. Saying R.O.B. isn't unique is making stuff up.

 

[Aidebit]

Snake
Wolf
Charizard
Ivysaur
Ike

 

[Ghirahilda]

Hmmm let's see..

Ike
He is fun to play, but he replaced Roy (in my vision) , this makes me feel very angry every time I think about it. ROY IS MY BOY

Pokémon Trainer
Don't want, never wanted. If he was Red... alas...

Falco
Don't like, never liked

King Dedede
WTF Kirby needs 3 reps? Just because Sakurai made it? I prefer 3 Kid Icarus reps instead

R.O.B
Not a true game character...It was fun when he was revealed, but now...

 

[The Real Gamer]

Oh, but I am civil.


There's just a difference in a valid opinion that has basis in facts and just making stuff up. Saying R.O.B. isn't unique is making stuff up.

People will purposefully troll in threads like this just to get a reaction out of people.

Just making sure this thread doesn't get locked prematurely as a result of 2 or 3 people going at it.

 

[Swamp Sensei]

Every time people say Pokemon Trainer isn't Red, I die a little inside....

How is he not Red?