Super Smash Bros Ultimate DLC thoughts, predictions, and hopes

Smash Bros. It's practically a household name. How fitting that a game series devoted to celebrating the history of gaming as both an industry and as a hobby became the best selling fighting game of all time. Unless you don't consider Smash Bros to be a fighting game and stubbornly say that is actually a party game for some reason (plenty of people do). In that case, its the best selling party game in existence. In case you don't know anything about Smash Bros, long story short, take beloved video game characters from over 40 years of gaming history, throw them all on a slightly crowded arena based off of locations from the video games represented, and make them all fight each other, either with their own natural abilities or with randomly spawning items and weapons. This is a rather long post, so just rest assured there's a TL;DR summary at the bottom of the post.

The newest Smash Bros game, Super Smash Bros Ultimate, just wrapped up its first season of post-launch DLC content (each pack containing one brand new playable character, an appropriately themed stage, and a selection of songs from the character's game of origin). While this may seem like the end of support this behemoth of a game will get, Masahiro Sakurai (the creator/director/roster designer of the Smash Bros franchise) recently revealed that he has secretly been working on a second season of DLC, planning to include an additional six characters (and their stages and songs), potentially bringing the roster up to 90+ playable characters. But before we continue with speculating who we might get in the future, I want to talk about the characters we got.

First, Piranha Plant. Definitely the funniest inclusion. It's literally a cartoon plant! Although people seem to forget that Piranha Plant was a DLC character, mostly because he/she/it/they were free if you bought the game on launch day (like I did). Piranha Plant is by no means an overpowered character, but his ability to lock down huge chunks of the stage with his poison spray and extending bite attacks are really fun to mess around with. I remember making a joke back when he was first revealed that I would main him (meaning if I ever play in a professional tournament, I would have no choice but to stick to Piranha Plant for the whole tournament). I don't main him seriously now, mostly because I prefer the more aggressive characters like Inkling, Ganondorf, and Ridley, but Piranha Plant is always nice for a change of pace. But Piranha Plant seemed to have gotten thrown to the wayside once the more legitimately exciting characters started showing up. But the best thing about Piranha Plant was its reveal. Keep in mind dozens of leaks and rumors were flying around, most infamously the "Grinch Leak" which only really caught on because it had a lot of frequently requested characters like Shadow the Hedgehog, Geno from Super Mario RPG, Crash Bandicoot, and more. Turns out that leak was a very elaborate hoax to give the leaker 15 minutes of fame. People fell for it anyway, mostly because all the characters announced previously were fan-favorites that were heavily requested both in Japan (where Sakurai is from) and in America (where Smash Bros' biggest audience is). Nobody asked for Piranha Plant. Nobody leaked Piranha Plant's status as a playable character. Sakurai made this character in secret, almost entirely to spite the people making fake leaks. Hence, one of the funniest reveals in existence. It says a lot that when Piranha Plant was shown, Sakurai himself had to specify that Piranha Plant was in fact playable and not an Assist character.

I think it's safe to say nobody was expecting Joker, the main protagonist of the cult-classic RPG Persona 5 to be in the game. In fact, I'd go as far and say that... We Never Saw Him Coming! (that's a joke referencing Joker's theme song, Last Surprise, in case you're curious). I don't know a whole lot about Persona 5, other than it is a very long game, it has some talented voice actors in it (Joker's voiced by Xander Mobus! The same dude who does all the crazy, over the top announcements for Smash Bros!), and spawned a lot of fandom in-jokes, ranging from You'll Never See It Coming jokes, to jokes about Morgana the cat reminding you that you need to sleep, to jokes that naturally take Joker's status as a skirt chaser to its logical conclusion. Seriously, the dude is a walking chick magnet with how many potential love interests he has in his own game. Aside from jokes, he has a really fun play style, effectively being as fast and combo-focused as Sheik and Bayonetta but with a whole lot more killing power. Also, just saying it right now, but I really like Joker's design. It has a edgy yet classy cat burglar motif that I adore (and it fits since Joker's thing is that he is the leader of a band of thieves). Also, I find it funny how back in 2008 when Smash Bros Brawl was being made Solid Snake wasn't allowed to use guns because at the time, the ESRB (the people who put ratings on games) considered guns to be inherently too violent for a kids' game, and thus got all his ballistic weapons replaced with explosives (because back then, the ESRB viewed explosives as being less violent than guns for some reason). Evidently, the ESRB's stance on guns has relaxed a bit because Joker is allowed to use his pistol with no need for censorship. Of course, the gun isn't real, because Joker's main power is the ability to turn fake things into real things. So that pistol is actually a toy gun, but because of Joker's weird powers, it works just like a real gun. Whether that is a good enough excuse to let Joker keep his gun uncensored is a subject up for debate.

From left to right; Solo, Eleven, Erdrick, and Eight

The next DLC character was the Hero from Dragon Quest. I find the decision to refer to them as "the Hero" mildly amusing, since the reason it was done was because in Dragon Quest, you can put any name you want when beginning the game. It begs the question of why characters like Robin from Fire Emblem weren't given similar treatment, since you can change that character's name. Though of course, when it comes to fighting games, it's important for each character to have some way to verbally differentiate themselves from the rest of the roster, so this is probably be the only time Sakurai (or his localization team) do anything like this. Anyway, Hero is my vote for most fun DLC character. Are they top tier? No. Far from it. They have mediocre speed both on the ground and in the air, and their best ability, which pulls up a menu of randomized spells, requires the player to split their attention away from their opponent so they can see which spells they can use. But their ability to pull up a random selection of magic spells, combined with a 1-in-30 chance of their heavy attacks being able to break through shields (and deal double damage), and getting all the benefits of a Smash Bros swordsman (extra reach, disjointed hit boxes, etc), means they are a really fun (albeit gimmicky) fighter. Also shout out to my good friend Vincent. He bought Hero's DLC pack and let me experiment with Hero on his save file (I buy the DLC characters individually, because buying all the DLC characters you like one by one is in my opinion better than getting the Season Pass for $30 and running the risk of getting a character you don't like). So thanks Vincent! But anyway, Hero is a character despite being "yet another sword fighter" felt like an obvious inclusion for Smash. After all, Dragon Quest was the game that proved that RPGs can be successful both in and outside Japan. The series is still going on strong to this day, which makes certain portions of the community (particularly the American Smash Bros fan base) especially annoying when they complain that Hero doesn't "deserve"to be in Smash because Dragon Quest is "too obscure" in America. Yeah, the games aren't as well known as say Pokemon in America, but the games are a behemoth of a franchise in the rest of the world. Why else are there 11 of these games (without counting the dozens of spin-offs)?

Banjo-Kazooie was a game I never played. Heck, I didn't even know it existed until after people started bringing up the possibility of the Bear & Bird being in Smash Bros. My parents blame themselves for me not knowing anything about Banjo-Kazooie. But out of all the characters added to Smash Bros Ultimate, Banjo the Bear and Kazooie the Bird felt the most like a pipe dream. They had too very successful platformer games and a third game that was so controversial that it killed the franchise. You thought Sonic the Hedgehog had it rough in 2006? Banjo Kazooie: Nuts & Bolts was so widely panned that any interest in the franchise was buried six feet under. The main reason people wanted Banjo & Kazooie in Smash Bros was because back when Nintendo owned Rare (the company that made Banjo-Kazooie stuff and Donkey Kong Country stuff), this franchise was treated with more dignity and respect. It only really went downhill when Microsoft bought out Rare and by extension the IP (Intellectual Property) of almost every game they ever worked on, the exception being Donkey Kong simply on the grounds that Rare didn't create the character (Nintendo did). The point I'm trying to make here is that everyone, even the people requesting them, thought that Banjo & Kazooie were impossible to put in the game. But then Sakurai says "Hold my non-alcoholic beverage" and fights tooth and nail to get the legal rights to put the Bear and Bird in Smash Bros. Despite never playing any of the Banjo-Kazooie, I love the character because of the exaggerated personality they bring. Their animations are wacky, their move set is fun to use (but nowhere near as gimmicky as Hero), and their stage comes with some really good country-inspired music. If you were to only get one DLC fighter, I would recommend Banjo & Kazooie simply on the grounds they bring the most unique identity out of them all.

Terry Bogard is probably the most unexpected character. Not that people didn't think he was impossible, but because so few people know who Terry Bogard is. Terry is the main protagonist of Fatal Fury, a series of fighting games from the 90's that can best be described as "Brazilian Street Fighter" As he is a character from a fighting game, most of his original move set has been carried over to Smash Bros, including the infamously complicated inputs needed for his strongest attacks (Buster Wolf and Power Geyser). Terry's stage also comes with 50 SONGS. For context, the only series that have more songs in the game, are Super Mario Bros (103) and Legend of Zelda (96). If you were getting the DLC for the music (not sure why you would) then Terry is the best deal. Anyway, the best thing about Terry though was during one of Sakurai's Nintendo Direct live stream. During said live stream, Sakurai pointed out how almost the entire roster of the original Fatal Fury make cameo appearances as spectators for the battle. The only character excluded from getting a background cameo was Mai Shiranui (a character infamous for her skimpy outfit and seductive personality). Why was she excluded? In Sakurai's (translator's) own words, "Smash Bros is a game for good boys and girls" I died laughing when he said that.

And finally, wrapping up the first season of DLC we have Byleth from Fire Emblem: Three Houses. One of the most controversial picks, at least if you live in America because Americans can't have nice things. But why was Byleth's inclusion controversial? Namely, a very loud, and very toxic portion of the community feels that Fire Emblem is over-represented. They have three Echo Fighters (characters that share a move set with someone else), and five unique characters, despite only recently becoming successful enough (in America, in Japan the Fire Emblem franchise has been a mainstay house hold name on par with Legend of Zelda) to justify representation. Additionally, the fighters in the game don't really have abilities that accurately reflect the games they come from, except for Robin and to a lesser extent Corrin (for a game all about changing your weapons around to maintain a strategic advantage, the Fire Emblem boys sure do like fighting with swords exclusively). On top of this, both Roy and Corrin were added to Smash Bros before their games were even released, since by that time, the higher-ups at Nintendo realized that getting literally any video game character into Smash Bros was in essence free advertising, and it was a very effective marketing scheme. That said, and I am speaking AS a Fire Emblem fan, I do feel that the Fire Emblem portion of the roster is bloated. In a perfect world, we would have Marth (the protagonist of the original Fire Emblem), Robin (the protagonist of Fire Emblem Awakening, the game that saved the franchise from discontinuation), Corrin (protagonist of Fates and the only protagonist to be a shape-shifter) and then somebody from Three Houses because of that game becoming a massive hit, both critically and financially. That said, Byleth isn't even the real main character of Three Houses. He (or she if you choose Girl!Byleth) exists as a stand in for the player, serving as a in-universe explanation for how the player can interact with the world. Claude, Dimitri, and especially Edelgarde all have more plot relevance than Byleth ever does. Honestly, the way I was half-hoping Byleth to be done was that he was a three-in-one character like the Pokemon Trainer or the Ice Climbers, with the player cycling between Edelgarde, Dimitri and Claude as they fought alongside Byleth. 

The good news is that the Byleth trailer has Cassandra Lee bringing her snarky charm once again as Sothis the Time Goddess. Seriously, the fact that she had the audacity to call out the "tOo MaNy SwOrDsMaN" meme is priceless. And that joke wasn't even in the original Japanese script. In the Japanese version of the trailer she questions Byleth's masculinity just as they're about to show off footage of Girl!Byleth, which is depending on who you ask, just as funny. Anyway, Byleth is a slow moving heavyweight character, who is only slightly faster than Robin (Robin is tied with Incineroar for Slowest playable character in the game). To compensate, Byleth has access to so very far reaching weapons such as Dimitri's spear and Claude's bow, and can then finish foes off at close range using their signature whip sword in addition to Edelgarde's battle axe. Wait a minute! A Fire Emblem character who changes their weapons around based on the current situation!? We finally have a game-accurate Fire Emblem character! Anyway, I actually like Byleth's move set so far (I haven't had a chance to play as them yet). And then you see people whine and complain about getting eight(!) Fire Emblem characters in one game. Which I find hypocritical, since both Mario and Pokemon have more representation than Fire Emblem (not only having more characters, but also more stages, items, and songs), yet nobody complains about either one. Plus, if any game in the Fire Emblem franchise deserved a playable rep, it would be Three Houses. My review isn't ready (Three Houses is a behemoth of a game that will take you hundreds of hours just to see everything it has to offer), but until it is, just know that I adore almost everything about that game. Its story, its characters, its soundtrack, its game play, it's all very well done. I mean, the graphics can look a little dated at times, but the rest of the game is so well put together that I can honestly look (pun completely intended) past the mediocre graphics. EDITOR'S NOTE: I have now played as Byleth myself. S/he has become my most played character right behind King K. Rool and Inkling. Byleth has a very fun move set without relying heavily on a gimmick, and has damage output on par with Ganondorf combined with the insane reach of Simon Belmont. So Byleth is essentially two of my favorite characters rolled into one. I will say that Byleth's Down-Special attack seems kind of wonky. Its description says it has super armor, meaning during the animation Byleth is invincible. But in practice, Byleth only has super armor towards the end of the animation, not the entirety of it. Not a deal breaker, but I am doing a retroactive P.S.A. for anyone wanting to pick up this character. Also, another issue I have, though less egregious than the lack of super armor on a move whose primary purpose is to give you super armor, is Byleth's recovery. It is really good, and doubles as a long range grapple attack. Only problem is that the move is TOO good at recovery. If you are off the stage, and you opponent is in the way, Byleth's whip sword will ignore the opponent and always prioritize attaching itself to the ledge so you can get back on stage. I wish it would prioritize whichever one is closer, which makes more sense to me. Especially since using the grapple attack to launch the opponent straight down while simultaneously bouncing yourself straight up is one of the most satisfying moves in the game. 

But now for the fun part of this blog, trying to figure out who the Season 2 DLC characters are! I would say these are my predictions, but Sakurai is a man who wields powers that exist beyond mortal comprehension, so there is really no way to predict what he'll do. But as the old saying goes, if you throw enough darts at a dart board at least one of them will stick. So think of this as more of personal wish list. And yes, I am doing ten of these guys/gals, because six is an awkward, clumsy sounding number. First up is Spyro the Dragon. Legend of Spyro was the first video game I ever played, I have the original three games, and I have a Spyro plush in my room. Obviously, this purple reptile with the attitude of a 90's skateboarder is very near and dear to my heart. Just... Don't base him off of his appearance in Skylanders. While that design looks passable in the Netflix cartoon, in the actual games it looks terrible. Plus it would probably tick off Spyro fans who largely dislike the Skylanders franchise. But anyway, Spyro is a character that would stand out for a multitude of reasons. One, he's a quadruped, and currently there are only two characters (Ivysaur and Duck Hunt) who have that body type. Second, Spyro's Elemental Breaths could make for a very interesting and visually impressive move set. Third, he's a freaking DRAGON. Dragons are inherently cool creatures and you can make literally any fantasy setting better by having a dragon (or a dragon-equivalent).

Another character I would love to see is the Knight from Hollow Knight. Not to be confused with the Hollow Knight. The Knight is a completely different person from the Hollow Knight. I promise. Anyway, the Knight is from what is quite honestly one of the best Metroidvania games on the planet, and most of the Knight's abilities can be translated into Smash Bros combat mechanics very easily. Helping matters is the fact that both games have similar control schemes. While the Knight does use a sword-like weapon (it is actually a nail. The Knight is an anthropomorphic beetle, and is about the same size as a real life beetle, although they would be scaled up for the sake of game balance). I don't think it is too likely, mostly because the Knight is an indie video game character as opposed to a mainstream one, and so far indie characters such as Shovel Knight, Cuphead, and Sans the Skeleton seem to get the short end of the stick (Shovel Knight is an Assist, Cuphead and Sans are costumes for Mii Fighters). I imagine that if Hollow Knight gets any kind of representation, it wouldn't be in the form of a fully playable character. But honestly? The main reason I want the Knight in Smash Bros is because that game has so many locales that could make for fantastic stages, in addition to having some amazing songs in its soundtrack.

Steve? from Minecraft (yes, the question mark is part of the character's name). I would be more surprised if Steve? DIDN'T make in as a DLC character. Minecraft is the most successful video game of all time, not just being a best-seller, but for also being almost entirely responsible for the rising popularity of open-world sandbox games. This game is so huge even people who don't partake in gaming culture know about Minecraft and its instantly recognizable mascot. And keep in mind that gaming culture is a thing that largely exists in a bubble, completely unaffected by other life styles. Steve? is an indie character in name only, for his star power rivals that of gaming giants like Pikachu and the Mario Brothers. Not bad for a minimalist character design from a game with a minimalist art style. And before anyone says "But Steve? can't be in Smash because they have to give him a redesign to fit with the rest of the roster!" let me point out that there is, in fact, no art style unifying the characters. You have cartoony, simplistic characters such as Pikachu and Kirby standing next to detailed, realistic characters such as Solid Snake and Ridley. And don't you want newcomers to stand out among the veterans? I imagine him being like Mr. Game & Watch, another character with a minimalist design and appropriately simple looking animations. As for move set potential, Steve? has access to swords, axes, shovels, hoes, buckets, building supplies, Red Stone machines, magic potions, pet wolves, horse riding, TNT, the ability to build living snowmen, a crossbow, a magic trident that shoots lightning, and that's not mentioning the crazy reality warping capabilities of using a Command Block. Steve? does not lack move set potential. Ironically, he has too much move set potential.

The only thing I can promise you with 100% certainty is that we are getting a Pokemon from Pokemon Sword & Shield. As for which one, it depends. If we get one of the evolved Starters, it will most likely be Rillaboom, due to being not having a lot of overlap with the rest of the roster (aside from being an anthropomorphic gorilla like Donkey Kong). Plus, Rillaboom would simultaneously be a plant based fighter, because of the Grass typing it has, and be a sound based fighter, because Rillaboom is based on a rock'n'roll drummer. While Cinderace is not out of the question, I feel like it has too much in common with Incineroar (being fire-users based off of popular sports). Plus, having THREE Fire Type Pokemon would probably start a new variation of the "too many swordsman" meme. And finally, Intellion would be cool... But it does have overlap with Greninja, being mysterious, edgy water creatures who make weapons out of pressurized water (shurikens and swords for Greninja, guns and bullets for Intellion). I feel Intellion would have a projectile heavy move set, given that it is based off of a sniper. But if the decision came down to me, I would vote for Rillaboom because I legitimately want a character with plant based abilities and sound based abilities, and Rillaboom (potentially) can do both. Plus I am a sucker for heavy-weight characters, so Rillaboom would fit right in to my play style (in theory). Toxtricity is another Sword & Shield Pokemon that would be nice to see. Toxtricity is basically the Lucario of Sword & Shield, being a powerful, but not quite Legendary, Pokemon heavily marketed as the break-out star of the newest Generation of Pokemon (Zoroark and Lycanroc fall in the same boat). And honestly, Toxtricity might be the most unique Pokemon in a while. It has access to Poison and Electric type attacks, has a cool design, and has multiple forms that could make for excellent alternate costumes.

One character I would love to see in Smash is, to the surprise of no one who knows what my all time favorite game is, a Monster Hunter. From, well, Monster Hunter. We already got Rathalos as a boss, we just need a playable character, a stage, and some music. As for what kind of move set, the 14(!) different weapons in the Monster Hunter games all have enough source material to justify a move set. The best case scenario would be if the Monster Hunter used a specific weapon with an associated attack. Just a few examples, and forgive the sudden dip into fighting game terminology. Side-Smash could be a overhead slam from a Great Sword. The Jab could be one of the Dual Blades combos. The Dash Attack could be the Hunter pulling out a Gun-Lance and skewering anything in front of them and then blasting the foe away. The Grab Attack could be the Clutch Claw from Monster Hunter World: Iceborne. The Air attacks could all be the Hunter pulling out a Bow-Gun and shooting different ammo types depending on input (up for Cluster, down for Spread, etc). And then you can start incorporating some of the consumable items as well. Like the Neutral-Special could be similar to Shulk's Monado Arts, bringing up a menu of items that the Hunter can use for temporary buffs. Such as eating a Might Seed to increase attack power, or drinking a Mega Potion to heal. The Down-Special could be the Hunter planting a Barrel Bomb that explodes after a delay (attacking the barrel would make it explode early, like in the actual games). Look, my point here is that the Monster Hunter has almost as much move set potential as Steve? on top of being my most wanted character right now. So if they could just put in a Monster Hunter, that'd be great.

The Howard twins from Astral Chain would actually be a really cool and unique fighter. "But SPENCER!!! The main cast of Astral Chain appear in the game as Spirits! They CAN'T be in the game!" Well hear me out, Internet person. While I do feel like Assist characters deny a character a shot at the roster, I feel like if Spirits work the same way that Sakurai, and more importantly, Nintendo themselves shot themselves in the foot. Plus, considering that Spirits are just 2D images that cost basically no resources or time to implement. Assist characters, in my mind, seem to deny a character a playable slot because Sakurai's team made animations and a specific function for that character. While it is true that some Assist characters get "promoted" to playable status, that usually happens in the next game in the series. Example. In Smash Bros Brawl, Little Mac was an Assist. In Smash 4, he's playable. In Smash 4 Dark Samus was an Assist. In Smash Ultimate Dark Samus is playable, albeit in the form of an Echo Fighter for Samus. Anyway, for those unfamiliar with Astral Chain, it is an action-adventure game made by Platinum Games. It stars the Howard twins, a pair of siblings working for a police force in a cyberpunk future. In the game itself, you play only as one of the two twins, the other becoming an NPC who ironically has more story relevance than your own character. Anyway, the Howard twins are police officers, and as such they are armed with a pistol and stun baton, but their most unique tool is their Legion. Legions, in the Astral Chain universe, are basically domesticated aliens that can be summoned and controlled with the titular Astral Chain. A move set based around Legion management sounds like a more awesome version of Olimar's Pikmin management. Also, Astral Chain has techno music that actually sounds good. Do you know how rare it is for me to find techno music I like? Very rare.

But now I'm about to hit you with the big one. The Master Chief from the Halo franchise. "But Master Chief comes from an M-rated video game!" Well news flash, little Timmy. Joker, Solid Snake, and Bayonetta all come from M-rated games (plus, the newest game in the series has a T for Teen rating now). "But Master Chief never appeared on a Nintendo console!" Neither did Cloud Strife from Final Fantasy VII, and Joker only appeared on Nintendo platforms AFTER his inclusion into Smash Bros. Now before you ask why I want Master Chief in Smash Bros let me clarify a few things. I have never played a Halo game. I do have a rather extensive knowledge of the series, and 13-year-old Spencer even picked up some of the Mega Blocks Halo toy sets (Mega Blocks is LEGO's main competitor, by the way. They mostly get by through making licensed toys of franchises that LEGO is too kid-friendly to even think about touching). Granted, I did that because the edgy, sci-fi alien space war aesthetic appealed to me when I was younger. ...Actually it STILL appeals to me, but that's not the point. 

The point is, Halo popularized the First Person Shooter genre. It didn't invent the genre, that honor goes to DOOM, but it did bring it from humble and obscure origins into the spotlight of the mainstream. Halo was to the shooter genre what Minecraft was to open-world sandboxes. Plus, if we can only have Master Chief or the Doom Slayer, my vote goes to Master Chief. The reason goes back to the whole, M-rated game thing. You see, the Halo games aren't actually that violent, all things considered. Yes, there are guns and explosions and blood, but nothing gratuitous. The main reason it was given such a harsh rating was mostly for profanity (and having realistic looking guns), and each game has gotten only increasingly tame about its choice of words. Which matches up (for the most part) with the other "Mature" game characters. Barring Bayonetta, who got censored because of her "seductive bad girl" demeanor, Solid Snake and Joker never do anything extreme enough to justify an M rating by themselves. The Doom Slayer is a character that would definitely need censorship, since the Doom Slayer's entire thing is killing bad guys in extremely gory and brutal ways. After all DOOM is ultimately the manliest video game in existence. Why else does the Doom Slayer literally tear everything in his path apart while jamming out to heavy metal? But Master Chief is a whole lot tamer than the Doom Slayer (yes, even in the M-rated Halo games). So he would be easier to implement into Smash, because there's less work to do to keep him family friendly. Additionally, the main theme of Smash Ultimate is, barring Byleth and maybe Inkling, all of the newcomers are big, fan-favorite requests that seem like a pipe dream for one real-life issue keeping them out (Banjo & Kazooie's lack of relevance, Ridley's size, etc). Sakurai doesn't give a rat's mother's hat about any "reason" to exclude a character. This madman will do whatever the heck he wants, and there is no corporation, business decision, or natural force on this PLANET that can stop him. I wouldn't be surprised if Microsoft approached Sakurai about Master Chief's potential inclusion. Anyway, Master Chief has a fairly large amount of weapons he can utilize, from ballistic guns, to plasma weaponry, to a explosives, to all sorts of vehicles. I imagine him being like a fusion between Samus and Solid Snake.

Shantae is yet another indie character that deserved better. Hailing from a colorful series of platformers, having a wide host of magical abilities, and being fun and quirky character, Shantae has it all. Honestly it's hard to remember that Shantae is an indie property. But despite having just as many, if not more games and merch than Shovel Knight, she got an even SHORTER end of the stick. She's just a Spirit. But again, neither Sakurai nor Nintendo said that Spirits are definitive proof that the character in question is no longer eligible for Smash. Heck, the ONLY explicit rule Sakurai stated when picking newcomers is that the character in question MUST originate from a video game. If the character appeared in a different form of entertainment previously (such as a book or film) they are, by Sakurai's rules, excluded by default. So you just gotta hold out for a chance that Shantae will make it in.

Oh hey, some more Square Enix characters! Instead of over-saturating the roster with Fire Emblem characters, lets bring in a ton of Square Enix characters in. Anyway, Octopath Traveler is a game with a bizarre name, a beautiful art style, eight different stories, and a unique Break system. In regards to which one of the eight different heroes to add, really, just about all of them could work. My vote goes to either Alfyn the Apothecary or H'aanit the Huntress. The former because of potion crafting mechanic could be implemented into a move set focusing on putting negative status conditions on his opponent. H'aanit meanwhile has a bow (an inherently cool weapon), a battle axe, and a pet snow leopard. Also her taunts would be hilarious because she speaks exclusively in early Elizabethan English (with all the "thee" and "thou" and "verily" and "forsooth" that comes with that style of dialogue). Of course, having one out of eight is difficult, and the game's non-linear nature means you can't just say "well Olberic is the character you start as, so let's use him!" mostly because the big selling point of Octopath Traveler is how you can choose, from the moment you start the game, which stories you want to do, and in what order. Honestly, now that I'm thinking about it, the Octopath Traveler cast make more sense as Spirits or Assist characters, but still.

And finally, rounding out my prediction/wish list is... Ratchet and Clank. From, well, Ratchet & Clank. An easygoing, snarky, and intelligent mechanic, Ratchet has a wide host of sci-fi weaponry at his disposal. From machine guns that shoot out buzz saws to grenades that force the target to dance uncontrollably to 80's pop music, Ratchet has a weapon for every occasion. Clank can assist by using his hover-pack mode to give Ratchet extra mobility, or he can be deployed and controlled somewhat independently from Ratchet (think Rosalina's Luma or Olimar's Pikmin). The Ratchet & Clank series is great, and seeing it get more love is always a good thing. I understand the difficulty of getting an Insomniac Games (who primarily make games for Sony) character in, but this is Sakurai we're talking about here. That man can make anything happen. ...On the condition that the thing in question is something to improve Smash Bros. I respect the guy but I don't think even he can bring world peace.

And that will do it. So, TL;DR, the characters we already got are great, for the most part. Sakurai refuses to just stop working on what many consider to be his Magnum Opus. And I list a bunch a characters off to see if at least one of them makes it in. So, what are your thoughts on the Smash Bros DLC characters so far? I know I asked this in another post a long time ago, but it is always a fun question; If you could add anyone from any game or movie or cartoon into Smash Bros as a playable character, who would you add? Let me know with a comment.