Editing Stock

[[File:Ultimate Stock.jpg|thumb|right|240px|Stock Icons for {{SSBU|Mario}} and {{SSBU|Bowser}} in ''[[Ultimate]]''.]]

===[[Classic Mode]]===

Players can choose to begin with between one and five stocks, with three as the default number. This cannot be increased after starting and before quitting or receiving a "Game Over", although the player's [[damage]] percentage resets between matches as well as after using up a stock. Stocks remaining are displayed as small icons — icons of their character's face (in ''SSB'', ''Melee'', ''SSB4'' and ''SSBU'') or dots (in ''Brawl'') at the bottom of the screen above the damage percentage. When a player is KO'd, they lose a stock. If the player can complete the mode without losing a single stock, they will receive a bonus, whose value varies depending on the game.

[[Self-destruct]]ing in the [[Bonus Stage]]s of Classic Mode does not cost the player a stock, nor does it count for the loss of the [[List of bonuses#Super Smash Bros. Melee|No-Miss Clear bonus]].

When the player uses up all of their stocks, the game gives them the option to [[Continue]]. If the player chooses "No", then the game ends, and the player is sent back to the Character Select screen. If the player chooses "Yes", then the game restarts at the stage that they were defeated in. However, the player's score is cut in half, and in ''Melee'' and ''Brawl'', the player must pay a small compensation price with coins they have collected; if the player cannot pay the price, they cannot continue. The amount varies on the difficulty; higher difficulties require more coins. Additionally, in all three games, the player is given a significant point deduction of 20,000 points for continuing (but this deduction only applies once, regardless of the number of continues used).

In ''SSB4'', players cannot continue in All-Star Mode. Losing their one stock automatically makes a Game Over.

Continues also function the same way in this mode as in Classic Mode and All-Star Mode.

Players are assigned a set number of stocks to complete a level, which they can supplement by finding [[Stock Ball]]s. This does not carry over between levels.

Stock count is displayed on the left-hand side of the screen, as a head icon of each character remaining in their current party. In the event of the player holding more stocks than their current party size, the headshots are supplemented by ''Smash Bros.'' icons and the order of play repeats (i.e., a player with five stocks and a party consisting of, in order, {{SSBB|Mario}}, {{SSBB|Link}}, {{SSBB|Samus}} and {{SSBB|Donkey Kong}} would automatically use Mario again on their fifth stock.) This can only occur if the player has fewer characters available to choose from for their party than the number of stocks for the level or if they pick up a Stock Ball during it - players cannot choose one character to be placed in two spots in the order. If a second player enters a game in progress, they use up one of the available stocks and take the next character in the sequence - this means that if player 1 has no spare stocks, the second player cannot join.

In the event of a player losing all their stocks, they are sent to the [[Continue]] screen.

The only exception to this rule is the final level of World of Light, where players are given three stocks. Much like The Subspace Emissary, each stock represents a character of the player's choosing; if one character is KO'd, then the next character will spawn in. The final level has three sections; between each section, if the player has two or fewer stocks, then they will regain a stock for the least recent character to be KO'd.

Home-Run Contest does not use stocks, as it's [[Jigglypuff|almost impossible]] to be KO'd in this mode.

====[[Multi-Man mode]]====

All versions of Multi-Man Melee in ''Melee'', ''Brawl'', and ''Smash 4'' have the player use only one stock.

[[File:StockCounter1-on-1.jpg|thumb|The stock counter in a one-on-one match in ''[[Super Smash Bros. Ultimate]]'' with Inkling leading 7-2.]]

Stock is a mode that is playable in Versus mode in all five games. It can be chosen from one to ninety-nine lives. In this, the game acts as a "last man standing" game, where a player/team wins once all the other players/teams have lost all of their stocks and the announcer calls out "GAME!" ("GAME SET." in the original game, as well as the Japanese and Korean versions of all games and the Chinese versions of ''Ultimate''). When "GAME!" appears onscreen, it has a different color: blue (''Smash 64''), crimson (''Melee''), and green (since ''Brawl''). If a [[Match timer|time limit]] is set in addition, then the player/team who has the most stocks remaining when "TIME!" is called wins. Players tied for the most remaining stocks go to [[Sudden Death]] to break the tie. However, in most major [[tournament]]s, a Sudden Death tiebreaker is normally ignored, and in that case, the player who ended with the lowest damage percentage wins, with other pre-determined tie-breaking methods used if there is a tie both for stocks and damage percentage at the end of the match. As with all modes, a player who has lost all their stocks cannot participate in the match; they may only watch. However, it is possible to [[share stock]], allowing fallen teammates to take stocks from an active team member should they have at least one extra in reserve. While time mode is the default setting of the game, in tournaments and most serious matches, the mode is set to stock match due to the orderly, set fashion that it creates (though a time limit, usually of eight to ten minutes, is used to prevent a player from camping infinitely, and encourages players to approach). The standard number of stocks that are set in tournament matches are five for ''Smash 64'', four for ''Melee'', three for ''Brawl'' and ''Ultimate'', and two for ''Smash 4''. The number of stocks is due to gameplay differences between the three games; ''Smash 64'' has many ways for players to create 0-death combos with nearly every character in the game; ''Melee'', while not as combo-heavy as the original due to reduced hitstun and the introduction of [[directional influence]], is generally faster-paced, resulting in a shorter amount of time for players in these two games to be KOed; and in ''Brawl'', KOs occur more slowly due to the lack of true combos at higher percents and generally slower movement speed. In fact, the slower pace of ''Brawl'' can be so taxing on the players and spectators that some ''Brawl'' tournaments use a format for one stock, three-minute matches, as a rarely seen "tiebreaker" match would normally be in other formats. In a one-on-one match in ''Ultimate'', the current stock count briefly appears onscreen when a fighter loses a stock.

The term "JV" refers to winning with a fresh stock with zero opponent-inflicted damage; for example, a "JV two-stock" means the victor defeated their opponent with one stock remaining and not having been damaged by the opponent in any way, referencing that the winner was only one hit away from a two-stock. This is often used for varying levels of bragging rights for skill. For example, (JV) three-stocking an opponent shows a greater difference of skill than if the player "merely" two-stocked them. Furthermore, a "JV five/four-stock" (winning with all four/three stocks remaining without taking any damage in ''Melee'' and ''Brawl'', respectively) is considered a [[wikipedia:Perfect game (disambiguation)|perfect game]], and successfully performing one shows an extreme difference in skill level or incredible ability of the winner to perfectly read the loser's actions, as the loser failed to land even a single hit on the opponent. The term "JV" was coined by and named after {{sm|Jv3x3}} and was popularized by {{sm|Ken}}, who would often yell the phrase at tournaments, such as [[Super Champ Combo]].

*Brawl is the only ''Smash'' game to show generic stock icons during a match rather than unique ones for each character.  

*In ''Ultimate'', there's a glitch in which [[Announcer|the announcer]] does not address each player by their respective number when they lose their last stock in a match where a player slot is skipped. For example, in a 3-player Smash involving players 2, 3 and 4, if Player 2 gets defeated, the announcer says "Player 1, Defeated!" despite no human players currently being Player 1 [https://youtu.be/wRnyTyZ-tHU?t=135].