Every time Masahiro Sakurai sits down to explain the moveset of a DLC fighter about to join Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, it's an exciting time for the game's fanbase. Every DLC character so far has its own odd quirks and innovations that push the boundaries of Smash. Super Smash Bros. Ultimate DLC characters come with plenty of new ideas, like Sephiroth's unique projectiles, Banjo and Kazooie's Wonderwing ammunition, and so on. Tekken's Kazuya Mishima, the next character to join Smash Ultimate, is no exception. Sakurai's explainer on Kazuya highlighted all kinds of special inputs and intricate combos that Kazuya can do, impressively channeling the very technical Tekken.

However, Sakurai's Smash Ultimate presentations always come with another side, though. In these presentations, Nintendo typically unveils new costumes for Mii fighters. In recent history, the majority of these costumes represent specific characters, adding them to the game in spirit rather than giving them a full fighter. These costumes are fun, but often heartbreaking to Smash fans, who take Mii costumes as a sign that their favorite character isn't getting into Smash. At the end of Kazuya's presentation, Nintendo presented Mii costumes for once hotly rumored characters, potentially putting an end to their chances of receiving a Smash Ultimate invitation.

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Sakurai and Nintendo revealed four Mii costumes during the Kazuya presentation. While all of them were big deals, a couple of them in particular represent characters that fans believed had a real slot at being playable. One of them is Lloyd Irving, the protagonist of Tales of Symponia. The Tales series of RPGs are a cornerstone of the genre, not unlike Final Fantasy and Dragon Quest, and Tales of Symphonia is a particularly beloved entry. Some fans believed Lloyd might come to Smash since Bandai Namco needed some representation and other impactful RPGs got new characters. Instead, it looks like Nintendo just wants to put a Lloyd costume for the Mii Swordfighter in the game.

Another Mii Swordfighter costume deals a heavy blow to a particular fandom. For years, fans of Devil May Cry have wanted Dante to join Smash. After Devil May Cry saw a resurgence thanks to its most recent game, odds seemed improved that Nintendo would reach out to Capcom and ask it if it'd like to collaborate on putting Dante in Smash. It now looks like that's not the case. Dante was another Mii costume revealed alongside details about Kazuya's moveset. This comes after a long line of rumors and theories claiming that he was on the way thanks to Nintendo and Capcom's good relationship. Maybe Nintendo felt it had enough Capcom characters populating the Smash roster already.

The Mii costumes are definitely a big blow to these fanbases. With so little time and space left for characters to get into Smash Ultimate, any clue that there's still hope for a character is precious, and any claim that a character won't join Smash is devastating.  The last thing Lloyd and Dante needed at Smash Ultimate's final hour is a significant clue from Nintendo suggesting that they're not the ones getting into the game in its very last slot. It seems clear that Nintendo as telling fans that this is the best it can do for now.

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Strictly speaking, Mii costumes don't necessarily make it impossible for a character or a franchise to join Smash. For example, Rex from Xenoblade Chronicles 2 got a Mii Swordfighter costume a long time ago, rather than him or another representative of the RPG actually getting into Smash. Later on, Nintendo turned around and added a Xenoblade Chronicles 2 representative anyway via Pyra and Mythra, with Rex guest starring in their Final Smash and taunts. For many Smash fans and lovers of games and characters who've gotten Mii Costumes, hope springs eternal that Nintendo will revisit its decisions to make costumes out of characters and make a full character instead.

The Mii Fighter costumes aren't what's responsible for essentially deconfirming Dante and Lloyd, though. It's the fact that Super Smash Bros. Ultimate's DLC run is about to come to an end. Sakurai confirmed that there will be no more Smash Ultimate DLC fighters. With only one slot remaining and Mii costumes freshly unveiled for these characters, there's basically no way that either Tales of Symphonia or Devil May Cry got the last invitation. It'd be bizarre for Nintendo to make costumes for them, and then immediately turn around to put one of them in the game a few months later. Mii costumes serve as a venue for many more characters to join Smash in spirit. Dante and Lloyd just don't seem like they're getting full-fledged tickets this time.

Dante and Lloyd weren't the only potential fighters given consolation prizes during Kazuya's presentation. Shantae, the indie platforming half-genie hero who many believed would be a great representative of the indie genre in Smash, is only getting a Mii costume and not a full fighter. Smash Ultimate would've definitely benefitted from an indie fighter, but at least Nintendo is recognizing her in other ways.

The fourth and final Mii costume was for The Elder Scrolls: Skyrim's Dragonborn. Bethesda got a Mii costume in before via the Vault Boy, but the Dragonborn raises a few more eyebrows. The Skyrim protagonist wouldn't have been a surprising fighter in Smash at all, considering Skyrim's influence, but apparently the moment for a Dovahkiin DLC has passed.

Seeing so many famous characters get Mii costumes makes sense at this stage of the game. If Nintendo really doesn't want to do another wave of DLC but does want to invite as many people as possible, then it always has the option of giving fans the tools to make Miis of their favorite characters. The last Smash Ultimate DLC will probably also be accompanied by equally famous characters as Mii Costumes.

Fans might have mixed feelings about seeing Dante and Lloyd become Mii costumes now, but in the long run, it's a good thing. Nintendo is still acknowledging these characters and trying to celebrate them in Smash Ultimate as best it can. Smash Ultimate was always meant to have the biggest cast of fighters to date, and Mii Fighters contribute a lot of fan favorites to that cast in a simple way.

Super Smash Bros. Ultimate is available now on Nintendo Switch.

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