A Super Smash Bros insider has revealed new information about Byleth, Sephiorth, Min Min, and the possibility of a Monster Hunter fighter coming to Ultimate.
Smash Ultimate has evolved the series from being just a simple celebration of Nintendo games to a celebration of gaming as a whole. As such, characters from all over the gaming sphere ranging from those created by Western developers to even M-rated tactical espionage titles have made their way into Nintendo’s fighter.
Now, former Game Informer editor Imran Khan has shed some light on Fire Emblem’s inclusion in Smash and how her moveset was actually based on another character who was canceled.
In a post on ResetEra, Khan wrote that, “Byleth has a decent bit of the moveset of a character that didn’t make it due to negotiations falling through.”
In addition, she was supposed to be part of the base roster, but was moved to DLC well before Ultimate released.
Some speculated that the scrapped third-party fighter could be from Monster Hunter, as a lot of Byleth’s moves could easily be used for a character from that series.
While Khan didn’t outright confirm that Monster Hunter was the character, he remarked, “the Monster Hunter team has traditionally been very against having ‘Monster Hunter’ as a character in games, but doesn’t mind crossovers with levels and monsters.”
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This adds up with Monster Hunter getting a stage in Ultimate, but no playable character. Additionally, the Mii Outfits for the series first released in Smash 4 have yet to return.
That said, in a later comment Khan clarified that he doesn’t know if a Monster Hunter fighter is dead for sure, but noted he personally doesn’t think they’re in the game.
Aside from the Byleth talk, the insider also added that Sephiroth was “cheaper than he usually is as a recommendation from [Square Enix],” suggesting that Nintendo was lucky to get the One-Winged Angel as DLC.
Finally, he said that Min Min’s addition to the roster was, as many suspected, because it’s easier to secure first-party Nintendo characters.
It’s very interesting to get some sort of insight into the backdoor dealings at Nintendo as it pertains to Smash fighters. With three more characters still to come in Fighters Pass Volume 2, it’s anyone’s guess as to who will be next.