Ever since Super Smash Bros. Ultimate was shown during Nintendo's showcase at E3 2018, several of the newcomers being added to the forthcoming fighting game have been taking out characters left and right in various CG trailers. For instance, Metroid villain Ridley nixed both Mario and Mega Man, Castlevania's Death separated Luigi from his spirit, and King K. Rool knocked King DeDeDe out cold after the Kirby villain impersonated the Donkey Kong Country baddie.

This particular pattern has led Super Smash Bros. Ultimate fans to begin crafting a theory about what Nintendo is planning to do with all of these characters who appear to be dying, and it seems as if it could have something to do with a new mode coming in the game. As it so happens, director Masahiro Sakurai placed a mosaic censor over a mode in SSBU's menu during the most recent Nintendo Direct, which led to the Twitter user known as "noctulescent" being able to make out the word "Spirits" from the menu button.

As seen in the tweet directly above, it appears as if the Twitter user known as "Than_Kyou" was then able to decipher that the aforementioned image without pixelation looks like a Japanese wisp, which can also be called an Onibi. For those unware, an Onibi is often represented as a little spirit that resembles a flame, and indicates a ghostly presence. Should the menu button actually be depicting an Onibi, then it makes sense as to why most of the Super Smash Bros. Ultimate trailers so far have focused on villains taking out heroes and relegating them to wisps of their former selves.

Taking all of this into consideration, there's no telling exactly what this specific Super Smash Bros. Ultimate mode will contain, or if it will indeed relate to spirits in some way. Thankfully, though, Masahiro Sakurai has promised he will explain how the mode works in due time. And with the director having also said that even more new characters are on the way, there's a good chance that with all of the content coming to the next iteration of Smash, the fighting game sequel live up to its Ultimate namesake.

Super Smash Bros. Ultimate is set to launch on December 7, 2018 for Nintendo Switch.

Source: noctulescent – Twitter, Than_Kyou – Twitter (via Game Informer)