Smash Bros. fans might never get the one DLC fighter they want the most
A new survey reveals the one contender gamers want in Fighters Pass 2 more than any other. It's too bad it almost definitely won't happen.
Super Smash Bros. Ultimate’s Fighters Pass 2 will add another six new characters to the game's already expansive roster. The addition of Banjo and Kazooie was a huge hit amongst fans who had been begging for the iconic duo to be added to the fighting game. Now, a new Smash Bros. Ultimate DLC poll with more than 3,000 participants revealed who gamers want to see more than anyone else — it's just too bad that Disney won't let it happen.
Japanese publication Inside Games published the results of a new fan survey Sunday based on 3,000 votes to find out the one character fans want, and the results overwhelmingly indicated that players really want Sora. The Kingdom Hearts protagonist racked up 290 votes in total, so about 10 percent of everyone who participated want to see the Keyblade-swinging hero alongside the likes of Mario and Samus.
Every other character that was named in the poll garnered substantially fewer votes than Sora. Even icons like Dragon Ball Z’s Goku and Crash Bandicoot didn’t stand a chance.
Here are the results for the top 10 characters included in the survey:
"Yo Sakurai, the fans want me in Smash."
- Sora (Kingdom Hearts) – 290 votes
- Dante (Devil May Cry) – 91 votes
- Hunter (Monster Hunter) – 80 votes
- Rex (Xenoblade Chronicles 2) – 74 votes
- 2B (Nior Automata) – 70 votes
- Crash (Crash Bandicoot) – 65 votes
- Waddle Dee / Bandana Waddle Dee (Kirby) – 64 votes
- Sephiroth (Final Fantasy VII) – 59 votes
- Arle (Puyo Puyo) – 56 votes
- Steve (Minecraft) – 55 votes
It’s no surprise to see Sora top this list. Smash Bros. Ultimate fans have been rumors that he’d eventually make it into the platform fighter since last year. But some recent chatter has suggested that the Kingdom Hearts hero might actually never make it to the Smash Bros. Ultimate cast.
Disney, which owns the rights to the Kingdom Hearts series, reportedly turned down Nintendo’s offer to let Sora join the roster, according to Imran Khan. The former Senior Editor at Game Informer and co-host of the Kinda Funny Gamescast claimed to have insider knowledge of a conversation that allegedly went on between Nintendo and Disney Japan.
Khan didn’t elaborate on how he came across this information, but he has a history of being plugged into inner circles at Nintendo and other game companies. He’s been the source of past Nintendo Switch title rumors and chatter about a potential Marvel’s Spider-Man PlayStation sequel.
But this doesn't necessarily mean Sora is totally out of the running.
The 'Smash Ultimate' roster will continue to grow with six more fighters coming in Fighter Pass 2.
There had been murmurs about Nintendo attempting to add Banjo and Kazooie to the Super Smash Bros. franchise as far back as the early 2000s, during Melee’s heyday. That suggests the company does listen to fans sometimes and is persistent with the characters that it wants in Smash Bros. However, Game Director Mashahiro Sakurai did confirm that the Fighters Pass 2 lineup had already been decided, so a last-minute change-up seems like a slim possibility.
Sakurai also revealed in an interview with Japanese games magazine Famitsu that he doesn't always have full creative control over which DLC character gets added to Smash Bros. Ultimate. That suggests some of the Fighters Pass 2 cast additions could ignore roster diversity in favor of corporate synergy and cross-promotion of Nintendo’s biggest franchises.
It’s far more likely that we’ll see the addition of another Pokémon to complement the recent release of Sword & Shield, or another Animal Crossing representative to coincide with the upcoming launch of New Horizons. Could Nintendo still surprise fans with Sora at some point in the future? Maybe.
All six Fighters Pass 2 characters will be released by December 31, 2021 at the latest, so expect almost two years full of new Super Smash Bros. Ultimate content.
