Super Smash Bros. Ultimate director Masahiro Sakurai spent this morning giving fans a breakdown on the newest fighter to join the brawl: Terry Bogard of the Fatal Fury and King of Fighters series. Just like with every other Super Smash Bros. Ultimate DLC fighter so far, Terry comes with a metric ton of easter eggs, references, and cameos of other characters from his native series.
But one character, as many fans noticed, was conspicuously absent. Other SNK representatives like Iori, Ryo, and Nakururu got new Mii costumes, and many others like Yuri, Kyo, and Athena make cameo appearances on Terry’s new stage, but one of the most pivotal characters in the KoF and Fatal Fury series, Mai Shiranui, is nowhere to be found in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate.
During the Terry Bogard live stream, Sakurai specifically mentioned Mai’s absence saying:
“By the way, you may have noticed that a very important character from the Fatal Fury series was not included. Yes, Mai Shiranui. Super Smash Bros. Ultimate is for good boys and girls of many different ages so we decided not to feature her. Please forgive us.”
While this is rather amusing, it does seem a little strange. Obviously Sakurai is alluding to the fact that Mai is a very sexualized character. But Smash Bros. is now at the point where characters like Bayonetta are included in the Super Smash Bros. Ultimate roster, a character whose sex appeal is one of the most known things about her.
If Mai were to be included in the game, it would surely be something as minor as the other SNK characters who are showing up as mentioned before, either as a Mii costume or a stage cameo. So it seems very odd that Mai is being singled out, especially considering she is a legacy character that has been around since the beginning of both the Fatal Fury and King of Fighters series.
Super Smash Bros. Ultimate is available now on Nintendo Switch and Terry Bogard releases today, November 6th, for $5.99 individually, and is included in the Fighters Pass which includes every other DLC character released so far for $24.99.
