Ike wasn't a pointless inclusion. Obviously Sakurai doesn't remove characters unless they're completely redundant to keep investing in. Radiant Hero Ike introduced Aether, his signature move, which is still prominent in Fire Emblem today. It's a skill that Chrom and Lucina even share. His descendant Priam even gets a lot of attention in Awakening, ranking #13 on the male Awakening popularity poll. His flame attribute is iconic. He was in two games that weren't Japan-exclusive.
Really no one cares about Roy's inclusion anymore. IS doesn't, Sakurai doesn't, most of the general Fire Emblem fans don't. Only the Melee players who main'd Roy care, who is a minority, and like I said, most of the non-Japanese ones have never even played his game before or any Fire Emblem game.
So Melee fans don't get a say anymore? Mkay, I get your angle. I guess Melee fans don't deserve a say if they aren't directly Fire Emblem fans. I'm so sorry for having an opinion about a character I enjoy. I'm such a bad fan.
Can I ask: Have you even PLAYED a Fire Emblem game? Sword of Seals? Awakening?
Does it matter if I have or have not? Being a fan of a character is being a fan of a character. Once you've invested time into playing a character you actually like and see them removed, it gives that player every right to be mad. This is a common theme in fighting games. Their relevance hardly means a damn thing. When a character is popular, they are often discussed to make a return in upcoming games. Sure not every character makes the cut. But if they are replaced by someone who does their job, you can bet your ass they get ripped for it by their fans.
And to answer your question, I've only just recently invested into the FE series. If not for that fact, I wouldn't have even known the references being made towards Robin and item durability, or anything he does for that matter. And from a FE perspective, I very much appreciate that they keep the character true to his series. He is likely to be a character I play.
If you have and are enough of a fan to follow Awakening in general, you'd understand Lucina's impact on the franchise. Her inclusion was necessary. And at least it makes sense that she's a Marth clone; it follows up canonical humor. Roy had no reason to be a clone. Marth is the icon of Fire Emblem and it's ridiculous to even suggest he's going to be replaced.
You are assuming that I believe Roy deserves Lucina's spot, which isn't the case at all. I believe Sakurai is a hypocrite for doing to Lucina what made Roy get removed from the start. It hardly merits his removal to begin with. I'm well aware of Lucina's roll in the game as the
Impostor Marth, but it still hardly does justice to how she actually fights. Which is another reason why I'm mad about her inclusion being made the way it was. And if you even caught what I said before:....
@
Reginleif
Just gonna say that I've got nothing against Lucina. In fact, I wanted her more than Chrom in the first place. But the way her inclusion was made was like killing two characters at once. I'm not okay with that.
... I'm not at all against her inclusion.
Keep believing in his relevance which is supposedly enough to warrant him a slot back into SSB4 when the only receipt you use to back it up is his DLC artwork which included numerous other Lords.
I believe his veteran status, on top of being a popular character because of his original inclusion merits him more than enough of a reason to come back. Clone or not.