TSR's Super Smash Bros Thread|SWITCH HYPE TRAIN NOW BOARDING

[TomGuycott]

Konami would probably sooner include a Castlevania Pachinko machine as a new fighter.

Popularity isn't necessarily "all it takes", it's just a major contributing factor. I bet Cloud killed it in fan requests. Also, worth nothing, games like Thearhythm Final Fantasy have also allowed several FF characters that were not on a Nintendo console to secretly pass the first Smash requirement: appear on a Nintendo console.

Cloud had that since the GBA era, though, and frankly lots of post-Cloud FF characters aren't even as highly elevated by super fans. Just food for thought for next Smash, when maybe the 3rd Party floodgates burst open. Wishful thinking.