For some Super Smash Bros. Ultimate is a party game to casually enjoy with your friends during a pizza night; for others, it's one of the most technically demanding platform fighters available. However, no matter who you ask, everybody can agree that SSBU is the greatest celebration of games across the medium’s many generations.
The game started off strong by including every previously available fighter. Masahiro Sakurai, leader of the team behind SSBU continued to defy all expectations by including long-requested characters of mythical stature like Ridley, King K. Rool, and the Belmonts. Each was perceived to be impossible to include for one reason or another. The man has given his all to make SSBU his magnum opus. He didn’t stop at the base roster of 74 fighters - instead, he brought us a dozen more through DLC, making SSBU the longest supported Nintendo game.
11 Byleth
The protagonist of Fire Emblem: Three Houses capped off the first wave of DLC. Unfortunately, the community didn't take warmly to the teaching duo, who have the most disliked reveal trailer of all fighters. FE3H is a good game with an overall score of 89 on Metacritic, but it's the oversaturation of FE characters that contributed to people's initial disdain.
Sakurai's team tried to rectify that by giving them the most unique kit among the FE reps. Unfortunately, Byleth lacks personality so it's hard to get any mileage out of his inclusion. A more interesting alternative would have been to include the three distinguished house lords - Edelgard, Dimitri, and Claude in the style reminiscent of the Pokemon Trainer where they could tag in and out of each other's unique playstyles.
10 Pyra And Mythra
The sequel to the beloved Xenoblade Chronicles is a game of double entendres, so a waifu double act is an appropriate representation. While not as disliked as Byleth the twain's reveal isn't too far behind as it was also met with considerable malcontent.
This could be attributed to both characters fitting into the "anime swordfighter" archetype, the scorn for which was brought on by the aforementioned influx of Fire Emblem representation. On the bright side, this DLC consisted of a duplex fighter so players got two for the price of one.
9 Terry
Sakurai is a big fan of classic fighting games as evidenced by his inclusion of Ryu and Ken. While Street Fighter is by no means a casual fighting game, it pales in comparison to the mechanical complexity found in SNK's Fatal Fury and King Of Fighters series, reflected to some degree in Terry's kit.
It's truly unfortunate that Sakurai's efforts to get Terry Bogard into his game weren't met with a lot of commendation outside of the FGC. Although even on that side of things the SNK fighters are considered to be among the most niche.
8 Min Min
Min Min isn't a character many people considered for the Smash roster. She was thought to be one of the 'impossibilities' in the community given that she already appears in the World of Light scenario as a Spirit. However, Sakurai is eager to disprove the fans' self-appointed restrictions scattered around the internet aether.
Min Min is an ARMS rep with a unique approach to battle and a cute design. As such she's a fun character who fits comfortably amidst the sea of unique newcomers to SSBU's roster. Even if there are some who believe that her inclusion was there purely to bolster the sales of a game that failed to live up to Nintendo's expectations.
7 Kazuya
If Terry was the amuse-bouche of fighting game representatives, then the Cold-Blooded Devil Kazuya Mishima is the main course meal. Kazuya is more of a presence in the mind of the western audience. He carries himself with an air of eerie swagger punctuated by his malevolent smirk.
All of this is on full display as Kazuya mercilessly puts down the cast of Smash in his reveal trailer. Kazuya is a testament to Sakurai's love for the FGC. After all, the man went all out in order to transpose Tekken's branching combo mechanics from a 3D plane into a 2D space, making him SSBU's most complex character.
6 Hero
With Echoes of an Elusive Age, the Dragon Quest series finally found mainstream success in the West. Much like Terry's debut, Hero's inclusion was aimed towards the Japanese audience. In fact, the Dragon Quest series is so beloved in Japan that in addition to the standard Luminary color from DQ11, Hero also got alt-colors to represent the other games, chief among them is the fan-favorite 'Eight' from Journey of the Cursed King.
Although Hero is another sword fighter, his down-special sets him apart - instead of a typical counter, Hero has a plethora of random spells he can use. In addition to his personal pocket full of chaos, Hero has a very potent crit mechanic whose RNG actually breaks the competitive scene.
5 Steve And Alex
Minecraft, the humble indie that built itself into a household name. With a low barrier for entry and endless opportunity for creativity, it's unsurprising that Minecraft is still among the most played games of all time. The magnitude of Minecraft's is worldwide, so it's only natural for Steve to receive an invitation to the Gala of the gaming world.
Nonetheless, there was plenty of dissent in the community at Steve's inclusion. Some argued that indies don't merit a spot on the roster, while others felt Minecraft is too simplistic and its style is incompatible with Smash, despite the fact that the main man Mario started as a mere 8-bit platformer.
4 Sephiroth
Designed by the notorious Tetsuya Nomura, Sephiroth has become arguably the most iconic antagonist in video game history for the role he played in Final Fantasy 7. The immense power he wields in the reveal trailer backs up his claims of being one of Those Chosen By The Planet, as he nonchalantly annihilates the other fighters showing them the true meaning of despair.
Nomura really likes to reference the fight sequence between Cloud and Sephiroth in Advent Children calling back to it again and again in crossover titles like Dissidia and Kingdom Hearts, and SSBU's reveal trailer is no exception. The great battle between Cloud and Sephiroth is a constant from one universe after another.
3 Banjo-Kazooie
Banjo and Kazooie's inclusion is the coveted platformer representation western audiences have been clamoring for since the days of N64. The astounding unveiling of Banjo inspired hope that other favorites like Crash, Spyro, and Rayman could also be added down the line. To their dismay, the duet's debut was one of a kind, but that's still better than nothing.
Although Banjo-Kazooie's introduction was met with a lot of hype, their reveal was somewhat marred by the parallel inclusion of Undertale's Sans into the game, albeit as a Mii Gunner skin.
2 Joker
The DLC Fighter who started it all. Joker is the leader of the Phantom Thieves in Persona 5, who stole the hearts of many players across the globe with their overwhelming sense of style - take its opening sequence for one. However, even with the level of recognition the Persona series attained with its fifth entry, Joker's reveal blew everyone out of the water. Having such a recent representative on the roster, from a series that was aimed at the JRPG crowd meant that anyone could be included.
Joker's inclusion spawned waves of hype and speculations for the future of SSBU. Every Nintendo Direct has been met with much anticipation, reverence, and disappointment all at once. Would the next Direct include the goofy demon slayer Dante of Devil May Cry, the nameless Monster Hunter, or 2B the agile android from Yoko Taro's despondent masterpiece NieR: Automata? Only time would tell.
1 Sora
After the inclusion of both Hero and Sephiroth, it seemed impossible that there would be another Square Enix representative, but Sakurai came through. Sora's reveal was like a storm at sea coming on gradually at first, then raining down all at once with sky-sundering resonance.
Sora was the most requested character since Smash 4, so his inclusion fulfilled many dreams but quashed the hopes of many more, which makes the moment rather bittersweet. Yet, how elegant it is to have the king of crossovers himself conclude the greatest video game crossover event in history. It's even possible that this detour on Sora's journey will be referenced in a future Kingdom Hearts installment in the vaguest of terms. The golden era of Smash ends with a whopping 82 playable characters, making it in the largest fighting game roster ever.
Thank you, Masahiro Sakurai.