Elma (Xenoblade Chronicles X)

Since Monolith Soft were acquired by Nintendo their reputation in the industry has gone from strength to strength. They have released several critically acclaimed games in their own Xenoblade series, as well as the crossover Project X Zone games, all the while helping with the development of some of the larger internal efforts at Nintendo, such as Super Smash Bros Brawl and Breath of the Wild. Although Shulk marks one playable representative for the studio their rising importance for Nintendo, coupled with Sakurai's self-confessed love for the games they make, mean that a second character is not only deserved, but quite likely.





Rex is seemingly the obvious choices due to the success that Xenoblade Chronicles 2 has received. However, I'd say that the character who should be added is Elma, who stole the show in the Wii U exclusive X. Not only would Elma signal a more interesting choice than Rex, being that Rex would be another sword wielder in a game already overstocked with such characters, while Elma's gun-heavy move set would offer something more refreshing. That's not even going into detail about the massive potential that a Skell final smash holds.





To add to Elma's case for a spot in Smash Ultimate (as its about the only character on this list I genuinely believe will be added) we know that this game has been in development since shortly after the end of the DLC for the last game in the series. This means that Sakurai had the character's for the game planned out a couple of years back, so Elma would have been fresh in the mind, whereas its unsure whether or not Rex was even conceptualised at that stage.



Captain Toad

2018 has seen a glut of Wii U games seeing a second lease of life in the form of Switch releases, a move which only makes sense given the limited audience who owned a console which has almost been lapped by its successor. Captain Toad: Treasure Tracker was one such game, releasing last month on the Switch. Despite it's release being somewhat overshadowed by the release of Octopath Traveler on the same day it is still a game that any Switch owner should play, it's quite a fantastic little effort.





Captain Toad as a character is possibly the number one reason to play the game, he just has so much to him, despite not being particularly talkative, as you'd maybe expect. Through his animated nature, his rucksack which is as big as him and his surprising bravery, you fall in love with him almost instantly, whether you meet him in a distant galaxy, in the mean streets of New Donk City or while he's on his own adventure.





Plus, that's before you crack open the treasure trove of possibility that is how interesting he would be as a Smash Bros character. Firstly, I cannot think of a Smash Bros character who's main weakness takes the form of his lack of jumping ability, after all the series is half fighter, half platformer. As such, I could not honestly say that I know whether he could work well, particularly in terms of balancing, but I am nowhere near as qualified to make it work as the team at Bandai Namco, headed by Sakurai, who have more pedigree than I could ever aspire to. One thing is for sure- he would be an interesting pick without a doubt.

Jack Frost

In terms of third party relations there are few that come close to Atlus in terms of the close relationship they hold with Nintendo. The companies output of major releases on 3DS has only been surpassed by Nintendo themselves. If anyone needs more proof of Atlus' support for Nintendo, one only needs to point in the direction of Tokyo Mirage Sessions- the crossover between Fire Emblem and Shin Megami Tensei which offered a game that was a wonderful RPG long after the Wii U could have still become a viable system.





Square Enix have got a representative in Smash in the form of Cloud, Sega have Sonic, Bandai Namco have Pac-Man and Capcom have two representatives (despite their often lacking support of Nintendo consoles in recent times) with Megaman and Ryu. To me, Atlus is a company that deserves to have a character in Smash just as much as these names due to their continued and quality support for Nintendo consoles, and no character seems better placed than the mascot of Shin Megami Tensei- Jack Frost. This is a character that I often refer to as "Devil Pikachu" to friends, due to his mascot status in a series that I often refer to my friends, who don't play games much beyond Fortnite, as "like Pokemon but with demons who sometimes swear". Granted, Jack Frost doesn't rank amongst the first names one may think of when the subject of gaming arises just as those mentioned before do, but he is a charming fellow with a distinctive design. He is an addition I would welcome with joy.

Shantae

Shovel Knight is a character who is brought up as a character who should take up the honour of being the first "indie" character to be playable in the series, but I would posit that the indie character who should take that spot is a character inherently intertwined to Shovel Knight, his older sister if you will- Shantae. I say this as Yacht Club Games, the studio behind Shovel Knight, is made up of a bunch of talent formerly of Way Forward, the studio who created the Shantae series back in 2002.





Shantae has so much charm and her incarnations vary enough to give her a wide, varied move set which could rank amongst the most fun in the game. Whether it be double jump utilising her cannon from Pirate's Curse or a charge from her Elephant form. She would make a fantastic representative for the indie community, which has been a lifeline for Nintendo while AAA were lacking on the Wii U, and has only become more important on the Switch. On top of that, it would add another female character to the roster, and that is never a bad thing.

Ivan

Finally, a character who may be the greatest creation that has Nintendo has ever been able to refer to as theirs. While Ivan was created by Valhalla and Tomonobu Itagaki, Nintendo presumably own the Devil's Third property. At this point it seems more of a matter of when Ivan is announced as a playable character for Nintendo's crossover fighter given his newfound importance in their selection of characters.





Obviously here I joke but damn, my want for Ivan to be in Smash is genuine, it would very possibly be the strangest choice possible and it would be one I would defend to my death. Ivan is stupid inane, often cringe worthy fun, and if Sakurai wants to have a genuine surprise for Nintendo fans, he would certainly fulfil that criteria.









Thank you for reading, I hope you enjoy the Smash Bros Direct and I would love to read your suggestions for Smash Bros Ultimate, so please feel free to comment your hopes and expectations for the Direct.

So Nintendo have just announced that a Smash Bros Direct will be taking place this Wednesday, and as such my anticipation levels have skyrocketed. There is nothing like the excitement and anticipation of an upcoming Direct. While Sakurai has come on record to say not many new characters will be joining the party at the launch of Ultimate, that doesn't mean we won't get a few newcomers announced before we see the latest outing on Switch. So that begs the question, who should take a place on the roster? Well, here are a few suggestions, most of which will never happen.