ELIGIBILITY:We're all going to be concerned about Sheik's eligibility, so let's talk.
We do run the risk of SBAllen deciding later that only Zelda is eligible, yes. However, the revolution will not be denied by fear alone!
Here's our ultimate point about that risk: say it to our nominations after we out-nominate Zelda! If we can only have one of these two characters, then make SBAllen boot Zelda instead of Sheik. When we out-nominate Zelda, what other reason would there be to prevent Sheik's debut?
That said, we recognize were fighting against the odds -- not just to get Sheik in, but also to win in our position that Sheik should be allowed on top of Zeldas inclusion too. To understand our position, you should understand what we believe is a long-standing fallacy.
BOARD 8S FALLACY:
The common thought process here is Sheik cannot enter a contest because Sheik is Zelda and Zelda is already here, meaning Zelda represents Sheik.
That thought process doesnt satisfy us. Heres why: SBAllens history.
First, SBAllen never put Sheik in one of Zelda's Character Battle pictures before we messaged him about Sheiks eligibility. Sheik's appearance against Cloud in a Zelda-match was confusing since Sheik and Zelda have separated since SSB4. As someone who personally voted against Zelda in all of the second half of her 2018-run, I would have voted for Sheik in every single match Zelda had that contest...so it was weird to have one of my favorite characters represent a character I didn't care much for. Sheik and Zelda mean different things to other gamers too -- check any Smash-stream -- so allowing Sheik in as her own entrant will solve this confusion.
Before we messaged SBAllen about Sheik's eligibility though, she only got background cameos for Zelda once from the CJayC era. We wanted that level of representation to change by giving Sheik her own place in the bracket, and SBAllen's immediate response was to add Sheik in a Zelda match despite us saying beforehand that is not what we are asking for. Let us be clear: two rotating background shots for Zelda one day wasn't representation for Sheik then in 2006, and one rotating foreground shot for Zelda one day in 2018 isn't representation for Sheik either. Now that SBAllen went on to do what we said we hoped he wouldn't do, it's on us to let him know Zelda-matches are not a satisfying place for Smash-fans to see Sheik represented. Give her a poll, not a picture!
Let's also look at SBAllens actions regarding another series: Mega Man. SBAllen featured both Mega Man and Mega Man X in the same contests since 2008's Character Battle, which is an extension of CJayC separating Mega Man and Mega Man X since the Best Series Ever contest of 2006.
Let's compare these two pairs. Mega Man X is a form of Mega Man = Sheik is a form of Zelda. Mega Man X's play-style is significantly different from Mega Man's = Sheik's play-style is significantly different from Zelda's. SBAllen allowed Mega Man and Mega Man X to represent themselves as separate characters, and thats all we want for Sheik.
We could nitpick their differences...but really, SBAllen has proven lenient. One of his first major contest decisions was allowing a tetromino in as a character. More recently, he shared he would relax on his usual nomination rules during 2018's Character Battle regarding eligibility. This relaxation allowed Geralt to enter the contest despite the risk of opening the doors up to other fictional characters like Supermanand guess what, Superman isn't in a contest. Sheik's situation is more like Mega Man X's similarities with Mega Man than Superman's similarities with Geralt...so, respectfully, SBAllen should only care about Sheik's final nomination count like he did for Mega Man and Mega Man X. We see Sheik can be let in without opening the doors to Red Yoshi, Black Yoshi, Blue Yoshi, and Pink Yoshi.
Board 8 has jumped the gun on convincing itself Sheik is ineligible. This bad logic happened because Board 8 never considered two things: Sheik out-nominating Zelda, and Mega Man setting a different standard. SBAllen sees there is room to think about this discussion now and it's time this board does too.
Zelda. Doesn't. Represent. Sheik. Ask any Smash-tournament how different they are.
If we can have Mega Man and Mega Man X in multiple contests together across multiple types of contests, theres no reason we cant have Sheik somewhere!