Unlockable character
An unlockable character is a character that is not available at the start of the game (unlike a starter character), but must be unlocked. A special criteria is needed in order to unlock a character. First, the player must do a special task, once the task is done, then a message will display "Warning! Challenger Approaching!" with a silhoutte of the character. The player must be then challenge and defeat the character to unlock him/it. Template:Spoiler
Super Smash Bros.
Characters
| Character | How to Unlock |
| Captain Falcon | Beat the 1-player mode with any character on any difficulty level in less than 20 minutes. |
| Jigglypuff | Beat the 1-player mode wth any character on any difficulty level. |
| Luigi | Beat Target Test with all 8 starting characters in either 1-player mode or in practice. |
| Ness | Beat the 1-player mode with 3 lives, on normal difficulty, with any character, without continuing. |
Super Smash Bros. Melee
Characters
| Character | How to Unlock | VS Matches Required |
| Jigglypuff | Complete Classic or Adventure Mode | 50 |
| Dr. Mario | Complete Classic or Adventure mode with Mario without losing any lives | 100 |
| Pichu | Complete Event Match #37 (Legendary Pokemon) | 200 |
| Falco Lombardi | Clear 100-Man Melee | 300 |
| Marth | Play Classic Mode with all 14 regular characters, or use them in VS. mode | 400 |
| Young Link | Complete Classic Mode with 10 different characters | 500 |
| Ganondorf | Complete Event Match #29 (Triforce Gathering) | 600 |
| Mewtwo | Play VS. mode for a combined total of 20 hours* | 700 |
| Luigi | Complete Stage #1 of Adventure with time ending in a "2" | 800 |
| Roy | Complete Classic or Adventure mode with Marth and without losing any lives | 900 |
| Mr. Game & Watch | Complete Adventure or Classic Mode with all other characters, or Clear Target Test with all other characters | 1000 |
* Time required to unlock Mewtwo can be split between players (eg. 2 human players requires 10hrs, 3 human players requires 6hrs 40mins, and four players requires 5hrs).
Super Smash Bros. Brawl
Masahiro Sakurai once stated that he feels that it would be appropriate that third-party, or "guest" characters, like Solid Snake or Sonic the Hedgehog, would be unlockable. This became true when Super Smash Bros. Brawl came out on January 31.
Also, the Smash Bros. DOJO!! has confirmed that most unlockable characters will be unlockable by "playing through" The Subspace Emissary. The use of the phrase "playing through" possibly suggests that these characters will be unlocked as you progress through the mode, rather than after completing it. With the setup of the mode, as seen in the Brawl demo available at E For All, in consideration, it seems likely that secret characters will be unlocked either immediately before or after clearing their respective parts.
Characters
| Character | How to Unlock* | VS Matches Required |
| Ness | Reflect 10 Projectiles. | 5 |
| Marth | Beat Classic Mode. | 10 |
| Luigi | Play through Classic Mode without continues. | 22 |
| Falco | Complete 100-Man Brawl | 50 |
| Captain Falcon | Play through Classic Mode on Normal or higher and beat it in 12 minutes or less. | 70 |
| Lucario | Defeat in Subspace Emissary or Clear Target Smash!! on levels 1-5 with one character. | 100 |
| Snake | Play 10 Vs. Matches on Shadow Moses Island. | 130 |
| R.O.B. | Collect 250 different trophies | 160 |
| Ganondorf | Clear Classic on Hard with Link or Zelda. | 200 |
| Mr. Game & Watch | Beat classic mode with every character. | 250 |
| Sonic | Complete the Subspace Emissary or clear Classic mode with 10 characters. | 300 |
| Jigglypuff ** | Found in a secret room in swamp (湿地) after completing Subspace Emissary. (video) | 350 |
| Toon Link ** | Found in a secret room in Lost Woods after completing Subspace Emissary. Complete classic mode with Link. | 400 |
| Wolf ** | SSE - In the stage "Iseki" (Ruins) skip the first door you pass when being lowered in to the pit. Instead enter the second door at the bottom to unlock him/Finish Boss Mode with Fox. [must be unlocked first by completing the subspace emissary] | 450 |
* Subspace Emissary has been removed unless it is the only known way for that character to be unlocked or if there is more detail as to what you need to do. Every character can be unlocked by gaining that character in Subspace Emissary, its not needed to list them.
** Toon Link, Jigglypuff, and Wolf are not part of the main plot of Subspace Emissary, you must beat the main story first then revisit certain stages to find them that way.
