The most recent Nintendo Direct Mini brought a surprising revelation for all the Smash fans out there: the next fighter will be one from the ARMS franchise. But, that’s where the information about Super Smash Bros. Ultimate’s ARMS character ends. Or is it? Let’s take a look at the potential options Sakurai and co. could pull from for Smash’s next fighter.
Spring Man
Of course we have to start out with the most obvious choice, but things might not be as clear-cut as you might think. Ol’ toothpaste-head might be ARMS’ equivalent to Ryu as its resident poster boy, but he’s already in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate as an Assist Trophy.
It’d be an unprecedented move for the series to upgrade an Assist Trophy to a playable character within the same game, but if it was anyone other than Spring Man, it’d be the first time a series’ first character wasn’t the main protagonist. Either way, the new ARMS character is gonna break some rules. At the very least, Springman has a doppelganger, Springtron, who could fill his prior role.
Min Min
ARMS’ Dragon-wielding “Ramen Bomber” might not be on the boxart like Spring Man, but she’s got one thing the pink-and-blue pugilist doesn’t — runaway popularity.
For the game’s final popularity-centric Party Crash Bash, Min Min took home the crown as the game’s most beloved character. With that kind of heat in her corner, alongside her unique dragon-arm’s abilities to help her stand out from ARMS’ other offerings, she’s got a serious shot at being the fighter chosen to join the fray.
Twintelle
The silver-screen star of ARMS’ lineup, Twintelle, proposes an interesting question. She’s certainly got the popularity from across the internet to be a possible choice, but is she even eligible?
The announcement for the character specifically mentioned them having extendable arms, but Twintelle uses her hair to fight in the original game. Was this just referring to any extendable limbs, or are characters like Twintelle and Mechanica, who uses a robot and not her actual arms, truly out of the running? Time will tell.
Dr. Coyle
A lot of speculators believe that the announcement of an ARMS character opens up the door to a lot of characters previously locked into non-playable roles, such as those represented as Assist Trophies or Spirits. But what if Nintendo is actually keeping those rules intact?
Introduced towards the end of ARMS’ lifespan, Dr. Coyle acts as the series’ “main villain” of sorts. She’s behind a lot of the more sinister goings-on in the game, such as the creations of Hedlok, Helix, Springtron, as well as the revival of Master Mummy.
With such an important role in the series, alongside the fact that she doesn’t even have a spirit in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate yet, she’s the premier choice if Sakurai and Nintendo want to keep the base game’s content unaltered.
Multiple Characters in One
One of ARMS’ biggest strengths was the sheer variety present in it’s super-colorful cast. Why limit that by just keeping its representation locked solely to one character?
Now before you get your pitchforks and torches out for suggesting that multiple slots be taken by ARMS characters, that’s not what we’re saying. Just like how Bowser Jr. and Hero represented multiple characters in one slot, an ARMS rep could do the same. All of the characters fight rather similarly outside of character-specific quirks, and a selection of 4 or 8 of them could easily share a moveset and animations.
This isn’t a fix-all solution though –ARMS’ roster has a few oddballs that probably wouldn’t work in this way. Twintelle and Mechanica are out due to fighting differently from the rest of the cast, and characters like Master Mummy and Max Brass are much too large to share their animations. Byte’s sidekick Barq likely excludes them, as does Helix’s inability to jump.
However, a lineup featuring the characters pictured above could work without any major issues. All of them are able to use the same kinds of weapons, and are similar enough in size and shape to share animations. It’d be a great way to include as much ARMS love in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate as possible.
Biff
Alright, we’re capping off this list with an oddball prediction –Biff the announcer. Biff might not be one of ARMS’ playable fighters, but he holds a central role in the game nonetheless as the series’ announcer and customary mascot.
While he might not be a fighter in the original game, we know Biff is capable of many of the same things that the fighters are. We’ve seen that his arms are actually extendable, just like the rest of the cast, so he can still represent ARMS’ trademark stretchy-armed combat. He’s also subtly one of the most recognizable characters from the game, as he’s a constant presence during gameplay, and is all over the advertisements.
Do we think he’s a likely option? No, of course not. But Sakurai and Nintendo love to throw out their curveballs, and Biff being the ARMS character chosen would absolutely be a curveball. Plus, he was suspiciously present on the screen with the playable roster when Nintendo said the next character would be from ARMS. It’d be a perfect sneaky move to pull.
And with that, we’ve covered our thoughts on who Nintendo might turn to for the mysterious ARMS character coming to Super Smash Bros. Ultimate. So, what are your thoughts? Are you supporting Spring Man, or are you on Team Twintelle? Is Biff a bit too much of a stretch (pun intended) or just the right amount? Let us know in the comments below.
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