False character

A spirit being forced to animate a false Mario.

False characters, also referred to as "puppet fighters", are enemies featured in Adventure Mode: The Subspace Emissary in Super Smash Bros. Brawl and Adventure Mode: World of Light in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate. They are, for all intents and purposes, evil doppelgängers of fighters that serve the modes' respective main antagonists. In The Subspace Emissary, a false character is created when Shadow Bugs gain physical forms after swarming over a fallen fighter's trophy form; in World of Light, the fighters are captured and replicated by either Galeem or Dharkon, to which the replicas are then possessed by spirits bound by the duo's influences.

Most false characters in Super Smash Bros. Brawl retain the appearance and abilities of the original with the addition of a smoky purple aura, solid and glowing yellow eyes and a matching darker tinge (outliers that do not entirely conform to these schematics include Samus and Mr. Game & Watch); in battle, they are simply rendered with a purple tint and constantly glowing eyes, but lacking their auras. Like their original counterparts, they are reduced to trophies upon defeat, but quickly disintegrate into Shadow Bugs afterward due to the entities having lost their physical form. Similar to metal fighters, they are voiceless. All false characters are slightly larger than their normal counterparts (or much larger in the case of the false Diddy Kong) and deal slightly more damage while having slightly more knockback resistance.

False characters in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate initially appear as inanimate and colorless replicas, but once spirits are forced to animate them, the puppets gain color; said color represents one of the original characters' many costumes (typically their alternate costumes outside of a handful of exceptions)—sometimes colored similarly to the spirit possessing them or something else related to said spirit (e.g. the Yoshi puppet fighters containing Eevee's spirit are blue, yellow and red in reference to Vaporeon, Jolteon and Flareon—Eevee's original evolutions), and their eyes gain a distinct red glowing color (the color is instead purple for when Dharkon is controlling the fighters), though the color's pattern varies — the Mario puppet fighter containing a Smoky Progg's spirit displayed lighter red for his irises and darker red for his pupils during the opening cutscene, while outside of this the puppet fighters inverted this while also having pink sclera (in the case of the puppet fighters cloned from Samus or Dark Samus, their entire visor becomes illuminated, rather than their eyes simply shining through it); the Marth controlled by Dharkon in the Hero's reveal trailer displayed a dark purple pupil, even darker purple sclera and almost white lavender irises while the other characters displayed darker irises and brighter pupils much like they do in gameplay. In gameplay itself, all fighters under Galeem's control (and later Dharkon's) display glowing eyes while only the original fighters possess an aura during gameplay (they do display such a characteristic in the Hero's trailer).

Puppet fighters additionally display abilities and sometimes attack behaviors that the original fighters do not possess or normally resort to, in conjunction with the originals' own, such as the Mario puppet fighter containing Smoky Progg's spirit occasionally turning metal. Much like the colors, these extra abilities often relate to the spirit possessing the fighter, such as the Wario puppet fighters containing the Chargin' Chuck spirit utilizing Wario's new dash attack, or the Zelda puppet fighter containing Yuri Kozukata's spirit frequently summoning said Assist Trophy.

Arguably, the spirits encountered on the Spirit Board are also utilizing puppet fighters as many battles are shared between it and Adventure Mode. While the battles have similar schematics, rather than using the playable spirits attributes conferred upon a character as in normal gameplay, albeit the process of claiming the spirits are different: World of Light simply requires defeating the puppet fighter to free the spirit while the Spirit Board additionally requires shooting at the stunned fighter post-battle with a specialized gun. These "puppet fighters" do not appear to be under the control of Galeem or Dharkon. Regardless of mode, puppet fighters have a slightly darker coloration when compared to playable fighters (this is more noticeable in the Hero's trailer where they appear much darker than in gameplay and almost colorless).

In Super Smash Bros. Brawl

False Bowser

A false Bowser with the original.

The false Bowser makes its first appearance in The Lake, attacking Fox and Diddy Kong at the very end of the stage. Once being defeated by Fox and Diddy, its trophy form dissolves and then the real Bowser makes his entrance in an attempt to capture the duo. It is believed that Bowser ordered a swarm of Shadow Bugs to create his false counterpart, so he could use it as somewhat of a decoy.

Another False Bowser appears later during the opening cutscene of The Lake Shore after Bowser uses a Dark Cannon on the princess that was rescued by Kirby in the Midair Stadium. The clone is ordered to take on the trophified princess' form.

False Diddy Kong

A false Diddy Kong facing the Star Fox fighters and the original.

As Fox and Diddy are walking through The Swamp, they become ambushed by Bowser, who uses his Dark Cannon against Diddy to reduce him to his trophy form. Bowser then orders some Shadow Bugs to swarm the trophified Diddy, creating the false Diddy. As it was starting to worsen, Falco then flies down in an Arwing and destroys the Dark Cannon, forcing Bowser to retreat by means of his Koopa Clown Car. Afterwards, the false Diddy then increases its size, effectively making it a minor boss. Fox revives Diddy, who freaks out at the sight of his clone and the trio defeat it. Once defeated, the clone's trophy form disintegrates into Shadow Bugs.

False Samus

A false Samus

After Pikachu and Zero Suit Samus fought their way through the Isle of the Ancients' research facility, Samus locates her Power Suit. Before she can retrieve it, however, a pair of False Samuses confront the duo. After defeating them, Samus donned her Power Suit and continued, destroying the R.O.B.s sent to attack her. The Samus suits are similar to the color scheme of the Samus' Gravity Suit.

It is implied that these false Samuses are duplicates of the Power Suit rather than Samus herself, as the in-game name of the cutscene in which they appear is titled "The Copied Power Suit", no purple aura surrounds these false Samuses and it is unclear how the Shadow Bugs created them.

False Mr. Game & Watch

A quintet of false Mr. Game & Watches in control of the Halberd.

When Snake, Meta Knight and Lucario storm the bridge of the hijacked Halberd, they discover a quintet of false Mr. Game & Watches. Snake proceeds to knock them out of the window, onto the deck, and into the midst of the tea party held by Peach, Fox and Zelda (disguised as Sheik during that time). The clones then dissolve into Shadow Bugs and form into Duon, a last resort to defend the Halberd which begins a boss fight. After the monster's defeat, it dissolves into Shadow Bugs and flies away, leaving behind the real Mr. Game & Watch.

Unlike previous false characters, the false Mr. Game & Watches are perfect clones of him, perhaps because he was the Shadow Bugs' progenitor.

False princesses

A false Peach.

A false Zelda facing Mario and Pit.

The story segment here changes depending on if the player (as Kirby) saved Peach or Zelda in the beginning when fighting Petey Piranha. After the Shadow Bugs cover Peach/Zelda's trophy, they morph into a false Peach/Zelda. While Mario and Pit/Link and Yoshi are running, the false princess attempts to shoot them with a Dark Cannon. However, right before it is able to, the other duo arrives and Link/Pit destroys the Dark Cannon. The false princess glares at the arriving duo and they fight. The duo wins the battle, reducing the false princess to its trophy form as it disintegrates. At the same time, Mario/Link mistakes the other character as having defeated the real deal and attacks. The previous duo then defeats the arriving duo, reducing the latter to their trophy forms which are taken by King Dedede. Kirby saves the two and the princess's trophy is later taken away by Bowser when he and his Koopa Troop storm Dedede's castle.

Later on in the story, both Peach and Zelda's trophies are taken aboard the Halberd, locked up in spare cages that would have been used for Petey Piranha. When Snake, Meta Knight and Lucario enter the room where their trophies are, Shadow Bugs come in and form into new false versions of the princesses. The three newcomers battle the doppelgängers and defeat them before reviving the original princesses.

Unlike most false characters, the color of the false Zeldas' skin takes on a greyish tone. This may take some inspiration from when Zelda was briefly possessed by Ganondorf during the endgame of The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess.

In The Great Maze

Kirby fighting a false Donkey Kong in The Great Maze

Different versions of false characters created from every fighter seen so far in the plotline (excluding Sheik, Zero Suit Samus, Jigglypuff, Toon Link, Wolf and Sonic) appear in The Great Maze. These versions of false characters are slightly larger than ordinary ones and sport a shining yellow-green look with white eyes, as well as emitting lower-pitched sounds. No reason has been given for the change in appearance compared to those found outside of Subspace, though it is speculated that this is their "natural form" while inside the dimension.

Each false character is fought on a different stage, though all of them share a similar background and platform design. Along with all of the bosses (except Master Hand and Crazy Hand), they must be defeated in order to confront Tabuu in the final battle.

Images of each false character in The Great Maze can be found here.

Music

During a battle with a false character, a music track, usually dark-themed and derived from the character's game series, plays in the background. However, some characters, such as Fox and Pit, have their battle themes taken from another fighter's series.

Character	Music
Mario	Airship Theme (Super Mario Bros. 3)
Luigi	Luigi's Mansion Theme
Peach	Castle / Boss Fortress (Super Mario World / SMB 3)
Bowser	Airship Theme (Super Mario Bros. 3)
Donkey Kong	Battle For Storm Hill
Diddy Kong
Yoshi	Airship Theme (Super Mario Bros. 3)
Wario
Link	Gerudo Valley
Zelda
Ganondorf
Samus	Sector 1
Pit	Castle / Boss Fortress (Super Mario World / SMB 3)
Ice Climbers	Ice Climber
R.O.B.	Flat Zone (Melee)
Kirby	Gourmet Race
Meta Knight
King Dedede
Olimar
Fox	Sector 1
Falco
Captain Falcon
Pikachu	Victory Road
Pokémon Trainer
Lucario
Marth	Against the Dark Knight
Ike
Ness	Unfounded Revenge / Smashing Song of Praise
Lucas
Mr. Game & Watch	Flat Zone (Melee)
Snake	Sector 1

In Super Smash Bros. Ultimate

An army of false characters in the opening cinematic of World of Light.

False characters reappear in World of Light. This time, instead of Shadow Bugs, they are formed by a strange glowing substance being poured over the trapped fighters, which forms into an inanimate replica. These "puppet fighters" are then animated by spirits bound by Galeem or Dharkon, which can be claimed by defeating the puppet fighters. They are also usually represented by the fighters' alternate costumes. More information on these fights can be found here.

During The Final Battle, false characters appear as either light-blue silhouettes with red eyes or red silhouettes with purple eyes. The former are created by Galeem and based on fighters found in The Light Realm or surrounded by Galeem's spirits in the final world. The latter are created by Dharkon and based on fighters found in The Dark Realm or surrounded by Dharkon's spirits in the final world. A gallery for those false characters can be found here.

Unlike in Brawl, Kirby can get Copy Abilities from the false characters in this game. However, after he defeats them, he will be stripped of the abilities.

Trivia

• If one attempts to use Inhale on a Subspace clone, the clone can be pulled in, but they are unable to be swallowed unless the clone is shrunk by a Poison Mushroom.
• If a false character is hacked in for battle outside of Subspace, they will have a grayish-purple tint instead of a yellowish-green one. Some of their specials, however (such as King Dedede's Jet Hammer) will retain the yellowish-green tint.
• Sheik and Zero Suit Samus don't have a false counterpart in Subspace, as False Zelda and False Samus can't transform.
• Pit, Fox, Falco, Captain Falcon, Snake, Olimar, and R.O.B. are the only characters whose battle themes in The Great Maze don't come from their own universe.
  • This does not count Yoshi and Wario, who, despite using Mario songs instead of Yoshi and Wario songs, respectively, are still considered Mario characters.
    • Prior to the Great Maze, the exact Mario song was played during the fight with a giant false Diddy Kong, thus leaving Donkey Kong the only Mario character (counting sub-universes) to never have played a Mario song when facing him.
  • Coincidentally, Olimar and the Kirby characters (who share Gourmet Race as their battle music) all occupy the same (fifth) column on the complete Brawl character selection screen.
• Kirby puppet fighters are featured in the World of Light despite Kirby never having been captured himself; it was discussed by series director Masahiro Sakurai that — due to Kirby surviving Galeem's attack — there were initially no puppet fighters made in his image earlier on into the game, but because of Galeem's ability to analyze Kirby at some point in the story, he was able to create puppet fighters without needing an essence left behind or having the original fighter in his possession.
  • Ironically, despite the fact that Kirby was never captured by Galeem, he is featured in the most Spirit Battles, as a main fighter or otherwise.
• False Pokémon Trainers are never encountered in World of Light despite the Army of Puppets cutscene implying otherwise, and only the real one is fought.
  • Cloud similarly does not have any Spirit Battles fought in World of Light (although he does appear in Spirit Battles outside of the mode), only having Dharkon's false character clone of him present during fights where Dharkon is being fought himself.
  • The presence of of various DLC fighters appearing in at least one Spirit Battle as a puppet may imply that they were captured and have produced copies by Galeem, which is further implied by Hero and Sephiroth's trailers. However, due to their status as downloadable content, they are not used in any Spirit Battles in World of Light, and are unlocked without needing to be freed. It can also be assumed that the same analysis that applies to Kirby also applies to the DLC fighters.
• The eyes of the puppet fighters under Galeem and Dharkon's control appear to be in the same shape of the fighters' eyes under a Final Smash's influence—albeit recolored to match the alignment of their controller; this is more noticeable when the puppet fighter perfect shields an attack. The only exception appears to be Meta Knight puppet fighters whose eyes do not change shape to match that of one under a Final Smash, rather simply recoloring the eyes' base appearance.
• During the first part of World of Light's final stage, if a puppet fighter of the character used by the player is summoned and the one in control is in their default costume, it will appear in a darker shade, similar to the different shading used when there's more than one character with the same alternate costume. It's unknown why this occurs since it's not present when Galeem or Dharkon summon exploding puppets during their fights.
• If Kirby inhales a puppet fighter in the first part of World of Light's final stage, the weapons of the characters will be recolored to match the puppet fighter's coloring. This is likely an error.
• As a consequence of Mr. Game & Watch possessing the lack of visible eyes, he is the only character with puppet fighters to lack the signature red and purple eyes (granted by Galeem and Dharkon).
  • Pac-Man, Samus, and Dark Samus also share this distinction, though it is only through the previews of the Spirit Battles, where they, alongside Mr. Game & Watch, do not emit red or purple-flashing eyes.
• In Sora's gameplay trailer, a pair of some of Dharkon's puppet fighters based on Toon Link and Meta Knight can be seen during The Final Battle as Sora performs his Final Smash. It is not possible to encounter the former during the level.