1. Mega Man
Series: Megaman (CAPCOM)
Premiere: Mega Man (NES, 1987)
Why he's Worthy:
Sakurai might not have ACTUALLY SAID IT DIRECTLY but fans interpretted what he said as 'there will be 3 3rd party charcters'. When making character lists, the fans put down Snake because he was already confirmed, Sonic because he was rather predictable, and.... Geno. Well, Geno sucks because he was only in 1 game, no one is sure if he's actually 3rd party or not, there are WAAAAAAAAY more worthy Mario reps (Toad and Paper Mario, anyone?), and he looks like Pinnochio on crack!
Mega Man is where it's at! Over 20 years of history, everyone has heard of him, he has over 100 games, and he's pretty loyal to Nintendo. Now, some might argue that he'd be a Samus clone because he has a laser cannon for a hand but I'd say that that's about as big of a stretch as 'Captain Falcon and Sonic are clones because they're both fast'.
2. Bomberman
Series: Bomberman (Hudson Soft)
Premiere: Bomberman (MSX, 1983)
Why he's Worthy:
During the 'old school game wars' there were 2 major rivals, Nintendo and Sega. But, there was also a 3rd party involved (pun intended)... HUDSON! Though, not nearly as historic, Hudson vs. Nintendo would still be EPIC. And, like SEGA, Hudson has contributed A LOT to Nintendo as a 3rd Party company, rolling out new Bomberman and Mario Party games whenever possible.
Now, you might be thinking, "If his worthiness is derived from Nintendo and Hudson's minor rivalry, shouldn't BONK be the representative?"
Well, that would make sense but there's only one teeny tiny problem with that... Bonk hasn't really been in any games for the past 15 years!
3. Black Shadow
Series: F-ZERO (Nintendo)
Premiere: F-ZERO X (N64, 1998)
Why he's Worthy:
In Brawl, Mother got a rep, Kirby got 2 reps, and DK got a rep, too. The only serieses with 1 rep from Melee that DIDN'T get new reps. (Ice Climber and Game and Watch are not included) were Yoshi and F-ZERO. While, some may argue that Yoshi is a sub-series of Mario and there aren't any good reps. from the Yoshi series, there's no arguing against F-ZERO!
Though, most people like Samurai Goroh for some odd reason, he's not that cool. Black Shadow is cooler. He'd be just about the evilest character in Smash Bros... besides Ganondorf. Speaking of which, if Ganondorf decides to unsheath his sword, Black Shadow would be the PERFECT candidate to inherit his moveset.
4. Prof. Layton
Series: Professor Layton (Nintendo)
Premiere: Professor Layton and The Curious Village (DS, 2008)
Why he's worthy:
Nintendo likes adding in 'new' characters. In Melee, they had Pichu and Roy, who weren't around before 1999 (when the original Smash was made). In Brawl, they had Ike, Lucas, Toon Link, Olimar, and Lucario who weren't around before 2001 (when Melee was made). For SSB4, there will MOST DEFINATELY be some post-2007 characters in there and, though we can't predict what other new characters will rise to the top, it's been less than a year since 'Professor Layton' came out and it ALREADY HAS.
Professor Layton has had 1 very successful mystery game for the DS and a sequel has already come out in Japan. They're even working on a THIRD game expected to hit stores by 2010. Lucas was only in 1 game before getting into Brawl. Olimar, Toon Link, and Ike were only in 2. Lucario was in 3 but Pokemon Diamond and Pearl are considered different versions of the same game. It's a LOOOOOOONG time until the next Smash Bros. but we already know that Layton will have more experience than ANY of those guys, if he gets in.
5. Stafy
Series: Legend of Stafy (Nintendo)
Premiere: Densetsu no Stafy (GBA, 2002)
Why he's worthy: In Melee, the Fire Emblem series got 2 reps. (Marth and Roy), making the 'Fire Emblem' series known worldwide. But, in Brawl, Sakurai didn't really add in any Jp. only character. Sure, he added in Lucas but Lucas is from Mother 3, which is the japanese sequel to Earthbound which is already known worldwide. Sakurai should have added Stafy. Stafy was in 4 games since Melee's release which was FAAAAAAR more than Lucas's 1. Stafy would have had a unique moveset which Lucas, well... yeah!
Now, some might argue, "Stafy was a sucky assist trophy, why would I ever want to play as him?" Well, let's just say that assist trophies don't ALWAYS do the character justice.