On the subject of character inclusion, I wanted to go back to this post by Caterkiller that I had looked up after the E3 Direct and dissect it a bit more.
My ideal roster. All I really need is Dixie and Ridley to be satisfied for all eternity but it's always nice to dream!
As for the multi-characters Pokemon Trainer and Rick/Coo/Kine I'd like the Trainer to act as he did in Brawl but with the option to choose any of the 3 solo. For Kirby's buddies I want Rick as the "main" guy but different attacks or abilities have you randomly transform or team up with the other two. Take a look at Kirby Star Allies for the exact idea.
That's a nice 80 character roster that won't be accurate. Let's dismiss the Smash alum that we now know are all going to be in and the couple new additions revealed already and focus on the rest.
K. Rool / Dixie Kong - It's starting to feel like the calls for their inclusion are getting much more vocal from Smash 4 to now and they are starting to have an almost inevitable feeling of inclusion. Almost. It's hard to say how much Nintendo values K. Rool. He's made a few appearances in things since Rare's split like King of Swing/Mario Baseball yet Retro has left him and the Kremling crew out of the new DKC games they've made. Dixie has had more of a presence but I'll reiterate that aside from swinging her ponytail and cartwheeling what other moves are people expecting her to bring to the fight?
Captain Toad / Geno - As soon as I finally finish BotW 100%, I'm going to play Captain Toad. Serious this time! But from playing Mario 3D World, I just don't see how you include a character that doesn't jump, walks slow and has no attacks. Sure he carries and axe but I don't recall ever using it in 3D World. However, I make a concession that Toad himself might possibly be included. He could run and jump in SM2 aka Doki Doki Panic version. And there will be the SM2 stage from Melee included so you could have a Mario, Luigi, Peach, Toad battle if added. Plus, Toad has been thrown in as a playable character in the NSMB games and 3D World. You might be able to then have a Captain Toad costume for him but I just don't see the Captain himself being included. As for Geno, no. If I'm Sakurai and in charge of Smash, I'm not adding Geno. I like Geno. He adds some charm to Super Mario RPG but once I've acquired Peach and Bowser, I really don't use him much after that in the game. He can shoot pellets from his arms or blast his arms off but what else do people think he can use for moves or want to see him do? He's not the most memorable part of the game. In fact, I put Mallow ahead of him even. He's appeared in nothing else. I'm not sure if Nintendo or Square own his rights and Square already has Cloud in the game. It ain't happening, Geno fans. If it does, I will be super shocked. More shocking than Ridley.
Tails / Knuckles - I mean, I would welcome more Sonic Characters into Smash. Sega could probably make a Smash game of their own with Sonic characters (and a few additions from other franchises) and make a special part of the Sonic fanbase very happy but until we see a third party get two characters of theirs included in Smash then I believe Nintendo is limiting them all to one and done. Still, if any third party could get a second addition, I do believe it to be Sega. And if Sega were to get that milestone, I think it would just be an echo character for Sonic like Shadow or my personal choice of Metal Sonic. But we already know Knuckles is an Assist Trophy so he's out. If Tails has a chance of appearing in this game, I think it would be as an assist trophy also. Maybe next Smash Bros. when Sakurai is probably gone and someone else has taken over and they cut back on the other third parties being included. Then they can make up for the lack of Konami and Capcom with more Sega and Sonic characters.
Ganon/Skullkid - Most likely ain't happening and I've no problem with that. Wasn't Skullkid an assist trophy before? Probably be back as that again. And Ganondorf uses a sword now so why do we need Pig Ganon? Be better off including a Guardian Robot or Lynel before including Pig Ganon. With three Links in this game, I don't think the Zelda series is getting any other fighter additions.
Decidueye - I was just wondering if he was a popular Pokemon in my post about the 4Chan leak and see he's been included in this mock-up so I guess he/she is. Therefore, I guess this character may actually have a good/high chance of making it if the Pokemon fanbase has been vocal about it being a popular character.
Waddle Dee / Koo Cine Rick - I get the appeal of having another Pokemon Trainer type fighting but I think this is an incredible longshot of ever happening. Until Star Allies, these characters were never standalone. They were like Yoshi in SMW. Unlike Yoshi, they never got a game of their own to make them into unique characters with their own gameplay. They depend on Kirby using them and piggybacking off his copy abilities. If the Kirby series does get another character, it does seem that Waddle Dee would be most likely with his inclusion as the fourth character in multiplayer Kirby games. However, I don't find him a particularly interesting character nor do I think he brings any special moves to the party so I'd be fine if he was passed over in place of other interesting characters.
Wonder Red - With how Wonderful 101 has seem to come and go in more gamer's consciousness and no sign of this game or series continuing on, I just don't see Red getting a roster slot in addition to the fact that PlatinumGames already has Bayonetta representing them so I'm sticking to my one character per third party theory and don't see Nintendo breaking it to include Wonder Red of all third party characters out there.
Spring Man - Once again, I agree that an ARMS character and even stage would make an easy fit to include in the Ultimate. I think the odds are good and I'm on board with it (even though I haven't played ARMS yet myself) but the only thing I disagree on is that character being Spring Man. Of all the characters, he just seems the most bland and generic to me. I would put every other character ahead of him as the possible ARMS representative. Frankly, my money is on Min Min with her ramen connection and to include more female characters.
Rhythm Monkey - Having played Rhythm Heaven Megamix, I would like to see some kind of representation for the RH series. I just didn't see how since the games are quite varied and there is no real central character. Now that I know what the Chorus Kids are like and how their music games play, the idea that they could have been included as a fighter in Smash 4 is ridiculous to me. But then I got thinking about Karate Joe. He appears in a punch of Rhythm games. He punches and kicks. He could dropkick bombs and crates or toss soccer balls, pots or rocks at other players. There's an outline of a possible fighter here. But the Wii version really seems to have focused on adding monkeys into the Rhythm Games. Seeing the monkey shown here made me realize that larger monkey presence in Megamix as well from those Wii games. So, perhaps something could be done with the monkey as well and it might allow for more flexibility to include moves from other rhythm games the monkey isn't in like hitting a badminton birdie into another player. The monkey could throw golf balls at fighters or it could grab a fighter and then tap dance on them for a couple examples of how to include actual moves from the rhythm games. If a fighter is included from the RH series, I think it could be a pretty inventive fighter based on how its moves are created and hopefully provide a different type of fighter. I didn't think there was a way to represent this series in Smash but I've now come around on the possibility and with Karate Joe or the Monkey there is a base that I think the Smash type could start with and work from. I'd love to see it and it could fit the mold of a surprise Sakurai choice like Wii Fit Trainer or Duck Hunt Dog but I'm not sure where this series is on Sakurai or Nintendo's radar on trying to get it worked into Smash.
8 more characters to go over in this chart but I've typed enough late night Smash musings for now so the rest will have to wait for a follow up post.
Also, congrats to Stratos for correctly predicting the Ultimate before it was Ultimate:
I also fully expect every alumni player possible to return, because that should be a priority. Wolf, Snake, and Ice Climbers need to be in.