The thing I'll say about Shovel Knight is that he's the greatest benefactor of this idea of an "indie rep" as a concept. We talk about "indie rep" and he's one of the first names to come up. But in a more generalized conversation, where characters and series are just chosen without regard to being indie or not? Undertale still holds its own as an immensely popular, world encompassing release across the last decade. Shantae's fan support is very strong not just among indies but in the general third party conversation, and in my view has surpassed Shovel Knight's demand a very long time ago. I don't think either of these characters inherently rest on Nintendo wanting an "indie rep", and would be perceived as crowd pleasing characters in a vacuum.
Someone like Shovel Knight comes up because they are the face of indies, or whatever. I respect the influence. But I think this is where my dissociation with Shovel Knight in Smash lies, that they come up BECAUSE of the indie conversation, not in spite of it. Sans and Shantae are standing on their own, Shovel Knight only seems to come up in conversation when we talk about specifically this. He's always tacked onto other names. That's the way I see it, at least.
