fliptroppa said:

Didn't notice there wasn't a post after mine, so I'm sorry for the Double Post. But here is an idea for a post I wanted to share with you guys: Likely Fighters. I think we've talked about it, but I'm not sure. Here's my own six fighters that I think we're pretty much guaranteed, if not at least going to be upset if they don't appear due to their likelihood.

(Note: Just a personal horn-tooting, I correctly predicted Meta Knight, Pit, Wario, and [Armorless Samus] about two years ago as being incredibly necessary and 100% definite newcomer/game advertising starting characters for Smash 3, so I'd like to think I have a good sense for this stuff)
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Characters that are essentially shoe-ins

King Dedede--Meta Knight appeared first because he's a more popular villain and would certainly be a highly played fighter in-game. But Dedede is the true nemesis of the Kirby games and shares similar notoriety with fans. Also, Kirby is such a superfluous series of games that it's only due it's share of 3 fighters. Also, Sakurai wanted more rep from Kirby in this game (said so on Toukoken) *natch*

Diddy Kong--DK games are on the comeback, and although they aren't as popular, they still are coming out more frequently than they were. Diddy Kong is popping up in all the Mario Spinoffs now too, so he's definitely got recognition with the current gen of gamers as well. If DK needs another fighter, which it does, he's the first pick. And he'd definitely be highly played, assuming he's as nimble, quick, and versatile as I imagine him being.

Krystal--First, the three more popular reasons to pick her: 1) female; 2) furries dig her; and 3) Star Fox is on the comeback. Now what makes her such a shoe-in, in my opinion, is that she would have a unique play style: she could fight with her staff. Also, considering we may not see Falco return, but we still need another Star Fox character (because it's such a prolific series), she's a very solid pick (definitely more original than Wolf, I think). To boot, she'd also be another highly played character--I'm sure of it.

Lucario--Pichu is getting the boot. That's pretty certain. And as a matter of fact, Mewtwo and JPuff could too (though I'd hope not... :/). So who's going to rep the latter generations of Pokemon? The powerful non-cutesy types out there? Lucario is, hands-down, one of the top picks, if not the number one. He was the sole fourth generation representative for over a year, he still behaves in-game like a Legendary, and his humanoid physique and fighting-type give him potential for a slick moveset and playstyle. I'd imagine him being almost like Falco meets Mewtwo, and that's not a bad concept. And, once again, he'd be a popular pick amongst Smash players.

Little Mac--Back in the day, Punch-Out was yet another big hitter for Nintendo that moved consoles. Mysteriously, however, it disappeared when the development team went on to making hardware. Little Mac still survives in the cultural memory, but the series is well overdue for a revival. Mac would also fill the interesting niche of the fighting game boxer, and help recruit Nintendo veterans who aren't already interested in Smash to come in and play the game, esp. in the West. In my mind, he's another "why weren't they in there already?" kinda character. And definitely another fighter who would be fought over at parties.

Takamaru--When Nintendo relaunched some of its classic Famicom titles for the GBA, they quite confusingly rereleased Nazo no Murasamejou as well. Why? Well, after having read myself the replies Sakurai got on his Toukoken, apparently the game was really popular in Japan. Not quite at Zelda levels, but close, being the "other great adventure game" for the Disk Drive, on par with Kid Icarus, Metroid, and their ilk. Takamaru fills the niche of the samurai, which as we all know is near and dear to the Japanese, and is not quite the same as any other swordfighter. He also offers a chance for a complete revival and overhaul of his design and series, presenting another situation identical to Pit's. A character, highly requested, being brought back from the brink of being forgotten forever--definitely something Sakurai seems keen on. And, even neglecting that fact, we all know that just by looking at Takamaru, and seeing some of the stuff he does in his game, he would be a very sought after character in a Smash game, maybe even on the level of Marth or Sheik.