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[Ahnez]

Yeah, I figured I should have put in a thing saying "there's so many i might've missed some" but after the post I did a THIRD scan and noticed a few that hadn't popped out on the first two looks XD
It's kind of like Magic eye in that if you keep looking at it you sometimes see stuff you didn't the last few times

edit: just realised Midna is riding Wolf from starfox. What they did there? I SEE IT

Yes, and Celebi is riding wolf link lol

Those images are fun

Spoiler

and probably are hard as hell to draw

 

[MrSaturn99]

Mushroom Kingdom I from Melee would be a decent DLC stage to celebrate.

I have a hunch Mushroom Kingdom I's music was cut from Peach's Castle's anyway, this would line up with it.

Give me Ancient Kingdom from Smash 64 anyday. Felt way more inspired and it didn't have all those annoying blocks in the middle.

 

[BGBW]

I would prefer to have Mushroom Kingdom II back instead. Or both.

A nice kick in the teeth. Here, have the level based on the game not represented in Mario Maker!

 

[Frofro]

edit: just realised Midna is riding Wolf from starfox. What they did there? I SEE IT

Too good! Also this image is dated from 2011, so thats why theres no Inklings, Shulk, Lucina, etc. Magnus is there, but I think its because he was revealed well before KIUs release


Also what does everyone make of this post?

https://twitter.com/Doctor_Cupcakes/status/636263633610231811

Appearently this guy "knows" something.

Hes from Unseen 64, and did leak the fact that ZombiU was getting a port.

 

[balladofwindfishes]

Well, PAX seems more and more likely for a character reveal at this point.

Guess we'll see in a few days.

Haha, what if they count Wolf as a Ballot character.

 

[Kouichi]

A character at PAX? I almost want to believe Shovel Knight will revealed at the Nindie event.

 

[IntelliHeath]

Too good! Also this image is dated from 2011, so thats why theres no Inklings, Shulk, Lucina, etc. Magnus is there, but I think its because he was revealed well before KIUs release


Also what does everyone make of this post?

https://twitter.com/Doctor_Cupcakes/status/636263633610231811

Appearently this guy "knows" something.

Hes from Unseen 64, and did leak the fact that ZombiU was getting a port.

I'm not sure about it.

Haha, what if they count Wolf as a Ballot character.

I wouldn't be surprised!

 

[Frofro]

I think hes trolling, as he apparently trolls his fans from time to time due to depression.


Edit: KT leaked it by failing to make it private. He was one of the first to find it, so nvm that statement about him and Hyrule Warriors 3DS

I wouldnt pay too much into this.

 

[powerdrain]

I think hes trolling, as he apparently trolls his fans from time to time due to depression.

Sounds like a riot~~ By the looks of it he's doing just that, in an attempt to get promo. Smash Ballot isn't even over, something tells me we won't see anything come from it for months after the end date, if at all since they could just be using it as research for the future games or market research into what's popular. I also think it's funny when I see posts mentioning who will "win" the ballot. Even if a specific character gets the most votes Sakurai and co. will still pick whoever they feel is popular, but also realistic enough to make happen or will be more unique.

And also yes, I agree with MrSaturn99, the Mushroom Kingdom stage from Smash 64 was the best. So much better than the Melee one which I hated. The blocks were annoying and the stage was just ugly and un-fun. I loved the gimmicky teleporter pipes on the 64 version,and the scales in the centre, which was particularly fun for 1v1's.

 

[Frofro]

Any theories as to this?

If you search Nintendo Twitter on google right now you get this:

Yet if you click on their twitter, theres nothing.

 

[Slime Scholar]

Any theories as to this?

If you search Nintendo Twitter on google right now you get this:



Yet if you click on their twitter, theres nothing.

As of right now, clicking on them takes me to the page for the tweet.

No idea what it's doing there, but yeah, they made two reposts.

 

[balladofwindfishes]

How weird to randomly advertise old DLC months after it released. It's not even the most current DLC and the Tweets are worded in a way that makes it sounds like this is a recent release.

 

[Neoxon]

How weird to randomly advertise old DLC months after it released. It's not even the most current DLC and the Tweets are worded in a way that makes it sounds like this is a recent release.

Seems like we aren't getting more characters anytime soon, so they're doubling-down on Ryu.

 

[balladofwindfishes]

It doesn't appear on their actual feed, so it's probably a glitch.

Especially since it's basically the same announcement they used when he was first announced.

I wouldn't take it to mean DLC isn't coming for a long time, that's a crazy conclusion to come from a weird Tweet.

 

[colorlust]

We are all so starved for any fleck of information that we will latch on to any possible, potential news (me included). All of these info dump press releases form Nintendo make me more anxious that news is far off in the future.

 

[Boss Doggie]

Yeah I wouldn't expect Wolf

 

[Frofro]

As of right now, clicking on them takes me to the page for the tweet.

No idea what it's doing there, but yeah, they made two reposts.

Notice the date though. And on google it said it was posted two hours ago.

Perhaps Nintendo is testing?

Or its simply a glitch. Who knows.

 

[Neoxon]

Yeah I wouldn't expect Wolf

I'm pretty sure that Wolf will come in due time, it's just that I doubt we'll get any characters anytime soon.

 

[Boss Doggie]

No I mean any recent activity.

With that said I find it weird they're talking about Ryu.

 

[Neoxon]

No I mean any recent activity.

With that said I find it weird they're talking about Ryu.

Either it's a glitch or Nintendo knows that we aren't due for more characters for a relatively long time so they're just advertising Ryu to make up for it.

 

[balladofwindfishes]

Either it's a glitch or Nintendo knows that we aren't due for more characters for a relatively long time so they're just advertising Ryu to make up for it.

Considering the tweets are worded implying that the DLC was just released, and the posts don't even show up on their feed, it's most likely just a weird Twitter glitch or an accidental post.

 

[Frofro]

Considering the tweets are worded implying that the DLC was just released, and the posts don't even show up on their feed, it's most likely just a weird Twitter glitch or an accidental post.

These details make it weird. Nintendo is probably just testing with unlisted tweets.

Its possible we can see a new character this weekend at PAX, who knows.

 

[Regulus Tera]

Too good! Also this image is dated from 2011, so thats why theres no Inklings, Shulk, Lucina, etc. Magnus is there, but I think its because he was revealed well before KIUs release


Also what does everyone make of this post?

https://twitter.com/Doctor_Cupcakes/status/636263633610231811

Appearently this guy "knows" something.

Hes from Unseen 64, and did leak the fact that ZombiU was getting a port.

I just want to believe because this place is super boring without any rumours.

 

[UglyRareCharacter]

There's a lot of similarities between him and Geno rising in popularity out of seemingly no where. His popularity soared all of a sudden, and likely has a lot of bandwagon fans making that happen. Bandwagon fans move on to another character eventually.

You have to have been living under a boulder to not see his support from before the release. Even if the extent of this board's awareness was just yelling at Gonzo everytime he praised K.Rool lol

 

[Frofro]

You have to have been living under a boulder to not see his support from before the release. Even if the extent of this board's awareness was just yelling at Gonzo everytime he praised K.Rool lol

Yeah comparing K Rool to geno is a bad example, K Rool has only increased in popularity since the melee days, and will only continue to gain support. Unlike Ridley, where sakurai doesnt want to make him, theres really no development flaws with K Rools body. When Smash 5 comes around, K Rool will be another front runner. If we see a third Retro DKC, theres a good chance K Rool can return (since fans stress how much they want kremlings back).

So regardless, K Rool fans aren't going anywhere.

 

[PK Gaming]

A reminder

Though truth be told, I really want K Rool to be in smash now. I didn't really kare about him before, but my brother straight up konverted me.

EDIT: It's been over a year since I hung with you smash cats. Ni Hao!

 

[Geminosity]

Yeah comparing K Rool to geno is a bad example, K Rool has only increased in popularity since the melee days, and will only continue to gain support. Unlike Ridley, where sakurai doesnt want to make him, theres really no development flaws with K Rools body. When Smash 5 comes around, K Rool will be another front runner. If we see a third Retro DKC, theres a good chance K Rool can return (since fans stress how much they want kremlings back).

So regardless, K Rool fans aren't going anywhere.

I think the only difference between Rool fans and Geno fans is that the Geno lot have either given up or realised that sites with a broader reach than just their fandom might not be similar to the echo-chambers they're used to

It's incredibly bizarre to me to see people convinced that there's a lot of people interested in a character I know I could go to my next fighting game meetup and discuss to get reactions broadly falling into the three camps of "who?", "hell no" and a non-committal shrug. And I say 'know' because I already did this and those were the results

Ok, just for the heck of this...
When Famitsu polled their readers for who their favourite characters to see in the next Smash Bros could be, before it came out, we ended up with a bunch of the vets along with Hatsune Miku, Dark Pit, Viridi, Waluigi and whatnot rather than Rare's... 'creation'.

In the unlikely event you're not familiar with Famitsu it's japan's leading Games magazine with a readership of over half a million. It's in the top 15 magazines in entire country.

Nintendo did polls in the past and while they sadly never released the brawl one, they did release the melee results right here: http://www.nintendo.co.jp/n01/n64/software/nus_p_nalj/smash/PostResult3.html
For those who can't read japanese they've been divided into tables based on series for easy reading but to keep this post from turning into a novel I'll pick out the important one which is the entire table dedicated to characters from RARE (yes... that's a thing )

related to the Rare company
(1) 007 James Bond: 35
(2) Banjo & Kazooie: 18
(3) Diddy Kong: 15
(4) Blast Dozer robot (nothing specific): 2 (Blast Corps)
(4) 006 Trevelyan: 2

See anyone missing?

I don't doubt there are genuinely K. Rool fans, after all you're posting here along with Gonzo and Ugly Rare Character but I am unconvinced he's some kind of run-away success or forerunner in actual nintendo polls I'm afraid.

TLR I'm not drinking your Krool Aid

 

[Frofro]

I think the only difference between Rool fans and Geno fans is that the Geno lot have either given up or realised that sites with a broader reach than just their fandom might not be similar to the echo-chambers they're used to

It's incredibly bizarre to me to see people convinced that there's a lot of people interested in a character I know I could go to my next fighting game meetup and discuss to get reactions broadly falling into the three camps of "who?", "hell no" and a non-committal shrug. And I say 'know' because I already did this and those were the results

Ok, just for the heck of this...
When Famitsu polled their readers for who their favourite characters to see in the next Smash Bros could be, before it came out, we ended up with a bunch of the vets along with Hatsune Miku, Dark Pit, Viridi, Waluigi and whatnot rather than Rare's... 'creation'.


Nintendo did polls in the past and while they sadly never released the brawl one, they did release the melee results right here: http://www.nintendo.co.jp/n01/n64/software/nus_p_nalj/smash/PostResult3.html
For those who can't read japanese they've been divided into tables based on series for easy reading but to keep this post from turning into a novel I'll pick out the important one which is the entire table dedicated to characters from RARE (yes... that's a thing )

See anyone missing?

I don't doubt there are genuinely K. Rool fans, after all you're posting here along with Gonzo and Ugly Rare Character but I am unconvinced he's some kind of run-away success or forerunner in actual nintendo polls I'm afraid.

TLR I'm not drinking your Krool Aid

That Famitsu poll (actually it wasnt even a poll, just an outcry) wasnt for Smash, it was for most popular video game characters. Keep in mind, this was very close to the release of Kid Icarus Uprising and Fire Emblem Awakening, so many characters here are due to recent found popularity. Also the data I collected for the recent poll is going very successful. I have several thousand votes, and while I did get a lot of spam, and people voting multiple times, I managed to filter out all the fraud, and K Rool has the largest legit fanbase from all the communities I polled. (Smashboards/gaf/v/reddit/twitter/miiverse/facebook/gamefaqs).

K Rool has the consistent top largest fanbase among all of them (Followed by Isaac and Snake. Shantae is harder to figure out since nearly 50% of her votes were fraud) PushDustins data from Japan also backs K Rool up, as he is the top character, even beating out top veterans like Wolf and Snake there.

 

[Geminosity]

That Famitsu poll (actually it wasnt even a poll, just an outcry) wasnt for Smash, it was for most popular video game characters. Keep in mind, this was very close to the release of Kid Icarus Uprising and Fire Emblem Awakening, so many characters here are due to recent found popularity. Also the data I collected for the recent poll is going very successful. I have several thousand votes, and while I did get a lot of spam, and people voting multiple times, I managed to filter out all the fraud, and K Rool has the largest legit fanbase from all the communities I polled. (Smashboards/gaf/v/reddit/twitter/miiverse/facebook/gamefaqs).

K Rool has the consistent top largest fanbase among all of them. PushDustins data from Japan also backs K Rool up, as he is the top character, even beating out top veterans like Wolf and Snake there.

So K Rool doesn't feature in the most popular video game characters either? Good to know

I'm sorry but even if your poll was telling me that one of my favourites was leading by thousands I wouldn't put a lot of stock in it for reasons I already stated, but to reiterate on two of them:
a) I have no idea what communities are aware of this poll. you've posted it here and I'll assume on smashboards and you're free to list them off if you like but your appreciation of Rool makes me think you've likely also mentioned it to communities that are more dedicated to the DK franchise whether indirectly and unintentionally by mentioning it to friends or more directly but just mentioning it on the forums yourself. Regardless of what you do it won't be reflective of the same crowds voting for the ballot because Nintendo has more reach by an almost unfathomable margin. There are probably rabid sonic and heck knows what else fandoms that've never heard of your poll but voted on the official ballot. For all I know big the cat is 'really' leading in the data Namtendo Bandai are looking at
b) Very much like Geno fans, Rool fans have struck me from most encounters as being desperate for any validation for the abandoned character as they can get, therefore the Krackpots are more likely to invest the time and effort on voting on a random internet poll than other followings. I almost didn't vote on the poll myself to be honest.

Pushdustin's data is hand-collected and aimed at measuring 'outcry' (e.g. how fanatical a request was effected how many points it was worth in the final values) rather than being an official poll or a reflection of actual quantity. I appreciate the immense amount of work it must've taken them but raised my own concerns earlier about how people blinded by their own passion would wave it about as some kind of hard facts proving their character(tm) was the bestest which you've sadly kind of proven my point on :/

 

[Richie]

Been replayin' Rare Replay, and thus, both of the 64 Banjo games. Man, a real shame that Banjo in Smash is a pipe dream, despite Phil Spencer's comments on the matter. Rare made for such a strong part of the N64's identity, truly a pity that they likely won't ever be represented.

I'd love to be proved wrong sometime, but has this ever happened before? A crossover with characters from entirely different first parties?

 

[kirby_fox]

You have to have been living under a boulder to not see his support from before the release. Even if the extent of this board's awareness was just yelling at Gonzo everytime he praised K.Rool lol

There's also been other characters supported before the release too, but there's an obvious sudden jump for K Rool in more recent times. Especially after the game released. It's of my opinion these are fairweather/bandwagon fans who see a movement and go with it rather than actual fans.

Yeah comparing K Rool to geno is a bad example, K Rool has only increased in popularity since the melee days, and will only continue to gain support. Unlike Ridley, where sakurai doesnt want to make him, theres really no development flaws with K Rools body. When Smash 5 comes around, K Rool will be another front runner. If we see a third Retro DKC, theres a good chance K Rool can return (since fans stress how much they want kremlings back).

So regardless, K Rool fans aren't going anywhere.

I was mostly using Geno for a few reasons: hasn't been in a game for years, was made by another company, very vocal fans (I felt like Geno and K Rool fans will fight you if you say something bad about the characters), and seem to be "yeah let's add this character in! I liked this character back when I played that game."

I think the fans will still be there for K Rool, but I don't expect the fairweather fans to hold onto K Rool tightly. At this point though, the only character I would despise is Waluigi. K Rool, Toad, Impa- screw it bring all of them in!

Waluigi though?...just...why?

 

[PK Gaming]

So K Rool aside, who do you reckon even has a shot of winning the DLC popularity poll

I can't think of anyone outside of Isaac

 

[Geminosity]

has this ever happened before? A crossover with characters from entirely different first parties?

Been scratching my head over this since you asked and I'm coming up blank

Waluigi though?...just...why?

lol. I'm no Waluigi fan personally but I do at least find him and the content the Wa-fans generate around him somewhat amusing :3

who do you reckon even has a shot of winning the DLC popularity poll

I can't think of anyone outside of Isaac

Well, ignoring the 'win' part seeing as concensus is that the ballot is more a suggestion box than an actual election of sorts it's hard to say, especially as people only got 1 vote which likely leads to folk putting their vote into whatever meme/movement catches their eye so they don't "waste" it by putting it on someone they think might never win.
If I had to hazard a guess it wouldn't surprise me to see a few pokemon and Shadow the hedgehog or Doctor Robotnic up there somewhere, along with the aforementioned Banjo and whatnot XD
It's anyone's guess really though, unless Nintendo feels kindly enough to let us actually know the results like back in the melee days rather than keeping it to their chest like with brawl :/

 

[IntelliHeath]

So K Rool aside, who do you reckon even has a shot of winning the DLC popularity poll

I can't think of anyone outside of Isaac

I wish that you are right about Isaac but I can't really see him "winning" the poll. It's more likely to be the veterans, Inkling, and other few new characters being at top 10.

 

[kirby_fox]

I had an awful thought...

What if after the vote ends, since they know who is tops and who isn't- they've already been working on stuff for the poll. They decide the top 10 (after eliminating impossible characters like Goku and Spongebob) are going to be announced and they actually put in the #1 character as playable.

They then count down by revealing someone in the top 10 and releasing Mii costumes of those characters (or discounting the Mii costumes already in). We would never know who was #1 and who wasn't, so they could say anyone "won" the ballot and do whatever they wanted here really.

Would be painful to watch as fans of certain characters see their hopes and dreams dashed. People make Vegas bets on the odds for Smash characters, one guy wins big by guessing all 10 right. And hypes the shit out of the #1 reveal

Spoiler

only to find out it's Pichu.

 

[DICKS AHOY]

If worst comes to worst I still reckon we'll get Wolf to tie into Star Fox Zero and a ballot character, if only because the same leak that revealed Ryu and Roy had two more blank character slots left.

 

[Crayolan]

Well, PAX seems more and more likely for a character reveal at this point.

Guess we'll see in a few days.

Haha, what if they count Wolf as a Ballot character.

What would make you think this? Doesn't seem likely at all.

I had an awful thought...

What if after the vote ends, since they know who is tops and who isn't- they've already been working on stuff for the poll. They decide the top 10 (after eliminating impossible characters like Goku and Spongebob) are going to be announced and they actually put in the #1 character as playable.

They then count down by revealing someone in the top 10 and releasing Mii costumes of those characters (or discounting the Mii costumes already in). We would never know who was #1 and who wasn't, so they could say anyone "won" the ballot and do whatever they wanted here really.

Would be painful to watch as fans of certain characters see their hopes and dreams dashed. People make Vegas bets on the odds for Smash characters, one guy wins big by guessing all 10 right. And hypes the shit out of the #1 reveal

Spoiler

only to find out it's Pichu.

It's unlikely they'll ever reveal any specific details on the poll results aside from a vague "the poll lead to this character being added in."

 

[DICKS AHOY]

I think the Brawl Dojo flat out said Sonic was the most requested character from fans when he was announced and put up on the site. Sakurai's normally secretive, but there's the occasional time where they'll open up and say stuff like that publicly.

 

[InaSnowBoundLand]

Hi! New here. Nice to meet you all.

My most wanted Smash Brothers DLC character is King K. Rool. Grew up with DKC games, the whole family played them when I was a kid. Always thought K. Rool was funny and charming. He has such a cool design -- I like how he pulls scary and cute off at the same time! Was confused and disappointed when he was absent in DKCR and DKCTF. Think he would make such a fun choice in Smash Brothers!

Here's some of the art I've made supporting him.I'll probably share more soon!

Edited from discontinued K. Rool figurine.

 

[Dr. Buni]

So K Rool aside, who do you reckon even has a shot of winning the DLC popularity poll

I can't think of anyone outside of Isaac

I don't think Isaac has a chance of "winning" the pool and I also don't think the winner will necessarily be a DLC newcomer, tbh.

Well, PAX seems more and more likely for a character reveal at this point.

Guess we'll see in a few days.

Haha, what if they count Wolf as a Ballot character.

What is your reasoning?

 

[Masked Man]

Here's some of the art I've made supporting him.I'll probably share more soon!

Welcome to SmashGAF! I'm more or less indifferent about K. Rool in Smash, but I really like your artwork.

 

[balladofwindfishes]

I don't think Isaac has a chance of "winning" the pool and I also don't think the winner will necessarily be a DLC newcomer, tbh.

What is your reasoning?

Smash is the only game at PAX from Nintendo that either isn't released yet or has DLC coming with the DLC playable. Every other game is either showing off before release or showcasing a future update

 

[Kouichi]

Hi! New here. Nice to meet you all.

Welcome! I've seen your artwork on twitter a few times and always thought it was really awesome and well made.

 

[Dr. Buni]

Welcome to SmashGAF, InaSnowBoundLand!

Smash is the only game at PAX from Nintendo that either isn't released yet or has DLC coming with the DLC playable. Every other game is either showing off before release or showcasing a future update

I hope you are right then, I am starving for Smash-related news.

 

[Nocturnowl]

Hi! New here. Nice to meet you all.

My most wanted Smash Brothers DLC character is King K. Rool. Grew up with DKC games, the whole family played them when I was a kid. Always thought K. Rool was funny and charming. He has such a cool design -- I like how he pulls scary and cute off at the same time! Was confused and disappointed when he was absent in DKCR and DKCTF. Think he would make such a fun choice in Smash Brothers!

Here's some of the art I've made supporting him.I'll probably share more soon!

Me and this guy are gonna get on juuuuust fine.
Now thanks to that username I'm gonna go listen to Frosty Fruits, this is a good thing.

 

[BGBW]

I wrote Nintendo a letter asking if they could withdraw the 257 votes I gave K Rool because I thought #KrocTheVote was one of the worst hashtags I had ever seen.

 

[Nocturnowl]

Well pack it up friends, it's over now, what a K.Rool thing to do BGBW

 

[balladofwindfishes]

I think the Brawl Dojo flat out said Sonic was the most requested character from fans when he was announced and put up on the site. Sakurai's normally secretive, but there's the occasional time where they'll open up and say stuff like that publicly.

He was pretty open about what characters were planned for 64 and Melee as well. It was only with Brawl did he start closing up, although with Sourcegaming's new translations it looks like he wasn't actually that secretive with Brawl, the information was just never translated.

This is how we know Mewtwo has an abusive relationship with Sakurai, since he got cut from 64, then added to Melee, then cut from Brawl, then cut again for Smash 4, but then added as DLC, except his DLC was free for most people. And it was buggy at release.

We also know Bowser was the most wanted character for Melee, and Ganondorf and Young Link were both requested a lot, which helped get them added.

So K Rool aside, who do you reckon even has a shot of winning the DLC popularity poll

I can't think of anyone outside of Isaac

Wolf, Snake, Ice Climbers, Dixie, Inkling, Ridley, Bandanna Dee, Isaac.

Isaac and Dee are basically the same situation. Popular in one region, but basically unrepresented at all in the other region.

I've noticed in Japan, the most popular characters by far are vets. And pretty much only vets. And then the Japanese start picking up characters like Dixie and Inkling that are popular all over, but also have Waddle Dee, who seems only really popular in Japan. In the US/Europe we seem to like more obscure characters and new comers over vets. Our lists usually include a bunch of indies that never even released in Japan (Shovel Knight, Shantae), random characters from dead franchises (Isaac, Sami, Wonder Red) and Wolf and Snake (although less popular than in Japan). The west really took the ballot and decided it was a dream list of their most far out ideas, while Japan seems to have stuck to characters who probably could have gotten into Smash on their own.

Ice Climbers are odd because Sakurai has outright said they won't be added and can't work no matter what, but still have a large following. Which makes sense, since they were popular vets, but... Snake's popularity started to fade once Konami started going insane, but Ice Climbers have remained steady even after several articles came out about how impossible they are.

Pichu has his followers in both regions as well and actually picked up in popularity after Roy was released, probably because people realized Pichu is the last clone not in Smash 4 and also that clone DLC was a possibility. I think it ends up coming down to "why not" for Pichu.

Squirtle and Ivysaur are not requested in any region at all from what I've seen.

I think ballot based DLC won't actually be a winner though. I think it'll be based on an idea a person or a few people suggested that really caught Sakurai's eye. Probably a character none of us will see coming, like Ryu was.

 

[Frofro]

So K Rool aside, who do you reckon even has a shot of winning the DLC popularity poll

I can't think of anyone outside of Isaac

In terms of veterans the only true frontrunner is Wolf. Based on our recent research at Smashboards, he has solid lead over Snake.

In terms of 1st party newcomers, K Rool and Isaac are the only ones with shear volumn and have the loudest outcry, although mostly Isaacs is in the West. We also discovered that the Krystal and Daisy supporters tried hard to manipulate our data, which raises concerns above the authenticity of their fanbase. So I'd place my money on one of the first two.

As far as 3rd party goes, this one was tricky. We wanted to collect as much Shantae support as possible to truly judge how large her fanbase is. While Krystal and Daisy fans attempted to throw off our data, they were nothing compared to the Shantae fans. Despite all the fraud, we are still lead to believe that most of her data is genuine, and she is the most "popular" 3rd party in the west right now....although nonexistent in Japan. Banjo would be second in the US, although his popularity died drastically since April.....as did Shovel Knight's. The only other 3rd party that comes close with the largest worldwide support is interestingly enough, Bayonetta.

So ultimately, if popularity matters, 6 likely candidates I can conclude are:

Wolf, Snake, K Rool, Isaac, Shantae, and Bayonetta.

 

[balladofwindfishes]

Wolf, Snake, K Rool, Isaac, Shantae, and Bayonetta.

I think only one of these even has any shot at all. Isaac has very little support in Japan, Shantae is entirely unknown in Japan, Bayonetta isn't appropriate for Smash and isn't a strong enough third party, K Rool has a costume, Snake is stuck with an insane company and Wolf will get in.

I know this is a minority opinion as well, but I think Shantae's design is inappropriate for Smash as well. It's fine to get E when it's sprites, but in 3D, things are different and if Tharja's trophy needed to be cut, then Shantae is probably in the same situation since their dress is similar.

Like I said.

The west really took the ballot and decided it was a dream list of their most far out ideas, while Japan seems to have stuck to characters who probably could have gotten into Smash on their own.

If Japan voted like the US, we'd have Sukapon and Stunfisk as top poll winners.