Super Smash Bros. creator Masahiro Sakurai has revealed Byleth as the final fighter in the first round Fighters DLC Pass on Thursday’s Ultimate Direct stream.

Byleth is a main character from the Fire Emblem series – where he is a professor who leads one of the three academic houses the players choose. Players then fight the other two houses in the region and get to know the story of why they’re fighting. The game has multiple endings and different experiences with the characters. Fire Emblem has gotten good reviews and is popular with many RPG fans.

This whole presentation was recorded back in November, and the game was able to keep Byleth’s reveal a closely guarded secret. During the stream, Sakurai explained who Byleth is and the Fire Emblem series in general. Sakurai said that he played the game to get an idea of how the characters will work into Smash Bros. He then went into the details of the character’s gameplay. Byleth is a sword user who fights at a safe distance – and he has a lot of weapons like a lance, ax, and a bow and arrow. 

Sakurai then transitioned over to the new stage called Garreg Mach Monastery. It has sections that switch through a marketplace, reception hall, a bridge, and a cathedral. Throughout each of the sections are characters in the background from the Three Houses game. 

Near the end of the stream was a showcase of six new Mii Fighter costumes. These represent the Altair, Rabbies, Mega Man, and CupHead, and the Zelda series. The last announcement was that there will be six more fighters coming to the game in a second Fighters DLC Pass.

Personally, I was left disappointed when the stream ended. I get why they picked this character and their popularity. However, adding in a character to Smash, a game that already has seven Fire Emblem representatives, was unnecessary. The reactions on Twitter and on their YouTube stream shows showed mixed feelings about the new character throughout the community. There will be six more characters so the amount of hype and support of Smash Bros. Ultimate won’t be stopping anytime soon. Overall, I thought this stream was bitter-sweet.