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[balladofwindfishes]

So is Rowlet though (the cutesy starter thing). It could still go both ways tho.

Popplio's evolutions aren't exactly designed well for constant animation, though. Meanwhile Popplio can just be carried around and not have to worry about shuffling around on the ground

 

[IntelliHeath]

Popplio's evolutions aren't exactly designed well for constant animation, though. Meanwhile Popplio can just be carried around and not have to worry about shuffling around on the ground

That's what people said about Fennekin last generation. I do think Popplio is going to evolve way later on.

 

[Red Arremer]

I still feel like Rowlet/Decidueye has the better chance because of various aspects. Especially considering that fire isn't a very unique power in Smash already, not only because of Charizard but also because of other characters who have fire-based movesets (Captain Falcon, Mario, among others with a handful of moves like Fox or Robin), while there is only one character with one move that is based on grass - Villager's tree. Also, Incineroar is supposed to be a martial artist, and I feel like Lucario covers the martial artist Pokemon quite well.

I think that Sakurai is very much aware of characters who lend themselves well to unique movesets, and I feel like Incineroar does not open up as many unique possibilities as Decidueye does, especially if you consider that one of the potential characters to come along Gen VII Pokemon would be Wolf, who also uses a claw-based moveset. Decidueye on the other hand would be an archer - a fighter archetype we don't have yet - who has access to Grass-based attacks, flying, bird stuff (like using wings, beak, talons and feathers to attack), and even Ghost type attacks.

So, while I don't think Incineroar is impossible, my money would be on Decidueye. If it is a starter at all that we'll get.

 

[Geminosity]

Popplio has "cutesy starter that never evolves" written all over it, though.

Could be like Torterra and Infernape and he'll have multiple evolved forms.

Rowlet's evolutions are too perfectly made to appeal to the anime's core demographic to be shoved into random cameo roles in single one shot episodes.

I'd argue that Popplio has the least appeal in it's starter form. It generally didn't get much popularity outside of a small, dedicated 'popplio defence force' until brionne and primarina turned up.

 

[FSLink]

I really hope you guys don't act shocked when the Persona 5 protagonist makes it into Smash Bros

Honestly if the game was out in NA, I think a lot of people would be pushing for the P5 Protagonist and he'd be one of the more popular picks for a SMT/Persona character. The game and the protagonist are really great and would lead to some interesting movesets.

Persona 5 Protagonist? I wonder who is the most popular protagonist in the franchise tho. I meant Cloud managed to get in Smash Bros out of all Final Fantasy characters so I wonder if they could go with popular character instead of recent/relevant character.

Most popular...hm. Probably Yu Narukami thanks to all the spinoff media and games.
If they don't go with a protagonist they could go with Jack Frost or Dante (lolz not SMT but he made a cameo in Nocturne).

I really do think if P5 came out earlier the protagonist would be one of the more popular requests though. And he shares a JPN VA with Roy!

I still feel like Rowlet/Decidueye has the better chance because of various aspects. Especially considering that fire isn't a very unique power in Smash already, not only because of Charizard but also because of other characters who have fire-based movesets (Captain Falcon, Mario, among others with a handful of moves like Fox or Robin), while there is only one character with one move that is based on grass - Villager's tree. Also, Incineroar is supposed to be a martial artist, and I feel like Lucario covers the martial artist Pokemon quite well.

Yeah Decidueye would be the most interesting from a moveset perspective and I think he's the current most popular starter out of the gen 7 mons. Plus Ash gets one in the anime, and that'll likely help increase its popularity. Out of the Gen 7 Pokes, he makes the most sense.

 

[TheDinoman]

I really do think if P5 came out earlier the protagonist would be one of the more popular requests though. And he shares a JPN VA with Roy and Pit!

Eh?

Roy and the PS5 protag are voiced by Jun Fukuyama, Pit on the other hand is voiced by a woman, Minami Takayama to be exact.

 

[FSLink]

Eh?

Roy and the PS5 protag are voiced by Jun Fukuyama, Pit on the other hand is voiced by a woman, Minami Takayama to be exact.

Oops got them mixed up, well either way lol

 

[balladofwindfishes]

Seeing how Sakurai manages to make a sea lion waddle around and actually not look comically silly would be interesting to see

But I think it's either Desidueye or Incineroar. I'm leaning towards Desidueye due to Incineroar being a bit much like Wolf or Bowser, and there already being both a Dark starter and a Fire starter. While Desidueye is something completely different.

Or you know, just Litten on its own would be different. Just a cat. Doing cat things.

 

[Boss Doggie]

I still feel like Rowlet/Decidueye has the better chance because of various aspects. Especially considering that fire isn't a very unique power in Smash already, not only because of Charizard but also because of other characters who have fire-based movesets (Captain Falcon, Mario, among others with a handful of moves like Fox or Robin), while there is only one character with one move that is based on grass - Villager's tree. Also, Incineroar is supposed to be a martial artist, and I feel like Lucario covers the martial artist Pokemon quite well.

I think that Sakurai is very much aware of characters who lend themselves well to unique movesets, and I feel like Incineroar does not open up as many unique possibilities as Decidueye does, especially if you consider that one of the potential characters to come along Gen VII Pokemon would be Wolf, who also uses a claw-based moveset. Decidueye on the other hand would be an archer - a fighter archetype we don't have yet - who has access to Grass-based attacks, flying, bird stuff (like using wings, beak, talons and feathers to attack), and even Ghost type attacks.

So, while I don't think Incineroar is impossible, my money would be on Decidueye. If it is a starter at all that we'll get.

Except Incineroar is less fire actually. He's more of a brute attacker with wrestling motif, with fire on the side. And fire beam on your belt is one of the best ways to discharge fire.

Also Incineroar isn't a martial artist. Kayfabe literally his motif. And you seem to have a shallow viewpoint on Incineroar if you think he's all claws and such. Again, I've yet to see a pro wrestler in Smash and he has it in spades (with a touch of Jeeg).

 

[Zubz]

Going to Heath's comment about 7 characters in 1 year... It seems like a fair guess to me, too. That said, Ice Climbers and Chorus Kids were cut characters, right? It seemed like it was to the point they were cut last second, so they shouldn't take long, if at all (As the Ice Climbers were supposedly perfect on the Wii U). And Lucas was the only "copy-and-paste from Brawl" character in the DLC batch, while this can have Wolf, Ice Climbers, and potentially even Snake.

Even ignoring the fact that the DLC took 10 months with a B-Team while this is looking fully-staffed for 16, my guess is we get all 4 of those fighters with an additional 7. Nintendo seems to want to push 3rd Parties actually trying to make an effort on Switch, so I'd guess maybe 2 of them. My realistic guess is...

Ice Climbers
Wolf
Snake
Chorus Kids

Inkling
Decidueye (Barring a MachGaogamon-tier "Obnoxiously Rad" Pokèmon I don't know about yet, Decidueye has far more "cool" appeal than any remaining contender, and it brings in more diversity both as a Pokèmon and as a fighter)
K. Rool
RETRO CHARACTER (Takamaru, probably)
NEW FRANCHISE (Or Elma since XCX is still fresh)

Pick 2:
Rayman
Shovel Knight
Dovakhiin
Persona 5 Rep
Some Other Wild 3rd Party Switch Supporter (Jinbayan?)

 

[Boss Doggie]

also there is a stark difference between "Rowlet is popular" and "Rowlet is popular therefore Decidueye is also popular"

 

[Captain Rage Quit 69]

yall want new characters so badly, don't you realize this is how old characters are neglected

what we really need is to buff Ike

 

[DecoReturns]

yall want new characters so badly, don't you realize this is how old characters are neglected

what we really need is to buff Ike

I hear Jigglypuff could use a buff or 2.

Who am I kidding. Give her all the buffs.

Then buff Ike and Lucas.

 

[Boss Doggie]

yall want new characters so badly, don't you realize this is how old characters are neglected

what we really need is to buff Ike

slow moves should literally have buffed priority, it sucks that Ike's forward smash has the same power as Pikachu's spammable neutral A

 

[Troubled Bat]

yall want new characters so badly, don't you realize this is how old characters are neglected

what we really need is to buff Ike

But he already looks like a gorilla.

 

[DICKS AHOY]

Just since I didn't do it earlier, following the '7 new characters' template:

Veterans:
- Wolf: Almost guaranteed if we get new characters in 'For Switch'.
- Ice Climbers: Only thing stopping them is if Sakurai wanted to port back any characters to Wii U/3DS owners to minimize backlash at an 'Ultimate' version coming out.
- Squirtle or Ivysaur or Pichu: Just a random pot shot, but I could see Sakurai wanting to bring back one of the original movesets cut between Brawl and 'For' rather than spending time on a Pokemon newcomer. Keep in mind this is from the perspective of someone who isn't a particularly huge Pokemon fan, but after Lucario was apparently a close squeeze for Brawl I don't think every Smash getting a rep for the newest generation is a sure thing.

Newcomers:
- Inkling: Like Ice Climbers the only thing I could see stopping them is if 'For Switch' characters need to be backwards compatible with Wii U/3DS and the Inklings rely on a lot of liquid effects.
- Isabelle: Easy way to work in a new Animal Crossing newcomer who's enormously popular, maybe even with a moveset that plays around with the idea of her being a pacifist?
- Geno: Cult classic character Sakurai has admitted to repeatedly trying to get into multiple Smash games. With SE rumored to be having an increased presence on the Switch with FFXV and FFVII Remake ports along with Cloud already being in 'For', I could see this finally happening. The Mii Gunner costume clearly shows this was a discussion that has already begun too.
- Another Shock 3rd Party Guest: Personally I'd want it to be Banjo or Rayman, but in all honesty I could see them just going with Jibanyan from Yokai Watch. Who I don't give two shits about, but whatever.

Keep in mind this isn't a 'wants' list, since it's lacking a lot of characters I want like Ridley, K. Rool and Snake returning. I just feel it's how I could see Sakurai taking things if we're locked in at 7 characters. If it were up to me we'd have every cut character come back and all the newcomers would just be off-the-wall types like Geno, Ashley, K. Rool, etc., but as it is I think we'll only get one 'WTF' character, and it's a safer bet on someone we already know they've tried repeatedly before with like Geno.

I could also see Smash Switch (and the Mario Kart 8 and Splatoon ports) effectively serving as proper 'sequels' despite their port status and being turned into a sort of service game, where stuff gets routinely updated throughout the years. Smash and MK8's DLC was a surprise success for Nintendo, so I could see them preferring this to just developing brand new games from scratch.

 

[Red Arremer]

Except Incineroar is less fire actually. He's more of a brute attacker with wrestling motif, with fire on the side. And fire beam on your belt is one of the best ways to discharge fire.

Also Incineroar isn't a martial artist. Kayfabe literally his motif. And you seem to have a shallow viewpoint on Incineroar if you think he's all claws and such. Again, I've yet to see a pro wrestler in Smash and he has it in spades (with a touch of Jeeg).

My point isn't that Incineroar is only fire (as I point out later), but Fire is definitely one of the aspects of his design. I mean he literally is a FIRE type Pokemon, come on dude. And Smash has a LOT of fire attacks.
Mario, Luigi, Bowser, Zelda, Ryu, Fox, Falco, Captain Falcon, Ness, Lucas, Roy, Charizard, Olimar, Robin, Samus, Game & Watch and probably several more characters that I can't think of right now have attacks that involve fire in some shape or form, and that's if don't count explosions.
Meanwhile, plants are involved in Villager's moveset. That's it.

I didn't know wrestling wasn't martial arts, because as far as the definition goes, it's a "codified system or tradition of combat practices", and I would argue given the fact pro wrestling has specific names for specific combat maneuvers, that would classify as a "codified system of combat practices".
Martial arts isn't just Eastern Asian stuff. In fact, there's a martial arts manual about Wrestling moves from 2000 BC.

Granted, this isn't modern pro wrestling, but it's wrestling nonetheless.

Furthermore, I didn't say Incineroar would ONLY have claw based attacks either. I said that since Wolf is a very possible returning veteran in Smash Switch, Incineroar would be not give as many opportunities to be unique than Decidueye would, specifically for the fact that Wolf's Brawl moveset is mostly claws, and one of Incineroar's modes of attack would be claws.

Finally, you say there's no pro wrestling type character in Smash and while that is true, there are several characters who I would classify as "grappler" type characters, such as Bowser or Wario, who have command grabs and/or are clearly supposed to use grabs in their gameplay since they have good grabs and throws (Dedede comes to mind here in particular). And given how Smash's movesets work, it would be difficult to make a character who is more throw-based than that, since then you'd have to dedicate more than one special to be a command grab, and I feel like that doesn't work well.
Meanwhile, we have no character who is a pure archer who uses his bow for most of their moves like Hawkeye in MvC3 does. We have a few characters who can shoot an arrow from a bow in one single special move, but that's it.

Again, I'm not saying that Incineroar is never gonna happen. I'm just saying that I think he's less likely than Decidueye.

 

[Boss Doggie]

nonononono

the idea is that he isn't really a wrestler that fights like hawlucha or hariyama

basically he is physically built, but at worst he could throw punches or claw people, there's a reason he could only learn a scant few fighting type moves, he doesn't really pull off greco roman wrestling which is what you're saying

when I describe Incineroar, I'm thinking of something how Jeeg fights since part of the inspiration of Incineroar is Jeeg. (Well except for the dismembered head - Incineroar definitely can't be a floating dismembered head)

And Bowser I agree to some extent because you see him throw his weight around, but I feel like the characters you mentioned just happened to have decent grabs but not actually having the "grappler" feel if you get what I mean. Then again you are right that it is hard to implement in Smash.

 

[BassForever]

7 characters for our guesses now?

Newcomers

Inkling
Rayman
Takamaru
Tibby
Decidueye/another gen 7 pokemon

Veterans

Wolf
Ice Climbers

Ranking most to least confident picks

Ice Climbers/Inkling
Wolf
Rayman
Tibby
Decidueye
Takamaru

I feel very confident in IC and Inkling being added to Smash 4 switch for reasons everyone has already outlined.

Wolf would be the only other veteran I can seriously see coming back (sorry Snake fans) and with Rayman trophies in smash and the rumored mario rabbids exclusive, rayman makes a lot of sense if we add another 3rd party character.

We know Sakurai planned on a RH character at some point in development but cut them, Tibby now fixes the issue of "who would the rep be" by being Megamix's main protagonist. If pokemon star is coming to switch then I expect a gen 7 poke to be there with Decidueye being the most likely though with Sakurai who knows I could see him pick Mimikchu or any number of new mons.

Finally Takamaru is a character we know Sakurai considered but passed on, I dunno if Sakurai would cut an assist trophy from a port to make him fully playable. Yes I know it happened between Brawl and 4 with Little Mac but punch out had a new game during that time unless a new Takamaru game is in the works (maybe Sakurai's new game, maybe Retro's new game, maybe 3rd party working on it) I have a hard time having conviction in that pick.

 

[balladofwindfishes]

Rotom could be a fun Pokemon. It's a 4th gen rep, but Rotom is really popular and basically a secondary character in SM.

 

[Red Arremer]

Rotom could be a fun Pokemon. It's a 4th gen rep, but Rotom is really popular and basically a secondary character in SM.

What's SM?

Spoiler

I hate acronyms without context

 

[Ahnez]

What's SM?

Spoiler

I hate acronyms without context

Sun/Moon

 

[PK Gaming]

yall want new characters so badly, don't you realize this is how old characters are neglected

what we really need is to buff Ike

I hear Jigglypuff could use a buff or 2.

Who am I kidding. Give her all the buffs.

Then buff Ike and Lucas.

Yo Ike doesn't need buffs

He's like the definition of a balanced character

Really well designed character imo

 

[Boss Doggie]

Yo Ike doesn't need buffs

He's like the definition of a balanced character

Really well designed character imo

his attacks need priority advantage

then again a lot of attacks need that, one thing I'm surprised the franchise hasn't fixed

 

[PK Gaming]

his attacks need priority advantage

then again a lot of attacks need that, one thing I'm surprised the franchise hasn't fixed

???

You do know how priority works, right? It's based on damage (for grounded moves; aerials always trade)

Ike's attacks tend to beat out a ton of moves

 

[Green Mamba]

I'm still not sold on Decidueye. So many people decided he was the next Pokemon character before they had even seen him. He feels too assumed. I think people forget how out of left field Greninja was at first due to preconceived notions of Pokemon character picking.

 

[Captain Rage Quit 69]

It's not about whether Ike needs buffs

It's whether I want Ike buffs, and boy do I want them

 

[balladofwindfishes]

Greninja was out of left field?

 

[Green Mamba]

Greninja was out of left field?

Maybe I'm not remembering correctly but I don't recall Greninja being acknowledged to be likely at all.

 

[TheDinoman]

Greninja was out of left field?

Yeah?

Most people were expecting them to add Mewtwo back as the X&Y rep and call it a day.

 

[BassForever]

I'm still not sold on Decidueye. So many people decided he was the next Pokemon character before they had even seen him. He feels too assumed. I think people forget how out of left field Greninja was at first due to preconceived notions of Pokemon character picking.

IIRC when Greninja was first revealed his design had an extremely positive reception and people would have liked him to be in Smash but thought he was "too new" despite Sakurai as we later found out having the exact same reaction the fans did. Thats why people give Decidueye credit as the next Greninja which had a design that instantly resonated with a lot of people.Like all predictions for smash rosters assuming Sakurai is making the decisions its basically throwing darts blind folded at a spinning target. There is a reason he isn't high on my list.

 

[balladofwindfishes]

Maybe I'm not remembering correctly but I don't recall Greninja being acknowledged to be likely at all.

The only reason people doubted Greninja was because he was so new. His design was always seen as being perfect for Smash.

 

[DICKS AHOY]

I don't remember people expecting Greninja in the slightest. He wasn't written off entirely but people did seem to fall into the trap of going off previous Smash's and assuming they'd rework Mewtwo more to represent X/Y.

 

[Red Arremer]

I remember people just saying a general "new Pokemon rep" if they said that Smash 4 would get any new Pokemon at all.
And if I remember correctly, a lot of people also thought that Smash 4's roster would've been too far into development to represent Gen 6 of Pokemon as well, and thought that there would be a Gen 5 Pokemon instead.

People didn't expect Greninja in particular, but they definitely thought we'd get a new Pokemon character, just that it wasn't clear which generation it would be from, and which character in particular would be picked. I remember Zoroark being one of the popular picks to represent that new Pokemon rep.

 

[Javier]

I remember plenty of people saying "If we get a Gen 6 Pokemon, it's gonna be Sylveon".

 

[Red Arremer]

I remember plenty of people saying "If we get a Gen 6 Pokemon, it's gonna be Sylveon".

I somehow doubt the majority of those people were serious.

 

[BassForever]

I somehow doubt the majority of those people were serious.

Yeah I don't remember any serious discussion for the eeveelution outside of the argument that it and mega mewtwo were shown early. Mega mewtwo did end up in smash as a final smash though so people expecting that were somewhat correct.

 

[Nocturnowl]

I thought we were still afraid that we were gonna be getting Zoroark with his Roman Reigns forced push.

Even then he still ended up in a masterball somehow.

 

[IntelliHeath]

I remember plenty of people saying "If we get a Gen 6 Pokemon, it's gonna be Sylveon".

Thought it was a dicussion about pokeballs? I don't really remember that much about Sylveon during POTD.

I thought we were still afraid that we were gonna be getting Zoroark with his Roman Reigns forced push.

Even then he still ended up in a masterball somehow.

That was hilarious but I certainly hope that it wouldn't be in case for our Owl.

 

[PK Gaming]

I thought we were still afraid that we were gonna be getting Zoroark with his Roman Reigns forced push.

Even then he still ended up in a masterball somehow.

Everyone was dumping on Zoroark actually

He was considered a failure at that point

 

[IntelliHeath]

Since Tanaki's tweet isn't allowed to be on NeoGAF or something like that, but I'm not sure.
So, I'm going to start with Nico.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-EZOXAlR2tQ

• New Story Mode
• New Fighters (including Third Party Character(s), and he've heard about Rayman but that's maybe tho)
• Lot of adjustments

Credits to BloodLuigi for Translation.

 

[Sponge]

Since Tanaki's tweet isn't allowed to be on NeoGAF or something like that, but I'm not sure.
So, I'm going to start with Nico.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-EZOXAlR2tQ

• New Story Mode
• New Fighters (including Third Party Character(s), and he've heard about Rayman but that's maybe tho)
• Lot of adjustments

Story mode would be hype. I'd take anything akin to Melee's Adventure mode.

 

[Draxal]

Since Tanaki's tweet isn't allowed to be on NeoGAF or something like that, but I'm not sure.
So, I'm going to start with Nico.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-EZOXAlR2tQ

• New Story Mode
• New Fighters (including Third Party Character(s), and he've heard about Rayman but that's maybe tho)
• Lot of adjustments

Rayman wouldn't surprise me one bit now.

 

[jnWake]

Since Tanaki's tweet isn't allowed to be on NeoGAF or something like that, but I'm not sure.
So, I'm going to start with Nico.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-EZOXAlR2tQ

• New Story Mode
• New Fighters (including Third Party Character(s), and he've heard about Rayman but that's maybe tho)
• Lot of adjustments

How reliable is this guy?

I'd love new story mode, hopefully with lots of bosses.

 

[RomanceDawn]

, hopefully with lots of bosses.

And none of them Ridley!

 

[Captain Rage Quit 69]

And none of them Ridley!

But of course, since Ridley is already a stage hazard!

 

[balladofwindfishes]

Those sound like super empty things.

Like basically anything could be explained as hitting the story one, and the other two are totally and completely obvious "predictions"

> Adds a new stage with a boss (because there's a good chance they probably will eventually)
> "Yep, that must have been what my source thought was story mode!"

> Adds new Smash Run stage
> "Oh, that must have been story mode"

 

[MrSaturn99]

I knew Greninja took me by surprise.

A Melee-inspired Adventure (or a different spin; I've always entertained the idea of split paths and the like) would be cool, although I'm not expecting any new modes.

 

[jnWake]

And none of them Ridley!

You'll get Ridley, Meta Ridley, Baby Ridley, Teenage Mutant Ridley and Other M horrible clone Ridley boss battles.

 

[Red Arremer]

You'll get Ridley, Meta Ridley, Baby Ridley, Teenage Mutant Ridley and Other M horrible clone Ridley boss battles.

What about Nintendo Land Ridley?