Sakurai made a character out of Wii Fit Trainer. He made a character out of Captain Falcon. He made a character out of R.O.B. Stop setting yourself up to look like someone completely devoid of imagination or game design ideas. If Sakurai wants to make a character out of Pac-Man, he will find a way, and it will be awesome.
And really, Pac-Man is ripe with move-set material. Off the top of my head: His unique feature could be the ability to chomp through the air -- picture Yoshi's Egg Roll, but traveling mid-air, and able to pivot 90 degrees to chase opponents horizontally and vertically. He could also chew enemies, spit out pellets like watermelon seeds, belch up ghosts that zigzag across the screen... He could dribble himself like a basketball or launch himself forward like a human cannonball. And of course, for his Final Smash he could power up and chase enemies around the screen. His stage would be a neon maze like the kind seen in Championship Edition.
That game, it should be said, is amazing. Even if it weren't, Pac-Man's credentials are sky-high. He is one of the great-granddaddies of the arcade scene, right up there with Donkey Kong himself. He is one of an increasingly small handful of characters that are truly universally recognizable -- part of Smash Bros' original appeal as a concept. He also recently co-starred with Mario and company in yet another Mario Kart Arcade Grand Prix. And of course, he's the mascot of Bandai-Namco, the guys doing the heavy-lifting on these latest installments of Smash Bros.
It's mind-boggling, all the reasons he should be in. And I'm sure he will be in -- he was listed by someone predicting six newcomers, four of which have come true, three of which came true at E3, and two of which were completely unlikely by the common "wisdom" of the collective Smash Bros. community at the time, yet came to be.
Pac-Man is coming.