A Japanese Super Smash Bros Ultimate leak is gaining popularity online for correctly predicting Hero & Steve, as well what could end up being the next DLC fighters.
While most Smash Ultimate leaks amount to nothing, especially when most leakers try to remain anonymous, this one from 2018 has been circling communities recently for containing plenty of accurate information.
Posted onto the Japanese 5ch forum, the leaker wrote that Erdrick/Dragon Quest’s Hero was being developed for the game along with “the default guy” from Minecraft, which ended up being Steve.
It would seem that the leaker was under the impression that these characters were being worked on as far back as 2018, noting that they were “gone” from the base game.
Most notably, the leaker made two very bold claims that could be big news for anyone wanting a Tales of Symphonia rep added to Smash: “Chun-Li was there, but somehow replaced with Ken. Bamco had both Symphonia and Vesperia protagonists in the planning stages, but they’re not here as well.”
Judging by the fact that the leaker claimed Hero and Steve were in development back in 2018, this could end up being a good sign for a Symphonia and Vesperia representative.
As Dexerto previously reported, a new fan theory has emerged suggesting that a Tales Of fighter could be announced during Bandai Namco’s Tales of Festival in March. This would also line up with the amiibo Theory, which suggests that DLC is revealed slightly before or after waves of amiibo. The next wave is scheduled for March.
Additionally, the idea that Nintendo originally had Chun-Li as a second Street Fighter character seems plausible, but ultimately opting for Ken as a Ryu echo fighter probably significantly cut down on development time.
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However, it’s also possible that she could end up coming to Smash at some point, especially if Nintendo was deep into her development. Unfortunately, the leaker doesn’t elaborate. Amusingly, both Chun-Li and Lloyd from Tales of Symphonia appeared on a leaked list of Sakurai’s supposed character choices.
One other important thing to note about the leak is how it pertains to Kingdom Hearts’ Sora and Final Fantasy 7’s Sephiroth. The leaker wrote: “Sora was also a candidate, but it was rejected because they felt that not having any Disney characters wouldn’t be right as the KH representative.”
This remark lines up with what former Game Informer editor Imran Kahn revealed about Nintendo approaching Disney about getting Sora in Smash, and how Disney Japan was against the idea.
Finally, while the leaker claimed that Hero ended up being the Square Enix representative over Sephiroth, do keep in mind that this was back before Fighters Pass Volume 1 was completed or Vol 2 was even announced.
It seems like, if this leak is true, that Sephiroth reentered the conversation when Fighters Pas Volume 2 was being discussed.
As always, take these leaks with a grain of salt, but if a Tales representative or Chun-Li join the roster next, there’s an even greater chance that this was all legitimate.