TheSuper Smash Bros.series is one of the biggest franchises made by Nintendo, and the most recent entry of the series is no different. Many fans have always gone wild in anticipation for the newest fighter announcement for the series, and it seems thatSuper Smash Bros. Ultimateis overdue for a new one.
The game’s lastest fighter, Min-Min from 2017’sARMS, was released back on June 26th of this year. With three months of no announcement (and several rumors), it seems as though the next bigSmash Ultimateannouncement might be coming sooner rather than later. So, which fighter could fans expect to come to Nintendo’s flagship series next? Here are some characters that each have a pretty decent chance.
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Monster Hunter
TheMonster Hunterseries is arguably at the height of its popularity, with 2018’sMonster Hunter Worldbecoming a smash-hit and even aMonster Hunterfilm adaptation on the way. With its massive popularity and long history with Nintendo, the series seems more possible than ever to come toSmash. In fact, it already has appeared in the game – albeit, to a lesser extent:Monster Hunter’s Rathalos is already a bossinSmash Ultimate, and aMonster HunterMii fighter costume was introduced back on SuperSmash Bros. for Wii U. With that said, it doesn’t seem like much of a stretch for the series to receive a playable fighter next.
Crash Bandicoot
Two decades ago, it would have seemed insane to imagine Crash appearing in a first-party Nintendo title, not to mention the company’s flagship fighting game,Super Smash Bros. But a lot has changed since then:Crash Bandicootis now a third-party franchise owned by Activision and is arguably more popular than ever. The character has also appeared in countless Nintendo titles, several of which have been on the Switch. And with Crash’snewest platforming adventureIt’s About Timejust days away from release, it seems like the perfect time for the orange marsupial to spin his way onto the mascot fighting game.
Geno
Geno is a truly odd character. He’s only appeared in one video game,Super Mario RPG, which released almost twenty-five years ago on the Super Nintendo. Since then,Smash Bros.fans have been incredibly vocal with their desires to see Geno make his way onto the fighting game.
Nintendo hasn’t exactly been silent in their response to fan outcry either, asGeno was given a Mii Fighter costumeback onSuper Smash Bros. for Wii U. Additionally, there have been countless rumors of the character coming to the title, withGameStop even mistakenly stating that the character was announced as DLC. While Geno certainly isn’t the most obvious choice for a fighter, the enormous amount of fan outcry might be enough to earn him a spot in the Fighter’s Pass 2.
Gen 8 Pokemon
Smashhas never been short of playable Pokemon fighters, and almost every new mainline entry in thePokemonseries has coincided with a new playable pocket monster. Since the release ofSmash Ultimate, Pokemon Swordand PokemonShieldhave made their way onto Switch, and it seems likely that one of the new Pokemon will come to Fighter’s Pass 2. The question becomes: which one?
A safe bet would be one of the new starters, as that has seemingly become the tradition with more recentPokemonfighters. Gen 6 gave players the water-starter Greninja, and last generation gave Incineroar, the fire-starter. That would mean that Sword and Shield’s grass-starter, Rillaboom, would be next as a fighter. This seems possible, and the grass gorilla’s connection to playing drums would certainly make for an interesting and unique moveset. If players don’t end up seeing one of the new starters make their way toSmash, some other interesting picks would beToxtricity, the new electric-poison typed monster, or Sirfetch’d, the new fan-favorite evolution of Farfetch’d.
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Rayman
Over the years, Ubisoft and Nintendo have become more chummy with one another. In 2017, Switch owners got thebrand-new exclusive titleMario + Rabbids Kingdom Battle, a strategy game featuring Mario and the Rabbids characters, an unlikely mash-up that was surprisingly excellent. The Rabbids characters tend to be a bit hit-or-miss with many people (and mainly appealing to younger gamers), though the new title worked as its own thing.
This partnership, therefore, would make a ton of sense to continue on into theSuper Smash Bros.series. As many players know, the Rabbids have already become playable in the form of Mii Fighter costumes, but Nintendo’s partnership with Ubisoft doesn’t have to end there, necessarily. The Rabbids began as a spin-off title of Ubisoft’s platforming mascot, Rayman. Though he hasn’t been in the spotlight much in recent years, Rayman has a long history with the company and is one of the few notable platforming mascots that has yet to appear in theSmash Bros.series.
Raymanhas appeared on many Nintendo consoles, including the aforementionedRayman Raving Rabbids,as well asRayman Legendsfor both Wii U and Switch, as well as other handheld titles. His inclusion would feel fitting and help round out the list of third party characters already included inUltimate.
Waluigi
Waluigi has always been an extremely polarizing Nintendo character. Ever since the release ofSuper Smash Bros. Brawlon the Wii,fans have been very vocal in their wishesto see the purple plumber make the cut forSmash. After over a decade, however, the fourth brother has still remained unplayable. But in more recent years, more and more outlandish characters like Piranha Plant, and even odd third-party characters like joker have made their way to the series. With so many odd-ball characters showing up, there seemingly is no rule for “what should make the cut” forSmash.
Over time, Sakurai has broken the rules that he had created: Ridley was too big forSmash, but he made it happen. Sonic and Snake weren’t original Nintendo IPs, but he somehow made them happen, and now third-party characters are a dime a dozen. So why shouldn’tWaluigi be able to be promoted from an assist trophyto a full-on playable fighter?
Smashis one of Nintendo’s biggest and most successful franchises, and it’s incredibly exciting to speculate what might be next for the series. With still five more fighters yet to come, Nintendo seems to have a lot still left in store for fans and will be sure to excite everyone whenever the next fight is announced later this year.
