Super Smash Bros. Ultimate Fans May Have Figured Out The Next DLC Fighter
Ever since the addition of Sephiroth to Super Smash Bros. Ultimate caught everyone off guard, fans have speculated about who will be joining the game next. While there are many solid guesses out there, one popular theory believes that the honor will go to a representative from the Bandai Namco family of games, with Lloyd Irving from Tales of Symphonia as a firm favorite.
The Super Smash Bros. series has been a strong performer for Nintendo ever since the original arrived on the Nintendo 64, nourishing a vibrant esports community and becoming a fan service favorite. Nintendo's willingness to add characters from other publishers, such as Solid Snake, has helped the series attract players from every corner of the gaming community. While new character speculation used to cluster around big releases, seasonal DLC such as the current Fighters Pass Vol. 2 have made that guessing game a year-round affair.
Fans pulling for a Tales of Symphonia crossover appearance from Lloyd Irving have pointed to a few details to back up their theory. To begin with, fans have been asking for a broader representation of the Bandai Namco world in Super Smash Bros. for some time, as Pac-Man remains the only character from the publisher currently in the game. Also, the Tales franchise is gearing up for a significant anniversary with its upcoming Tales of Festival, which celebrates the 25th anniversary of the Tales franchise and the 2021 release of the highly anticipated Tales of Arise.
However, one of the most concrete bits of evidence that fans have uncovered is that Lloyd Irving appeared in Super Smash Bros for WiiU/3DS as a Mii fighter skin but did not reappear in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate. Mii fighters have been upgraded to joining the main roster before, such as King K. Rool. Lloyd Irving's unexplained absence in Ultimate may have opened the door for his eventual appearance.
While fans' Lloyd Irving theory seems solid, there are a lot of other convincing guesses out there. For example, there is an anonymous message board post from May 11, 2020, that predicted every Fighters Pass Vol. 2 characters added so far, including the unexpected appearance of Steve from Minecraft. After Sephiroth arrived in December, fans began to wonder if the poster's other three guesses — which were Rayman, Doomguy, and Ryu Hayabusa — are precisely what Nintendo has planned.
Fans will have to wait a little longer to find out who will be joining the Super Smash Bros. Ultimate roster, as even the release schedule for DLC has become an item of intense speculation. Whatever Nintendo's choice is, however, fans can trust that game creator Masahiro Sakurai will be there to explain his decision and how it fits into the Super Smash Bros. experience.