There were a lot of people that had been expecting Ike to get the boot in the new Super Smash Bros. in favor of the recent protagonist Chrom, just as Ike took the place of Roy in the last game. Well, that theory has been dashed, as Sakurai revealed in his latest Miiverse post that Ike is returning.

He's not entirely the same as his Brawl appearance, as this is actually Ike as he appears in Radiant Dawn rather than Path of Radiance, but still. This doesn't necessarily mean that another Fire Emblem character won't make the playable roster, but seeing as Marth and Ike have both been confirmed as returning, and that Lyn is back again as an Assist Trophy, the chances of someone like Chrom showing up in the game in playable form are slim, at best.

If they announced Tharja I bet you'd buy like 100 copies.

I would buy all the copies.

Tharja pls Sakurai.

YES! He was my " main " in Brawl. Which is kinda weird since I didn't even play the game he was in or know anything at all about him as a character, but hey.

....He looks a little Jak and Daxter-ish in this, though. ;/

Fuck you, Ike, for not being Roy!

BOO! Ike sucks! Roy's our boy!

General Ike is cool, pretty bummed it's not Chrom though. Awakening was so good! Also the fact the bottom of his page says "Want to know more about Ike? Visit the official website for Fire Emblem: Awakening!" is weird.

Cool, I really like Ike. Super slow but super powerful.

Ike was a lot of fun in Brawl and pretty much everyone I played with could play him well so I'm glad he made the cut.

I like Ike, but if this means that we won't get any new Fire Emblem characters, that's disappointing.

There still is a rather credible rumor on the table which names Chrom as an unlockable. I don't think this invalidates it.

This is very good news for other not-really-clones-but-minor-enough-to-be-cut characters like Lucas who, other than his species, is entirely different from Ness and yet is first on the chopping block whenever people start naming cut.

I enjoy playing Ike a whole lot, so I'm glad to see he's returning, but if the Fire Emblem roster in this game looks identical to the last one that's pretty disappointing. #TeamTharja

YEAH IKE!!! Looks cooler than he did in Brawl.

I was really rooting for either Ike to be replaced with Chrom or for Marth to be replaced with Lucina, and the fact that neither of those happened is a huge bummer.

I think Ike might have been my favorite character in Brawl. Real satisfying hits. This is good to hear.

WE LIKE IKE

WE LIKE IKE

WE LIKE IKE

(no really I like Ike, glad he's in)

@seveword: My sentiments exactly

Still no Awakening characters, Chrom would be rad, or maybe some kind of gimmick character that's an entire team of FE characters.

I'm waiting for awakening with bated breath.

Even if I was expecting Chrom, as someone who played a lot of Ike in Brawl I am fully on-board with him being back.