Sephiroth revealed as Smash Ultimate DLC fighter 8 at The Game Awards

Michael Gwilliam

Nintendo has finally announced the next Super Smash Bros Ultimate DLC fighter at The Game Awards with the reveal that Sephiroth from Final Fantasy 7 will be joining the roster.

The gaming world was hit with the shocking reveal that the Final Fantasy antagonist of Sephiroth would be the game’s next DLC fighter coming in December.

The reveal kicked off TGA accompanied the One Winged Angel theme and even showcased some of the new fighter’s gameplay that included counters, projectiles and Smash attacks. So far, he looks to have very strong reach with his sword attacks, so it will be interesting to see how his whole kit functions.

Amusingly, the trailer even managed to replicate the climatic ending to Final Fantasy Advent Children when Cloud faces off against Sephiroth.

Although no release date was announced, Mr. Sakurai will hold a special ‘How to use Sephiroth’ program on December 18 at 2 PM PST / 5 PM EST / 11 PM BST.  The Game Awards trailer ended with “December” suggesting the fighter should release soon after.

Smash Ultimate Director Masahiro Sakurai tweeted that the fighter “will be delivered within the year,” but that further details would be coming at a future date.

Sephiroth is the second Final Fantasy fighter to be added to Smash, with the first being Cloud who debuted back on the Wii U in Smash 4.

While the announcement of Sephiroth made a lot of noise at TGA, for fans of Kingdom Hearts’ Sora, this may be the reveal that completely ends any chance of him coming to Smash. It’s unlikely that Square Enix would get two fighters in the same pass with both coming so close together.

This isn’t the first time a fighter has been revealed at The Game Awards. Back in 2018, Nintendo shocked the world by revealing Persona’s Joker as the game’s first DLC.

Smash just got a little bit edgier.

While there wasn’t an announcement in 2019, which left some fans upset, it’s clear that Nintendo really felt the impact of 2018’s reveal and decided to recreate some of that hype.

With Fighter 8 now revealed, there are three more characters to come in Fighters Pass Volume 2. Only time will tell what the future holds for Smash given how big these last couple of announcements have been.

About The Author

Michael Gwilliam is a senior writer at Dexerto based in Ontario, Canada. He specializes in Overwatch, Smash, influencers, and Twitch culture. Gwilliam has written for sites across Canada including the Toronto Sun. You can contact him at michael.gwilliam@dexerto.com or on Twitter @TheGwilliam