Speculation of Potential Awakening Characters to be Featured in the next Super Smash Bros. Title
The Super Smash Bros. series is undoubtedly one of the most popular video game series to exist and also one of Nintendo's most profitable string of titles, garnering attention from many types of fans as characters from various Nintendo and even non-Nintendo franchises come together in an exciting fighting game.
While most fighting games undergo the process of speculation with regards to which characters will or will not appear in the game, the Super Smash Bros. series is especially susceptible to this, very much due to its large cast with a variety of sources, ranging from Mario to Pokemon to the Legend of Zelda and most notably on this website, Fire Emblem.
With the anticipated release of Fire Emblem Awakening, the 13th game in the installment*, fans of both the Fire Emblem and Super Smash Bros. series have begun to come up with potential characters that may make the cut in the new Super Smash Bros. game, set to appear for the 3DS and WiiU a time far from now. After all, with the removal of Roy from Melee in the release of Brawl, it is unsure which Fire Emblem characters will stay, if any, and if any new Fire Emblem characters will be added.
It is currently speculated that Marth, known to be a sort of mascot for the Fire Emblem series due to his appearance in five games in Japan and two in the U.S., will almost definitely appear in the next Super Smash Bros. game. It would make little sense to remove him, to say the least, and he has been in two of the three games thus far.
However, will Ike, the main character of Path of Radiance, and one of the many main characters in Radiant Dawn, remain in the next Super Smash Bros.? Many people believe that he will--unlike Roy, his appearance was less than a simple marketing move for his game, and both of his roles are in games that have been released outside of the U.S., meaning that Western fans of the game can actually relate to him. Furthermore, fans never fail to convey their feelings when they are discontent, and if Nintendo intends to please people, they will likely keep Ike in the cast.
This begs the question, "is there even space for another Fire Emblem character"? Indeed, most series do not get so many characters in Super Smash Bros. games. Fire Emblem definitely does not have as large a following as Mario or Pokemon, but with the success of Awakening, there's definitely a chance. Let's assume, then, that there will be a new Fire Emblem character. Who is the most viable candidate?
In the eyes of many fans, the choice is clear: Chrom. First of all, a new Fire Emblem character should be one that people know. The more a game is played, the more recent is, the more probable the character. Chrom fits the bill perfectly: he's the main character of the newest and most popular Fire Emblem game, Awakening. He's strong, he has a unique personality, and hey, he even has a voice actor already, so they don't have to go find one for him (unless they can't re-hire the voice actor...).
There is one other character I think might be able to make the cut though. One. The chances are slim, because Chrom seems like such an obvious choice, but this one's got its own little charm. In fact, everyone puts their own little charm into it--it's the Avatar, the player's own character, their little insert into the world of Awakening.
The Avatar is one of the reasons why Fire Emblem: Awakening was as popular as it was. After all, creating a character and being able to control them and build relationships with who you want--and of course, marry a person of the opposite gender of your choice--is just too hard to resist. But how would it fit into a Smash Bros. game? Well, that's tough to say--after all, practically every Avatar is unique, and accounting for all those variables in a fighting game could really prove difficult. But Nintendo can technically do whatever they want, and I have a feeling that if executed well, it could definitely be a huge hit--maybe even garnering too much attention for the niche series of Fire Emblem.
When all is said and done, we don't really know anything yet. Everything is just speculation. But we can definitely make educated guesses about what is more or less likely to happen. Chrom? There's a good chance. Avatar? It'd be interesting, but I'm not so sure. Others? Again, it'd be interesting, but I'm not so sure, given that characters from older Fire Emblem games should have made an appearance back when they were still new and, well, relevant, no offense to those older gems.
But regardless, as long as Fire Emblem gets a solid representation, I think most people will be happy, and of course, the only way to know who makes the cut, is to wait patiently for the word. In the mean time, keep speculating!
*Though it is only the 6th outside of Japan as the seventh Fire Emblem, known by fans as "Blazing Sword" but otherwise only known as Fire Emblem, was the first Fire Emblem to be released offshore, and the remake of Fire Emblem: Monshou no Nazo was also never localized