Outside of Smash, which playable characters do you think have little importance?

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It can be easily assumed that every playable Smash character is considered important, since we have important video game characters being playable. Who wouldn't recognise Mario, Link, Donkey Kong, Pikachu or Sonic, after all? Even then, the Smash roster also includes some characters who aren't remarkable if it weren't for Smash, so in a way, the popularity of the all-stars rubbed some of their popularity on the less popular characters. Super Smash Bros. is after all a Nintendo All-Star series, where important guys and less important guys gather together, but that doesn't stop some fans from dismissing some not-very-important characters as playable material, though to be fair, even the less-important characters have their supporters.

Remember that characters of little importance isn't necessarily hated, just to make things clear since it can easily be assumed as such.
- Ice Climbers is one you can say is practically saved by their twin character potential, but outside of Smash, they only have one game that has been re-released. Compared to its other NES brethren, especially Balloon Fight, Ice Climber is not all that remarkable. In fact, in the Ice Climber thread I made, only one other person posted there!
- Jigglypuff is probably the only example you can point to where the character's entry is based on the anime, so the supposedly all-important criteria that a character must be from a main game isn't all that conclusive. However, Jigglypuff is really that important within the Pokemon franchise, given that it didn't get any special treatment within the franchise, even compared to Clefairy (who have had a major role in one of the Pokemon manga, not to mention getting the best stuff competitively). Jigglypuff's saving grace is definitely being in the game from the first Super Smash Bros., so is considered "irremovable".
- Dr. Mario started life in a spin-off Mario game, and while he's derives his moveset from Mario, he managed to be distinct from Mario as to have his own number thanks to having zero changes while Mario had several. However, even among spin-offs Dr. Mario is not as popular compared to Mario Kart, Mario Party or even Mario Golf and Tennis.
- Daisy only had one or two appearances in the main Super Mario series, although she had a regular appearance in Mario spin-off games, so I think she's not as unimportant as Dr. Mario.

Which playable character(s) do you think have little importance if it weren't for Smash?

Thank you for reading.
 
As much as it pains me to say it, Captain Falcon. He's been in more Smash games than F-Zero games at this point.
 
I'd say Dr. Mario is a very random choice even for a second Mario, with Paper Mario being both more notable, more visually different and having more distinct moveset potential (and having a stage as of Smash 4, and consistently getting trophies that emphasize the different style from 3D Mario). But I don't think being exclusive to spinoffs inherently makes a character unimportant, after all spinoffs are a huge part of the Mario series. I've ragged on Daisy a lot but I have to admit she's got more merit than Doc as well. Really Doc is just perfect alt material and not much would be lost in the way of representation if he was an alt imo as he'd still be able to have his changed aesthetics such as pills without them changing the gameplay.

I can't speak much for the other franchises but iirc Fire Emblem's entire popularity/existence overseas was due to Melee? So that would be a literal example of Smash being responsible for a whole franchise getting more exposure (personally I think it has way too many reps in Smash at this point but I can't speak for the characters themselves)
 
Little Mac. Where did he come from? I never heard of him before Smash.
Of course, I didn't know of Pokemon either sooo...
 
Weasel said:
As much as it pains me to say it, Captain Falcon. He's been in more Smash games than F-Zero games at this point.
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Yeah, that's a good point. I suppose he's saved by his legendary Falcon Punch (which even made its way to the F-Zero anime).

Fawfultheghost64 said:
I'd say Dr. Mario is a very random choice even for a second Mario, with Paper Mario being both more notable, more visually different and having more distinct moveset potential (and having a stage as of Smash 4, and consistently getting trophies that emphasize the different style from 3D Mario). But I don't think being exclusive to spinoffs inherently makes a character unimportant, after all spinoffs are a huge part of the Mario series. I've ragged on Daisy a lot but I have to admit she's got more merit than Doc as well. Really Doc is just perfect alt material and not much would be lost in the way of representation if he was an alt imo as he'd still be able to have his changed aesthetics such as pills without them changing the gameplay.

I can't speak much for the other franchises but iirc Fire Emblem's entire popularity/existence overseas was due to Melee? So that would be a literal example of Smash being responsible for a whole franchise getting more exposure (personally I think it has way too many reps in Smash at this point but I can't speak for the characters themselves)
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In a few threads (outside Mario Boards) where I was checking for similar topics, it surprised me that people consider Daisy to be unimportant, because Dr. Mario is there given his separate playable status. It's part of the reason I wish Daisy was playable in Melee instead of Dr. Mario, but the past is the past. I actually agree that having prominence in spin-offs actually makes a character pretty important outside Smash, but I added Daisy because I have a feeling that someone's going to post "Daisy" so I went ahead of the curve just in case.

I guess Paper Mario might not have had much of an identity back during Melee (2001), since his game was basically a Mario game with a different art style until Thousand Year Door (2004) emphasised the papery world of Paper Mario, culminating to Colour Splash, having the most realised paper aesthetic. Dr. Mario, on the other hand, was just thrown in so he basically existed at the right time, and from there he became an honorary playable character.

Yo said:
Little Mac. Where did he come from? I never heard of him before Smash.
Of course, I didn't know of Pokemon either sooo...
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I am surprised you didn't know of Pokemon since it's a global phenomenon. Perhaps there are some spots in the world that Pokemon haven't reached.

Thank you for reading.
 
Sheik made more sense when Ocarina of Time was recent but not too recent to be spoiled, and was still fine in Brawl because they try to avoid changing characters too much and happened to have concept art for a Twilight Princess incarnation, but when Sheik and Zelda were separated in 4, the former just represented a small part of the series compared to other playable characters and even assist trophies.

Also, Geno didn't even deserve a Mii costume. Fight me.
 
He also happens to be the only Mii Costume to have a small reveal trailer for himself.

It might be Sakurai bias, but at the same time, he really is a highly requested character, so wether he's important or not, if the ballot has influence on the game, that means he gets what people want him to get.
 
As much as it hurts me to say it, Ike and Roy. Their games were relevant when they first entered Smash, but now they're sort of being kept around because of Smash. Roy was even cut from Brawl's and Smash 4's initial roster, and the only reason why Ike is in Fates is because of the amiibo. Of the Fire Emblem characters represented in Smash that were also represented in Fire Emblem Warriors, Ike and Roy were nowhere to be found.
 
Ice Climbers easily, because even their debut game was painfully mediocre. Smash is unarguably their best appearance.

They really need a new game in the same way Pit got his game.
 
Anybody put it just to promote a recent game
 
People are arguing that Jigglypuff outlasted its importance: it was really popular back in the original Smash Bros., but its popularity died out and I feel it's being kept only because it's part of the original 12.