History WMG / SuperSmashBrosUltimate

[[WMG:[[VideoGame/{{Doom}} Doomguy]] will be a playable character.]]
''Super Smash Bros. Ultimate'' comes out just three days before the 25th anniversary of the ''Doom'' franchise, which would make it a perfect opportunity to celebrate the MilestoneCelebration. Plus, Bethesda and id Software have gone above and beyond to port games like ''VideoGame/TheElderScrollsVSkyrim'', ''VideoGame/Doom2016'', and ''VideoGame/WolfensteinIITheNewColossus'' to the UsefulNotes/NintendoSwitch compared with most other third-party companies, so this could be a good way to showcase their new ties to Nintendo. We might see the Doomguy reveal at Quakecon 2018 alongside the gameplay reveal of ''VideoGame/DoomEternal''.

As noted on the Fridge page for ''Ultimate'', Inkling is the 64th newcomer, with 64 being one of the most significant numbers in Nintendo's history. By release, the roster will have enough characters to amount to 83, another significant number in Nintendo's history, because it was in ''19'''83''''' that Nintendo released [[UsefulNotes/NintendoEntertainmentSystem one of the most important video game consoles of both Nintendo's history and the history of gaming overall]].

* It should be noted that VideoGame/MortalKombat11 is being ported in UsefulNotes/NintendoSwitch, which does help the likelihood of Scorpion appearing in Smash (the last time a Mortal Kombat game was ported in a Nintendo console was ''Armageddon''). However, the Mortal Kombat franchise is mostly infamously ''unpopular'' in Japan (so much so that an average Japanese gamer may not know who Scorpion is, see [[AmericansHateTingle/VideoGames the respective page on this matter]]), mostly due to the excessive blood and gore in the Mortal Kombat franchise. That being said, [[https://twitter.com/noobde/status/586244135427960834?lang=en Ed Boon wouldn't mind having Scorpion in Smash]] (although the problem is, Scorpion is a Swordsman just like everyone else).

* Jossed. The only characters who speak in the guidences are Pit, Viridi, Palutaina, Dark Pit... [[TheLastOfTheseIsNotLikeTheOthers and Alucard]]. The Guidance on Robin was re-recorded.

But what about the last Fighters Pass, the odd number five? This fighter will be the most unexpected of all; one who [[TheLastOfTheseIsNotLikeTheOthers doesn't fit with any other category]]...

** Impa (VideoGame/TheLegendofZelda)

* [[VideoGame/TheLegendOfZelda Ganon]]: Ganondorf's blue costume.

* Onett -- Earthbound Beginnings Medley

** For Greninja's Final Smash, Ash will briefly appear similar to the Earthbound characters during Ness and Lucas' Final Smashes.

[[WMG:[[VideoGame/EarthBound Giygas]] will appear as a stage hazard.]]

* A more sentient form of [[VideoGame/EarthBound Giygas]], having gone from being completely mindless to having the mind of a child and now wanting to turn the universe into its own set of toys and play games with them for his own amusement.

*** [[Franchise/AssassinsCreed Ezio Auditore da Firenze]], with [[VideoGame/AssassinsCreed Altaïr]], [[VideoGame/AssassinsCreedIII Connor]] and [[VideoGame/AssassinsCreedIVBlackFlag Edward]] as his alternates

* [[VideoGame/StreetFighter M. Bison]]: Red Ganondorf who spams Wizard Foot. Accompanied by two Zero Suit Samuses as stand-ins for Juli and Juni.

[[WMG:[[VideoGame/StreetFighter Chun-li]] will be the last fighter for Ultimate as a BookEnds to Ryu being the first DLC newcomer of Smash overall.]]

They will be even more powerful than the 59 current assists and are worth more points if KO'd. Candidates could include [[VideoGame/SuperMarioBros Kamek, Birdo]], [[VideoGame/{{Kirby}} Waddle Dees]], [[VideoGame/SonicTheHedgehog Tails]], [[VideoGame/DonkeyKong Funky Kong]], [[VideoGame/KidIcarusUprising Viridi]] and even some associated with the DLC fighters (such as Mumbo Jumbo if VideoGame/BanjoKazooie is confirmed).

** Bonus: [[VideoGame/SuperMarioBros Waluigi]] (First-party)

Scorpion's alternate colors will represent the other ninjas such as Sub-Zero, Ermac, Reptile, Noob Saibot, Rain, Smoke and perhaps even ''Chameleon'' (or Tremor if Chameleon is too difficult), although they would only have different visual effects (Scorpion uses fire, Sub-Zero uses ice, Reptile uses acid, etc.) and unique name calls much like the Koopalings. Much like Ryu, Scorpion's attacks will be more powerful if a certain button combination is used (back, back, B for his spear move). His Final Smash will be a combo between his original ''VideoGame/MortalKombat1'' fatality and his new ''[=MK11=]'' one; unmasking himself to unveil his burning skull, to fry the skin off of the opponent. Then, he would remask himself and use his red hot spear to loop over the opponent's skeleton, and slice it in half.

* From the Fanon page for Super Mario Bros, one point claims that Waluigi is only in the party spin offs because he hates adventure. Maybe he's still an Assist Trophy for this reason, tending to his [[MemeticMutation taco stand]] until he's needed to assist a battle?

[[WMG:Smash Bros. no longer feels like a Nintendo franchise]]
Smash Bros. is exclusive to Nintendo consoles, and it did start out as a celebration of Nintendo franchises (Mario, Legend of Zelda, Donkey Kong, Pokemon, Fire Emblem, Earthbound, Star Fox, Metroid, Kirby, etc.), but the series now has so many characters whose legacies has very little to do with Nintendo (Solid Snake, Cloud Strife, Bayonetta, Steve, Sephiroth, Sora, Kazuya, etc.), it doesn't feel like a NINTENDO series anymore.

* From the Fanon page for Super Mario Bros, one point claims that Waluigi is only in the party spin offs because he hates adventure. Maybe he's still an Assist Trophy for this reason, tending to his [[MemeticMutation taco stand]] until he's needed to assist a battle?

* Lucario -- Mega Lucario
** Jossed

** Confirmed.

* Simon Belmont -- [[VideoGame/CastlevaniaIIIDraculasCurse Trevor Belmont]] (specifically his appearance in the [[WesternAnimati-on/{{Castlevania 2017}} Netflix animated adaptation]]), [[VideoGame/CastlevaniaBloodlines John Morris]]

* Link -- Adult Link from Smash 64 and Melee, Twilight Link from Brawl and Smash 4, as DLC.
** Confirmed, Twilight Link is one of his alternate costumes.
*** Uhh, kinda. While Link's first alt is designed after his iconic look (green cap and tunic), it's an unlockable outfit in ''Breath of the Wild''.

* Sword Lords for Roy - [[VideoGame/FireEmblemGaiden Alm]], [[VideoGame/FireEmblemThracia776 Leif]], etc.

* Sword Lords for Marth/Lucina - [[VideoGame/FireEmblemTheSacredStones Eirika]], [[VideoGame/FireEmblemGaiden Celica]], [[VideoGame/FireEmblemTheBlazingBlade Eliwood]], etc.

* Sword Lords and Mercenaries for Ike — [[VideoGame/FireEmblemAwakening Chrom]], Any "Ogma", etc.

** Jossed. Shadow's still an Assist Trophy--he was just unveiled later.

* This is going to be dated within a matter of days, but here goes: there's a bit of a ContrivedCoincidence with the first major ''Smash'' Direct's date - August 8, 2018. Not only is that date plastered all over the Arena stage in ''Tekken 7''[[labelnote:*]]While this was [[https://twitter.com/VGBC_GimR/status/1026225740579127296 noted]] by ''Smash'' pro Gimr during EVO 2018, the banners which have "August 8" in that stage have been there since launch, contrary to popular belief that they were added recently.[[/labelnote]], but the Japanese word for the number 8 is "''hachi''", like Hei'''hachi'''.

*** Semi-confirmed with [[VideoGame/Persona5 Joker]] - while a spin-off he's in (''Persona Q2'') is on a Nintendo Console, the main Persona games are currently exclusive to the Playstation.

* Jossed - Snake's Codecs ''do'' return, but ''only'' for characters who appeared in ''Brawl''.

* Zigzagged. While he didn't, Sakurai made a dedicated tweet to Ishizuka...regarding the ACTUAL fighter he voiced before death, Incineroar. He showed up as a Sprite for one of Pac-Man's gimmicks, however. And his Mii Fighter costume from ''4'' returned when Min Min was released.

Meaning that, if this theory is true, there will be one more direct containing 3 more characters and 4 more Echo Fighters; thus the result would be 70 regular characters, and 10 Echoes.
* Jossed. The final count is 69 regular fighters (counting each of Pokemon Trainer's Pokemon) and 7 Echoes, for a total of 76 fighters (again, counting each of Pokemon Trainer's Pokemon.)
** Double-Jossed: While the roster within the game at launch will not include 80 characters, with Pirahna Plant and the 5 characters in the Fighter Pass the final roster will reach 80.

''Bowser''. Since King Dedede, resident AntiVillain from ''{{Franchise/Kirby}}'', was the hero of the ''Subspace Emissary'', it would be a surprise to see everyone's favorite Koopa King of all fighters, to somehow be the big centerpiece of the story, giving him the same spotlight as he had back in ''VideoGame/MarioAndLuigiBowsersInsideStory''.
* Apparently jossed--it's Kirby.

His smaller size and decayed appearance can easily be explained by the Space Pirate science team bringing him back to life - again - but bungling the process, as they are wont to do. It probably doesn't help that he's left very little genetic material to work with after his many deaths. It likely took an ungodly amount of time just scooping up enough microbes to make a clone of him. Of course, he's still capable of shredding his victims and relishing in their pain, so it's not all bad...for [[HeroKiller him.]]

* Jossed--the total is 76 (counting Squirtle, Ivysaur and Charizard). With DLC, it'll go up to 88.

* Donkey Kong - [[VideoGame/PunchOut Boxing gloves]] and a white leotard with a J

* Samus - [[VideoGame/MetroidFusion Fusion suit]]

* Dark Samus - ''Prime 2: Echoes'' appearance

* Kirby - Chef Kirby cook hat

* Fox - ''VideoGame/StarFoxAssault'' appearance, [[VideoGame/FZero James McCloud]]

* Luigi - [[VideoGame/SuperPaperMario Mr. L]]

* Ness - [[VideoGame/EarthboundBeginnings Ninten]]

* Captain Falcon - Any ''F-Zero'' character with Falcon's general body shape

* Jigglypuff - [[VideoGame/PokemonLetsGoPikachuAndLetsGoEevee Elaine's hat]]

* Peach - ''Mario Kart'' biker suit

* Daisy - ''Mario Kart'' biker suit

* Bowser - Dry Bowser

* Ice Climbers - Polar bear and Yeti costumes

* Sheik - ''VideoGame/HyruleWarriors'' appearance

* Zelda - ''Twilight Princess'' appearance, ''Hyrule Warriors'' appearance

* Dr. Mario - Dr. Luigi

* Pichu - Combination of [[Recap/PokemonPK7PikachuAndPichu the Pichu Brothers]] and [[Anime/PokemonArceusAndTheJewelOfLife Spiky-eared Pichu]]

* Falco - ''Star Fox: Assault'' appearance

* Marth - ''Shadow Dragon'' [[http://fireemblem.wikia.com/wiki/File:Fe1marthfalchion.png Famicom artwork]]

* Young Link - [[VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaMajorasMask Fierce Deity]]

* Ganondorf - ''Twilight Princess'' appearance, ''Hyrule Warriors'' appearance

* Mewtwo - [[VideoGame/PokkenTournament Shadow Mewtwo]] aura

* Roy - ''Binding Blade'' appearance

* Mr. Game & Watch - Labo cardboard

* Meta Knight - [[VideoGame/KirbySuperStar Samurai Kirby costume]]

* Pit - ''Of Myths and Monsters'' appearance

* Snake - [[VideoGame/MetalGearSolid4GunsOfThePatriots Old Snake]]

* Diddy Kong - ''Mario Strikers Charged'' appearance

* Lucas - Pajamas

* Sonic - ''VideoGame/SonicRiders'' appearance

* King Dedede - Samurai Kirby costume

* Olimar - Louie

* Lucario - Mega Lucario

* R.O.B. - [[VideoGame/SuperSmashBrosBrawl Ancient Minister]]

* Toon Link - ''Breath of the Wild''-inspired costume

* Wolf - ''Brawl'' appearance

* Mega Man - Proto Man (Mega Man appears in his original place when performing his Final Smash)

* Rosalina - ''Mario Kart'' biker costume

* Greninja - Ash-Greninja

* Palutena - ''Kid Icarus'' [[http://kidicarus.wikia.com/wiki/File:Palutenakiart.png NES artwork]]

* Pac-Man - Ms. Pac-Man

* Ryu - Evil Ryu

* Simon Belmont - [[VideoGame/CastlevaniaIIIDraculasCurse Trevor Belmont]] (specifically his appearance in the [[WesternAnimation/{{Castlevania 2017}} Netflix animated adaptation]]), [[VideoGame/CastlevaniaBloodlines John Morris]]

* King K. Rool - [[VideoGame/DonkeyKongCountry2DiddysKongQuest Kaptain K. Rool]]

* Link - Adult Link from Smash 64 and Melee, Twilight Link from Brawl and Smash 4, as DLC.

** Confirmed. Scanning certain "non-Smash" amiibo will yield you their Spirit to used in the Spirit Board or World of Light instead.

* ''VideoGame/{{Castlevania I}}'' (NES)

** Ground Theme - Super Mario Bros. (64)

** Overworld Theme - The Legend of Zelda (64)

** Main Theme - Pokémon Red & Blue (64)
* Peach's Castle - Ground Theme / Underground Theme
** Ground Theme - Super Mario Bros. (Melee)
* Rainbow Cruise - Slide / Underwater Theme

* Brinstar - Metroid Medley (while it starts off with Brinstar's theme, it's more of a medley)

** Athletic Theme - Super Mario World

* Poké Floats - Battle Medley

* Onett - Earthbound Beginnings Medley

* Jossed--it was confirmed in the final Ultimate direct.

* Jossed--the second ''Final Fantasy'' rep to come, Sephiroth as part of the second Fighters Pass, also hails from ''VII''.

** Pretty much jossed (although DLC is still a possibility in addition to having Cody Christian reprising as Cloud in the future for an update or so)...one spirit and two music tracks.

** Spyro (VideoGame/SpyroTheDragon)

* DLC fighters will be a bonus to the story mode.
** Jossed. They ''can'' be used in World of Light, but don't factor in the story (unless you imagine they were with the others whom Galeem captured - Sakurai does enforce the use of imagination, after all).

** Jossed. Just as the system and the game are region-free, so are the spirits. Including those from games that never left Japan.

*** Jossed - Joker from ''VideoGame/Persona5'' was revealed. However, Reggie said that the characters are ones you wouldn't expect for Smash, so that does possibly mean that 2B could be later on down the line.

** [[spoiler:That might be possible, except for the part of Galeem and Dharkon working together - they ''never'' do that. In the TrueFinalBoss fight against them, they fight each other as much as they fight your character.]]

** [[spoiler:Or maybe they were supposed to be the only ones? Don't forget Galeem has the power to create copies of those it captures. It's possible it saw the power Master Hand holds and got to it first, like Tabuu did before, then went on to mass-produce puppet Master Hands. Then either Dharkon did the same to Crazy Hand, or Galeem captured Crazy Hand as well until Dharkon stole it to produce its own Crazy Hand puppets, or even Galeem itself made the Crazy Hand puppets which were then stolen by Dharkon - as it is pointed out, when Dharkon makes its appearance, that he stole puppets and captured fighters that were still under Galeem's control.]]

When they were first shown in Brawl, the basic consensus was that Assist Trophies cannot be playable. However, come Smash 4, and requests for Assist Trophies to become playable in the series increased, along with other fan favorite requests like Midna and Ashley being Assist Trophies as well. And now, the demands for playable Assist Trophies are more apparent than ever--the support for Waluigi speaks for itself.

However, I still understand why these certain characters became Assist Trophies in the first place--these characters have unique characteristics that aren't suited for a playable purpose, but for a helpful one. Only Shadow can slow down time, while Issac is the only one I've seen forcibly move people to otherparts of the stage. Despite that, the fans still want these particular characters to be playable.

And now, it's possible that Sakurai and Nintendo will overturn the "no playable Assist Trophies" rule and allow these fan-favorites to join the battle--while also performing their special duties as Assist Trophies. When being played as, these characters won't appear in the pool of Assist Trophies during battle, for obvious reasons. But when not being playable, they can appear as support as Assist Trophies. It's like how the Moon and Kapp'n don't appear as Assists on Great Bay and Tortimer Island, respectively, due to being background characters.

Celica is a good choice because [[VideoGame/FireEmblemGaiden Fire Emblem Echoes: Shadows of Valentia]] was released (they usually have the main hero from the most recent Fire Emblem game as a mewcomer), and Celica is the more popular out of the two main heroes (Alm could still appear as an Echo Fighter--potentially of Ike).

As for Heroes, there are some options--Alfonse, Sharena, Fjorm, Veronica, Bruno, etc. Having a Heroes representative could be another landmark--making them the first character from a mobile game to join Smash Bros.
** In the end, Byleth was confirmed to join the battle. Also, Lyn is still an Assist Trophy.

* And what would Waluigi's Final Smash be? The Negative Zone! Previously used by Luigi in ''Brawl'', it alluded to Luigi always being in Mario's shadow. Well, Waluigi's been in everyone's shadows for the longest time - to the point where his continual exclusion from Smash has heightened support from fans and made him a sort of cult underdog icon of Nintendo. Waluigi's Negative Zone would essentially be a more powerful version of Luigi's, emitting a purple orb instead of green.

[[WMG:A future Direct reveals that Waluigi will be getting his own spin-off game - and he also gets confirmed to be playable in ''Ultimate'' to promote it.]]

** Indeed, we ended up getting Steve as a DLC fighter. And Alex is not one, but ''three'' of his alternative skins, while Steve also gets three - the other two are a Zombie and an Enderman.

* Some of them may even be playable - and be called Tag Team Assists. They will appear very sparingly in items that look similar to normal trophies but colored differently. When released, the TTA will serve as an extra life for the player who summoned them, bearing their own special moves and Final Smashes. These will be characters that Sakurai and/or Nintendo saw potential in but set aside for more significant fighters so the roster wouldn't be too overcrowded.

** Very unlikely. Sakurai has made it clear that one of the criteria for eligibility for Smash is that the character be video game-first.
*** '''Confirmed''' in the form of Sora, albeit with very little Disney coming with him outside of that Mickey Mouse ensigna.

* Jossed - like in the previous game, none of the DLC fighters will have their own Guidances. (Piranha Plant was an exception, presumably because it was planned out early enough that it could be recorded along with the others.)

* Piranha Plant as a fighter is an UnexpectedCharacter in and of itself - but then consider that the piranha plants have often been associated with Waluigi in a number of Mario spinoff games, right down to being both his partners in the Duel Map and prominent elements of Waluigi's Island in ''Mario Party 3''.

It would feel a bit odd for BK to simply reemerge in Smash after disappearing for a decade, even though King K. Rool - another iconic Rare-owned character - has accomplished exactly that after a decade-long absence. This is because K. Rool is associated with Donkey Kong and made trophy appearances in Smash before, but BK is a whole other ballgame. And then there's the newer generation of gamers who may not be as familiar with these characters as the group who grew up with them.

Joker is from a modern RPG and the Dragon Quest heroes are from a classic RPG. Since Banjo & Kazooie are from a classic platformer, the fourth Fighters Pass will be a character from a modern platformer - maybe VideoGame/{{Shantae}} to fill the slot for [[TheSmurfettePrinciple a female DLC]] as well as some IndieGame representation.

Representing the Mario spinoff games, he will come with a moveset that integrates his tennis racket, moonwalks, racing karts, "air swimming" and dice blocks. And when the time comes to add him into the mural, he will be placed next to Luigi - [[ButtMonkey headbutted by Luigi's side special]].

** Jossed. He still only has his Japanese voice - and so does Sephiroth. Square Enix might have red-taped both Christian and Creator/TylerHoechlin as well.

** Jossed. With the reveal that Fighters Pass 2 will be the last, the total will be 88. Also, there's no such thing as empty slots in the character select screen - it gets reorganized to make room for each newcomer.

* Given Waluigi's bizarreness, it would actually be fitting (not to mention hilarious) if he was able to summon or KO his own assist trophy if one of his alt forms was being played. If his default form is chosen, the assist trophy is disabled. Three of his alts will resemble his default form in different colors (red - Mario, green - Luigi, Bus Driver - ''Mario Kart Tour'') and the rest will be outfits from Mario Tennis Aces (purple - his own, yellow - Wario, pink - Peach, orange - Daisy).

* Going along with this, the fifth Fighters Pass will turn out to be a first-party DLC from '''H'''AL Laboratory - Bandana Waddle Dee or a new Pokemon fighter.

*** Confirmed, except Burn Knuckle and Crack Shoot share the side special - which one you use depends on which direction you press related to where Terry is facing (forward for Burn Knuckle, backward for Crack Shoot). Power Dunk is his down special and Power Charge is his dash attack. The QCF + Attack command was given to Burn Knuckle to accomodate it being a direction-dependant side special, so Power Wave doesn't have a command input. Neutral special in the air replaces the Power Wave with the Round Wave.

* Battle 1 - Mario, Luigi, and Yoshi (''Super Mario Bros.'' Team) on Yoshi's Island

* Battle 2 - Link, Zelda, and Ganondorf (''The Legend of Zelda'' Team) on Hyrule Temple

* Battle 3 - Kirby, Meta Knight, and King Dedede (''Kirby'' Team) on Green Greens

* Battle 4 - Pikachu, Mewtwo, and Pokemon Trainer (''Pokemon'' Team) on Pokemon Stadium

* Battle 5 - Sheik, Bayonetta, and Peach (Women Fighters Team) on Mushroom Kingdom II

* Battle 6 - Simon, Isabelle, and King K. Rool (New Faces Team) on Terry's currently unnamed stage

* Boss - Dracula (the closest ''Smash Bros.'' analogue to ''King of Fighters''' Rugal Bernstein)

Byleth and the 5th round of Mii costumes will be available on January 28th. Crossing this out as our first fighter-reveal date, the next direct will probably occur in late March or early April - the perfect time for Sakurai to pull an AprilFoolsDay joke related to DLC.

** That way, all fighters of this pack will be released before E3 2021--way before the initial deadline of 12/31/2021!
*** Jossed for Challenger Pack 6--it will be released in Summer 2020, although it was revealed in the spring of that year.

Is because there are also more bonus fighters alongside the six challengers. The Fighters Pass characters will generally be less obvious choices who are not yet represented in the game[[note]]Apart from Banjo & Kazooie, the previous Fighters Pass characters weren't particularly popular in demand[[/note]]. The bonus fighters will be like Piranha Plant; characters who don't have anything new to add in terms of stages or spirits but still have enough moveset potential - even as echo fighters - that they aren't relegated to Mii Costumes. Many of the more requested characters (the spirits) seem to fit that bill.

* Jossed--Steve is his own character.

** Jossed--he's a playable fighter.

* Shovel Knight: While Shovel Knight is a really popular request in his home country of America, he isn't that well known outside of the States. It's a similar case to Takamaru--both characters lack international recognition, and thus became Assist Trophies because of it.

* Waluigi: Given the odd fact that he is the only central Mario character not yet in the roster, his exclusion could be because [[ButtMonkey that's just who he is]]. One could argue he doesn't have enough potential due to being a SatelliteCharacter, although he could easily represent the Mario spin-off games with a set of bizarre wildcard attacks. The massive outcry from fans makes him a surefire candidate for a hypothetical next game, unless he somehow does become DLC in ''Ultimate'' - which, again considering [[HostileShowTakeover his character]], isn't entirely implausible.

* Jossed--only Min Min is playable, although the rest of the roster appear in her Final Smash.

* Jossed--it's Min Min.

* Jin Kazama and Chun-Li: Starts with Jin in the Arena from Tekken 4 where he pits against Little Mac and suddenly.....Chun-Li (of all ladies as if she would be PromotedToPlayable) show up there too. At the end of the trailer, Jin is about to perform his Final Smash (HulkingOut to be Devil Jin)...but is interrupted by Chun-Li's Kikosho move. The trailer ends with a Heartwarming Moment by having her with Ryu, Ken and Mega Man.

* ARMS: Starts with a boxing match between Little Mac and Ken. An assist trophy appears and Little Mac picks it up. A familiar springy arm punches Ken out of the ring...then Little Mac receives the same fate. With both arms stretched around the ring, Spring Man makes his grand return. Midway through his trailer, Incineroar attacks him, only to be faced with Ribbon Girl and/or any additional ARMS characters as Spring Man's alts.

* If they're going for something flashy, I think the Rush mechanic isn't enough--so why not Hedlok? It has potential to be a flashy finisher!
** Jossed--Min Min's Final Smash is indeed the Rush mechanic. However, she summons the rest of the ''ARMS'' roster to help her out, so it's still a flashy finisher.

* Apparently jossed--instead, parts of the artwork appear to shrink, with the Hero and Slime artwork appearing to shrink with Min Min's inclusion.
** And some fighters are rearranged to accomodate newer ones - notice how Sora is placed between Dark Samus and Ganondorf? These two weren't even close to each other before.

* Jossed--there are other pieces of official artwork featuring the ''ARMS'' characters out there--Min Min's Fighter Spirit uses one of them.

* Piranha Plant--was just resting in its pot, unaware of Galeem's attack.
* Joker (and by extension of his taunts and Final Smash, the Phantom Thieves)--used the Metaverse to hide from the beams of light.
* Hero--used Zoom to outrun the beams.
* Banjo & Kazooie--used Wonderwing to barely escape the beams.
* Byleth--used Divine Pulse to rewind time moments before he was hit with a light beam to escape on Kirby's Warp Star.
* Steve and Alex--dug and hid underground. Zombie hid there as well, while Enderman teleported to safety.
* Sephiroth--cleaved through the beams with ease. Or, as detailed below, was TheManBehindTheMan for Galeem.

** Jossed. Besides, he had too many special attacks to be workable, as bosses tend to do.

[[WMG:There are two versions of characters in SSBU--those who fight and those who don't.]]

One of these spirits is Min Min--who would become playable later down the line. Given the context of the above statement, it would've been impossible to have Min Min as a playable character in the game--she can't be playable if she's in the hands of the Lord of Light.

The inclusion of [[VideoGame/FinalFantasyVII Sephiroth]] as a second ''VideoGame/FinalFantasy'' rep opens the door for more villains joining DLC, as Fighters Pass 1 was already packed with heroic characters. They will also be given their own challenges similar to the Sephiroth Challenge. One future possibility could be Dr. Eggman - Smash is long overdue for another ''VideoGame/SonicTheHedgehog'' rep, and with that franchise celebrating its 30th anniversary in 2021, Sega will be promoting it throughout the year, and a new DLC fighter would certainly help.

The first Fighters Pass ended on a first-party character ([[VideoGame/FireEmblemThreeHouses Byleth]]), as did all the previous ''Smash'' games. One likely candidate would have to be from ''VideoGame/PokemonSwordAndShield'' - no Gen. 8 Pokemon are represented in the game despite that series being a major highlight, perhaps Rillaboom to complete the fully evolved water-fire-plant trifecta. ''Franchise/{{Pokemon}}'' will also be celebrating its 25th anniversary in 2021, as well as ''Franchise/TheLegendOfZelda'' and ''Franchise/{{Metroid}}'' celebrating their 35th anniversaries and ''Franchise/DonkeyKong'' its 40th anniversary. Though since anniversaries are rarely a factor for choosing newcomers[[note]]Little Mac being an exception, the 30th anniversary of ''VideoGame/PunchOut'' coincides with his inclusion in ''Smash 4''[[/note]], it's also a possibility Sakurai will end the game with another character like [[Franchise/{{Kirby}} Bandana Waddle Dee]], or even shatter the internet one last time with [[Franchise/SuperMarioBros Waluigi]]. So yes, there's a lot on the table.

However, Geno's Mii Costume is different than others since it was introduced in ''[=SSB4=]'', rather than ''SSBU''. And I believed that the remaining Mii Costumes would return in future DLC--something that officially happened with the return of Lloyd's costume with Challenger Pack 10. It wouldn't have mattered if Geno was released or not prior to Sephiroth's presentation; the costume would've came back anyways.

In addition, Sakurai mentioned why Kazuya was chosen over Heihachi, another character with a costume from ''[=SSB4=]'' that returned, to represent ''Tekken'' in ''Smash''. And Sakurai stated that it ''wasn't'' due to Heihachi's Mii Costume, but due to the desire to incorporate Kazuya's Devil form in the game. So it was entirely possible for Heihachi to represent ''Tekken'' in ''Ultimate'' even with his returning Mii Costume--so I don't see anything holding back Geno being playable in the game.

There's also the fact two ''VideoGame/ProjectM'' mods, ''Legacy XP'' and ''Legacy TE'', were taken down by Nintendo, fueling speculation that the mods had a fighter that Nintendo was going to make playable in ''Ultimate'' in the future--and one of those fighters was Geno.

Much like every other "Mr. Sakurai Presents" since Terry's presentation, the presentation on Kazuya will focus solely on him and him alone. With this sentiment, it's possible that they'll save the final fighter for a Nintendo Direct--and since Nintendo usually releases a Nintendo Direct in September, that could be the perfect outlet for the fighter reveal.
* Alternatively, the final fighter will be revealed in December at the Game Awards and teased in the September Direct. Sakurai said that it would take a ''while'' before the last fighter is revealed, which would make sense in order to raise suspense and allow more development time for a big GrandFinale. But to hold us over, the Direct will provide some sort of hint or other content related to the final release - like how the February 2020 Direct gave us a list of characters from ARMS to guess upon before Min Min was revealed several months later. This time however, they may be planning to keep it more vague so as not to squander expectations too early. But maybe to narrow speculation down just a bit, they could release the Mii Costumes early.
* Jossed--the September 2021 Direct ended without a fighter reveal. However, they did announce when they'll be revealing it--October 5.

* Jossed--as seen in his reveal trailer, Osment returns to voice Sora.

After Daisy's inclusion, Waluigi seemed like the next obvious choice. When you think about it, it almost feels like Piranha Plant - an unexpected DLC fighter that came for free with no stage or spirits - was actively chosen instead of Luigi's self-proclaimed rival. WordOfGod from Charles Martinet describes the core of Waluigi as someone who feels like things work out for everyone but himself, which perfectly lines up with his situation in Smash. Nintendo wanted to represent its characters in the best way possible, and for Waluigi that ironically meant denying him a spot on the roster.

** And, hoo boy, [[IncrediblyLamePun we never saw it]] [[VideoGame/Persona5 ''coming!'']]

After you beat Sephiroth in VideoGame/KingdomHeartsII, Cloud appears and him and Sephiroth duke it out with them disapearing afterwards for no reason. Sora says that they "went somewhere else" and that Cloud "went to fight a great battle to defeat the darkness inside him", considering everything that happens in World Of Light, and Sephiroth's trailer taking place during WOL. Those words are suddenly starting to make sense.