Alternate costume (SSBB)

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Super Smash Bros. Brawl didn't change much about the concept of alternate costumes - players can pick a different color for their character by cycling through a list of up to six choices. The buttons used to cycle are 1/2 for the Wii Remote and Nunchuk combination, A and B for the Wii remote alone configuration, and pressing X/Y for the Classic Controller and GameCube controller.

Most characters have six colors available, though Jigglypuff, Lucario, Pokémon Trainer, and Sonic only have five, and Pikachu has only four. Wario on the other hand has two outfits with six choices each, not only doubling his options but allowing him to change outfits even when locked into a color for Team Battles.

A few characters (namely, Lucario, Pokémon Trainer, and Sonic) have sets of alternate costumes that can be difficult to distinguish from each other in a match. As such, tournaments have the "colorblind rule" in doubles matches, where a player can choose which colours their team and their opponents' team are, if either team has one of the aforementioned characters on their team. While texture hacks are usually discouraged from being used in tournaments, if not flat out disallowed, it's usually acceptable to use simple texture hacks on these characters to make the color difference between their team palettes more obvious.

When selecting characters in tournament mode, instead of displaying the character's colored image of the chosen costume, a colored bar is displayed in the player list. This color is usually an intuitive indicator of which costume has been chosen, but there are several cases where costumes are given strange colors (such as giving cyan to Ike's default blue-brown getup, or using orange or yellow when the opposite is clearly more correct).

In online and Team Brawls, if two identical characters shared the same color scheme, the second character would have a lighter tint in their appearance. A third character on the same team uses a darker tint. A fourth character's tint is even darker than the third character's. It is generally quite difficult to distinguish from the third character's color scheme, let alone have a fourth character use the same color.

The following lists are sorted by the order in which they're selected on the character selection screen.

Bowser

Green	G
Black		Resembles Morton Koopa Jr.'s appearance in recent games.
Red	R	Resembles a Red Koopa Troopa or a Spiny.
Blue	B	Resembles Bowser's appearance on the Japanese and European covers for Super Mario Bros.
White		This costume turns Bowser's hair red and his shell and spiked collars to white, somewhat resembling Dry Bowser from New Super Mario Bros. It also resembles Morton Koopa Jr.'s white and gold shell (Super Mario World only) and darker skin.
Brown		Resembles Boom Boom's sprite from Super Mario Bros. 3.

Captain Falcon

Indigo
Black		Resembles his costume from the F-Zero X Expansion Kit, as well as a Japanese commercial for F-Zero X.
Red	R	Identical to Blood Falcon's outfit; even the writing on his back changes to say "Blood Hawk", Blood Falcon's F-Zero machine, and the costume also includes a skull design around the lettering.
Green	G	Resembles the color scheme of the Wild Goose, Pico's F-Zero machine.
Blue	B	Resembles his original F-Zero series appearances, with a more vibrant blue coloration.
White		Resembles Jody Summer's outfit.

Diddy Kong

Red	R
Yellow		Resembles the alternate outfit in the Two-Player Contest mode in Donkey Kong Country. This color also appeared in Donkey Kong 64.
Pink		Changes his color scheme to resemble that of fellow Donkey Kong character Dixie Kong in Donkey Kong Country 2: Diddy's Kong Quest and Donkey Kong Country 3: Dixie Kong's Double Trouble!.
Purple
Green	G
Blue	B	Resembles the alternate outfit in the Two-Player Contest mode in Donkey Kong Country 2: Diddy's Kong Quest.

Donkey Kong

All of Donkey Kong's color changes can be traced back to the multiplayer mode of Donkey Kong 64.

Brown
Black		In Donkey Kong Country, Donkey Kong wears a yellow tie for his alternate color scheme in the Two-Player Contest Mode. He also looks like a rainforest gorilla.
Red	R	Resembles the color scheme of the original Donkey Kong from the arcade game of the same name, who had reddish orange fur.
Blue	B
Green	G
White		Resembles a yeti, a famous East Asian cryptid. A Fire Mini Donkey Kong from the Mario vs. Donkey Kong series also has a similar appearance. Also looks like Super Kong from Donkey Kong Country Returns, even though that came out after Brawl.

Falco

White		Based on his design from Star Fox Command.
Orange		Resembles his outfit from Melee and Star Fox 64. Also resembles Katt Monroe's outfit in Star Fox Command.
Blue	B	Resembles Slippy Toad's outfit from Star Fox 64.
Red	R	Resembles Peppy Hare's outfit from Star Fox 64 and his outfit in Star Fox: Assault.
Green	G	Resembles Fox's outfit, as well as the multiplayer mode in Star Fox Assault.
Black		Matches Fox's dark costume.

Fox

Grey		Based off his character model from Star Fox: Command.
Black		Named "Dark Fox" on the DOJO. Similar dark color schemes are also available for Falco and Wolf.
Red	R	Resembles Falco's outfit from from Star Fox 64, Star Fox: Assault and Star Fox: Command and Peppy's outfit from Star Fox 64.
Green	G
Blue	B	Resembles Slippy's outfit from Star Fox 64.
White

Ganondorf

Grey		Based off his character design in The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess.
Black
Blue	B
Green	G
Red	R
Brown		Based off the coloration of his SpaceWorld 2000 and Super Smash Bros. Melee designs, slightly darkening his red hair, using the same design of cape, and giving his armor the same color scheme seen in the demo.

Ice Climbers

Popo and Nana switch positions for their red, black, and white costumes, but they do not switch positions on the selection screen like they did in Melee.

Purple
Red	R	Makes Nana resemble the red Ice Climber on the boxart for Ice Climber.
Blue	B
Black
Green	G
White		The only alternate costume that gives Popo and Nana different mitt colors. It also resembles the color of any Ice Climber when touched by an enemy in Ice Climber.

Ike

Indigo		Based on his Ranger class outfit from Fire Emblem: Path of Radiance.
Yellow		Resembles the outfit of his father, Greil, from Fire Emblem: Path of Radiance.
Red	R	Based on enemy units from the Fire Emblem games.
Blue	B	Vaguely resembles the color scheme of Sigurd, the first protagonist of Fire Emblem: Genealogy of the Holy War.
Green	G	Based on allied units from the Fire Emblem games.
Brown		Based on the mages in Fire Emblem: Path of Radiance. Referred to as an "ordinary soldier" by the DOJO!!.

Jigglypuff

Pink
Red	R	The same red flower Jigglypuff had in Melee. It also resembles the flower worn by Phoebe of the Elite Four in Pokémon Ruby, Sapphire, and Emerald.
White		Gives Jigglypuff a hat like the one that Leaf, the female heroine of Pokémon FireRed and LeafGreen wears.
Blue	B	Jigglypuff's shiny color. The hat resembles those worn by the Bug Catcher and Lady trainer classes from the Pokémon games.
Green	G	Similar to the hat worn by Kirby when he has his Sleep ability.

King Dedede

Red	R
Pink		Similar to an alternate costume in both Kirby 64 and Kirby Air Ride.
Green	G	Similar to an alternate costume in Kirby Air Ride.
Purple		Features a very ornately decorated belt, similar to one on a formal Japanese kimono. This costume is also similar to an alternate costume in Kirby Air Ride.
Blue	B	Features a belt that contains the same icons as one of the menu schemes from Kirby 64.
Brown		Mirrors Kirby's white costume, making him appear like he did in Game Boy Color version of Kirby's Dream Land for the Game Boy.

Kirby

All these colors are also similar to different Kirby colors in games such as Kirby Air Ride and Kirby & the Amazing Mirror. They are all also usable in Kirby: Squeak Squad, where color variations are distinct and each have their own names.

Pink
Yellow		Shigeru Miyamoto originally wanted Kirby to be yellow, but Masahiro Sakurai was determined to make him pink. Sakurai won, but the yellow Kirby design later appeared as Keeby, the character controlled by Player 2 in Kirby's Dream Course and the yellow Kirby controled by Player 2 in recent Kirby games. Yellow Kirby also resembles Beam Kirby from Kirby Super Star, without the hat.
Blue	B	The same as when Kirby is Ice Kirby in Kirby Super Star, sans the hat. Also used for Player 3 in Kirby 64.
Red	R	The same as when Kirby is Fire Kirby in Kirby Super Star, sans the hat. Also used for Player 3 in recent multiplayer games.
Green	G	The same as when Kirby is Plasma Kirby in Kirby Super Star, sans the hat. Also used for Player 4 in recent multiplayer games.
White		Based on Kirby's monochrome appearance from the original Kirby's Dream Land. It is also similar to Kirby's appearance on the North American box cover.

Link

Green	G	Based off his character design from The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess.
Red	R	Directly based on the Goron Tunic that featured in The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time, although red costumes for Link in general can be traced back to the Red Ring in the original The Legend of Zelda. It is Link's only Brawl color scheme that changes the color of his belt.
Blue	B	Can be traced back to the Zora Tunic used during The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time.
Lavender		Based on the Blue Ring from The Legend of Zelda for the NES.
Yellow		His tunic color is based off of Link's color scheme of when he uses the Great Fairy Tears from Twilight Princess.
Black		Based off Dark Link, who originated from Zelda II: The Adventure of Link and appeared again in Ocarina of Time. His design is based on Dark Link's cameo appearance in Twilight Princess, where Lanayru used the character to symbolize the Dark Interlopers in his vision. His shield is similar to the Mirror Shield from a few Zelda games.

Lucario

Blue	B
Red	R
Cyan		Changes Lucario's coloration to resemble its pre-evolved form, Riolu.
White
Green	G

Lucas

Yellow
Orange		Changes his color scheme to that of his twin brother Claus.
Red	R
Blue	B	Resembles Ness' pajamas in EarthBound.
Green	G
Purple

Luigi

Green	G
Orange		Similar to Mario's color scheme on the boxart of Pinball, but with an orange hat instead of a blue one.
Pink	R	Based around Luigi's color scheme in Wrecking Crew, in which he wore pink.
Blue	B	Resembles Mario's color scheme on the American boxart for Mario Bros.
White		Based on Fire Luigi.
Purple		Changes Luigi's color scheme to Waluigi's.

Mario

Red	R
White		Based on Fire Mario's appearance dating back to Super Mario Bros. onward.
Blue	B	Based on Mario's promotional artwork for Mario Bros.. It is also similar to Balloon Fighter's color scheme and his outfit from the DIC cartoons.
Yellow		Based on Wario's color scheme, just as in previous games.
Black		Based on Foreman Spike from Wrecking Crew '98, which was confirmed on the original SSB64 Japanese site. Updated from the original version of this swap to be more black and white than brown and yellow.
Green	G	Complimentary colors of his normal outfit. Resembles Mario's appearance on Japanese and European box arts for Wrecking Crew. A similar arrangement of colors also appears as part of the flashing animation from a Starman in Super Mario Bros. Updated from the original version of this swap to be more brown than orange.

Marth

Navy
Red	R	Similar to his red alternate costume in Melee, this costume is the only one that changes the color of Marth's headband. Resembles the "enemy unit" color scheme in the Fire Emblem games.
Green	G	Resembles the standard color for NPC units in the Fire Emblem games.
Black
White		Resembles the color scheme of Leif Faris Claus, the protagonist of Fire Emblem: Thracia 776.
Blue	B	Closely based off his official artwork for Fire Emblem: Monsho no Nazo (even the hair color changes to match said artwork).

Meta Knight

Purple
White
Red	R	Based on a similar swap in Kirby Air Ride. Also resembles the color scheme of the original design for Meta Knight, with his skin, shoulder pads, and cape being mostly red, and his gloves & boots being a gold or yellow color.
Green	G	Based on a similar swap in Kirby Air Ride.
Blue	B	Contrary to popular belief, this costume is not a reference to Dark Meta Knight from Kirby and the Amazing Mirror. Rather, it resembles his official art from his first appearance in Kirby's Adventure, where his mask and shoes were depicted as a dark purple color, his body was close to black, and his cape was red. However, in this appearance, his eyes were not red and his gloves were white, unlike the alternate costume.
Pink		Based on a similar swap in Kirby Air Ride. Also changes his color scheme to resemble Kirby.

Mr. Game & Watch

Black		Based on the G&W characters from the games Fire and Parachute.
Red	R
Yellow
Blue	B
Green	G
Cyan

Ness

Red	R
White		Features a white T-shirt with red sleeves, the same as the shirt Fuel wears in Mother 3.
Yellow		Resembles the striped, yellow, and black uniforms of the Hanshin Tigers, a Japanese baseball team. The shirt also bears a very similar color scheme to the Gigantic Ant enemy from EarthBound.
Green	G
Blue	B	Based on Ness's younger self that he encounters briefly in Magicant in EarthBound, who was wearing a blue hat.
Purple		Has a Mr. Saturn sprite drawn on the front of his shirt. May be based on the Good Kid's Shirt from Mother 3, which is found only in Saturn Valley.

Olimar

Tan
White		Resembles a more realistic spacesuit, particularly the Navy Mark IV.
Red	R
Black
Green	G	Changes Olimar's color scheme to resemble his son.
Blue	B	Gives Olimar the color scheme of Louie, his partner in Pikmin 2.

Peach

Pink
Yellow		Gives Peach the color scheme of Daisy. However, unlike Melee, this is only a re-coloring; her earrings, crown, brooch, and skin remain unchanged.
Red	R	Gives Peach a similar color scheme to Pauline, Mario's girlfriend from Donkey Kong.
Blue	B
Green	G	Resembles Peach's outfit from NES Open Tournament Golf. In Melee, the jewels on her crown were green and red, while in this version, the jewels are green and blue.
White		Resembles her wedding dress from Super Paper Mario. Additionally, in Melee, the jewels on her crown were yellow and red, while in this version, the jewels are green and blue.

Pikachu

Pikachu is the only character to have only four costume choices in Brawl.

Yellow
Red	R	Includes Red's hat as it appeared in Pokémon Red, Blue, and Yellow. The hat also resembles that of the Fisherman trainer class in Generations I, III, and IV. Pikachu's fur color also changes to the coloration of shiny Pikachu in the Pokémon games.
Green	G	Includes Brendan's headband as it appeared in Pokémon Emerald.
Blue	B	Has the goggles worn by Pichu in Melee, similar to those worn by the Swimmer class of trainers in the Pokémon series.

Pit

White
Yellow		Similar to his outfit in the Captain N comic.
Red	R	Similar to an outfit in Kid Icarus.
Green	G	Similar to an outfit in Kid Icarus.
Blue	B	Similar to an outfit in Kid Icarus. An episode of the Captain N TV show had Kid Icarus (Pit) in a similar costume.
Black		Said by the DOJO to be a "fallen angel". This alternate costume later evolved into a separate character as Dark Pit, who himself would become an independent fighter in the following game.

Pokémon Trainer

Default		Based on Red from the original Pokémon games.
Red	R	The trainer's hat resembles that of Leaf, the female trainer in Pokémon FireRed and LeafGreen. Squirtle's color scheme is changed to resembles its evolution, Wartortle. Charizard's color scheme is changed to resemble its pre-evolution, Charmeleon.
Green	G	The trainer takes on the color scheme of Brendan as he appeared in Pokémon Emerald. Squirtle and Ivysaur resemble their respective shiny colors.
Blue	B
White		Charizard's color scheme is changed to resemble its pre-evolution, Charmander's shiny colors.

R.O.B.

Red	R	Based on R.O.B.'s Japanese color scheme for the Famicom.
Grey		Based on R.O.B.'s North American color scheme for the NES. The words on his base change from "Family Computer Robot" to "R.O.B. - Robotic Operating Buddy", the same as the American design.
Yellow		Has the color scheme of the glitch, Flipper, from Stack-Up.
Pink		The only color where the cord on the back is a different color. It also has the color scheme of the glitch, Spike, from Stack-Up.
Blue	B
Green	G	Similar to the R.O.B. Launcher from the Subspace Emissary, though lacking the same bright blue cord and missile-launching face.

Samus

Orange		Based on the Varia Suit and the Power Suit. No longer Samus's red team colour, as the corresponding Zero Suit is cyan.
Blue	B	Based on the Fusion Suit from Metroid Fusion.
Pink	R	Based on the appearance of the Varia Suit of the original Metroid when missiles are selected.
Brown		Based on the Dark Suit from Metroid Prime 2: Echoes.
Purple		Based on the Gravity Suit as it appeared in Super Metroid and most games in the series since. The visor has the same coloration as the Gravity Suit has in Metroid Prime.
Green	G	In Japan, the original SSB64 website referred to this alternate costume as "mass-produced Samus".

Snake

Most of these are based on different camouflage suits worn by Naked Snake (a.k.a. Big Boss) in Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater.

Grey		Based on Snake's standard camouflage suit from Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty.
Red	R	Based off the Fury's Fire camouflage. Also resembles Snake's outfit from Snake's Revenge.
Blue	B	Based off the Splitter camouflage. Also resembles Snake's outfit from the MSX version of Metal Gear.
White		Based off the Snow camouflage.
Green	G	Based off the Tiger Stripe camouflage. Also resembles Snake's outfit from the NES version of Metal Gear and Metal Gear 2: Solid Snake.
Brown		Based off Major Ocelot's Animal camouflage.

Sonic

Sonic is the only non-Pokémon character to have fewer than six alternate costumes. The stripe on his sneakers is white in all alternate costumes, and, in all but the default alternate costumes, the rest of his sneakers match his wristbands.

Blue	B	Based on Sonic's redesign used ever since Sonic Adventure.
Black		Resembles Dark Sonic from Sonic X.
Yellow		Gives Sonic an indigo color and bracelets that resemble the ones worn by Silver the Hedgehog.
Green	G	His wristbands resemble the ones attached to the gloves that appear in the special stages in Knuckles the Echidna in Sonic the Hedgehog 2. The blue color also is akin to when Sonic goes underwater in the Labyrinth Zone.
Red	R	His wristbands resemble the ones attached to the gloves that appear in the special stages in Sonic the Hedgehog 2.

Toon Link

Green	G	Based on the character design from The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker.
Red	R	Based on the red Link copy from the Four Swords saga.
Blue	B	Based on the blue Link copy from the Four Swords saga.
Purple		Based on the purple Link copy from the Four Swords saga.
Brown		Based on the color scheme of Link in the original The Legend of Zelda. This alternate costume also changes his pants to a beige skin tone like color, referencing the pant-less original brown haired Link.
Black		A toon version of the Dark Interloper Dark Link from Twilight Princess. Does not resemble the various dark and shadow Toon Links as closely.

Wario

Unlike all other characters, Wario has two outfits each with multiple color choices: his biker costume from the WarioWare games, which is his default costume, and his classic overalls. This doubles his alternate costume choices. There are a total of 12 costume choices for Wario in Brawl.

Cyan
Red	R	Resembles the color scheme of Fire Mario with the white helmet and red jacket.
Yellow		Resembles the color scheme of his overalls, with a yellow jacket and purple shirt.
Green	G	Has a similar color scheme to Zombie Wario's sprite in Wario Land 3.
Black
Blue	B

Wario's overalls closely resemble the cartoonish look in both the Mario and Wario games, in contrast to Mario, Luigi, and Waluigi, who were given more realistic-looking overalls.

Yellow
Red	R	Resembles how Mario looked in the early Mario games, where he had red overalls and a blue shirt instead of the blue overalls and red shirt he wears today. This somewhat mirrors the way that Wario's "classic" outfit appears as one of Mario's alternate costumes. It also resembles one of his costumes from Mario Golf (N64) and Mario's outfit from the DIC cartoons.
Blue	B	Resembles Mario's appearance in Japanese art for Mario Bros.
Green	G	Similar to Mario's green costume.
Brown
White		Makes Wario look like his appearance in the Wario Land games until the rerelease of Wario Land 2, since those games were in black and white. Wario also wore an outfit of black and white in Wario Land 3. Also resembles one of his alternate costumes from Mario Golf (N64).

Wolf

Grey		Resembles his default attire in Star Fox: Assault.
Red	R
Black		Gives Wolf a dark alternate costume similar to Fox's and Falco's.
Green	G
Blue	B	Looks similar to clothes from Star Fox: Assault's multiplayer.
White

Yoshi

All of Yoshi's costumes are different variations of the Yoshi species in many of his games, specifically Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island, Yoshi's Story, and Yoshi's Island DS. The soles of his shoes, the saddle on his back, and his spines stay the same color, no matter what color he is.

Green	G	A standard Green Yoshi.
Red	R	A Red Yoshi.
Blue	B	A Blue Yoshi.
Yellow		A Yellow Yoshi.
Pink		A Pink Yoshi.
Cyan		A Light Blue Yoshi.

Zelda/Sheik

Purple/Light Blue		Zelda is based on her character model from The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess and Sheik is based on unused concept art for the same game. Because the two characters are two different color tones, they are not used in Team Battles.
Red	R	Based on Zelda's early appearances in The Legend of Zelda and Zelda II: Adventure of Link. This is also the only one of her color schemes in which she doesn't wear gloves.
Blue	B	Official art for The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past shows Zelda with a blue dress, while Sheik's color scheme is to changed to match Tetra's, with the blue costume and red scarf.
Pink		Based on Zelda's and Sheik's appearance in Ocarina of Time and, by extension, Melee. The only one of her Brawl costumes to show Zelda with blonde hair.
Green	G	If The Legend of Zelda for NES is completed without collecting any rings, Zelda's dress will be green.
Black

Zero Suit Samus

Cyan
Blue	B	Based on her outfit she wears upon completion of Metroid Prime 2: Echoes.
Pink	R	A reference to clearing the first Metroid by discovering all of the game's secrets, or by entering JUSTIN BAILEY into the password screen.
Black		Similar to the outfit she wore in a Japanese Super Metroid commercial. Also resembles the color scheme of her ending outfit in Super Metroid.
Purple
Green	G

Glitch

There is a glitch in Brawl that allows multiple players to be the same character with the same color scheme, without the shading seen in Team Battles.

This glitch can also occur when every player selects random, and multiple players end up playing as the same character.

Trivia

• Captain Falcon's red outfit actually has one file for each available PAL language in the game (English, French, German, Spanish, Italian). While presumably done so localizers could edit the "Blood Hawk" on the back to match the current language, this appears to have been skipped or glossed over, as there is no difference between the files.
• Mr. Game and Watch only has one file for his model and textures. This indicates that the color variations come from tinting or blending the textures, instead of pre-rendered bitmaps.
• Luigi has an unused blue costume in the game's data; this costume is slightly lighter in color than the used one, and the reason for its removal is unknown.