Smashchu's Roster Prediction

One of the best tings about speculation is characters. So far, I've strayed away from the  topic on this blog, but now I'll delve into it and give you my thoughts on the characters.  Now, it is fair to say that guessing characters is easier now that we've seen three of them. Still, we can have some fun and analysis what we have seen and likely where it is going.

Trends So Far

One of the things I've noticed is that the characters added so far are mostly recent one and reflect their most recent iteration.  Characters like Wii Fit Trainer, Greninja and Rosalina didn't exist when Brawl was being made. Little Mac and Villager had games coming out between Brawl and now and are specifically based on those games.  Villager's look is based on the boxart of Animal Crossing: Wild World. Mega Man has been he only exception to this as his look and design are based on older games, not newer ones.  This seems to be the biggest trend with new characters in Super Smash Bros for Wii U (SSBU)

It's also important to  note that the characters have all been importaint in their respective series. For instance, Rosalina was in both the Mario Galaxy games and appeared in Mario Kart Wii and 8 as well as Super Mario 3D World.  The characters added are, also, generally well liked.  It's no mystery that Little Mac was one of the most popular characters in the US. Greninja was also a very popular Pokemon (from what I've heard, a lot of people use him online).  These are general trends with the characters.

Characters

Before continuing, I should know that most of the characters I list below are popular characters.  Unless it matters, I wont mention their popularity.  I've learned that it matters, but it is not an end all be all.

Chrom

Chrom is the start of the latest Fire Emblem game, Fire Emblem Awakening.  It was originally going to be the last game in the series.  However, it has sold over a million copies and has gone on to be the best selling Fire Emblem game in the series to date.  The game sold over 240,000 units in Japan in it's first week.  The series sold 1.2 million and brought in over 30 million in revenue.  This is better than many games out there and, of course, all of the Fire Emblem games.  As a result,  Fire Emblem Awakening is one of the most recognizable games in the series and people are aware of Chrom.  It's likely why his name comes up often with also being the most recent character in the series.  Given this, Chrom makes a lot of sense.

Palutena

So if you've been paying attention to SSBU so far, you'll notice there is a lot of content from Kid Icarus: Uprising.  We have three items already from that game (Ore Club, X-Bomb, as well as a Turret).  Not to mention that Pit has some attacks from that game and his final smash is now the Three Sacred Treasures. As any die-hard fan will know, the Three Sacred Treasures were his special moves from Super Smash Brothers Brawl.  Also, they would know that Palutena was originally part of Pit's final smash.  But now is, of course, not.  Out of any of the returning characters, Pit has gotten the largest overhaul and it's all for adding content from Kid Icarus: Uprising.  So a character is defiantly not out of the question.  Out of any of the characters in that game, Palutena makes the most sense.  She is the next most importation character to Pit and she appears in almost every chapter in the game.  Furthermore, the games are actually named after her in Japan.  In Japan, the games are known as Light Mythology: Palutena's Mirror.  Also, she, along with Pit, received a redesign for Brawl and was also one of the few NPCs in the Subspace Emissary.  

Dixie Kong

Dixie Kong has been an important characters in the Donkey Kong Country games for quite some time.  She has appeared in numerous games since the SNES games and has even made cameo appearances in Mario spin-off games.  Also, she continues to appear in newer games as well, even after the transition from Rare.  She appeared in Donkey Konga, Donkey Kong Barrel Blast, and Donkey Kong: King of Swing.  Additionally, she appeared just recently in Donkey County Country Return: Tropical Freeze which, as I mentioned before as a trend with new characters.  It's also interesting to note that Dixie was specifically discussed during the E3 Developer Direct.  Also, Dixie Kong was originally planned for Brawl.  Seeing as elements like Kirby's Hammer Flip and Zero Suit Samus's gun changing have return despite being cut in Brawl, it is possible for Dixie to return as well.

Ridley

Ridley is probably the most important character in the series besides Samus herself.  He is typically the instigator in the game especially in Super Metroid, Metroid Prime, and Other M.  While Other M is a problem in of itself, it should be noted that the his appearance was very important in the scheme of the story.  But it's also important to note how popular he is.  After Brawl came out, Sakurai was asked in an interview with Nintendo power on why he wasn't in the game.  So far, this is the only time Sakurai has been asked about why a character wasn't included.  Ridley is perhaps the most requested character in the US.  Nintendo knows fans want Ridley.  With the issues from the Direct, Ridley will get his own blog post soon. 

Shulk

Shulk is an odd character when you consider that not many people know him in the western hemisphere.  But it's no lie that the Japanese love their JRPG.  Xenoblade was not a huge release, and this tends to be used as a mark against the character, but this ignores the demand for this title.  The title was sold in the US as a limited release in Gamestop and had no advertising.  The game had no trouble of selling out.  Currently, the game is selling for $80 on Amazon for a new copy.  Despite the limited release, there is a lot of demand for ther game.  Let's not also forget Project Rainfall and the campaign to try and get this game in the US.  Japanese games also love the title and, in a poll in Famitsu, rating the game the 6th best Nintendo game of all time.  Shulk is a very popular character in Japan despite not being well known here.  And of course, there is the image of Shulk's weapon, the Monado, on Sakurai's Twitter. 

Marshal (Rhythm Heaven character)

The discussion about this character is less about him and more about the series, Rhythm Heaven.  The first game in the series came out in 2006 on the Game Boy Advance which was during Brawl's development.  The series really blew up on the DS when it was released in Japan as Rhythm Tengoku Gold.  According to VG Chartz, the game has sold over 3 million copies.  As of January 11, 2009, the game has sold 1.5 million in Japan alone.  The games are more popular in Japan as the music director is Tsunku who is both a vocalist and producer for many large name Japanese bands.  The series has become a Nintendo staple with three games in the series since its inception.  Marshal makes sense as he is the host of the most recent title, Rhythm Heaven Fever and, much like Villager, could use the minigames in his attack.  However, other characters could also fit, like series mainstay, Karate Joe.