Yesterday, Nintendo graced the world with the news we have all been waiting for. There is a new, full Nintendo Direct coming, and it's coming today, February 17! There will be 50 minutes of juicy Nintendo news, including information on the titles they have coming in the next few months. Alongside that, Nintendo all but confirmed a new Smash Bros character would be announced during the live stream.Here are our five predictions for who that character could be.

Rillaboom (Pokemon)

With Pokemon's 25th anniversary on the horizon, a new Pokemon addition seems a real possibility, especially as we've not received a new one in either Fighter Pass so far. That leads to the question of who it could be.

If it is to be a Pokemon, I think it has to be one from Sword or Shield. Those games have sold incredibly well and adding a character from them could give the pair a further sales boost. That being said, there's not a great deal of choice when it comes to worthy additions from that game. That leads me to Rillaboom.

Arguably Grookey was the most popular starter from this generation and Rillaboom fits the heavy character archetype. My big concern is he may be too close to DK, but I'm sticking with it.

Crash (Crash Bandicoot)

The idea of Crash as a new Smash Bros character has been floated around for what seems like years at this point. Rumours heavily intensified last year but Steve from Minecraft was announced instead.

That brings us to now, where a Crash 4 Switch release has just been announced... What better way for a little bit of cross-promotion than to bring the bandicoot into one of Nintendo's most popular games.

Rayman (Rayman)

Like Crash, Rayman has been one of the commonly requested characters in the history of the game. A couple of years back, people were convinced they saw the limbless character frozen in a block of ice on the Battlefield stage. That was likely just a coincidence, but that doesn't make Rayman any less of a great choice.

He has the history, the fanbase and the potential to be a really fun character to play. The only concern is there hasn't been a new Rayman game for a few years now.

The Knight/Hornet (Hollow Knight/Hollow Knight: Silksong)

Yesterday, I predicted we'd finally get a release date for Hollow Knight: Silksong. Whilst that's hardly a risky prediction, this one maybe a little more so.

I think some indie representation in Smash would be very welcome, especially as the Switch is an indie machine and what better game to do that with than Hollow Knight. The series started its life on consoles with Nintendo and its sequel Silksong is a Switch exclusive. Do it Nintendo.

Goemon (Mystical Ninja)

I couldn't end my final pick with an easy choice, like Doom Guy (who is definitely in with a shout). So, instead, I'm going to go for somebody who has less than a 1% chance of making the roster, simply because I want to play as them.

Goemon is the title character from the Mystical Ninja series, most notably, for me at least, Mystical Ninja Starring Goemon. He has the opportunity for a really interesting moveset, great stage, even better music and the potential to swap between the four main characters from the N64 classic, like he does in the game. Also, Impact as his Final Smash? Yes, please!

I understand he's already got a Mii costume and I understand that there hasn't been a new Mystical Ninja game in years, but there aren't many characters I'd want more than this one.

There we have it, there are our four best guesses (and one dumb one) for who we think could be the new Smash Bros character announced today.