Alternate costume (SSB)

In Super Smash Bros., each character had at least four alternate colorations, one for each of the C Buttons. Some characters had an extra costume (or two) to accommodate Team Battles if their four costumes lacked a red, blue, or green variation; these particular colors cannot be selected outside of Team Battle.

The original Super Smash Bros. Dojo website in Japan listed what each specific colour was inspired by from previous Nintendo games and media prior to the release of the original game, along with some additional names for specific colours. These have been translated below and are considered to be official names for each alternate color, although there are some additional details not on the Dojo and possibly some things overlooked or even unintentional references to previous games.

Captain Falcon

Captain Falcon's palette swaps in SSB

• Purple Outfit: 1P Captain Falcon's default appearance is based on his as-then recent appearance in F-Zero X.
• Black/Gray Outfit: 2P (Commercial Costume: F-Zero X CM) Resembles Captain Falcon in the Japanese commercial for F-Zero X. For visibility reasons, the Smash 64 Backroom does not advise choosing this if playing on Congo Jungle.
• Red/Purple Outfit: 3P & Red Team (Blood Falcon Colors: F-Zero X 64) Based on the appearance of his clone and rival Blood Falcon from F-Zero X on the N64.
• White/Fuschia Pink Outfit: 4P No official title given, but seems to be based on the same colors as Jody Summers's outfit in F-Zero X, although her helmet is yellow.
• Green Outfit: Green Team Resembles Pico, The Wild Goose in F-Zero. C buttons were never used. This was used in Team Battles only.
• Blue Outfit: Blue Team An alternate, brighter version of his standard colors that resembles his appearance in original F-Zero SNES boxart. C buttons were never used. This was used in Team Battles only.

Donkey Kong

Donkey Kong's palette swaps in SSB

• Brown Fur: 1P Donkey Kong's default appearance in this game is primarily based upon his appearance in Donkey Kong Country.
• Black Fur: 2P No official description for this color, but DK seems to be based on the fur colors of real life gorillas. It may also be a reference to Donkey Kong on the Game Boy, which depicted Donkey Kong with black fur, even when played on the Super Game Boy. For visibility reasons, the Smash 64 Backroom does not advise choosing this if playing on Congo Jungle.
• Red Fur: 3P & Red Team Again, no official description, but this was possibly based on his sprite in the original arcade Donkey Kong in 1981.
• Blue Fur: 4P & Blue Team Similiar to the 2P mode in Mario Golf.
• Green Fur: Green Team The only Donkey Kong color change to date that changes his skin color entirely. It resembles green palette background for Donkey Kong GB and Donkey Kong Land. C buttons were never used. This was used in Team Battles only.

Fox

Fox's palette swaps in SSB

• Gray Jacket: 1P Fox's default appearance borrows heavily from his appearance in Star Fox 64.
• Orange Jacket: 2P & Red Team No official mention were given, but Fox resembles in the original Star Fox in the Japanese version. Fox was used on the Red team.
• Purple Jacket: 3P & Blue Team Fox was used on the Blue team.
• Green Jacket: 4P & Green Team: Possibly based on James McCloud. It resembles for the original Star Fox concept art and a commander pilot.

Jigglypuff

Jigglypuff's palette swaps in SSB

• No Ribbon: 1P Jigglypuff's default appearance, taken specifically from her appearance in Pocket Monsters Stadium and Pokemon Stadium in the US, in which she had green eyes despite official art depicting them as blue (in later Pokémon games, Shiny Jigglypuff would have green eyes).
• Red Ribbon: 2P & Red Team Although Jigglypuff did not wear a bow prior to this game, transferring a Jigglypuff from Pokémon Red, Blue or Yellow to Gold, Silver or Crystal would reveal the Pokémon to be holding a Polkadot Bow, possibly as a reference to this game.
• Blue Ribbon: 3P & Blue Team This color of Jigglypuff makes her look akin to a Shiny Jigglypuff, although Shiny Pokémon did not exist until after this game's release. Different colored Pokémon did appear in Pocket Monsters Stadium, although Jigglypuff was not playable in that game.
• Green Ribbon: 4P & Green Team Jigglypuff was on the TV anime of the original Pokemon series.

Kirby

Kirby's palette swaps in SSB

• Pink Body: 1P Kirby's default appearance are borrowed from Kirby Super Star and Kirby 64.
• Yellow Body: 2P (aka: Keeby: Kirby Bowl) Based on Keeby, the yellow Kirby that the second player controls from Kirby's Dream Course, known as Kirby Bowl in Japan. Resembles Spark and Needle Kirby from Kirby's Adventure, and Beam Kirby from Kirby Super Star, without the hat.
• Blue/Light Blue Body: 3P & Blue Team (Ice Ability: Hoshi no Kirby Super Deluxe SFC) Based on Kirby's appearance as Ice Kirby from Kirby Super Star, without the hat. Is also identical to his appearance as Ice and Freeze Kirby from Kirby's Adventure and in Kirby Super Star, without the hat.
• Red/Orange Body: 4P & Red Team (Fire Ability: Hoshi no Kirby Super Deluxe SFC) Based on Kirby's appearance as Fire Kirby from Kirby Super Star, without the hat. Is also identical to his appearance as Fire Kirby from Kirby's Adventure.
• Green Body: Green Team (aka: Kusa Mochi Kirby) Kusa mochi, or grass mochi is a type of Japanese rice dumpling made from yomoji, Japanese mugwort. Kirby resembles from a green palette background in the original Kirby's Dream Land for the Game Boy, and it resembles Plasma Kirby from Kirby Super Star, without the hat. C-buttons were never used. This was used in Team Battles only.

Link

Link's palette swaps in SSB

• Green Tunic: 1P & Green Team Link's default appearance is based specifically on adult Link from The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time.
• Red Tunic: 2P & Red Team (Goron Tunic: The Legend of Zelda 64) Based on the Goron Tunic from The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time. Also bears similarity to Link's appearance while using the Shield spell in Zelda II: The Adventure of Link, or having obtained the Red Ring in the original The Legend of Zelda.
• Blue Tunic: 3P & Blue Team (Zora Tunic: The Legend of Zelda 64) Similar to the Zora Tunic from The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time.
• Lavender Tunic: 4P (Blue Ring Equipped: The Legend of Zelda FC) Based on Link's appearance having obtained the Blue Ring in the original The Legend of Zelda.

Luigi

Luigi's palette swaps in SSB

• Green Cap: 1P & Green Team While Luigi's most recent appearances were in Mario Kart 64 and Mario Party, Luigi's default appearance seems to bear most similarity to his appearance in Super Mario All-Stars + World, where he had a more purple hue to his dungarees than Mario.
• White Cap: 2P (Old Luigi Colors: Mario Bros. Famicom) Based off Luigi's appearance in Mario Bros.. The colors were also the same in Super Mario Bros. and Mario Bros. (NES), but with the tan body, dungarees and shirt colors reversed.
• Light Blue Cap: 3P & Blue Team No official mention made, but Luigi does look similar to Mario's appearance on the box art of Mario Bros.. A similar arrangement of colors also appears as part of the flashing animation from a Starman in Super Mario Bros. Luigi was used on the Blue Team.
• Pink Cap: 4P & Red Team (aka: Strawberry Luigi) Comes from the game Wrecking Crew, in which Luigi wears pink. Luigi was used on the red team.

Mario

Mario's palette swaps in SSB

• Red Cap: 1P & Red Team Mario's default appearance in this game is specifically derived from his appearance in Super Mario 64 in particular.
• Yellow Cap: 2P (Wario Colors) Based on the traditional outfit of Mario's rival, Wario. Mario's yellow hat costume was colored M yellow, with the exception of colored W blue from Wario's hat or colored M blue in Melee and Brawl. This was used gameshark color cheat codes in many games, such as Super Mario 64.
• Brown Cap: 3P (Blackie Colors: Wrecking Crew FC) A reference to Foreman Spike, known as Blackie in Japan, a rival to Mario in Wrecking Crew.
• Blue Cap: 4P & Blue Team (Old Mario Colors: Mario Bros. FC) A red/blue reversal of his traditional colors. The specific color tones are taken from Mario Bros., although he actually wore a red hat, blue dungarees and red shirt in this game, much like his traditional appearance. In the original arcade game and official art, he wore a blue hat. In the original Donkey Kong and its sequel, however, he wore a red hat, blue shirt and red dungarees. Therefore this is seen as an amalgamation of his old appearances, with only the color tones specifically taken from Mario Bros., and he did not wore a blue hat, blue shirt and red dungarees in this game. This resembles Balloon Fighter in the arcade in 1984 game. This was similar to 2P mode of Wario's colors in Mario Golf.
• Green Cap: Green Team Contrary to popular belief, it is not officially a reference to Luigi. However, it does resemble Luigi's colors from the original Mario Bros. arcade and Famicom box art, albeit with orange instead of brown. A similar arrangement of colors also appears as part of the flashing animation from a Starman in Super Mario Bros. C buttons were never used. This was used in Team Battles only.

Ness

Ness's palette swaps in SSB

• Red Cap: 1P & Red Team Ness's default appearance is taken directly from EarthBound and literally, Earthbound 64.
• Yellow Cap: 2P (aka: Hanshin Tigers Fan) This color scheme resembles the merchandise and clothing commonly worn by fans of the Hanshin Tigers, a Japanese baseball team. Similar to Pugsley in Pugsley's Scavenger Hunt and Charlie Brown in the Comic Strip. Wears Ness as a Bumblebee outfit.
• Blue Cap: 3P & Blue Team No official reference is made, although Ness's younger self who appeared in Magicant in Earthbound wore a blue cap.
• Green Cap: 4P & Green Team

Pikachu

Pikachu's palette swaps in SSB

• No Hat: 1P Pikachu's appearance in this game is most notably taken from Pocket Monsters Stadium and Pokemon Stadium in the US on the N64, but the blue electricity it uses is from Pokémon Yellow on the Game Boy.
• Red Hat: 2P & Red Team A Pikachu with a red hue is possible in Pocket Monsters Stadium (N64) as the game did change the colors of Pokémon if they were given nicknames. Shiny Pokemon did not exist in Generation I.
• Blue Hat: 3P & Blue Team Pikachu's appaearence is from Pokemon Red, Blue and Yellow for this game.
• Green Hat: 4P & Green Team As mentioned, Pocket Monsters Stadium allowed for alternate coloured Pokémon if they were given nicknames. One of the Rental Pokémon, a Pikachu called Pikachikun, has a green hue.

Samus Aran

Samus's palette swaps in SSB

• Orange Armor: 1P & Red Team Samus' default appearance is based on her Varia Suit from Super Metroid. Samus was used on the Red team.
• Pink Armor: 2P (Missiles Added: Metroid FC) Added her Missiles in original Metroid for the NES.
• Black Armor: 3P Resembles palette Black/White/Gray background version for Metroid II: Return of Samus for the Game Boy. For visibility reasons, the Smash 64 Backroom does not advise choosing this if playing on Congo Jungle.
• Green Armor: 4P & Green Team (aka: Production Model Samus) A reference to the mass-produced mechas from the Gundam series, which are almost always green. This is particularly the Zaku models from the original series, which already bear some similarities to Samus' Power Suit in Super Metroid, and she resembles green palette background version for Metroid II: Return of Samus.
• Blue Armor: Blue Team Not officially noted, but bears similarities to Samus wearing her Gravity Suit in official art for Super Metroid, aside from the additional yellow on her shoulders. This color would be modified in later games to specifically represent the Gravity Suit, with the exception of her palette swap in team battle in SSB. C buttons were never used. This was used in Team Battles only.

Yoshi

Yoshi's palette swaps in SSB

• Green Body: 1P & Green Team Yoshi's default appearance is based primarily on his appearance from Super Mario 64 and, to a lesser extent, Yoshi's Story.
• Red Body: 2P & Red Team
• Cyan Body: 3P & Blue Team Used on the Blue team.
• Yellow Body: 4P
• Pink Body: For COM
• Purple Body: For COM

※Colors taken from Yoshi's Story While all the colors (including the colors of the boots they wear) are specifically taken from Yoshi's Story, alternate colored Yoshis have appeared in many games since first appearing in Super Mario World and all six colors originated from Yoshi's Island, albeit with different colored boots for some Yoshis.

Stats

• There is a total of 56 palette swaps.
• The average number of costumes per character is 4.6(6).
• There are 6 fighters with 4 color swaps, 4 with 5, and only 2 with 6.

Trivia

• If one lists the number of palette swaps of each character, sorted alphabetically, one'll get a palindrome: 654454|454456.