Who should have been in SSB4?

Just posing a question to all those interested in who should have been represented in SSB4, try to keep fanboism out of it and make your decisions based on what you feel should have been included such as representing iconic game series, for instance if I were making an Xbox version I'd say to include Master Cheif, Marcus Fenix, etc I would not say to include Baldur from the Too Human game which I happened to enjoy, but was not well received at all. Lets keep it simple and assume you have the full roster of 49 to decide and for optional inclusion include some ideas for how the characters you add would behave such as basic attacks, specials, Final Smash, etc. In that spirit if you feel a current character was incorporated 'wrong' give how you'd change them.

1. Pikachu - You have to have the iconic Pokemon rep, but I'd have tried to include some more of the attacks from the game, like throwing in some glow for tail attacks indicating Iron Tail.
^B - Quick Attack (Same)
>B - Volt Tackle (Replacing Slam and changing the Final Smash since that's supposed to be Volt Tackle)
VB - Thunder (Same)
B - Thunder Shock/Thunder Bolt/Thunder Jolt (Doesn't matter what they call it really, but I'd call it Thunder Shock or Thunder Bolt instead of thunder Jolt)
Final Smash - Extreme Speed (Yeah I know Pikachu doesn't learn it, but the current Final Smash is fine for the most part it just seems like it more at home if it gets a slight visual make-over especially since the current version of Volt Tackle doesn't really feel like a tackle and the mechanics are pretty much the same as Super Sonic so it feels like it would fit the idea of Extreme Speed better than calling it Volt Tackle)

2. Mario/Dr. Mario - If you have to have Doctor Mario make him a costume for Mario, he's a clone plain and simple and there is no excuse for them when they removed characters from other installments for that reason such as Roy or Pichu. In terms of changing Mario he has access to a myriad of actions he performs in the game that they just waste, rarely does Mario actually punch or kick, but he does use a hammer in some games even if it's just a visual change they can incorporate some of those attacks. Forward Air could easily be a hammer swing instead of a downward punch.
Final Smash - Ultra Flame (Ultra Flame was the highest cost special way back from Super Mario RPG on the SNES, currently the final smash is listed as Mario Finale, it'd almost be as simple as a rename since Mario Finale is a fireball attack already, but Mario Finale is pretty lazy IMO)

3. Luigi - Luigi is famous for being a second banana sure, but he has his own unique series to draw on Luigi's Mansion so lets see that as more than just his Final Smash.
^B - Jump Punch (You kind of need this he is still Mario's 'brother' after all)
B - Fireball (Again needed)
>B - Poltergeist 5000 (Like Kirby's neutral B, but sucks up projectiles and stores them until the bag is full then releases them all at once in a 45 degree arc with a multiplier like most reflectors. If used on an enemy like Kirby it sucks them up, but visually they get caught at the end of the hose instead of completely sucked up, it deals damage while they're attached to the vacuum. They can break free earlier to compensate you can manually launch them during the attack, but are automatically launched at the end of the attack, like a throw more damage = harder to break free.
VB - Luigi Tornado (Same)
Final Smash - Poltergeist 5000 *naming scheme would need to be changed to distinguish*
Forward Smash - Green Missile (current side special with decreased distance and no chance to misfire)

4. Bowser/Dry Bowser - Dry Bowser is just a skeletal version of Bowser might as well include a skin mod where possible.
^B - Same
>B - Chain Chomp (This is another throwback to Super Mario RPG, you swing a chain chomp above your head before throwing it, it behaves like a chargeable projectile but cannot be stored like Samus or Lucario, moving however does keep you from throwing it to reduce vulnerability. An actual projectile would really help Bowser even though is current side-B is used often it's also a cause for a self-KOs since you can suicide and win since it kills your opponent first when going off the edge, so taking it away solves that problem and gives him a bit of a spammable attack.)
B - Same
VB - Same

5. Peach

6. Rosalina

6. Marth/Lucina - Poster child for the Fire Emblem series deserves his spot, which Lucina posing as Marth during Awakening and being a clone currently she might as well be just a costume, Lucina doesn't really offer anything unique with the slight difference in mechanics and only really serves to be a weaker Marth Clone.

7. Ike - Path of Radiance and Radiant Dawn are their own world separate from Marth, while suggested to be in the same universe just in a distant land the games that are impacted by Marth's actions in some way don't have bearing on the events of Ike's saga so it's a representation of both major story lines.

8. Donkey Kong
^B - Same
B - Same
>B - Coconut Bazooka - Donkey Kong 64 is where much of Diddy Kong's attacks come from so it's odd that they'd leave it out for DK for the most part. The Coconut Bazooka replacing the headbutt makes sense in terms of the pool he has and making it like Samus' Missiles where using it as a Smash increases the speed and a normal >B just results in a slower Coconut projectile that can be shoot faster than the Smash version.
VB - Same

9. Diddy Kong

10. Yoshi - Used as a rep for the Yoshi's Island franchise not Super Mario

11. Link/Dark Link/Fierce Deity Link - Just an example of changing the name for costumes they already have included.

12. Ganondorf - Ganondorf has no reason to be a semi-clone of Captain Falcon, Nintendo could easily incorporate his sword into his fighting style to make him his own fighter.

13. Zelda

14. Wario

15. Samus/Dark Samus - Dark Samus is an assist trophy, but you also have an alternative costume in that color scheme so you might as well include Dark Samus as a special case when using that scheme.

16. Kirby

17. King Dedede

18. Fox

19. Wolf - Wolf is a major rival of Fox where Falco is more just a second banana that doesn't have his own merits for inclusion like Luigi does. Wolf is a major player across a number of Starfox games and there is already a unique moveset from Brawl to draw upon that isn't just some semi-cloned Fox set.

20. Krystal - Krystal was set to be the main character of what became Star Fox Adventures before it was a Star Fox game and was called Dinosaur Planet. The staff move-set lends itself to making her unique character amongst the roster and her popularity among fans make her a perfectly acceptable substitute for Falco.

21. Captain Falcon

22. Ness - Earthbound was the only installment that made it to English so there is a precedent for Ness' inclusion over other characters from the Mother series.

23. Pit/Dark Pit - There's no reason to have Dark Pit in the game when he's just a straight clone and a palette swap of Pit, changing the name is more than enough.

24. Olimar/Alph

25. Little Mac

26. Villager

27. Kos-Mos - Kos-Mos is the face of Xenosaga like Marth and Fire Emblem, there is something to be said about trying to only use international releases, but Kos-Mos is pretty well known internationally and even used in several English crossover games so there's no reason Shulk was used over Kos-Mos except maybe that Xeno Blade Chronicles was made after Nintendo's acquisition of Monolith, but Nintendo should have rights to Kos-Mos with the acquisition. Kos-Mos has a well known ultimate attack that would become and easy Final Smash along with a wide movepool of both ranged and physical attacks which would allow for a diverse move pool to draw from.

28. Shulk - Shulk was in the Xeno series after the acquisition, not nearly as iconic and Kos-Mos, but his time of development lends itself to a sensible inclusion along with his popularity.

29. Mr Game & Watch

30. Isaac/Mathew - Isaac and Mathew are basically the same so they could easily be costumes of each other. Golden Sun is a very popular first party game that doesn't have any representation for whatever reason when they're including so many multiple representatives and forgetting such major series that they could really showcase what all they've done which is what Smash says to me. To me Smash should have been a homage to nostalgia and the impact Nintendo put in gaming and show their wide breadth especially since they're decaying the way they are.

31. Garet/Tyrell - The secondary character in Golden sun like Isaac and Mathew they're father and sun and can easily be costumes of each other. Golden Sun's success merits double representation .

32. Saki - Sin and Punishment was an iconic Asian exclusive release that was later included to have extensive English voice work done with the Japanese subtitles. There's no reason they couldn't include Saki as a playable character with a breadth of options for a move-set, he's first party and series that isn't represented well as is just being an assist trophy. He may be fairly obscure to westerners, but that didn't stop Marth's initial release in Melee. Sin and Punishment is also one of the games that go well with the novelties Nintendo is forcing on it's fans so they could also use the exposure to revitalize the series.

33. Ray MkII - Custom Robo was one of those games that were brought to westerners after a number of Asian releases, it was met with marginal reception, but it's history deserves the an inclusion of at least the main character.

34. Ice Climbers - They were a retro inclusion in Melee and in Brawl, but there was no real reason to remove them for SSB4.

35. Andy - Andy the iconic character of Advance Wars series developed by Intelligent Systems which is a subsidiary of Nintendo, the same subsidiary that makes Fire Emblem. Sporting a giant tank wrench he could use as a weapon Andy could be a very viable addition to represent the Advance Wars series.

36. Kalas - Baten Kaitos was only released in North America and Japan, it was developed by Nintendo's purchase Monolith studios making it a perfectly logical choice for the inclusion in Smash. Kalas is the main player character and was generally well received by critics becoming Game of the Month in September 2006 on IGN.
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This marks the end of what I would consider the core representatives anybody below is just extra characters that I would ultimately omit if I were making the game in favor of focusing on Stage Development and Mechanic Refinement.

37. Mike Jones - Mike Jones is the protagonist from Star Tropics which was released on the virtual console is a moderately successful retro 1st party game.

38. Meta Knight - He's really just an extra representative from Kirby, I don't feel he really deserves a spot, but since he was already made in Brawl he was an easy include.

39. Sheik - Zelda's alter ego like Meta Knight is an easy include, but honestly a pointless include from extraneous representation.

40. Mewtwo - Featured fairly prominently amidst the Pokemon series and with X and Y receiving a 2 Mega Evolutions to go with being feautred in another movie, he also has a set he can draw on from Melee making him an easy include, IMO he's a higher priority above the other numerous current Pokemon representatives especially with his popularity when he was lost instead of retooled.

41. Falco - He's a pretty bland character and has been a clone or semi-clone his entire stay in Smash, in terms of prominence he's not that important at all, but an easy enough include and people would whine so much if he wasn't included despite the massive amount of hate he has in his new iteration.

42. Rob - Easy include, but didn't really bring much in terms of Nintendo's identity so he shouldn't have been included to begin with, but since he had a Brawl iteration might as well include if you want to fluff the roster.

43. Sonic/Shadow - Shadow is a clone of Sonic they could have easily threw in as an alt named costume despite being 3rd party Sega and Nintendo have a good relationship and tend to have the Sonic games most other systems miss as a result.

44. Mega Man Zero - I personally hate Mega Man Zero, but if they were going to include a Mega Man iteration Mega Man Zero makes the most sense having physical attacks that would have translated better than anything Mega Man brought to the table. Zero or X would have been doable as well, but Mega Man was just a poor choice encouraged by fans.

45. Yuri Lowell - If you're going to outsource to Namco you could atleast have negotiated a character that would fit well into the game, Yuri Lowell is from Tales of Vesperia and was already used for Project X Zone cross-over game giving him a precedent as a preferred Tales character since they put him up over Lloyd or the other protagonists.


Games Represented
Pokemon
Super Mario x4
Luigi's Mansion
Fire Emblem x2
Donkey Kong x2
Yoshi's Island
Legend of Zelda x3
Warioware
Metroid
Kirby x2
Starfox x3
F-Zero
Mother
Kid Icarus
Pikmin
Punch out
Villager
Xenosaga
Xenoblade
Game and Watch
Golden Sun x2
Sin and Punishment
Custom Robo
Ice Climbers
Advance Wars
Baten Kaitos
Star Tropics

Excluded current characters:
Toon Link - Toon Link is not only a semi-clone of Link he's basically Link, he has a game, but it's still Legend of Zelda, Link is enough.
Sheik - More pointless Legend of Zelda representation.
Zero Suit Samus - Samus is Samus, Zero Suit may be 'better' than Samus, but Samus in her Power armor makes loads more sense than being double included.
Meta Knight - Kirby's rival more or less, but never plays a very big role in the Kirby games.
Falco - Fox's second banana doesn't do enough to set himself up as a main character just a meager support character, Wolf deserves his spot IMO.
Jigglypuff - Pokemon get mass representation through the Pokeballs they don't need so much representation as playable characters when Pikachu is the only truly iconic mascot.
Charizard - Same as Jigglypuff.
Lucario - Same as Jigglypuff
Rob - Rob was an add on and a very limited one, his inclusion is a huge stretch.
Sonic - Not Nintendo, Nintendo has more series they could fill their collection with.
Bowser Jr. - Bowser is enough.
Greninja - Same as Jigglypuff
Robin - Robin is the avatar of Awakening and Awakening was popular sure, but the limited appearances eliminate a lot of the appeal of the Avatar. It's nice they at least cover both genders, but if they were going to include they could let you pick your appearance like the Mii fighters, but not really needed with Marth and Lucina.
Palutena - Palutena is a supporting character, including Pit is more than enough representation.
Duck Hunt - Duck Hunt was an iconic game, but including Duck Hunt Dog is a massive stretch bordering on absurd.
Wii Fit Trainer - Nintendo pushing their fitness angle nothing more, the inclusion of the Wii Fit trainer is just absurd.
Mega Man - same as Sonic
Pac-Man - same as Sonic, but Namco helped make the game atleast, but in a game about Nintendo's IPs they could at least not be lazy and outsource it.
Mii - Forcing the mandatory avatars into a game where they don't really have business doubly so since they have restricted use, it should be about the games, not about their novelties.