Official Next Smash - Speculation & Discussion Thread

[Verde Coeden Scalesworth]

What helped a lot wasn't simply that Isabelle was being pushed, it's that Sakurai already had a good idea of how an Animal Crossing character can work. He didn't use Villager as a base. Isabelle happened to work similarly to Villager simply because it worked out. It was inevitable some ideas would fit well with her that Villager already used.

If Villager was never in, it would mean he already didn't have an idea for the characters as playable. Isabelle being pushed wouldn't have ultimately helped at all in that regard. Either he has an of idea of what to do or he doesn't. The fact he already did mattered a lot and what made her such an easy character to get in. That context matters a lot. Though it's too bad she wasn't more unique, but her unique factors definitely helped(as it's part of why she couldn't be an Echo, though the "they aren't the same bodyshape" is still the most important part. You can easily get their personality through just fine with animations. Even if they don't change gameplay much. Even the worst one, Daisy, still had her hurtboxes slightly changed(not that you can tell, heh. They're not different enough to know outside of data research)).

Overall, Villager already being in helped a lot to get Isabelle in. That's the main reason I never consider her more than "extremely likely". Because things were not that black and white at any point. There were simply factors we couldn't have known. The only thing that was ever clear was that she couldn't be an Echo due to the wrong bodyshape(and we had a video proving that Isabelle couldn't use Villager's animations properly. They were simply too different). It was treated like Villager was a base for Isabelle, but we know that's not true now. Crazy, right? Which makes it funnier, since Ness used Mario as a base in Smash 64 in comparison, and they're overall way more different from each other than the two AC characters ever were. Hence what I mean by things never being as simple as "duh."

 

[GoldenYuiitusin]

Truth be told, I really don't see Nook being all that different from Villager/Isabelle in practice.

Which can be both a benefit and a detriment in his inclusion.

On the one hand, it would mean it wouldn't be that difficult to have him join by taking the Villager style as a base and tweaking it more to suit Nook like what was done for Isabelle.

On the other hand, having "Another variation on Villager" in the project proposal may not really be all too appealing for Sakurai to work with regardless of Nook getting more promotion nowadays.

 

[The Stoopid Unikorn]

Truth be told, I really don't see Nook being all that different from Villager/Isabelle in practice.

Which can be both a benefit and a detriment in his inclusion.

On the one hand, it would mean it wouldn't be that difficult to have him join by taking the Villager style as a base and tweaking it more to suit Nook like what was done for Isabelle.

On the other hand, having "Another variation on Villager" in the project proposal may not really be all to appealing for Sakurai to work with regardless of Nook getting more promotion nowadays.

Animal Crossing becoming the new Fire Emblem where everyone is just Villager derivatives

 

[Hadokeyblade]

If Shadow was in Smash as a fully unique fighter, I have a rough idea of what I’d like his specials to be:

• Neutral: Chaos Spear
• Side: Doom Wing
• Up: Chaos Dash
• Down: Doom Blast
• Final Smash: Chaos Control

I feel like they'd keep Sonic's homing attack somewhere in the moveset, since both of them can do this.

 

[Garteam]

I think Tom Nook is very likely and there are a lot of angles to take him, but I wouldn't say he's guaranteed just because he's an Animal Crossing mascot.

Isabelle was absurdly pushed in the mid-2010s. If there was something Animal Crossing being sold, she was the face of it. However, post-New Horizons, there isn't really that singular mascot character with a huge gravitational pull like Isabelle once had. Nowadays, the player character, Tom Nook, and Isabelle all kind get pushed as Animal Crossing's face.

Realistically, I think you could have Villager plus one of Tom Nook or Isabelle and Animal Crossing representation would still be fine enough. All three are ideal, but it's not like there would be this massive deficiency in how the series is represented.

 

[dream1ng]

Truth be told, I really don't see Nook being all that different from Villager/Isabelle in practice.

Which can be both a benefit and a detriment in his inclusion.

On the one hand, it would mean it wouldn't be that difficult to have him join by taking the Villager style as a base and tweaking it more to suit Nook like what was done for Isabelle.

On the other hand, having "Another variation on Villager" in the project proposal may not really be all too appealing for Sakurai to work with regardless of Nook getting more promotion nowadays.

This is why I'm not as bullish on Nook as other people.

I think he can be unique, I just have my doubts he would be. And on that basis, I question whether they'd move forward on a third version of the Villager framework. Though I could see him being used if they're deliberately looking for clone padding.

He didn't use Villager as a base. Isabelle happened to work similarly to Villager simply because it worked out.

(from Ultimate's design proposal)

I don't know about that. She's pretty clearly, and seemingly deliberately, a semi-clone.

 

[Idon]

Isabelle has the same forward air, back air, down air, up air, forward tilt, down tilt, neutral special, up special, and the same initial down special.
And that's not counting the identical grab/throws either.

She absolutely is based off of Villager. You don't coincidentally just have half of another guy's moveset from the same series.

 

[NintenZ]

Been playing the Witcher 3 Wild Hunt

Ya know… I’d be down for Geralt with Ciri as an Echo, would be neat!

 

[dream1ng]

I also don't think an attack like Pocket would even make that much sense for Isabelle if Villager had no bearing on her moveset.

It makes sense for Villager since the player character has the inventory. If Villager had no influence on Isabelle, a move that references interacting with the UI is a little weird.

 

[Swamp Sensei]

So... The Nintendo Music app was just updated with Super Mario Bros Wonder music.

Are they actually doing it? Are they doing frequent releases?

 

[The Stoopid Unikorn]

So... The Nintendo Music app was just updated with Super Mario Bros Wonder music.

Are they actually doing it? Are they doing frequent releases?

If we get one game a day, that's wild.

I doubt this'll happen though.

 

[TheFirstPoppyBro]

So... The Nintendo Music app was just updated with Super Mario Bros Wonder music.

Are they actually doing it? Are they doing frequent releases?

I do think it's interesting that Wonder wasn't even one of the games shown in the trailer when they talked about updates and adding music over time. The seven shown there were Wii Sports, Mario 64, Wind Waker, DKC2, F-Zero X, Skyward Sword, and Splatoon 2.

Granted I expected Wonder would happen soon enough anyway, but honestly considering Nintendo has like 40 years or so of game releases to work with here, one soundtrack a day at least for a while doesn't sound half bad lol

 

[SMAASH! Puppy]

I think part of the issue is that it's difficult to make an Animal Crossing moveset. Even Sakurai had trouble conceptualizing it at first. So what we get is stuff like:

"Tom Nook should have a moveset involving Bells!"
"How does that work?"
"Uuuuuuuuuuh."

"They should add K.K. Slider!"
"What would he do?"
"Um...he would...sing...and stuff..."

 

[chocolatejr9]

Been playing the Witcher 3 Wild Hunt

Ya know… I’d be down for Geralt with Ciri as an Echo, would be neat!

Have we established if Geralt is eligible for Smash? Or is that still up for debate?

 

[TheFirstPoppyBro]

Have we established if Geralt is eligible for Smash? Or is that still up for debate?

I would think not since I think the video games are based on books, aren't they?

 

[GoldenYuiitusin]

Have we established if Geralt is eligible for Smash? Or is that still up for debate?

Not really a debate. Even the back of the box draws attention to it being based on literary works.

 

[NintenZ]

Eligible or not, I do think Geralt would be a fun choice for Smash, I’m not gonna have a debate on if he can feasibly be added, just something I think would be pretty cool if it ever happened. I also liked his appearance in Soulcaliber 6.

 

[Idon]

My opinion on Nook is that while I don't find him "necessary" of an addition, I don't find it out of the question either. In my eyes, it's the same vein of "Another Splatoon character" where the character themselves are semi-popular but lack any unique aspect to them specifically so in the end they're moreso representations of the series as a whole.

Of course, in a combat oriented game like Splatoon that features increasing amounts of artillery with each entry, it's a lot easier to say "they'll just use what the other guys aren't" but it's the same logic for Nook or any other Animal Cross...er.
This of course, also ignores the possibility they choose an idol and just make the moveset based around singing/dancing.

I also don't find any of this marketing indicative of increased push for Nook, especially within a smash context. He's "iconic" in that he's everywhere like Nurse Joy or Toad so it's easy to slap on advertising, but I highly doubt a playable fighter is something highly sought after by existing fans or would attract new fans.

 

[GoldenYuiitusin]

I think the difference between Isabelle and Tom Nook is that, Isabelle practically exploded into the Nintendo zeitgeist once she debuted. She was immediately a big deal with fans and Nintendo put her everywhere as a result, even in things like Mario Kart and Monster Hunter.

Tom Nook had always been there since the beginning, but has never really been on Isabelle's level in spite of his seniority. Even now, he's getting a bit more promotion, but it doesn’t really have that same "aura" if that makes any sense. Especially since it's still being shared with Isabelle almost like a crutch.

 

[Verde Coeden Scalesworth]

I honestly remember reading somewhere of how Isabelle was designed that came up later than Sakurai's two articles already on Source Gaming.

Sakurai Discusses Isabelle, Echoes, and Newcomers

Sakurai discusses the cutest newest addition to Smash — Isabelle. He also touches upon representation in Smash and the wide range of character types.

sourcegaming.info

Sakurai Tells More Details About Smash Ultimate’s Development

Sakurai discusses Ultimate’s character selection, Smash as an e-sport and more!

sourcegaming.info

And we had a minor debate about it too. Well, never mind, then. But regardless, yeah, Isabelle wouldn't have worked without Villager existing. That was still my general point in the first place. It wasn't simply "she's pushed hard". Context absolutely helped her get in.

Which is good, cause that was a pretty good addition that really helped increased the roster. It's just too bad Toad has yet to get in(him and Waluigi are some huge iconic characters that quite earned it). Toad's not really like Tom Nook, though. He wasn't a mascot specifically, just a rather important character in a few games, but highly iconic. Tom Nook being a variation on Villager is easy. He has some of his own stuff they could throw in, and there's bounds of different items in AC to work with. Etc.

Toad is however a bit different, as the regular main playable character is not that well-defined outside of an outfit... which sometimes changes it up. It's not that it's hard to make a fun moveset for him based upon, well, anything, but him having hard to place skills ultimately causes issues with figuring out a good way to faithfully represent him or make a playstyle that befits his skills in some way. Something pretty much every character has anyway. You otherwise have Captain Toad is a different choice, though he's nowhere near as big of a character(he's reasonably known, but to a lesser degree regardless) among the species. And we still have other notable options for Super Mario like Paper Mario, King Boo, and Waluigi. All major characters in different ways. They're iconic and all have legitimately big roles in a game. Even if only Waluigi isn't used for big roles beyond... one(and somewhat decent story roles in a few sports games, shared with Wario).

Other than both being rather big Nintendo characters, they really aren't similar at all, heh.

To note something; Pocket is a general thing any AC Character would have, since they often give characters items. It's just a natural part of the gameplay's concept as is. It's the default explanation for why many do that, so it's not really a clone move thing at all. It's just a very natural AC thing. It doesn't matter in this case either way, since I misread something earlier(apologies for that).

 

[DarthEnderX]

and the ones that are active would take discussion away from here.

That's...kinda the point.

Instead of going around-and-around discussing the same characters for 2000 pages, we discuss them in their own threads.

Have we established if Geralt is eligible for Smash? Or is that still up for debate?

I don't know why it would be up for debate, outside of wishful thinking.

He's squarely a 4P character.

 

[SMAASH! Puppy]

After thinking about it more, I think I have an idea that could be used as a decent basis for a Bell system for Tom Nook:

Playing as Tom Nook turns the match into a coin battle. Hitting opponents causes Bells to pop out of them, which you can collect. The reverse is also true, and getting hit causes you to lose Bells. This second point becomes extremely important, as it makes Tom Nook the only character that can have their meter gain entirely shut down by an opponent, and as an opponent, you're going to want to do so. Tom Nook's neutral special uses Bells to craft items, with more powerful items requiring more Bells to make. These items range from furniture as simple throwing items, to the pole vault as a battering item that gives you a unique dash attack, to literally just the Pitfall item. Using neutral special while holding an item has Tom Nook pocket it, but he doesn't have access to Pocket as a move, and thus can't grab projectiles with it or anything like that.

Even if they kept the rest of his moveset mostly the same, I think something like this would make him stand out, as his kit is re contextualized with the fact that he's now an item based character. As far as how many Bells Tom Nook can gain, without testing, I'd say 100 is a good number. I'd also make the ability to craft a Pitfall cost 100 Bells (or at least close to it), and balance it so that in competitive 1v1s it's very difficult to craft, but much easier in 4v4+ free for alls since there are more targets to gain money from, and items to deal more damage with.

I don't know how good or bad this would be for the design of the mechanic, but an idea I'd play around with is having the number of Bells you have upgrade some of Tom Nook's normals. The easiest translation would be for his up and down aerials: While Villager's turnips are random, and Isabelle's are consistent, Tom Nook's would be based on how many Bells he has. This could create a cool risk/reward mechanic for crafting items, or it could just make him feel terrible to play. It would definitely depend on the implementation of both gimmicks.

 

[dream1ng]

Edit: fixing things

 

[Kirbeh]

I'll second what Verde said regarding Pocket. It's a move that would fit any AC character just fine, putting items away is something all the villagers/characters can do, not just the player.

That said I also don't see the issue with a future AC character being another variation on Villager again, be it Nook or otherwise.

We already have this sort of thing with the Mario Bros. (including Doc), the spacies and of course the Marth quartet.

Am I against a unique AC newcomer? Of course not, but outside of maybe KK (if you go all in on a music theme), I'd imagine most characters are going to have some overlap simply based on the kind of game AC is.

As for Nook himself, I'd like him to get in, but I still don't expect him. His inclusion would in no way surprise me mind you but I just wouldn't be surprised if he missed the boat again either.

I will add regarding a possible move set though; Nook Miles. I know bells are sort of the go-to thing for people to use, but the Nook Miles feel like such an easy add (plus, they're even named after him.)

Functionally, they could be similar to most any of the bell proposals but you'd earn them for all actions over just landing hits.

You'd earn one mile for every step taken, you'd get some for jumping, for using moves, for pocketing certain items or projectiles, etc. Then you could cash them out for buffs, items, or placeable furniture/structures unique to Nook that serve to actually do a unique function or temporarily change the terrain in some way.

Stuff like a volleyball net that stops projectiles or a snack machine you can hit to spawn food items.

For the moves he winds up sharing with either Villager or Isabelle, I could honestly see that being narrowed down to just a handful like Pocket or F-Tilt (using a Nook Inc. umbrella of course.)

That aside, I would want him to have different aerials. And not just him, I want them to get rid of the slingshot on Isabelle (leave it as a Villager only thing) and for none of them to have turnips (because I want those for Daisy Mae who will sadly never happen.)

 

[SPEN18]

Animal Crossing becoming the new Fire Emblem where everyone is just Villager derivatives

Most people discussing clone!Nook compare the result to Star Fox. (sorry, felt compelled to point it out)

--

Anyway, Animal Crossing is not "fine" without Tom Nook. That is a gaping hole in its representation that ought to be rectified. Because it's a huge series now, not a young one either, which doesn't yet have its weight in representation, and he's one of the mascots alongside Isabelle.

There is no counterargument to Tom Nook. There's basically no excuse not to have him next time, which you can't say about a character very often.

 

[Scrimblo Bimblo]

Fox, Falco and Wolf work very well as a trio of similar but different characters. I can see Villager, Isabelle and Tom Nook follow a similar dynamic. Though the Fox archetype is probably more flexible...
That would make Nook one of those late, somewhat low-key reveals rather than a big show-stopping moment however.

I can see him being wholly unique instead, with raccoon things and some kind of money-collecting mechanic.
But he's also much like Toad, Skull Kid or Dixie Kong; always had what it takes to join but always got skipped over. Ridley and K. Rool did actually happen at one point, but for me it's hard not to put all these characters in the no hopers bin.
Or at least, if Sakurai had such a strong vision for these characters, they'd already be in. Maybe becoming a relatively last minute semi-clone is the best bet for Nook.

 

[The Stoopid Unikorn]

Have we established if Geralt is eligible for Smash? Or is that still up for debate?

While the excuse is probably because he's public domain, we did manage to get Dracula as a boss.

I think the dividing factor for cases like these is if the video game adaptation is so noteworthy that we they can stand on their own without thinking "oh, they're actually from a novel/manga/whatever"

Like, if someone were to unironically think of Android 21, the chances of that very much happening because she's far too tied to Dragon Ball, but The Witcher games definitely stand so strongly on their own that I'm sure there are people out there who don't realize they're adaptations of Polish novels. Much like how most of us probably don't even think of Bram Stoker's Dracula whenever we look at Castlevania's Dracula.

So I'd say Geralt has a shot but situations like him are probably as close as we can get to the "no video game characters allowed" rule, the only actual rule we know, without having stuff like Goku or Iron Man.

 

[Gengar84]

If characters like Geralt are ever on the table, I think Turok could make for a really cool Smash character. I think Turok and Geralt are in the same category where they originated in books but are most well known for their games.

Here’s another interesting one: How about Rintaro Okabe or Kurisu Makise from Steins;Gate? That one started as a visual novel, which is at least game-adjacent and later became a really popular anime. I’ve never played/read the visual novel but I’m currently watching the anime for the fourth time and it’s one of my favorites. I’d love to see either character in Smash. The show has an awesome soundtrack and has one of my favorite opening themes from any anime.

- YouTube

Enjoy the videos and music that you love, upload original content and share it all with friends, family and the world on YouTube.

m.youtube.com

 

[SMAASH! Puppy]

While the excuse is probably because he's public domain, we did manage to get Dracula as a boss.

I think the dividing factor for cases like these is if the video game adaptation is so noteworthy that we they can stand on their own without thinking "oh, they're actually from a novel/manga/whatever"

Like, if someone were to unironically think of Android 21, the chances of that very much happening because she's far too tied to Dragon Ball, but The Witcher games definitely stand so strongly on their own that I'm sure there are people out there who don't realize they're adaptations of Polish novels. Much like how most of us probably don't even think of Bram Stoker's Dracula whenever we look at Castlevania's Dracula.

So I'd say Geralt has a shot but situations like him are probably as close as we can get to the "no video game characters allowed" rule, the only actual rule we know, without having stuff like Goku or Iron Man.

I think the difference there is that Dracula is an original character inspired by a novel character of the same name, as well as extended media about it. Geralt on the other hand, is straight up an adaptation of book Geralt.

Personally, I think that as a celebration of gaming, even games that are adaptations should be eligible, especially considering that characters that went multi-media upon inception are generally considered to be fair game. However, considering that the Disney characters were scrubbed from existence when Sora was added, I don't think they are.

Although, I suppose that the Disney characters that they would have added to the game are some of the most heavily mandated characters in existence, so maybe it was less because they weren't video game characters and more because...screw that noise. Could also have just upped the price of adding Sora by a lot for not a whole lot of benefit.

 

[Kirby Dragons]

Here’s another interesting one: How about Rintaro Okabe or Kurisu Makise from Steins;Gate? That one started as a visual novel, which is at least game-adjacent and later became a really popular anime. I’ve never played/read the visual novel but I’m currently watching the anime for the fourth time and it’s one of my favorites. I’d love to see either character in Smash. The show has an awesome soundtrack and has one of my favorite opening themes from any anime.

Okabe is actually one of my most wanted characters. I'm in the same place as you, where I enjoyed the anime but never touched the VN (as the genre isn't my thing). The franchise has a non-zero chance of getting represented in Smash, since multiple of its games have been on the Switch, and it was big enough to be acknowledged by the Japan Anniversary Association last year.

 

[BuckleyTim]

Non-video game characters could be done justice I feel by hard focusing on their video game existence rather than just them as a whole. Like, Spiderman could theoretically work if he was a fusion of his insomniac and MvC appearances...

...but there's too much incentive to make him or anyone else Do The Iconic Thing that isn't related to games ad infinitum. It least with geralt or say turok it's obvious that their rep would focus on who they are as video game characters. That's what I think could make me open to characters that didn't originate from games but are too associated with games to really seperate them otherwise.

Granted, is still rather not have non-game characters specifically (I also just don't like Witcher as a game so I'm biased there since Geralt is always the non-game guy brought up in these convos). Though that makes me wonder, what would Geralt's "gimmick" be if he was in Smash?

 

[Jotadé]

I really hope we get Tears Of The Kingdom Ganondorf in Smash just so we can have Alfonso Vallés hopefully in the Spain dub. I still believe Konami and Nintendo should have contacted him by Brawl to voice Solid Snake again:

 

[Gengar84]

Okabe is actually one of my most wanted characters. I'm in the same place as you, where I enjoyed the anime but never touched the VN (as the genre isn't my thing). The franchise has a non-zero chance of getting represented in Smash, since multiple of its games have been on the Switch, and it was big enough to be acknowledged by the Japan Anniversary Association last year.

I think Suzuha Amane actually makes a lot of sense as the playable rep too since she’s the only one with actual combat experience. I really liked pretty much every character in the show but Suzuha was probably my favorite if I had to choose just one. Okabe does probably still make the most sense since he’s the main character but I’d be happy with him, Makise, or Suzuha.

 

[Opossum]

On one hand I 100% agree that, objectively, Tom Nook should be next in line for Animal Crossing.

Subjectively, though, it should absolutely be K.K. Slider. Let him be the game's I-no or Ember McLain equivalent. Which also allows for Gholdengo to have the money gimmick instead.

 

[Oracle Link]

BTW i figured out how to include almost every major zelda Game With only 8 Characters with no cross game alts:

Link: BOTW
Toon Link: WW/ TOON
Zelda: EOW/ TOY
Ganondorf: TOTK
Sheik: OOT
Impa: SS
Midna: TP
SKull Kid: MM

8 Character and the only major designs missing are the old artwork designs!

But Obviously onyl do this if you cant have multiple alts per character!
(EOW/LA Link is obviously my favourite and i would love him as an alt for TOON)

I think the difference there is that Dracula is an original character inspired by a novel character of the same name, as well as extended media about it. Geralt on the other hand, is straight up an adaptation of book Geralt.

Personally, I think that as a celebration of gaming, even games that are adaptations should be eligible, especially considering that characters that went multi-media upon inception are generally considered to be fair game. However, considering that the Disney characters were scrubbed from existence when Sora was added, I don't think they are.

Although, I suppose that the Disney characters that they would have added to the game are some of the most heavily mandated characters in existence, so maybe it was less because they weren't video game characters and more because...screw that noise. Could also have just upped the price of adding Sora by a lot for not a whole lot of benefit.

I am personally in the camp that if a character was designed for a videogame but only had to be made into lets say a comic because the creator couldnt programm than they should still count IMO!
(YEAH for example videospiel-MAn counts as a videogame or multimedia character cause that was my plan however obviously he should have some more stuff produced first! Like for example the original videogame idea! Belive if i say VSM Could be really fun in smash! Probably wont happen tho!)

 

[Louie G.]

I can see him being wholly unique instead, with raccoon things and some kind of money-collecting mechanic.
But he's also much like Toad, Skull Kid or Dixie Kong; always had what it takes to join but always got skipped over. Ridley and K. Rool did actually happen at one point, but for me it's hard not to put all these characters in the no hopers bin.

I see where you’re coming from, but I think it’s too early to cast this kind of judgement toward Tom Nook. If he skips out on the next game then we can definitely talk about it… but Animal Crossing has been playing catch-up compared to these other three series (Mario, DK, Zelda) that have been here since the beginning. Mario had five games to add Toad, and has added characters like Rosalina, Bowser Jr and Plant in his stead. Animal Crossing has only been in two Smash games, and added two characters of similar or higher importance to Nook placing him as the clear next step… so Smash 6 will tell us how they really feel.

Nook could have been the very first Animal Crossing character in Smash if they wanted, but there was of course a divergent path here. And with Sakurai already struggling to manage one AC moveset (mind you, this was a decade ago), expecting two characters in Smash 4 was probably a bit too ambitious.

And then in Ultimate, with such limited space for newcomers to begin with, two Animal Crossing characters would have been similarly hard to justify. Isabelle was the rising star of this era so it’s unsurprising that it had to be her. This was kind of a matter of poor timing for Tom Nook, who fell back to playing second fiddle for a while and Isabelle went on to be a marketing powerhouse and race go-karts with Mario and the gang. In 2015-2018, the choice was clear.

So this game is his big crucial moment. Animal Crossing is bigger than ever, and Nook has reclaimed his status as the series (co)mascot in the best selling original Nintendo title on the Switch. He stands today as one of Nintendo’s most popular and widely marketed characters outside of the Mario cast. Unlike some of these other characters, we can trace a pretty clear path for why it took him this long. So frankly if he doesn’t get in now, when these obstacles are no longer in place, then I’ll agree that something is up. But honestly if Nook doesn’t make it I’m just gonna go on a limb and say KK Slider will. I expect some kind of forward momentum for Animal Crossing after its biggest defining moment.

 

[Wunderwaft]

I'd second this, I think we should at least consider opening up a Rate Their Chances thread. Sure it's a little early, but we do the equivalent of that here every day anyway. Will be interesting to inevitably compare results in a few years when the game is actually dropping too. No harm in getting a head start.

God I miss Rate Their Chances.....and support threads.....

 

[Oracle Link]

Speaking odf all the people not thinking (they will be in) or wanting new zelda characters!
Maybe we should really ask for a zelda smash/ Fighter! I Really want to tell cool zelda storys Via Fighting games!

I mean this roster has only 27 characters and it looks really good! IMO

 

[Garteam]

If GoldenEye and James Bond weren't off the table entirely, I don't think Geralt and the Witcher are necessarily out of the running just because the series started as a book.

Sakurai's explanation for why non-gaming characters are ineligible has pretty consistently been international licensing issues with an implicit premise that there wouldn't really be a theme to the roster anymore if someone like Goku, Iron Man, or SpongeBob was added to Smash. Licensing doesn't seem to be a real issue for the Witcher because CD Projekt Red seem to have the international video game rights to the series, so you don't have to track down dozens of license holders across dozens of jurisdictions. Likewise, Geralt is defined by his video game appearances in a way that those other characters aren't. A lot of people probably believe Geralt is a video game character that appeared in a Netflix series. He's not out of place in the same way a character associated with another medium is.

Geralt and the Witcher are just a weird situation that mostly skirts the concerns underlying adding a non-gaming character to the roster. There's a reason we're discussing him in particular and not someone like Arkhamverse Batman. The series is essentially an honourary original video game IP at this point.

I still wouldn't hold my breath, though. He's a non-Japanese character without much demand behind him. My guess is efforts will instead be focused on getting Crash and Doom Slayer and those will be our Western characters next game, instead.

 

[DarthEnderX]

On one hand I 100% agree that, objectively, Tom Nook should be next in line for Animal Crossing.

Tom Nook SHOULD be the next Animal Crossing fighter.

But Aminal Crossing doesn't need another fighter.

If GoldenEye and James Bond weren't off the table entirely

They clearly are though. The one tiny reference that game had has been completely purged from the franchise ever since.