Random: Was Shantae The Half-Genie Hero Just Teased For Smash Bros. Ultimate?

Would be awesome.

Someone call Jack, this article is a Reacher.

HOPE soo lets a go

I think she was already lucky to be included as a spirit.
Besides, all the DLCs have been forming new third party bridges with pretty big properties. I don't see this benefitting Nintendo from a hype / marketing position

I think one of the future dlc characters would be a female character but it’s not Shantae, she’s not gonna wow so many people..

I personally didn’t play any game yet.

I love Smash Bros. as much as the next guy, but does everything need to be a matter of X thing confirms X character for Smash or Smash confirms X game, because of X character?

I mean, Wayforward loves to push Shantae for Smash, so I wouldn't be surprised if they asked Trigger something like "Amazing trailer, but can you change the window to make the fans speculate she is coming to smash?".
It sound so dumb, but I really can't say they wouldn't do it XD

Retrospectively, I think Shantae always had a better shot than Shovel Knight. The series has had a much longer history with Nintendo, and considering how old and prolific WayForward is, I hardly even consider them an indie developer. They developed an Adventure Time game, for Pete's sake, and as big as that show was, I don't consider that a small title by any means. (That isn't to discredit the folks at Yacht Club, mind you; I'm sure they will continue to grow as a company and hopefully produce other IP besides Shovel Knight in the future.) Shantae is even one of the few Spirits that isn't a playable character or Assist Trophy yet appears as an icon for your online profile, which is a little suspicious. I'm not saying I 100% believe she is coming to Smash, but I honestly wouldn't be too surprised.

Yeap she's already a spirit so she won't be playable in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate though I do have to say if she could be playable then she'll be the first character to be both a spirit and playable in the same game (thus giving more hope to a playable Waluigi reveal).

If so then I bet you Nintendo gives her a better look than the last couple of games have--as in going back to the classic more Disney style she originally had over the more Nickelodeon style she has now.

Do I think it's happening? Nah.

Do I want it to happen? Hell yes!

I've been wanting Shantae in Smash for years now.

Yeah... Well... Yeah...

I so would love this to be true. Shantae has always been one of my top picks for Smash Bros. I watched the intro three times earlier today and didn't notice.
If this is a tease it's actually a pretty good one.
If I had to guess at who will be the last two fighters I'd say Shantae and Rayman have a good chance. Maybe even the hunter from Monster Hunter.
Anyway, I'd pick Shantae first out of those three.

Shantae is Ret to Go!

@Tsurii ...What did they do? 🧐

Remember back when the Fortnite trailer had that very Smash Brothers like symbol in it freaking people out? That is about as valid like this.

Can't forget that Shante is already a Spirit, which already deconfirms her since fighters have different spirits from normal spirits in the game. Also, I highly doubt that they could hint towards something like that MONTHS in advance. I mean look at Grant Kirkhope, he couldn't even mention the idea of Banjo being in Smash until the week of E3. So to tease something this early seems highly unlikely.

As she's a spirit already, I'm guessing this is more of a Smash tribute or gentle trolling, but it's undoubtedly a nod to Smash. Put me on the 'maybe' fence.

I would take Shantae over the others so far, but it's not clear either way.

No one:

Literally anything at all: exists

Smash fans: MUST BE SMASH RELATED

Chances are the next DLC characters are going to be much bigger 3rd party companies anyways. One of them has to be a Ubisoft rep. Ubisoft is one of Nintendos most loyal partners, they stuck by them even when the WiiU was failing hard. With Nintendo personally choosing the DLC fighters, there is no way Nintendo wouldn't go with their most loyal partner. As for the last one, i'm not sure. Part of me really wishs we could get Dante in Smash. Seeing as how Bayonetta got in Dante shouldn't be any more of an issue.

But wasn't she a spirit or something?

While having Shantae in Smash would be nice (Would make a nice change from another dude with a sword), that window isn’t very special, it has been that way for a long time now, round, slightly uneven crossbars: https://knowyourmeme.com/photos/713131-shantae

I think that's probably just a coincidence. Shantae is a pretty popular character so it would be interesting to see her in Smash.

Just pointing this out, but the "Smash logo" is reversed while we're inside Shantae's room. We then cut to a reverse shot of Shantae looking through the "Smash logo" at all the excitement that she's not involved with yet.

If anything this is more confirmation that Wayforward want her in Smash & are getting the Masterhand middle finger.

Coincidence? I think SO!

@Tsurii Really? How petty can you get?

Heh... I think the real thing to take away from this, is that the smash logo is so generic we could also say hibari from senran kagura and Nia from gurren lagann are also possible candidates.

@Tsurii That is sadly pretty common with gamers in general, and not unique to the smash community.

@Tsurii I'm so confused, that makes no sense to me. Girl plays against one of the top Smash players at a tourney, wins, and people get mad? What madness is that?!

@Jacob1092 It probably wasn't that she won, but rather, who she won with: Isabelle, a mid-tier character. (apparently. I don't play Smash competitively so I'm not an expert on this :/)

SHantae has a window that looks a bit like the Smash Bros. logo?

HALF-LIFE 3 CONFIRMED!!!

This post is so classic Nintendo Life, makes me smile.

When Nintendo opened up the roster to voting I asked for Shantae, Shovel Knight, Simon Belmont and the Old Man in a Cave from the first Zelda. Because he gives out swords to mute youths

You mean how people thought that P5S meant "Persona 5 Switch" but it was "Persona 5 Strikers" instead?

Can we please stop. Hyping up rumors that have NO CONFIRMATION, you're just setting yourself for disappointment like the P5S thing.

That fourth one doesn't grasp how Youtube's recommendation system works, does he?

No, she's already a spirit.

But it would be awesome, though. She's the most deserving indie in my opinion, having a long history from Nintendo, starting out in 2002 (before most characters people would call indie), having 5 of her own games (including this fifth one that's coming out) and her moveset is quite unique.

@Dev893 Mii costumes don’t de-confirm characters. Plenty of playable characters have Mii costumes (Mario, Link, Samus, Fox, Chrom, K. Rool, Captain Falcon, etc).

Meh, it would be nice but it’s probably just a window.

After the supposed "Golden Sun Tease" of last year, I'm not putting any stock into things like this.

I just like how Ryan from Brainscratchcomms made it into this article. 😁

This may draw some flak, but I've played the first three games, and I really didn't care much for them. This is just personal preference obviously, but I would be irritated if they gave one of the remaining two slots to this character when there are much more deserving characters with bigger legacies behind them.

Basically, I just want Doomguy in the game.

I love Shantae but please stop.

Even if it were true, how would the trailer play out? With DK turning off the TV, and we see DK, Diddy, K. Rool AND Banjo-Kazooie in the treehouse, as a little purple monkey zips by, and the Shantae silhouette turns out to be Zero Suit Samus in her Orange getup? Their jaws drop, and ZSS laughs it up, until the REAL Shantae whips her (or rams her in Elephant Mode) Then it says "SHANTAE IS RET-2-GO!" And everyone cheers for her like they did for Banjo-Kazooie.

AlphaStoutland on YouTube summarizes a decent amount of evidence for her in one of his videos. Shovel Knight being an AT certainly points to that, in my book. But then, I get the same vibe for MonHun via Rathalos (which is backed up by the missing Mega Man Mii Costumes). Personally, I've seen inquiries regarding Shantae amiibo get uncharacteristically quiet, and that's suspicious, too.

EDIT: For everyone saying "Why?" , "Stop.", "It's just a plain window."
Well yes, but actually no.
The crosspoint on the lighthouse window planks has always been dead-center. Now it's off-kilter to the angle of the Smash Ball?

The last Shantae game had this window too.

Shantae already has a Spirit in Ultimate (and its not a fighter spirit) so she cannot be a character without removing it from the game.

nah l say its a normal window

@Tsurii OK, I'm curious. What "stunt" did the Smash community pull last week? I must be out of the loop.

@Tsurii There are three triforces, three games in the mother series, and Nintendo has the big three (Mario, Link, Pikachu) so.....

CONFIRMED: Valve is releasing Half-Life 3 for switch and Gordon is the next Ultimate fighter!!!!

(Sorry, couldn't help myself).

I'm pretty sure anyone saying a spirit can't be DLC is inventing a rule. Trophies took more work than spirits and Mewtwo had a trophy in Smash 4 before becoming DLC. Besides, there's no reason to believe that Nintendo has made spirit therefore not dlc a self imposed rule.
That being said, I'm highly skeptical of the window being a Smash DLC hint.

As much as I'd love for that to happen (she was my third choice in the Smash Ballot, after Bomberman and Tails/Knuckles (I forget who it was now)), her Spirit is pretty damning, sadly...however, she does have way more of a chance than the others due to not having a Mii Costume or being an Assist...

This is so stupid.

https://t.co/q7GV2TZuzX

We went through this same song and dance back before release.

Why was this article made?

I don't care as long as Palico from Monster Hunter gets in.

1.) that’s just a normal window ._.

2.) She’s already a Spirit, which are explicitly called “characters other than fighters.”

Maybe next game, y’all!

Doubt it, I think the spirit deconfirmation theory is accurate and fighter 4 ends up being someone like Doomguy.

I am on the maybe side of the fence. I can't say if this is anything legit, but I would admit that she would be a very welcome addition to the game. I still have yet to pick up the game myself though.

If any indie game character is gonna tear up Smash, it’s gonna be Steve. Minecraft is the most sold game, beating Tetris. TETRIS! It’s also the one game that everyone in GenZ knows about, somehow.
That being said, we could always have two indie characters...

Remember how a kid at his school drew the smash logo on the whiteboard along with the date Dec. 7 and everyone thought it was a school shooting?

I've been asking for Shantae in Smash since the Smash 4 polls so I would love if this were true!
I'm kind of surprised so many people loved this opening cinematic, though. I'm a big fan of the series but was kind of disappointed by it. Not a fan at all of the dime-a-dozen anime art style and not feeling the song either. Hope the game is better than that. Maybe I'm just too big a fan of the classic art style.

@Tsurii Ah. Sorry. Didn't see that post.

Without knowing the details (so let me know if I'm mistaken in some way)... Is that really a "Smash community" problem, though? Every community has bad actors in it. Is the "Zelda fanbase" bad because of those people who took down Jim Sterling's website? I feel like it's easy to ascribe the actions of a few people to an entire community full of thousands or even tens of thousands of people.

I hope she is coming to smash, but this window isnt a sign. Its been like this for as long as shantae has had a house.

No spirit nor assist trophy will become a fighter in Ultimate imo, and I think people who really think otherwise are gonna be disappointed.

She's on the table for future entries, I think, but not this one. Her games are cult classics with a passionate fanbase, but I mean, even Shovel Knight had more representation. Think logically, why Shantae over anyone else? her last game was 3 years ago. She doesn't have huge classic appeal for Nintendo as her first game was in 2002 and was the ONLY nintendo exclusive Shantae, which may I add, according to devs, sold very poorly. The second entry wasn't available for another 8 years and also released on MOBILE. Not handheld, I am talking the iPhone.

It's not happening this game. Maybe in the future, but the reason she's only a spirit and nothing more is that she's not as big a character as her fans think she is. Nothing against them, but objectively, it's not an incredibly well known franchise

i rather see doomslayer make it in first.

Is Shantae going to be in Smash? Maybe, there is plausible suspicion in it.

Is the window suggesting this? Noparino.

It is such a quick glimpse at the window and it doesn't actually line up to the Smash pattern. It's just coincidence. It would be another matter entirely if there was a focus on it or something

Shantae tops my most wanted list, for sure. I've thumped the idea of a "Nindies Fighter Pass" for some time with the hopes that Shantae, Shovel Knight, Quote/Curly Brace, The Knight or Hornet from Hollow Knight, and Undyne would be included, but /especially/ Shantae. The shaping of the window in that scene is /very/ suspect, considering, but I'm not holding my breath either. I'm filing this one under plausible.

@Dodger There tends to be a ton of rule making on here that I've never heard from Nintendo as official to dispel rumors or reject ideas people don't like.

And it's also strange how pissy people get in these articles. Like it's some personal affront to speculate or theorize

I once saw a round table in Walmart with a shadow that looked like the Smash logo as well. Does that mean Walmart will be a playable character as well?

It's just her window. Watch some gameplay from the first game and you'll see it's the same cross shape.

I still would love to see her and Rayman in SSB.

@YourGoodFriendly

I mean, she's got a game coming this year, just like how there's a new Dragon Quest game and new Persona 5 games coming soon. And the second game in the series actually initially released as a digital download for the DSi a few years before being ported to other platforms. The first three games in the series have actually all been nintendo exclusives at one point or another; First one is still only on GBC and 3ds, second as I said was a DSi exclusive for a few years, and the third was only on 3ds and wiiu for about half a year.

Personally, I think saying spirits are off-limits for DLC is kinda baseless. It'd be like saying being a trophy rules out being DLC for Smash 4, and we all know how that turned out (coughMewtwocoughLucascough).

She does well enough in popularity polls, all things considered, and there was a big push during the ballot for Smash 4. Between the clear consideration the ballot has played in Ultimate's roster and Nintendo's recent push to treat indie games as seriously as other, bigger 3rd party games, I don't think it's the most farfetched thing in the world to think she might have a shot at Smash DLC.

@KangoniTCG, those aren't hints. IT'S YOUR RECOMMENDATIONS. As in, YOU APPARENTLY LIKE SMASH A LOT SO ALL YOU DO IS WATCH SMASH VIDEOS SO ALL YOUR RECOMMENDATIONS ARE SMASH VIDEOS. Geez...

Oh, my god! That would be so freaking awesome!

@Enigminator

Wal*Mart rolls back into battle!

represented via the old "Smiley" mascot, series symbol is the modern Wal*Mart flower

Moves include "Great Value", which heals your health but makes your moves weaker and "Robot Replacement" where a CPU decides your next moves for a few seconds

Echo Fighter: Asda

Classic mode ends with a fight against Lucas. if you've played Mother 3, you'll know why.

the Wal*Mart universe has its' own associated item as well: the gun. it requires no skill or thought to use and has a very common spawn rate.

I probably spent an hour coming up with ideas for this.

I can't think of anyone I'd like to see more in Smash than Shantae, given those characters already announced.

Why do we all keep acting like this will be the only round of DLC fighters? I'm sure we will at the least get another pack at least.

@arsoneycad She didn't even break top 10 on the smash ballot iirc.
And having some nintendo exclusivity isn't my point. Name an official Nintendo game not made by nintendo. She's not considered a Nintendo Character. She's not considered an Icon of any Nintendo era like Snake, Banjo, or Dragon Quest's hero. And yes, I know there are 3rd party characters, but they are from games much more well received than Shantae. Seriously, go look at sales numbers and try arguing how recognizable she is in comparison to other characters.

And there IS a basis for spirits not becoming fighters. Piranha Plant had NO spirit before being introduced, the nipper evolved into Petey. No DLC character has had a spirit before being introduced.

Don't get your hopes up, and don't get others' hopes up: You're just gonna make yourselves sad. Just be patient for the next game.

I know people are getting sick of talking about Smash Bros. all the time, even when there's nothing to do with anything, but this time, this seems like it's really true.

it could be something "random" / a random window; it could also be something interesting because of the shape of the window; but, well, I keep waiting and will wait for Shante arrives to Smash (as a playable character, obviously), if it does not happen, well, I will keep waiting and having hope.

Not gonna lie, that definitely looks like the Smash logo. Still don't see it happening, she was already included as a spirit and that's as far as I see it going. (I want her in Smash for the record but I'm not going to kid myself)

It's just a window and has nothing to do with Smash. That being said I'd love to see her playable in Smash.

@Ralizah Not really, but it looks bad because a 15 year old probably isn't used to that level of negative attention that she received for beating Ally.

The bigger incident this past week was Ally admitting to dating a minor for a while. He retired from the scene and as far as I know has received a lifetime ban.

Not bringing my hopes up but to say the least I'd cry much louder than I did with Banjo Kazooie.

Jimmy T fits in!

That's what the game needs, more anime characters.

She makes more sense on the roster than Joker.

@Tsurii U know there are nice people in the Smash community right? Those were a few salty players so don't insult the whole community and call them "awful" just because of like five people. Btw I don't really get why she went to Twitter to complain with all the fame and praise she's getting. Also people read Smash into everything because Smash is were gaming joins into one big crossover which means every gaming character has a chance in Smash and when there's a hint like that it's impossible to not notice. If you don't like Smash then don't click, the thumbnail already said it all even tho.

@Guru_Larry Paul is dead

So everything divided into four is now either Smash or Loss. Great.

Either WayForward managed to get Shantae as a playable character in Smash, and she is going to be revealed in the future, or this window is just a bluff to create more hype.

There's no confirmation that Shantae is going to be playable in Smash, but this window is not a coincidence, it really is the Smash logo.

Will it happen? Smart money says no.

Should it? Absolutely. No indie character comes close to deserving it as much, even Shovel Knight.

I don't feel like it is a very significant character or series to be included in Smash

lol @ Shantae

The DLC character would cost more than the games on sale (which they are every other week)

We all know Travis Touchdown is next

Why are Shantae supporters so desperate?

@Dog Could ask the same of Geno fans....

Probably just there to remind Sakurai that she's still "looking to the sky" in that regard.

Lol, here we go again. Who knows.

Personally I think there's room for at least 1 extra western character. Not 2, otherwise the western dlc characters would out-rank the Japanese ones and Nintendo won't let that happen. Just saying.

Just a window after all most windows in the past games look like that..