Official Next Smash - Speculation & Discussion Thread

[RileyXY1]

IIRC, the reason given for why "Everyone is Here!" was such a problem was due to the sheer number of characters being a huge drain on dev time.

50 I think is like, the bear minimum, but I don't think we'll be approaching 70 like we did last time.

Yeah. It's why the number of unique newcomers and new stages were severely cut down compared to prior games.

 

[Gengar84]

IIRC, the reason given for why "Everyone is Here!" was such a problem was due to the sheer number of characters being a huge drain on dev time.

50 I think is like, the bear minimum, but I don't think we'll be approaching 70 like we did last time.

If it’s true that the game has been in development since early 2022 and we’re not getting Smash until holiday of 2025 at the absolute earliest, I think that’s plenty of time for a large roster. If we don’t get Smash until holiday of 2026, I don’t see any reason at all why we couldn’t match Ultimate’s base roster size. That would be a longer development time than any previous Smash game, including Ultimate itself if I’m correct.

 

[Thegameandwatch]

The one thing that should be added is more alternative costumes because it’s common for the newer characters to have them but not as much for the older characters.

An example is giving Toon Link his Spirit Tracks design as an alt. Same with his Outset Island design.

 

[Gengar84]

The one thing that should be added is more alternative costumes because it’s common for the newer characters to have them but not as much for the older characters.

An example is giving Toon Link his Spirit Tracks design as an alt. Same with his Outset Island design.

Yeah, I’d love that. What I think would be really cool is if every character had at least one model swap outfit you unlock by completing their classic mode. Other characters can have more than one if there’s enough material to work with.

 

[RileyXY1]

If it’s true that the game has been in development since early 2022 and we’re not getting Smash until holiday of 2025 at the absolute earliest, I think that’s plenty of time for a large roster. If we don’t get Smash until holiday of 2026, I don’t see any reason at all why we couldn’t match Ultimate’s base roster size. That would be a longer development time than any previous Smash game, including Ultimate itself if I’m correct.

Although due to pre-release cycles I can't see a 2025 release for Smash 6 unless they are doing Everyone is Here again, as there wouldn't be enough time to do a Brawl and Smash 4-styled prerelease period.

 

[SubspaceJigglypuff]

And I'm not sure if that many assets from her are reusable from Palutena's guidance. Voice clips by and large get reused but voice clips are one thing, they'd still need to spend time and resources into tranferring and updating a character, and Palutena is a non-clone so she has no ease of development on top of the aforementioned issues.

Plus, stuff like Palutena's Guidance probably isn't done or decided on until every character in the base roster is already selected and (mostly) finished.

 

[Gengar84]

Although due to pre-release cycles I can't see a 2025 release for Smash 6 unless they are doing Everyone is Here again, as there wouldn't be enough time to do a Brawl and Smash 4-styled prerelease period.

All the more reason to expect a larger roster if we’re not getting Smash until late next year. I think Sakurai realizes how big of an appeal the large roster is. It’s not purely the size of the roster that matters alone, but a larger roster means more variety and a higher chance that everyone will find at least a few characters to be excited about. A smaller roster doesn’t only mean more cuts, but it also severely limits what kind of newcomers we might get. I think most secondary third party characters like Zero, Shadow, or Chun-Li are basically off the table at that point.

 

[SMAASH! Puppy]

All the more reason to expect a larger roster if we’re not getting Smash until late next year. I think Sakurai realizes how big of an appeal the large roster is. It’s not purely the size of the roster that matters alone, but a larger roster means more variety and a higher chance that everyone will find at least a few characters to be excited about. A smaller roster doesn’t only mean more cuts, but it also severely limits what kind of newcomers we might get. I think most secondary third party characters like Zero, Shadow, or Chun-Li are basically off the table at that point.

Actually, I think the 1st parties suffer more than 3rd parties. If the 3rd party character stays, another from that series is fair game, whereas if a 1st party from a series with a small amount of characters gets any cuts at all, they pretty much can't get any newcomers since their bases are no longer covered, and adding another character from a smaller series that already has one is more difficult to justify.

 

[Gengar84]

Actually, I think the 1st parties suffer more than 3rd parties. If the 3rd party character stays, another from that series is fair game, whereas if a 1st party from a series with a small amount of characters gets any cuts at all, they pretty much can't get any newcomers since their bases are no longer covered, and adding another character from a smaller series that already has one is more difficult to justify.

That’s certainly possible but I think you have to keep in mind that Smash is still primarily a Nintendo crossover with guest fighters. I’m not sure if they’d cut mostly first party characters but leave the third party ones. Part of the reason why EiH was so difficult was the licensing involved. Plus, I think they’d still want the roster to favor first party over third party. A larger roster gives us plenty of room for both.

 

[Hadokeyblade]

If Sakurai continues to work on Smash there's a good chance Joker and Terry come back, since those were his specific picks.

I hope they adjust the Mementos stage to include the extra party members added in sequel stories

 

[SMAASH! Puppy]

That’s certainly possible but I think you have to keep in mind that Smash is still primarily a Nintendo crossover with guest fighters. I’m not sure if they’d cut mostly first party characters but leave the third party ones. Part of the reason why EiH was so difficult was the licensing involved. Plus, I think they’d still want the roster to favor first party over third party. A larger roster gives us plenty of room for both.

Yeah, but you're talking about newcomers from the 3rd party series that are highly likely to stick around. If you were thinking a character from Bayonetta or Persona or something, then yeah, that's probably not happening. Though that does come with the "if" of them not sticking around. I really don't know what's happening with the 3rd parties aside from being fairly confident in Sonic, Pac-Man, Mega Man, and Street Fighter sticking around.

In the case of Mega Man, I could see the blue bomber getting replaced by X or Zero. Final Fantasy could also get characters not from VII instead of Cloud since it's got a rotating cast.

 

[Gengar84]

If Sakurai continues to work on Smash there's a good chance Joker and Terry come back, since those were his specific picks.

I hope they adjust the Mementos stage to include the extra party members added in sequel stories

That would be cool. I’m actually not familiar with the bottom character. Is he from the handheld Q game? I know that game had a similar Chibi art style.

Yeah, but you're talking about newcomers from the 3rd party series that are highly likely to stick around. If you were thinking a character from Bayonetta or Persona or something, then yeah, that's probably not happening. Though that does come with the "if" of them not sticking around. I really don't know what's happening with the 3rd parties aside from being fairly confident in Sonic, Pac-Man, Mega Man, and Street Fighter sticking around.

In the case of Mega Man, I could see the blue bomber getting replaced by X or Zero. Final Fantasy could also get characters not from VII instead of Cloud since it's got a rotating cast.

I’d love Zero or X and actually prefer them to classic Mega Man but I’m not sure if that’s something Smash would do. Smash tends to favor the original game, though there are some exceptions like Cloud and Joker. I feel like Finsl Fantasy VII is too beloved to swap Cloud out for someone like Terra or Clive, especially since the FFVII remakes are still ongoing. I don’t really have any idea what’s going to happen either, I’m just going with what my gut is telling me.

 

[Hadokeyblade]

That would be cool. I’m actually not familiar with the bottom character. Is he from the handheld Q game? I know that game had a similar Chibi art style.

He's Toshiro from the tactics game.

He's a young politician who got mixed up in phantom thief shenanigans.

 

[Louie G.]

Palutena doesn't quite strike hard in these categories (even among the most requested ones - as from my understanding it's most that she was very expected rather than very requested).

Your opinion on Palutena is fine, I’ve got my disagreements but I mostly want to focus on this bit. Because it’s an easy assumption to make, but it’s not true.

As someone who was very active here and in the community during Smash 4 speculation, Palutena really was that popular. At the same time, she was highly expected. These things didn’t really contradict one another, a similar phenomenon happened with Little Mac. Our preferences just overlapped nicely with Smash’s own here.

Palutena was one of four newcomers whose popularity towered over the others, earning the “Elite Four” label. She shared this space with Little Mac, Ridley and King K. Rool… pretty heavy hitters. Although Palutena is technically an old character, she notably feels like the one here that isn’t legacy-influenced. Instead her standout appearance in Uprising a few years prior won her a flurry of new fans, and it’s not hard to understand why. Honestly kind of impressive to achieve this - nowadays we have a pretty solid wedge stuck between those who are more relevant and expected, and those massively popular fan picks thriving off nostalgia and legacy. Palutena managed to bridge that gap.

Here’s an old graphic I have on hand from the old Rate Their Chances thread, informed by each character’s “Want” score. It’s not “Elite Four” but its close - Mega Man was promptly retired from the crew after E3 and Mewtwo was deemed the Elite Four’s “Champion”.

Assuming this is an ordered list, Palutena was actually outperforming Little Mac and Ridley at the time. Probably not in sheer popularity but I suppose in “agreeability”. Nearly everyone liked her.

Is she as popular right this very moment as she was in 2013? Probably not, but once upon a time she was on top of the food chain. I don’t think all those people who wanted her in the game stopped loving her, anyway. I definitely haven’t, and I feel like among those who Smash introduced to her for the first time she’s grown into quite the prestigious and fun character in her own right. Not quite saying she’s a surefire lock to return but she is a genuinely popular character.

 

[BuckleyTim]

Maybe it's just because I completely missed the boat on Uprising (heard lefties would struggle without a peripheral and just tuned out the game as a result) but it still surprises me how well-regarded palutena was in the pre-4 days.

Maybe it's also because I genuinely hate fighting her as my main (Terry). Lady has every base covered if you're playing her well, it's Sol guilty gear levels of miserable to figure out the gameplan I swear

 

[smashkirby]

If we can move away from cuts/Ult. DX for the idk-how-many-eth time, let's talk characters that have been gone for a while. Not "retro" characters specifically, but any smaller/one-off character/franchise that's been gone for 10+ years.

What are some characters who you'd like to make a comeback with a redesign like Pit did in Brawl? How would you go about redesigning them?

I think this'll differ pretty wildly from person to person, so I think it'd make for a fun topic.

For me, I'd like to see characters like Muddy Mole and the Prince of Sable, but I'd actually keep their looks as faithful as possible.

Characters who I would change would be the Urban Champion and Barbara the Bat. For UC, I'd much prefer they make an interpretation based on his sprite rather than the key art for the game. For Barbara, I'd probably update her face/hairstyle and give more bat-like features like large ears and bat wings since she lacks them. The latter of which also serving in game play to give her multiple jumps.

I guess... Mach Rider, Excitebiker, Urban Champ, Solar Striker, and Mike Jones?

I'd like to mention that I'd like for Mach Rider's redesign in particular to be based on the design we saw them with in Melee, and the OG red-white-and-blue color scheme would be an alt. costume.

The thing with other characters I have in mind is that I think it'd be more interesting to see them in Smash in a way where it feels like they were just ripped straight out of their game, but you know... they'd be in 3D.

For example, I had a discussion with someone here (I don't remember who at the moment) about Michael Anderson from Battle Clash into Smash Bros., and I came up with the idea that his 90's future-punk could be featured in Smash Bros. wholesale as I thought 'modernizing' him would do him a disservice.

A similar thought came to my mind for folks like Naomi Moriha and Jonathan Raimi who I feel have designs that don't come off as 'dated', so they could be added to Smash as-is.

I used TierMaker again, and here’s a thing I made with it for what I’d like to see in the next game.
View attachment 398659

Ngl, I really vibe with this roster! A bit disappointed that Valkyrie, Tifa. Rex, Goroh, Urban Champ, Excitebiker, Sukapon, Prince Sable, Saki, Barbara, Dillon, and Nakoruru are ATs, but you can't win them all I guess.

What I think happens: No cuts, Noah and Mio are added as separate characters, Noah sharing a bit from Shulk and Mio being completely unique.

What I want: Pythra get replaced with Rex and Pyra like it was meant to be, Noah and Mio are in as a pair as well, and Elma is there too.

Hot take, but your "want" is legit sort of my dream Xenoblade roster here... I assume Mythra is part of that Rex/Pyra team?

OK, just out of curiosity…

How do you guys feel about scrolling stages?

No issue with them whatsoever, really. Heck, seeing how recent stage mods people have made usually result in a Battlefield/F.D. reskin has made me appreciate them even more, honestly.

I don't outright hate any stage. But I don't like very many scrolling stages. I guess my favorite would be... Orbital Gate Assault actually.

That one is so crazy, that I have to love it.

When I tell you how bummed out I was that the first Star Fox stage to finally beat out Corneria as my favorite S.F. stage got cut after one game...

 

[SuperSonicFlyer]

About those people bombarding Sakurai with Smash character requests on Twitter or X…

They probably don’t realize that, assuming development for Smash 6 has begun if that is Sakurai’s project, that playable characters would be decided far in advance long ago during the beginning of planning to for the game. In fact, with that, I would say they don’t realize that “slots” are not taken up, especially since the characters are decided long before the reveal of the game, so saying that characters take up slots, especially after a game like Smash is revealed to the public, is inaccurate. Sakurai is not going to add more characters beyond what is planned at the beginning of development without good reason.

 

[PersonAngelo53]

If Sakurai continues to work on Smash there's a good chance Joker and Terry come back, since those were his specific picks.

I hope they adjust the Mementos stage to include the extra party members added in sequel stories

Speaking of Sakurai’s character pick I wonder who would be his character picks for the next smash game?

 

[DarthEnderX]

Do we know that though? Sakurai said he didn’t think they’d be able to pull off “Everyone is Here” again, not that the roster would be drastically smaller if I remember correctly. The huge variety of characters to play is a big selling point in Smash. The crossover appeal is diminished the farther we scale back the roster.

Even if Sakurai can't pull off EiH2, I'm not expecting Smash 6 to have fewer characters at launch than Ultimate did.

That'd be going backwards, and I just don't see Sakurai doing that.

 

[Gengar84]

Speaking of Sakurai’s character pick I wonder who would be his character picks for the next smash game?

Yeah, that’s a good question but I feel like it’s almost impossible to predict. I can only guess based on the types of characters he’s seemed to gravitate towards before but I really have no clue.

If I’m going to throw out a wild guess, I feel like Jinx seems like the type of character Sakurai would like. She actually has a lot of the same appeal Joker did going into Ultimate. She’s a huge breakout character in pop culture who no one really expects due to weaker Nintendo ties. She’s also got a similar rebellious energy to Joker and her story is just as captivating and emotional as the Persona games. Jinx has a vibrant and colorful design that would really stand out in Smash. She’d also give us another major female character as well as a villain/antihero depending on which version they go with. Smash doesn’t have a female villain or antihero yet so she’d bring a lot of variety to the series. The question is whether Sakurai is familiar enough with her or her series since it’s a Western property.

 

[BuckleyTim]

Jinx is a weird one for me because while I'd say she definitely defines what league of legends is for most of the public consciousness... That iteration basically originated from the cartoon, and not the games. I know that version of her (along with some other characters) was backported to league (did they overwrite the original versions of those characters? I'm still fuzzy on the details) and eventually 2xko, but I still think it'd be weird if the character that'd get into smash to represent League... was the one that got in mostly on merits that were related to an animated adaption rather than the game itself.

I guess that'd be like representing cyberpunk with am edge runners character but guilty gear is literally doing that for some forsaken reason so what do I know...

 

[SMAASH! Puppy]

Jinx is a weird one for me because while I'd say she definitely defines what league of legends is for most of the public consciousness... That iteration basically originated from the cartoon, and not the games. I know that version of her (along with some other characters) was backported to league (did they overwrite the original versions of those characters? I'm still fuzzy on the details) and eventually 2xko, but I still think it'd be weird if the character that'd get into smash to represent League... was the one that got in mostly on merits that were related to an animated adaption rather than the game itself.

I guess that'd be like representing cyberpunk with am edge runners character but guilty gear is literally doing that for some forsaken reason so what do I know...

Arcane is 100% cannon to League of Legends now to the point where they're trying to kind of but not really retcon basically everything to make it work.

 

[Gengar84]

Jinx is a weird one for me because while I'd say she definitely defines what league of legends is for most of the public consciousness... That iteration basically originated from the cartoon, and not the games. I know that version of her (along with some other characters) was backported to league (did they overwrite the original versions of those characters? I'm still fuzzy on the details) and eventually 2xko, but I still think it'd be weird if the character that'd get into smash to represent League... was the one that got in mostly on merits that were related to an animated adaption rather than the game itself.

I guess that'd be like representing cyberpunk with am edge runners character but guilty gear is literally doing that for some forsaken reason so what do I know...

I never really followed League much before Arcane but I feel like she was already really popular among its champions before the show. I feel like Smash would probably combine elements of her in game persona with her Arcane persona. From what I understand, Arcane was originally not meant to be canon but it blew up so much that they later decided to work it into the canon lore. Jinx’s appearance in 2XKO seems to combine elements from both for her visual design but they still lean more towards the Harley Quinn-esque persona from the games. The mainline games are actually adding her Arcane persona and outfits (at ridiculously inflated prices but that’s beside the point). I feel like Smash might lean more into her Arcane persona since that’s what made her such a breakout hit in the general public but still keep a lot of what made her wacky and fun before.

 

[Watuna4343]

Even if Sakurai can't pull off EiH2, I'm not expecting Smash 6 to have fewer characters at launch than Ultimate did.

That'd be going backwards, and I just don't see Sakurai doing that.

That wouldn't be going backwards though. Not if they add a ton of single-player content (which was sorely missing from Ultimate) in addition to a chunk of newcomers there's already a lot differentiating Smash 6 from Ultimate. (and as a matter of fact, the less vets return, the more newcomers will have the opportunity to debut - a balance between bringing enough veterans and having enough newcomers debut is what will most definitely happen). And that's without Sakurai going on record how difficult Smash Ultimate was to put together, even for base game alone, even if the next game has the same number of character it won't be any easier and neither will it be much different from Ultimate as the content will be pretty similar at the end

 

[PersonAngelo53]

Yeah, that’s a good question but I feel like it’s almost impossible to predict. I can only guess based on the types of characters he’s seemed to gravitate towards before but I really have no clue.

If I’m going to throw out a wild guess, I feel like Jinx seems like the type of character Sakurai would like. She actually has a lot of the same appeal Joker did going into Ultimate. She’s a huge breakout character in pop culture who no one really expects due to weaker Nintendo ties. She’s also got a similar rebellious energy to Joker and her story is just as captivating and emotional as the Persona games. She’s also got a vibrant and colorful design that would really stand out in Smash. She’d also give us another major female character as well as a villain/antihero depending on which version they go with. Smash doesn’t have a female villain or antihero yet so she’d bring a lot of variety to the series. The question is whether Sakurai is familiar enough with her or her series since it’s a Western property.

Yeah Jinx could work as one of Sakurai’s picks.

I have a few guesses of his picks of my own as well:

A phantasy star online character: Based on that he has some history with the people that made those games.

Adol Christin from Ys or a Nihon Falcom character: Company and game series with a big legacy and Sakurai has talked about the Ys games before.

13 sentinels Aegis rim character: Sakurai really praised this game when it came out and I find it really odd this game had like the last spirits for smash ultimate. Maybe Sakurai had some interest to do more with this characters in smash.

 

[SMAASH! Puppy]

I never really followed League much before Arcane but I feel like she was already really popular among its champions before Arcane.

IIRC League of Legend's most iconic characters/mascots are and have been Ahri, Jinx, Lux, Ms. Fortune, Ashe, Braum, and Teemo. They also seem to push Darius a lot, and Ekko has been super popular as well.

I feel like Smash would probably combine elements of her in game persona with her Arcane persona. From what I understand, Arcane was originally not meant to be canon but it blew up so much that they later decided to work it into the canon lore. Jinx’s appearance in 2XKO seems to combine elements from both for her visual design but they still lean more towards the Harley Quinn-esque persona from the games. The mainline games are actually adding her Arcane persona and outfits (at ridiculously inflated prices but that’s beside the point). I feel like Smash might lean more into her Arcane persona since that’s what made her such a breakout hit in the general public but still keep a lot of what made her wacky and fun before.

I actually think they'd do something similar to 2XKO since Arcane Jinx is super nuanced and Smash isn't very good at portraying characters like that.

 

[Gengar84]

Here’s a question for anyone familiar with League of Legends: How do you think Smash will handle the outfits if Jinx or another character makes it in? League is famous for its huge variety of alternate skins for their characters but they also charge for them. Do you think they’d give the okay for Smash to use some of the alts for free? For Jinx specifically, I could see them going with her normal Arcane design as a default and her hooded design from the second season as an alt. Her default League outfit might be a little too revealing for Smash but the other two are great designs and are getting a ton of merchandise so fans will be familiar with both.

As far as mainline vs Arcane portrayal, I do think it will be a mix of both but I can see them leaning in either direction. I did make a moveset for Jinx a while back based on her Arcane character so I do think it could work. What I like about how she fights in Arcane is that she’s not afraid to get in close for melee attacks as well as use projectiles. I think she’s entirely projectile based in League.

There are some minor spoilers from the show in her taunts and victory animations but here’s what I came up with:

Spoiler

Jinx is a lightweight, glass cannon zoner style. She’s got really quick movement and melee attacks but some of her projectiles like the rocket (Fishbones) and chain gun (Pow Pow) have a slow startup.

Weak Attacks

Jab - a flurry of punches followed by a quick shot of her zap gun

Forward tilt - A pistol whip

Up tilt - a jumping knee strike

Down tilt - a spinning low kick

Smash Attacks

Forward smash - Fishbones - Similar to Samus’ power missile where Jinx pulls out her rocket launcher on her shoulder and fires a rocket forward. This is a bit stronger than the power missile but has a longer startup. She can also perform this in the air and the rocket fires diagonally downward.

Up Smash - Jinx loads her rocket launcher with fireworks and shoots it diagonally upwards. The fireworks are a multi hit attack with three explosions

Down smash - A melee attack with the barrel of her chain gun swinging it diagonally downward

Specials

Neutral special - Pow pow - Jinx fires her chain gun and can aim slightly upward or downward. The range is about the same as Mega Man’s jab and lasts about as long as Charizard’s flamethrower before it overheats and has to recharge. This acts a lot like Ivysaur’s bullet seed but aimed horizontally instead of vertically.

Forward special - Zap! - Jinx fires a quick shot from her energy pistol which causes a slight stun effect like Zero Suit Samus’ blaster

Back special - Zap! - Jinx fires two shots from her pistol backwards without looking. The first is straight back and the second is diagonally upwards.

Up special - Get Excited- Similar to Lucario’s Extreme speed attack with a pink trail. Rather than the attack itself dealing damage, she is capable of performing an attack immediately afterwards

Down special - Flame Chompers - Jinx sets down a timed grenade that hops around for about five seconds before exploding. If an enemy touches them, it latches on to them. She can set three of these at once but each one placed increases the cooldown for the next one.

Aerials and Running Attack

Neutral air - Jinx pulls out her wrench and performs a quick spinning backhand attack with it

Forward air - a jumping axe kick which can spike

Back air - Jinx performs a spinning back kick

Up air - Jinx performs a somersault kick similar to Captain Falcon

Down aerial - Another move similar to Captain Falcon where Jinx performs a double foot stomp

Running attack - Jinx performs a running knee strike

Throws and Pummelt

Pummel - Jinx strikes her opponent with her knee

Forward throw - Jinx latches a flame chopper onto her opponent and kicks them forward

Back throw - Similar to Falco’s throw where she tosses her opponent backwards and fires two shots from her pistol

Up throw - Jinx performs a heavy uppercut launching her opponent upwards

Down throw where- Jinx tackles her opponent to the ground and hits them with a flurry of punches

Running attack - Jinx performs a running knee strike

Dodges

Jinx’s dodge roll is a pink shimmer infused teleport similar to Mewtwo’s

Her spot dodge has her mostly standing in place but shifting her head to the side

Final Smash

Final Smash - This is her super from 2XKO where she summons a giant pink monkey turret which fires a super mega death rocket that acts similarly to Olimar’s final smash

Taunts

Jinx says “Here I am, your big fat hero!” as she raises her arm in a heroic pose

Jinx has a mental breakdown and hunches over grabbing her head and says “Shut up, shut up, SHUT UP!!!” and scratched graffiti of haunting scenes from her past appearance around her

Jinx laughs maniacally

Victory Animations

The first victory animation shows Jinx surfing through the air on top of her Super Mega Death Rocket. This is a reference to the opening of her music video “Get Jinxed”.

The second victory animation shows Jinx pull over a huge chair with her name spray painted across the back and stares at the camera hauntingly. This is a reference to her fully embracing her identity as Jinx in the final scene of Arcane season 1.

 

[RileyXY1]

Here’s a question for anyone familiar with League of Legends: How do you think Smash will handle the outfits if Jinx or another character makes it in? League is famous for its huge variety of alternate skins for their characters but they also charge for them. Do you think they’d give the okay for Smash to use some of the alts for free?

For Jinx specifically, I could see them going with her normal Arcane design as a default and her hooded design from the second season as an alt. Her default League outfit might be a little too revealing for Smash but the other two are great designs and are getting a ton of merchandise so fans will be familiar with both.

It would be upsetting if Riot forces Smash to paywall all the alternate costumes just to please them.

 

[DarthEnderX]

That wouldn't be going backwards though.

Yes it would.

Not if they add a ton of single-player content (which was sorely missing from Ultimate)

What are you talking about? WoL was a HUGE single-player mode.

and as a matter of fact, the less vets return, the more newcomers will have the opportunity to debut

Frankly, this is bull****. Creating a new character is, like, 10x as much work as just updating an old character. Every veteran you cut ≠ another newcomer.

 

[Louie G.]

I still think it'd be weird if the character that'd get into smash to represent League... was the one that got in mostly on merits that were related to an animated adaption rather than the game itself.

Well, it’s different than Edgerunners because Jinx at least comes directly from the games.

If Jinx is the most popular League character these days, I don’t think it matters much where that popularity came from. Certain Pokemon like Mewtwo and Lucario’s additions were guided heavily by their animated appearances. And with even Advent Children having some direct references in-game I’d say simply using Arcane as a frame of reference for Jinx’s modern popularity is fair game.

Who’s to say Smash wouldn’t base her more off the original game version of the character anyway? I think Smash would be more inclined to lean into that if anything, and as far as I can tell she’s still very much identifiable as the same character. I’m sure fans of the show wouldn’t be put off by her outfit being different, or something.

 

[SMAASH! Puppy]

Here’s a question for anyone familiar with League of Legends: How do you think Smash will handle the outfits if Jinx or another character makes it in? League is famous for its huge variety of alternate skins for their characters but they also charge for them. Do you think they’d give the okay for Smash to use some of the alts for free?

For Jinx specifically, I could see them going with her normal Arcane design as a default and her hooded design from the second season as an alt. Her default League outfit might be a little too revealing for Smash but the other two are great designs and are getting a ton of merchandise so fans will be familiar with both.

Yes. Smash is an entirely different entity from League, so having the skin designs there is very different. I wouldn't expect them to give her 7 of them instead of alternate costumes. As far as her default look goes, I'd imagine it'd be based off of her League of Legends design since Smash pays more attention to the games rather than the media surrounding them, but have one or both of her Arcane skins in League as a 2-4 of her alternate costumes for fanservice.

Speaking of, I think her original look will be modified, but I think it would be something like altering the top to look more like a vest, and adding leggings rather than throwing it out and defaulting to Arcane...but with leggings. OK the ESRB/CERO's aversion to thighs is really silly.

 

[DarthEnderX]

Anyway, here's a boss wishlist I made using Roster Maker.

Here's mine:

Since we’re discussing fan rosters, I might as well share mine again.

Well, if you insist...

Spoiler

 

[SMAASH! Puppy]

I do have to say though that the best League of Legends character for Smash remains Aurelion Sol.

'Cuz noone can argue with a giant space dragon.

 

[Gengar84]

Yes. Smash is an entirely different entity from League, so having the skin designs there is very different. I wouldn't expect them to give her 7 of them instead of alternate costumes. As far as her default look goes, I'd imagine it'd be based off of her League of Legends design since Smash pays more attention to the games rather than the media surrounding them, but have one or both of her Arcane skins in League as a 2-4 of her alternate costumes for fanservice.

Speaking of, I think her original look will be modified, but I think it would be something like altering the top to look more like a vest, and adding leggings rather than throwing it out and defaulting to Arcane...but with leggings. OK the ESRB/CERO's aversion to thighs is really silly.

I could see both happening, honestly. If Cloud can get both his default outfit from the games as well as an Advent Children alt, I see no reason why Jinx can’t have both as well. I’d love to see both her normal Arcane outfit and the hooded alt in Smash. Obviously, I don’t see Smash charging for alts for a single character unless that becomes a general thing like Mii outfits, I’m just wondering how many of her alts might make it in Smash. I feel like her default game design and her two Arcane outfits make the most sense.

I do have to say though that the best League of Legends character for Smash remains Aurelion Sol.

'Cuz noone can argue with a giant space dragon.

I’ve always really liked the designs of pretty much all the champions. Before watching Arcane, my two favorites were Kha’Zix and Nocturne. They’re still awesome looking but I know next to nothing about their lore.

 

[ninjahmos]

Yes it would.

What are you talking about? WoL was a HUGE single-player mode.

Yeah, but there was barely any story, and collecting Spirits, while cool at first, started to get boring pretty fast.

Frankly, this is bull****. Creating a new character is, like, 10x as much work as just updating an old character.

So is bringing everyone back by doing EiH2 and creating new characters, if not even more.

 

[SMAASH! Puppy]

I feel like her default game design and her two Arcane outfits make the most sense.

I think this is the most likely scenario, but if they were to pick 7 skins, my guess would be:

1. Jinx (Default)
2. Arcane Enemy Jinx (I forgot she wears pants here so no alterations would be necessary)
3. Arcane Fractured Jinx
4. Odyssey Jinx
5. Project: Jinx
6. Battle Cat Jinx
7. Star Guardian Jinx (but with leggings)
8. Heartseeker or Cafe Cuties Jinx

The more that I look at these, the more I feel only the main and Arcane skins would be included since all of these other skins put the character in totally different contexts that might confuse Smash players as to what the character is all about, especially with some of them being cannon and some not.

She also doesn't have as many skins as I thought.

EDIT: Someone like Ahri might get more skins as alts since IIRC, she has a lot of skins that are just her in a cute outfit rather than successful reinventions of a character like most of Jinx's are.

 

[Gorgonzales]

What are you talking about? WoL was a HUGE single-player mode.

yeah bro it's so fun fighting pngs over and over and over and over and over for 30+ hours, truly a masterclass of a story mode because it's padded out meticulously crafted to be an engaging singleplayer experience that really takes advantage of smash being a crossover game

 

[Gengar84]

yeah bro it's so fun fighting pngs over and over and over and over and over for 30+ hours, truly a masterclass of a story mode because it's padded out meticulously crafted to be an engaging singleplayer experience that really takes advantage of smash being a crossover game

I think I agree with both of you here. Like Darth, I’m really hoping for a large roster again just so I can still have the chance to play as my favorite characters but I agree with you that World of Light was a really disappointing single player mode. Though, Smash 4’s (Wii U) was actually worse and didn’t have Everyone is Here. Considering that, there’s no guarantee we’ll get a good single player with less characters.

 

[SMAASH! Puppy]

You're also both probably right on World of Light as well. It's literally just padding with little to no story in it, and the way it's structured is painfully obviously a time saver, but it also probably took a while to make because of just how many Spirit battles there are.

 

[Swamp Sensei]

Personally I just think SSE was kinda lame outside of a few cutscenes and boss fights.