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20 More Characters that I want in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate

More characters doesn't mean more problems, it means more fun

By Ben HercikPublished 3 years ago 27 min read
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Since the first article like this did so well, I thought that it would be a good idea for another list. But, like most sequels, I went bigger and (possibly) better for the second one. Now there are still so many franchises that don't have representation, so that made this a lot harder. Also, with the inclusion of Min Min, that makes it possible for the spirits to be in the game as fighters which opens up a ton of possibilities for fighters. I know that some are impossible, like Goomba, so I tried to keep the choices realistic. Now last time I did one of these lists there were two Nintendo franchises that got mentioned, so I did include a few more Nintendo franchises. But there are a lot of third party games included as well. There are a lot of characters on this list that would be more swordsmen in a game that already has a ton of swordsmen, but my list my rules. Throughout this list, I try to make good arguments for all of the characters. From move set ideas to creative concepts for characters, even release dates, and for all of these entries, I think that the arguments made are very interesting. I also did keep most the same rules of the last list as well. No Assist Trophies, no Sora because of Disney being stingy, and most entries of the list have a good relationship with Nintendo, with two exception. Now enough dilly dallying, there is a lot to cover, so on to the list!

20. Sony Rep

This entry was originally for a Sony/Microsoft rep, but with the announcement of Steve and Alex being a part of the second fighter pass, that makes it pretty unlikely that a third Microsoft rep will be a part of the game (at least for this fighter pass). Sorry all Master Chief, Conker and Battletoad fans, but there is still one company that develops characters that doesn’t have a rep in Smash Bros. That is Sony. Sure, Sony doesn’t have the partnership that Nintendo and Microsoft, but that’s nothing that a few phone calls and meetings couldn’t fix. Is it a long shot, yes, but I think both fans from both sides would love to see it happen. But who would get that nod if a deal is reached between the companies?

Well there are some obvious powerhouses that could take the spot like Kratos from God of War and Nathan Drake from the Uncharted series. Those two are both in the top five of best selling PlayStation 4 games of all time and instant recognition for fans of both PlayStation games and Smash Bros. Or they could follow the duo path that they’ve done with Duck Hunt and Banjo & Kazooie by bringing in Ratchet & Clank or Jak & Daxter. The only thing that holds Jak & Daxter back is that there hasn’t been a game in the series since 2005 while Ratchet & Clank had a movie and a game coming to the PlayStation 5 when it launches. Or they could want to bring in a character like Sackboy, Cole MacGrath or Parappa the Rapper who many players in the target demographic of gamers (18-34), would have fond memories of from their childhood. There is also the possibility of a more recent character like Aloy from the Horizon series getting the nod. But if it was up to me (and since this is my list it is), there's only one person that gets the nod, and that is the Thievius Raccoon himself, Sly Cooper

He has the nostalgia factor, all of his games have ranged from good to great in ratings, fans in the target demographic have fond memories of the games, he would fit in nicely with the current roster and he would be a fantastic rep for Sony in the game. He falls into the same kind of category as Banjo & Kazooie where he hasn’t had a game in years (Thieves in Time came out in 2013). If his commands in his main series of games isn’t enough to pull from for a move set, there is another place that they could pull from is PlayStation All-Stars Battle Royal. Sly has been in a fighting game before and has been up against some of the biggest names in gaming, so he would fit in perfectly in a game with some of the most iconic characters of all time.

19. Scorpion

Is this one also a bit out there? Absolutely, but honestly I wouldn’t mind seeing it happen. The Mortal Kombat series has been a staple for Nintendo systems since 1996 when Mortal Kombat Trilogy was released for the Nintendo 64. Now the choice of fighter came down to three characters for me. It was between Johnny Cage, Sub Zero and Scorpion. In the end I went with the hellspawn ninja that is the mascot of the series. Now the real reason why he is so low on this list is because Scorpion would have to be toned down a ton for Smash Bros. I feel. You wouldn’t get to really play as a Scorpion that we all know and enjoy from the Mortal Kombat series since all the other characters won’t be spilling piles of blood on the ground and there probably wouldn’t be any X-Ray attack or a Fatality as that would throw things off in online games, at least from my perspective. But there are only a few other legendary mascots that aren’t in Smash yet. While a final smash being a Fatality would be amazing to see, but just like everything else, it would have to be toned down a lot from the source material.

18. Amaterasu

Now on the first list of these that I did, I had Spyro, who would be the first quadruped in Smash history but if he wasn't the first one, who else could be the first? Enter Amaterasu from the cult classic Okami for the Wii and PlayStation 2. Recently the game came to the current gen of consoles with the HD remake. Now for those who haven’t played the game, allow me to tell you about it. Amaterasu is the sun god in Japan and the white wolf as a vessel for her. The game sees you team up with Issun, a wandering artist to defeat enemies ranging from imps to demons in order to get the Celestial Brush techniques and defeat the eternal darkness. Now what is interesting is that they are incorporating new features with their fighters in the fighter pass. So what if they add in the Celestial Brush techniques for Amaterasu. You can use different techniques, but you only have a certain number of uses and if you run out you can’t use them for a set time, much like Banjo and Kazooie's Wonderwing. This would mean that Amaterasu will need to have very good attacks to balance that out. Also with Capcom already having three fighters in the game, a fourth representative isn’t out of the question.

17. The Knight (Hollow Knight)

Now there is no indie developed character in Smash Bros. and with how much Smash has become a tribute to gaming as a whole and indie games have become such a big deal in gaming, it would be nice to see one become a fighter. Not just like a Mii Fighter outfit like Sans or Cuphead, a full fledged fighter. But with how many choices there are, picking just one is a tough choice. With some already having Mii Fighters and assist trophies like Shovel Knight, that eliminated some options, but to me there was one fighter that deserved the nod over most other indie characters (slight spoiler for later in the list) and that is The Knight from Hollow Knight. He offers a new type of sword fighter with his cone shaped sword and a completely new weapon with his nail attack. The issue is that he is a rather small character, being bigger than basic enemies in his game and smaller than every boss. Working the height into the equation is a difficult one to work on, but then again, look at Olimar. He is the smallest character in the game and works perfectly. If they follow that pattern then The Knight would work perfectly in Smash Ultimate.

16. Lara Croft

One of the true first ladies of video games, Lara Croft hasn’t had a home on Nintendo consoles for a majority of her games. But there are three games that did find there way over to the Nintendo consoles with Tomb Raider: Legend being on the GameCube, while both Anniversary and Underworld made the trip to the Wii. Five games found their ways to the Nintendo handhelds, but I don’t want to take all the time talking about Croft’s full gameography (if that is even a word). What I do want to talk about is how Lara Croft could work in a game like Smash Bros. She has a lot of the same qualities of both Snake (who’s already in the game) and Leon Kennedy (who was in my first list), and has a myriad of weapons at her disposal. From her pistols or crossbows as her specials and regular martial arts attacks for her regular attacks like punches and kicks. Plus we know about the relationship with Square Enix and Nintendo from my last article with Geno, and since they have a good relationship, I could see Lara Croft being an easy addition to the roster.

15. Viridi

Now some might look at Viridi and think that she wouldn’t necessarily fit into the Smash roster, but I beg to differ. She offers three very different variables that not many other characters can offer. There were 11 total female fighters in the base game with six different characters having alts of females bringing the total to 17. You also add in the DLCs of Byleth having an alt, Alex being an alt for Steve from Minecraft, and Min Min, that brings the total to 20. Viridi would make that total 21, but she would also be the first female villain (she was an antagonist in Kid Icarus: Uprising) to come into Smash Bros. That unique addition to the games roster, and open the door to other female villains. She also brings a weapon that nobody has unless they have an item, a scythe. Now she also brings with her the plant based attacks that she uses a lot in Uprising, and that would incorporate very interestingly in Smash. Maybe she could take pikmin from Olimar and use them for her, or have her pick up pitfall seeds buried in the ground and use them for her advantage. Plus her final smash being the Reset Bomb that she uses multiple times in Uprising would be a great touch, and be very satisfying.

14. Tails

When people think of the most famous player twos in video games, two characters come to mind. One is Luigi and the other is Tails from Sonic. Now I’m personally not the biggest fan of Tails, but he has a long history in gaming and has a long history of being rumored for the game in the series history. If you cast your mind back to the days of Super Smash Bros Melee, there was an April Fools joke by Electronic Gaming Monthly that said that you could unlock both Sonic and Tails. This, as we all know, was a joke. Now Sonic would be added to the series in Brawl while Tails has been resorted to being a background character. Now I think he would be an interesting add because he would bring with him the mechanic of his bots and gadgets. Tails has always been a weaker member of the core Sonic group, so him being a fighter that tries to avoid contact would be a very different mechanic than any other fighter in the game. It would be very similar to Pichu being a glass cannon that takes a lot of damage fast and get killed at low percentages, but be a very rewarding fighter to learn how to play.

13. Sol Badguy

Now for those that don’t have the deepest video game knowledge, these next two entries would be very interesting to see if they were added to the game. First, let's talk about Sol Badguy who, despite his name, is the main protagonist of Guilty Gear. Guilty Gear is a fighting game series developed by Arc System Works. He has also been in every game in the Guilty Gear games and is one of only two characters that have been in every game in the series (the other being Ky Kiske). Now Sol’s main weapon is a sword, so yes that would mean another sword fighter is in the game, but the Junkyard Dog MK III would be a lot more unique than almost all of the other swords in the game, especially given its rectangular shape. He also has something similar to Sly Cooper and Scorpion, and that is the fact he has been in a fighting game and has a move set already in place. There is the interesting topic of the series relationship to Nintendo, as there hasn’t been a main series game on Nintendo systems since 2002 and Guilty Gear X. Sure there were spin off games on the Wii and DS, but no mainline games. Well that changed in 2019 when we got two Guilty Gear games on the Switch with the original Guilty Gear and the updated version of Guilty Gear XX Accent Core Plus R. So I think that there could be a good case for Sol Badguy to come to the game in this fighter pass.

12. Quote

Now I said in The Knight entry that he was more deserving than most other indie game characters. But if anyone from an indie game is more deserving for a spot in the game it's the grandfather of indie games in Quote from Cave Story. Coming out in 2004 on Microsoft Windows, the game follows the main character Quote, a robot with amnesia, in one of the best Metroidvania style games of all time. It also has created a legacy that not many indie games have been able to follow. Cave Story has been ported to 10 different systems, including five different Nintendo consoles. So it is clear that there is a relationship between Nintendo and Cave Story creator Daisuke Amaya, so seeing Quote make the move to Smash is completely possible. His Polar Star gun shoots in different directions so that can be a very easy choice for some of his moves, but he has a plethora of other weapons to use for the rest of his attacks. And his final smash would have to be the strongest weapon in the game, Spur. Just imagine a hellstorm of bullets coming from every possible angle. Quote could be a very fun character to play if he is added to the game

11. Crono

Back to the Square Enix pool of possible fighters that could make the jump to Smash Bros Ultimate, some people might be surprised to see that Crono is only at 11 on this list, but allow me to explain. Chrono Trigger is regarded as one of the best video games of all time. It was one of the best selling games the year it came out and has been a big influence on other RPGs throughout the years. And while yes there are a lot of swordsmen in Smash, Crono would be a very welcomed one thanks to the legacy of his game and many players who are in my age range would love to see. It also has the support of the Japanese fans since the original game sold 2.36 million copies. The issue is that the game came out in 1995, he wasn’t the main protagonist in the sequel Chrono Cross and he hasn’t been in a game since. After 25 years of being away, would fans welcome him back with open arms and want to see him come back and take one of the coveted final four spots in this DLC pack?

10. Chibi-Robo

While many of the major Nintendo IPs now are represented on the Smash roster, there are still three very cult followed series that are missing. Those are Golden Sun, Paper Mario and Chibi-Robo. Now Isaac is stuck as an assist trophy for now and we’ll get to Paper Mario in a second, but let's talk about Chibi-Robo. While the games have fallen off a little bit as the years have come and gone, he is still a popular character and has enough moves available for a spot in Smash. He has his extension cord that can act like a whip, similar to how Sheik's works and use it to try and keep people away. But he does have two very glaring issues that need to be addressed if he is added to the game. One is how tall he is four inches tall, but as mentioned in The Knight entry, they were able to adjust Olimar’s height to work in the game, and Olimar is actually shorter than Chibi-Robo as he comes in at 0.75 inches. The other issue is that one of the features in his games is battery power. He goes around his games and players have to keep their eyes on how much power he has left, but that could be turned into a very interesting mechanic. His attacks could get slower and slower while his battery power depletes. Now a simple work around would be to add an outlet to every level and run the risk of him being still and charging while being exposed to attacks by other players. That seems to be the only real work around and maybe it is wherever he spawns in, and have it be very inconspicuous and the only place to charge your battery means that players would have to remember exactly where it is.

9. Paper Mario

I mentioned him in the last entry, so now let’s talk about Paper Mario. If anything, he is harder to make an argument for Paper Mario’s inclusion compared to Chibi-Robo. Paper Mario has a smaller weapon pool for the Smash team to pull from, but also what I thought would be a bigger issue is that he is, ya know, made out of paper. But since he would only have to walk from left to right for this game, that makes things a lot easier as far as movement, so the issue is more of the limited move pool. But that could be an easy fix if you let him use moves from random party members. All of the Paper Mario games see Paper Mario have a different rotation of party members. Most are some form of typical Mario enemy, but they are actually about 2,000% more important than your standard characters in Mario games. His up smash could be Parakarry from the original Paper Mario, his side smashes could be Kooper (Paper Mario) or Koops (Paper Mario TTYD), and his down smash could be any of the Bob-omb partners (Bombette, Admiral Bobbery, or even Bobby). While his jump should do some bit of damage, his hammer would have to be his basic attack. There are a lot of possibilities for a move set and a Paper Mario might not be too much of a reach to become a roster member.

8. Professor Layton

If I couldn’t get any more cult following than Paper Mario and Chibi-Robo, let’s talk about Professor Layton. He has been around the block a few times, having appeared in nine games and even done a crossover with Phoenix Wright who also almost made this list. Now for the obvious question, how can a character that is from a text based puzzle game work as a character in Smash Bros? Well one answer is to look at what Ultimate Marvel vs Capcom 3 did with Phoenix Wright. A character that is a lawyer in his game made it to the fighting game and had a very good move set for him. There are also plenty of different moves that they can use from his plethora of games. In fact, Deviant Art user Hyrule64 put together a very solid move set that you can find here. You also add in the fact that Level-5, the company that owns the Professor Layton IP, are one of the few companies that work with Nintendo that don’t have a rep in Smash yet. Excluding mobile games, Level-5 has made only four games that haven’t been on a Nintendo system since 2007 and the first Layton games. It is clear that the relationship between the two companies is there, so the fact that Layton hasn’t made it in a single Smash Bros game in any capacity (that I can find), is a very surprising thing to say the least. When you add in the fact that Layton isn’t even a spirit in Ultimate when so many other big names that aren’t fighters, it makes things even more interesting. Could we see the humble professor make the jump to the Ultimate roster?

7. Rex & Pyra

While other entries on this list I’ve talked about possible move sets, fun crossovers, and even some new mechanics. With this entry I’m going to do something a little different. For those that don’t know Rex & Pyra are from Xenoblade Chronicles 2, which is the 11th entry in the Xeno series and the sequel to Xenoblade Chronicles and is growing in popularity in the west. When Smash Ultimate was first announced, Masahiro Sakurai said that they did consider having Rex and Pyra in the game, but didn’t make the final cut because of reportedly “bad timing”. In the same interview where that news came out in Nintendo Dream, Sakurai also revealed things like Decidueye almost beat out Incineroar as the last fighter and that characters from both Xenoblade Chronicles 2 and ARMS (he didn’t say any names) just missed making the base game. But this is where the glory of DLC comes in. I’m going to talk about four different release dates here. ARMS came out on June 16, 2017 while Xenoblade Chronicles 2 came out December 1, 2017. Since both games came out between June and December of 2017, that has to mean that the roster for Smash Ultimate was set at some point before those months. Now Smash Ultimate came out December 8, 2018 but if you're keeping track, that’s only three release dates, so what is the fourth one? That would be Fire Emblem: Three Houses. That game came out July 26, 2019 yet Byleth took the fifth and final slot for the first Fighter Pass, and Min Min took the first spot in the second Fighter Pass. Now both of those games can get reps in Smash, and one game came out well after Rex & Pyra’s game, there is a great chance for them to come into the game.

6. 2B

This might be a little bit out there, but hear me out on this one. Yes, I am taking a dip back into the Square Enix pool of candidates, 2B might be the most obscure choice of the entire bunch, and there are a few problems with the all-purpose battle android getting the nod. The first is that her game has never been on Switch. Nier: Automata released on PlayStation 4 and PC in 2017 and came to XBox One in 2018. But what’s interesting is that the game was only published by Square Enix. The game was actually developed by Platinum Games, and if you combine the number of fighters that both Platinum and Square Enix have, you get three (Cloud, Bayonetta and Hero). So that box can be a half check, but make it a full check mark thanks to someone else who was a part of the first Fighter Pass in Joker. Persona 5 has never been on Switch, yet Joker was the first character announced for the DLC pack, so seeing a character like 2B who has no history on Nintendo systems make the jump isn’t out of the realm of possibilities. But that’s only one hurdle, what about the other one? I mentioned this to some friends, but 2B has some, for lack of a professional term, ‘assets’ that could be an issue. To clarify what I mean, think back to the Terry Bogard presentation, and when talking about Mai Shiranui being in background of the King of Fighters stage, Sakuri said that Smash is for good boys and girls and she wouldn’t be appearing. But again, I go back to one character I mentioned earlier, Bayonetta. Her whole game has sexual undertones and her hair is literally her whole outfit. I think if Bayonetta can push the boundaries like that, then 2B has a good shot at getting the nod.

5. Chun Li

Two pools of fighters I seem to keep going to are Capcom and Square Enix, but with so many great games, can you really blame me? Speaking of Capcom, let’s talk about a character that was a part of the best selling fighting game for the longest time. If someone were asked to name three Street Fighter characters, they would most likely name Ryu, Ken and Chun Li. Now two of the three already are in Smash and are echoes of each other. Chun Li’s inclusion would have to be very different from them. Now I have never touched a Street Fighter game, but from watching gameplay, I see one major difference when comparing both Ken and Ryu to Chun Li. Both Ryu and Ken have more of a strike based offense with a punch first mindset and Ansatsuken, a fighting style with the purpose of killing one’s opponents. Meanwhile, Chun Li has a background in Chinese material arts, and her offense revolves around her kicks, where Ryu and Ken only have Tatsumaki Senpukyaku and that’s it. She already is very different than her mascot counter partners. And not many female characters are as well known as Chun Li. While a third Street Fighter character might be a lot for a third party game, it's getting tougher and tougher to find big names to add to the game and Chun Li might be the biggest name that can be added.

4. Lloyd Irving

Ever since Tales of Symphonia (the fifth game of the series), the Tales series has been growing in popularity in the west. And the main character of that game was this entry, Lloyd Irving. He is one of the most popular main characters in the series, and is maybe the most recognizable of the main characters in the series across the entire group of players, but particularly the Japanese market. A lot of players (mainly US ones) tend to forget that Nintendo has to appeal to multiple markets, not just their own market. Recently, going off data gained by Reddit user zelfc, both Europe and the US got something that they wanted when Steve came out (this is the same thing I mentioned in the Shantae entry last article). It is time for them to appeal to the Japanese side of the fan base, and the number one that that fan base wanted was Lloyd Irving. There is also a very small detail that I think could indicate Lloyd is being considered for a spot on the roster. In Smash 4, Lloyd had a Mii costume for the sword fighter, but he doesn’t have one in Ultimate (at least yet). Why is that important? Well ya know who had a Mii costume in Smash 4? King K. Rool, and now he is a fighter. And yes I know that it is another sword fighter, but Lloyd is a very different sword fighter in the fact that he has two swords that he uses. That is really the only thing that I know of that would separate him from the other 15 sword fighters.

3. Monster Hunter

The fact that the Monster Hunter wasn’t in the game when it launched was a surprise to a lot of people. You have Rathalos as a boss for Yoshi, Marth, Duck Hunt and Piranha Plant in their classic mode, and Bowser and Hero also fight it on their route. And Rathalos is an assist trophy as well. Yet, the main character of the series is not in the game yet. If you remember what I said about Japan really wanting to see Lloyd Irving, they also really want to see Monster Hunter in the game. It has been a huge success in Japan ever since its inception, and it is slowly catching on in the US, with Monster Hunter 4 Ultimate being the fastest selling Monster Hunter game in the west. Now if this success is able to continue is a question for a different time, but there is one small issue with the inclusion of the Monster Hunter character being included. Now in the Monster Hunter games, you have a plethora of weapons at your disposal. Picking just a few of them would solve that issue, but also there is an issue with that. This has already been done with Byleth so that makes things a little tougher to argue for Monster Hunter. But with the growing popularity in the Monster Hunter franchise, I wouldn’t be surprised if we saw Monster Hunter as the fourth Capcom representative in Smash Ultimate.

2. Doom Slayer

I made this list before ZeniMax (the group that owns Bethesda and Bethesda owns id Software who develops Doom) was bought by Microsoft Studios, but that really doesn’t change things. If anything this might help improve Doom Slayer's chances of getting into the game. We know the relationship between Microsoft and Nintendo, but there is also the great relationship between id Software and Nintendo. Both Doom (2016) and Doom Eternal have physical copies of the game and three other Doom games are available on the Nintendo Eshop. The relationship of the Doom franchise with Nintendo systems is long and well documented with the first game coming to the SNES in 1995. Not many non Nintendo IPs have that kind of legacy on Nintendo systems. The biggest knock against Doom Slayer is that he is such a violent character. He rips and tears through enemies in his game, and that wouldn’t really work in a family friendly fighting game. But there are plenty of different things they could do. Imagine if you can, a more violent Snake with harder hitting weapons and doing more damage. To counter this, you would think that he would be slower, but a quick google search you find that he can actually run at 57 mph, faster than his rockets. This gave me an interesting idea and concept for him. What if he has the opportunity to shoot at an opponent, but out run your own attack and damage yourself. Is that a stretch? Maybe, but it would be interesting to see.

1. Squall Leonhart

Now I know what you're thinking, why the hell is the main character from Final Fantasy VIII the number one pick from this list? Well for a few reasons. One is that Final Fantasy has had a huge impact on RPG games and gaming as a whole. Sure you have the one name that any video game fan knows from the series in Cloud already in Smash, but there are plenty of other recognizable names from the series that aren’t in Smash yet. Names like Tidus, Cecil Harvey, Tifa Lockheart, Auron, Zack Fair, and Sephiroth all come to mind. So why Squall over all of them? Well some people might not even recognize him as Squall Leonhart, they would know him as Leon from the Kingdom Hearts series. If you're looking for a backdoor way to get Sora into Smash Bros, then this is the best way I can think of. He can have an alt have Sora's colors, but it can also can be used to appeal to Disney. If fans react well to one of the main supporting characters from the Kingdom Hearts series coming to Smash, that could soften Disney's stance on Sora coming to the game. Yes I know Cloud also appears in the Kingdom Hearts series, but he is nowhere near as important as Squall to the series. Also, when you look at the weapons from gaming history, not many, in my opinion, rival how cool the Gunblade is that Squall has. And the DLC packs have proven that guns aren’t really a problem when it comes to being included in Smash. Plus Squall could have a very unique play style playing as both a gunner and a sword fighter at the same time. Sakurai has shown that he loves having fighters that play differently with these DLC characters, and I could easily see Squall Leonhart checking that box and making that cut.

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