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Since last December, there's been a rumour Erdrick from Square Enix's long-running and insanely popular Dragon Quest series would be added as a DLC fighter to Super Smash Bros. Ultimate. This character is depicted as a recurring legendary hero who wields a sword and is skilled with multiple weapons.

This rumour became a little bit more believable when a "reliable dataminer" supposedly revealed the codenames for the upcoming DLC Season Pass fighters. One of these characters went by the name Brave - an apparent reference to a Dragon Quest hero. In Japan, this class is called Yuusha, which directly translates to 'brave' in English. Last week, these same codenames were then removed from the game.

The latest update regarding this rumour is perhaps the juiciest one yet. Super Smash Bros. Ultimate Game Supervisor Kumazaki Shinya recently took to Instagram and shared photos of Kirby sitting next to what he referred to as "Brave's Shield" from Dragon Quest. Unsurprisingly, it's sent the internet bonkers. Click through the photos below and see for yourself:





If you weren't already aware, Kirby is Masahiro Sakurai's creation. In the latest game, Kirby is also the only character who survives the initial attack in the World of Light campaign. It essentially makes him the star of the series. As a result, it's now believed the above photos are yet another hint a Dragon Quest character will be added to Super Smash Bros. Ultimate in the near future.

Is this some sort of tease, or is it just a coincidence? If you look at the rest of Shinya's Instagram, his entire page is filled with photos of Kirby. Considering he's been one of the creative forces behind the Kirby series over the years, it's not exactly a surprise he's paying respects to the pink puffball on social media. Tell us what you think in the comments below.