For The First Time In 20 Years, Nintendo Could Be Bringing Back The Infamous Dog From 'Duck Hunt'

For the first time in 20 years, the infamous dog from Nintendo's hit game "Duck Hunt" could be making a comeback.

An updated version of what appears to be the same "Duck Hunt" dog was spotted on anonymous message board 4chan. The 4chan member uploaded multiple screenshots of a game that could be Nintendo's upcoming "Super Smash Bros." for 3DS.

The latest chapter of "Super Smash Bros.", which is one of Nintendo's best-selling and critically-acclaimed franchises, will be released on Nintendo's handheld console on October 3 and later for Wii U. (NeoGAF compiled the leaked screenshots, which we found through Kotaku's Jason Schreier).

The Smash Bros. list of characters is typically hard to come by before launch. But the tipster posted this screenshot of 48 characters, including the Duck Hunt dog:

SPOILER ALERT! If you don't want to know which secret characters might appear in the next big crossover brawler for 3DS and Wii U, you should stop reading. Maybe read some other Business Insider stories.)

You can see most of the familiar faces, including Mario, Luigi, Princess Peach, Bowser, Yoshi, Wario, Donkey Kong, Princess Zelda, Samus, Fox McCloud, Kirby, and others.

But there are plenty of other new additions to this list: Nintendo previously unveiled Pac-Man and the Wii Fit Trainer as additions to the roster, but this alleged screenshot also reveals Bowser Jr. and Shulk from "Xenoblade."

For those that never played "Duck Hunt," that iconic Nintendo game from the mid-80s that let you shoot ducks on your TV screen with a light gun called the NES Zapper. This dog was typically called the "Laughing Dog" as he would laugh at the player whenever he or she failed to shoot down all of the ducks on the screen. IGN called the Laughing Dog "one of the most annoying video game characters ever," thanks to its perceived smugness gamers "love to hate."

The dog only made one other appearance in a video game released in 1990, "Barker Bill's Trick Shooting." That was another NES game that used the zapper.

Here's the dog in that game:

Laughing Dog aside, some fans noticed how characters from previous "Smash Bros." titles were left off the roster. The original 4chan poster says those characters, like Ice Climbers Snake from "Metal Gear Solid," will be made available at a later date through a downloadable content (DLC) package.

If Duck Hunt Dog is included in the game, one designer mocked up how he could be played in Smash.