Rumor: Super Smash Bros. Ultimate has 'at least a half dozen characters still to be revealed'
Simon Belmont of Konami's Castlevania series is supposedly one of the characters
Super Smash Bros. Ultimate was recently revealed to feature every single character that has ever been playable in the series. We also learned that this Nintendo Switch title will be releasing on December 7, 2018.
Every fighter that we've played throughout the years in Super Smash Bros. 64, Super Smash Bros. Melee, Super Smash Bros. Brawl, and Super Smash Bros. 4 will be usable in the newest game. If we were to count the Mii Fighters, the Echo Fighters, and the Pokémon from the Pokémon Trainer all as separate characters, then we currently have a total of 68 playable characters announced.
Along with Splatoon's Inkling that was revealed during the initial tease for the game, we also know that Metroid villain Ridley and Daisy are newcomers for Super Smash Bros. Ultimate. Masahiro Sakurai mentioned that he was 'hoping [we] aren't expecting too many new fighters' this time around as the development team made bringing back every fighter their number one priority.
Notably, before the big announcement, Vergeben on Gamefaqs and Reddit had leaked that Ridley would be announced at E3 2018 and that Solid Snake, the Ice Climbers, and every fighter from Super Smash Bros. 4 would be returning this time around. He also mentioned that Simon Belmont was a newcomer and that Minecraft would receive representation, most likely in the form of a stage or an assist trophy.
It's also worth noting that Vergeben confirmed that the subtitle for the Nintendo Switch Super Smash Bros. title was "Ultimate" in the hours leading up to the presentation. Recently, Vergeben mentioned yet another interesting piece of information that might be interesting to Super Smash Bros. fans.
As with any rumor or "leak," it's always best to approach the information with a grain of salt. Supposedly, "at minimum, there are at least a half dozen characters still to be revealed." Even so, the identities of five of them are unknown even to Vergeben.
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Considering that every returning fighter from past entries has already been revealed for the roster, these characters would obviously have to be newcomers. There are at least six more that we'll probably learn about as we get closer to December 7th.
— Masahiro Sakurai.
Going from Super Smash Bros. 64 to Super Smash Bros. Melee, there were a total of 14 newcomers added. This number is counting Zelda and Sheik as separate characters.
Super Smash Bros. Brawl featured a total of 18 fighters that were new to the series. Zero Suit Samus, Squirtle, Ivysaur, and Charizard are counted separately despite being transformations.
Finally, Super Smash Bros. 4 had 17 newcomers at launch. If we are to count DLC, then that makes a total of 21 new fighters. This was the highest number of new characters added in the series.
Notably, if the Inkling, Ridley, Daisy, and the other supposed "half dozen" characters "at minimum" are the only newcomers, there there would be a total of nine new fighters. This certainly would fit Sakurai's statement about hoping fans aren't expecting too many of these fighters as it would be the lowest number of newcomers added during an entry in the Super Smash Bros. franchise, but it would still feature the highest number of fighters.
If Vergeben is to be believed based on the accuracy of his past statements, then Simon Belmont from Konami's Castlevania franchise will be announced to be joining the roster at some point. For all we know, the other five characters after that could potentially be more Echo Fighters like Daisy, Dark Pit, and Lucina.
Vergeben has been able to accurately predict a number of details about games that were later revealed. Before the announcement of Capcom's Devil May Cry 5 and Resident Evil 2 Remake, Vergeben claimed that these were titles that were being developed.
At E3 2018, we learned that Dragon Ball FighterZ was being ported to the Nintendo Switch. This was also something that Vergben leaked beforehand.
While everyone was wildly guessing who the identity of the last silhouette was for Fighter Pack #3 of Injustice 2, Vergeben mentioned that it was the Ninja Turtles and that it would be possible to play all four of them. He also mentioned that Enchantress would be revealed, but that was something everyone was already guessing based on the shadow's figure.
He was able to predict that Soul Calibur 6 was being developed and that there would be a newcomer named "Groh." Despite predicting that it would be revealed at the PlayStation Experience, it was actually announced two days earlier at the Video Game Awards.
For Dragon Ball FighterZ, Vergeben at one point claimed that he was informed by sources that Super Saiyan Rosé Goku Black, Broly, Base Form Goku, Base Form Vegeta, Bardock, Raditz, and Zarbon would be joining the roster at some point. While there is evidence that Base Form Goku and Base Form Vegeta are coming thanks to data mining, there's nothing to support that Raditz and Zarbon were ever planned. Goku Black was part of the game's launch roster while Broly and Bardock were added later as DLC.
Vergeben also correctly mentioned that Dark Souls Remastered was coming to the Nintendo Switch and that Jump Force would be announced at E3 2018. Jump Force is an arena fighter featuring characters from Dragon Ball, One Piece, and Naruto Shippuden.
We've yet to see any official confirmation about some other leaks that Vergeben has mentioned in the past. Supposedly, Retro Studios is working on a Star Fox Grand Prix racing game, Metroid Prime 4 is being developed by Bandai Namco, Mother 3 will finally be receiving a localized port, and Injustice 2 will get a Nintendo Switch port.
While Vergeben did mention the same information that Flowtron did for Street Fighter 5: Arcade Edition (which turned out to be true), he also stated that Sodom would be part of Season 3's roster.
For Marvel vs. Capcom: Infinite, he commented that Star-Lord, Ms. Marvel, Green Goblin, Wolverine, Cyclops, Psylocke, Magneto, Storm, Deadpool, Doctor Doom, Daredevil, Asura, Lady, Gill, Rashid, Captain Commando, Nina, Deis, Regina, Gene, Vergil, Akuma, and Apollo Justice would become playable. We've never actually seen evidence of this, but it's possible that they were in development. It's likely that Capcom changed their plans with this particular title after the negative reception of the game from the community.
Vergeben has suggested that he has had bad sources in the past, but he has notably become more accurate with his comments as of late. Many were extremely skeptical about the leak that claimed Ridley would be joining the Super Smash Bros. roster considering that even Masahiro Sakurai himself stated that Ridley would be too difficult to incorporate due to his size and overpowered features.
Although any Smash fan would want there to be at least a half dozen more newcomers "at minimum," we won't know the truth of the matter until they are announced or the game is released. Assuming Vergben's statement can be taken at face value, which newcomers are you hoping to see in the future?
Do you think Simon Belmont and at least five other fighters are coming to Super Smash Bros. Ultimate? Let us know your thoughts in the comments section.
Source: Vergeben on Reddit, Vergeben on Gamefaqs.
