List of rumors: Difference between revisions

[[File:GrinchLeak.png|thumb|175px|"The Grinch leak", a hoax photo of ''Ultimate''{{'}}s supposed finalized banner of the game's finalized playable roster, which contained several characters that would not be playable in ''Ultimate''.]]

Like many other games, the ''{{b|Super Smash Bros.|series}}'' series has had various '''rumors''' spread about it, usually through the internet, and sometimes magazines. Most of the time, rumors claimed to contain information concerning [[List of Super Smash Bros. series characters#Playable character|playable character]]s, though rumors concerning other aspects of gameplay, such as development scheduling, can also appear. Rumors can be proven true or false on arrival via fact-checking or by waiting for relevant information from official sources, though a majority are proven false; some rumors, however, can contain true information, or even fabricated information that coincidentally becomes true in a later reveal or game. While rumors about the ''Smash'' series are made in the thousands on a daily basis, this article documents several particularly notable rumors, whether for being well known and widely spread, leaked by a notable source, or other reasons worth mentioning.

While extremely common, fake character rosters are relatively easy to debunk. Particularly low-quality rosters will often use art from various other sources, violating the trend in the series where all art is original to the games. For example, in the image to the right, Luigi's image is a mirrored version of [[mariowiki:File:Luigi Artwork - Super Mario 64 DS.png|his official artwork]] from ''{{s|mariowiki|Super Mario 64 DS}}''; adding to this, the hoaxed image features both three-dimensional models (such as for the aforementioned Luigi and the ''F-Zero'' character {{s|fzerowiki|Black Shadow}}) and two-dimensional illustrations (such as for [[Marth]] and ''Fire Emblem'' character {{s|fireemblemwiki|Micaiah}}). Furthermore, hoaxers have sometimes made various oversights while producing such images. A minor hoax, for instance, claimed to feature the character Agnès from {{uvm3|Bravely Default}} as a playable character, but the [[Media:AgnesSSB4rumor.jpg|faked images]] improperly spelt her name as "Agn'''é'''s", and her character portrait was different between the [[Media:AgnesRumorWiiU.jpg|two images given]]<ref>http://tieba.baidu.com/p/3346382609</ref>.

3. Notability of rumors should involve either having significant speculation and/or spread in the community (such as large threads on SmashBoards or coverage by notable gaming-related newssites), or have a notable characteristic that differentiates them from other rumors. An example of the former would be the Grinch Leak from Ultimate (which not only caused widespread debate throughout SmashBoards and social media sites about its legitimacy up to the release of Ultimate, but was also covered by mainstream gaming sites), while an example of the latter would be the Lucina rumor for Smash 4 (as it was the first faked leak that utilize mods, which would become a common trend for faking leaks of varying effort).

A popular rumor about ''Smash 64'' that came around long after its release was that several characters were planned to be playable in the game, but cut due to time and/or memory constraints. The characters most often rumored to have been planned but cut are [[Peach]], [[Wario]], [[Pit]], and [[Meowth]]. A page on the official ''Smash 64'' website claims that [[Bowser]], [[King Dedede]], and [[Mewtwo]] were indeed planned to be playable in ''Smash 64'', but the reason for their exclusion is not specifically stated<ref>http://games.yahoo.co.jp/qa/detail?qid=1090755405</ref>. Additionally, [[Marth]] was planned but cut due to time constraints, according to an interview from a book titled ''Making of Fire Emblem: 25 Years of Development Secrets''.<ref>[http://www.sourcegaming.info/2015/12/13/sakurai-fe25/ Source Gaming: "Sakurai Interview: Fire Emblem 25th Anniversary"]</ref> No sources, however, have been proven to support Pit, Meowth, Peach, Wario, or any other characters as having ever been planned to be playable in the game.

3. Notability of rumors should involve either having significant speculation and/or spread in the community (such as large threads on SmashBoards or coverage by notable gaming-related newssites), or have a notable characteristic that differentiates them from other rumors. An example of the former would be the Grinch Leak from Ultimate (which not only caused widespread debate throughout SmashBoards and social media sites about its legitimacy up to the release of Ultimate, but was also covered by mainstream gaming sites), while an example of the latter would be the Lucina rumor for Smash 4 (as it was the first faked leak that utilize mods, which would become a common trend for faking leaks of varying effort).

[[File:Sonictailshoax.jpg|thumb|400px|EGM's "proof" of Sonic and Tails appearing in ''SSBM'']] The Sonic and Tails rumor in [[Super Smash Bros. Melee|''Melee'']] remains one of the most infamous rumors not just in the ''Super Smash Bros.'' series, but also in the world of video games. An April Fools' joke pulled by the gaming-themed magazine ''{{s|Wikipedia|Electronic Gaming Monthly}}'' said that Sonic and Tails could be unlocked after defeating 20 enemies in [[Cruel Melee]], then defeating the two in a two-against-one battle. The blurb also claimed that upon completing {{SSBM|Classic Mode}} with either of the two characters, the player would get a "special surprise". While ''EGM'' was famous for its [http://www.defunctgames.com/ivegotyournumber/15/egms-15-april-fools-day-pranks previous April Fools' Day pranks], such as the infamous  [[wikipedia:Sheng Long|"Sheng Long cheat"]] in ''{{h2|Street Fighter (universe)|Street Fighter II}}'' (which would later be referenced by {{SSB4|Ryu}}'s [[Ryu (SSB4)#Reveal Trailer|reveal trailer]] in ''Smash 4''), many readers still fell for the rumor.

**A later interview conducted by ''[[wikipedia:Edge (magazine)|EDGE]]'' with former head of Sonic Team {{s|wikipedia|Yuji Naka}}, claimed that, on the topic of Sonic and Tails appearing in ''Melee'', "[[Media:YujiNakaInterview.jpg|it was very close, but time constraints did not allow us to continue with the idea.]]"

The rumor rapidly spread following its publication, with rival publication ''{{s|wikipedia|Nintendo Power}}'' publishing  an article about how the rumor was a hoax, and the page on ''Melee'' in Nintendo's website also writing about how the rumor was false. ''EGM'' would eventually confess in its next issue that the cheat was an April Fools' joke, and, like its previous April Fools' Day jokes, mock those who took it seriously. ''EGM'' later offered a contest where players who submitted video proof of getting 20 or more KOs in Cruel Melee could receive a free copy of ''[[wikipedia:Sonic Adventure 2|Sonic Adventure 2: Battle]]'', Sonic's first game on a Nintendo system.

The Toad rumor, initially posted on [http://web.archive.org/web/20090831060903/http://geocities.com/demeterpictures/secret.html a small Geocities site] in November of 2002, stated that Toad could be unlocked as a playable character in ''Melee'' after obtaining a perfect score during the [[Ending Credits|credits mini-game]], which is played after completing any one-player mode; after hitting all the credits, the player would then have to clear Adventure Mode (with a requirement of "easily defeating" the {{SSBM|Yoshi}}s in the {{b|Mushroom Kingdom|Adventure Mode}} stage), after which they would be able to unlock him. The site also gave several fake screenshots depicting Toad in various in-game scenarios, propagating the rumor; it came to the point where the images had become more well-known than the site and the supposed method to unlock him, with explanations sometimes varying strongly from the original.  

Long after ''Melee''{{'}}s release in May of 2012, a NeoGAF user named cednym would post information about planned content for ''Melee'' that was [[Unused content (SSBM)|scrapped]], which he supposedly found in old [[Famitsu]] issues from 2002. Among the claims were several characters being planned for inclusion, which were: [[King Dedede]] being the character next inline for inclusion if [[Masahiro Sakurai]] could not receive permission from [[Intelligent Systems]] to use {{SSBM|Marth}}, as well as being considered for inclusion in the place of the six [[clone]]s; that Sakurai considered a [[Pokémon Trainer]] character using the second generation starter Pokémon, but there wasn't enought time and resources for such a labor intensive character; [[Wario]] was briefly considered as the {{SSBM|Mario}} clone, with low speed and high attack power, but Sakurai felt that Wario deserved better; [[Wolf]] was initially slotted as {{SSBM|Fox}}'s clone, but Sakurai felt he would be perceived as "a grey-colored Fox", so he went with {{SSBM|Falco}} for his drastically different appearance; and Leif from ''Fire Emblem: Thracia 776'' was initially slotted as Marth's clone, but after Intelligent Systems gave Sakurai a preview of the upcoming ''Fire Emblem: The Binding Blade'', he thought Roy would be a better fit, with his fire properties making him stand out.<ref>https://www.neogaf.com/threads/next-super-smash-bros-discussion-thread-community-edition.448761/page-151#post-37915502</ref> While cednym provided no evidence for these claims being legitimate, these claims would proliferate within the ''Smash'' community as accepted information about ''Melee''{{'}}s development for several years after. In 2016, [[Source Gaming]] would attempt to find these old Famitsu translations or any other information to back up these claims, in their endeavor to chronicle all characters that were ever planned or seriously considered for inclusion in any ''Smash'' game for their "''The Definitive List of Unused Fighters in Smash''" article. However, they could not find anything that corroborated cednym's claims, in fact they would only find information that contradicted it, such as Sakurai confirming that Wario was the character next inline for inclusion, not King Dedede, as well as Sakurai confirming that he wouldn't have been able to add a single unique newcomer in the place of the six clones, contradicting the claim that Dedede could have been included in their place. Eventually, {{Sm|PushDustin}}, the admin of Source Gaming at the time, would contact cednym for verification of these claims, where he would admit that his post was entirely falsified.<ref>https://sourcegaming.info/2016/04/29/duflupdate/</ref>

3. Notability of rumors should involve either having significant speculation and/or spread in the community (such as large threads on SmashBoards or coverage by notable gaming-related newssites), or have a notable characteristic that differentiates them from other rumors. An example of the former would be the Grinch Leak from Ultimate (which not only caused widespread debate throughout SmashBoards and social media sites about its legitimacy up to the release of Ultimate, but was also covered by mainstream gaming sites), while an example of the latter would be the Lucina rumor for Smash 4 (as it was the first faked leak that utilize mods, which would become a common trend for faking leaks of varying effort).

Shortly after ''Brawl'''s announcement, a rumor claimed that in a radio interview, Masahiro Sakurai confirmed that [[Ridley]], a [[Toon Link|cel-shaded Link]], and [[Bowser Jr.]] would be playable characters. Coinciding with this was the rumor of [[Young Link]], the [[Ice Climbers]], and [[Mr. Game & Watch]] being dropped. This was proven to be false; while {{SSBB|Toon Link}} does replace Young Link in ''Brawl'' as the second Link, Ridley appears as a [[boss]] instead of a playable character, Bowser Jr. only appears as a [[sticker]] and [[trophy]], and Mr. Game & Watch and the Ice Climbers returned as playable characters in ''Brawl''.  

During the development of ''Brawl'', multiple rumors suggested that a character from ''Animal Crossing'', such as the generic playable character (termed an "Animal Crosser") or [[Tom Nook]], would be playable in ''Brawl''. A statement was reportedly made by Sakurai on the matter, which claimed that "On one hand, they have an innocent charm to them that could be ruined if they were in a fighting game"; the veracity of this statement, however, is disputed. Despite the lack of a playable character, ''Animal Crossing'' is strongly represented in ''Brawl'' by [[List of SSBB Music (Animal Crossing series)|some music tracks]], trophies, stickers, [[Mr. Resetti|an Assist Trophy]], [[Smashville|a stage]], and numerous cameos on said stage.  

The rumor was quickly proven as false; Masahiro Sakurai himself stated that downloadable content would never be coming for ''Brawl'', as the Wii's flash-based internal hardware is incapable of patching or otherwise modifying a game based on a downloaded file. The supposed release date of 13 May 2008 also passed without a "Wii Want More" channel being released or announced. Additionally, in a vein similar to the Toad rumor, the site was hosted on 110MB, a hosting site where anyone on the internet can publish content. However, [[downloadable content]] would become a prominent part of subsequent games, starting with ''Super Smash Bros. 4''.

3. Notability of rumors should involve either having significant speculation and/or spread in the community (such as large threads on SmashBoards or coverage by notable gaming-related newssites), or have a notable characteristic that differentiates them from other rumors. An example of the former would be the Grinch Leak from Ultimate (which not only caused widespread debate throughout SmashBoards and social media sites about its legitimacy up to the release of Ultimate, but was also covered by mainstream gaming sites), while an example of the latter would be the Lucina rumor for Smash 4 (as it was the first faked leak that utilize mods, which would become a common trend for faking leaks of varying effort).

On 22 January 2014, two supposedly leaked images of [[Palutena]] in the 3DS version of ''Super Smash Bros. 4'' began to circulate on the internet. The veracity of the images were immediately questioned, though some observers noted that the model and poses used by Palutena were not seen in any previous photo, and unlike the Lucina rumor, no hacks available for ''Brawl'' could replicate the image seen. Of particular note is that after the two images were released, a series of [[Media:Smash.4 - Viridi Stage Hazard.jpg|''Kid Icarus'']]-[[Media:Kid Icarus WiiU Stage.jpg|related]] [[Media:Smash.4 - Colliding Projectiles.jpg|images]] were released on Miiverse, leading some observers to speculate that Sakurai was aware of the Palutena images.  

After E3 2014 passed, with there still being no visual evidence of Chunky Kong despite the tens of hours of new gameplay footage being seen, the Chunky Kong Assist Trophy was generally regarded as a false report, though it was not known if it was intentionally falsified information, or inadvertently mistaken with another gameplay element. The rumor was ultimately proven completely false after both the Japanese release of {{for3ds}} and the American release of {{forwiiu}}, where Chunky Kong was still absent. About a month after ''Smash 4'''s release on Wii U, the poster who first reported the Chunky Kong Assist Trophy [http://smashboards.com/threads/k-rools-kremling-kutthroats-request-the-king-in-your-smash-club-nintendo-forms-today.324259/page-516#post-18244015 confessed to fabricating the claim]; he initially intended to use the false piece of information to help himself catch fake leaks, as well as see how many people would repeat his seemingly outlandish claim.

On February 14, 2015, multiple pictures taken of Ubisoft's Rayman supposedly in ''Smash 4'' were posted onto 4chan. The images were of Rayman's character select screen icon, his render, his character unlock splash art, and the main menu of ''Super Smash Bros. for Wii U'' with a new sub menu for a shop. Several hours later, video footage of Rayman's icon in the character select screen being highlighted was posted onto YouTube, but it was later taken down by the uploader. Mewtwo could also be seen above Rayman in the video. A similarly-updated character select screen from the 3DS version also surfaced. Many observers initially believed the hoax, since the images and the video were seemingly error-free, were of reasonably high quality, had renders not seen in any official material, and featured video footage, which was considered near-impossible to fake. This rumor also lined up with a [[#Rayman "leak"|previous rumor]] with similar information.  

Despite these statements, Tamaki stated that Shovel Knight was still on the way according to his source, and was expected to come around the end of October or the beginning of November. The rumor was ultimately debunked following the [[Nintendo Direct#Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS and Wii U - Final Video Presentation (December 15, 2015)|final DLC announcements]] on December 15, 2015, where Shovel Knight failed to make an appearance of any kind. In 2018, the source came out and explained that he had the Shovel Knight amiibo leaked to him, wrongly “made the leap”, as there were only Smash Bros amiibo available at the time, and gave Tamaki the info.<ref>https://www.twitter.com/Toadsanime/status/978650176847056897</ref>

3. Notability of rumors should involve either having significant speculation and/or spread in the community (such as large threads on SmashBoards or coverage by notable gaming-related newssites), or have a notable characteristic that differentiates them from other rumors. An example of the former would be the Grinch Leak from Ultimate (which not only caused widespread debate throughout SmashBoards and social media sites about its legitimacy up to the release of Ultimate, but was also covered by mainstream gaming sites), while an example of the latter would be the Lucina rumor for Smash 4 (as it was the first faked leak that utilize mods, which would become a common trend for faking leaks of varying effort).

Shortly after the reveal of ''Devil May Cry 5'' at E3 2018, a 4chan user posted [https://boards.fireden.net/v/thread/424869809/#q424872463 a thread] claiming to have information related to the game and several other projects related to the franchise. Namely, that Dante, the protagonist of the series, would be a playable character in ''Ultimate.''  Throughout the year, several of the poster's claims would be verified, such as several story details, the existence of a training mode and the way that the character Nero purchases upgrades. Perhaps adding to the leak's credibility, a Netflix series based on the franchise was announced later that year, just as the poster had claimed. Users would go on to discover that [https://twitter.com/pg_kamiya/status/700571957658423297 a poll run by Hideki Kamiya], the original creator of the ''Devil May Cry'' and {{uv|Bayonetta}} franchises, asked fans which version of Dante they'd prefer to see collaborate with Bayonetta. Users pointed out that the date of the poll, early 2016, aligns with the period of time which Sakurai had stated early development on ''Ultimate'' had begun, and that the version of Dante that won the poll was the same version that the 4chan poster had claimed would be in the game. In early August, Matt Walker, the producer of Devil May Cry 5, [https://imgur.com/LVArqNC posted a suspicious tweet] that seemed to allude to something related to the Nintendo Direct that would air during that week. Later in the year, [https://www.reddit.com/r/DevilMayCry/comments/9i7inm/hideaki_itsuno_hideki_kamiya_together_at_tgs_2018/ Kamiya would meet up with Hideaki Itsuno, the current director of the Devil May Cry series] at TGS 2018, adding fuel to the rumors. Eventually, [https://i.redd.it/w70jqikzqsh11.png the rumor] had circulated enough that Walker [https://twitter.com/gypsyOtoko/status/1032867906839879680 took to Twitter to debunk Dante's presence in Smash].

As both ''Ultimate'' and ''Devil May Cry 5'' released, with Dante absent from the former and the latter being inconsistent with much of the original 4chan post, it's very likely that the original poster simply made several very lucky guesses that were bolstered by a series of coincidences.  

The leak has been dubbed the "'''Grinch leak'''", as a thought-to-be previously unseen render of the {{s|wikipedia|Grinch}} can be seen in the bottom right corner in one of the pictures, and another render of the Grinch with his dog, Max, can be seen at the top of another picture. The particular renders are promotional{{fact}} material for the then-upcoming 2018 film ''{{iw|wikipedia|The Grinch|film}}'', which supported the leak's validity, as few believed that a constructor of a fake banner would also put in the time and effort to associate it with an unrelated film.

In the Nintendo Direct on November 1, 2018, Ken and Incineroar were revealed as the final fighters in the base roster, contradicting the banner's rumored characters. Shadow and Isaac were shown in the direct, but as Assist Trophies, while Mach Rider, Geno, and the Chorus Kids were later revealed as Spirits. Additionally, Ken's artwork is slightly different than the leaked banner's<ref>[https://i.imgur.com/qm4vHcm.png]</ref> and in a completely different location. Banjo and Kazooie are the only characters in the leak that didn't make an appearance in the base game in any shape or form, although they were revealed as the third DLC fighter in the Fighters Pass Vol. 1 on June 11th, 2019. While he didn't get a spot on the roster, Geno's Mii Costume (mostly unchanged from its appearance in the previous game) would also be revealed as DLC on December 17, 2020.

On August 30th, 2019, a YouTube user by the name of IAmShifty posted a [https://youtu.be/JcwSKSy-nIY video] claiming that Ryu Hayabusa from the ''{{s|wikipedia|Ninja Gaiden}}'' series would be joining the Fighters Pass for ''[[Super Smash Bros. Ultimate]]''. According to the user, Ryu would be the fourth character to be announced for the Fighters Pass. Previously, he had supposedly correctly [https://youtu.be/TKe4M3VuN6o?t=125 leaked] {{SSBU|Isabelle}}, {{SSBU|Ken}}, {{SSBU|Incineroar}} and {{SSBU|Piranha Plant}} as playable characters, in addition to [[Marx]] appearing as a boss character in the game.