Of the 86 characters in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, 61 are returning veterans thanks to the game’s “Everyone Is Here” theme. Some of these fighters were just barely able to make it into a past entry, but there are also a number of others that got scrapped along the way.
For Super Smash Bros. Brawl, there were at least seven challengers that ultimately didn’t make the final cut. They were Mewtwo, Roy, Dr. Mario, Dixie Kong, Plusle & Minun (speculated), Toon Zelda, and Toon Sheik (likely Tetra).
However, it should be noted that Dixie Kong was originally intended to act as one half of a tag team along with Diddy Kong. Essentially, Diddy and Dixie would’ve cooperated like they do in Donkey Kong Country 2: Diddy’s Kong Quest.
This would allow the player to control one of the Kongs while the other followed closely behind at all times. By activating a certain special, the player could have the other Kong tag in to become the point character.
In Donkey Kong Country 2: Diddy’s Kong Quest, Diddy would flip Dixie by her hair to tag in while Dixie would give Diddy the boot when tagging in herself. The two also likely would’ve also had access to a team throw special that had the active Kong throwing the other as a projectile.
Ultimately though, this concept was scrapped due to technical hurdles and complications. Diddy was made into a solo fighter while Dixie was removed as a playable character entirely.
“As a matter of fact, we planned to put in Diddy Kong and Dixie Kong as a pair,” said Masahiro Sakurai on the subject according to translations by Source Gaming. “The duo would use the tag team system [from Donkey Kong Country] to switch between the two instantly. But, there were various difficulties, and they were soon cut.”
“As a matter of fact, we planned to put in Diddy Kong and Dixie Kong as a pair… But, there were various difficulties, and they were soon cut.” — Masahiro Sakurai
This is similar to how the Ice Climbers got cut from Super Smash Bros. 4 due to the technical limitations of the 3DS. Charizard also became a solo character despite being one-third of the Pokémon Trainer in Super Smash Bros. Brawl, though he was later reunited again with Squirtle and Ivysaur in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate.
In Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, Masahiro Sakurai initially considered various methods of implementing Rex alongside Pyra & Mythra. Eventually, it was just decided to have Pyra & Mytha be playable while Rex would only appear during taunts, the Final Smash, and victory animations. This was again due to technical difficulties with the implementation.
Of the two Kong characters, it would make sense that Diddy would get more priority over Dixie in Super Smash Bros. Brawl considering that he’s generally more popular and iconic. Diddy made his debut video game appearance in Donkey Kong Country back in November 1994 while Dixie appeared later in Donkey Kong Country 2: Diddy’s Kong Quest (in which she was the partner for Diddy who was the main character) back in November 1995.
“I chose Diddy Kong because of his overwhelming popularity,” continued Sakurai. “Given the amount of supporters he has, it’s almost shocking he hadn’t joined the fray until now.”
“I chose Diddy Kong because of his overwhelming popularity. Given the amount of supporters he has, it’s almost shocking he hadn’t joined the fray until now.” — Masahiro Sakurai
Though it would’ve been nice if Diddy and Dixie were both split into separate combatants, Sakurai mentioned that even getting Diddy to work by himself proved to be a somewhat difficult task. This was mostly due to how he moves and behaves within the game.
“We came up with some really interesting movements for him. This exhausted our motion designers,” said Sakurai about Diddy. “We made him scamper around just like a proper monkey does. He also pulls out banana peels and uses them to trip opponents. He’s quite impish.”
It’s widely believed that, of the scrapped “Forbidden Seven” of Super Smash Bros. Brawl, Mewtwo, Roy, and Dixie had the most work done on them. Sakurai at one point stated that, if the team had just a little bit more time, they could’ve implemented one or two more fighters in Super Smash Bros. Brawl along with just barely finishing Jigglypuff, Toon Link, and Wolf on time (who also almost got cut).
Of course, considering that Mewtwo and Roy likely would’ve been easier to implement than Dixie Kong due to them being playable in Super Smash Bros. Melee, they probably would’ve had more priority than Dixie in this situation.
It wasn’t until Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, the fifth entry in the series, that a third Donkey Kong Country rep was added to the roster with King K. Rool, who was also immensely popular amongst the fans. Should a fourth rep ever be considered in the future, Dixie Kong seems like the obvious next choice.
Nintendo President Shuntaro Furukawa confirmed plans to unveil the Switch successor within this fiscal year. An entry for the Super Smash Bros. series has appeared on every Nintendo console since the Nintendo 64, and, wouldn’t you know it, Masahiro Sakurai recently revealed that he’s been working on a secret game project since April 2022.
As of right now, it’s not actually known if what Sakurai has been working on all this time even has anything to do with the Super Smash Bros. series. Regardless, Sakurai does appear to believe that there will probably be another entry at some point, though following up Super Smash Bros. Ultimate’s one-time “Everyone Is Here” theme will likely prove to be a difficult task.
Could Dixie end up being playable in the next Super Smash Bros. title? It certainly would be nice to finally see happen, but only time will tell.