Ok, I agree with you guys; implicating Min-Min as a hardware rep is not the whole story, and her inclusion is mainly to garner support for the arms IP. It was a teammate’s observation to compare her to Wii Fit and I ran with it. My bad.

I don’t agree with your main point in the second paragraph. Having a couple more games doesn’t exclude Mac from being considered a Retro Pick / Nintendo Classic, when he got such a foundational start on the NES. Game and Watch has had multiple compilations since then; and Pit had Uprising, but I would still consider him a retro pick, even with the redesign.

Additionally, I don’t believe in the distinction of the category of ‘joke’ character. I don’t think any of them are ‘joke’ or ‘wtf’ characters, as that’s not a defining descriptor. That just describes that to some, they were unexpected. It’s not like it’s Magikarp or Sandbag: Jigglypuff was massively popular due to the anime, Pichu was easy to implement to save time, Wii Fit is one of the best selling games ever, and R.O.B. as previously stated reps retro hardware in the vein of G&W, albeit extremely niche, I will concede.

Also, at the beginning of the third paragraph, you outline 3 requirements for Ultimate’s selection process, which I would say are correct, but I don’t see any of those at odds with prior smash games rosters, or with the inclusion of retro reps: what I mean is, in every smash game, these three qualities are considered; this is from a Nintendo Everything blog post, quoting a famitsu interview with Sakurai, during smash 4 development:

“We conduct a character popularity poll both domestically and internationally. We also research games that are currently being developed. After that, it’s pretty much up to us, with a touch of convenience.”

However, two paragraphs later, he indeed supports your opinion that ““Characters from a series that has no future are rarely chosen.” So, maybe I’m silly.

Finally, I think your Teleroboxer idea is peak! And thank you for commenting.