Masahiro Sakurai explains why Incineroar was chosen over Decidueye for Super Smash Bros. Ultimate

Super Smash Bros. Ultimate director Masahiro Sakurai recently revealed that Decidueye was almost chosen for the new Pokémon spot in the latest installment of Nintendo’s flagship fighting series. That spot, of course, went to Incineroar in the end. With the inclusion of the latest Pokémon addition, there are 10 playable Pokémon in total – Pikachu, Jigglypuff, Pichu, Mewtwo, Squirtle, Ivysaur, Charizard, Lucario, Greninja and Incineroar. Read on below for a few excerpts from the recent Nintendo Dream interview:

Incineroar as a Pro-Wrestler Enthusiast

So, Incineroar was taken from the newest Pokémon games.

Sakurai: While I was having talks with The Pokémon Company, they had shared with me some of the development details for the upcoming Pokémon Sun & Moon games. Up until the very end it was between Decidueye and Incineroar – which one should I choose? I felt like I could do interesting things with either of them, but in the end, I went with Incineroar.

What led you to the deciding between those two?

Sakurai: They were both strong as characters – had it been Decidueye, I could’ve done a variety of things with projectiles and the like.

There hasn’t been a fighter that fights like a pro-wrestler.

Sakurai: Part of what they showed me had an image of a fire vortex coming out of Incineroar’s belt, but that didn’t really go with the pro-wrestling image, so I didn’t use it. I thought it would be more fun if the character revolved entirely around the wrestler concept. That being said, pro-wrestling can be completely different depending on the generation, right? I grew up in All Japan Pro-Wrestling and New Japan Pro-Wrestling’s heyday, when they were still being broadcast on Golden. As of today, though, it seems like there’s a lot of people that don’t really know much about pro-wrestling.

For sure…

Sakurai: There might not be many people out there saying “I saw a pro-wrestling match yesterday!” (laughs)

Source: Nintendo Everything