#hearn

There is some room for uncertainty there because of placeholder numbers and files; the Phase Shift cast comes immediately before Xblaze, but the last one we know of is Kazuma (0048000) leaving several unknown characters between him and Kuon. Following the Xblaze cast we see the Bloodedge Experience characters, beginning with Raquel (0071000) and once again leaving several planned but unidentified characters between her and Acht.

But those blank spaces don't tell us anything about Hinata. At 114, Hinata is listed among BBDW exclusive characters.

Another Dark Mai (0097000) is the last playable character before we start to see a bunch of story-exclusive cast members- the next known character after AD Mai is Hearn (0105000) and, following him, the other members of Babel. The last character we know immediately before Hinata is Oliver (011000... sort of. His files are a little strange, but that's a story for another post.)

Immediately after Hinata we find Kagami (0115000) which seems to seal a pattern for us, implying that all of these characters after AD Mai are story exclusive, and that Hinata was likely never going to be playable.

Except for the fact that the next character we see is the very playable Another Dark Kagura (0116000). And Academy Noel (0117000). And then the swimsuit alts, BBDW originals, crossover characters, and more alts- all playable.

So, what's the verdict??? Was Hinata going to be playable eventually, or not???

I'm inclined to say no. Hinata was likely only ever going to be a story character. If she had been intended to be playable, her data would have been listed with the rest of the Xblaze cast, even if she wasn't going to be added for a long time. We see this with Terumi who only ever appeared as a silhouette in the story and the files, but can still be found right next to the other Chronophantasma characters, right between Kagura and Kokonoe with his 0027000. It's safe to assume that Terumi, having already made playable appearances in the franchise, would've eventually been added.

Hinata, with no previous playable appearances and no real combat prowess, was likely placed into the files right alongside Kagami because both of them would serve important roles in the story, but never appear on a banner for us to roll. The fact that the files continue to list other playable characters is probably because any future BBDW originals, like alts and crossover characters, were going to be numbered chronologically at the end of what was already in the files.

That said... it's not like it would've been impossible. At the very least, the idea of a playable Hinata, maybe in her fully-realized Embryo state, is interesting to consider.