You're not letting this go...are you? 

I have a mix of realistic and unrealistic hopes, my secret wish is for Smash Bros to become Nintendo vs Final Fantasy featuring notable others it'll never happen so I suppose one extra FF character would be nice.

Characters I'd like that I think are possible

Dixie Kong
K.Rool (either King, Kaptain or a mix of all three SNES incarnations)
Banjo Kazooie (If they can negotiate this with Microsoft I think it'll be one of the biggest announcements they could make)
Isaac (Golden Sun)
Simon Belmont

Characters I'd like but have a slim to non-existent chance are too many to mention but a few are

Bomber Man
Daytona USA car (Fighter's Mega Mix did this and to make it more appropriate I recently found out that Iwata liked to play Daytona after work)
Ristar
Sparkster
Shovel Knight
Shantae

Character I most want regardless of possibility, Selphie Tilmitt (FFVIII). Come on Sakurai, throw everyone off with one of your completely unexpected characters....nah I've got no chance.

Character I most expect to be announced, someone from ARMS, yeah I don't care but its a new IP so it makes sense and as long as they play well I'll be fine, I don't really complain about who makes it in.....unless its another Pokemon or Fire Emble...no I honestly don't mind who gets in. I'm just happy that everyone is returning.

Want: Travis touchdown, master chief, banjo, Lara croft, bomberman,rex/pyra,lola pop, crash bandicoot, shantae.
Expect: switch dog/labo, springman. (we have seen no more than 2 character per direct)

Travis touchdown
Spyro
Crash
Springman - Ribbon girl
Dragon warrior Hero

Whilst watching the new LABO trailer i noticed the character in the car was a strange boxy type man. Pretty sure he/she has a pretty good chance of getting in!

Why would he? A top newcomer for sure. I dont think people realize how important this character is for the franchise. Not saying he deserves it more than dixie/k rool but he is the go to character 4th player slot in kirby and a heavy staple in the franchise

On my replacement bench:

6. Chibi Robo

7. Captain N: The Game Master

8. Dixie Kong

9. A Fire Emblem: Three Houses Lord

10. Yangus (DQ8)

11. Twinelle (or any other ARMS character)

12. Shantae

13. Shovel Knight

14. Birdo

15. Chris Redfield

16. Dragonborn (Skyrim)

17. Rusty (SteamWorld Dig)

He's basically Kirby's Toad. Though considering Peach has the actual Toad in her moveset, and King Dedede has Waddle Dees in his, and we don't have a standalone Toad moveset, not even Captain Toad, I'm not expecting Bandanna Waddle Dee. Which is fine by me as 1) I have a lot of other characters I'd like to see before this guy and 2)If we were going to get a spear wielder, I'd want someone else that could...better represent spears. I just wouldn't want the only spear in Smash to be wielded by a Waddle Dee, no offense to Bandanna Dee fans...

Wanted
1.Sora
2.King K Rool
3. Rex
4. Zeraora
5. Goku

Likely
Geno
Springman
Elma
Simon Belmont
Isabelle

People that dont play kirby games never look bandana dees way. I do believe other characters should get in before him. Dk reps, isaac, etc. That said BD is now a staple and just as important as King DDD amd Metaknight now. In the last 5 (6 if you count dreamland collection) BD has made an appearance in every game including being the only playable character other than kirby in rainbow curse.

He has a built in smash moveset as well and I suspect we will have 4 reps in terms of the franchises DK/metroid/kirby in this game. Kirby is still a huge franchise and dont forget in japan its 1 of the top 20 if not top 10 best selling franchises there.

Lastly japan loves him. I mean he is probably top 3 most requested character from japan from ssb4 and even now