Earlier this year, Nintendo asked fans to vote for video game characters that they’d like to be a part of Super Smash Bros. via an online ballot which closed last week. Nintendo also released a massive patch for the game in the same week, with several sources citing that the update had slots for three new characters. With the voting for the new characters being officially over and the news of additional character slots, I think it’s safe to expect these DLC characters to be made available in the coming months. I think it’s a good opportunity to talk about five video game characters that I think belong in this prestigious fighting game franchise.

Since I’m only choosing five, I’d like to set a couple of expectations. First, I’m not going to talk about characters that have already appeared in a Super Smash Bros. game as playable characters. With only five characters to talk about this list is short enough as it is, and I’d like to think that Nintendo had reasons to leave these characters out of the current roster.

Second, I’m not limiting myself to first party Nintendo characters. We’ve already seen several characters from third party developers become part of the Super Smash Bros. franchise, and I see this game as a collection of characters that are historically relevant to Nintendo so I wouldn’t want to leave out third party characters that meet this criteria.

Lastly, I considered several factors when choosing for this list: consumer appeal, historical relevance to Nintendo as previously mentioned, and what these characters can bring to the table. These characters will be available to the public as paid DLC, so I’m choosing characters that I think will not only add to the Smash Bros. experience but also sell reasonably well. Now that we’ve got those out of the way, we can get started with my list:

Isaac (Golden Sun)

If you check for a list of the best RPGs to be released on the Game Boy Advance, you’re bound to see Golden Sun and it’s sequel, Golden Sun: The Lost Age in that list. Golden Sun used to be regarded as one of Nintendo’s best new IPs, so I think the franchise needs to be represented in Super Smash Bros. to capture the time when Nintendo produced some of the best RPGs to be released on handheld devices.

Among several characters to make appearances in Golden Sun games, I have no other viable choice than Isaac, the main protagonist of the first game who also had major roles in both Golden Sun: The Lost Age and Golden Sun: Dark Dawn. And I think Isaac would make for an interesting Super Smash Bros. fighter as he has a lot of different Psynergy abilities that can be used for his attacks, as well as Djinn summons for his Final Smash attack. Having Isaac as a Super Smash Bros. DLC is viable as Golden Sun still has its followers, and this could be a good way for Nintendo to gauge interest in the Golden Sun franchise and consider making another game for the franchise.

 

Krystal (Star Fox)

Star Fox Zero is set to be released sometime next year and is looked at by many to be a high profile Wii U title, so adding another character from that franchise would help in advertising that game and building up additional hype for it. I already said that I’m excluding characters that have already appeared in prior Super Smash Bros. games so I can’t choose Wolf O’Donnell for this list despite being one of the more popular villains of the franchise simply because he was a playable character in Super Smash Bros. Brawl for the Nintendo Wii.

This leaves me with Krystal and quite frankly she’s not a bad second choice. Unlike Wolf, who was pretty much a clone character of Fox McCloud, Krystal can have a totally different moveset by utilizing her magic staff and some of Fox’s moves from Star Fox Adventures for her attacks. I guess this bears mentioning here – Star Fox Adventures was originally supposed to be a different game called Dinosaur Planet featuring Krystal as a main character before Nintendo’s higher ups decided to rework it as a Star Fox title. Having a staff-wielding Krystal not only serves as a reference to that title, but also adds another Star Fox character AND another strong female combatant to the Super Smash Bros. roster. 

Bayonetta (Bayonetta)

Bayonetta 2 is notable as one of the few critically acclaimed titles developed exclusively for the Nintendo Wii U and is considered by some to be one of the console’s killer apps. As the protagonist of games known for over the top action, Bayonetta fits perfectly in Super Smash Bros. – a fighting game also known for over the top action.

She’s got several melee attack types at her disposal but what’s notable about Bayonetta is her use of a wide range of weapons – from swords, hammers and maces to guns and chainsaws and even torture devices like a guillotine and a vise which would be viable options for special attacks.

I’ve seen some people say that Bayonetta doesn’t belong in Super Smash Bros. because her games are M rated, which is something I disagree with. It’s not like Bayonetta is going to strip or do something inappropriate like use expletives. I’m sure there’s a way for the developers to design her in a way that stays true to her character and yet remain PG. Not only does including Bayonetta add another strong female character to the roster, she also serves as a representative for the Wii U generation – something that we don’t have a lot of.

Something that needs to be mentioned – Super Smash Bros. is a game that also exposes characters to people who haven’t played the games they came from. I’ve seen a lot of people say that because of Super Smash Bros., they became curious about games like Fire Emblem and ended up trying those games out and enjoying them. Bayonetta’s inclusion in Super Smash Bros. can work the same way, introducing her to those who have yet to play Bayonetta 2 and get them to purchase a copy of it.

Shovel Knight (Shovel Knight)

Admittedly, I don’t own a copy of Shovel Knight and have yet to play it enough to really talk about the character in detail. What I can say is that the idea of Shovel Knight’s inclusion in Super Smash Bros. is intriguing to me because he’s unique in the way that he’s a callback to the 8-bit and 16-bit era of videogaming while also serving as a great representative for the current video game generation like Bayonetta. 

And like Bayonetta, Shovel Knight is the main character of a video game title that received universal critical acclaim. Unlike Bayonetta 2, Shovel Knight is a title that was also released on non-Nintendo consoles. In terms of marketing, Shovel Knight’s inclusion in Super Smash Bros. may spur a number of his fans who don’t already own a Nintendo console to buy one and hop onto the Smash Bros. bandwagon. His inclusion can also reignite interest in the Shovel Knight game, which is going to be released in physical media for the Wii U and the Nintendo 3DS sometime this month.

Of all the characters in this list, I think Shovel Knight has the best chance of making it into Super Smash Bros, primarily because it’s been confirmed that he’ll have his very own amiibo. For those not in the know, amiibo are figurines of (mostly) Nintendo video game characters with NFC support that work with different video game titles in different functions.

 

Incidentally, the first game to ever work with amiibo is Super Smash Bros., and it’s expected that each Super Smash Bros. character will have his or her own amiibo. With Shovel Knight’s publishers taking care of manufacturing the Shovel Knight amiibo, Nintendo won’t need to worry about it anymore.

 

Simon Belmont (Castlevania)

If you ask me to name a 3rd party video game title that is the most relevant in Nintendo’s history, Castlevania is going to be the one that will come to my mind. Yes, I think the Castlevania series is more relevant to Nintendo than Mega Man, Street Fighter, Metal Gear Solid, and Pac-Man ever were.

Castlevania games have been released on multiple Nintendo consoles throughout the years, from the NES and Super NES, the Game Boy and Game Boy Advance, up to the Nintendo DS and Nintendo 3DS. Even if Castlevania: Symphony of the Night (arguably the most famous entry in the series) was released on Sony’s first Playstation, its follow ups were all released on Nintendo handhelds.

And of course, if Castlevania is to be represented in Super Smash Bros., there’s no other Castlevania protagonist that deserves this honor more than the original hero of the franchise: Simon Belmont. I didn’t run the numbers so I could be wrong, but off the top of my head I think that Simon Belmont has had the most number of appearances in Castlevania games released for Nintendo consoles. He’s also a good fit for Super Smash Bros. gameplay, with his traditional whip serving as tether grabs and recovery and his secondary weapons for his special attacks.

But I’ll be honest. The real reason why I want to see Simon Belmont in Super Smash Bros. is because this is the only remaining opportunity for us to see him be reunited with his fellow N-Team Members Mega Man and Pit.

 

Captain N: The Game Master is a late 80s cartoon series centered around video games that I was a fan of back when I was a kid. Of the regular characters to appear on that series, only three were legitimate video game characters. You guessed it: Mega Man, Pit (known as Kid Icarus in the cartoon) and Simon Belmont. Including Simon Belmont in Super Smash Bros. would not only affirm Castlevania’s significance to Nintendo but also be a shoutout to this Saturday morning classic. Konami has “played ball” with Nintendo once before, allowing the latter to include Solid Snake in the previous entry to the Super Smash Bros. franchise, so Simon Belmont’s inclusion in today’s Super Smash Bros. games isn’t outside the realm of possibility.

And there you have it – five video game characters that I’d really like to see become part of the Super Smash Bros. franchise. Coming up with this list was fun, and now I’m actually curious as to whether any of these characters will actually become part of the Super Smash Bros. roster. I guess we’ll know soon enough.

What do you think about my list? Which video game character would you like to become part of Super Smash Bros.? Share your thoughts by leaving comments below!