2 years ago, Shovel Knight made history by becoming one of the first indie characters to appear in Smash Bros series as an assist trophy for Super Smash Bros. Ultimate.

That said, many fans of the character were hoping that he would receive a much grander role as a playable fighter in the game, given his popularity. However, in an interview with Fanbyte, Yacht Club’s Sean Velasco revealed that Shovel Knight being playable in the game was “never really in the cards”, as Nintendo only reached out to them about including the character as an assist trophy.

As for why this was the case, Velasco believes that it was because Shovel Knight was 1) not a “true” second-party Nintendo character (e.g. Shulk) and 2) not an industry icon with sufficient history (e.g. Cloud). That said, Velasco hopes that maybe many years from now, when Shovel Knight is much more established, he could make the jump to playable status:

“maybe in the next Smash or in the Smash 10 years from now, when Shovel Knight’s like a grandfather figure in the game industry, maybe he can be a playable character”

What do you think? Let us know in the comments.