That's fair. I just think some people (not you) are missing the point of that "more important" quote when they post it to shut down an argument. (It still matters that a character is recognizable -- it's just not the deciding factor.)
Of the 12 third-parties in Smash, I would say that eight of them are uncontested gaming legends that need absolutely no justification: Snake, Sonic, Pac-Man, Mega Man, Ryu, Cloud, Simon, and Hero.
That leaves only...
- Bayonetta - a popular and relevant request whose games are highly regarded; she's PlatinumGames' de facto mascot; Bayonetta 2 is published (and co-owned) by Nintendo
- Joker - Persona 5 is very popular and is Atlus' most successful game ever; Sakurai loves Persona 5; obviously Joker makes a lot of sense if Atlus were to receive a playable character
- Banjo & Kazooie (I don't think I need to explain this one, but there have been some detractors) - one of the most steadily requested characters since the first Smash; N64 games were multi-million-sellers and published by Nintendo; Rare and Nintendo were very close in the '90s/early '00s
- Terry - mascot of SNK who has appeared in several dozen games dating back to 1991; SNK was a really big deal in Asia and Central and South America; main character of Fatal Fury and is one of only a few characters to be playable in every single The King of Fighters
As "obscure" as someone like Bayonetta or even Terry might be, they still fit a certain mold. I'm not quite sure how to articulate the sentiment, but there's a consistency to Sakurai's/Nintendo's guest character picks -- they know what they're doing -- and I really struggle to make sense of much of what's argued in these threads. I
really don't mean to pick on Alis, but she would genuinely be the most shocking character in Smash history to me if she were to somehow get in.
