Super Smash Bros Ultimate Almost Didn't Include Incineroar

The biggest selling point of Super Smash Bros. Ultimate is unquestionably the fact that it features every fighter from previous installments in the series. While that meant a smaller number of new fighters than what we're used to seeing in a new Smash Bros. game, there are still a few characters joining the roster for the first time. One of those is the Pokemon Incineroar, but we're learning today that it almost didn't make the cut.

Instead of Incineroar, Smash Bros. director Masahiro Sakurai and his team at Sora Ltd. almost picked a different starter from Pokemon's seventh generation games: Decidueye. Arguably, Incineroar is a better fit for Smash Bros., as it's a fire/dark dual-type Pokemon with a penchant for pro wrestling. Decidueye, by comparison, is a grass/ghost dual-type with no apparently interest in the squared circle.

Sakurai revealed this morsel of trivia in a two-part interview with Japan's Nintendo Dream. That interview was detailed on Twitter by PushDustIn, where we also learn that Piranha Plant was chosen as one of the new characters because it isn't a hero like many of the other fighters. Perhaps that means we'll one day see something like a Goomba or a Hammer Bro make their way onto Smash's roster?

Sakurai also states in the interview that the reason why there aren't any Xenoblade Chronicles 2 or ARMS characters featured as fighters is simply down to bad timing. It sounds like those games launched as Ultimate was already pretty far along in development, meaning that characters in those games were relegated to assist trophies rather than full-blown fighters.

While none of this is crucial information for the Ultimate player base, it is interesting to get a look into the game's development process and some of the decisions that were made during it. Apparently, the second part of that interview has yet to be published, so it's possible that we'll learn more about the game when that happens.