digibutter.nerr

[Fancy Wario]

First of all, there is an obvious Kirby bias in this game. If you're denying that, then you're blind. k? k.

Now, let's take a look at all the series in the game that have 3 or more characters:

-Mario (4)
-Pokemon (4)
-The Legend of Zelda (4)
-Kirby (3)
-Star Fox (3)

All three of the ones that have a character without a role in SSE are in this category. Interesting. We'll come back to this later.

Nintendo's "big 3" series - the ones most consistent in both sales and quality - are Mario, Pokemon, and The Legend of Zelda. Note that all three of these series have four playable representatives. Two out of three of them have a character without a role in SSE, while the third one is Nintendo's mascot.

Next, let's take a look at the list without the inclusion of Wolf, Toon Link, and Jigglypuff.

-Mario (4)
-Pokemon (3)
-The Legend of Zelda (3)
-Kirby (3)

Now, Mario has the most characters with a role in SSE. Well, perhaps Sakurai simply removed Toon Link and Jigglypuff to reflect that Mario is the most important to Nintendo of all the series, right?

This might have been an acceptable answer...if it weren't for Wolf.

Star Fox, just like Kirby, has three playable characters. Wolf most likely would have fit quite well into the story...so why was he removed?

The answer that I have come up with is that Sakurai didn't simply want Mario to be the best-represented in the story. He wanted the Kirby series to appear to be on the same level as Pokemon and Zelda.

In Sakurai's mind, no series other than the Big 3 should be on par with the Kirby series in terms of SSE representation. This is why Wolf was removed. At the same time, he felt that no series aside from Nintendo's own mascot should exceed his own creation in SSE representation - hence why Toon Link and Jigglypuff were removed.

It isn't because they couldn't have been fit in the story. SSE easily could have used another villain, which Wolf could've filled the role of. A Toon Link / Link meeting scene would have been absolutely perfect for a comedic moment. Jigglypuff could've fit in almost anywhere with no problems.

It isn't because they were added in late, either - Sakurai outright stated that the entire roster, with the exception of Sonic, was decided on back in 2006.

Could it have been a lack of time? Perhaps, but I don't think so, personally. I think my theory sounds better =P

[Spiny]

Nutshell description:Sakurai has a slight superiority complex.

[Silver~]

Actually, I think:
Toon Link: two links? no
Jigglypuff: Where would Jigglypuff fit in?
Wolf: He would've fit, but wolf doesn't seem like one to be loyal to anyone or anything, so he wouldn't follow master hand, even if he was told to.

[Ligador]

Not Nintendo nor HAL made the SSE plot. They got someone from Square Enix to make it.

IMO, the thing it that they probably wanted the three of these characters plus Sonic be the hardest ones to unlock, so only one of them actually get a role on SSE.

[Silver~]

[Ligador]

[carfilledwithfish]

You're putting too much thought into this.

[Fancy Wario]

[Ligador]

Now we can try thinking about why did they want these four to be the hardest ones to unlock.

IMO, Sonic just because he was late, Wolf and Toon Link for surprise. But I still don't get why the hell did they want Jigglypuff to be hard to unlock.

[Super Maiq the Liar]

[Tyler]

Sakurai: (laughs)