Smash Ultimate rumors claimed that a Monster Hunter would be added, but Pyra's release debunked that claim. Here's how and who could be next.
Pyra and Mythra from Xenoblade Chronicles 2 joined the Super Smash Bros. Ultimate roster on March 4. The pair of sword wielders is the fourth DLC fighter added to the title as part of Fighters Pass 2, which means only two new characters remain. There has been a ton of speculation about who might come to Nintendo's platform fighter next. One popular theory that had seemingly predicted the addition of Final Fantasy 7's Sephiroth, as well as Pyra and Mythra, claimed that a character from Capcom's Monster Hunter is destined for Smash Ultimate, but that was debunked with the release of the Xenoblade duo.
Since Monster Hunter Rise's release is right around the corner, fans anticipated a Smash Ultimate announcement to go along with its launch. Any hope of that was lost when Game Director Masahiro Sakurai revealed that the Monster Hunter Mii costumes from Smash 4 would be returning to Ultimate alongside the release of Pyra and Mythra. Franchises added to Smash Ultimate as Mii costumes first have never received a representative in the roster. Cuphead and Travis Touchdown from No More Heroes are some recent examples of rumored Smash DLCs that were debunked after they were added as Mii costumes and Monster Hunter was next in line.
The rumor of a Monster Hunter character coming to Smash stemmed from a post on anonymous message board 4chan (via GameRant) that claimed Nintendo plans on hosting a Smash-themed concert in 2022. The anonymous poster included an alleged track list of songs being considered for the event. These included Sephiroth's "One-Winged Angel" theme, a Xenoblade Chronicles 2 song, and "Proof of a Hero" from the Monster Hunter series. Seeing how this list had accurately predicted the Final Fantasy villain and Pyra's addition, fans assumed a Monster Hunter representative would be one of the final two Fighters Pass 2 characters. That is likely no longer the case.
While the concert rumor might no longer hold as much weight, there's another alleged leak that has caught gamers' attention. It also originated from 4chan, and it correctly predicted that Min-Min, Sephiroth, and Minecraft Steve would be added to the cast. The post claimed that Doomguy from DOOM, Rayman, and Ryu Hayabusa from Ninja Gaiden could be next, but there are already some inaccuracies in those predictions.
The list didn't include the addition of Pyra and Mythra, which calls into question its legitimacy. Plus, now that there are only two remaining slots in Fighters Pass 2, one of its three remaining predictions is wrong because Sakurai said that the current DLC bundle would be Super Smash Bros. Ultimate's last. Fans will likely have to wait until mid-2021 to confirm what DLC could be coming next, and it most likely won't be a Monster Hunter representative.
