 Shantae fans rejoice. The half-juni hero has officially been added to the Super Smash Bros. Ultimate roster. Sort of. As has become tradition in providing the internet with details of the latest DLC fighter, Kazuya from Tekken, Masahiro Sakurai announced a batch of Me Fighter costumes, including a special skin for Shantae. While she was previously included in the game as a spirit, she's now playable in her own right. In the presentation Sakurai noted just how much fan demand there is for Shantae in Smash, so it's not surprising that she was included as a Me costume. Indeed, the developers at Way Forward have been asked over and over and over about whether she'd ever get to be included in the game in a more substantial role. Said Shantae co-creator Matt Boson, We love the enthusiasm! It was incredible to have her included as a spirit, and I know that it meant a lot to Shantae fans. If she ever becomes playable in Smash, it would be neat to see how hair-whipping, dancing or transformations could play a part in her moveset. Boson went on to explain that, when Shantae was included as a spirit within Smash, the team at Way Forward didn't even understand what they were signing up for. Nintendo asked for art assets and Way Forward sent them over. They had no idea what would be done with them. He said, We've been working with Nintendo for something like 25 years, and they know that we're die-hard fans. In this case, we just sent over some artwork to be used at their discretion. On the off chance, they could include her in some way. We didn't know she'd be a spirit, or even what a spirit was. We were shocked to see Shantae show up during a Smash Direct. It was awesome. Before that moment, we didn't know any details. In cases like that, RMO is to zip it and wait. In another interview, Boson said, I think it's fair to say that being invited to Super Smash Bros. is the highest honour a game character can receive. So we're very humbled to have seen Shantae included as a spirit when Ultimate launched on Switch. That was a huge honour. Having her as a Mii costume, assist trophy, or a full-blown fighter now or in a future Smash Bros. game would be a dream come true. And I know that it would make a lot of fans very happy as well. For now, I'm just so happy that she was able to be included. Some fans who had been hoping to see Shantae as a full-blown character in her own right are, of course, disappointed that she's only included as a costume for Mii characters. Over the years, there's been plenty of speculation about how Shantae would control as an actual fighter within the game, and Matt Boson has been eager to fan those particular flames. He described Shantae's ideal moveset thusly. I'm really excited about Shantae being a possibility for Smash. How cool would that be? Amazing, right? I think stylistically, she'd be a good fit, being something that exists somewhere between Mega Man and Peach. I'd hope she could recover in happy form, or maybe pull off some incredible dance and transformation for her final Smash. I would love to see this happen. And if not now, then sometime in the future. While it seems there wasn't a space in Nintendo's planned roster of new characters for the fighter's past volume 2, the team at Sora Limited did their best to appease fans by instead making Shantae a Mii costume. According to Boson, Shantae's recognition in Smash is purely the result of the amazing fan support that the series has seen over the years. He said, Shantae fans are awesome. They have this increasing demand that keeps us constantly moving. Honestly, we've been so busy that we sometimes forget that she's having these milestone moments. If fans keep commenting, streaming, posting fan art, Shantae will keep growing and will never get a chance to slow down. And that would be amazing. So if you're a Shantae fan and you're wondering why Shantae was included as a Mii costume in Smash, then it was all down to you. And with this much love for Shantae in Smash, who knows what the future will hold? The moral of the story? Embrace the things you love. And you never know. Others might well do the same.