Fire Emblem's Ike burning Super Smash Bros. Brawl

With its vast cast of beloved game characters, few games have as fanatical a following as Super Smash Bros. Brawl. So when Nintendo today announced another of its icons would be joining the Wii game's fray, fans greeted the news with the cold dispassion of a religous revival meeting held inside a burning tent.

Today Smash Bros. Dojo, the game's official Web site, revealed that Ike (pictured), one of the heroes of Intelligent Systems' Fire Emblem series, will appear in the forthcoming Wii fighting game, due out on December 3. According to Nintendo, Ike "can wield a two-handed sword with a single hand" and will be able to use a special "Aether" one-hit kill in the game. Other characters that will appear include Nintendo favorites Pikachu, Link, Fox McCloud, Samus, Mario, Wario, and Kid Icarus. Konami's stealth-action hero Solid Snake will also be playable.