It doesn't count for anything, regardless. That's what it is.
Sakurai didn't really care when he linked it. That's why they're just shown as their latest appearance when linked.
I don't see why he should even care either. It's not his job to research the game for anything beyond "Oh, he appeared?" That's all the information he needs for listing a character's game appearances on a Trophy.
And no, it's pretty the entire point; The Hero of Time is from Ocarina of Time. It makes no sense to link Toon Link to that game to find out more about him because he doesn't appear in it. Marth at least appeared in Awakening, making perfect sense to link to it to find out more about Marth. Yes, he made an error here. But that's if his point was caring about story importance. Which really isn't shown to be the case, just their latest appearance. Since story importance is irrelevant, he made a choice that made absolute perfect sense, especially since it's exactly how he does Trophies.
It fits 100% with how he shows off what games a specific character appears in. So I wouldn't expect anything different from him here. I don't see why anybody else would either, since there's zero reason for him to link to another game, where his latest appearance is exactly how he does things anyway.
@Beorc: Also that. Another key point to think about. Can't link to what doesn't exist.
edited 7th Nov '13 5:42:48 AM by Irene
Shadow?Again, the opposite of what I said.
I said tha it was comparable to linking to Wind Waker to lean about the Hero of Time, not linking to Ocarina of Time to learn about Toon Link. The difference being that the Hero of Time shows up in Wind Waker, as a figure in the backstory of the world and as a legend.
I have a message from another time...Last I checked, Marth was playable via DLC right?
If so, your comparison falls flat since OOT Link is not playable in any fashion.
That's what I mean by latest appearance. In addition OOT Link isn't even in Smash 4(it's still TP Link with some various upgrades in design, but that's his base), meaning that the comparison isn't even remotely plausible in any way.
There's a point when your comparison just doesn't even make sense, and this is one of them.
Shadow?It's actually funny. I recall months ago when they said the next Smash Bros. would be developed by Namco Bandai, I randomly thought they might put in Digimon. Heh, weird. Also, I'm kinda surprised no one's talking about other Namdai choices like, say, Klonoa??? Or maybe Bravoman????
edited 7th Nov '13 5:58:21 AM by TargetmasterJoe
Marth is the main face of Fire Emblem. That would make him the overall main character of the entire series. Same for Mario among the entire Mario series, even the games he's a secondary character in. He's still the most recognizable among the entire series and most important, bar none. Marth is still that way for FE, especially for the purposes of SSB.
Shadow?Didn't Klonoa have a couple of Nintendo console only games? I think there was one for the Wii or Gamecube anyway...
And honestly, out of all the proposed Namdai characters, Klonoa feels like he'd be a better fit to Smash than Pac-Man, though Klonoa doesn't have much recognition at the moment.
EDIT: ![]()
Marth as the face of FE is similar to how Simon Belmont (ignoring Dracula for a moment) is the face of Castlevania, despite not always being the main character (all his main character appearances seems to be limited to various retellings of the first game). So yeah, Marth repping FE makes sense from that standpoint. I think the term for him is Legacy Character?
edited 7th Nov '13 6:08:29 AM by Customer
Inasmuch as Fire Emblem can have a main character, Marth is it. He's been the main character in four out of 13 games, and four more have connections to him. The most anyone else has is two.
Also, no, Marth is not playable in Awakening. The DLC characters are not the actual characters, they're card spirits based on the characters.
To be fair, I don't think any Mario games take place in any entirely different, Mario-free universes. The same can't be said for Fire Emblem.
Although really I'm just arguing the semantics of "main character" here. "Face of the series," definitely, so your argument still stands.
"We're home, Chewie."![]()
Thank you for explaining that.
Sakurai is definitely just going for Latest Game Appearance for what to link to. It's also probably "if they have a website" as well as Beorc noted.
And yeah, I barely know of Klonoa outside of random pictures and the Tales of Symphonia Easter Egg costume for Presea. I don't know if it's much of a niche series, really. When was the last game even?
edited 7th Nov '13 6:08:57 AM by Irene
Shadow?
Okay, Bravoman is actually this really, really obscure Namco game from the 80s or 90s. But it recently scored its own webcomic
on Shifty Look (They're a pretty good read IMO). And it also scored itself a web toon on You Tube (with Rob Paulsen in the lead role) as well as a game on iOS and Android.
Also, when you say Klonoa isn't beyond heavily known, does that mean he's known enough to qualify as a potential playable character? Because if I'm not mistaken, Pit was barely known before his appearance in Brawl.
Keep in mind that Pit isn't fighting with others among Nintendo to get in. He only got beaten out at any time due to the inability to animate the wings.
With Third Parties, the most known and most popular do matter for a Company. Obscure characters aren't very good choices overall. They barely get one per Company.
Choosing retro Nintendo characters is another kettle of fish.
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Best I could find is To Be Announced. So... none?
edited 7th Nov '13 6:11:08 AM by Irene
Shadow?![]()
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Ice Climbers would be a better example of "barely known" than Pit is; Pit has the distinction of being one of ridiculously Nintendo Hard games of old, so if anyone was expecting an old-school NES character, I'd imagine Pit would be it (him or Little Mac, to be fair).
Also, yes, Namco devised a webcomic site devoted to all its forgotten franchises. They're all fairly amusing to read.
edited 7th Nov '13 6:12:14 AM by Customer
Actually, now that Awakening is out, it can. FE1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 11, 12, and 13 were already confirmed to take place in the same universe before Awakening came out (Awakening itself is on the list because "Marth" was among the earliest details we saw). But Awakening also contains references to the worlds in Elibe (6 and 7) and Tellius (9 and 10). The only one that I don't think is ever directly referenced in the main story is Magvel (8).
Also, Awakening introduced the concept of alternate universes with the Otherworlds, and the appearance of the Einherjar means that they existed somewhere in this universe at some point.
Ice Climbers are a historical footnote at least, since the game was a launch title for the NES.
edited 7th Nov '13 6:13:24 AM by BadWolf21
There's that too.
Wasn't Punch Out American-only as well(at least till Wii)? I know that Startropics definitely was, but I can't remember if PO was too. That actually would matter.
He was already hesitant in adding Marth and Roy to the non-Japanese versions of Melee since they hadn't appeared outside of Japan in any fashion(same with the rest of the FE series, if I remember correctly, at that time, anyway). We haven't seen any American-only series appeared in Smash, especially as a playable character. I think American-based stuff have had minor appearances, like dub songs, possibly a trophy?
Shadow?FE 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 11, 12, and 13 were already confirmed to take place in the same universe before Awakening came out
Wait, Sigurd, Leif and Alm's games were confirmed to take place in the same universe as Chrom's? How?

Marth looks absolutely smashing...
...Pun aside, that's a damn fine overhaul. I haven't been in tune with this game's news, so are there any other redesigns at all/as good as Marth's?
edited 7th Nov '13 5:42:12 AM by eternalNoob
If you wanna PM me, send it to my mrsunshinesprinkles account; this one is blorked.