Unlockable character

"Challenger" redirects here. For info on fighters, to whom the title "challenger" is often applied, see Fighter.

Character selection screen in Super Smash Bros. indicating the unlockable characters.

An unlockable character (also referred to as a secret character or hidden character, and in-game as challengers, or newcomers in the N64 game's Backup Clear menu) is one that is not available at the start of the game (unlike a starter character), but instead must be received in-game (unlike downloadable characters) through other means.

Unique criteria must be met in order to unlock each character, as outlined below. Once such criteria are met, the challenger will appear the next time the player returns to the menu. If the player wins the subsequent battle, a message will appear congratulating them for unlocking the new fighter.

In Super Smash Bros., the character select screen displayed placeholders for not yet unlocked characters. This was changed in Super Smash Bros. Melee, where the clones didn't have placeholders prior to unlocking, with their portraits simply appearing afterward. The placeholder slots were completely removed from Super Smash Bros. Brawl onward.

Whenever a character is unlocked, a screen telling the player that the character is now playable will be displayed:

• In Super Smash Bros., the screen says that "you can now use" the character, featuring a unique title for each of them.
• In Super Smash Bros. Melee, the screen displays a sentence that is unique to each character and features the unlocking timestamp.
• In Super Smash Bros. Brawl, the screen says that the character, with their unique title too, "has joined the brawl", and also features a portrait of the character.
• In Super Smash Bros. 4 and Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, the screen says that the character "joins the battle!" while playing Rare Trophy from Melee, before archiving their corresponding milestones. This also applies to downloadable content characters once they are downloaded, or when the game is booted after a character's release date in case of being purchased via Fighters Pass in the latter game.

"Challenger Approaching!" screen

The Challenger Approaching! screen which Captain Falcon challenges the player in Super Smash Bros. 64

The Challenger Approaching! screen which Inkling challenges the player in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate

The "Challenger Approaching!" (挑戦者が現れました！, A Challenger has Appeared!) screen is a message that will be displayed after the player has met a criteria required to unlock any of the available characters. Every game has its unique screen.

Super Smash Bros. had a silhouette of the character merely displayed in a blue box in front of a black background, with an exclamation point in a red circle on the top of the screen, and the phrase "Challenger Approaching" next to it. The screen uses similar music to the 1P-Game's intro, with the only difference being the absence of drums for the "challenger approaching" tune. As a result, this is the only game where the challengers' silhouettes are animated, showing them in their fighting stances while rotating (like in the character select screen), rather than just shadowed versions of their official illustrations.

Super Smash Bros. Melee added the phrase "A new foe has appeared!," and also had a silhouette of the approaching challenger. The poses for the challengers were silhouettes of their renders when selected on the character select screen (some, however, like Luigi and Ganondorf's, were their renders from inside the boxes). The game also added animations to the screens, with an undulating matrix effect in the background, while the exclamation point, text and silhouette would be eased in. Original music was also provided solely for the screen, which took the sound of a slow, ominous siren.

Super Smash Bros. Brawl returned to the plain black background (there would be a silhouette of an unlockable character the player would face); but this would only occur if the Subspace Emissary method was not used. Also, Brawl removed the word "Warning" and the circle explanation point logo from the challenger approaching screen. It still had animations that would ease in, and when the player pressed any button, the images would fade to black, while the "Challenger Approaching!" text would scatter all over the screen; the siren is also considerably faster and more panicky in its sound than how it sounds in Melee.

Super Smash Bros. 4 reused Brawl's warning siren, but there are some differences in both versions. The 3DS version added in considerably more colors, including hues of green, black, and violet; the screen also says "A challenger approaches!" instead of its previous quotations. The Wii U version uses a font style similar to the ones in the newcomer trailers, and the background contains a picture of a supernova; the text is nonetheless reused from past games. The unlockable character in both versions of Super 4 on the screen is still a silhouette that the player would face (just like in the previous three installments).

As in Smash 4, the warning siren from Brawl is used in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate. This time there is a dark pink background with a white/pink light shining behind the silhouette of the unlockable character. The text about unlocking characters remains the same from prior games.

After the "Challenger Approaching!" screen, the unlockable character will then be fought in an ordinary one stock match with no time limit, on a predetermined stage with predetermined music. The AI difficulty of the duel depends on the game, usually at low difficulty for the first fighter, then it gradually increases with every fighter unlocked, however, it is reversed in Melee, and always high in the Wii U version of Smash 4. The player uses the last character played as, including the last used costume. In the case of multiplayer battles, in the first three Smash games, the player who won the match will fight the challenger; if a CPU wins the match, the challenger will not appear. Super Smash Bros. 4 changed this formula such that if a CPU wins the match, then the human-controlled player with the highest rank will battle the challenger.

By defeating the opponent, the character becomes playable. If the player fails, however, they will not unlock the character, but in the next battle they win, they are guaranteed to meet with the challenger again.

The "Challenger Approaching!" screen has become somewhat of a meme in the Smash community. Many digitally manipulated versions of these screens have appeared, often featuring characters who do not appear in the games, mostly using artwork of the character from another game instead of original artwork (which gives away its falseness). The screens became so popular that they were featured as part of the DOJO!!; in earlier updates, whenever a new character was introduced, a banner that said "Warning! Challenger Approaching!" would appear above the entry.

Challenger Approaching Screens

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  The Challenger Approaching! screen which Ness challenges the player in Super Smash Bros. 64.

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  The Challenger Approaching! screen which Marth challenges the player in Super Smash Bros. Melee.

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  The Challenger Approaching! screen which Sonic challenges the player in Super Smash Bros. Brawl.

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  The Challenger Approaching! screen which Dark Pit challenges the player in Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS.

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  The Challenger Approaching! screen which Duck Hunt challenges the player in Super Smash Bros. for Wii U.

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  The Challenger Approaching! screen which Simon challenges the player in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate.

Challenger Approaching Alarms

• Smash 64's challenger alarm.

• Melee's challenger alarm.

• Brawl, Smash 4, and Ultimate's challenger alarm.

Super Smash Bros.

Fighters

Character	How to unlock	Unlock location
Luigi	Complete Bonus 1: Break the Targets with all starter characters.	Peach's Castle
Captain Falcon	Complete 1P Game in 20 minutes or less.	Planet Zebes
Ness	Complete 1P Game on Normal or higher with three lives or less and without using any continues.	Dream Land
Jigglypuff	Complete 1P Game with any character.	Saffron City

Gallery

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  Luigi challenging the player in Smash 64

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  Captain Falcon challenging the player in Smash 64

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  Ness challenging the player in Smash 64

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  Jigglypuff challenging the player in Smash 64

Super Smash Bros. Melee

Fighters

Character	How to unlock	VS matches required	Unlock Location	Music
Jigglypuff	Complete Classic Mode, Adventure Mode, or All-Star Mode with any character.	50	Pokémon Stadium	Pokémon Stadium
Dr. Mario	Complete Classic Mode, Adventure Mode, or All-Star Mode with Mario without using any continues.	100	Princess Peach's Castle	Dr. Mario
Pichu	Complete Event 37: Legendary Pokémon.	200	Pokémon Stadium	Battle Theme
Falco	Complete the 100-Man Melee.	300	Battlefield	Corneria
Marth	Complete Classic Mode, Adventure Mode, or All-Star Mode with all 14 starter characters, or use all starter characters at least once in VS. mode.	400	Fountain of Dreams	Fire Emblem
Young Link	Complete Classic Mode, Adventure Mode, or All-Star Mode with 10 different characters.	500	Great Bay	Saria's Theme
Ganondorf	Complete Event 29: Triforce Gathering.	600	Final Destination	Great Bay
Mewtwo	Play Versus Mode for a combined total of 20 hours.	700	Final Destination	Poké Floats
Luigi	Complete Adventure Mode when the second on the time limit in the first stage gets a "2". For example: XX:X2:XX. Afterwards, defeat Luigi and Peach within 1 minute.	800	Mushroom Kingdom II	Mushroom Kingdom II
Roy	Unlock Marth, then complete Classic Mode, Adventure Mode, or All-Star Mode as him without using any continues.	900	Temple	Fire Emblem
Mr. Game & Watch	Complete Classic Mode, Adventure Mode, All-Star Mode, or Break the Targets with all 24 other characters.	1000	Flat Zone	Flat Zone

Gallery

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  Jigglypuff challenging the player in Melee

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  Dr. Mario challenging the player in Melee

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  Pichu challenging the player in Melee

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  Falco challenging the player in Melee

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  Marth challenging the player in Melee

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  Young Link challenging the player in Melee

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  Ganondorf challenging the player in Melee

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  Mewtwo challenging the player in Melee

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  Luigi challenging the player in Melee

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  Roy challenging the player in Melee

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  Mr. Game & Watch challenging the player in Melee

Super Smash Bros. Brawl

In Super Smash Bros. Brawl, the first game to feature third-party characters, both third-party characters (Solid Snake and Sonic the Hedgehog) are unlockable characters.

Fighters

Character	How to unlock	VS matches required	Unlock location	Music
Ness	Reflect ten projectiles.	5	Onett	Mother (Melee)
Marth	Complete Classic Mode.	10	Castle Siege	Fire Emblem (Melee)
Luigi	Complete Classic Mode without using any continues.	22	Luigi's Mansion	Luigi's Mansion Theme
Falco	Complete 100-Man Brawl.	50	Lylat Cruise	Area 6
Captain Falcon	Play through Classic Mode on Normal or higher and beat it in 12 minutes or less.	70	Port Town Aero Dive	Mute City
Lucario	Clear all levels of Target Smash!! with any single character.	100	Spear Pillar	Victory Road
Snake	Play 15 Vs. Matches on Shadow Moses Island.	130	Shadow Moses Island	Encounter
R.O.B.	Collect 250 different trophies.	160	Mario Bros.	Mario Bros.
Ganondorf	Clear Classic Mode on Hard with Link or Zelda.	200	Final Destination	Hidden Mountain & Forest
Mr. Game & Watch	Clear Target Smash!! with 30 different characters on any single difficulty level.	250	Flat Zone 2	Flat Zone 2
Sonic	Complete Classic Mode with ten characters, or Brawl for ten combined total hours.	300	Green Hill Zone	Sonic Heroes
Jigglypuff	Have 20 or more events cleared after beating the Subspace Emissary.	350	Pokémon Stadium 2	Pokémon Center
Toon Link	Complete Classic Mode after beating the Subspace Emissary.	400	Pirate Ship	Dragon Roost Island
Wolf	Complete Boss Battles mode with Fox or Falco.	450	Lylat Cruise	Star Wolf

The Subspace Emissary

In addition to the challenges and versus match method of unlocking, all unlockable characters can be unlocked by playing through The Subspace Emissary. The majority of these characters are unlocked as part of the linear story of SSE. However, Toon Link, Wolf, and Jigglypuff are only unlockable after the main story is completed by finding a secret door while replaying certain levels. Once a character joins a group of playable characters, the character will be instantly unlocked for normal play (without requiring a "Challenger Approaching" battle). Below is a chart of when each fighter is unlocked, removed, or changes or combines teams; stages with none of these are omitted.

Every level numerically ordered:
1: Midair Stadium
2: Skyworld
3: Sea of Clouds
4: The Jungle
5: The Plain
6: The Lake
7: The Ruined Zoo
8: The Battlefield Fortress
9: The Forest
10: The Research Facility I
11: The Lake Shore
12: The Path to the Ruins
13: The Cave
14: The Ruins
15: The Wilds I
16: The Ruined Hall
17: The Wilds II
18: The Swamp
19: The Research Facility II
20: Outside the Ancient Ruins
21: The Glacial Peak
22: The Canyon
23: Battleship Halberd Interior
24: Battleship Halberd Exterior
25: Battleship Halberd Bridge
26: The Subspace Bomb Factory I
27: The Subspace Bomb Factory II
28: Entrance to Subspace
29: Subspace I
30: Subspace II
31: The Great Maze

The Subspace Emissary consists of 31 different stages. As some stages share the same name, the earlier stage is denoted with an I while the later-appearing stage is followed by a II.

Icon	Stage	Fighters available	Unlocked fighters	Lost fighters	Recovered fighters	Total fighters	Teams
	Midair Stadium	Mario (the battle with Kirby if he was chosen, and the battle with Subspace army), Kirby (all phases, except the battle with Mario if he was not chosen), Peach, Zelda (both only in the battle with Subspace army)	Kirby, Peach/Zelda (Mario is KO'd and Wario kidnaps either Zelda/Peach when the other princess is freed from Petey)	—	—	2	1, new team: Kirby, Peach/Zelda
	Skyworld	Pit (all phases), Mario (the last sidescrolling section after Pit rescues him)	Mario, Pit	—	—	4	2, new team: Mario, Pit
	The Jungle	Donkey Kong, Diddy Kong	Diddy Kong (Bowser captures Donkey Kong)	—	—	5	3, new team: Diddy Kong
	The Lake	Diddy Kong, Fox	Fox	—	—	6	3, Fox joins Diddy Kong
	The Ruined Zoo	Lucas (all phases), Ness (only the battle with Porky), Pokémon Trainer (Squirtle only) (only after defeating Porky)	Lucas, Pokémon Trainer (Squirtle) (Wario kidnaps Ness; Ness will not be unlocked in any mode)	—	—	8	4, new team: Lucas, Pokémon Trainer (Squirtle)
	The Battlefield Fortress	Marth (all phases), Meta Knight (second and third phases), Ike (third phase only)	Marth, Meta Knight, Ike	—	—	11	5, new team: Marth, Meta Knight, Ike
	The Forest	Link, Yoshi	Link, Yoshi, Toon Link	—	—	13	6, new team: Link, Yoshi
	The Research Facility I	Zero Suit Samus (all phases), Pikachu (all phases starting with the second)	Zero Suit Samus, Pikachu	—	—	15	7, new team: Zero Suit Samus, Pikachu
	The Lake Shore	Mario, Pit (entire level if Zelda was rescued, only the last section if Peach was rescued), Link, Yoshi (entire level if Peach was rescued, only the last section if Zelda was rescued), Kirby (only the last section)	—	Peach/Zelda (Bowser captures her)	—	14	5, the groups of Mario and Pit, Link and Yoshi, and Kirby combine.
	The Ruins	Lucas, Pokémon Trainer (with Squirtle for all phases and Ivysaur after Pokémon Trainer finds it)	Ivysaur, Charizard, Wolf	—	—	14	5, Ivysaur and Charizard now are in Pokémon Trainer's team
	The Ruined Hall	Lucas, Pokémon Trainer	—	—	—	14	4, the groups of Marth, Ike and Meta Knight, and Lucas, Pokémon Trainer combine.
	The Swamp	Diddy Kong, Fox (all phases), Falco (all phases except the first)	Falco, Jigglypuff	—	—	15	4, Falco joins Diddy Kong and Fox
	The Research Facility II	Zero Suit Samus (all phrases, transforming from Samus by taunting whenever possible), Pikachu (all phases), Samus (after defeating the False Samuses)	Samus	Zero Suit Samus (Samus replaces her; playing as Zero Suit Samus is still possible by taunting or pressing C on the nunchuck)	—	15	4, Samus replaces Zero Suit Samus
	Outside the Ancient Ruins	Olimar, Captain Falcon (both all phases), Diddy Kong, Donkey Kong (both only in the battle with Subspace army)	Donkey Kong, Captain Falcon, Olimar	Fox, Falco (they did not become trophies, but Diddy Kong leaves their group, and they all go their separate ways)	—	16	4, Diddy Kong leaves Fox and Falco and joins Donkey Kong, Captain Falcon and Olimar
	The Glacial Peak	Ice Climbers (only the sidescrolling section), Meta Knight (the sidescrolling section and the battle with Lucario if the player chose him), Lucario (only if the player chose it in the battle with Meta Knight)	Ice Climbers, Lucario	—	—	18	5, new team: Meta Knight and Lucario. Ice Climbers replace Meta Knight in Marth, Lucas, Pokémon Trainer (Squirtle, Ivysaur, Charizard) and Ike's group
	The Canyon	Mario, Pit, Link, Yoshi, Kirby	—	—	—	18	4, the groups of Mario, Pit, Link, Yoshi and Kirby, and Ice Climbers, Marth, Lucas, Pokémon Trainer (Squirtle, Ivysaur, Charizard) and Ike combine
	Battleship Halberd Interior	Snake (all phases), Meta Knight, Lucario (after they meet Snake)	Snake	—	—	19	4, Snake joins Meta Knight and Lucario
	Battleship Halberd Exterior	Peach, Zelda/Sheik	—	Zelda/Peach	Fox, Peach/Zelda	22	5, new team: Fox, Peach, Zelda
	Battleship Halberd Bridge	Snake, Lucario, Fox, Falco, Peach, Sheik/Zelda	Mr. Game & Watch	—	Falco	24	4, the groups of Fox, Peach and Zelda, and Meta Knight, Lucario and Snake combine, along with adding Falco and Mr. Game & Watch
	The Subspace Bomb Factory II	Donkey Kong, Diddy Kong, Captain Falcon, Olimar (all phases); Samus, Zero Suit Samus (by taunting as Samus), Pikachu, R.O.B. (second section onwards)	R.O.B.	—	—	25	1, all three teams combine into one
	Entrance to Subspace	Captain Falcon, Diddy Kong, Donkey Kong, Falco, Fox, Ice Climbers, Ike, Kirby, Link, Lucario, Lucas, Mario, Marth, Meta Knight, Mr. Game & Watch, Olimar, Peach, Pikachu, Pit, Pokémon Trainer, R.O.B., Samus, Snake, Yoshi, Zelda (only four chosen characters can be played as)	—	Everybody (Tabuu turns them into trophies)	—	0	0
	Subspace I	King Dedede (all phases), Ness, Luigi (only in the sidescrolling sections)	Luigi, Ness, Bowser, King Dedede	—	Mario, Donkey Kong, Samus, Fox, Pikachu, Captain Falcon, Marth, Mr. Game & Watch, Falco, Pit, Olimar, Lucas, Diddy Kong, Pokémon Trainer (Squirtle, Ivysaur, Charizard), Ike (only if rescued by King Dedede, Ness, and Luigi; fighters not rescued can still be found when replaying the level)	From 4 to 19	1, new team: King Dedede, Ness, Luigi, Bowser, and any recovered fighters
	Subspace II	Kirby	Ganondorf (if Kirby found Link and Zelda, who rescue him), Wario (If Kirby found him)	—	Kirby (guaranteed), Link, Yoshi, Peach, Zelda, Ice Climbers, Meta Knight, Lucario, R.O.B., Snake (only if Kirby rescues them; fighters not found can be rescued upon replaying the level)	From 5 to 31	1, Kirby, and any recovered fighters, alongside Ganondorf if Link and Zelda are found, and Wario if he is found, will join the previous group.
	The Great Maze	Bowser, King Dedede, Kirby, Luigi, Ness (guaranteed), Captain Falcon, Diddy Kong, Donkey Kong, Falco, Fox, Ganondorf, Ice Climbers, Ike, Link, Lucario, Lucas, Mario, Marth, Meta Knight, Mr. Game & Watch, Olimar, Peach, Pikachu, Pit, Pokémon Trainer (Squirtle, Ivysaur, Charizard), R.O.B., Samus, Snake, Wario, Yoshi, Zelda (only if they were rescued in Subspace Parts 1 and 2), Sonic (only in the battle with Tabuu)	Sonic	—	—	From 6 to 32	1, Sonic joins

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  A map of the stages and which characters are available in each one, not counting Wolf, Toon Link, and Jigglypuff.

Gallery

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  Ness challenging the player in Brawl

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  Marth challenging the player in Brawl

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  Luigi challenging the player in Brawl

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  Falco challenging the player in Brawl

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  Captain Falcon challenging the player in Brawl

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  Lucario challenging the player in Brawl

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  Snake challenging the player in Brawl

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  R.O.B. challenging the player in Brawl

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  Ganondorf challenging the player in Brawl

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  Mr. Game & Watch challenging the player in Brawl

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  Sonic challenging the player in Brawl

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  Jigglypuff challenging the player in Brawl

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  Toon Link challenging the player in Brawl

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  Wolf challenging the player in Brawl

Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS

Fighters

The inclusion of Wendy O. Koopa (as one of Bowser Jr.'s alternate costumes) and Lucina as unlockable characters makes them the first female characters to be unlockable. After every tenth VS. match, the player gets to challenge an unlockable character, starting with Ness and finishing with Jigglypuff when 120 matches are played.

In addition to the characters below, Mii Fighters are not shown on the character select screen until the player has created at least one. However, since the ability to create Mii Fighters is granted from the beginning, the characters cannot truly be called unlockable.

Despite Duck Hunt having a home stage of the same name added into the game in the 1.1.1 update, they will be fought on Battlefield for their unlocking battle regardless of which version of the game is being played.

Character	How to unlock	VS Matches Required	Unlock location	Music
Ness	Clear Classic Mode on any difficulty	10	Magicant	Magicant / Eight Melodies (Mother)
Falco	Clear Classic Mode without using any continues	20	Corneria	Corneria
Wario	Complete 100-Man Smash	30	WarioWare, Inc.	WarioWare, Inc.
Lucina	As Marth, clear Classic Mode without any continues	40	Arena Ferox	Id (Purpose)
Dark Pit	Clear Classic Mode with three or more characters	50	Reset Bomb Forest	Wrath of the Reset Bomb
Dr. Mario	As Mario, clear Classic Mode on intensity 4.0 or higher	60	Mushroomy Kingdom	Ground Theme (Super Mario Bros.)
R.O.B.	Collect at least 200 different trophies	70	PictoChat 2	PictoChat
Ganondorf	As Link or Zelda, clear Classic Mode on intensity 5.0 or higher	80	Gerudo Valley	Gerudo Valley
Mr. Game & Watch	Clear Classic Mode with 10 or more characters	90	Flat Zone 2	Flat Zone 2
Bowser Jr.	As Bowser, clear Classic Mode on intensity 6.0 or higher	100	3D Land	Super Mario 3D Land Theme / Beach Theme
Duck Hunt	Clear Classic Mode with 8 or more characters	110	Battlefield	Battlefield
Jigglypuff	Collect at least 30 different equipment items	120	Unova Pokémon League	N's Castle Medley

Gallery

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  Ness challenging the player in Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS.

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  Falco challenging the player in Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS.

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  Wario challenging the player in Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS.

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  Lucina challenging the player in Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS.

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  Dark Pit challenging the player in Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS.

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  Dr. Mario challenging the player in Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS.

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  R.O.B. challenging the player in Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS.

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  Ganondorf challenging the player in Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS.

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  Mr. Game & Watch challenging the player in Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS.

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  Bowser Jr. challenging the player in Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS.

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  Duck Hunt challenging the player in Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS.

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  Jigglypuff challenging the player in Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS.

Super Smash Bros. for Wii U

Fighters

Unlike Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS, Ness, Jigglypuff, Ganondorf and Bowser Jr. are starter characters. Like the 3DS version, a character is unlocked for every ten versus matches played starting with Falco. Two exceptions to this are Mr. Game & Watch and Duck Hunt, which they need 20 more versus matches than R.O.B. and Mr. Game & Watch, respectively. Unlike the previous three installments (Melee, Brawl, and the 3DS version), no Super Smash Bros. universe stages are used for challenger approaching battles. Instead, all unlockable characters use a stage from their respective universe except for R.O.B., in which he uses the Wrecking Crew stage due to him not having a stage from his own universe.

In addition to the characters below, Mii Fighters are not shown on the character select screen until the player has created at least one. However, since the ability to create Mii Fighters is granted from the beginning and there is no Challenger Approaching fight, the character cannot truly be called unlockable.

Character	How to unlock	VS Matches Required	Unlock location	Music
Falco	Clear Classic Mode	10	Orbital Gate Assault	Theme from Area 6 / Missile Slipstream
Wario	Clear 100-Man Smash	20	Gamer	Gamer
Lucina	Clear Classic Mode on intensity 5.5 or higher	30	Coliseum	The Devoted
Dark Pit	Clear All-Star Mode on Normal	40	Palutena's Temple	Boss Fight 1 (Kid Icarus: Uprising)
Dr. Mario	Clear Master Orders on Hard	50	Delfino Plaza	Delfino Plaza
R.O.B.	Clear Crazy Orders after ten rounds and defeat Crazy Hand	60	Wrecking Crew	Wrecking Crew Medley
Mr. Game & Watch	Clear Classic Mode on intensity 2.0 or higher with five characters	80	Flat Zone X	Flat Zone 2
Duck Hunt	Get at least one KO in Cruel Smash	100	Duck Hunt	Duck Hunt Medley

Gallery

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  Falco challenging the player in Super Smash Bros. for Wii U.

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  Wario challenging the player in Super Smash Bros. for Wii U.

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  Lucina challenging the player in Super Smash Bros. for Wii U.

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  Dark Pit challenging the player in Super Smash Bros. for Wii U.

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  Dr. Mario challenging the player in Super Smash Bros. for Wii U.

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  R.O.B. challenging the player in Super Smash Bros. for Wii U.

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  Mr. Game & Watch challenging the player in Super Smash Bros. for Wii U.

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  Duck Hunt challenging the player in Super Smash Bros. for Wii U.

Super Smash Bros. Ultimate

The starting roster in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate comprises the eight starter characters from the original Super Smash Bros. game, with all other fighters being unlockable or downloadable. There are two ways to unlock characters: by defeating them in a Challenger Approaching fight, or by awakening them in the World of Light. With the vast majority of the roster being unlockable, unlocking characters is advertised as a core feature of the game; no characters are left "secret" like in previous games, and character unlocks are designed to occur at a more streamlined and consistent pace than in previous games.

In the World of Light, only characters that have been awakened in that mode can be used, with only Kirby initially being available. However, awakening a fighter in the World of Light that is not a starter character also unlocks them for the regular roster as well.

Fighters

Below is a table listing the stage and music for each character's unlock battle. It also includes the order they are unlocked in as time-based challenges.

Order	Character	Stage	Music
1st	Ness	Onett (hazards off)	Bein' Friends
2nd	Zelda	Temple	Ocarina of Time Medley
3rd	Bowser	Mushroom Kingdom U	King Bowser - Super Mario Bros. 3
4th	Pit	Skyworld	Underworld
5th	Inkling	Moray Towers	Splattack!
6th	Villager	Smashville	Title Theme - Animal Crossing
7th	Marth	Castle Siege	Story 5 Meeting
8th	Young Link	Great Bay	Saria's Theme
9th	Wii Fit Trainer	Wii Fit Studio	Main Menu - Wii Fit
10th	Ice Climbers	Summit	Ice Climber (Brawl)
11th	Captain Falcon	Port Town Aero Dive	F-ZERO Medley
12th	Peach	Princess Peach's Castle	Rolling Hills A
13th	Ryu	Battlefield	Ryu Stage
14th	Ike	Coliseum	Eternal Bond
15th	Jigglypuff	Saffron City	Main Theme - Pokémon Red & Pokémon Blue (64)
16th	King K. Rool	Jungle Japes	Gang-Plank Galleon
17th	Sonic	Green Hill Zone	Green Hill Zone
18th	Simon	Dracula's Castle	Vampire Killer (Remix)
19th	Zero Suit Samus	Brinstar	Theme of Samus Aran, Space Warrior
20th	Little Mac	Boxing Ring (Punch-Out!!)	Jogging / Countdown
21st	Isabelle	Town and City	Plaza / Title Theme - Animal Crossing: City Folk / Animal Crossing: Wild World
22nd	Shulk	Gaur Plain	Xenoblade Chronicles Medley
23rd	Lucina	Arena Ferox	Id (Purpose)
24th	Wario	WarioWare, Inc.	WarioWare, Inc.
25th	Ridley	Norfair	Vs. Ridley
26th	Pokémon Trainer	Pokémon Stadium	Main Theme - Pokémon Red & Pokémon Blue (Brawl)
27th	Lucario	Spear Pillar	Battle! (Team Galactic)
28th	Daisy	Figure-8 Circuit	Mario Tennis / Mario Golf
29th	Roy	Castle Siege	Beyond Distant Skies - Roy's Departure
30th	King Dedede	Fountain of Dreams	King Dedede's Theme (Brawl)
31st	R.O.B.	Wrecking Crew	Stack-Up/Gyromite
32nd	Falco	Corneria	Star Fox Medley
33rd	Luigi	Luigi's Mansion	Main Theme - Luigi's Mansion
34th	Pichu	Pokémon Stadium 2	Pokémon Red / Pokémon Blue Medley
35th	Richter	Dracula's Castle	Divine Bloodlines
36th	Lucas	New Pork City	Unfounded Revenge / Smashing Song of Praise
37th	Diddy Kong	Kongo Falls	Stickerbush Symphony
38th	Meta Knight	Halberd	Meta Knight's Revenge
39th	Snake	Shadow Moses Island	Encounter
40th	Ganondorf	Bridge of Eldin	Death Mountain
41st	Corrin	Coliseum	Lost in Thoughts All Alone (Remix)
42nd	Mega Man	Wily Castle	Mega Man 2 Medley
43rd	Bayonetta	Umbra Clock Tower	Let's Hit The Climax!
44th	Toon Link	Pirate Ship	Dragon Roost Island
45th	Rosalina & Luma	Mario Galaxy	Egg Planet (Remix)
46th	Incineroar	Boxing Ring (Super Smash Bros.)	The Battle at the Summit!
47th	Sheik	Gerudo Valley	Gerudo Valley (Remix)
48th	Olimar	Distant Planet	Main Theme - Pikmin (Remix)
49th	Pac-Man	Pac-Land	PAC-MAN
50th	Dark Samus	Frigate Orpheon	Multiplayer - Metroid Prime 2: Echoes
51st	Wolf	Lylat Cruise	Star Wolf (Brawl)
52nd	Mr. Game & Watch	Flat Zone X	Flat Zone 2
53rd	Robin	Castle Siege	Prelude (Ablaze)
54th	Dark Pit	Reset Bomb Forest	Dark Pit's Theme
55th	Cloud	Midgar	Fight On!
56th	Duck Hunt	Duck Hunt	Duck Hunt Medley
57th	Ken	Boxing Ring (Punch-Out!!)	Ken Stage
58th	Greninja	Kalos Pokémon League	Battle! (Trainer Battle) - Pokémon X / Pokémon Y
59th	Chrom	Arena Ferox	Id (Purpose) (Remix)
60th	Mewtwo	Spear Pillar	Battle! (Dialga/Palkia) / Spear Pillar
61st	Bowser Jr.	Delfino Plaza	Delfino Plaza (Remix)
62nd	Dr. Mario	New Donk City Hall	Fever
63rd	Palutena	Palutena's Temple	Destroyed Skyworld

Challenger Approaching

In a Challenger Approaching fight, the character must be fought in a one-on-one fight, with the stage and music being specific to that fighter. The difficulty of Challenger Approaching fights start out at being very low, but progressively increases with each character unlocked. If the player loses the fight, they can redo the Challenger Approaching fight via Challenger's Approach on the Games and More menu after a few minutes pass.

All characters except Mii Fighters can be unlocked in a Challenger Approaching fight. Instead, each Mii Fighter can be unlocked by creating a custom Mii Fighter of that type. However, Mii Fighters may also be unlocked by awakening them in the World of Light.

Timed encounters

When the player finishes a VS. match, a Mob Smash, a Spirit Board fight or exits the World of Light, a new character can challenge the player to a Challenger Approaching duel. However, the player must then wait 10 minutes before a new Challenger Approaching challenge will be issued. This 10 minute cooldown can be bypassed by closing the game and reopening it.

Time-based Challenger Approaching challenges are issued in a specific order, skipping any characters unlocked in the World of Light or whose Challenger Approaching fight has already been triggered due to Classic Mode.

Classic Mode

When the player completes Classic Mode with a given character, a new character will challenge the player to a Challenger Approaching duel. All of the eight starter characters have their own character unlock trees, each with eight characters to unlock, except for Pikachu, who has seven. The challenger is determined by the 1st Player character's assigned tree, and will be the next character from the top of their tree down (as indicated on the table below) who has not already been unlocked or issued a Challenger Approaching duel.

When all the characters in a tree are unlocked, completing Classic Mode with those characters will unlock the next available character in Mario's tree, then Donkey Kong's, and so on. Completing Classic Mode with downloadable fighters will also unlock fighters in this order, as these characters are not assigned an unlock tree.

The Challenger Approaching duels are the same as those issued on a timed basis, this is simply another way to trigger them. Notably, all clones, semi-clones, and pseudo-clones except for Ganondorf, Roy, and Chrom are in the same tree as the character they are based on.

Unlock Order
1st
2nd
3rd
4th
5th
6th
7th
8th								None

World of Light

In World of Light, each fighter must be unlocked through a fighter battle, with a few exceptions:

Kirby is always available from the beginning.

Bowser is unlocked after defeating Giga Bowser within the Molten Fortress sub-world in The Light Realm.

Downloadable fighters are directly available once finished downloading them, after freeing a total of 10 fighters. If a file is loaded where those conditions have been already met previously before downloading them, they will be made instantly available.

The fighter battles all feature the same single condition: Win the battle to awaken the fighter

No.	Image	Name	Type	Power	Stage	Music	Location
01		Mario	Neutral	2,500	Final Destination	Final Destination	In The Light Realm (right at the beginning)
02		Donkey Kong	Grab	3,300	Kongo Jungle Ω	Jungle Level (64)	In The Light Realm (middle of the western jungle)
03		Link	Shield	3,600	Great Plateau Tower Ω	Main Theme - The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild	In The Light Realm (the Sheikah Tower in the south)
04		Samus	Shield	7,500	Brinstar Ω	Title Theme - Metroid	In The Light Realm (just beyond the light breach)
04ε		Dark Samus	Grab	12,500	Frigate Orpheon Ω	Multiplayer - Metroid Prime 2: Echoes	In The Final Battle area (dark side)
05		Yoshi	Grab	3,600	Super Happy Tree Ω	Obstacle Course - Yoshi's Island	In The Light Realm (in the ribbon hills)
07		Fox	Shield	3,700	Corneria Ω	Star Fox Medley	In The Light Realm (before the red button in the heart pond)
08		Pikachu	Attack	3,300	Pokémon Stadium Ω	Main Theme - Pokémon Red & Pokémon Blue (Melee)	In The Light Realm (the rapids above the wall)
09		Luigi	Grab	10,600	Luigi's Mansion Ω	Main Theme - Luigi's Mansion	In The Dark Realm (in the Mysterious Dimension sub-world, in the flames)
10		Ness	Attack	7,500	Magicant Ω	Magicant (for 3DS / Wii U)	In The Light Realm (beyond the light breach, in the pink clouds)
11		Captain Falcon	Attack	3,300	Port Town Aero Dive Ω	F-ZERO Medley	In The Light Realm (race track east of the starting area)
12		Jigglypuff	Shield	3,300	Mushroom Kingdom U Ω	Road to Viridian City - Pokémon Red / Pokémon Blue	In The Light Realm (forest north of the starting area)
13		Peach	Grab	7,500	Mushroom Kingdom U (Slide Lift Tower)	Fortress Boss - Super Mario World	In The Light Realm (in the Molten Fortress sub-world)
13ε		Daisy	Attack	10,600	Mushroom Kingdom U (Slide Lift Tower)	Underground Theme - Super Mario Land	In The Dark Realm (in the Dracula's Castle sub-world)
15		Ice Climbers	Grab	7,500	Summit Ω	Ice Climber (Brawl)	In The Light Realm (bottom of the icy mountain)
16		Sheik	Shield	2,500	Final Destination	Final Destination	In The Light Realm, one of the 3 starter routes (north route)
17		Zelda	Shield	10,100	Temple Ω	Ocarina of Time Medley	In The Dark Realm (in the Sacred Land sub-world, in Kakariko Village)
18		Dr. Mario	Shield	3,400	Mario Bros. Ω	Fever	In The Light Realm (north of the city towards the ribbon hills)
19		Pichu	Attack	7,500	Prism Tower Ω	Pokémon Red / Pokémon Blue Medley	In The Light Realm (in the Power Plant sub-world)
20		Falco	Attack	7,500	Lylat Cruise Ω	Space Armada	In The Light Realm (the space area, on the yellow planet)
21		Marth	Attack	2,500	Final Destination	Final Destination	In The Light Realm, one of the 3 starter routes (west route)
21ε		Lucina	Attack	10,000	Arena Ferox Ω	Id (Purpose)	In The Dark Realm (south-eastern path)
22		Young Link	Grab	10,300	Temple Ω	Saria's Song	In The Dark Realm (in the Sacred Land sub-world, in the Lost Woods)
23		Ganondorf	Attack	10,700	Bridge of Eldin Ω	Death Mountain	In The Dark Realm (in the Sacred Land sub-world, in the Gerudo Fortress)
24		Mewtwo	Grab	12,000	Spear Pillar Ω	Battle! (Dialga/Palkia) / Spear Pillar	In The Dark Realm (in the Mysterious Dimension sub-world, in the red-leafed trees)
25		Roy	Attack	12,500	Castle Siege Ω	Beyond Distant Skies - Roy's Departure	In The Final Battle area (light side)
25ε		Chrom	Attack	10,600	Castle Siege Ω	Id (Purpose) (Remix)	In The Dark Realm (in the Sacred Land sub-world, by jumping into a treasure chest in the Lost Woods)
26		Mr. Game & Watch	Shield	7,500	Flat Zone X Ω	Flat Zone 2	In The Light Realm (beyond the light breach, in the maze)
27		Meta Knight	Attack	11,800	Halberd Ω	Meta Knight's Revenge	In The Dark Realm (in the Mysterious Dimension sub-world)
28		Pit	Shield	3,300	Skyworld Ω	Underworld	In The Light Realm (in the Temple of Light sub-world)
28ε		Dark Pit	Shield	11,200	Reset Bomb Forest Ω	Dark Pit's Theme	In The Dark Realm (in the Dracula's Castle sub-world, through a fireplace)
29		Zero Suit Samus	Grab	7,500	Brinstar Depths Ω	Theme of Samus Aran, Space Warrior	In The Light Realm (beyond the light breach, on the volcano)
30		Wario	Attack	10,100	WarioWare, Inc. Ω	WarioWare, Inc.	In The Dark Realm (in the Dracula's Castle sub-world)
31		Snake	Grab	9,000	Final Destination	Encounter	In The Light Realm (in the Base sub-world)
32		Ike	Attack	11,200	Coliseum Ω	Eternal Bond	In The Dark Realm (in the Mysterious Dimension sub-world)
33-35		Pokémon Trainer (Squirtle, Ivysaur, and Charizard)	Attack	7,500	Battlefield Ω	Main Theme - Pokémon Red & Pokémon Blue (Brawl)	In The Light Realm (beyond the light breach, east of the coastal town)
36		Diddy Kong	Grab	9,000	Kongo Jungle Ω	Stickerbrush Symphony	In The Light Realm (in the DK Island sub-world)
37		Lucas	Shield	6,600	New Pork City Ω	Unfounded Revenge / Smashing Song of Praise	In The Light Realm (in the western village)
38		Sonic	Attack	9,800	Green Hill Zone Ω	Green Hill Zone	In The Dark Realm (in the Sacred Land sub-world, between Kakariko Village and the Lost Woods)
39		King Dedede	Attack	9,000	Fountain of Dreams Ω	King Dedede's Theme (Brawl)	In The Light Realm (in the Gourmet Race sub-world, after obtaining a score of 11)
40		Olimar	Grab	3,300	Distant Planet Ω	Main Theme - Pikmin	In The Light Realm (the mushroom forest)
41		Lucario	Attack	3,300	Spear Pillar Ω	Battle! (Team Galactic)	In The Light Realm (along the wall, near the light breach)
42		R.O.B.	Shield	10,500	Wrecking Crew Ω	Stack-Up/Gyromite	In The Dark Realm (in the Mysterious Dimension sub-world, eastern optional path)
43		Toon Link	Attack	7,500	Wuhu Island	Main Theme - The Legend of Zelda: Tri Force Heroes	In The Light Realm (in the Forest Hill sub-world)
44		Wolf	Attack	11,800	Lylat Cruise Ω	Star Wolf (Brawl)	In The Dark Realm (in the Mysterious Dimension sub-world, on the crashed plane)
45		Villager	Grab	2,500	Final Destination	Final Destination	In The Light Realm, one of the 3 starter routes (east route)
46		Mega Man	Shield	7,500	Wily Castle Ω	Mega Man 2 Medley	In The Light Realm (near the Base entrance)
47		Wii Fit Trainer	Shield	3,300	Wii Fit Studio Ω	Yoga	In The Light Realm (northern part of the city)
48		Rosalina & Luma	Shield	10,000	Mario Galaxy Ω	Egg Planet	In The Dark Realm (northern path, 2nd path from the left)
49		Little Mac	Attack	3,300	Boxing Ring Ω	Jogging / Countdown	In The Light Realm (in the city's stadium after clearing Power Plant)
50		Greninja	Shield	10,600	Kalos Pokémon League Ω	Battle! (Trainer Battle) - Pokémon X / Pokémon Y	In The Dark Realm (in the Mysterious Dimension sub-world)
51		Mii Brawler	Attack	10,000	Final Destination	Final Destination - Super Smash Bros. for 3DS / Wii U	In The Dark Realm (in the Sacred Land sub-world, in Kakariko Village after setting the clock to 4:40)
52		Mii Swordfighter	Shield	3,300	Final Destination	Final Destination - Super Smash Bros. for 3DS / Wii U	In The Light Realm (north of the eastern town)
53		Mii Gunner	Grab	7,500	Tortimer Island	Final Destination - Super Smash Bros. for 3DS / Wii U	In The Light Realm (beyond the light breach, on the southern island)
54		Palutena	Attack	12,500	Palutena's Temple Ω	Destroyed Skyworld	In The Final Battle area (light side after beating Crazy Hand)
55		Pac-Man	Grab	3,300	Pac-Land Ω	PAC-MAN	In The Light Realm (between the mushroom forest and Base)
56		Robin	Grab	10,700	Castle Siege Ω	Prelude (Ablaze)	In The Dark Realm (in the Dracula's Castle sub-world)
57		Shulk	Attack	8,200	Gaur Plain Ω	Xenoblade Chronicles Medley	In The Light Realm (beyond the light breach, atop the waterfall)
58		Bowser Jr.	Grab	12,500	Mushroomy Kingdom Ω	Fortress Boss - Super Mario Bros. 3	In The Dark Realm (in the Sacred Land sub-world, on top of a pyramid in the Gerudo Desert)
59		Duck Hunt	Grab	3,300	Duck Hunt Ω	Duck Hunt Medley	In The Light Realm (in the shrouded forest)
60		Ryu	Attack	9,000	Suzaku Castle Ω	Ryu Stage	In The Light Realm (in the World Tour sub-world)
60ε		Ken	Neutral	10,600	Boxing Ring Ω	Ken Stage	In The Dark Realm (in the Dracula's Castle sub-world)
61		Cloud	Attack	11,200	Midgar Ω	Fight On!	In The Dark Realm (in the Sacred Land sub-world, before the Master Sword)
62		Corrin	Shield	10,700	Castle Siege Ω	Lost in Thoughts All Alone	In The Dark Realm (in the Mysterious Dimension sub-world, on white clouds)
63		Bayonetta	Shield	12,500	Umbra Clock Tower Ω	Let's Hit the Climax!	In The Final Battle area (dark side after beating Master Hand)
64		Inkling	Attack	3,300	Moray Towers Ω	Splattack!	In The Light Realm (southern part of the city)
65		Ridley	Attack	10,600	Brinstar Depths Ω	Vs. Ridley (Brawl)	In The Dark Realm (in the Dracula's Castle sub-world)
66		Simon	Grab	7,500	Dracula's Castle Ω	Vampire Killer	In The Light Realm (in the Temple of Light sub-world)
66ε		Richter	Grab	11,800	Dracula's Castle Ω	Divine Bloodlines	In The Dark Realm (in the Dracula's Castle sub-world, after killing all evil ghosts)
67		King K. Rool	Attack	10,600	Pirate Ship	Gang-Plank Galleon	In The Dark Realm (in the Mysterious Dimension sub-world, the pirate ship optional path)
68		Isabelle	Grab	3,900	Town and City Ω	Plaza / Title Theme - Animal Crossing: City Folk / Animal Crossing: Wild World	In The Light Realm (east of the town by taking the bus from the western village)
69		Incineroar	Attack	12,500	Spear Pillar Ω	The Battle at the Summit!	In The Dark Realm (south-western path)

Gallery

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  Ness challenging the player in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate

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  Zelda challenging the player in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate

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  Bowser challenging the player in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate

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  Pit challenging the player in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate

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  Inkling challenging the player in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate

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  Villager challenging the player in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate

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  Marth challenging the player in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate

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  Young Link challenging the player in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate

• 

  Wii Fit Trainer challenging the player in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate

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  Ice Climbers challenging the player in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate

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  Captain Falcon challenging the player in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate

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  Peach challenging the player in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate

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  Ryu challenging the player in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate

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  Ike challenging the player in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate

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  Jigglypuff challenging the player in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate

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  King K. Rool challenging the player in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate

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  Sonic challenging the player in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate

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  Simon challenging the player in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate

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  Zero Suit Samus challenging the player in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate

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  Little Mac challenging the player in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate

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  Isabelle challenging the player in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate

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  Shulk challenging the player in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate

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  Lucina challenging the player in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate

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  Wario challenging the player in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate

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  Ridley challenging the player in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate

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  Pokémon Trainer challenging the player in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate

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  Lucario challenging the player in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate

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  Daisy challenging the player in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate

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  Roy challenging the player in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate

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  King Dedede challenging the player in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate

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  R.O.B. challenging the player in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate

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  Falco challenging the player in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate

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  Luigi challenging the player in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate

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  Pichu challenging the player in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate

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  Richter challenging the player in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate

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  Lucas challenging the player in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate

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  Diddy Kong challenging the player in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate

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  Meta Knight challenging the player in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate

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  Snake challenging the player in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate

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  Ganondorf challenging the player in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate

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  Corrin challenging the player in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate

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  Mega Man challenging the player in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate

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  Bayonetta challenging the player in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate

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  Toon Link challenging the player in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate

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  Rosalina & Luma challenging the player in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate

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  Incineroar challenging the player in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate

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  Sheik challenging the player in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate

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  Olimar challenging the player in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate

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  PAC-MAN challenging the player in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate

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  Dark Samus challenging the player in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate

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  Wolf challenging the player in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate

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  Mr. Game & Watch challenging the player in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate

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  Robin challenging the player in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate

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  Dark Pit challenging the player in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate

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  Cloud challenging the player in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate

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  Duck Hunt challenging the player in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate

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  Ken challenging the player in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate

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  Greninja challenging the player in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate

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  Chrom challenging the player in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate

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  Mewtwo challenging the player in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate

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  Bowser Jr. challenging the player in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate

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  Dr. Mario challenging the player in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate

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  Palutena challenging the player in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate

Trivia

• In each of his unlockable appearances, Ness has always been the first one unlocked through Vs. Mode matches.
• Super Smash Bros. 64 is the only game in the series in which playing VS. Mode matches cannot trigger a "Challenger Approaching" battle, and the only game in which each unlockable character only has a single unlock criterion.
  • Conversely, Super Smash Bros. Ultimate is the first game which does not have unique unlock criteria to unlock unlockable characters.
• When a player fights a secret character to unlock in Super Smash Bros. Brawl, their character always uses their default costume even if the player was originally using an alternative costume.
• In Super Smash Bros. Brawl, each character unlock notification has a different tone depending on the debut game of the character.
  • Strangely, Jigglypuff's unlock notification tone is the same as the Brawl newcomers despite debuting in Super Smash Bros. 64. This is likely because it is unlocked in the post-game Subspace Emissary, as well as its internal ID being right next to Toon Link and Wolf, Brawl newcomers.
  • Super Smash Bros. 64 newcomers (except Jigglypuff) use "Rare Trophy" from Melee, Super Smash Bros. Melee newcomers use the stage unlock fanfare from Brawl, and Super Smash Bros. Brawl newcomers (and Jigglypuff) use the sound effect in Brawl when collecting songs or completing minor challenges.
• In Super Smash Bros. for Wii U and Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, unlock matches are treated as VS. Mode matches - that is, they count towards the total number of VS. Mode matches, and all statistics accumulated during unlock matches are saved.
• Masahiro Sakurai originally intended for all the characters in Super Smash Bros. for Wii U to be available from the start, but eventually decided against it.
• In Super Smash Bros. 64, Super Smash Bros. Brawl, Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS, and Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, the AI level of unlockable character fights starts out very low, but increases with each consecutive character unlocked.
  • In Super Smash Bros. Melee, the opposite is the case.
  • In Ultimate, the difficulty of the AI was lowered in patch 1.2.0, after notorious reports of the level of difficulty for each match.
• Counting Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS and Super Smash Bros. for Wii U separately, Jigglypuff, Falco, and Mr. Game & Watch are tied for the most unlockable appearances, with five each.
  • Of the three of them, Jigglypuff is the only one to have an appearance as something other than an unlockable. This appearance was in Super Smash Bros. for Wii U.
• Wario was the first starter character to become an unlockable character in a later installment.
• Pokémon Trainer is the only character whose moveset involves transforming into another character to become unlockable.
• Prior to Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, the only unlockable characters whose playable status was not kept a secret in official material prior to release were Snake and Sonic in Super Smash Bros. Brawl, and Lucina in Super Smash Bros. 4.
  • Out of all of these, Lucina is the only one who is not a third-party character.
• Super Smash Bros. Ultimate is the first game to have more unlockable characters than starter characters, and the first game to feature unlockable characters on the box art.
• While Sephiroth is a downloadable fighter rather than unlockable, from 17 December to 22 December 2020, defeating him through the limited-time Sephiroth Challenge enabled access to him, Northern Cave and his music if the player had purchased Challenger Pack 8 or Fighters Pass Vol. 2 prior to his official release.
• In Ultimate, Villager and Isabelle can have different music play during their regular unlock battles. Specifically, when they're unlocked between 8:00pm and 12:00am on Saturday, K.K. Slider will perform.

See also

• Unlockable stage
• Starter character
• Starter stage
• Downloadable content