The competition for Pokemon is fierce. The vast majority of Pokemon reps suggested could easily be made playable, but which of the few will see the light and day in Smash as playable characters? This shows that making the correct decision for Pokemon reps is crucial and failing to do so will cause a huge fall-out with fans. There are many wrong choices and very, very few right ones. We will likely see four or five slots in SSB4. One of them is going to Pikachu, and the other will likely be claimed by Pokemon Trainer and Jigglypuff. The real question is, who will be that newcomer? This is a question that cannot easily be answered, but there are a few answers I come across upon. Of those, one answer that frequently comes up is Zoroark. Zoroark is popular, was one of the first Pokemon revealed for the 5th gen, was the first 5th gen Pokemon to get a movie, and currently is the most highly requested Pokemon for SSB4. The problem with Zoroark is that while he is likely, the things going for him is not enough to make him a shoe-in. There are no guarantees for Pokemon reps and to treat him as a shoe-in or the only option for a 5th gen rep shows that people don't understand that there are other choices that could relegate him to a Pokeball. His biggest threat is Victini and it is as likely if not more so then Zoroark.
For those who support Zoroark, why do people even bother with Victini or give it a chance to be playable? There are a lot of things to say that goes for its inclusion and not much that goes in its way. Remember, there are more to Pokemon then popularity. While popularity is important, as shown in Brawl when Lucario got in over Deoxys and Blaziken, both of which who were far more requested then Lucario, it is not the be all, end all when deciding characters. Other things must be taken into account, such as relevancy and importance. Let's take a look at the four Pokemon slots in Brawl:
First of all is Pikachu. Why is Pikachu in the game? Fans of the series will obviously know why; because he is important to the series and remains relevant to this day. He is the mascot of his series and was promptly advertised as one; having an anime with him as the main Pokemon character and it runs to this day. He also constantly makes appearances in spin-off titles, so he is relevant in not only the anime, but also to video game fans.
Jigglypuff may not be spoken of much anymore, but he got in because like Pikachu, he was highly relevant at the time and very important to the series. Back in the day, he was among the most important Pokemon next to Pikachu. With the fact that he has survived all three Smash games, Jigglypuff remains relevant to the Pokemon series and Nintendo. If he had been forgotten, he would have been playable only once or twice before getting the boot.
Pokemon Trainer is Red, the protagonists of the original game. Why would they pick Red over Lucas in Diamond & Pearl or Brendan in Ruby & Sapphire? Because when fans think of a Pokemon Trainer, most of them point to Red, who is considered to be the most important and popular Pokemon Trainer to this day. This clearly shows that importance is the most important factor in deciding characters, Pokemon included, which in return, keeps him relevant to the gaming world
Whenever Deoxys and Blaziken fans like to admit it or not, Lucario got in because he was among the most popular 4th gen Pokemon at the time. Not only that, he was relevant before Diamond & Pearl got released, with his movie Lucario and the Mystery of Mew coming out on July 16, 2005, meaning that he had enough time to gain popularity to become playable in SSBB. More relevant then Deoxys and more relevant then Blaziken. This is a clear indication that relevancy is important to a character's inclusion.
Now that we have established that the four in Brawl got in due to importance and relevancy, it will play a part in a 5th gen newcomer in SSB4. In this case, Victini has the upper hand and he is catching up in popularity. Let's compare:
Zoroark had a movie on July 10, 2010. It's good that he was the 5th gen Pokemon to get a movie, but there's a problem here. It is one year and three months before SSB4 starts development. If Zoroark was to be near guarantee a spot, he would have to maintain his popularity for that span of time to seal his spot and it did not work. Zoroark's popularity for Smash is fading because he was advertised as the 5th Gen Lucario, which did not work that well. As a matter of fact, I think it was counterproductive because it caused some fans to look at him with a negative eye and discourage from supporting him for SSB4, myself included, because really, it looks like he is a likely replacement for Lucario, which quite frankly, not many fans like the idea of. He is popular, but is fading in relevancy, wasn't really that important to Pokemon in the first place (The same can be said for most Pokemons with a few exceptions), popularity never reached the height of Lucario did in it's heyday, and requests for SSB4 is dwindling.
Victini's movies came out on July 16, 2011. Refer back to why Lucario was relevant enough to be included. His movie came out three months before Brawl's development and he's in Brawl. Victini has two movies that comes three months before SSB4 starts development. Notice the correlation here and understand why this is important. As we speak, Victini's popularity is growing among fans and he is gaining more requests to make a playable appearance in SSB4, even consisting of former Zoroark supporters. While it isn't much as Zoroark, I would not be surprise to see it go over that of Zoroark as like I said, it is increasing. Victini also doesn't have to worry about the wait, he only has to maintain and increase popularity for three months, not nearly as daunting of a challenge and which he is more likely to succeed at. Before we leave the topic of his movies, remember that he has not one, but two movies. What this means is that the developers consider Victini important enough to have two movies and is a good indication that they really want to push Victini as this popular Pokemon that everyone loves for at least this gen. Guess who also had two movies? Mewtwo. He was in Melee. With all this, Victini is more relevant and more important to Pokemon then Zoroark.
Remember that Game Freak has a large handle in determining Pokemon content. As a matter of fact, they may even single-handely determine the Pokemon newcomer. This helps Victini a lot because it is Junichi Masuda's favorite Pokemon and this isn't some ordinary person working for the company, he is the Director of the Board, a very important role. Now also note that his previous favorite Pokemon was Pichu and that the Pokemon was playable in Melee. Since Pichu was a joke character, it is not unreasonable to assume that Sakurai was influenced by Game Freak to put him in. Since this is likely the case, as bias will play a role, Victini will be considered as a playable character, it's just a matter of whenever or not they choose either it or Zoroark
There really isn't much going against Victini's inclusion in SSB4 anyway. The only valid one I have seen going against his inclusion is the fact that he is a Mew-like Pokemon. While it does hurt his chances, it does not completely throw it away. I will also counter that with that all pattern we notice are Gambler's Fallacy. Just because Mew-like Pokemons have gotten the Pokeball treatment does not guarantee that Victini won't be playable because he has more going for his inclusion then Mew, Celebi, Jirachi, and Manaphy ever did. Patterns can easily be broken and this is among the most likely patterns to be broken in SSB4, with all the reasons I have mentioned earlier.
The other arguments are very silly to say the least. It does not matter that Victini is legendary, as Mewtwo was a legendary, yet playable in Melee, it does not matter that Victini is an event Pokemon because Zoroark is an event Pokemon as well, and it really doesn't matter that he lacks a gender, as Mewtwo lacks one as well, yet is playable in Melee. Three major arguments that frequently comes up going against his inclusion have been proven invalid. If these three things actually mattered and bar characters from getting in, Mewtwo and Zoroark would also stand zero chance of being playable in SSB4.
Both Zoroark and Victini have unique moveset potential, but based off move set potentials, Victini is clearly the one with more moveset potentials. Zoroark's would be different, but aside from his Illusion gimmick, he would feel very similar to Mewtwo and Lucario mainly due to similar body structure. As such, if Mewtwo/Lucario are out, he would likely feel like a replacement for Lucario, which is the main thing turning people off from him. Victini would be completely different. He would utilize Psychic/Fire moves, has a completely different body structure, would be almost impossible for him to feel or have similar moveset to Lucario/Mewtwo. Two of his signature moves are Searing Shot and V-create, the latter of which could be used as a Final Smash, not to mention the other Psychic and Fire moves he could potentially have.
But why support Victini? If nothing else, support him because he would mean good things for the Pokemon roster. Many fans are hoping that one of Mewtwo/Lucario returns to SSB4. Their main problem is not their relevancy, but Zoroark, who has a similar build to both of these two. If he gets in, it is very unlikely that Mewtwo/Lucario will get in as well, which would cause a large outrage with fans because neither Mewtwo/Lucario are playable in SSB4. Not only that, it would leave fans disappointed because I doubt with Zoroark's inclusion that we'll get five slots, since once again, he has similar build to Lucario/Mewtwo and this could interfere with a fifth slot. With Victini, the chances of Mewtwo/Lucario getting in is much higher and while some people may prefer Zoroark, since Mewtwo's return is highly requested, I don't think many people would be upset if we saw a Pokemon roster consisting of Pikachu, Jigglypuff, Pokemon Trainer, Mewtwo/Lucario, and Victini as opposed to Pikachu, Jigglypuff, Pokemon Trainer, and Zoroark.
There are no guarantees for Pokemon. To assume that there is one in an unpredictable climate like this is far too absolute. His inclusion is what could finally convince Sora Ltd. to put Mewtwo/Lucario in SSB4; something that Zoroark will do otherwise. By no means Victini is a shoe-in, but look behind his Mew-like status and you will see that he has a lot going for his inclusion. Not in a Pokeball, but to be considered among Nintendo All-Stars; a playable character.
For those who support Zoroark, why do people even bother with Victini or give it a chance to be playable? There are a lot of things to say that goes for its inclusion and not much that goes in its way. Remember, there are more to Pokemon then popularity. While popularity is important, as shown in Brawl when Lucario got in over Deoxys and Blaziken, both of which who were far more requested then Lucario, it is not the be all, end all when deciding characters. Other things must be taken into account, such as relevancy and importance. Let's take a look at the four Pokemon slots in Brawl:
First of all is Pikachu. Why is Pikachu in the game? Fans of the series will obviously know why; because he is important to the series and remains relevant to this day. He is the mascot of his series and was promptly advertised as one; having an anime with him as the main Pokemon character and it runs to this day. He also constantly makes appearances in spin-off titles, so he is relevant in not only the anime, but also to video game fans.
Jigglypuff may not be spoken of much anymore, but he got in because like Pikachu, he was highly relevant at the time and very important to the series. Back in the day, he was among the most important Pokemon next to Pikachu. With the fact that he has survived all three Smash games, Jigglypuff remains relevant to the Pokemon series and Nintendo. If he had been forgotten, he would have been playable only once or twice before getting the boot.
Pokemon Trainer is Red, the protagonists of the original game. Why would they pick Red over Lucas in Diamond & Pearl or Brendan in Ruby & Sapphire? Because when fans think of a Pokemon Trainer, most of them point to Red, who is considered to be the most important and popular Pokemon Trainer to this day. This clearly shows that importance is the most important factor in deciding characters, Pokemon included, which in return, keeps him relevant to the gaming world
Whenever Deoxys and Blaziken fans like to admit it or not, Lucario got in because he was among the most popular 4th gen Pokemon at the time. Not only that, he was relevant before Diamond & Pearl got released, with his movie Lucario and the Mystery of Mew coming out on July 16, 2005, meaning that he had enough time to gain popularity to become playable in SSBB. More relevant then Deoxys and more relevant then Blaziken. This is a clear indication that relevancy is important to a character's inclusion.
Now that we have established that the four in Brawl got in due to importance and relevancy, it will play a part in a 5th gen newcomer in SSB4. In this case, Victini has the upper hand and he is catching up in popularity. Let's compare:
Zoroark had a movie on July 10, 2010. It's good that he was the 5th gen Pokemon to get a movie, but there's a problem here. It is one year and three months before SSB4 starts development. If Zoroark was to be near guarantee a spot, he would have to maintain his popularity for that span of time to seal his spot and it did not work. Zoroark's popularity for Smash is fading because he was advertised as the 5th Gen Lucario, which did not work that well. As a matter of fact, I think it was counterproductive because it caused some fans to look at him with a negative eye and discourage from supporting him for SSB4, myself included, because really, it looks like he is a likely replacement for Lucario, which quite frankly, not many fans like the idea of. He is popular, but is fading in relevancy, wasn't really that important to Pokemon in the first place (The same can be said for most Pokemons with a few exceptions), popularity never reached the height of Lucario did in it's heyday, and requests for SSB4 is dwindling.
Victini's movies came out on July 16, 2011. Refer back to why Lucario was relevant enough to be included. His movie came out three months before Brawl's development and he's in Brawl. Victini has two movies that comes three months before SSB4 starts development. Notice the correlation here and understand why this is important. As we speak, Victini's popularity is growing among fans and he is gaining more requests to make a playable appearance in SSB4, even consisting of former Zoroark supporters. While it isn't much as Zoroark, I would not be surprise to see it go over that of Zoroark as like I said, it is increasing. Victini also doesn't have to worry about the wait, he only has to maintain and increase popularity for three months, not nearly as daunting of a challenge and which he is more likely to succeed at. Before we leave the topic of his movies, remember that he has not one, but two movies. What this means is that the developers consider Victini important enough to have two movies and is a good indication that they really want to push Victini as this popular Pokemon that everyone loves for at least this gen. Guess who also had two movies? Mewtwo. He was in Melee. With all this, Victini is more relevant and more important to Pokemon then Zoroark.
Remember that Game Freak has a large handle in determining Pokemon content. As a matter of fact, they may even single-handely determine the Pokemon newcomer. This helps Victini a lot because it is Junichi Masuda's favorite Pokemon and this isn't some ordinary person working for the company, he is the Director of the Board, a very important role. Now also note that his previous favorite Pokemon was Pichu and that the Pokemon was playable in Melee. Since Pichu was a joke character, it is not unreasonable to assume that Sakurai was influenced by Game Freak to put him in. Since this is likely the case, as bias will play a role, Victini will be considered as a playable character, it's just a matter of whenever or not they choose either it or Zoroark
There really isn't much going against Victini's inclusion in SSB4 anyway. The only valid one I have seen going against his inclusion is the fact that he is a Mew-like Pokemon. While it does hurt his chances, it does not completely throw it away. I will also counter that with that all pattern we notice are Gambler's Fallacy. Just because Mew-like Pokemons have gotten the Pokeball treatment does not guarantee that Victini won't be playable because he has more going for his inclusion then Mew, Celebi, Jirachi, and Manaphy ever did. Patterns can easily be broken and this is among the most likely patterns to be broken in SSB4, with all the reasons I have mentioned earlier.
The other arguments are very silly to say the least. It does not matter that Victini is legendary, as Mewtwo was a legendary, yet playable in Melee, it does not matter that Victini is an event Pokemon because Zoroark is an event Pokemon as well, and it really doesn't matter that he lacks a gender, as Mewtwo lacks one as well, yet is playable in Melee. Three major arguments that frequently comes up going against his inclusion have been proven invalid. If these three things actually mattered and bar characters from getting in, Mewtwo and Zoroark would also stand zero chance of being playable in SSB4.
Both Zoroark and Victini have unique moveset potential, but based off move set potentials, Victini is clearly the one with more moveset potentials. Zoroark's would be different, but aside from his Illusion gimmick, he would feel very similar to Mewtwo and Lucario mainly due to similar body structure. As such, if Mewtwo/Lucario are out, he would likely feel like a replacement for Lucario, which is the main thing turning people off from him. Victini would be completely different. He would utilize Psychic/Fire moves, has a completely different body structure, would be almost impossible for him to feel or have similar moveset to Lucario/Mewtwo. Two of his signature moves are Searing Shot and V-create, the latter of which could be used as a Final Smash, not to mention the other Psychic and Fire moves he could potentially have.
But why support Victini? If nothing else, support him because he would mean good things for the Pokemon roster. Many fans are hoping that one of Mewtwo/Lucario returns to SSB4. Their main problem is not their relevancy, but Zoroark, who has a similar build to both of these two. If he gets in, it is very unlikely that Mewtwo/Lucario will get in as well, which would cause a large outrage with fans because neither Mewtwo/Lucario are playable in SSB4. Not only that, it would leave fans disappointed because I doubt with Zoroark's inclusion that we'll get five slots, since once again, he has similar build to Lucario/Mewtwo and this could interfere with a fifth slot. With Victini, the chances of Mewtwo/Lucario getting in is much higher and while some people may prefer Zoroark, since Mewtwo's return is highly requested, I don't think many people would be upset if we saw a Pokemon roster consisting of Pikachu, Jigglypuff, Pokemon Trainer, Mewtwo/Lucario, and Victini as opposed to Pikachu, Jigglypuff, Pokemon Trainer, and Zoroark.
There are no guarantees for Pokemon. To assume that there is one in an unpredictable climate like this is far too absolute. His inclusion is what could finally convince Sora Ltd. to put Mewtwo/Lucario in SSB4; something that Zoroark will do otherwise. By no means Victini is a shoe-in, but look behind his Mew-like status and you will see that he has a lot going for his inclusion. Not in a Pokeball, but to be considered among Nintendo All-Stars; a playable character.
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