The roster isn't set in stone anymore and hasn't been for a long time. Pac-Man and Luffy prove that. (And don't try to tell me that Pac-Man was always planned to be playable. They wouldn't have wasted effort coding him as an assist trophy in the first place if he was.)

v1.0 probably won't be here until close to the turn of the decade, so that's plenty of time for other SSB4 characters to stop by.


Oh, those were dark days.


Basically, way, way back, in the game's earliest stages - I'm talking pre-v0.4 here - the SSF2 roster was planned to support DLC. The early dev team was so confident that they could finish the game by Summer 2009* (as they said in Sephiroth's dojo update) that they were already planning several characters for post-completion while there was still so much to do. Which, as we all know now, is a very frowned-upon practice nowadays.

Also, expansions had no rules. Everyone wanted to make their own.

The concept of post-release characters isn't entirely off the table today, though. They're just worrying about, you know, the actual game first.

I feel as if Bandana Dee also breaks that rule, since we now have knowledge that the Bandana Dee assist trophy has been replaced by your average Waddle Dee
So +1 for him too
Wait nevermind that isn't confirmed yet whoops

May I ask why you brought up Luffy? He seems like a character that would be added from the beginning with Ichigo's inclusion in the first version.

I don't deny that roster has likely changed, I just think Pac-Man was a last-minute addition.

I believe that the devs have stated before that Pac didn't have any unique qualities. That was before he appeared in Smash 4. And I believe they made the last-minute decision to add him after Smash 4 because they realized how big of an icon he is and how much of a crime it is to leave him out in a game that has its focus on other third-party additions. I personally think the match-up with Mario vs. Pac-Man vs. Sonic vs. Mega Man thought got them to rethink Pac-Man.

I could see them adding Smash 4 characters in the final version, but I think they would rather focus on the roster they were planning years ago.

People are already asking for Smash 4 newcomers in Smash Flash 2.

And by the time a hypothetical Smash NX arrives, people will be asking for the Smash NX characters in Smash Flash 2.

And it's just going to take longer for devs to actually finish the game if they decide to refresh the roster again because of those demands.

They explicitly stated that he's primarily in because of the overwhelming fan demand throughout the game's lifespan. The demand for Luffy specifically, though always there to an extent, spiked in the years after the roster change, and that only grew and grew as more and more time passed. He was most definitely a late addition.

Think about it. The devs, TSON in particular, worked to build up the game's credibility on other sites by explaining to skeptics that there would be no more anime characters after . And I really don't think that he was flat-out lying.

And for the record, there wasn't any One Piece representation on the old roster at all, remember. And the old roster was the one generous with anime, with Sasuke, Rock Lee, Renji, and Vegeta.



I don't think that's the case because I think there is no roster to refresh. I think they just cross those bridges when they get to them. And even if there was, it doesn't take long to alter plans as needed. If spriting for something hasn't started yet, then anything is possible if someone brings it up or wants to work on it. Sandbag, who started out as TSON's pet project, proves that.

(Another thing I doubt is the possibility of a Smash NX, but that's another story.)

Finally someone else said it.

Waddle Dee didn't make his first true appeareance untill Kirby SuperStar Ultra (DS) and his moveset is primarily from Return to Dreamland (Wii).

Overwhelming demand huh?

>:)

I see. I thought he was an obvious addition that the devs would add for years. Now the earlier comments with TSON make more sense.

I didn't really remember the old SSF2 roster though, I thought Luffy was in it. Guess I was wrong.


I guess that's true, but we'll have to see. I guess there is really a priority deadline for the game, so they can change their mind easily I guess. It isn't a big production team like with SSB4.

I'm 50/50 on the situation TBH. Cause I'm very sure they said they set priorities on the roster they had before Smash 4 came minus Pac-Man/Luffy/Sandbag.


Oh yeah, I forgot to clarify this in reference to Nintendo characters that had not character representation in official Smash games before.


The devs also said they added Luffy due to his uniqueness as a character. Just to let you know.

Then who's this guy I always faced against in Megaton Punch?

Notice how I said 'true', I intentionally did that. I didn't count KSS due to that being counted simply as a cameo due to the lack of relevance and even if then that would still make Dee an SNES character and not a gamecube/gba character.

I feel like I should fully clarify my reasons for adding these particular characters. I'll get to that soon.

I promise.

Welp, you've got a point, we don't count Sonic's cameo in Rad Mobile as his first appearance

I was going to object at first, but...

, , , , Sandbag... Even all of the anime characters are from this era now that I think about it.

I guess it's a consequence of exactly who's making the game. That's the era the devs and most of the fans grew up with.

Olimar, Andy/Sami, Lyn, and Shadow are looking pretty likely right now.

Totally oblivious to what you're saying.



Now this is a bias I can get behind any day of the week.

But really I like that direction because characters from that era are scarce in official Smash Bros games. That and of course my most requested characters are from that particular era for the most part ( , Andy, Lyn)

TBH? I don't know why people are discounting classic characters. Especially since Black Mage made it into the game. Although, if I'm being honest, the only classic characters I see making are Lip, Takamaru, Mike Jones, and Excite Biker (at least for newcomers).

Anyway, final roster speculations...

Veterans
-King Triple-D
-Diddy Kong
-Ganondorf
-Lucas
-Ike
-Ice Climbers
-Mewtwo
-Olimar
-Snake

Newcomers
-King K. Rool
-Sammy [Advance Wars]
-Knuckles
-Zero
-Some new Fire Emblem character (probably Lyn)
-Some new Pokemon character
-Waluigi
-Simon Belmont

[Pipe dream: Scoprion].