Official Next Smash - Speculation & Discussion Thread

[The Stoopid Unikorn]

It's still a fair question to ask since while Sheik may be biologically female (again, assuming magic isn't used to actually change her biology which had been the primary source of debate), the Sheik persona may identify as male regardless of Zelda being a woman.

I'd say she counts because Smash uses the female pronouns, but it's not an unreasonable question that warranted hostility.

Fair enough and I'm sorry for it.

Dark Samus is absolutely worth asking though. The Samus DNA might add some female stuff but Dark Samus is still Metroid Prime and might be too busy spreading Phazon to think about gender identity

 

[SubspaceJigglypuff]

Continuing on the topic of female fighters, what is everyone’s opinions on the chances for the ones currently on the roster returning? From what I’ve seen, I think the majority assumes that at least Samus, the Melee princesses, Mii Fighters (Gunner does use a female default), Isabelle, Inkling, and Aegis are likely returns. Here are the fighters I’m considering, but feel free to add characters with female alts like Villager, Robin, Corrin, and Byleth.

Spoiler: Returning odds

: Outside of the untouchable Mario/Link/Pikachu/Kirby quartet, one of the safest possible characters. No realistic scenario where she would get cut.
: Almost guaranteed. I think there would need to be 15 or less characters for her to even be considered for removal, any more than that and the idea's unthinkable.
: Same as Peach.
: Probably one of the lowest priority single fighter 1P universes (2nd lowest for me), but I expect all of them to be prioritized to return, so I think they're amongst the riskiest "safe" fighters. I'd expect them to be in danger with 21-25 first party cuts, but I feel that's slightly outside of realistic cut bounds.
: I would be shocked if she were prioritized over Ridley as the defacto second Metroid character, so by default she's number 3. And with my vison for Smash 6's vet priority, which I anticipate to favor preserving as many 1P universes as they can, I have a hard time seeing a third Metroid rep get priority over any, so I place her in the lower 15-20 of the 1P cast; this puts her in "realistic cut" territory, though her seniority keeps her from being too far down.
: See Ice Climbers.
: See Zero Suit Samus; I think she's the safest non-core Mario fighter (so 5th overall, or 7th if you count Yoshi and Wario), but as mentioned above, the envisioned goal of preserving as much on the 1P side as they can makes me doubt any non-core fighters will be too high up; she's at around the top of my bottom 20, so she is in "realistic cut" range, but only with my max realistic 20 1P cuts. I give her a 50/50.
: Slightly held back by needing assets from other fighters to function, but if 40 or so first parties return, that would include all of them, so at that point, why not include Miis and cash in on their DLC? I only see them getting cut if the roster is under 40 fighters or so, so very unlikely cuts imo.
: A true 50/50; at the very top of my bottom 20, so I see her either as one of the last finished veterans or one of the last cuts. Not safe, but fairly likely to stick around; amongst the safest "unsafe" characters.
: I would have though she's a surefire return, but recently, I've come around on the idea of Joker being the secondary Sega returnee in base instead, and I'm not sure they'd do three.
: She would be part of a modern OG 12. You cannot escape her. Give in to woomy.
: Same as Peach and Zelda.
: See Ice Climbers and Wii Fit Trainer.
/: As the de facto secondary reps of the currently active Xenoblade, they seem sure to return outside the fantasy scenario of the roster being under Melee sized.
/ /: Glorified alts tied to characters who will never realistically be cut. It'd require the entire concept of echos being terminated to purge them methinks.
EDIT: I forgot Sheik. lol. just look at ZSS and Rosalina.

 

[Pupp135]

Spoiler: Returning odds

: Outside of the untouchable Mario/Link/Pikachu/Kirby quartet, one of the safest possible characters. No realistic scenario where she would get cut.
: Almost guaranteed. I think there would need to be 15 or less characters for her to even be considered for removal, any more than that and the idea's unthinkable.
: Same as Peach.
: Probably one of the lowest priority single fighter 1P universes (2nd lowest for me), but I expect all of them to be prioritized to return, so I think they're amongst the riskiest "safe" fighters. I'd expect them to be in danger with 21-25 first party cuts, but I feel that's slightly outside of realistic cut bounds.
: I would be shocked if she were prioritized over Ridley as the defacto second Metroid character, so by default she's number 3. And with my vison for Smash 6's vet priority, which I anticipate to favor preserving as many 1P universes as they can, I have a hard time seeing a third Metroid rep get priority over any, so I place her in the lower 15-20 of the 1P cast; this puts her in "realistic cut" terriority, though her senority keeps her from being too far down.
: See Ice Climbers.
: See Zero Suit Samus; I think she's the safest non-core Mario fighter (so 5th overall, or 7th if you count Yoshi and Wario), but as mentioned above, the envisioned goal of preserving as much on the 1P side as they can makes me doubt any non-core fighters will be too high up; she's at around the top of my bottom 20, so I could see her getting cut, but only with my max realistic 20 1P cuts. I give her a 50/50.
: Slightly held back by needing assets from other fighters to function, but if 40 or so first parties return, that would include all of them, so at that point, why not include Miis and cash in on their DLC? I only see them getting cut if the roster is under 40 fighters or so, so very unlikely cuts imo.
: A true 50/50; at the very top of my bottom 20, so I see her either as one of the last finished veterans or one of the last cuts. Not safe, but fairly likely to stick around; amongst the safest "unsafe" characters.
: I would have though she's a surefire return, but recently, I've come around on the idea of Joker being the secondary Sega returnee in base instead, and I'm not sure they'd do three.
: She would be part of a modern OG 12. You cannot escape her. Give in to woomy.
: Same as Peach and Zelda.
: See Ice Climbers and Wii Fit Trainer.
/: As the de facto secondary reps of the currently active Xenoblade, they seem sure to return outside the fantasy scenario of the roster being Melee sized.
/ /: Glorified alts tied to characters who will never realistically be cut. It'd require the entire concept of echos being terminated to purge them methinks.

Out of curiosity, which first party IP do you expect to be the lowest priority?

 

[SubspaceJigglypuff]

Out of curiosity, which first party IP do you expect to be the lowest priority?

: Mostly because he doesn't carry much with him; in a crunch, you could just slash him quick and move on.

I don't expect him to be cut, but if he does, just blame the devs for cucking him out of extra content. (he should at least have a stage man)

 

[Thegameandwatch]

which first party IP do you expect to be the lowest priority?

Probably Wii Fit if it’s not a retro (80s/90s) series.

 

[GoldenYuiitusin]

: Mostly because he doesn't carry much with him; in a crunch, you could just slash him quick and move on.

I don't expect him to be cut, but if he does, just blame the devs for cucking him out of extra content. (he should at least have a stage man)

He once had his own floating isle.

Blame .

 

[The Stoopid Unikorn]

He once had his own floating isle.

Blame .

The worst character in Smash history but a damn good villain.

 

[Louie G.]

: Mostly because he doesn't carry much with him; in a crunch, you could just slash him quick and move on.

I don't expect him to be cut, but if he does, just blame the devs for cucking him out of extra content. (he should at least have a stage man)

This has been my mentality too, but I'm willing to be nice to ROB in that I think dynamically speaking it's nice to have a more conventional "robot" archetype. He stands out on the roster. But yeah, out of every series in the game if ROB / Gyromite went three games without a stage I think this is the one they deem the least viable for expanding on, and carrying the least back with him.

Game & Watch lives off legacy (if only one of these guys survives, it is easily him) and Duck Hunt can start dipping into Hogan's Alley and Wild Gunman for more supplement. I'm assuming this reasoning may be why Ice Climbers are lower hierarchy as well, although personally I've been feeling like they'll come back.

 

[Pupp135]

: Mostly because he doesn't carry much with him; in a crunch, you could just slash him quick and move on.

I don't expect him to be cut, but if he does, just blame the devs for cucking him out of extra content. (he should at least have a stage man)

R.O.B. is definitely one of the leading first parties that I could see being a lower priority depending on how surprise fighters(Mr. Game & Watch, R.O.B., Duck Hunt) are approached next game. The only one that feels safe is Mr. Game & Watch, which could be attributed to his seniority since Melee.

Probably Wii Fit if it’s not a retro (80s/90s) series.

I also have Wii Fit as my lowest priority at the moment barring the surprise fighters, which are also toss-ups for me barring Mr. Game & Watch.

 

[Gorgonzales]

Out of curiosity, which first party IP do you expect to be the lowest priority?

Probably Wii Fit.

 

[The Stoopid Unikorn]

Out of curiosity, which first party IP do you expect to be the lowest priority?

Mario

 

[Godzillathewonderdog]

I wouldn’t be too heart broken to see the characters whose “series” only have one game getting the axe.

Especially when that one game sucks.

 

[Dukefire]

He once had his own floating isle.

Blame .

Ah yes, the saddest moment in Smash Bros Brawl. The last of his kind.

 

[TheFirstPoppyBro]

I generally think first parties that are alone in heading a series are likely safe. Granted patterns could change depending on how far-reaching cuts are, but outside of the Icies in Smash 4 due to technical restraints, we've never lost an entire first-party universe playable-wise.

I do feel like ROB would probably be the lowest priority of those selections, though. He has the least to lose out on if it doesn't work out and his moveset is relatively basic, all things considered.

 

[Perkilator]

I dunno about you, but I wouldn't want to see R.O.B. cut while remaining the only playable character without a stage.

 

[Gorgonzales]

It can't be easy being R.O.B.

You save the entire video game industry, and what's the thanks people give you? Constantly asking for your removal from the video game hall of fame.

(Not talking about this thread specifically, just what I've seen elsewhere.)

 

[The Stoopid Unikorn]

It can't be easy being R.O.B.

You save the entire video game industry, and what's the thanks people give you? Constantly asking for your removal from the video game hall of fame.

(Not talking about this thread specifically, just what I've seen elsewhere.)

That's the proof that he's a true hero who did it for the sake of the industry rather than seeking fame. He would be an obscure and forgotten relic of the past were it not for Smash, and he doesn't mind because he knows his feats.

o7

 

[SharkLord]

I've been thinking a bit about stages. Mario's stage list is bloated by 1-1 grasslands and doesn't cover the full range of biomes in his series. With Super Nintendo Land, we got a grassland section, but also a desert, and ice land, Peach's Castle, and Bowser's Castle. Keep a couple more distinct stages like Isle Delfino and New Donk City, and that seems like a pretty decent lineup.

The other series I was thinking of was Zelda. I believe Zelda has a pretty consistent lineup of areas - Hyrule proper, the forest (usually with Koroks), the desert (nowadays associated with Gerudo), Death Mountain and the Gorons, and a watery stage for the Zora, either a swamp or the sea, I think. Zelda in Smash has Gerudo Valley and then not much else; Usually, they just grab whatever stage was used the most in the hot new game's marketing. It covers a decent amount of Zelda games, but a lot of recurring biomes are overlooked as a result.

 

[DarthEnderX]

what is everyone’s opinions on the chances for the ones currently on the roster returning?

*Does this even count? -

Dark Samus isn't some kind of Samus clone. It's just a Metroid in one of her old suits. So it's no more gendered than any other Metroid.

And it doesn't talk, so it's not like it identifies as female.

 

[SMAASH! Puppy]

It can't be easy being R.O.B.

You save the entire video game industry, and what's the thanks people give you? Constantly asking for your removal from the video game hall of fame.

(Not talking about this thread specifically, just what I've seen elsewhere.)

Yeah most people seem to really downplay the importance of having characters like R.O.B. simply because they haven't been relevant in a couple decades. Y'know...despite that being the reason why they got in in the first place.

*Does this even count? -

Dark Samus: Canonically she is genetically identical to Samus, so she's therefore female despite that making no sense at all; It's a being of pure energy. What genetics?

Sheik: I dunno man, even Smash can't make up its mind about this.

 

[Dukefire]

Well, it will be another month until we get official info on Switch 2.

That is, if we can hold against the fool's jokes on April 1st before 2nd.

 

[Louie G.]

Dark Samus isn't some kind of Samus clone. It's just a Metroid in one of her old suits. So it's no more gendered that any other Metroid.

And it doesn't talk, so it's not like it identifies as female.

This was my mindset too, but Smash consistently uses feminine pronouns for Dark Samus in trophies and Palutena's Guidance. I usually don't refer to them as any particular gender but Smash, and by extension Sakurai, seems to consider her / them / it a female character? I unno.

 

[Arcanir]

Metroid canonically refers to Dark Samus as female in all instances (interviews, scans, lore, etc.), even her brainwashed disciples (who she does influence as proven by their logs) use 'she' and 'her' when talking about her. So as far as the main series and Smash is concerned she's female.

And it's not the first time a character that should be genderless is referred to as a particular gender, especially in sci-fi. Dark Samus being female when she's a phazon being given flesh isn't that much different from the many robots or alien species that reproduce asexually getting called male or female in other stories.

 

[Dukefire]

Dark Samus was born via Phazon Suit and managed to snag a piece of Samus's DNA at its rebirth.

Still, she is a metroid prime Samus fought on Tallon IV, but mutated to survive on Phazon.

 

[Ivander]

Hey Nintendo? Where's the newest Metroid Prime 4 trailer so we can discuss the newest Sylux theories instead of fictional alien genetics and how do they work?

But seriously, when are we going to get more Metroid Prime 4 previews? Really hope we aren't waiting until the Switch 2 reveal Direct.

 

[TheFirstPoppyBro]

Hey Nintendo? Where's the newest Metroid Prime 4 trailer so we can discuss the newest Sylux theories instead of fictional alien genetics and how do they work?

But seriously, when are we going to get more Metroid Prime 4 previews? Really hope we aren't waiting until the Switch 2 reveal Direct.

Thinking Switch 2 Direct or just a random reveal on Twitter/Youtube. I know people have been saying we should get one last Switch Direct first, but considering all we know is coming is Xenoblade X this month and Prime 4 sometime this year (alongside Legends ZA but Pokemon always does their own thing for Pokemon Day), I don't expect that.

 

[Arcanir]

Hey Nintendo? Where's the newest Metroid Prime 4 trailer so we can discuss the newest Sylux theories instead of fictional alien genetics and how do they work?

But seriously, when are we going to get more Metroid Prime 4 previews? Really hope we aren't waiting until the Switch 2 reveal Direct.

Funny you mention Sylux when we're talking about this because we actually don't know their gender. They carefully tiptoe around it and even in Smash they use 'it' for the hunter.

Surprised there isn't more speculation considering their identity is meant to be a mystery.

And considering March seems quiet, April may be our best bet.

 

[Ivander]

Funny you mention Sylux when we're talking about this because we actually don't know their gender. They carefully tiptoe around it and even in Smash they use 'it' for the hunter.

Surprised there isn't more speculation considering their identity is meant to be a mystery.

And considering March seems quiet, April may be our best bet.

Kinda why I mentioned Sylux. And I figure there will be more speculation regarding them when we get a new trailer that gives more details about the plot.

And March seems like it will be a quiet month just after 1 day. What a month, huh?

 

[NintenRob]

: Mostly because he doesn't carry much with him; in a crunch, you could just slash him quick and move on.

I don't expect him to be cut, but if he does, just blame the devs for cucking him out of extra content. (he should at least have a stage man)

Arguably having no stage attached to him makes him easier to bring back, less work than Duck Hunt

 

[Watuna4343]

Putting aside that we don't know the comparative size of the next Smash's roster to Ultimate's and we don't know how many third parties will or will not be cut, you're projecting your opinions onto others without evidence. If no one from Smash's audience would go for a second Mega Man rep, why do videos advocating for a second Mega Man rep or, in the case of the X mod, taking active steps to add to add additional Mega Man content like this exist?

Spoiler

There's more to Smash characters than just being "franchise reps". Pokemon, Fire Emblem, Castlevania, and ARMS are basically the only situations where Sakurai desired a character from a specific series and filled in the spot in later. Otherwise, characters are basically always added for their intrinsic identity rather than just being "Mario Character #6" or "Sonic Character #2".

I don't see how I am projecting my opinion onto others, that's a bit uncalled for, I just said why I really doubt that X/Zero will be in the game. It actually feels more like you are trying to project your opinion onto others by bringing up how they're actually very popular when there are so many other 3rd party fighters that dwarf them in popularity and also we gotta see what Sakurai has looked for in 3rd parties so far. All the cases were either heavily successful or iconic characters either legacy-wise or at the time of them being chosen or heavily popular characters that showed true popularity in the official polls. Like given, all the precedence there is for choosing 3rd party characters, I really don't see how they would have X/Zero such high priorities given that even with their popularity, again, they are competing against literal giants. I don't see how that's me projecting my opinion but for you it's somehow not the case. And I am very much aware of the process of choosing characters, which makes me even more dubious on X/Zero getting in, even with a potential transformation dynamic, let alone seperately (and I've mentioned before but I genuinely don't see X/Zero being a transformation character in the first place, they aren't the same character or parts of the same character like the cases of a transformation character have been in Smash Bros, they are two different characters, so a transformation gimmick would feel very forced on them). I see that you want them in, but it's very uncalled for to say that I am projecting my own opinion onto others, when I am just resting my case based on precedence

Continuing on the topic of female fighters, what is everyone’s opinions on the chances for the ones currently on the roster returning? From what I’ve seen, I think the majority assumes that at least Samus, the Melee princesses, Mii Fighters (Gunner does use a female default), Isabelle, Inkling, and Aegis are likely returns. Here are the fighters I’m considering, but feel free to add characters with female alts like Villager, Robin, Corrin, and Byleth.

Oh, I'd love to chime in on this one.
So, in regards to unique fighters, for me the ones that are 100% returning are: Samus, Peach, Zelda, Inking and Isabelle (and Jigglypuff if she counts). I think some most of these require little-to-no-explanation as to why they are such locks.
The ones that I'd give a very high chance of returning are: Pyra/Mythra and Rosalina & Luma. Both of these cases are characters with a unique gimmick, some of the most popular characters in their home series and hailing from one of the most successful games respectively as well. I see the argument for Rosalina being at best 5th in line in the Mario cast which is what holds her back from being a true 100% but tbh, I think the Mario cast dropping down to the core 4 is unlikely in the first place, so she's good imo (and also I am pretty confident that she is #5 of the Mario cast, like I really don't think Bowser Jr. is staying over her, let alone the freaking Piranha Plant). And the Aegis... I mean, is Nintendo really gonna hold back on the Xenoblade content now of all times when the series is picking up so much steam? Of course not. These 2 will only be cut if like those hypothetical 'cut the roster in half' scenarios actually come to be and even then they have a shot.
The ones that I think are likely to return are Palutena, Wii Fit Trainer (unpopular opinion? maybe?) and Zero Suit Samus. Palutena is pretty dependent on how many veterans can return next time. Because here's the thing, Sakurai will obviously not want to cut her, Sakurai bias and all. But if the roster is small, it's just gonna be very very difficult to justify keeping her over a lot of other fighters. If 55-60 characters return she's good, if 50-55 she could go either way but could still stay, but If less than 50 characters return, she's absolutely in trouble. Wii Fit Trainer is someone I was lower on a while back but the more I think of it, the more I think that Sakurai intends to probably keep her on the roster to mark the hallmark that was Wii Fit, doesn't hurt how much of a stand out she is. I think that Wii Fit is a modern Mr. Game & Watch in that regard. Zero Suit Samus is the one that should've been the lowest priority of the 3 here given that it's just Samus but without the suit but given how much Sakurai values her addition, I unfortunately have to give her the highest odds of the 3 in this group to return.
Min-Min and Sheik are complete toss-ups. When it comes to Min-Min, for me her fate is very much linked to the future of ARMS. Here's the thing, if ARMS gets any further content even if it's not a video game, we kinda have to see her again. You can't have an ongoing franchise and then remove it from Smash. But if ARMS is left abandoned like it feels like it's been the case these past few years (made all the more evident with the cancelled comic), who should realistically get cut in favor of Min-Min. That's why for now she's up in the air. Sheik is up in the air because now more than ever, she has to enter into a Smash game based on completely her own merits rather than as a part of Zelda. It really and I mean truly depends on how much valued she is individually, on her own rather than as an expansion of an existing character.
This is probably an unpopular opinion but Bayonetta is the most realistic cut from the ladies and one that I could see happen. Yes, she's very easy to negotiate and had the popularity poll but at the end of the day, she is a 3rd party character and she is competing against a lot of bigger fish so we have to think of a scenario where she is considered high enough priority to be brought back depending on the roster cuts over more successful, iconic or more requested characters. It's not impossible of course that she does return, but I'd say for now, she's not looking too good.

In terms of clones - Lucina is imo the single likeliest clone to come back. Like, I can't see a way that she gets cut. She's from Fire Emblem Awakening, the game that single handedly saved the franchise, she's one of the most popular characters in her franchise, she's been pushed as the Awakening rep a lot despite Chrom being the protagonist and she serves a good purpose as an echo. Plus, despite many people's grievances, Fire Emblem won't be trimmed down to 2 or 3 characters, so she is easy Fire Emblem representation in the event of cuts from a franchise that unlike Ultimate doesn't look to be over-repped in Smash 6. She's imo either in the 100% bracket or between the ver likely to return and the 100% brackets. Daisy and Dark Samus round up the top 3 of echoes most likely to return. Both very popular in their franchises, Daisy is seeing a huge uptick and Dark Samus is easy Metroid representation so they respectively are very likely to be brought back imo.

Overall I think the ladies have it rather well in terms of chances. The only one I'd be nervous for is Bayonetta, all the others, even with them not being sure-fires to return, I think have at least a shot or are outright guaranteed to return.

 

[fogbadge]

I've been thinking a bit about stages. Mario's stage list is bloated by 1-1 grasslands and doesn't cover the full range of biomes in his series. With Super Nintendo Land, we got a grassland section, but also a desert, and ice land, Peach's Castle, and Bowser's Castle. Keep a couple more distinct stages like Isle Delfino and New Donk City, and that seems like a pretty decent lineup.

The other series I was thinking of was Zelda. I believe Zelda has a pretty consistent lineup of areas - Hyrule proper, the forest (usually with Koroks), the desert (nowadays associated with Gerudo), Death Mountain and the Gorons, and a watery stage for the Zora, either a swamp or the sea, I think. Zelda in Smash has Gerudo Valley and then not much else; Usually, they just grab whatever stage was used the most in the hot new game's marketing. It covers a decent amount of Zelda games, but a lot of recurring biomes are overlooked as a result.

what do you mean now adays associated with the gerudo? it's been around 28 years since their debut

 

[BrawlX10]

yeah i like Shionne as a tag with Alphen. funny enough i like Alex and Blaze as a tag duo for Smash as well.

If Alphen or/and Shionne don't get in Smash, i hope they at least get in Project x Zone 3. Yes, im in copium thinking PXZ3 will happen

Almost Definitely -
Very Likely (echoes) -
Likely, IMO -
IDK yet -
*Does this even count? -

Something I'll say about this is that I don't think any of these candidates are total goners - ZSS and WFT are less so "I think they'll be cut" and more "idk what to make of it". And honestly, even though we're bound to get more, I think Sakurai values the amount of female fighters we have in the game and would be hesitant to remove too many. So I'd say the chances of most of these characters returning is very high.

I'm starting to believe that predicting cuts is basically a shot in the dark until we know more about the next game. If the game is made almost completely from the ground up there will be plenty of cuts, if the game reuses plenty of assets from Ultimate, we'll probably won't get many cuts, if the game is EiH2 or Ultimate Deluxe there won't be any cuts, it's just pretty hard to predict until we know more.

I've been thinking a bit about stages. Mario's stage list is bloated by 1-1 grasslands and doesn't cover the full range of biomes in his series. With Super Nintendo Land, we got a grassland section, but also a desert, and ice land, Peach's Castle, and Bowser's Castle. Keep a couple more distinct stages like Isle Delfino and New Donk City, and that seems like a pretty decent lineup.

I think Mario stage roster will get a big shake up next game (well asuming it's not ult deluxe and it focus on new stages lol). i'm sure Luigi's Mansion 3, Mario Wonder and Peach Showtime! will get a stage at least in this scenario.

 

[Garteam]

I don't see how I am projecting my opinion onto others, that's a bit uncalled for, I just said why I really doubt that X/Zero will be in the game. It actually feels more like you are trying to project your opinion onto others by bringing up how they're actually very popular when there are so many other 3rd party fighters that dwarf them in popularity and also we gotta see what Sakurai has looked for in 3rd parties so far. All the cases were either heavily successful or iconic characters either legacy-wise or at the time of them being chosen or heavily popular characters that showed true popularity in the official polls. Like given, all the precedence there is for choosing 3rd party characters, I really don't see how they would have X/Zero such high priorities given that even with their popularity, again, they are competing against literal giants. I don't see how that's me projecting my opinion but for you it's somehow not the case. And I am very much aware of the process of choosing characters, which makes me even more dubious on X/Zero getting in, even with a potential transformation dynamic, let alone seperately (and I've mentioned before but I genuinely don't see X/Zero being a transformation character in the first place, they aren't the same character or parts of the same character like the cases of a transformation character have been in Smash Bros, they are two different characters, so a transformation gimmick would feel very forced on them). I see that you want them in, but it's very uncalled for to say that I am projecting my own opinion onto others, when I am just resting my case based on precedence

You haven't brought up precedent, though. You said "I highly, like seriously doubt anyone (both from the audience and from the team) would go for a 2nd Mega Man character", which is a value judgment about the characters that you assigned as the wider fanbase's thoughts on the matter. That's projecting an opinion onto others.

In terms of the arguments from "heavily successful or iconic characters legacy-wise", you haven't provided any objective criteria for how much legacy needs to be possessed. As such, you can just move those goalposts forever. The peaks of the Mega Man X series are some of the most influential and celebrated action platformers of all time. X and Zero are the 3rd and 5th most popular Capcom characters, respectively. I don't know if that's enough to rise to your level of "literal giants", but it certainly makes them competitive.

I will cede that X and Zero don't tear up popularity polls for Smash. However, , , , , , , , , , , and didn't either.

In terms of not being the same character and therefore being ineligible as a transforming character, , , and aren't the same character as or constituent parts of . They are instead a team with the ability to swap in real time as part of the gameplay in their home series. This is how X and Zero function in X3, Xtreme 2, X7, and X8 (and MvCI, technically, but that doesn't count).

 

[Gengar84]

I think the fact that Zero got both an Assist Trophy and a Mii outfit is enough to show that he actually is very popular with Smash fans. There aren’t too many other characters with that distinction. Of all the characters on my personal most wanted list, I think Zero is the most likely. I’m not sure if they’d pair him with X since he also works great as a standalone fighter but I’d be happy either way.

 

[SMAASH! Puppy]

The peaks of the Mega Man X series are some of the most influential and celebrated action platformers of all time.

For example, if you see a 2D level design tutorial, the example shown is always always World 1-1, or Central Highway.

 

[SubspaceJigglypuff]

I'm assuming this reasoning may be why Ice Climbers are lower hierarchy as well, although personally I've been feeling like they'll come back.

Lower hierarchy is relative since I don't think any of the solo 1P series are actually low hierarchy in the wider roster. Even Icies and R.O.B are about middle priority to me. But for Ice Climbers, them being lower is more because, you compare them to the other single rep series, and they naturally float towards the bottom in merit.

The ones they'd realistically be in contention with I think, would be Wii Fit, Min-Min, Duck Hunt and R.O.B., but even among them, characters like Duck Hunt and Wii Fit have legacy Ice Climbers don't, and Min-Min has Switch relevancy.

Arguably having no stage attached to him makes him easier to bring back, less work than Duck Hunt

Hmm, that is a good point. He's as easy to maintain as he is to remove.

Though my argument is less that it's hard to bring him back and more that the "void" losing the R.O.B-verse would open is comparatively small, practically speaking. So if the goal is preservation, I imagine they'd work on the universes that actually have substantial content to lose first.

 

[Sophitia]

I think it's funny how often the speculation revolves around wondering who will get cut, to be honest I get the sense some people want characters to get cut Sakurai clearly doesn't like cutting characters unless he has to, I guess we'll see where it goes though.

 

[Gengar84]

I think it's funny how often the speculation revolves around wondering who will get cut, to be honest I get the sense some people want characters to get cut Sakurai clearly doesn't like cutting characters unless he has to, I guess we'll see where it goes though.

I personally don’t like thinking about it. I realize that it is likely an inevititability at some point but it’s a lot more fun to focus on what could be added than subtracted.

 

[Megadoomer]

I think it's funny how often the speculation revolves around wondering who will get cut, to be honest I get the sense some people want characters to get cut Sakurai clearly doesn't like cutting characters unless he has to, I guess we'll see where it goes though.

I guess it's due to nervousness (fear?) about who will be cut. Sure, the number of cuts in Smash's history barely reaches the double digits (Young Link, Pichu, Roy, Doctor Mario, and Mewtwo in Brawl; Wolf, Lucas, Squirtle, Ivysaur, Ice Climbers, and Snake in Smash 4), with most of them being clones or semi-clones (and most of the remaining Smash 4 cuts being due to the 3DS's limitations - Mewtwo and Snake are the only odd ones out, even if jokes could be made about them being in-universe clones), but after Smash Ultimate having nearly 100 characters (between 65 returning veterans, six unique newcomers in the base game, five new clones, and thirteen DLC characters), it seems like an understandable concern that from a realistic development standpoint, the next game will scale things back.

I'd love it if the next game had as few cuts as possible, or no cuts at all (some third party cuts might be understandable if the companies don't cooperate, but from what I've seen, companies like Microsoft and Disney were surprisingly easy to make deals with, and SNK seems willing to let Terry appear in just about any fighting game), but we'll see how things pan out.

 

[SubspaceJigglypuff]

I think it's funny how often the speculation revolves around wondering who will get cut, to be honest I get the sense some people want characters to get cut

I think it's because we barely have anything to speculate on with 6, and Sakurai stating that "Everyone is Here" is likely to not happen again is pretty much all we know about 6.

Me personally, I can't wait til we get more to talk about,