The world of video games was brought to its knees in total shock when it was announced that Persona 5’s Joker would be a DLC character in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate. With that moment, the last, torn sliver of uncertainty regarding third-party characters in the Smash Bros. franchise was ripped away and thrown into oblivion. Suddenly, anything was possible.
First it was Snake and Sonic in Brawl, then the incredible additions of Pac-Man, Ryu, and Cloud in Smash 4, and now that list grows ever larger with Ultimate. We know that there is going to be a total of five DLC characters for the game, and with Joker as one, that leaves four slots to be filled. So, with our list, we’re counting down the DLC characters that we’d absolutely go berserk for to see in the game.
Some of our picks are out of left-field and no better than wishful thinking, but others have some more weight behind them. On the flipside, we’ve listed characters that we hope don’t get anywhere near the possibility of being included in the roster. For our list, we’ve included entrants from multiple franchises, including those that aren’t even video game characters. We’ve also included some characters that are currently Assist Trophies. We know the possibly of them becoming anything more is slim, but after Joker’s announcement, we’re not sure so sure what to believe anymore.
Here are the 15 DLC Characters Who Need To Join Super Smash Bros. Ultimate (And Y Who Should Be Avoided)
Needs to join: Midna
Midna has captured the hearts of fans ever since her debut in The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess, and would be a great addition to not just the Zelda franchise’s representation in Smash Bros., but also the roster as a whole.
Though she does fall into the “princess trope” like much of the female cast, she’s a far different kind of princess. Leaving her impish form behind, her moveset could borrow heavily from the brutal mix of physicality and magic that she possessed in Hyrule Warriors, with her Final Smash causing her to revert back into an imp so she could don the Fused Shadows and lay waste to the field.
Needs to join: Scorpion
While the ultra-violent Mortal Kombat franchise seems like it would have no place in the generally family friendly world of Super Smash Bros., the legitimately jaw-dropping inclusions of Cloud Strife and Persona 5’s Joker show that seemingly everything is on the table for DLC characters.
Out the entirety of MK’s cast, Scorpion is the best mascot and has enough flair in his moves to fit in with his more cartoonish opponents. Classic moves like his grappling spear and teleport would make a return, and it’d be awesome for his Final Smash to be a screen-engulfing breath of fire from his bony face.
should be Avoided: Shadow, Silver, Or Any Other "Edgy" Sonic Character
The Sonic series is incredibly weird. While the earlier games had vague but interesting stories that left a lot to the imagination, the later ones had overly-serious and pretentiously heavy plots that are impossible to take seriously. Borne from those games came the “dark” and “hardcore” characters like Shadow, Silver, Infinite, and so on.
Despite the absolute ridiculousness involved with each of these characters, there’s a disturbingly loud portion of the fanbase that demands them to be included. Let’s hope they can just be satisfied by Shadow being an Assist Trophy and Silver’s cameo in Green Hill.
Needs to join: Sigma
If there’s one thing that every installment in the Super Smash Bros. series fails at, it’s the inclusion (or lack thereof) of villains. Sure, we’ve got Bowser and Ganondorf, among others, but they’re mostly outweighed by the amount of protagonists in the stables. Things could easily change, though, and the inclusion of Mega Man X’s Sigma would be a great step in that direction.
Sigma would have a wide variety of powers and techniques based on his many appearances at his disposal, and his Final Smash could include him turning into his Apocalypse-styled giant form from the end of Mega Man X5, and slamming his rocket powered fist into the stage.
Needs to join: The Maskers
One of the more unknown groups of characters that we’d love to see is the Maskers, who were the iconic villains of Bomberman 64. Even though Bomberman is an Assist Trophy, we want to see greater representation for him, and the Maskers would be a perfect fit.
Acting somewhat like the Koopa Kids or Pokémon Trainer, there are four interchangeable characters: Orion, Altair, Artemis, and Regulas, and each would have access to a unique set of moves based on their in-game powers. Their Final Smash could be an Omni-Cube powered air strike, or even Altair fusing with his attack drone, Vega, and unleashing a dangerous beam barrage.
Should be Avoided: More Fire Emblem Characters
It’s not that we have a problem with Fire Emblem characters, we just have a problem with how many of them are essentially the same character or of a similar style. Fire Emblem is a great franchise, and we’re happy it was finally able to catch on in the west but, compared to other long time series, it just seems like they’ve received so much more representation.
It’d be nice for their stable to get a rest and let some unique choices take the spotlight from them, even if only momentarily.
Needs to join: Cornell
With Simon and Richter, Castlevania has finally made its long-awaited debut in the Smash series, and we couldn’t be happier. That said, there’s still room for improvement, and Nintendo should consider one of their exclusive Castlevania characters, specifically one from an unusual source.
Cornell the werewolf from the under-appreciated Legacy of Darkness would make an awesome character, especially due to his unique properties. His human form would have access to his martial arts techniques (and long-range energy attacks), but at the touch of a button, he could transform into his werewolf state (at the cost of taking some damage) and savagely lay waste to his enemies.
Needs to join: Alice
Originally we were going to put the Balloon Fighter himself on this list, but the protagonist from Balloon Kid, Alice, would make a far more interesting character. Aside from her unique look, Alice would be a light and floaty character, but what would define her would be her ability to pump up new balloons should they be popped.
She’d also have access to a large arsenal of incredibly weird moves, since Balloon Kid itself is such a surreal experience. She may seem like an unconventional choice, but if they can make Duck Hunt work as a character, there’s no reason why Alice and her balloon-fighting legacy can’t.
Should be Avoided: Baby Characters
One of the weirdest and, honestly, worst character design decisions that Nintendo has had in recent years have been the mantra of turning beloved characters into babies.
It was fine in Yoshi’s Island, but went a little close to the edge in Mario Tennis. Now,it’s gone way too far to the point that arbitrarily de-aging characters just ends up as a frustrating and pointless alteration that makes little-to-no sense and offers very little in terms of pay-off. Nintendo, please don’t do this and, also, please stop doing it in general.
Needs to join: Big Boss / Venom Snake
We wanted to see another Metal Gear character in the roster, especially since the series is rich with over-the-top and genuinely weird characters, so choosing one was tough. That said, we think that Big Boss (specifically Venom Snake) along with his trusty pup, D-Dog, would work best.
The two would work as a team, and Big Boss’ unique moveset would vastly separate him from Snake, specifically the rocket punch. Perhaps for his Final Smash, he could call in help from Pequod, his attack chopper, who’d shower the stage with some covering fire.
Needs to join: Mecha Sonic
We were tempted to try and incorporate Tails into this list, but in the end, Sonic’s metallic rival seemed like a much more versatile and rich addition to Ultimate’s roster. Based on the Metal Sonic from Sonic 3 & Knuckles, otherwise known as “Mecha Sonic,” he would play much differently than his organic counterpart.
Electric shocks, weaponry, jet-boosted dashing, and a generally mean looking appearance would go a long way to separate himself from his opponents, but so would his ability to charge himself up with the Master Emerald to change his moveset.
Should be Avoided: The Rabbids
Let’s be perfectly clear about something here: Rabbids + Mario Kingdom Battle is an awesome game. It’s a fantastic blend of humor, great music, and hefty XCOM-styled tactical gameplay, and it’s a great addition to any Switch library.
That being said, we want the Rabbids to stay as far away from Smash as possible. They’re annoying, and their screeching would be borderline intolerable. While it’s true that they’d probably have a great moveset to work with, we just don’t think that they’d tonally fit in, and we’d much rather that they stay in the distinct world of spin-offs.
Needs to join: Geno
Making his debut in Square’s Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars on the Super Nintendo, Geno has been something of an obsession with the Super Smash Bros. fan base, which has continually demanded his presence in the crossover series.
Taking the form of a doll possessed by a spirit, he already fits in with Ultimate’s main story mode, and his firepower-focused moveset in Super Mario RPG would make an excellent transition into the Smash Bros. universe. Perhaps most importantly, though, is that Geno is just pretty darn cool, and it would be nice to see a “forgotten” character make a new appearance.
Should be Avoided: Zero
We already mentioned that Sigma from the Mega Man X series would be a great villain to the add to the roster, with the added bonus of including more representation for his lauded franchise. Zero, also from Mega Man X, would be another fantastic addition with a huge moveset that would cause this sword-wielder to play absolutely nothing like the rest of the swordfighters in the cast.
So, why is Zero a no from us? It’s simple: the more villains, the better, which means that if both are on the table, we'd want Sigma to get the nod.
Needs to join: Firebrand
This would be a deep cut from Capcom, but one that we’d nearly sell our souls to see. Demon’s Crest on the Super Nintendo is an epic, dark Metroidvania-styled game that stars the demonic Firebrand in his quest for dominance in the underworld. The music is incredible, the gameplay is tough but engaging, and Firebrand's unique set of moves would make him fit right in with the Ultimate roster.
His fireballs, limited flight, and various elemenatal transformations would make him a force to be reckoned with. Best of all, though, his inclusion would allow Nintendo to pay homage to this legendary and under-appreciated classic.
Should be Avoided: Krystal
When Krystal was introduced into the world of Star Fox in Star Fox Adventures, she was a one-dimensional character who barely participated in any element of the plot. When she inexplicably became part of the Star Fox team in Assault she… was pretty much the same thing except she used her psychic powers more often.
The fact that a significant portion of the Star Fox fanbase is obsessed with this terrible character and begging to have her as part of the Smash Bros. series is mind-boggling to us. We think her limited moveset (and dull personality) is better suited to the Assist Trophy form she has now.
Needs to join: Soma Cruz
While Simon and Richter Belmont are awesome additions from the Castlevania franchise, Soma Cruz would be another fantastic pick from the series. Using the captured souls of defeated enemies along with an entire arsenal of varied weapons, Soma’s moveset has unlimited possibilities and potential.
Swords, axes, hammers, and even guns are all on the table, as are lightning-fast dashes, transformations, fireballs, and so much more. As for his Final Smash, we can easily envision him embracing the spirit of Dracula that dwells within him and unleashing a massive, fiery burst of destruction.
Should be Avoided: Anything From Fortnite
With the lid blown off of a third party character inclusions, we can’t help but wonder if some of the DLC characters will be funded by the highest bidders looking for some advertising within the smashing of brothers.
With Fortnite jumping to the Switch, and the massive popularity that follows it everywhere, we have a sinking feeling that some character from the game will make an appearance. We strongly hope this isn’t the case, though, as they’ll likely end up as an oddity once the Fortnite fad comes to an end.
Needs to join: Tatanga
Nintendo is starting to give some love to characters who haven’t been in the spotlight for ages, like Pauline being in Super Mario Odyssey or the Duck Hunt duo in Smash. If they were looking for another classic-but-weird character to pick for Smash Bros., we hope they’d choose the mysterious space invader Tatanga, who took over Sarasaland in the surreal Super Mario Land.
This alien villain pilots a compact warship that, while limited in attacks, could easily be expanded, not unlike how R.O.B. was weaponized. Plus we’d really like some more sweet Super Mario Land remixes.
Should be Avoided: Sephiroth
Cloud Strife was a great addition to the Smash roster, with many still being incapable of believing it was real, even as they played the broken character for eternity. However, what’s Cloud without his even more famous nemesis, Sephiroth?
While Sephiroth might be an interesting addition to the cast, he’d be yet another swordfighter in a sea full of them, which would be more yawn-inducing than groundbreaking. Plus, not unlike Cloud, Sephiroth is something far more associated with the PlayStation brand, and despite the fact that the Switch is getting a port of FFVII, we’d much rather see other classic RPG characters.