When Super Smash Bros. 4 was set to launch for the the next generation of platforms, we hoped for the possibility of new fighters arriving in the form of DLC. We’ve wanted something like this since Brawl, however such a thing would not happen or just not be feasible. But with Smash 4, we’ve now been graced with four DLC fighters: Mewtwo, Lucas, Roy, and Ryu. And for the first time ever, Nintendo has opened the floodgates and is letting the entire world vote for their favorite characters to be added as a fighter to SSB4’s roster. The Smash Fighter Ballot had already concluded on Saturday, October 3rd, 2015. But figured I might as well share who I feel would be a great addition the Smash roster. So hit the jump to see who my picks are.

Before we begin, let’s set some ground rules.
1: As Nintendo has stated in the past regarding third party characters, they have to game appear on a Nintendo console or handheld at least once in their history.
2: The character MUST be a videogame character first. So no Anime/Cartoon/etc. characters
3: They can’t be added if they are already in as an Assist Trophy or Pokeball
4: Even though I can add a character who’s game already has representation, this list will still have one character per game per franchise

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Let’s start things off with an observation of sorts, Particularly at Captain Falcon. There series he comes from, F-ZERO, is known for having a huge cast of racers to choose from. And yet the Captain is the only one that represents his series in any playable form. One would think “Well, let’s add his rival to accompany him!” Unfortunately his rival, Samurai Goroh, has once again been relegated to being an Assist Trophy in SSB4, and cannot be added as a playable in his current state. So who else from the 30+ catalog of F-ZERO racers could be added? We know Falcon has a rival. And he also has a couple of friends. But he also has… an arch nemesis.

Making his debut in F-ZERO X, Black Shadow has been causing hell for Captain Falcon. Many of his minions fall prey to the bounty on their heads that Falcon takes, making Black Shadow pull out all the stops to kill him. In F-ZERO GX’s Story mode, he even straps a speed bomb on the Blue Falcon, the Captain’s machine, in hopes of killing him before the F-ZERO Grand Prix. For Smash, Black Shadow not only bumps up the F-ZERO roster, he also adds on to the much need roster of villains. His moveset will probably have to be made up just like Falcon (maybe even… cloned). His Final Smash could be like Falcon’s except it takes longer for the Black Bull to come out, making it easier to avoid while on the receiving end. But when it lands, hit hits harder than the Blue Falcon.

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Throughout its history, Nintendo has built a stellar repertoire of characters and IP. But it wouldn’t be possible without a little help from its subsidiaries. They’ve got HAL Laboratories, Camelot Software, Retro Studios, Next Level Games, and Intelligent Systems. Focusing on that last one, Intelligent Systems got its big break in the west with Paper Mario on the N64. But they’ve been around since before that, making the critically acclaimed series of strategy games, Fire Emblem. That series finally got its start in the west when Marth and Roy appeared in Super Smash Bros. Melee. But sandwiched right in between Paper Mario and Fire Emblem’s first western release was another series that also hit its stride after being dormant in Japan for so long.

I’m talking of course about Advance Wars. And who better to represent the series than…

I’ll be honest, it was tough picking a CO to represent Advance Wars. You can see who got the cut in the honorable mentions. Andy was the first CO you played as in Advance Wars, and was the vessel  of which many of the basics of AW was taught through. Of course not many would be as dumb as Andy and wonder what an airport was, but the other COs instructions informed not only him, but you the player. His arsenal of moves could be centered around the military. Grenades, rocket launchers, bombs — almost like a mini Solid Snake, but with an Advance Wars twist. His Final Smash could be his Hyper Repair/Upgrade CO power, which would revert his damage percentage (and his partner’s in team battle) back to zero, and give himself a temporary buff in offense and defense.

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I’ll be frank here, this next character I never even thought about being a viable contender for Smash Bros. It didn’t even cross my mind when thinking about potential future characters. Sure he had a trophy in Smash 4 Wii U, but so did Commander Video. Then that fake leak video spread across the internet, and I just had to do it.

Before finding out that the leak video was fake, my mind started to wander around, thinking about how Rayman would fight. Then it hit me, almost his entire moveset is already there. If you’ve ever played Rayman Origins or Legends, all of Rayman’s moves are very Smash-like, with each attack being tied to button and a directional input. The ground pound, slide attack, running attack,  and his neutral 3-hit attack is a perfect fit. He’d fit into the Smash roster like a glove… minus a few limbs. His final Smash could be to summon the nymphs and… well, no idea. But they could do something crazy to Rayman’s opponents.

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“GENO! GENO! GENO!” the fans chant, hoping for Square Enix to finally buckle and let Nintendo add the Star Warrior of Super Mario RPG in. And while I really like Super Mario RPG and hold as my #1 personal favorite game of all time, I’m indifferent to Geno being added. However, there is one series that has a long, long  history with Square Enix that dates back to the NES. That series of course is Final Fantasy. I could go for some obvious choices, but some of those are limited by platform somewhat. I could really only choose anyone between  Final Fantasy I to VI, and it’d have to be a good rep too to represent the entire series. Locke’s good, and so is Terra and Cecil. But I wanna go way back, back to the game that started it all.

I’m kinda pulling it here seeing as the Warrior of Light as we know him only really appears in Final Fantasy I’s packaging. But in the game itself, your party is known as the Warriors of Light. On top of that, in Dissidia: Final Fantasy, his alternate outfit is the Fighter Outfit from the first game. So, to me at least, it’s safe to say that the Fighter of the game is the guy in the packaging. But that aside, he’s a good representative for the Final Fantasy series, as well as a nice retro throwback to the NES. His moves could be pulled from Dissidia, and magic could be mapper to B. His Final Smash could be either his EX Attack from Dissidia, or the magic spell Ultima.

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There’s been something of a tide recently with Nintendo and the indie game scene. Given indies’ propensity to make 2D platformers, it’s no secret that many indie game devs have been influenced by the NES. Some are good and stick close to the limitations at the time, some get pretentious with obnoxious modern day effects, and some just straight up choke on it. But one game has that spark, that charm, and that challenge that old 8-bit games had. He already has an amiibo. Might as well add…

Almost like Rayman, all of Shovel Knight’s moves could be re-purposed for the Smash control scheme. His digging attack could be his standard A, The shovel swing could be is Smash attack, The pogo-shovel could be his down-air with a bounce on the enemy similar to Toon Link, etc. Above all else, I’d like to see Shovel Knight in Smash just to see his world re-imagined with modern graphics in HD, much like many of the other characters already in Smash. Imagine Primedoor Keep, The Enchantress’ Castle, or even the Flying Machine in 3D graphics. Plus, how awesome would it be to hear this…, no, THIS (or both) as the stage music. Kind of a stretch, but Shovel Knight’s Final Smash could be the Dream Sequence (complete with song). Everything gets covered in this white haze, and Shovel Knight is in the middle trying to catch Shield Knight. While that happens, enemies are popping up from the sides, attacking opponents in their way (which, on the receiving end, you can fight back). The dream sequence won’t be nearly as long hear as in the original game, but the kinds of enemies that appear get stronger as the Dream Sequence lasts. Successfully catching Shield Knight ends the sequence with ring that blasts anyone that happened to be near them. Failure to catch her results in the sequence simply ending with no blast.

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As prolific as the Metroid series has been, the series only has two representatives. Samus and… Samus again. There’s not much in the way heroes per se in the Metroid series. Sure you got the Federation Troopers, more specifically Adam. But they just put out bounties when shit gets heavy and Samus shows up to clean their mess. You also got the hunters in Metroid Prime Hunters and Prime 3, but they’ve only been influential in those particular games. There’s Kraid, but he’s just too damn big. You also got Ridley, which is also infamously “too big”. And everything else in the Metroid series is either too insect-like or too goomba-like. All except one particular kind of enemy that’s been a thorn on Samus’ side. They call Ridley and Kraid their captain, and Mother Brain their boss. I’m of course talking about.

In Super Metroid and Metroid Fusion, the Space Pirates where enemies that put up a bit more of a fight than regular enemies. But in the Prime trilogy, they were much more fearsome, packing more firepower and coming at you in droves. They even have the jet variety, which could be the Space Pirate’s Up+B. The moveset could be a combination of made up and derived primarily from the Prime trilogy which saw them at their most mobile in terms of combat prowess. Their Final Smash could be to either become an Omega Pirate and clean house Giga Bowser-style, summon Kraid to one side (or in the back) and control it, or summon Ridley and directly control it as the Pirate rides his back.

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Alongside Final Fantasy is another RPG that’s well known in Japan and has also been around since the NES. While Final Fantasy enjoys having a huge fanbase in Japan and the west, this game has a somewhat smaller fanbase in the west, at least compared to Japan. Still, it has a healthy following here in the west that keeps the series alive here. What sets it apart from Final Fantasy is the emphasis on choice, darker subject matter, an ever-changing roster of party members, and its brutal difficulty. There’s quite a lot to choose from for Smash, but only one that represents not just the series he’s from, but the company that makes them as well. So who in hee-ho am I talking about?

Rather than its stable of demon summoners from across the Shin Megami Tensei franchise, it’s better to simply add a demon. And what better demon to add than Jack Frost. He’s been a part of the Shin Megami Tensei roster of demons since the beginning, freezing his opponents with his mighty Bufu spells. He’s also sported different looks across the series, like Frost Ace, Demonee-ho, and Black Frost. His physical moveset could be based on the different moves that we’ve seen in the MegaTen series, like Dream Fist, Bouncing Claw, and Critical Wave. Sure he probably never learns these in the actual games, but he gotta get moves from somewhere. His Final Smash could be either him using Mabufudyne, or him fusing with another demon to become the gigantic King Frost, freezing enemies on contact, attacking with his staff, and also casting Mabufudyne. Also, if he’s added, we might also get a MegaTen stage. So imagine hearing this during a match. Or even this.

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The company this next character comes from, Konami has sure fallen on hard times. But back then, they were a force to be reckoned with, pumping out hits like Contra, the TMNT games, Gradius, Mystical Ninja, and Metal Gear. But one series that people always go back to regardless of difficulty is Castlevania. Just as popular as Dracula is the Belmont that slays him and seals him away every 100 years. The question is, which Belmont to add in Smash Bros. Could it be Leon, the first born of the Belmont clan? Or could it be Richter, one of the most well known Belmonts in gaming history and starring in Rondo of Blood. Or maybe Julius, the most recent Belmont in the Castlevania timeline? Nah, let’s go classic, with the Belmont that didn’t begin the lineage like Leon, but kicked off the series as a whole.

Simon has starred in three regular Castlevania games, the first, Super Castlevania IV, and Chronicles. It was him that gave us our craving to hunt down vampires in videogames. And it was him that showed us just how difficult videogames can be. Representing the Castlevania series as well as his Belmont lineage, his moveset could be derived many other Belmonts in the timeline. His classic combo could be Leon Belmont’s standard combo. His Smash attack could be his classic whip animation. His dash attack could be Richter’s, and more. His Up+B can be the Belmont Uppercut, while the rest of his B specials could be a different sub-item. As for a Final Smash, the Grand Cross Item Crash from Rondo of Blood could be it, hitting opponents hard, but giving them a fair chance to evade each cross.

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There’s no easy way to build up this next character without spoiling the surprise somehow or making it too obvious. So I’ll just go ahead and say it.

The company that made her, Wayforward, has been around for over 20 years. And her first game, Shantae, pushed the technical limits of the Game Boy Color with great animation, exploration, and overall charm. It’s also considered the swan song of the GBC, releasing in 2002, already years into the GBA and just two years away from the DS launch. We wouldn’t see a new Shantae until many years later with Shantae: Risky’s Revenge on DSiWare, and the third game, Pirate’s Curse on eShop. She also has another game coming out, 1/2 Genie Hero. It’s safe to say that Shantae has gained one hell of a following.

Her moveset could be a mix of stuff from her games as well as made up. She’ll have her usual hair whip attack, as well as a  small combo with her hair. Her transformations could be handled in one of two ways. She could either dance and temporarily transform into an animal like the monkey, elephant, and Harpy. Or she could quickly and instantly transform into a form for a move, like the Elephant Stomp, and instantly revert back when the attack is over. Her final Smash could be her Dance Parlor mini-game from the first game. Like DK’s Bongos, a meter will appear next to her, having the player press buttons to the beat of the music. As she dances, coins are thrown onstage, hitting anybody that comes into contact. The better the player does with their button presses, the more coins that are thrown onto the stage.

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To round out the list,  let’s look at a series we just mentioned. Donkey Kong has almost the same problem that Captain Falcon has, lots of characters in the original games, but very little representation with the roster. It took until Brawl for Diddy to be added. Like Shantae and the GBC, the Donkey Kong Country series pushed the limits of what could be possible on the Super Nintendo. The commercial for the first game even took a jab at SEGA for not needing all those add-ons to be playable. It was pretty revolutionary. There’s a huge roster of Kongs to choose from, like Dixie Kong, Tiny Kong, and Lanky Kong. But let’s add a Kremling to the mix. Let’s add…

This big bad was the final boss of every Donkey Kong game from DKC1 to DK64. In DKC1, he took DK’s banana hoard. But then in DKC2, he managed to kidnap DK and take him to Crocodile Isle. Then in DKC3, he went ahead and kidnapped both DK and Diddy and take them to the Northern Kremisphere. It’s safe to say that K. Rool, no matter if he’s a king, a pirate, or a mad scientist, is a a pain in the ass for the Kongs. His moveset could be derived from his three incarnations plus his appearance in DK64. His neutral B could be his Crown Throw. His Side B could be the Blunderbuss Jet from DKC2. His Up B could be the little propeller from  DKC3.  As for his Final Smash… I’m actually stumped here. He could probably rain cannonballs from the sky like DKC1, fire a bunch of iron balls like in DKC2, or make electricity appear on the floor like DKC3.

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Honorable Mentions: Sami, Erdrick, Ryu Hayabusa, Hades, Karate Joe, Moogle, Daisy

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And so, the Smash Ballot has come to an end. Who did you vote for? Who do you hope to see added to Smash in the future? Who did you forget to vote for? Sound off in the comments below.