Assuming Sakurai won't double dip gens other than 1, that means 2,3, and 5 are the only possible ones. A grass/fire/water trio certainly isn't guaranteed, but it'd look nice. Since we've got Charizard and Greninja, it would almost certainly be a final evolution. This leaves Meganium, Sceptile, and Serperior. Snivy seems to be a Pokeball Pokemon, so Serperior seems very unlikely based on that. This leaves Meganium and Sceptile, and between the two Sceptile is more likely between being bipedal and possible Hoenn remakes. Pokemon will likely get 6 slots, so there's plenty of options after Jigglypuff of course, but Sceptile is one of the more obvious choices after Mewtwo. Of course, Sakurai hasn't been too big on obvious choices other than Little Mac, so who knows.
Also, keep in mind Brawl was going to have at least 7 Pokemon. Sonic coming in is the only known reason we didn't get that. So him going for 7 is not impossible either. Because the Pra_Mai might be Plusle & Minun, 8 is theoretically possible, but that's hard to say. so 7 is a better number to go for.
But yeah, Sceptile does seem the most likely Grass Starter if anyone. It's not just the fact he's bipedal, but he has more options for an overall moveset than Meganium nor Serperior does. They both highly depend on vines. And it seems like Tether Recoveries might no longer exist.(not counting the Throw Tethers, but actual Up B Tethers, to be clear) If that's the case, only Sceptile really works. He also has various blades, can use general physical moves like Pound, has Bullet Seed easily at its command, and its Leaf Blade leads to many possibilities. Even ignoring bipedal alone, his options for moves are far higher than the other two in the end. He has every limb possible, giving everything needed.
That said, I expect Jigglypuff easily. The 6th(and maybe 7th) are far harder to say. Mewtwo seems like a pretty easy choice as is, assuming we could get 7.
edited 22nd Apr '14 2:31:49 PM by Irene
Shadow?On a separate track, I was wondering how many newcomers would be hidden before release, so I looked to Brawl for reference. 6 Brawl newcomers were unlockable. Snake and Sonic of course were revealed beforehand, and if we get Pac-Man I expect that trend to continue. The other unlockable newcomers were Lucario, Wolf, Toon Link, and R.O.B. Toon Link replaced Young Link, so that's fine. Wolf isn't a huge hype character, and neither is R.O.B., so not revealing hem early is okay. Lucario was the only hidden newcomer that would likely generate a lot of hype, but even he was probably eclipsed by Charizard.
Of the current newcomers, Mega Man and Rosalina probably have to be unlocked, while Greninja could go either way. So if there are any hidden newcomers, they probably won't be big and instead be someone like Takamaru. This is assuming there are unlockable characters of course, which I assume there will be.
If my dark horse Muddy somehow makes it in (I'm only clinging to this because I read somewhere he was considered for Brawl), I suppose he might be an unlockable too, and we wouldn't hear of him before the game was released.
Sonic and Mega Man are probably both locked, going by Brawl's precedent. Greninja too, probably - he doesn't strike me as a starting roster kind of character. Otherwise, I think most of the new guys will be there from the beginning.
Beh, I don't like bringing up old discussions, but it kind of annoyed me, so.
I think Snake should be cut, because he uses tools to improve his abilities. I mean, almost all of his moves, save for the regular attacks, use weaponry. His recovery is a drone, his smash attacks are explosives, actually, almost all his specials save for his recovery are explosives. He's a pure tools user. Heck, even his taunt is a tool.
See what I did there?
Really, we're working with double standards here. Samus' rocket boot heel thingies are basically for two reasons:
1) They look cool;
2) They justify heels;
3) Her original recovery sucked ass.
Really, the only recovery I used was the somersault, and that wasn't even an up-B. That tether move was just blergh. Plus, wearing heels is, like, a secondary special ability. Shit's hard to walk in, and given, I'm a dude who never wore any heels, but based on the various opinions of women, they're dangerous as shit, and not to the ones facing them. You thought tripping in Brawl was bad, wait until you wear heels.
I actually forgot what I was supposed to talk about. Peach? Wait, does Peach even wear heels? Rosalina maybe? I'm pretty sure it wasn't Wii Fit Trainer, she doesn't wear shoes. Or he. Might be funny to see male Wii Fit Trainer in heels though. See him wobble around, flailing his arms, then fall down on the ground, breaking his neck. Hehe, funny.
I seriously need to get some sleep...
Signatures are for lamers.I liked Zero Suit Samus' Up B. I just love her whip overall, whether it was for that, her Side Smash A or her Side B.
Her Side B especially when you hit right with the tip.
edited 22nd Apr '14 2:52:29 PM by Keybreak
You gotta believe me when I scare you away, all that I wish for is that you would stayAnd we were this close to being done with this.
While it's happening, I guess I'll go ahead and say what I almost did.
Yes, realistically, Samus should be able to OHKO just about everyone with a powered-up kick. Realistically, Samus's charge shot should also be a one-hit kill, in addition to her missiles, Screw Attack, and bombs, as she uses her weapons to kill enemies strong enough that attempting hand-to-hand would be pointless. Both versions of Samus are toned down in Smash because, honestly, she's so much more powerful than the rest of the cast that it would otherwise be impossible to balance. So, she must really be compared to herself. The physical attacks she had as ZSS in Brawl were decently strong on their own. Making them stronger than they were, by adding a weapon, says nothing except that adding a weapon makes an attack stronger.
I have a message from another time...No way Luigi will be a starter, and Toon Link will probably also be hidden. Marth could go either way, while Mega Man and Sonic are almost certainly hidden. Pokemon is weird because I doubt all 3 of Lucario, Charizard, and Greninja will be starters, but it's not quite obvious who will be. I'm guessing Charizard at least will be a starter.
I kinda hope Marth gets promoted to default. He deserves it, certainly.
Correct me if I'm wrong (I'm one of the majority here who doesn't know squat about Fire Emblem), but I feel like having Ike default and Marth unlockable is like having, say, Lucario default but Pikachu unlockable.
Exaggerated example, I know.
That'd be kinda funny. Yay, metahumor!
edited 22nd Apr '14 3:17:18 PM by NesClassic
🏳️⚧️she/her | Vio Rhyse AlberiaNah, that is pretty much right. Like Pikachu, Marth is pretty much one of the most iconic characters, despite his main prominence being the early generations of games (and their remakes).
Don't PM me. We don't like being PMed.Ness and Lucas can be hidden to make room for the greatest addition from the Mother series on the starting roster, who's Final Smash is depicted below.
Unlocking things adds longevity to a game, or so the common belief says. I read somewhere that Japanese fans still love unlocks, while Americans don't care for them, typically, and this is still a game largely dictated by what Japanese fans want.
edited 22nd Apr '14 3:20:24 PM by Hashil
I dunno. Secret characters were always fine with me, as it encouraged players to play through the game on different settings and do events and such.
And the alternative is DLC. Ew.
Don't PM me. We don't like being PMed.@NES Classic: Same thing happened with Ness and Lucas. My guess is that Sakurai wanted to show off some of the newer characters more than the old ones in Brawl. A good chunk of newcomers were starters. Only Wolf, R.O.B. Lucario, Toon Link, Sonic, and Snake were actually hidden of them. Snake and Sonic were shown off early due to being third party. Sonic a bit later than normal due to being added late in development.
I hope we get a better array. I agree Marth should be a default now. He's already the face of FE anyway. Ness I'm neutral on for being a starter. Than again, I would not mind if the Original 12 were always starters too.
edited 22nd Apr '14 3:21:47 PM by Irene
Shadow?I just hope we don't have repeats of the weirdness that is Port Town Aero Dive and Shadow Moses being available before Captain Falcon and Snake.
... But honestly, if a character is both relatively recent, not a third-party and the sole rep of their series, I don't think they should be hidden.
I sure said that!

Edit: screw it. That did not deserve a page topper.
edited 22nd Apr '14 2:22:23 PM by Enlong
I have a message from another time...