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Description
This is just a simple fantasy roster I came up with when I was bored and looking at information on Smash Bros 4. Now that we have the entire roster revealed, it made me start thinking about what could be available in future installments. This roster contains 63 characters, 12 newcomers, and 4 returning characters who were absent in SB4. Mii Fighters are counted as one. Of course, this is just a very early concept. Smash Bros 5 is most likely years down the line and odds are a lot of games will come out between now and then. I might update this roster at a later time, replacing characters with characters from more recent games in the franchise. Yes, there are clones on this list. Clones have been around since the very first game and I don't think they're going away any time soon. The way Sakurai explained them really made me open my mind toward them and now I honestly feel like it's a waste to make a character an alternate costume rather than a separate character.

Here, I'll describe why I chose each character for the roster and brief summaries of how I think the character would play and any notable changes made to them. I might go into more detail in the future but for now, this is all I'll do.

Mario Franchise (7)
-Mario
-Luigi
-Peach
-Bowser
-Rosalina
-Bowser Jr.
-Graffiti Mario

Cut: Dr. Mario

Honorable Mention: Captain Toad

Mario is Nintendo's biggest franchise, so of course, it should at least be tied for most smash reps. I know Graffiti Mario is officially Shadow Mario, but I chose to change the name because there are two other characters introduced in this roster with "Shadow" in their names. I think he could make for an interesting character with a moveset focused around tripping his opponents up by covering the ground in graffiti. He would make for a very tactical and interesting character. I was considering Captain Toad as a character, but I ultimately decided against it simply because from what has been seen of Captain Toad: Treasure Tracker so far, most of his abilities seem inspired from Mario Bros. USA, which is where many of Peach's special moves come into play. However, just because Captain Toad isn't on the list doesn't mean I don't think he's possible! Keep in mind, this is my own personal opinions on which characters I'd like to see. If you have any other suggestions I'd love to hear about them!

Yoshi Franchise (1)
-Yoshi

Honorable Mention:
-Kamek
-Baby Bowser

I was considering adding some sort of second rep for the Yoshi franchise since it's entirely limited but really, I couldn't think of any characters other than the two honorable mentions. Baby Bowser, while he would have potential to be unique, I feel like it would be a bit redundant to have Bowser Jr. with all the koopalings as alts, Bowser, and baby Bowser all in the same roster. As for Kamek, I could see him summoning various enemies for his attacks. My only problem is Kamek has recently been more integrated into the Mario franchise and he would easily be mistaken for an eighth Mario rep.

Warioware (2)
-Wario
-Ashley

Honorable Mentions:
-Jimmy
-9-Volt
-Kat & Ana

To be entirely honest, I've never played a Warioware game with Ashley in it. I've only played the original. I mainly only put Ashley in this list because of her popularity and she seemed like the most fitting for a smash environment. I considered Jimmy because I could imagine him being a fun, quirky character with attacks based on dance moves. 9-Volt could have used attacks based on various Nintendo gimmick accessories while Kat & Ana would play similarly to Ice Climbers but with a bigger focus on evading attacks. I ultimately decided not to use any of them because each of them seemed to steal the thunder of a different character who was already in (Jimmy-Wii Fit Trainer, 9-Volt-Duck Hunt, Kat & Ana-Ice Climbers).

Fire Emblem (4)
-Marth
-Ike
-Robin
-Lucina

Not available: Roy

Pretty much nothing changed here. I might replace some of these characters with more relevant characters if another Fire Emblem game comes out in the future. I didn't want to bring Roy back from Melee because I don't like the idea of having multiple clones of the same character and as seen in the past, I can't imagine Sakurai changing his moveset too much.

Donkey Kong (3)
-DK
-Diddy Kong
-Dixie Kong

Honorable Mentions:
-Cranky Kong

I was originally considering Cranky Kong to be the newcomer and he could have a moveset based on his abilities in Tropical Freeze, however I thought that Dixie Kong would represent the franchise as a whole a lot better, and her hair could allow for some interesting moves.

Legend of Zelda (7)
-Link
-Zelda
-Shiek
-Ganondorf
-Toon Link
-Impa
-Masked Link

Not Available:
-Young Link

Honorable Mentions:
-Midna
-Girahim

Now this is my favorite franchise to talk about. I know some people are probably groaning at me for including a THIRD LINK and IMPA over more important characters like Midna or Girahim. But allow me to emphasize: Masked Link IS NOT Young Link. He is not a clone, there's a reason I considered him a newcomer. Masked Link is obviously based on the Teenage Link from Majora's Mask rather than the Young Link from Ocarina of Time. While Young Link in Melee was loosely inspired by Majora's Mask, he was mostly based on Ocarina of Time. Anyone who pays attention to detail will note that Link's appearance changes between Ocarina of Time and Majora's Mask. He's at an age between Young Link and Adult Link. Anyway, Masked Link wields the Gilded Sword from Majora's Mask as well as the Majora's Mask design for the Hylian Shield (Mirror Shield is available with alts) and his moveset is based on temporarily switching between forms in flashes of light to perform attacks and then reverting back to his human form immediately after. It would make for a particularly visually-interesting character. I decided to go with Impa because she seemed like the perfect character to represent Hyrule Warriors with and I believe she represents the series as a whole much more than Midna and Girahim do (albeit there are already plenty of characters who do that already). Of the honorable Mentions, I'd have to say Midna would be prioritized strictly because of her popularity. I believe both characters have potential to truly be unique. Something else I'd like to point out, Ganondorf is using is Hyrule Warriors outfit. This is because he has a completely new moveset, entirely based on his fighting style in Hyrule Warriors. Of course, with abilities from various Zelda games tied in. What happened to the old Ganondorf's moveset? Well, if you look ahead on the roster I think you already know where I'm going with this.

Metroid (4)
-Samus
-Zero Suit Samus
-Ridley
-Dark Samus

I was a bit annoyed that SB4 counted Zero Suit Samus as Metroid's new rep and completely abandoned Ridley and Dark Samus as playable characters. Ridley is the spark of 90% of Smash Bros. related flame wars. (This is a true statistic. I found it on Wikipedia) There are so many arguments for and against Ridley and the debate always ends unresolved. The way I see it, if Bowser Jr. can ride in his ALWAYS FLYING clown car, there's no reason Ridley's ability to fly is a deterrent at all. As for the ever-so-common size argument, a Shadow Analysis on the Smash Boards has already debunked that. Many people think that Dark Samus should be playable instead of Ridley, but why not alongside Ridley? Metroid deserves a lot more proper representation. Samus isn't the only character by any means. Anyway, Ridley's moveset would be entirely focused on essentially being an inverse of Little Mac. He's incredibly strong and relentless in the air. He could have a flight meter that depletes every time he jumps and recharges when he lands. If it runs out, he can't jump any more and must land. Of course, having a character staying in the air the majority of the time would be a little broken without a flaw. Ridley's flaw would be landing lag. Whenever he lands, he becomes a very easy target to attack. As for Dark Samus, it could easily pull up a moveset just based on the attacks it uses as an assist trophy.

Kid Icarus (3)
-Pit
-Palutena
-Dark Pit

Really, nothing new at all here.

Kirby (3)
-Kirby
-Meta Knight
-Dedede

Honorable Mentions:
-Knuckle Joe
-Bandanna Dee

I was considering adding a fourth Kirby rep since, after all, Sakurai is the one in charge of Smash Bros. But I just didn't think Bandanna Dee or Knuckle Joe were really big enough characters to warrant a rep, nor could I think of any recurring characters who would represent the franchise as well as the main three. As a result, I ultimately just stuck with the same three characters we've had since Brawl.

Mother/Earthbound (2)
-Ness
-Lucas

Honorable Mentions:
-Jeff

Nothing much to say here. I brought back Lucas simply due to popularity. I've only ever played Earthbound and I've never beaten the game. I do think Jeff could make for an interesting character and he could use various items based on his moveset from the games. I didn't include him however simply because I admittedly came up with the idea after I finished the roster. I might include him in an update.

Star Fox (4)
-Fox
-Falco
-Wolf
-Krystal

I was on defense about including Krystal in SB4, but now that we have a new Star Fox game coming to Wii U, I can definitely see Star Fox getting a sudden boost in popularity and warranting four representatives. I wanted to bring Wolf back as well because I never understood the arguments that claim he is a clone. While his moves are similar to that of Fox and Falco's, I've always thought that Falco's moveset was more of a clone of Fox's and as such, if they were going to remove any Star Fox character for being a clone, it should be Falco. Back on topic, Krystal could easily bring up a moveset based on Star Fox Adventures, using her staff and the various magic abilities it comes with.

Pokemon (6)
-Pikachu
-Charizard
-Lucario
-Jigglypuff
-Greninja
-Mewtwo

Not Returning: Pichu

Honorable Mentions:
-Sceptile
-Blaziken

Mewtwo is brought back with a few slight changes. In particular, his confusion attack, rather than simply tripping up the target, will grapple any nearby characters as well as catching projectiles and throwing them back, giving him an effective counter against projectiles. I was considering incorporating Blaziken or Sceptile due to Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire, but I ultimately decided that it's likely we'll already be one or two games into Gen VII by the time SB5 comes out, in which case I'd rather use a character from there. We'll just have to wait and see.

F-Zero (2)
-Captain Falcon
-Black Shadow

Remember when I said Ganondorf has a new moveset? Well, this is where his old one went. While he's a newcomer, Black Shadow has a very familiar moveset as a slower but more powerful clone of Captain Falcon. To boost his usefulness, his moves could be a bit faster and grant him a few invincibility frames. He could also stand to be more heavier and harder to knock back.

Miscellaneous (franchises with one character)
-Little Mac
-Splatoon
-Olimar
-Ice Climbers
-Mr. Game & Watch
-R.O.B.
-Wii Fit Trainer
-Duck Hunt

Of course, Ice Climbers make a return, but most notably is Splatoon as a newcomer. I felt like this is just such an obvious choice for a character, being a new 1st party Nintendo Franchise. I originally had worries about her moveset conflicting with Shadow Mario, but in thought I realized how wrong I was. Splatoon's ability to transform into a squid and travel through the paint allows for some interesting moveset possibilities based around mind games, attacking characters from behind or from unexpected angles.

Third Party (7)
-Sonic
-Shadow
-Megaman
-Protoman
-Shulk
-Pac-Man
-Shovel Knight

Not returning: Snake

Honorable Mentions:
-Tails
-Classic Sonic
-Dillon

At this point, I have decided that multiple reps from a third party franchise isn't entirely out of the question. Especially with the popularity of Sonic and Megaman. As such, I have decided to add Shadow and Protoman. Shadow would use a moveset based around his various Chaos abilities while Protoman would be a clone of Megaman whose attacks are weaker but is balanced with greater defenses and a shield that blocks projectiles similar to Link's. As for Shovel Knight, I thought he would be a nice character to choose. He's also a great way to represent the eShop as well. The only console releases Shovel Knight had were on 3DS and Wii U and it is clearly heavily inspired by various early nintendo games (primarily Megaman and Castlevania). He could use various relics and his Shovel Jump could make for interesting recovery opportunities which also grant for Meteor Smash K.O.s. Tails was an honorable mention because he's been around since almost the very beginning. However, I felt that Shadow had the most unique moveset potential. Plus, he represents the Sonic Adventure series while Sonic represents the classic Genesis games as well as the more modern games. (His side special move is changed to a combination of the Super Peel-out from Sonic CD/Lost World and the Turbo Boost from Unleashed. I was also considering giving Sonic a completely new moveset while giving his old moveset to a Classic Sonic, however I would have much more preferred to use a completely different character. I decided not to use Dillon simply because I've never played Dillon's Rolling Western. I had only considered him because of his popularity.

Description
This is just a simple fantasy roster I came up with when I was bored and looking at information on Smash Bros 4. Now that we have the entire roster revealed, it made me start thinking about what could be available in future installments. This roster contains 63 characters, 12 newcomers, and 4 returning characters who were absent in SB4. Mii Fighters are counted as one. Of course, this is just a very early concept. Smash Bros 5 is most likely years down the line and odds are a lot of games will come out between now and then. I might update this roster at a later time, replacing characters with characters from more recent games in the franchise. Yes, there are clones on this list. Clones have been around since the very first game and I don't think they're going away any time soon. The way Sakurai explained them really made me open my mind toward them and now I honestly feel like it's a waste to make a character an alternate costume rather than a separate character.

Here, I'll describe why I chose each character for the roster and brief summaries of how I think the character would play and any notable changes made to them. I might go into more detail in the future but for now, this is all I'll do.

Mario Franchise (7)
-Mario
-Luigi
-Peach
-Bowser
-Rosalina
-Bowser Jr.
-Graffiti Mario

Cut: Dr. Mario

Honorable Mention: Captain Toad

Mario is Nintendo's biggest franchise, so of course, it should at least be tied for most smash reps. I know Graffiti Mario is officially Shadow Mario, but I chose to change the name because there are two other characters introduced in this roster with "Shadow" in their names. I think he could make for an interesting character with a moveset focused around tripping his opponents up by covering the ground in graffiti. He would make for a very tactical and interesting character. I was considering Captain Toad as a character, but I ultimately decided against it simply because from what has been seen of Captain Toad: Treasure Tracker so far, most of his abilities seem inspired from Mario Bros. USA, which is where many of Peach's special moves come into play. However, just because Captain Toad isn't on the list doesn't mean I don't think he's possible! Keep in mind, this is my own personal opinions on which characters I'd like to see. If you have any other suggestions I'd love to hear about them!

Yoshi Franchise (1)
-Yoshi

Honorable Mention:
-Kamek
-Baby Bowser

I was considering adding some sort of second rep for the Yoshi franchise since it's entirely limited but really, I couldn't think of any characters other than the two honorable mentions. Baby Bowser, while he would have potential to be unique, I feel like it would be a bit redundant to have Bowser Jr. with all the koopalings as alts, Bowser, and baby Bowser all in the same roster. As for Kamek, I could see him summoning various enemies for his attacks. My only problem is Kamek has recently been more integrated into the Mario franchise and he would easily be mistaken for an eighth Mario rep.

Warioware (2)
-Wario
-Ashley

Honorable Mentions:
-Jimmy
-9-Volt
-Kat & Ana

To be entirely honest, I've never played a Warioware game with Ashley in it. I've only played the original. I mainly only put Ashley in this list because of her popularity and she seemed like the most fitting for a smash environment. I considered Jimmy because I could imagine him being a fun, quirky character with attacks based on dance moves. 9-Volt could have used attacks based on various Nintendo gimmick accessories while Kat & Ana would play similarly to Ice Climbers but with a bigger focus on evading attacks. I ultimately decided not to use any of them because each of them seemed to steal the thunder of a different character who was already in (Jimmy-Wii Fit Trainer, 9-Volt-Duck Hunt, Kat & Ana-Ice Climbers).

Fire Emblem (4)
-Marth
-Ike
-Robin
-Lucina

Not available: Roy

Pretty much nothing changed here. I might replace some of these characters with more relevant characters if another Fire Emblem game comes out in the future. I didn't want to bring Roy back from Melee because I don't like the idea of having multiple clones of the same character and as seen in the past, I can't imagine Sakurai changing his moveset too much.

Donkey Kong (3)
-DK
-Diddy Kong
-Dixie Kong

Honorable Mentions:
-Cranky Kong

I was originally considering Cranky Kong to be the newcomer and he could have a moveset based on his abilities in Tropical Freeze, however I thought that Dixie Kong would represent the franchise as a whole a lot better, and her hair could allow for some interesting moves.

Legend of Zelda (7)
-Link
-Zelda
-Shiek
-Ganondorf
-Toon Link
-Impa
-Masked Link

Not Available:
-Young Link

Honorable Mentions:
-Midna
-Girahim

Now this is my favorite franchise to talk about. I know some people are probably groaning at me for including a THIRD LINK and IMPA over more important characters like Midna or Girahim. But allow me to emphasize: Masked Link IS NOT Young Link. He is not a clone, there's a reason I considered him a newcomer. Masked Link is obviously based on the Teenage Link from Majora's Mask rather than the Young Link from Ocarina of Time. While Young Link in Melee was loosely inspired by Majora's Mask, he was mostly based on Ocarina of Time. Anyone who pays attention to detail will note that Link's appearance changes between Ocarina of Time and Majora's Mask. He's at an age between Young Link and Adult Link. Anyway, Masked Link wields the Gilded Sword from Majora's Mask as well as the Majora's Mask design for the Hylian Shield (Mirror Shield is available with alts) and his moveset is based on temporarily switching between forms in flashes of light to perform attacks and then reverting back to his human form immediately after. It would make for a particularly visually-interesting character. I decided to go with Impa because she seemed like the perfect character to represent Hyrule Warriors with and I believe she represents the series as a whole much more than Midna and Girahim do (albeit there are already plenty of characters who do that already). Of the honorable Mentions, I'd have to say Midna would be prioritized strictly because of her popularity. I believe both characters have potential to truly be unique. Something else I'd like to point out, Ganondorf is using is Hyrule Warriors outfit. This is because he has a completely new moveset, entirely based on his fighting style in Hyrule Warriors. Of course, with abilities from various Zelda games tied in. What happened to the old Ganondorf's moveset? Well, if you look ahead on the roster I think you already know where I'm going with this.

Metroid (4)
-Samus
-Zero Suit Samus
-Ridley
-Dark Samus

I was a bit annoyed that SB4 counted Zero Suit Samus as Metroid's new rep and completely abandoned Ridley and Dark Samus as playable characters. Ridley is the spark of 90% of Smash Bros. related flame wars. (This is a true statistic. I found it on Wikipedia) There are so many arguments for and against Ridley and the debate always ends unresolved. The way I see it, if Bowser Jr. can ride in his ALWAYS FLYING clown car, there's no reason Ridley's ability to fly is a deterrent at all. As for the ever-so-common size argument, a Shadow Analysis on the Smash Boards has already debunked that. Many people think that Dark Samus should be playable instead of Ridley, but why not alongside Ridley? Metroid deserves a lot more proper representation. Samus isn't the only character by any means. Anyway, Ridley's moveset would be entirely focused on essentially being an inverse of Little Mac. He's incredibly strong and relentless in the air. He could have a flight meter that depletes every time he jumps and recharges when he lands. If it runs out, he can't jump any more and must land. Of course, having a character staying in the air the majority of the time would be a little broken without a flaw. Ridley's flaw would be landing lag. Whenever he lands, he becomes a very easy target to attack. As for Dark Samus, it could easily pull up a moveset just based on the attacks it uses as an assist trophy.

Kid Icarus (3)
-Pit
-Palutena
-Dark Pit

Really, nothing new at all here.

Kirby (3)
-Kirby
-Meta Knight
-Dedede

Honorable Mentions:
-Knuckle Joe
-Bandanna Dee

I was considering adding a fourth Kirby rep since, after all, Sakurai is the one in charge of Smash Bros. But I just didn't think Bandanna Dee or Knuckle Joe were really big enough characters to warrant a rep, nor could I think of any recurring characters who would represent the franchise as well as the main three. As a result, I ultimately just stuck with the same three characters we've had since Brawl.

Mother/Earthbound (2)
-Ness
-Lucas

Honorable Mentions:
-Jeff

Nothing much to say here. I brought back Lucas simply due to popularity. I've only ever played Earthbound and I've never beaten the game. I do think Jeff could make for an interesting character and he could use various items based on his moveset from the games. I didn't include him however simply because I admittedly came up with the idea after I finished the roster. I might include him in an update.

Star Fox (4)
-Fox
-Falco
-Wolf
-Krystal

I was on defense about including Krystal in SB4, but now that we have a new Star Fox game coming to Wii U, I can definitely see Star Fox getting a sudden boost in popularity and warranting four representatives. I wanted to bring Wolf back as well because I never understood the arguments that claim he is a clone. While his moves are similar to that of Fox and Falco's, I've always thought that Falco's moveset was more of a clone of Fox's and as such, if they were going to remove any Star Fox character for being a clone, it should be Falco. Back on topic, Krystal could easily bring up a moveset based on Star Fox Adventures, using her staff and the various magic abilities it comes with.

Pokemon (6)
-Pikachu
-Charizard
-Lucario
-Jigglypuff
-Greninja
-Mewtwo

Not Returning: Pichu

Honorable Mentions:
-Sceptile
-Blaziken

Mewtwo is brought back with a few slight changes. In particular, his confusion attack, rather than simply tripping up the target, will grapple any nearby characters as well as catching projectiles and throwing them back, giving him an effective counter against projectiles. I was considering incorporating Blaziken or Sceptile due to Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire, but I ultimately decided that it's likely we'll already be one or two games into Gen VII by the time SB5 comes out, in which case I'd rather use a character from there. We'll just have to wait and see.

F-Zero (2)
-Captain Falcon
-Black Shadow

Remember when I said Ganondorf has a new moveset? Well, this is where his old one went. While he's a newcomer, Black Shadow has a very familiar moveset as a slower but more powerful clone of Captain Falcon. To boost his usefulness, his moves could be a bit faster and grant him a few invincibility frames. He could also stand to be more heavier and harder to knock back.

Miscellaneous (franchises with one character)
-Little Mac
-Splatoon
-Olimar
-Ice Climbers
-Mr. Game & Watch
-R.O.B.
-Wii Fit Trainer
-Duck Hunt

Of course, Ice Climbers make a return, but most notably is Splatoon as a newcomer. I felt like this is just such an obvious choice for a character, being a new 1st party Nintendo Franchise. I originally had worries about her moveset conflicting with Shadow Mario, but in thought I realized how wrong I was. Splatoon's ability to transform into a squid and travel through the paint allows for some interesting moveset possibilities based around mind games, attacking characters from behind or from unexpected angles.

Third Party (7)
-Sonic
-Shadow
-Megaman
-Protoman
-Shulk
-Pac-Man
-Shovel Knight

Not returning: Snake

Honorable Mentions:
-Tails
-Classic Sonic
-Dillon

At this point, I have decided that multiple reps from a third party franchise isn't entirely out of the question. Especially with the popularity of Sonic and Megaman. As such, I have decided to add Shadow and Protoman. Shadow would use a moveset based around his various Chaos abilities while Protoman would be a clone of Megaman whose attacks are weaker but is balanced with greater defenses and a shield that blocks projectiles similar to Link's. As for Shovel Knight, I thought he would be a nice character to choose. He's also a great way to represent the eShop as well. The only console releases Shovel Knight had were on 3DS and Wii U and it is clearly heavily inspired by various early nintendo games (primarily Megaman and Castlevania). He could use various relics and his Shovel Jump could make for interesting recovery opportunities which also grant for Meteor Smash K.O.s. Tails was an honorable mention because he's been around since almost the very beginning. However, I felt that Shadow had the most unique moveset potential. Plus, he represents the Sonic Adventure series while Sonic represents the classic Genesis games as well as the more modern games. (His side special move is changed to a combination of the Super Peel-out from Sonic CD/Lost World and the Turbo Boost from Unleashed. I was also considering giving Sonic a completely new moveset while giving his old moveset to a Classic Sonic, however I would have much more preferred to use a completely different character. I decided not to use Dillon simply because I've never played Dillon's Rolling Western. I had only considered him because of his popularity.