A common complaint regarding Smash Ultimate's roster is the lack of black/brown characters in its roster, as brought up in this thread. However, as I've noted in that very same thread, part of the problem with the roster is that (outside of Incineroar, who filled the obligatory Pokémon slot) the roster was finalized as of December 2015. And as we found out with Sakurai's statement about the Rex Mii Costume, Sakurai wasn't aware of most new games announced after the project plan (Odyssey seems to be the only exception, but even the Odyssey content in Smash could have been done on short notice). With this thread, I'd like to highlight some of Nintendo's improvements in representation since December 2015, some of the setbacks, & what it could mean for Smash going forward.
BLACK/BROWN REPRESENTATION IN NINTENDO GAMES FROM 2016 ONWARDS
SETBACKS FOR BLACK/BROWN REPRESENTATION IN NINTENDO GAMES AFTER DECEMBER 2015
UPDATE
And in a recent turn of events, Marina's Sanrio plushie depicts her as much paler than she actually is in-game.
UPDATE 2
WHAT THIS MEANS FOR NINTENDO GOING FORWARD
BLACK/BROWN REPRESENTATION IN NINTENDO GAMES FROM 2016 ONWARDS
While we did have characters like Elma (though she could be debated given.....certain elements of Xenoblade X's story) & Rodin (third party, yes, but the Bayonetta IP is basically Nintendo's adopted child at this point) prior to 2016, we did start to see a noticeable uptick in representation until 2017. This was when we started to see more prominent characters in recent Nintendo games bring black characters to the forefront. With Ever Oasis, Tethu (or Tethi if you went with the female variant) is often represented as dark in skin tone by default. ARMS brought us Twintelle & Misango (I spoke with many on the topic of Misango, & they believe he should be counted, but feel free to respond if you feel differently), both of whom I discussed in more detail in my recent ARMS character analysis thread. Breath of the Wild introduced Urbosa, one of the four Champions representing the Gerudo people. And Splatoon 2 not only brought us Marina, but also the main Inkling & Octoling girls having darker skin by default. This even extended to the Splatoon 2 Inkling Girl's Amiibo (this presents a problem for the Octoling Girl, which I'll get to later).
As for Pokémon Sun & Moon, both games (as well as the Ultra versions) brought us a ton of black/brown representation. This includes the likes of Ilima, Kiawe, Professor Kukui, Professor Burnet, Hala, Mallow, Samson Oak, & Olivia. And while one could argue that this is more of Game Freak & The Pokémon Company than Nintendo, I'll still give them a mention here.
Also, by the same virtue of Pokémon, Cygames brought forward quite a bit of black/brown representation for Dragalia Lost. Special thanks to Kanik & Parshias for bringing this to my attention as well as providing me with the images seen below.
At least in the case of ARMS, BotW, & Splatoon 2, their moves in terms of black/brown representation were met with much praise (more so Twintelle in the case of ARMS since Misango came out later), especially with regards to Twintelle & Marina. Twintelle went on to become one of the most popular ARMS characters in the West, while Marina became the most popular member of Off the Hook (but to be fair to Pearl, she gained more fans after the Octo Expansion). Sun & Moon also received praise for its representation, more so with regards to Olivia. As for Ever Oasis, it unfortunately didn't get much attention due to it being a new IP releasing on the 3DS after the Switch hype was in full swing, but I've heard good things about the game (I'd play it if my 3DS didn't get fucked up six ways to Sunday). These are all marked improvements for Nintendo on this front. However, not everything has been smooth sailing in terms of black/brown representation in their games.
SETBACKS FOR BLACK/BROWN REPRESENTATION IN NINTENDO GAMES AFTER DECEMBER 2015
Nintendo has seen progress on this front, but I of course have to address various problems that they've had recently. The most recent (& most glaring) issue being the use of racist stereotypes in certain selections regarding Super Smash Bros. Ultimate's Spirits, which has been discussed further in this thread. The main three that are an issue right now are Diddy Kong as Dee Jay (as shown above), Donkey Kong as Mr. Sandman, & Villager (the black Villager with a purple shirt) as Tac. While sure, the Villager alt wasn't dark-skinned until after E3 & Donkey Kong being the secret boss of Punch-Out Wii was likely the intended reference, I can't deny that they both look bad. As for Diddy Kong as Dee Jay, there really isn't much of an excuse there. All of these should be corrected as soon as possible. But sadly, I fear that it may not happen given that the thread's topic went under the radar. Another problem is mainly with how the Octoling Girl's Amiibo was handled, which shows her as much paler than her renders. Normally this could have been chalked up as an error with manufacturing, but the Splatoon 2 Inkling Girl's Amiibo was seen to be darker than her official render, thus not leaving Nintendo with much of an excuse here. It's a shame, especially considering how well Splatoon 2 is doing with black/brown representation otherwise.
UPDATE
I did some digging on the Octoling situation. As it turns out, the Octoling Girl is actually black in-game, so the white-washing of the Amiibo was a fuck-up on the manufacturer's part.
As an aside, Wario did white-wash the Splatoon 2 Inkling Girl in his drawing in WarioWare Gold, which is a bit problematic all things considered.
This isn't the first time the Splatoon 2 Inkling Girl was white-washed, as her Figma has the same problem.
However, in the case of the Figma, it's just a variant of the Splatoon 1 Inkling Girl's Figma (this is made clear when you look at her eyes, which have the same color as the Splatoon 1 Inkling Girl), so it was likely made with spare Splatoon 1 Inkling Girl parts. As such, while I don't like the situation, I can kinda understand why this happened.
And in a recent turn of events, Marina's Sanrio plushie depicts her as much paler than she actually is in-game.
UPDATE 2
WHAT THIS MEANS FOR NINTENDO GOING FORWARD
At their current trajectory, Nintendo should hopefully have more representation with regards to black/brown characters in their games going forward. In fact, we're seeing more progress on this front with the introduction of Claude as one of the three Lords in Fire Emblem: Three Houses. Unfortunately, beyond Tethu, the main Splatoon 2 Inkling Girl, & the main Octoling Girl, there still exists the underlying problem that most of the new black/brown characters that we've gotten in recent years aren't main characters. And in the case of Urbosa, she likely won't be a recurring character unless we revisit that specific Hyrule from BotW in future Zelda games. This ties back to Primethius' thread regarding black/brown representation in Smash being a problem in that without more representation being brought forward for main characters, we may not see that much of a change in the next Smash game. At best, we could see Twintelle be added in the next Smash game, but I don't see that happening without Spring Man being promoted from Assist Trophy to playable in the next game alongside her (hence why I see Twintelle as unlikely for Smash Ultimate DLC). Though to Twintelle's credit, I could easily see her take up the role of leading lady from Ribbon Girl in ARMS 2 (whenever that happens) in light of Twintelle's popularity, which would be a net upgrade for her. Concerning Marina, she basically has the same problem as Twintelle in that she's only a side character. And while it's implied that she can use the various weapons in the world of Splatoon, we haven't seen her do much beyond tech work. And of course, there are the obvious racist stereotypes that are still an issue in Smash Ultimate. But there is still reason to be hopeful, especially with the progress we've already seen. It's only a matter of time before we get more main characters who are black/brown (which is one of the glaring omissions left in terms of Nintendo's progress, Tethu aside) that can stand a chance of pushing Nintendo (& the next Smash game's roster) forward in this regard. But I'd like to hear your thoughts on the matter. How do you feel about Nintendo's progress & setbacks regarding black/brown representation in their games? If I missed anyone in this thread or made an error along the way, please let me know so I can correct it.
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