Marth and Roy were almost cut from the game.
One source states, "Considering how established they are now, it's astounding to think that both Marth and Roy were almost cut entirely from the North American release of Super Smash Bros. Melee. This decision was contemplated because the Fire Emblem games hadn't been released outside of Japan at this point, and Nintendo thought western gamers wouldn't know who they were.
In the end though, Nintendo chose to keep them both in, which ended up being a wise choice. Not only did they become popular characters, but interest in the Fire Emblem games increased significantly after Melees release. In response, Nintendo finally began releasing the games in North America"(Jacobs).
