Outside of Smash, which playable characters do you think have little importance?

[winstein]

It can be easily assumed that every playable Smash character is considered important, since we have important video game characters being playable. Who wouldn't recognise Mario, Link, Donkey Kong, Pikachu or Sonic, after all? Even then, the Smash roster also includes some characters who aren't remarkable if it weren't for Smash, so in a way, the popularity of the all-stars rubbed some of their popularity on the less popular characters. Super Smash Bros. is after all a Nintendo All-Star series, where important guys and less important guys gather together, but that doesn't stop some fans from dismissing some not-very-important characters as playable material, though to be fair, even the less-important characters have their supporters.

Remember that characters of little importance isn't necessarily hated, just to make things clear since it can easily be assumed as such.
- Ice Climbers is one you can say is practically saved by their twin character potential, but outside of Smash, they only have one game that has been re-released. Compared to its other NES brethren, especially Balloon Fight, Ice Climber is not all that remarkable. In fact, in the Ice Climber thread I made, only one other person posted there!
- Jigglypuff is probably the only example you can point to where the character's entry is based on the anime, so the supposedly all-important criteria that a character must be from a main game isn't all that conclusive. However, Jigglypuff is really that important within the Pokemon franchise, given that it didn't get any special treatment within the franchise, even compared to Clefairy (who have had a major role in one of the Pokemon manga, not to mention getting the best stuff competitively). Jigglypuff's saving grace is definitely being in the game from the first Super Smash Bros., so is considered "irremovable".
- Dr. Mario started life in a spin-off Mario game, and while he's derives his moveset from Mario, he managed to be distinct from Mario as to have his own number thanks to having zero changes while Mario had several. However, even among spin-offs Dr. Mario is not as popular compared to Mario Kart, Mario Party or even Mario Golf and Tennis.
- Daisy only had one or two appearances in the main Super Mario series, although she had a regular appearance in Mario spin-off games, so I think she's not as unimportant as Dr. Mario.

Which playable character(s) do you think have little importance if it weren't for Smash?

Thank you for reading.

 

[Weasel]

As much as it pains me to say it, Captain Falcon. He's been in more Smash games than F-Zero games at this point.

 

[Fawfulthegreat64]

I'd say Dr. Mario is a very random choice even for a second Mario, with Paper Mario being both more notable, more visually different and having more distinct moveset potential (and having a stage as of Smash 4, and consistently getting trophies that emphasize the different style from 3D Mario). But I don't think being exclusive to spinoffs inherently makes a character unimportant, after all spinoffs are a huge part of the Mario series. I've ragged on Daisy a lot but I have to admit she's got more merit than Doc as well. Really Doc is just perfect alt material and not much would be lost in the way of representation if he was an alt imo as he'd still be able to have his changed aesthetics such as pills without them changing the gameplay.

I can't speak much for the other franchises but iirc Fire Emblem's entire popularity/existence overseas was due to Melee? So that would be a literal example of Smash being responsible for a whole franchise getting more exposure (personally I think it has way too many reps in Smash at this point but I can't speak for the characters themselves)

 

[Moldomré]

Little Mac. Where did he come from? I never heard of him before Smash.
Of course, I didn't know of Pokemon either sooo...

 

[winstein]

As much as it pains me to say it, Captain Falcon. He's been in more Smash games than F-Zero games at this point.

Yeah, that's a good point. I suppose he's saved by his legendary Falcon Punch (which even made its way to the F-Zero anime).

I'd say Dr. Mario is a very random choice even for a second Mario, with Paper Mario being both more notable, more visually different and having more distinct moveset potential (and having a stage as of Smash 4, and consistently getting trophies that emphasize the different style from 3D Mario). But I don't think being exclusive to spinoffs inherently makes a character unimportant, after all spinoffs are a huge part of the Mario series. I've ragged on Daisy a lot but I have to admit she's got more merit than Doc as well. Really Doc is just perfect alt material and not much would be lost in the way of representation if he was an alt imo as he'd still be able to have his changed aesthetics such as pills without them changing the gameplay.

I can't speak much for the other franchises but iirc Fire Emblem's entire popularity/existence overseas was due to Melee? So that would be a literal example of Smash being responsible for a whole franchise getting more exposure (personally I think it has way too many reps in Smash at this point but I can't speak for the characters themselves)

In a few threads (outside Mario Boards) where I was checking for similar topics, it surprised me that people consider Daisy to be unimportant, because Dr. Mario is there given his separate playable status. It's part of the reason I wish Daisy was playable in Melee instead of Dr. Mario, but the past is the past. I actually agree that having prominence in spin-offs actually makes a character pretty important outside Smash, but I added Daisy because I have a feeling that someone's going to post "Daisy" so I went ahead of the curve just in case.

I guess Paper Mario might not have had much of an identity back during Melee (2001), since his game was basically a Mario game with a different art style until Thousand Year Door (2004) emphasised the papery world of Paper Mario, culminating to Colour Splash, having the most realised paper aesthetic. Dr. Mario, on the other hand, was just thrown in so he basically existed at the right time, and from there he became an honorary playable character.

Little Mac. Where did he come from? I never heard of him before Smash.
Of course, I didn't know of Pokemon either sooo...

I am surprised you didn't know of Pokemon since it's a global phenomenon. Perhaps there are some spots in the world that Pokemon haven't reached.

Thank you for reading.

 

[SiFi]

Sheik made more sense when Ocarina of Time was recent but not too recent to be spoiled, and was still fine in Brawl because they try to avoid changing characters too much and happened to have concept art for a Twilight Princess incarnation, but when Sheik and Zelda were separated in 4, the former just represented a small part of the series compared to other playable characters and even assist trophies.

Also, Geno didn't even deserve a Mii costume. Fight me.

 

[Koops]

He also happens to be the only Mii Costume to have a small reveal trailer for himself.

It might be Sakurai bias, but at the same time, he really is a highly requested character, so wether he's important or not, if the ballot has influence on the game, that means he gets what people want him to get.

 

[Alex95]

As much as it hurts me to say it, Ike and Roy. Their games were relevant when they first entered Smash, but now they're sort of being kept around because of Smash. Roy was even cut from Brawl's and Smash 4's initial roster, and the only reason why Ike is in Fates is because of the amiibo. Of the Fire Emblem characters represented in Smash that were also represented in Fire Emblem Warriors, Ike and Roy were nowhere to be found.

 

[Ray Trace]

Ice Climbers easily, because even their debut game was painfully mediocre. Smash is unarguably their best appearance.

They really need a new game in the same way Pit got his game.

 

[Mcmadness]

Anybody put it just to promote a recent game

 

[LeftyGreenMario]

People are arguing that Jigglypuff outlasted its importance: it was really popular back in the original Smash Bros., but its popularity died out and I feel it's being kept only because it's part of the original 12.

 

[Ray Trace]

Anybody put it just to promote a recent game

fucking corrin mate

 

[Koops]

Oh yeah I'm supposed to say what I think.

I guess I'm going to say Jigglypuff. As much as I like Jiggs and consider her a good Gen I design, her time under the sun in her home series seems like a long time ago, and she seems to be in Smash nowadays because of how iconic she's become to the series. Especially being the one character consistently on the bottom of the tier list since Brawl. Poor Puff...

Also Ice Climbers but then again, just like every other retro rep in Smash they have a game that was apparently... something classic I guess? I mean they could've picked Takamaru instead, seeing as Ice Climbers were chosen among a set group of retro characters, but hey, people seem to like them for afaik.

 

[Shyghoul]

honestly i feel like all Fire Emblem characters kinda lose their relevance after their debut game but its mainly because FE games almost never bring characters back in later installments and just make new ones for each game, with the exception of POR/RD I guess

oh and Anna but she's never acknowledged in Smash for some reason despite being the only character who's in almost every FE game and being more relevant in the series as a whole than pretty much every other FE character

 

[Alex95]

oh and Anna but she's never acknowledged in Smash for some reason despite being the only character who's in almost every FE game and being more relevant in the series as a whole than pretty much every other FE character

She got a trophy in Smash 3DS.

 

[winstein]

As much as it hurts me to say it, Ike and Roy. Their games were relevant when they first entered Smash, but now they're sort of being kept around because of Smash. Roy was even cut from Brawl's and Smash 4's initial roster, and the only reason why Ike is in Fates is because of the amiibo. Of the Fire Emblem characters represented in Smash that were also represented in Fire Emblem Warriors, Ike and Roy were nowhere to be found.

I feel that, because of Roy's appearance in Melee, he will always be a hugely requested character so he's probably safe for that reason mainly. After all, back then Marth and Roy were pioneers of the Fire Emblem franchise by virtue of their playable status in Melee.

Ice Climbers easily, because even their debut game was painfully mediocre. Smash is unarguably their best appearance.

They really need a new game in the same way Pit got his game.

The big question is: who would be the developer that would develop an Ice Climber game? Kid Icarus was from the effort of Sakurai, who previous picked Pit to be playable in Brawl so he got a special treatment. Essentially, Pit was redesigned as a hypothetical evolution as though he appeared in every system between the NES and Wii era, as though Sakurai had plans to develop a new Kid Icarus game even back then.

The fact that Ice Climber didn't have any developer interest is an obstacle. Even several of the NES era new IPs had some form of reference: Punch-Out had a new game on SNES and Wii, Takamaru had a Nintendo Land attraction and even a Captain Rainbow cameo, StarTropics had 2 games, Excitebike had occasional games here and there, Urban Champion had a 3D Classics treatment (yes, it's true!), and last but not least, Balloon Fight has a number of follow up games and even a reimagining in 3D on WarioWare. I have a feeling that Sakurai had to once again make Ice Climber important again, unless an unexpected developer is up for the task.

People are arguing that Jigglypuff outlasted its importance: it was really popular back in the original Smash Bros., but its popularity died out and I feel it's being kept only because it's part of the original 12.

Of all the original veterans, it's amusing to hear that Jigglypuff managed to avoid the axe more than once. The fact that Jigglypuff was unimportant in Subspace Emissary and how the balance patches largely ignored Jigglypuff really shows how much the developers felt about Jigglypuff. As far as I know, Jigglypuff is probably the only character to be added for anime reasons, unlike Pikachu who was added not only for that, but also for being the mascot of the franchise and even had a feature game (Pokemon Yellow).

Thank you for reading.

 

[Czario]

Dark Pit, for sure.

 

[fantanoice]

Going to echo Ice Climbers. One game from 30 years ago and it sucks.

 

[Rin Nelek]

As much as I adore the MOTHER/EarthBound series, Ness and Lucas sadly both qualify. Their adventures feel more appropriate for feature-length films (at least in Ness's case; Lucas's would need a major overhaul), since the games have random encounters and side quests that bring the stories to a screeching halt. Super Smash Bros. doesn't do justice to the series in general; not only do Ness and Lucas feel too similar, but they're given abilities that they couldn't use in their respective games (they were mainly used by Paula and Poo in EarthBound and Kumatora in MOTHER 3).

 

[Koops]

That's probably because they rep their entire franchise, tho, Villager's entire moveset is based around items throughout the series, much like Ness and Lucas.

 

[Roserade]

There have been no mentions of Pichu yet and I find that shocking. You might say Pichu represents the baby-Pokemon gimmick that was prevalent in Gen 2, but even in that regard there is the stronger and more-relevant choice of Togepi. Otherwise, it's a Pokemon fiercely overshadowed by Pikachu, and arguably has just about enough relevance as Jigglypuff nowadays.

 

[winstein]

There have been no mentions of Pichu yet and I find that shocking. You might say Pichu represents the baby-Pokemon gimmick that was prevalent in Gen 2, but even in that regard there is the stronger and more-relevant choice of Togepi. Otherwise, it's a Pokemon fiercely overshadowed by Pikachu, and arguably has just about enough relevance as Jigglypuff nowadays.

I guess it's because Pichu is basically not a wholly original fighter, since it takes its moveset after Pikachu, so it's not mentioned in favour of Jigglypuff, who indeed have an original moveset. Due to this, Jigglypuff is mentioned more often for how despite having an original moveset (therefore considered more "important" in Smash for being unique), but in the Pokemon games it's actually a rather obscure Pokemon the more time passes.

Thank you for reading.

 

[Koops]

Pichu is just so unimportant that everyone just forgot about it...

Shit, sorry Pichu.

 

[LeftyGreenMario]

There have been no mentions of Pichu yet and I find that shocking. You might say Pichu represents the baby-Pokemon gimmick that was prevalent in Gen 2, but even in that regard there is the stronger and more-relevant choice of Togepi. Otherwise, it's a Pokemon fiercely overshadowed by Pikachu, and arguably has just about enough relevance as Jigglypuff nowadays.

Outside of Smash, we have shit like spiky-eared Pichu and Pikachu-colored Pichu as part of promotions. I'd imagine that Pichu has more going for it than Jigglypuff. I know that's why I didn't mention Pichu.