Super Smash Bros. Ultimate’s Next DLC Fighter – Every Theory Explained

It’s been a little bit over a month since Steve was officially added to Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, so, naturally, fans are eagerly waiting to find out who’s next. Although Nintendo remains as tight-lipped as ever, the Smash rumor mill never stops turning. While there hasn’t been anything concrete about who the next Super Smash Bros. Ultimate DLC character is, there are plenty of potential leaks that could hint at who might be coming to the roster next.

Of course, like most other leaks and rumors, Super Smash Bros. Ultimate leaks need to taken with a hefty grain of salt. Often, trolls make up rumors by posting photoshopped images of new characters or creating fake leaks. There’s probably just as much misinformation as real information about potential new Smash characters on the internet, so it takes a careful eye to judge the real from the fake.

Nintendo has shown it no longer has any concern about whether a Smash character is from a Nintendo property or not, so that means anyone is able to be added to the roster. Fans clearly have their input, but Nintendo usually has its own direction in mind. There’s no telling who might be the next Smash DLC character, so it’s best to look over all of the major leaks and rumors to get a better sense of who could join next.

Smash Bros. Ultimate’s Next Character Rumors – Sora

Kingdom Hearts’ protagonist, Sora, has long been one of the most desired character among the Smash community, so much so that he was voted the most-wanted new character by Japanese fans. It seems those fans may be getting their wish, as images of Sora in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate recently leaked on 4Chan. The images show Sora in the character select screen and fighting Incineroar in the training arena. The leak also states Nintendo will officially announce Sora on December 10 at The Game Awards.

While the images do look real, it’s not that hard to fake a new Smash character. There’s a good chance the images were just a modded version of a character already in the game, like Shulk. It would make sense, considering they’re fighting in the training arena, rather than Sora’s own stage. Still, reports have shown Nintendo previously attempted to add Sora to the game but was shot down by Disney Japan. Considering it took Nintendo five years of negotiations to secure Steve, its reported previous interest in Sora is very significant. There’s a lot of smoke coming from this leak, and where there’s smoke, there may be fire.

Smash Bros. Ultimate’s Next Character Rumors – Rean Schwarzer/Adol Christin

A previously overlooked Smash leak on 4chan from June 2020 is beginning to get a second look, as several of its predictions turned out to be accurate. The anonymous post (via Dexerto) stated that Nintendo had been in discussions with Falcom and NIS in 2019 and that Trails of Cold Steel 3 & 4 would be coming to the Switch, which has since been confirmed. The leak then went on to say that Trails to Zero and Trails to Azure would be coming to the Switch, as well, which was announced on October 29, and that Ys IX: Monstrum Nox would be coming to the west, which was confirmed on August 28.

In addition to the accurate predictions, the post also mentioned discussions between Nintendo and the two companies about adding a character to Smash went smoothly. The post seemed to imply the character could either be Rean Schwarzer from Trials of Cold Steel or Adol Christin from the Ys series. It also mentioned a Spirit event for Trails of Cold, but it didn’t state whether it would be connected to a new character or not. While Rean and Adol would be surprising choices for Smash, the accuracy of the post’s predictions can’t be ignore, so these characters at least worth considering.

Smash Bros. Ultimate’s Next Character Rumors – Ryu Hayabusa & Doomguy

Steve’s addition to Smash Bros. was major news for more reasons than one. Not only was it a monumental addition for the hit fighting series, but it also brought back to light an early Smash Bros. Ultimate leak. A post on the Japanese website 5channel predicted four characters would be added to the roster as DLC: Erdrick from Dragon Quest, who was later added to the game as Hero; Steve from Minecraft, who is the most recent DLC character; Ryu Hayabusa from Ninja Gaiden; and Doomguy from the DOOM series.

Considering there are four open spots left in the second Fighters Pass, it seems totally plausible for both Ryu and Doomguy to join the Super Smash Bros. DLC roster. DOOM Eternal will soon be available for the Switch, and there’s a Ninja Gaiden Trilogy collection rumored to be releasing on the system in March, so both characters have justifications for being added to Smash. Only time will tell if Ryu and Doomguy join Smash, like the other fighters predicted in this leak.

Smash Bros. Ultimate’s Next Character Rumors – Crash & Coco

After one of its most recent updates, something interesting was found in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate‘s audio files: Five empty voice slots were located in the voice clip section of the sound test menu. These spots are empty because they’re reserved for the upcoming DLC characters, but there are only four character left to be revealed in the current Fighters Pass. A similar discovery was made during the previous Fighters Pass, and it was later revealed that the character with multiple voice slots was Byleth, accounting for their male and female skins. There’s a good chance this extra voice slot could once again be reserved for a character with multiple voices.

This multi-voice character could be almost any, so this is purely speculative, but Crash and Coco from Crash Bandicoot 4 would make a lot of sense. Crash is a character Smash fans have longed for since basically the first game in the series. With a Crash 4 Switch port rumored to be coming soon, its release would make the perfect opportunity to add the spinning bandicoot to Smash Bros. Ultimate‘s DLC roster. And seeing as Crash 4 introduced Coco as a playable character for the first time in the series, it would make sense if she were an alternate skin for Crash, similar to Steve and Alex.

Smash Bros. Ultimate’s Next Character Rumors – Fortnite Character

In October 2020, prominent Fortnite leaker iFireMonkey hinted that content from Fortnite could potentially appear in Smash Bros. iFireMonkey credits a “credible,” anonymous source, who was reportedly on a Zoom call with Geoff Keighley and Epic Games Creative Director Donald Mustard. When asked about the potential of Fortnite appearing in Super Smash Bros., Mustard stated he couldn’t comment, according to the source, which seems telling.

Outside of Mustard’s lack of comment, there isn’t much for this leak to stand on. It’s hard to tell what content Fortnite would even include in Smash. The obvious guess would be a character, but it’s just as likely to be something as simple as a Spirit event or new Mii skins. Right now, there’s too little information available to guess what it might be.

Smash Bros. Ultimate’s Next Character Rumors – Master Chief

One of the most surprising characters that has been heavily rumored for Smash Bros. Ultimate’s DLC has to be Master Chief, from the Halo series. Fans clearly want him on the roster, but it’s never seemed like an actual possibility. That is, until Xbox actually commented on the idea of Master Chief joining Smash. Shortly after Steve’s announcement for Smash, Xbox France tweeted that Master Chief is “still waiting for his invitation.” It’s probably nothing more than some cute marketing, but it’s still pretty notable to see an official Xbox account acknowledge the idea of Master Chief in a Smash Bros. game.

Considering some of the recent Super Smash Bros. Ultimate DLC characters, the idea of Master Chief in the game might not be all that crazy. Both Steve and Banjo & Kazooie are Microsoft-owned properties, so Nintendo already has a clear working relationship with the company. There isn’t very much substance to this rumor outside of Xbox’s comment, however, so Master Chief remains an unlikely addition to the Smash roster – but it also doesn’t seem impossible.

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