Going into the first Nintendo Direct of 2021, fans had very little idea of what to expect except that Super Smash Bros. Ultimate would be one of the featured games. And in fact, Nintendo used Super Smash Bros. Ultimate to kick off the Nintendo Direct, confirming the next DLC characters to be Pyra and Mythra from Xenoblade Chronicles 2. This confirmation seemingly debunked an old Super Smash Bros. Ultimate leak that had so far been 100% accurate, but that particular leak is still suspicious.
The old Super Smash Bros. Ultimate leak accurately predicted Min-Min from ARMS, Sephiroth from Final Fantasy 7, and Steve from Minecraft. While Min-Min could be chalked up as a lucky guess, Sephiroth and Steve were really "out there" guesses, especially since Minecraft is owned by Microsoft and FF7 is owned by Square Enix. That same leak claimed that the remaining three DLC characters would be Ryu Hayabusa from Ninja Gaiden, Doomguy from the Doom franchise, and Rayman.
The announcement of Pyra and Mythra of Xenoblade Chronicles 2 fame seemingly debunks this leak. However, it's worth noting that leak is from May 2020. It's possible that the leak was going off details that hadn't been finalized yet. So maybe one of the other planned guest characters, like Ryu Hayabusa or Doomguy, fell through for whatever reason.
There are still at least two more Super Smash Bros. Ultimate DLC characters on the way, so it will be interesting to see if one of the three characters mentioned in the leak are part of the lineup. Out of the characters that have been leaked, one that seems to be the most likely possibility is Ryu Hayabusa from Ninja Gaiden. Not only does the Ninja Gaiden franchise have a long history with Nintendo, dating all the way back to the NES, but the franchise has a Switch game coming out this summer, which could very well coincide with a new character release as well.
Ninja Gaiden: Master Collection was also announced during the Nintendo Direct, coming to the Switch and other platforms this summer. Ninja Gaiden: Master Collection collects the Ninja Gaiden reboot trilogy in one package, giving fans the chance to play Ninja Gaiden Sigma, Ninja Gaiden Sigma 2, and Ninja Gaiden 3: Razor's Edge along with most of those games' post-launch DLC game modes and costumes.
Whether or not there was ever any truth to this Super Smash Bros. Ultimate leak is hard to say, but things will become clearer when the next DLC fighter is unveiled.
Super Smash Bros. Ultimate is out now, exclusively for the Nintendo Switch.