Super Smash Bros. Ultimate director Masahiro Sakurai has announced that the final character in the Fighters Pass Vol. 2 DLC would be the final fighter in the whole game. As such, excitement and tension is high, because the number of viable candidates who populate the entirety of the gaming world is dizzying. But, at least, there are characters who will almost assuredly not be the final fighter.

Super Smash Bros. Ultimate came out in December 2018, and the first DLC fighter, Piranha Plant, was announced before the game was even released. The 11 DLC fighters released so far have included Joker from Persona 5, Banjo and Kazooie, Hero from Dragon Quest, and Sephiroth from Final Fantasy 7. There have also been genuine surprises, like Smash. Bros. adding Terry Bogard from Fatal Fury and King of Fighters.

Related: Smash Ultimate: Why There Probably Won’t Be a Fighters Pass Vol. 3

In the summer of 2020, Source Gaming conducted an informal Smash fighters poll, where fans could vote for any character they wanted. A few from the top slots, like Steve from Minecraft and Pyra from Xenoblade, have come true, whereas fans were crushed by the recent announcement of Devil May Cry's Dante and Tales' Lloyd Irving as Mii Fighters. The most desired fighter according to that poll is Crash Bandicoot, who is a feasible addition. But there are a number of characters on this poll who can most likely be ruled out.

Characters Who Probably Won't Be the Final Ultimate DLC Fighter - Goku

Goku throws a punch in Dragon Ball

The desire for Dragon Ball's Goku to join Super Smash Bros. Ultimate is a meme-status in-joke in the Smash community. The character is iconic across the world, and the appeal of a Kamehameha Final Smash is easy to understand. However, in 2019, Sakurai crushed any hope Goku could join the battle, as reported in Dexerto“I get all these kinds of requests from abroad like, where is my beloved Iron Man? Where is my beloved Goku? However, Smash will only have content from video games in it.”

Characters Who Probably Won't Be the Final Ultimate DLC Fighter - Monkey D. Luffy

Luffy smiling and looking at the distance in One Piece

The ultimate troll for Goku fans would be if Ultimate added a fighter from a different shounen anime - in which case, One Piece's Monkey D. Luffy would be behind curtain number one. In Nintendo's native Japan, One Piece's popularity is unrecognizable for Americans: Until the pandemic struck, One Piece had its own amusement park. The manga's 1000th chapter released in January 2021, so choosing the future King of the Pirates would make some sense - except for the whole "only video game characters" stipulation, which likely disqualifies Luffy, even though he's shown up in some video games.

Characters Who Probably Won't Be the Final Ultimate DLC Fighter - Hatsune Miku

Hatsune Miku

Another victim of Sakurai's "only video game characters" rule is Hatsune Miku, a surprise contender who rounds out the top 100 in Source Gaming's poll. Hatsune Miku is the most popular Vocaloid pop star, which means she's synthesizer software paired with "moe anthropomorphism." According to her developer, Crypton, she's been used in 100,000 songs. Hatsune Miku's presence in Smash would be fascinating, because if there's a fighter who is a fitness instructor, there should be a fighter who can sing and dance.

Characters Who Probably Won't Be the Final Ultimate DLC Fighter - King Mickey Mouse

Mickey Mouse Smash Bros. Character Screen

Though the more obvious choice to represent Kingdom Hearts in Smash Bros. is Sora, King Mickey could be better. The most bizarre twist about adding Mickey Mouse to Super Smash Bros. Ultimate is that, because there's a distinct kingly iteration who is a primary character in Kingdom Hearts, there is a specific version of Mickey Mouse who is a video game character. Sadly, the rights holders of Mickey Mouse is not Square Enix, but Disney, so it's unlikely he'll appear unless a licensing agreement can happen.

Characters Who Probably Won't Be the Final Ultimate DLC Fighter - Magikarp

Pokemon Magikarp

There's good reason to suspect the final Smash Ultimate fighter may be a Gen 8 Pokémon like Rillaboom, Cinderace, or Toxricity - who, incidentally, are the top three Pokémon on Source Gaming's poll. But what of other Pokémon, like the humble Magikarp? Magikarp in Smash could continually hop out of the way of fighters, posing almost no threat until it receives a Final Smash and transforms into Gyrados, resulting in an automatic KO for every other fighter. It would be epic.

Whoever the final DLC fighter in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate is, parts of the community will be thrilled, and parts of the community will be inevitably disappointed. It may be 2B or Crash Bandicoot or Spyro - or it could be Inteleon. However, it's unlikely that it will any of the characters listed above.

Next: Smash Bros. DLC Fighter: Kazuya's Moves Explained

Sources: Dextero, CryptonSource Gaming