On-screen appearance

Mario's on-screen appearance in Super Smash Bros. Brawl.

Captain Falcon and Mario enter Peach's Castle in Super Smash Bros.

The on-screen appearance, also known as an intro or entrance, is a minor feature in Super Smash Bros., Super Smash Bros. Brawl, Super Smash Bros. 4 and Super Smash Bros. Ultimate. It was not present in Super Smash Bros. Melee, where instead, characters become animated from their trophy forms as seen in the opening movie. It includes a small animation unique for each character entering the battle field during the announcer's three-second countdown before the match begins. In Smash 64 and Brawl, as the announcer counts down before a match starts, the camera will either pan far enough away from the stage to show each entrance or zoom in on each character during the first few frames of their entrance. In Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS, when a match starts, the screen will occasionally focus on the player's own on-screen appearance for the entire duration of the countdown, rather than moving between each character as they appear or showing the entire screen. It usually has no effect whatsoever on gameplay other than visually dramatic and comedic purposes. The exceptions to this rule are Zero Suit Samus's entrance in Brawl, which allows the players to hit their opponents with the fallen pieces of the power suit; Wario's entrance, which lets Wario charge up his Wario Waft the moment he appears; and Olimar's entrance, which automatically has him pluck three Pikmin. Each entrance usually relates to that character's universe, such as Mario entering in through a warp pipe the way he does at the beginning of Super Mario 64.

In Super Smash Bros.

Character name	Description
Captain Falcon	Jumps out of his vehicle, the Blue Falcon.
Donkey Kong	Breaks out of a DK Barrel, similar to his entrance from Donkey Kong Country.
Fox	Ejects out of an Arwing.
Jigglypuff	Emerges from a Poké Ball just like Pikachu.
Kirby	Crash-lands a Warp Star into the ground.
Link	Descends from a column of light, similar to the end-of-dungeon teleports in Ocarina of Time.
Luigi	Jumps out of a Warp Pipe just like Mario.
Mario	Jumps out of a Warp Pipe, similar to his entrance from the beginning of Super Mario 64.
Ness	Uses Teleport and crashes onto the stage.
Pikachu	Emerges from a Poké Ball just like the other Pokémon.
Samus	Exits a Super Metroid-style save point.
Yoshi	Breaks out of a Yoshi Egg, similar to his entrance from Super Mario World.

Gallery

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  Captain Falcon

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  Donkey Kong

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  Fox

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  Jigglypuff

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  Kirby

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  Link

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  Luigi

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  Mario

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  Ness

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  Pikachu

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  Samus

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  Yoshi

In Super Smash Bros. Melee

File:NessOnScreenAppearanceMelee.gif

The on-screen appearance for Ness in Melee, which Ness shares with all other characters in the game.

Unique character based entrances were removed in Melee. Instead, all playable characters briefly start as trophies that "come to life" at the start of the match, a reference to the game's introduction. Only Master Hand and Crazy Hand have "true" on-screen appearances, where they both gradually enter the stage from the background, laughing.

Sheik has the same on-screen appearance as every other character, but it should be noted that the sound played when Zelda transforms into Sheik is played when Sheik appears.

Giga Bowser, when fought in The Showdown and Adventure Mode, does not have any on-screen appearance of any type; when the countdown starts, he's already standing on the stage, although he does have an introduction clip before being fought in Adventure Mode, which consists of Giant Bowser's trophy being flung back onto the stage, transforming into Giga Bowser. Taking advantage of hacks, Giga Bowser may be fought in Vs. Mode. He then appears as a trophy when the "Must be ON" code from Action Replay is not turned on. When this happens, he will be in a T-pose upon trophy appearance. This freezes on stages that are not part of the Smash universe. The CPU players, including allies, in Event matches are already in the fight when the countdown starts. In Event 50: Final Destination Match, the hands' "true" appearances don't occur; they are already in the fight.

In Super Smash Bros. Brawl

Zelda's on-screen appearance in Brawl.

The on-screen appearances in Brawl appear in VS matches only. The single player modes instead use a quicker appearance method similar to Melee's. The characters are simply already present when the match/mode start or characters will spontaneously spawn out of nowhere during the match.

Character name	Description
Bowser	Emerges from a wall of flames.
Captain Falcon	The Blue Falcon spins to a stop, Captain Falcon jumps out, and then Blue Falcon speeds off.
Diddy Kong	Breaks out of a Donkey Kong Country-style DK Barrel and claps his hands.
Donkey Kong	Breaks out of a Donkey Kong Country-style DK Barrel, grunts and makes a strongman pose.
Falco	Ejects from an upside-down Arwing, much like the way he appears in the Subspace Emissary. Nearly identical to Fox and Wolf's appearances.
Fox	Ejects from an Arwing. Nearly identical to Falco and Wolf's appearances.
Ganondorf	Emerges from a portal of dark magic.
Ice Climbers	The condor flies in with them hanging from his feet, then they jump off.
Ike	Warps onto the stage using warp magic and then slashes his sword. The warp magic resembles that used by the Black Knight in Fire Emblem: Path of Radiance.
Jigglypuff	Emerges from a Poké Ball, then does a short, bouncy dance.
King Dedede	Is carried in on a palanquin by four Waddle Dees, then jumps off, scattering them.
Kirby	Crash-lands a Warp Star to the ground.
Link	Appears in a whirlwind and unsheathes his sword. A whirlwind was used to teleport among dungeons in The Legend of Zelda. Also, a whirlwind was used to teleport Link in games where he makes use of his Ocarina, particularly through the Song of Soaring.
Lucario	Teleports on stage, floats for a second, gathers aura in its hands then lands. This is unusual because all other Pokémon come in from Poké Balls.
Lucas	Rides in on a Mr. Saturn-style coffee table, then hops off. The table is based on the one that Lucas rides to Saturn Valley in Mother 3.
Luigi	Jumps out of a Warp Pipe in a scared pose, saying "Let's-a go." in an uneasy voice. His pose is similar to Luigi's face on the cover of Luigi's Mansion. Similar to Mario's appearance but his pose is different.
Mario	Jumps out of a Warp Pipe punching his right fist into the air while shouting "Let's-a go!". His pose is similar to his artwork from New Super Mario Bros.. Luigi's appearance is similar but different.
Marth	Warps onto the stage using warp magic with a twirl and unsheathes his sword.
Meta Knight	Teleports in wrapped in his cape. This is similar in appearance to his up taunt.
Mr. Game & Watch	Moves along a row of faded Game and Watch LCD frames until he reaches the foreground.
Ness	Arrives having used Teleport, then shakes off the soot he gathered after crashing.
Olimar	Olimar exits the Hocotate Ship and plucks three Pikmin from the ground.
Peach	Appears spinning out of a shower of hearts, then winks and poses with her parasol saying "Hi!".
Pikachu	Emerges from a Poké Ball and emits sparks from its cheeks.
Pit	Appears onstage from a beam of light from the heavens while looking upwards.
Pokémon Trainer	Throws out his first Pokémon, yelling "Go Squirtle!", "Go Ivysaur!", or "Go Charizard!"
R.O.B.	Assembles piece by piece as his parts drop from the sky. This may be a reference to his appearance in Kirby's Dream Land 3.
Samus	Arrives from a Super Metroid-style save point, though the design is somewhat altered.
Sheik	Appears in magical sparks.
Snake	Appears kneeling with lighting and sparks around him. He also appears to be turning visible. This is a reference to the opening scene in Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty when Snake is using stealth camouflage and he does a freefall jump onto a ship. The impact from the landing causes the stealth camouflage to malfunction. Snake also sometimes says, "Kept you waiting, huh?" which is what Snake said to Otacon after the freefall jump.
Sonic	Jumps onto the stage (in ball form) from the foreground and gives the thumbs-up.
Toon Link	Appears in a cel-shaded, The Wind Waker-style explosion, then unsheathes his sword.
Wario	Rides in from the foreground on his bike, then falls off. The bike then explodes and Wario dusts himself off.
Wolf	Ejects from a Wolfen. Nearly identical to Fox and Falco's appearances.
Yoshi	Breaks out of a Yoshi Egg. Even if a Yoshi is selected with a color other than green, he will still break out of a white egg with green spots.
Zelda	Teleports in using Farore's Wind with Din's Fire in her hand.
Zero Suit Samus	Stands up from a kneeling position as her Power Suit falls off. Power Suit Pieces are scattered around Samus, which the player can then throw at their opponents.

Gallery

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  Bowser

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  Captain Falcon

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  Diddy Kong

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  Donkey Kong

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  Falco

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  Fox

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  Ganondorf

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  Ice Climbers

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  Ike

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  Jigglypuff

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  King Dedede

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  Kirby

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  Link

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  Lucario

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  Lucas

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  Luigi

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  Mario

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  Marth

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  Meta Knight

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  Mr. Game & Watch

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  Ness

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  Olimar

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  Peach

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  Pikachu

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  Pit

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  Squirtle

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  Ivysaur

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  Charizard

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  R.O.B.

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  Samus

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  Sheik

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  Snake

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  Sonic

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  Toon Link

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  Wario

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  Wolf

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  Yoshi

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  Zelda

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  Zero Suit Samus

In Super Smash Bros. 4

On-screen appearances return in Super Smash Bros. 4 and it can only be used in VS matches, similar to Brawl. Single player modes used Melee's quicker version.

Character name	Description
Bayonetta	Emerges from Bat Within form and produces a purple symbol that represents Umbra Witch magic.
Bowser	Emerges from a wall of flames hunched over, before standing up right.
Bowser Jr.	Flies onto the stage in his Junior Clown Car and makes a face.
Captain Falcon	The Blue Falcon spins to a stop, Captain Falcon jumps out, and then Blue Falcon speeds off.
Charizard	Emerges from a Poké Ball, then stomps.
Cloud	Falls out of the sky and catches his Buster Sword.
Corrin	Falls onto the stage in dragon form, then transforms into human form.
Dark Pit	Appears onstage from a beam of darkness from somewhere.
Diddy Kong	Breaks out of a DK Barrel, clapping.
Donkey Kong	Breaks out of a DK Barrel, making a pose.
Dr. Mario	Megavitamins build up on the ground in the shape of the bottom of the bottles from the Dr. Mario games, and Dr. Mario appears when they recede.
Duck Hunt	The dog jumps onto the stage from the foreground into some 8-bit grass, then does his infamous laugh.
Falco	Ejects from an upside-down Arwing. Nearly identical to Fox and ZSS's appearances.
Fox	Ejects from an Arwing. Nearly identical to ZSS and Falco's appearances.
Ganondorf	Emerges from a portal of dark magic.
Greninja	Emerges from a Poké Ball and does a ninja pose.
Ike	Warps onto the stage using warp magic, then slashes his sword.
Jigglypuff	Emerges from a Poké Ball, then does a short, bouncy dance.
King Dedede	Is carried in on a palanquin by four Waddle Dees, then jumps off, scattering them.
Kirby	Crash-lands a Warp Star to the ground.
Link	Appears in a whirlwind and unsheathes his sword.
Little Mac	Jogs onto the stage and throws off his pink training suit (unless the player chose to wear it at the character select screen, in which case Mac simply does the throwing motion without removing the suit).
Lucario	Teleports on stage, floats for a second, gathers aura in its hands then lands.
Lucas	Rides in on a Mr. Saturn-style coffee table, then hops off.
Lucina	Warps while masked onto the stage using warp magic with a twirl, removes her mask, and unsheathes her sword.
Luigi	Jumps out of a Warp Pipe with hands on face saying "Let's-a go."
Mario	Jumps out of a Warp Pipe punching his right fist in the air while shouting "Let's-a go!".
Marth	Warps onto the stage using warp magic with a twirl and unsheathes his sword.
Mega Man	Warps into the stage, resembling the way Mega Man warps in when he starts a stage in the Mega Man games.
Meta Knight	Teleports in wrapped in his cape.
Mewtwo	Teleports onto the stage using dark energy.
Mii Brawler	Lands with an explosion then performs attacks towards the screen.
Mii Gunner	Emerges from an orb of energy, then point their arm cannon towards the screen.
Mii Swordfighter	Appears from a whirlwind, then unsheathes their sword.
Mr. Game & Watch	Moves along a row of faded Game and Watch LCD frames until he reaches the foreground. Unlike in Brawl, the color of the frames match the alternate costume.
Ness	Arrives having used Teleport, then shakes off the soot he gathered after crashing.
Olimar	Olimar exits the Hocotate Ship and plucks three Pikmin from the ground.
Pac-Man	Starts out as the classic Pac-Man sprite and then jumps out of it into his normal form.
Palutena	Walks out of a golden door with a heavenly glow surrounding her.
Peach	Appears spinning out of a shower of hearts, then winks and poses with her parasol saying "Hi!".
Pikachu	Emerges from a Poké Ball and emits sparks from its cheeks.
Pit	Appears onstage from a beam of light from the heavens.
R.O.B.	Assembles piece by piece as his parts drop from the sky.
Robin	Warps onto the stage using warp magic.
Rosalina	Glides in from some stars and does a twirl.
Roy	Warps onto the stage using warp magic, and pulls his sword out of the ground.
Ryu	Walks onto the stage from some mist in the background, then gets into a fighting stance.
Samus	Arrives from a save point.
Sheik	Appears in a whirl of smoke.
Shulk	Jumps down with the Monado, then places it on his back after it deactivates.
Sonic	Jumps onto the stage (in ball form) from the foreground and gives the thumbs-up.
Toon Link	Appears in an explosion, then unsheathes his sword.
Villager	Exits out of a house and cheers to the camera.
Wario	Rides in from the foreground on his bike, then falls off. The bike then explodes and Wario dusts himself off.
Wii Fit Trainer	Steps off of the living Wii Balance Board seen in the Wii Fit series, who then jumps behind the stage waving goodbye and disappears.
Yoshi	Breaks out of a Yoshi Egg. The color of the Yoshi will determine the color of the spots on the egg.
Zelda	Teleports in with magic in her hands.
Zero Suit Samus	Jumps out of her gunship and lands with her jet boots, similar to Fox and Falco's appearances.

Gallery

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  Bayonetta

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  Bowser

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  Bowser Jr.

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  Captain Falcon

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  Charizard

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  Cloud

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  Corrin

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  Dark Pit

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  Diddy Kong

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  Donkey Kong

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  Dr. Mario

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  Duck Hunt

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  Falco

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  Fox

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  Ganondorf

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  Greninja

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  Ike

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  Jigglypuff

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  King Dedede

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  Kirby

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  Link

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  Little Mac

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  Lucario

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  Lucas

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  Lucina

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  Luigi

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  Mario

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  Marth

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  Mega Man

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  Meta Knight

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  Mewtwo

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  Mii Brawler

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  Mii Gunner

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  Mii Swordfighter

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  Mr. Game & Watch

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  Ness

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  Olimar

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  Pac-Man

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  Palutena

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  Peach

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  Pikachu

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  Pit

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  R.O.B.

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  Robin

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  Rosalina

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  Roy

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  Ryu

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  Samus

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  Sheik

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  Shulk

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  Sonic

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  Toon Link

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  Villager

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  Wario

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  Wii Fit Trainer

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  Yoshi

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  Zelda

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  Zero Suit Samus

In Super Smash Bros. Ultimate

On-screen appearances are set to return in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate and can only be used in VS matches, similar to Brawl.

Character name	Description
Bayonetta	Emerges from Bat Within form and produces a purple symbol that represents Umbra Witch magic.
Bowser	Emerges from a wall of flames hunched over, before standing up right.
Chrom	Warps onto the stage using warp magic, and pulls his sword out of the ground. Nearly identical to Roy's appearance.
Cloud	Falls out of the sky and catches his Buster Sword.
Corrin	Falls onto the stage in dragon form, then transforms into human form.
Daisy	Appears spinning out of a shower of flower petals, then winks and enthusiastically waves to the camera saying "Yo-ooo!".
Dark Samus	Warps onto the stage from a dark portal.
Donkey Kong	Breaks out of a DK Barrel, making a pose.
Fox	Ejects from an Arwing. Nearly identical to Wolf's appearance.
Ganondorf	Emerges from a liquid-like vortex of darkness.
Ice Climbers	The condor flies in with them hanging from his feet, then they jump off, and give each other a high-five.
Ike	Warps onto the stage using warp magic, then slashes his sword.
Inkling	Lands with a splash of ink in her squid form before transforming back, then flaps her arms excitedly before drawing her Splattershot. This is the Inkling's entrance animation from Octo Valley in Splatoon.
Isabelle	Exits out of the Town Hall and cheers to the camera.
King K. Rool	Drops from the sky with his arms crossed before chuckling. His pose is based on how he appears in Donkey Konga.
Kirby	Crash-lands a Warp Star to the ground.
Link	Glides using the Paraglider onto the stage.
Little Mac	Jogs onto the stage and throws off his pink training suit (unless the player chose to wear it at the character select screen, in which case Mac simply does the throwing motion without removing the suit).
Lucina	Warps while masked onto the stage using warp magic with a twirl, removes her mask, and unsheathes her sword.
Mario	Jumps out of a Warp Pipe punching his right fist in the air while shouting "Let's-a go!".
Marth	Warps onto the stage using warp magic with a twirl and unsheathes his sword.
Mega Man	Warps into the stage, resembling the way Mega Man warps in when he starts a stage in the Mega Man games.
Mewtwo	Teleports onto the stage using dark energy.
Ness	Arrives having used Teleport, then shakes off the soot he gathered after crashing.
Pac-Man	Starts out as the classic Pac-Man sprite, makes a slow chomp, and then jumps out of it into his normal form.
Pikachu	Emerges from a Poké Ball and emits sparks from its cheeks.
Pit	Appears onstage from a beam of light from the heavens.
Pokémon Trainer	Throws out his/her first Pokémon, yelling "Go Squirtle!", "Go Ivysaur!", or "Go Charizard!"
Ridley	Swoops down at an angle, before landing and letting out a roar.
Ryu	Walks onto the stage from some mist in the background, then gets into a fighting stance.
Samus	Arrives from a save point.
Sheik	Appears in a whirl of smoke.
Snake	Appears kneeling with lighting and sparks around him. He also appears to be turning visible. Snake also sometimes says, "Kept you waiting, huh?"
Sonic	Jumps onto the stage (in ball form) from the foreground and gives the thumbs-up.
Villager	Exits out of a house and cheers to the camera.
Wolf	Ejects from a Wolfen. Nearly identical to Fox's appearance.
Zelda	Teleports in with magic in her hands.

Trivia

• In Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS, if there is at least one human player in the battle, then only Player 1's on-screen appearance will be focused on onscreen, before showing the other fighters standing in place. However, if the battle consists of only CPUs then all on-screen appearances will be shown one after another.
  • When in a battle to unlock a fighter, however, the opposing fighter's on-screen appearance is focused on onscreen instead.
• Link, Zero Suit Samus and Sheik are the only characters to change their on-screen appearance.
  • Of these, Link is the only one not to change from Brawl to SSB4. Link is also the only one to change in multiple games.
• In Super Smash Bros. Brawl, there was a small error regarding Toon Link's entrance. If one looks closely at the explosion, one can clearly see that both his sword and shield are not sheathed even though they should be. This was fixed in both versions of Super Smash Bros. 4.
• Although Little Mac's entrance animation shows him flinging off his pink sweatshirt, he does not do so if his currently chosen palette swap has him wearing it permanently (both wireframe and non-wireframe versions included). More interestingly, in Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS, Little Mac's gloves only change color to match his currently chosen palette swap after he throws his sweatshirt off, meaning he always enters the stage wearing green gloves and a pink hoodie when not using a wireframe costume, and pink gloves with a green hoodie when using a wireframe costume.
• Corrin is the only character from the Fire Emblem series to not use Warp magic in his on-screen appearance.
• Because Melee uses the same on-screen appearance for every fighter, this made Young Link and Pichu the only fighters not to have a unique on-screen appearance prior to Super Smash Bros. Ultimate.

External links

• Compilation of on-screen appearances in Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS (Japanese version)
• Compilation of on-screen appearances in Super Smash Bros. for Wii U