What?? Did they just announce that the Piranha Plant from Super Mario Bros. is going to be a playable character in the upcoming fighting game Super Smash Bros. Ultimate?? Seems like they always have at least one unexpected character in every game in this series (Ness for Super Smash Bros., Mr. Game & Watch for Super Smash Bros. Melee , Snake for Super Smash Bros. Brawl , Duck Hunt for Super Smash Bros. 4).

For those who don’t know, Super Smash Bros. is a series of fighting games from Nintendo featuring many classic characters from video game history who fight each other in 2-to-4-player battles.

Because I have been playing those games with my brothers since I was a kid (and continue to play them to this day) I am following all the news coming out of Nintendo about the new characters being revealed for the latest game Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, which will be coming out in America this December and will feature every fighter from every previous game in the series.

They recently revealed that in addition to the fighters they’ve shown so far, there will be six new fighters you will be able to download after the game’s release. The first one they revealed is Piranha Plant, which means there are five more mystery fighters left.

Ultimate will be the fifth game in the series. By this point, there are very few characters left on my wishlist that they haven’t already included. New fighters who are making their Smash Bros. debut in Ultimate include Ridley from Metroid,

Simon Belmont from Castlevania,

King K. Rool from Donkey Kong Country,

and Ken from Street Fighter.

I was hoping those four exact characters would be playable in this game so I’m happy about them finally being included.

So at this point, who do I even wish for in those remaining five spots?

I actually have seven more characters left on my wishlist, but they are longshots. For one thing, none of them are Nintendo characters. I am completely satisfied with the roster of characters from Nintendo games. King K. Rool was my white whale. But there are still some classic non-Nintendo characters left who have yet to star in Smash Bros. who I would love to see go up against all-stars like Mario, Link and Pikachu.

I am going to reveal each character on my wishlist and the likelihood that I think Nintendo will include them.

Rayman

Likelihood: 65%

The limbless lifeform from Ubisoft’s Rayman series is the most likely to be included in Ultimate since he already made a cameo in the last Smash Bros. game. Despite games like Prince of Persia and Assassin’s Creed, French game studio Ubisoft has yet to be represented by any fighters in Smash Bros.

Lara Croft

Likelihood: 45%

The most popular female video game character would be a tremendous inclusion. The chances are not too high because it may be odd for an architect with no superpowers to have a fighting chance with the likes of Bowser or Samus Aran, but not too low due to her status as one of the most famous characters in gaming history.

Banjo

Likelihood: 40%

Banjo is one of those characters that you would assume would have been included from the beginning, but surprisingly he has never appeared in a single game in this series. He would fit in nicely with the rest of the characters, although his inclusion is a bit of a stretch since he has been an exclusive on Xbox ever since Microsoft bought Rare. Of course, back in the nineties, Rare made games exclusively on Nintendo consoles, so the inclusion of Banjo would be a great reunion.

Crash Bandicoot

Likelihood: 35%

For a while, Crash Bandicoot was seen as the mascot for the Sony PlayStation and therefore a rival to Nintendo’s mascot Mario. Of course, Sony and game studio Naughty Dog are no longer involved in the series and Activision now publishes Crash games (some of which have appeared on Nintendo systems). Sonic is another former Nintendo rival turned Smash fighter, but Crash’s inclusion would be even more unlikely, partly due to his dip in relevance over the years.

Shantae

Likelihood: 20%

I would say this is the least likely one, but you haven’t seen my last two picks yet, so I will just say this is very unlikely. The reason being that Shantae the genie has never really achieved mainstream status. Her cult popularity started with an obscure Game Boy Color platformer that was like a lost gem because it was a brilliant game but it didn’t sell well, perhaps because it was released during Game Boy Color’s winter years just before Game Boy Advance took its place on store shelves. Thanks to Kickstarter, Shantae has continued to star in fun games. Those who have played them continue to be the lone advocators for the series.

Sora

Likelihood: 10%

The star of Kingdom Hearts is the character who I want in Ultimate the most, but there is one significant road block making that highly unlikely: Disney. Although not impossible, Nintendo would have to get permission from both Japanese studio Square Enix and American studio Disney to include anyone from Kingdom Hearts in Smash, and that might be more of a hassle than it’s worth. Even then, the chances of Disney (who is notoriously strict about the outside use of their properties) agreeing to lend their characters to another company is a longshot. Only reason I didn’t put his chances in the digit zone is because Kingdom Hearts III is coming out soon and it might be good promotion for Disney to have Sora appear in Smash at the exact same time.

Tetris Blocks

Likelihood: 5%

Least likely because this is not a character at all, but I had been dreaming of this for years. The Tetris blocks would move around freely as if possessed by an invisible force and would sometimes stack up into various shapes as it attacks the other fighters in creative ways. Mr. Game & Watch is a similarly bizarre fighter, which only further proves how much Tetris Blocks can really work if they embraced the idea.

That’s my list but I know it’s unlikely. Especially since knowing Super Smash Bros. like I do, whichever five characters they choose at least one of them will probably be someone I would have never seen coming.