If you have a Switch, there is a non-zero chance you also own Smash Ultimate. The first season of DLC concluded with the reveal of Byleth from Fire Emblem Three Houses, the totally not controversial and not at all salt riddled choice that was beloved and accepted by all of the Smash community. Let’s look back at all the DLC characters we got in that first season:
**[Joker](https://youtu.be/W4PG9qx9x2s):** The protagonist from Persona 5 was revealed mere hours before the game’s launch at the 2018 Game Awards. This announcement sent shockwaves through the gaming community and got everyone riled up to buy the season pass day 1. On release he brought a killer stage and a ton of killer music, but I personally found his moveset to be underwhelming. He comes off as a “best of” type deal, wherein he incorporates good moves from other fighters to the point where he’s just viable by default.
**[Hero](https://youtu.be/pupll3ON-WA):** While not as much of a mindfuck as Joker here in the West, there is no denying that Dragon Quest has long since left its stamp on gaming. Upon their release, Hero was easily the goofiest wackiest character ever conceived for the series, with RNG bullshit up the wazoo and several instant death moves at his disposal. The competitive community was debating on whether or not to ban him, but if you ask me: if you’re gonna keep Mr. Game & Watch tourney legal, you can keep this guy legal too. I just wish the music we got wasn’t so terrible.
**[Banjo & Kazooie](https://youtu.be/qyJ4djjQOr0):** My most hyped addition from this first pass and one of my mains since they first launched. They’re moveset isn’t all that synergistic, but I enjoy pestering people with grenade eggs and Wonderwings. The stage I wasn’t too fond of, but the music choices were sublime. The remixes were handled with love and care, though I do wish we could’ve gotten Gruntilda’s theme separate. Overall a long deserved inclusion that was somewhat overshadowed by Sans Undertale.
**[Terry](https://youtu.be/lvT-b5y9tsE):** This was the character I was least familiar with. I knew about The King of Fighters but not quite as much about Fatal Fury; apparently the former is a spinoff/AU of the latter. And while I didn’t enjoy playing him myself, I will definitely say that he brought with him the best DLC stage ever and a whopping 50 music tracks from across the entire SNK catalogue. It’s been over 3 years and I still haven’t listened to it all! What a way to introduce a lesser-known character to a broad new audience.
**[Byleth](https://youtu.be/6fwAk1P8TLU):** And here it is, the end of the first season’s run. And boy was it something. The collective meltdown from this announcement was hilarious to behold, and if you follow the Smash community (please don’t just trust me), some are still hung up on it to this day. At least they brought a cool stage and a good selection of music tracks with them, although God Shattering Star didn’t make the cut much to my disappointment. As someone who spent nearly 400 hours in Three Houses myself, I was happy with the inclusion. And pro player MKLeo definitely helped turn fan opinion of the character around in a huge way.