History EpilepticTrees / SuperSmashBrosUltimate

* Part of Waluigi's fanbase think that him being shown as an AssistCharacter is actually a RedHerring and he's a SecretCharacter, because he never appeared in any of the demos at E3 2018 and Sakurai knows how popular of a request he is. Even with the game released, some people believe he could appear as DLC. In the end, however, Waluigi does not appear as a DLC fighter, proving that his status as an assist trophy is ''not'' a red herring.

* On February 11th of 2020, a ''VideoGame/{{Cuphead}}'' spirit event was announced. Considering Sans didn't have an ''Undertale'' spirit event or spirits in general, this immediately led into theories that more repping of that series was coming.

** With the reveal of the ''ARMS'' fighter being Min Min, it's confirmed that base-roster Spirits could potentially be promoted to fighters, opening the door for characters like Bandana Dee and Geno.
* Byleth's presentation was noted by Sakurai to have been filmed in November of 2019, and Sakurai confirmed in the video that the lineup for the second Fighters Pass had already been decided. With spirit events for ''VideoGame/PokemonSwordAndShield'', ''VideoGame/ResidentEvil'', ''VideoGame/KunioKun'', ''VideoGame/AstralChain'', ''VideoGame/RingFitAdventure'', ''VideoGame/AnimalCrossingNewHorizons'', ''VideoGame/TrialsOfMana'', and ''VideoGame/OctopathTraveler'' happening in the months after, some people believe that these spirit events disconfirm a fighter from these games appearing in the second Fighters Pass due to each DLC fighter coming with their own Spirit Board and set of spirits from their home franchise, which would make these spirit events redundant.

* After missing the first pass, [[VideoGame/SuperMarioRPG Geno]] has been roundly speculated to be the second fighter of Fighters Pass Volume 2. The main reasoning ties to the significance of the number 7 in his home game, ''Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars''. Being the second fighter in [=FPV2=] would not only make him the seventh Challenger Pack, but the seventy-seventh fighter overall. After it was announced on June 19th that the ''ARMS'' character would be revealed on June 22nd, [[https://twitter.com/GenosPapa/status/1274113403083161601 a few]] began to speculate that, with any potential announcements that would've been at E3 pushed back due to the pandemic, Geno could end up being announced on July 7th, the seventh day of the seventh month. As should've been expected from such a reach, this one didn't pan out, and the second fighter of Fighters Pass Volume 2 would ultimately be [[VideoGame/{{Minecraft}} Steve]].

* After Pyra and Mythra were revealed as playable, some fans have determined that the rest of the DLC fighters will all be either missing proper representation content in the base game (like Min Min, Sephiroth, and Pyra and Mythra) or finally coming after long-term planning (like Steve), due to how Fighter's Pass Volume 2 mainly featured characters whose series couldn't get their initial plans applied for the base game and followed this pattern up to that point. With such criteria in consideration, this has lead to discussions about possible newcomers like Rayman, Crash Bandicoot, Ryu Hayabusa and even [[VisualNovel/FamicomDetectiveClub Ayumi Tachibana]].[[note]][[WhatCouldHaveBeen/SuperSmashBros Ayumi was a planned fighter for Melee,]] but passed due to her obscurity.[[/note]]

* Some select fans have found the near-complete lack of ''VideoGame/LuigisMansion3'' content to be rather conspicuous. Not only did it not get any content in the base game beyond the G-00 being used for Luigi's throws, but it ended up being the only remaining major first-party game (aside from ''VideoGame/SuperMarioMaker2'', which had almost nothing new to bring anyway) to not have a spirit event for two years in a row following its launch, skipping Halloween outright. This has led to the suspicion that King Boo might actually come in Fighters Pass 2 to represent it.

* When the opening animation for ''VideoGame/{{Shantae}} 5'' was revealed, some people noticed something very interesting: [[http://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/286712044869386241/597447706071269406/004851bb7bbc1f1c960969cf977f2796.png Shantae's window looks exactly like the Smash Bros. logo.]] Coincidental decoration, or something more? Around two years later, Shante does make an appearance... as a Mii Costume.
* After an ''VideoGame/{{Overwatch}}''-themed Nintendo Switch carrier licensed by Nintendo & Blizzard [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=66D2RLdCIvw was leaked on Amazon and quickly taken down]], many people began speculating that not only will there be a Switch port of ''Overwatch'', but Tracer will also become a part of the Fighters Pass to go along with it. The fact that this happened shortly before August 2019's "[[ActionGirl female fighter]] [[UnexpectedCharacter nobody demanded]]" [[http://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/287329343330320385/615737525742469120/image0.jpg 4chan post]] only helped this theory. At present, the carrying case only seems to be related to ''Overwatch'' getting a Switch release.

* The [[UnexpectedCharacter surprise reveal]] of Joker from ''VideoGame/Persona5'' as the first DLC fighter from the Fighters' Pass, as well as comments from Reggie Fils-Aime stating that Joker is "emblematic" of the approach being taken with DLC for ''Ultimate'', has led to a large change in speculation. A number of people have taken this to mean that most of, if not all of the fighters will be third-parties. Names thrown around range from [[Franchise/KingdomHearts Sora]] to [[VideoGame/{{Doom}} Doom Slayer]] to [[VideoGame/DevilMayCry Dante]] and even [[VideoGame/{{Halo}} Master Chief]] in some circles. Most of the DLC characters have indeed been third-parties, with Square Enix's [[VideoGame/DragonQuest Hero]] and [[Characters/FinalFantasyVIISephiroth Sephiroth]], Microsoft's [[VideoGame/BanjoKazooie Banjo and Kazooie]] and [[VideoGame/{{Minecraft}} Steve]], SNK's [[Characters/FatalFuryTerryBogard Terry Bogard]], Bandai-Namco's [[Characters/TekkenKazuyaMishima Kazuya Mishima]], and Disney's [[Characters/KingdomHeartsSora Sora]][[note]]While Kingdom Hearts was developed by Square-Enix, Disney actually owns the rights to Sora.[[/note]] joining the fight.

* In "Mr. Sakurai Presents 'Min Min'", Sakurai mentions after the Mii Costume showcase that "when purchasing Mii Fighter costumes, some of the Spirit Board targets may change slightly in the future." While Min Min had already put spirits back on the table in ''Smash'' speculation, this statement led to the belief that further spirits getting PromotedToPlayable was a guarantee, rather than merely a possibility.
* Out of all the major third-party Japanese publishers/developers, Creator/KoeiTecmo stands out as not having a representative on the playable roster (though they are represented by [[VideoGame/FatalFrame Yuri as an assist trophy]]). Considering that the company has a long and strong history with Nintendo (even collaborating with each other for ''VideoGame/HyruleWarriors'', ''VideoGame/FireEmblemWarriors'', ''VideoGame/MetroidOtherM'', ''VideoGame/MarvelUltimateAlliance3TheBlackOrder'', and ''VideoGame/FireEmblemThreeHouses'', with Koei Tecmo also doing the animation for Byleth's reveal), and that Sakurai and Nintendo have shown preference for Japanese developers, many have theorized that Koei Tecmo would receive a representative on the roster. The most popular choice by far is [[VideoGame/NinjaGaiden Ryu Hayabusa]], who is more or less their {{Mascot}}, and whose franchise has been present on Nintendo platforms since the days of the UsefulNotes/NintendoEntertainmentSystem, with many saying that he'd fit in right along with other NES icons like Mega Man and Simon Belmont. Furthermore, the complete lack of spirits for ''Hyrule Warriors'' since ''Ultimate'''s launch has been pointed out as rather conspicuous, possibly hinting at an inclusion for Lana or Linkle as well.
* Another Creator/SquareEnix rep, [[VideoGame/TheWorldEndsWithYou Neku Sakuraba]], has been speculated for Fighters Pass 2. The main reason is Square's recent interest in the series; between the UsefulNotes/NintendoSwitch port of the first game, [[https://www.ign.com/articles/the-world-ends-with-you-the-animation-gets-its-first-teaser-trailer the announcement of an animated series]], and [[spoiler:''VideoGame/KingdomHeartsIII''[='s=] true ending]], many believe that Square is working on a followup to The World Ends With You and putting Neku in Smash would be great promotion. A sequel for TWEWY has been confirmed with VideoGame/NEOTheWorldEndsWithYou, announced in November 2020, only adding more weight to the speculation. Additionally, Neku would be a good alternative to [[Franchise/KingdomHearts Sora]] if it's true that he's off the table due to Creator/{{Disney}}'s interest in the character and not wanting to have any of their own [[WesternAnimation/ClassicDisneyShorts characters]] have the crap kicked out of them, seeing as they rejected a fighting game involving Disney villains.

* The lack of representation from ''VideoGame/DragaliaLost'', as being one of the Nintendo-published games released before ''Ultimate'' that has yet to have spirits or Mii costumes. Other 2018 first-party games released before ''Ultimate'' had representation through spirits from either base game or spirit events (''VideoGame/WarioWare'' spirits are based on ''[=WarioWare=] Gold'' and spirits from ''[[VideoGame/MarioParty Super Mario Party]]'', both released before ''Ultimate''). This has led to suspicion that a ''Dragalia Lost'' representation (like Euden) might come as a DLC character, similar to how ''Fire Emblem: Three Houses'' lacked any representation prior to Byleth's reveal.
* In the American videos for the Mii costumes, whenever a costume from an M rated game appears, it doesn't say their game of origin (IE the videos says ''Super Smash Bros. Ultimate'' X ''Travis'' instead of X ''VideoGame/NoMoreHeroes''). This is speculated due to changes in the ESRB post 2020, and that promoting M rated games would either bump the video's age rating up or bump ''Super Smash Bros. Ultimate's'' rating up from E10+ to M. As a result, some fans are thinking that characters from M rated games such as [[VideoGame/Doom2016 The Doom Slayer]] or [[VideoGame/NinjaGaiden Ryu Hayabusa]] might not be in as playable fighters due to their ties to M rated franchises. This ''only'' seems to be the case with M rated franchises, as T rated games (''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVIIRemake'', ''{{VideoGame/Tekken}}'', ''VideoGame/XenobladeChronicles2'') haven't had any affect on ''Ultimate's'' rating in the states.

* Shortly after Joker's release, a theory was cooked up over the fact that among the Mii costumes that were sold alongside him were the Tails and Knuckles sets that were present in the previous game but were cut in the base release of ''Ultimate''. This states that the previous costumes will likely return and be sold alongside characters from their respective IP holders, which in turn has lead people to believe that characters from Square Enix, Capcom and Namco would at least fill out 3/4ths of the remaining Fighters Pass slots post-Joker. While the Hero does fulfill the role of a Square rep, Geno's Costume and the Chocobo Hat ended up not being in the Wave alongside Hero, but considering they're owned by [[ScrewedByTheLawyers Square Enix]], there could be any number of reasons for this.

* On November 4th of 2019, [[http://www.ssbwiki.com/List_of_rumors#Doom.2FSuper_Mario_RPG_Mii_Costume_leak a 4chan post]] was made containing a screenshot (and two videos) of Miis wearing [[VideoGame/SuperMarioRPG Mallow]] and [[Franchise/{{Doom}} Cacodemon]] hats alongside Ken doing a thumbs-up, a pose associated with [[https://www.ssbwiki.com/List_of_leaks#Ken_leak his own leak]] the prior year. Naturally, people took this to mean that Geno and Doom Slayer were coming as DLC. The lack of action taken by Nintendo towards this post led some to believe that it was legit and Nintendo was attempting to avoid invoking the StreisandEffect on it, and just letting detractors sow the seeds of doubt in the community in the hopes of the rumor falling by the wayside with time, [[HistoryRepeats similarly to what happened to the Ken leak]].

* With the recent ports of ''VideoGame/TheElderScrollsVSkyrim'', ''VideoGame/Doom2016'' and ''VideoGame/DoomEternal'' to the Switch, alongside the revelation in September that Bethesda were discussing future plans with Nintendo (with the former's vice president of PR and marketing, Pete Hines, confirming Smash Bros. to be one of the subjects discussed), fans have been speculating the inclusion of a Bethesda rep as DLC, with popular suggestions including; the Doom Slayer, the Dragonborn and Vault Boy (though we got Vault Boy and Dragonborn as Mii Costumes as of late June 2021).
** Of these three options, the Doom Slayer is speculated to be the most likely candidate thanks to having the most amount of games on Nintendo consoles compared to the other two (1 on the SNES, 1 on the UsefulNotes/Nintendo64, 2 on the GBA and 2 on the Switch). This is on top of the fact that his series codified the FirstPersonShooter alongside ''Wolfenstein 3D'' (with Sakurai even going on record to say that John Carmack is "the father of FPS's"), making the Doom Slayer a key representative for a significant chunk of gaming history that has been mostly unrepresented in ''Smash'' beforehand.

** Lastly, some fans have speculated that even [[Franchise/{{Halo}} Master Chief]] could be within the realm of possibility. While his series targets a mature audience and has been exclusive to Xbox consoles, many argue that the former hasn't stopped Snake, Bayonetta, and Joker from appearing in ''Smash'' and that, much like Cloud and Joker, Nintendo might overlook the latter since ''Halo'' and Master Chief are so iconic (and perhaps the most iconic of Microsoft's characters). Others theorize that Master Chief would need a noteworthy appearance on a Nintendo-related game of some sort to "justify" his inclusion, even just [[LoopholeAbuse a smaller one]] like Cloud got with the ''[[VideoGame/TheatrhythmFinalFantasy Theatrhythm]]'' games (before ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVII'' came to the Switch years later) or Joker got with ''[[VideoGame/PersonaQ2NewCinemaLabyrinth Persona Q2]]''. However, Master Chief does not appear, as [[Franchise/KingdomHearts Sora]] is the final DLC character.

** When Banjo & Kazooie came out, this theory was briefly thought to be dead, as none of the Mii Costumes released alongside the bear and bird were related to them (they were [[VideoGame/GanbareGoemon Goemon]] (from Creator/{{Konami}}), [[Franchise/MegaMan Proto-Man]], [[VideoGame/MegaManX Zero]] (both from Creator/{{Capcom}} and returning from the previous installment), [[Franchise/{{Pokemon}} Team Rocket]] (from Nintendo), and [[UnexpectedCharacter most surprisingly]], [[VideoGame/{{Undertale}} Sans]] (an indie character)). However, Terry got both costumes from SNK games (including Nakoruru, Ryo Sakazaki, and Iori Yagami) and unrelated ones (with Akira Yuki and Jacky Bryant returning from the last game). The costumes that came with Terry were all based off of FightingGame characters, so it makes sense that Akira and Jacky would return at that point. However, one very noticeable omission from this is [[VideoGame/{{Tekken}} Heihachi's]] Mii Costume from the previous game, leading to speculation that a Creator/BandaiNamco rep, possibly Heihachi himself, would be added later on. What's interesting to note is that Heihachi had been considered for the previous game's base roster, but Sakurai thought that implementing the movement of ''Tekken'' would be difficult. Since he had been considered for the base roster, it means that this happened prior to Ryu's inclusion in that same game, and since then, he has managed to implement Ken and Terry as well into ''Smash'', which could potentially make things easier.

* The idea that some of the downloadable Mii costumes in ''Smash 4'' are being PromotedToPlayable here (not just Inklings) became spread across the fanbase due to a 4chan "leak" in July, the fact that this game shows some influence from the ''Smash'' Ballot (some of the Mii Costumes are characters that were popular to vote for in the Ballot), and evidence that Bayonetta was chosen two weeks into the Ballot, making votes later in the Ballot less meaningful. The most common characters speculated to playable from the DLC Mii Costumes are King K. Rool, Chrom, Lloyd, Heihachi, Geno, Tails, Knuckles and Ashley. So far, this is partially correct; King K. Rool and Chrom got PromotedToPlayable characters and their Mii costumes also returned, Ashley returned as an assist trophy along with her Mii Swordfighter costume, and Tails', Knuckles', Heihachi's, Geno's, and Lloyd's Mii Costumes have returned.

* Fans of Creator/SquareEnix characters that aren't from the company's flagship games ''Final Fantasy'' and ''Dragon Quest'', such as Geno and Crono, have theorized that the company would first want to represent their bigger names in ''Smash'' before looking towards non-mainstream ones; the first part has been fulfilled so far, as Cloud reps ''Final Fantasy'' and the Heroes rep ''Dragon Quest''. Some have taken the April 2020 ''VideoGame/TrialsOfMana'' [[https://twitter.com/NintendoVS/status/1253066044576538624 spirit event]] and the July 2020 ''VideoGame/OctopathTraveler'' spirit event, which both came after the aforementioned characters, as leaning towards a confirmation of the latter part of the claim.

* Part of Waluigi's fanbase think that him being shown as an AssistCharacter is actually a RedHerring and he's a SecretCharacter, because he never appeared in any of the demos at E3 2018 and Sakurai knows how popular of a request he is. Even with the game released, some people believe he could appear as DLC.

* Similarly, certain [[VideoGame/PanelDePon Lip]] supporters have noticed that the flower status effect, traditionally caused by the Lip's Stick item, has received an updated appearance for the first time in the series, leading some to believe she'll have a more prominent role this time despite the return of the item itself.

** Lastly, some fans have speculated that even [[Franchise/{{Halo}} Master Chief]] could be within the realm of possibility. While his series targets a mature audience and has been exclusive to Xbox consoles, many argue that the former hasn't stopped Snake, Bayonetta, and Joker from appearing in ''Smash'' and that, much like Cloud and Joker, Nintendo might overlook the latter since ''Halo'' and Master Chief are so iconic (and perhaps the most iconic of Microsoft's characters). Others theorize that Master Chief would need a noteworthy appearance on a Nintendo-related game of some sort to "justify" his inclusion, even just [[LoopholeAbuse a smaller one]] like Cloud got with the ''[[VideoGame/TheatrhythmFinalFantasy Theatrhythm]]'' games (before ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVII'' came to the Switch years later) or Joker got with ''[[VideoGame/PersonaQ2NewCinemaLabyrinth Persona Q2]]''.

* The [[UnexpectedCharacter surprise reveal]] of Joker from ''VideoGame/Persona5'' as the first DLC fighter from the Fighters' Pass, as well as comments from Reggie Fils-Aime stating that Joker is "emblematic" of the approach being taken with DLC for ''Ultimate'', has led to a large change in speculation. A number of people have taken this to mean that most of, if not all of the fighters will be third-parties. Names thrown around range from [[Franchise/KingdomHearts Sora]] to [[VideoGame/{{Doom}} Doom Slayer]] to [[VideoGame/DevilMayCry Dante]] and even [[VideoGame/{{Halo}} Master Chief]] in some circles. So far, all of the characters have indeed been third-parties, with Square Enix's [[VideoGame/DragonQuest Hero]], Microsoft's [[VideoGame/BanjoKazooie Banjo and Kazooie]], and SNK's [[Characters/FatalFuryTerryBogard Terry Bogard]] joining the fight.

** Speculation for a Monster Hunter rep cropped up again after a mini-Nintendo Partner Showcase in September 2020 that showed off two new VideoGame/MonsterHunter games (VideoGame/MonsterHunterRise and VideoGame/MonsterHunterStories2WingsOfRuin) exclusive to the Nintendo Switch. While a lot people think that the Monster Hunter will be playable as a fixed character (kind of like Monster Hunter's apperance in VideoGame/MarvelVsCapcomInfinite), but some are speculating that a hero from one of the Stories spin offs might be playable instead. That said, in the Pyra/Mythra presentation, [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CHgIDWkU6K8 Monster Hunter got representation in the form of Mii costumes.]] While there is a chance a playable hunter could come in the future, it seems unlikely.
* In mid-May of 2019, a rumor started circulating that VideoGame/{{Rayman}} [[http://www.nintendolife.com/news/2019/05/random_frozen_rayman_spotted_in_super_smash_bros_ultimate was frozen in a pillar of ice in Battlefield]]. Cue rumors about him being one of the [=DLCs=].

* Joker's gameplay trailer ends with him stealing King K. Rool's crown, followed by Wario's motorcycle. At first people just wrote this off as a gag referencing things from his home game, but then [[HeelFaceTurn K. Rool was seen hanging out in DK and Diddy's house in Banjo & Kazooie's reveal trailer]]. With Twitter user Ethan Mouta [[http://twitter.com/Ethan_Mouta/status/1139019847021617158 drawing a connection]] between K. Rool's ''Smash 4'' trophy saying that the croc could be DK's friend if he ever had "a change of heart" and Joker stealing his treasure and seemingly changing his heart, some have started wondering if the theft of Wario's motorcycle could signify anything. Theories range from this being yet another [[RunningGag hint at Waluigi (because it's always Waluigi Time)]], to a potential rep from ''VideoGame/WarioWare'' or ''VideoGame/WarioLand'', to even a new ''Wario'' game entirely.

* In one of the most reaching theories short of the chair theory, December 6th of 2019 brought us "Daisy Theory". [[http://twitter.com/SmashBrosJP/status/1203086718070644736 This]] tweet from the Japanese ''Smash Bros.'' account has four pictures, but the last one is what caught people's eyes. It contains Mario in the middle, and three characters each on both sides of him. Five of them were the DLC characters released at the time (Piranha Plant, Joker, Hero, Banjo & Kazooie, and Terry), while the last was Daisy, whose only relation to the other five was being a newcomer. Naturally, some people took this as a hint towards the final Fighters Pass member, with theories including Waluigi, since both Daisy and Waluigi are ''Mario'' characters who are more known for being in spinoffs, Geno (despite being allegedly disconfirmed for this spot in November of 2019) because both Daisy and Geno are ''Mario'' characters, Doom Slayer (who was also allegedly taken out of the running for the Fighters Pass), as he has a pet rabbit named Daisy, and even [[VideoGame/PuyoPuyo Arle Nadja]], due to both her and Daisy being {{Tomboy}}s with orange-ish hair who like to flash the VSign, which Daisy is doing in the picture.

* On March 13th of 2020, two fan expansions of ''VideoGame/ProjectM'', ''Legacy XP'' and ''Legacy TE'', suddenly got ''nuked'', with both the devs and normal users seeing weird messages on the Discord servers for the mods, official downloads for the mods vanishing, and the mods' [[http://www.smashbroslegacy.com website]] getting wiped and its text replaced with a message announcing development has ceased (with the first post on [[https://smashboards.com/threads/announcement-from-the-legacy-team.439601 the mods' SmashBoards forum topic]] being replaced with the same message); even a month later, [[https://twitter.com/sks316_/status/1250923037630889984 Nintendo's lawyers don't want to see mirrors of the mods online]], essentially confirming they took them down. Several people have put the pieces together; this isn't the first time Nintendo's taken down fanworks, some of their takedowns have lined up with official announcements made later[[note]]such as the August 2016-released fan remake of ''VideoGame/{{Metroid II|ReturnOfSamus}}'', ''VideoGame/AnotherMetroid2Remake'', getting DMCA'd ten months before the E3 2017 reveal of the official remake, ''VideoGame/MetroidSamusReturns'', or the early 2020 takedown of the fan-made ''[[VideoGame/SuperMarioBros1 SMB1]]'' battle royale in light of ''VideoGame/SuperMarioBros35'', Nintendo's own take on the same concept, being announced in September of the same year[[/note]], Nintendo only targeted these two mods despite several other ''Smash'' fanworks existing, and these mods are for an old game that neither Nintendo nor the modders are profiting off of. Thus, this led into speculation that ''Legacy XP'' and/or ''Legacy TE'' contained a character that Nintendo was also working on for ''Ultimate''. As for who it could be, the only characters they have that aren't playable in ''Ultimate'' are [[https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/471823527645937675/688487433817686056/unknown.png Geno, Waluigi, Metal Sonic, and Shadow]].

* According to [[https://www.ign.com/articles/2018/02/05/new-crash-bandicoot-game-rumoured-for-2019 an insider called Arguile]], there were rumors about Creator/{{Activision}} having initiated a five-year plan for the ''VideoGame/CrashBandicoot'' series, with a [[https://www.dexerto.com/smash/leak-claims-crash-bandicoot-will-join-smash-ultimate-in-2021-1428075/ leaked document stated by Nintendata]] to have plans for Crash in ''Ultimate''. Due to said plan ending around 2021 (the supposed end of ''Ultimate'' 's DLC support) and the coincidental timing of various ''Ultimate''-related announcements with those of major ''Crash'' news (e.g. ''Ultimate'' itself having been unveiled at the end of the same Nintendo Direct that promoted the Switch port of ''VideoGame/CrashNSaneTrilogy'', Joker and ''VideoGame/CrashTeamRacingNitroFueled'' both being revealed at the Game Awards, Hero and Banjo & Kazooie being announced on the same day as ''Nitro-Fueled''[='s=] Grand Prix DLC, Min Min and ''VideoGame/CrashBandicoot4ItsAboutTime'' being unveiled a few hours apart from each other), some fans have determined that Activision were [[XanatosGambit secretly preparing negotiations for Crash Bandicoot to arrive as a fighter, during his series revival]].

* The [[UnexpectedCharacter surprise reveal]] of Joker from ''VideoGame/Persona5'' as the first DLC fighter from the Fighters' Pass, as well as comments from Reggie Fils-Aime stating that Joker is "emblematic" of the approach being taken with DLC for ''Ultimate'', has led to a large change in speculation. A number of people have taken this to mean that most of, if not all of the fighters will be third-parties. Names thrown around range from [[Franchise/KingdomHearts Sora]] to [[VideoGame/{{Doom}} Doom Slayer]] to [[VideoGame/DevilMayCry Dante]] and even [[VideoGame/{{Halo}} Master Chief]] in some circles. So far, all of the characters have indeed been third-parties, with Square Enix's [[VideoGame/DragonQuest Hero]], Microsoft's [[VideoGame/BanjoKazooie Banjo and Kazooie]], and SNK's [[Characters/FatalFuryKingOfFighters Terry Bogard]] joining the fight.

* The [[UnexpectedCharacter surprise reveal]] of Joker from ''VideoGame/Persona5'' as the first DLC fighter from the Fighters' Pass, as well as comments from Reggie Fils-Aime stating that Joker is "emblematic" of the approach being taken with DLC for ''Ultimate'', has led to a large change in speculation. A number of people have taken this to mean that most of, if not all of the fighters will be third-parties. Names thrown around range from [[Franchise/KingdomHearts Sora]] to [[VideoGame/{{Doom}} Doom Slayer]] to [[VideoGame/DevilMayCry Dante]] and even [[VideoGame/{{Halo}} Master Chief]] in some circles. So far, all of the characters have indeed been third-parties, with Square Enix's [[VideoGame/DragonQuest Hero]], Microsoft's [[VideoGame/BanjoKazooie Banjo and Kazooie]], and SNK's [[VideoGame/FatalFury Terry Bogard]] joining the fight.

** Lastly, some fans have speculated that even [[Franchise/{{Halo}} Master Chief]] could be within the realm of possibility. While his series targets a mature audience and has been exclusive to Xbox consoles, many argue that the former hasn't stopped Snake, Bayonetta, and Joker from appearing in ''Smash'' and that, much like Cloud and Joker, Nintendo might overlook the latter since ''Halo'' and Master Chief are so iconic (and perhaps the most iconic of Microsoft's characters). Others point out that Master Chief would still need a noteworthy appearance on a Nintendo-related game of some sort before Sakurai can justify including him as a courtesy, even just [[LoopholeAbuse a smaller one]] like Cloud got with the ''[[VideoGame/TheatrhythmFinalFantasy Theatrhythm]]'' games (before ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVII'' came to the Switch years later) or Joker got with ''[[VideoGame/PersonaQ2NewCinemaLabyrinth Persona Q2]]''.

* After Pyra & Mythra's reveal, it's been noticed by some fans that all of the DLC characters released so far have been in different months[[note]]Byleth in Jaunary, Piranha Plant in February (as a formal release for purchase), Pyra & Mythra in March, Joker in April, Min Min in June, Hero in July, Banjo in September, Steve in October, Terry in November, and Sephiroth in December.[[/note]] and the total number of DLC characters for Ultimate is the same number of months in a year leading some to theorize that the last two characters will be released in May and August. This theory would eventually be debunked as May 2021 came and went without a new DLC character, and Kazuya and Min Min were both released in June, albeit exactly one year apart from one another.

* In the American videos for the Mii costumes, whenever a costume from an M rated game appears, it doesn't say their game of origin (IE the videos say ''Super Smash Bros. Ultimate'' X Travis instead of X ''VideoGame/NoMoreHeroes''). This is speculated due to changes in the ESRB post 2020, and that promoting M rated games would either bump the video's age rating up or bump ''Super Smash Bros. Ultimate's'' rating up from E10+ to M. As a result, some fans are thinking that characters from M rated games such as [[VideoGame/Doom2016 The Doom Slayer]] or [[VideoGame/NinjaGaiden Ryu Hayabusa]] might not be in as playable fighters due to their ties to M rated franchises. This seems to be the case with M rated franchises, as T rated games (''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVIIRemake'', ''{{VideoGame/Tekken}}'', ''VideoGame/XenobladeChronicles2'') haven't had any affect on ''Ultimate's'' rating in the states.

* The idea that some of the downloadable Mii costumes in ''Smash 4'' are being PromotedToPlayable here (not just Inklings) became spread across the fanbase due to a 4chan "leak" in July, the fact that this game shows some influence from the ''Smash'' Ballot (some of the Mii Costumes are characters that were popular to vote for in the Ballot), and evidence that Bayonetta was chosen two weeks into the Ballot, making votes later in the Ballot less meaningful. The most common characters speculated to playable from the DLC Mii Costumes are King K. Rool, Chrom, Lloyd, Heihachi, Geno, Tails, Knuckles and Ashley. So far, this is partially correct; King K. Rool and Chrom got PromotedToPlayable characters and their Mii costumes also returned, Ashley returned as an assist trophy along with her Mii Swordfighter costume, and Tails', Knuckles', Heihachi's, and Geno's Mii Costumes have returned, leaving only Lloyd left.

*** Later on in the 9/4/19 Direct, it was revealed that ''VideoGame/DevilMayCry2'' was also coming to the Switch, further increasing speculation for not only Dante in ''Smash'', but also for ''VideoGame/DevilMayCry3DantesAwakening'' also receiving a port. It was confirmed later on that ''Dante's Awakening'' would indeed be receiving a port, but what fans [[http://twitter.com/TheGamesCage/status/1198996246649802752 especially took notice of]] was that the port was slated for release on 2/20/20, and that same month was stated to be the latest possible time for the Fighters Pass members to release, leading a good amount of people to speculate that Dante would be released alongside [=DMC3=] on the Switch, if he was in.

* With the recent ports of ''VideoGame/TheElderScrollsVSkyrim'', ''VideoGame/Doom2016'' and ''VideoGame/DoomEternal'' to the Switch, alongside the revelation in September that Bethesda were discussing future plans with Nintendo (with the former's vice president of PR and marketing, Pete Hines, confirming Smash Bros. to be one of the subjects discussed), fans have been speculating the inclusion of a Bethesda rep as DLC, with popular suggestions including; the Doom Slayer, the Dragonborn and Vault Boy (though we got Vault Boy as a Mii Costume as of June 2020).

* After it was discovered that Mii Swordfighter and Duck Hunt can cause save corruption in All-Star Mode in 2.0.0, and some Bowser Jr. data was found in Piranha Plant's, there has been speculation about these two fighters being used as the bases for DLC fighters. Mii Swordfighter is speculated to be used for the aforementioned Erdrick, or possibly even [[VideoGame/TalesOfSymphonia Lloyd Irving]] due to his Mii costume in ''Wii U/3DS'' and some of Mii Swordfighter's move options resembling his own. Duck Hunt is speculated to be the base for [[VideoGame/BanjoKazooie Banjo]] due to the two having been compared before, or quadrupedal canines such as [[VideoGame/{{Okami}} Amaterasu]] or Lycanroc. After it was pointed out that Hero had some similarities with Link, the speculation of the Mii Swordfighter being a basis for Lloyd increased.

* When the opening animation for ''VideoGame/{{Shantae}} 5'' was revealed, some people noticed something very interesting: [[http://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/286712044869386241/597447706071269406/004851bb7bbc1f1c960969cf977f2796.png Shantae's window looks exactly like the Smash Bros. logo.]] Coincidental decoration, or something more?

* Around the time of Pyra and Mythra's reveal, [[https://www.thegamer.com/smash-ultimate-fighters-pass-3/ a re-examination of the initial datamine for the 16 dummy placeholder slots]] revealed that they took up two of them, leaving out five slots left. This, alongside the stage selection screen having three blank spaces after the last two characters of Fighters Pass 2 are included suggests that there's actually going to be one more wave of DLC coming after the current one concludes.
* After Pyra & Mythra's reveal, it's been noticed by some fans that all of the DLC characters released so far have been in different months[[note]]Byleth in Jaunary, Piranha Plant in February (as a formal release for purchase), Pyra & Mythra in March, Joker in April, Min Min in June, Hero in July, Banjo in September, Steve in October, Terry in November, and Sephiroth in December.[[/note]] and the total number of DLC characters for Ultimate is the same number of months in a year leading some to theorize that the last two characters will be released in May and August. This theory would eventually be debunked as May 2021 came and went without a new DLC character.

* On the week of June 7th to June 11th before E3 2021, the event for June 11th to 14th was revealed to be a tourney with characters that have at least one fire based special. As this is right before Nintendo's Direct. This has caused some to assume any character with a fire based special was out of the running for the next Challenger's Pack and even the last one as well. This includes the likes of [[VideoGame/PokemonSwordAndShield Cinderace]], [[Franchise/MortalKombat Scorpion]], [[VideoGame/GuiltyGear Sol Badguy]], and [[VideoGame/DragaliaLost Euden]]. This got further evidence when the file number for the tournament was revealed to be 4013. The last tourney's file number was 4048 implying the tourney was delayed since around Byleth's release in January 2020. And it's assumed they delayed it to include Sephiroth and Pyra.

* On the week of June 7th to June 11th before E3 2021, the event for June 11th to 14th was revealed to be a tourney with characters that have at least one fire based special. As this is right before Nintendo's Direct. This has caused some to assume any character with a fire based special was out of the running for the next Challenger's Pack and even the last one as well. This includes the likes of [[VideoGame/PokemonSwordAndShield Cinderace]], [[Franchise/MortalKombat Scorpion]], [[VideoGame/GuiltyGear Sol Badguy]], and [[VideoGame/DragaliaLost Euden]]. This got further evidence when the file number for the tournament was revealed to be 4013. The last tourney's file nomber was 4048 implying the tourney was delayed since around Byleth's release in January 2020. And it's assumed they delayed it to include Sephiroth and Pyra.

* On the week of June 7th to June 11th before E3 2021, the event for June 11th to 14th was revealed to be a fire themed tourney. As this is right before Nintendo's Direct. This has caused some to assume any character with a fire based move was out of the running for the next Challenger's Pack and even the last one as well as the tourney would have been saved a little later in a fire based character was one of the next two. This includes the likes [[VideoGame/PokemonSwordAndShield Cinderace]], [[Franchise/MortalKombat Scorpion]], and [[VideoGame/GuiltyGear Sol Badguy]].

* After Pyra & Mythra's reveal, it's been noticed by some fans that all of the DLC characters released so far have been in different months[[note]]Byleth in Jaunary, Piranha Plant in February(as a formal release for purchase), Pyra & Mythra in March, Joker in April, Min Min in June, Hero in July, Banjo in September, Steve in October, Terry in November, and Sephiroth in December.[[/note]] and the total number of DLC characters for Ultimate is the same number of months in a year leading some to theorize that the last two characters will be released in May and August.

* After Pyra and Mythra were revealed as playable, some fans have determined that the rest of the DLC fighters will all be either missing proper representation content in the base game (like Min Min, Sephiroth, and Pyra and Mythra) or finally coming after long-term planning (like Steve), due to how Fighter's Pass Volume 2 mainly featured characters whose series couldn't get their initial plans applied for the base game and followed this pattern up to that point. With such criteria in consideration, this has lead to discussions about possible newcomers like Rayman, Crash Bandicoot, Ryu Hayabusa and even [[VideoGame/FamicomDetectiveClub Ayumi Tachibana]].[[note]][[WhatCouldHaveBeen/SuperSmashBros Ayumi was a planned fighter for Melee,]] but passed due to her obscurity.[[/note]]

* With the recent ports of ''VideoGame/TheElderScrollsVSkyrim'', ''VideoGame/Doom2016'' and ''VideoGame/DoomEternal'' to the Switch, alongside the revelation in September that Bethesda were discussing future plans with Nintendo (with the former's vice president of PR and marketing, Pete Hines, confirming Smash Bros. to be one of the subjects discussed), fans have been speculating the inclusion of a Bethesda rep as DLC, with popular suggestions including; the Doom Slayer, the Dragonborn and Vault Boy.