Hello, ONTD gamers! As many know, we are less than 5 days away from the release of potential game of the year
that will still end up losing to some trite mobile game. Yes, I’m still bitter about Breath of the Wild , Super Smash Brothers Ultimate! While the game currently has an astronomical amount of characters, Nintendo has already announced 5 characters coming to the game in 2019 as Downloadable Content characters. Note that this does not count Piranha Plant, since Piranha Plant is free, provided you meet the criteria Nintendo stated upon announcement.
Of course, the gaming community is always pondering who will come to Smash Brothers in the future… so why should I be any different?
When I think of characters that need to come to Smash Brothers, I tend to focus on two important aspects:
1) Are they a first party character? I don’t like to play the 3rd party game… although one character on this list is 3rd party, but IDGAF, because that character is a GOAT candidate.
2) Are they female? I want more female characters in Smash. Fan-canoning the genders of the Pokemon and Yoshi isn’t enough for me.
So, let’s start the completely uninformed but hopeful guesses!
#1 Waluigi ![photo WaluigiMP8a_zps4mkneezv.png]()
Why Waluigi Will Be In Smash: At this point, the crowd support for Waluigi being a playable character in Smash is almost too strong to ignore. Granted, I’m of the belief that most people want that to happen because they want to be trolls, but the noise is there. I do think that, if Waluigi does end up becoming playable, Sakurai’s going to troll the masses back and make him a Dan Hibiki-esque character who is not going to be effective, but he’ll probably still be there.
Why Waluigi Won’t Be In Smash: There’s not really any precedence for a character being an Assist Trophy, which is what Waluigi is currently confirmed to be, and then becoming a playable character in the same iteration of a Smash game, so that’s a minor hurdle that they would need to deal with. Most importantly, however, is the fact that Waluigi has never been in any game other than Mario Sports titles and other such spin off games. Waluigi does not have gameplay quirks that are strongly identified and iconic, like a Fireball, etc. Smash isn’t above clones… though we often wish they were… so it’s possible he could just be a Luigi-clone, or even a Wario-clone, but having a clone behind the DLC paywall is kind of bad precedence.
Odds of Waluigi Actually Being In Smash?: Honestly, pretty damned good. That’s why I put him at Number 1. I’d say like 75%, minimum.
#2 Toad (specifically Captain Toad) ![photo Captain Toad_zpsnkbgn5vl.jpg]()
Why Captain Toad Will Be In Smash: Of all the upper tier first party Nintendo characters that haven’t yet had a chance to shine under the Smash spotlight, Toad is almost undoubtedly the largest omission. Yes, Toad is used as part of Peach’s, and possibly Daisy’s as well, moveset… as what is basically a human, errr, fungal, shield. That’s not really a position that Toad should have in Smash, at least not in my opinion. By making the Toad that enters the Smash Arena Captain Toad, the development team can avoid the conundrum of what to do if Captain Toad is fighting one of the aforementioned princesses.
Why Captain Toad Won’t Be In Smash: At this point, if Toad hasn’t made it and yet characters like the Ice Climbers, R.O.B and Mr. Game and Watch have made it, I don’t know if Sakurai and company have any ambitions to put the character in the game, despite the character’s pedigree. Captain Toad also has the Waluigi issue, insomuch that a move set would probably be kind of hard to distinguish. Although the final smash is pretty easy, since it can involve the entire Toad Brigade and possibly the Space Ship.
Odds of Captain Toad Actually Being in Smash?: Not great. 25% might even be too generous.
#3 Dixie Kong ![photo 4256999885_a91b58d691.jpg]()
Why Dixie Kong Will Be In Smash: Mario and company are considered the first family of Nintendo, and rightfully so… but it’s actually the Kong Crew that really holds that distinction. And, given their status as the ones who started it all, the simians are woefully underrepresented within the game’s expansive roster. When adding to the Kong family, Dixie immediately comes to mind. I think it would be extremely, extremely tone deaf for the development team to completely exclude females from the DLC pack altogether, and Dixie’s pretty much the highest profile female not already an option. Plus, she starred in the 3rd Donkey Kong Country game, which could be mined for inspiration.
Why Dixie Kong Won’t Be In Smash: King K. Rool’s announcement may have greatly dimished Dixie’s chances. Plus, I’m not sure where Dixie falls in the ownership department, since Rare made her. Still, Diddy and the King popped up starting with DKC series, so that shouldn’t be an issue. Honestly, I can’t think of a really, concrete reason for excluding her… but she hasn’t been in the series yet, so…
Odds of Dixie Kong Actually Being in Smash?: Even split.
#4 Springman ![photo Spring_zpsle0zqcie.jpg]()
Why Springman Will Be In Smash: Who? I’m sure a lot of people reading this list are wondering that, even with the image that I provided. Springman is arguably the main character in ARMS, a fighting game that Nintendo came out with last year. And that’s why he’s probably going to be in the game… or someone from the series will be. If it isn’t Springman, my money’s on Ninjara. Anyway, ARMS is an actual fighting game. The character has long arms, which would help with some pretty unique moves, especially the recovery moves. It would sort of be like the whip mechanics that the Castlevania boys will enjoy. More than that, however, is the fact that Smash is one of Nintendo’s top tier franchises. Smash is exposure. Smash is why the western gaming community has Fire Emblem in any official capacity, for which I am eternally grateful. If the Big N wants to try and give ARMs a jolt of interest again, Smash is the best place for it.
Why Springman Won’t Be In Smash: Maybe Nintendo just wants to brush ARMS under the rug. I don’t see that being the case, but that’s honestly the best reason I can think of for keeping Springman away. If I had my way, the character would be Ribbon Girl, but they’ve already announced that she’ll be represented via a costume that the Mii characters can use.
Odds of Springman Actually Being in Smash?: On the lower end of likely. 65%, possibly.
#5 Chun-Li ![photo chun li_zpsaskq9wk8.jpg]()
Why Chun-Li Will Be In Smash: Look, Ryu’s the Street Fighter series protagonist. I get that. I understand that. I respect that. And Ken has always been a Ryu clone, with minor modifications, so getting him in Ultimate makes sense because it’s minimal effort. Plus, I like Ken more anyway… but if you’re going to have Street Fighter, which is almost undoubtedly the most influential fighting game series in history, represented in Smash, you best damn well make sure you include Chun-Li. Chun-Li has an entire arsenal of moves to use for the move set, and she would bring the female playable character count up. And, again, Chun-Li is the Queen. She deserves to be there.
Why Chun-Li Won’t Be In Smash: Because I can’t have all the nice things I want, even if the nice things make sense. No, seriously. I doubt it will happen, but aside from wanting to give Capcom some more money, I can’t see why not. Doesn’t make it likely.
Odds of Chun-Li Actually Being In Smash?: 5% seems generous. Still, let me dream.
So, ONTD, are you excited for Smash Ultimate? Is ONTD going to have Smash tourneys? Who do you want to see as the DLC characters? Discuss! Source: My brain, my photobucket and google.
