Isabelle (SSBU)

Isabelle in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate
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Universe	Animal Crossing
Availability	Unlockable
Final Smash	Dream Town Hall

“	Isabelle Turns Over A New Leaf!	”
—Introduction Tagline

“	Isabelle joins the battle from Animal Crossing: New Leaf! She uses various trinkets from around the village to battle. Her side special, "Fishing Rod," not only allows her to snag and bring opponents closer, it can also be used as a recovery move.	”
—Super Smash Blog, Super Smash Bros. Ultimate Official Site

Isabelle (しずえ, Shizue) is a playable character in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate. She was announced as a newcomer at the end of the September 13, 2018 Nintendo Direct in tandem with the then-untitled Animal Crossing: New Horizons. While she shares many moves with Villager, Isabelle isn't an Echo Fighter, and is instead a semi-clone. As such, Isabelle is classified as fighter #68.

Although Isabelle speaks Animalese within her home series and reveal trailer, she's completely mute in Ultimate.

How to unlock

Complete one of the following:

• Play VS. matches, with Isabelle being the 21st character to be unlocked.
• Clear Classic Mode with Pikachu or any character in its unlock tree, being the 5th character unlocked after Mega Man.
• Have Isabelle join the player's party in World of Light.

With the exception of the third method, Isabelle must be defeated on Town and City.

Attributes

Isabelle is a moderately short and floaty lightweight with slow overall mobility. As a semi-clone of her fellow Animal Crossing representative Villager, she is similar to him in many aspects. However, Isabelle is also lighter and floatier, has faster grounded and aerial mobility, and cannot wall jump. Moreover, Isabelle also has multiple attacks that are unique to her (such as all three of her smash attacks), while even the moves she shares with Villager have different animations and mechanics.

Isabelle's grounded moves have their utility mainly due to their range and low startup, as all of her standard grounded moves have less than 10 frames of startup barring her grab Neutral attack is Isabelle's fastest grounded move, and while it is a weak single-hit move, it can be used to combo into her smash attacks at high percentages, and can also be used to jab lock opponents reliably; forward tilt is useful for spacing thanks to its decent knockback and range, while also serving as a situational KOing move at higher percents near the ledge; up tilt can be used for combos and juggles thanks to its relatively fast speed and low knockback; down tilt possesses decent range, while the sweetspot close to her is a respectably powerful KOing option at high percents; and dash attack is a projectile that can be used off of platforms against opponents on the ground or on lower platforms, and it can also be used near the ledge for edgeguarding or potentially as a 2 frame punish. Her smash attacks also have some utility as well: forward smash is her strongest grounded KOing option if sweetspotted; up smash hits twice and is her best vertical kill move while also comboing into up aerial at low percents; and down smash is a semi-spike that can be used for KOing near the ledge, edgeguarding, and 2 frame punishes.

Isabelle's aerials autocancel in a short hop and each one has a distinct perk. Neutral aerial is Isabelle's fastest aerial and her best out of shield option, and it is a sex kick that can be used to combo into Isabelle's other moves or break out of combos. Forward and back aerials have her fire slingshot projectiles that are useful for approaching, spacing and edgeguarding; back aerial has slower startup but less ending lag than forward aerial, and is stronger as well. Finally, up and down aerials have her always swing two turnips as opposed to also one or three like Villager, making them more consistent overall; up aerial is a good follow-up from up tilt, is useful for juggling, and the clean hit can even act as a situational KOing move near the upper blast line, while down aerial's clean hit is capable of meteor smashing if sweetspotted, while otherwise launching opponents on the Sakurai angle, enabling it to be used for edgeguarding. The inability to tech grounded meteor smashes also gives sweetspotted clean down aerial limited combo potential at higher percents as well. Combined with her ability to maintain offstage presence due to her floaty nature, Isabelle's mix of fast and ranged aerials make edgeguarding one of the focal points of her strengths.

Her grab game also has some utility. Isabelle uses a net as part of her tether grab, which has a longer range than normal grabs, but more startup and ending lag as a result; however, Isabelle does not have a grab aerial in spite of her long-ranged grab. Isabelle can also use her grab to pocket items as well. Down throw can be used to initiate aerial combos, forward throw can setup edgeguards by throwing opponents off the stage, and back throw is a potent kill throw, being among the top ten of back throws in terms of kill power Up throw deals decent damage, but its lack of utility aside from that makes it Isabelle's least useful throw.

Isabelle sports versatile special moves. Her neutral special, Pocket, allows her to steal an opponent's projectile and send it back at them, helping to discourage projectile camping against her. Her down special, Lloid Trap, has her planting Lloid into the ground. Lloid Trap will active whenever an opponent walks over Lloid or can be activated manually, making it useful for surprising opponents, though it also takes notable time to plant and leaves her vulnerable, not being active until frame 51. However, despite this flaw, Lloid establishes another notable strength Isabelle possesses, ledge trapping; when planted in the correct position, Lloid alone can cover rolling and jumping get up's while Isabelle herself can attempt to cover other get-up options, allowing her to have an easier time maintaining advantage. In addition, Lloid has other forms of utility; it can combo into up aerial if Isabelle is close enough, making it a kill confirm at higher percents. Lloid also has the niche application known as "Glyroid"; when manually detonating Lloid during her initial dash, Isabelle will quickly slide a short distance, allowing it to be used as a movement mix-up for approaching. Her side special, Fishing Rod, is a command grab that allows her to grab and throw opponents from distances farther than her grab can, and it also functions as a tether recovery and an edgeguarding tool, as the fact that it can hang offstage allows her to catch opponents with slower recoveries. Her up special, Balloon Trip, provides incredibly long vertical and horizontal distance, though it travels a slightly shorter distance than Villager's version. This, in addition to her Fishing Rod's great horizontal distance, gives Isabelle an outstanding recovery.

However, Isabelle is not without her flaws, the most notable of which being her disadvantage state; due to her floatiness and light weight, Isabelle struggles at getting back to the ground quickly and is therefore quite vulnerable to juggling and early KO's, all while the fact that her aerials provide little coverage below her and that she has no way to mix up her already floaty movement outside of B-reversing Pocket further accentuate this problem.

Many of her special moves have major flaws. While her Fishing Rod is a versatile command grab with a very good range, it is flawed in many ways. Unlike all other grabs in the game, it is unusually capable of being shielded and suffers from a lot of ending lag, making it very punishable. Lloid Trap is also very flawed; planting Lloid leaves her vulnerable and takes 51 frames to be active, it disappears after only 10 seconds and can easily be destroyed due to it only having 8% of HP, and in some cases the resulting explosion will damage Isabelle herself and some characters can even run through it without getting affected. While Isabelle's recovery is very long-distanced, she has no way to defend herself while using Balloon Trip, due to the move lacking a hitbox, and popping the balloons will render her helpless, meaning that despite her recovery being fairly good on paper, it can easily be edgeguarded in practice. Finally, Isabelle loses certain of Villager's most important tools for zoning in the neutral game, namely Lloid Rocket and Timber, making her noticeably worse at zoning than her counterpart.

Overall, Isabelle is a more well-rounded character than Villager, having inferior zoning and camping ability, but better mobility and a more reliable set of standard attacks in comparison. However, her special attacks have notable flaws and she has inferior endurance due to her lighter weight and slower falling speed. Because of this, she is often seen as an inferior counterpart to Villager. This has resulted in a negative competitive reception, as many top professional players view her not only as an inferior counterpart to Villager (who by himself has rather mixed competitive reception and poor tournament representation), but also potentially as one of the worst characters in the game. Her tournament representation reflects this, as it is very poor in all regions, and her most significant results are either from the very early days of Ultimate's meta, or her being used as a secondary or pocket to other characters. However, due to her low popularity in tournaments, it is debatable whether Isabelle is actually a poor character, or her representation is poor simply because of dedicated mains. As such, her true standing in the meta remains to be seen.

Update history

Isabelle has received a mix of buffs and nerfs via game updates, but has been buffed overall. Update 1.1.0 decreased the landing lag of up and down aerials, whereas update 1.2.0 granted Dream Town Hall invulnerability in order to prevent opponents from canceling it at its very last second. Update 2.0.0 fixed several infamous glitches, such as the infinite Assist Trophy glitch and Slingshot Crash, and enabled neutral aerial to auto-cancel earlier. Update 3.0.0 nerfed forward and back aerials' shield damage as part of the general nerf to projectiles. More notably, this same update modified Fishing Reel in two ways: its hook gained the ability to catch an opponent while it is idle, thus granting it a guaranteed set-up a 2 frame punish, but at the cost of having significantly less active frames. However, update 3.1.0 undid these changes to Fishing Rod.

In update 4.0.0, Isabelle received a number of worthwhile buffs. Her rolls travel farther, which compliments her defensive playstyle. Neutral attack, which was near-universally viewed by players as one the worst moves of any kind in the game, received a number of changes that noticeably improve its utility. Both up smash and Fishing Rod's up throw became stronger KOing options, thanks to their increased knockback scaling. Lastly, Fishing Rod and Lloid Trap had their lag decreased; in particular, Lloid Trap's decreased start-up lag enables it to function much better against most opponents that dash over it.

1.1.0

• Up and down aerials have less landing lag (12 frames → 9).
• Lloid Trap's detection range is longer (6.8u → 8.5u).

Fishing Rod:

• Maximum rod length with smash input increased (52 → 58).
• Maximum rod length with tilt input decreased (42 → 38).
• Decreased the travel speed of the hook (tilt: 2.2 → 2; smash: 3.8 → 3.6).
• Decreased the window for smash inputs (6 frames → 4).

1.2.0

• Dream Town Hall grants Isabelle invulnerability after the last hit.
• Created the Slingshot Crash glitch where if Villager or Isabelle Pocket one another's slingshot from a Pocket, the game will crash.

2.0.0

• Fixed item collided with two Fishing Rods that would behave erratically, most noticeably infinite Assist Trophy glitch.
• Fixed the Slingshot Crash glitch.
• Neutral aerial autocancels earlier (frame 39 → 34).

3.0.0

• Forward aerial deals less shield damage (0 → -3.5/-2/-1 (early/mid/late)).
• Back aerial deals less shield damage (0 → -4.5/-2.5/-1.5 (early/mid/late)).
• Fishing Rod's reel has fewer active frames (frames 2-11 → 10-11).
• Fishing Rod's reel can catch opponents in the air while it is not moving, giving it a guaranteed setup for 2 frame punishes.

3.1.0

• Fishing Rod was reverted to its pre-3.0.0 behavior.
  • The move has more active frames when reeling back (frames 9-11 → 2-11).
  • Fishing Rod no longer catches opponents while it is not moving.

4.0.0

• Isabelle's rolls travel a longer distance (2.25u → 2.85u).
• Neutral attack deals less knockback (21 base/38 scaling → 14/30), has a lower SDI multiplier (1× → 0.5×) and deals more hitstun (8 frames → 14), allowing it to chain into itself more reliably and making it safer to use.
• Up smash's second hit has more knockback scaling (111 → 116).
• Fishing Rod has less startup lag (frame 25 → 21) and can be reeled in faster (frame 50 → 46).
• Fishing Rod's up throw has more knockback scaling (62 → 66).
• Lloid Trap has less startup lag once activated (frame 11 → 9). This means most characters can no longer run over it without getting hit.
  • The rehit interval was increased to compensate (8 frames → 9), which can result in fewer hits occurring when catching opponents partway through the attack.

7.0.0

• Adjusted variables related to Fishing Rod's ledge tether range (14, 10, -3, -10 → 20, 25, -3, -10), in order to improve its reliability as a tether recovery.

8.0.0

• Up tilt has less ending lag (FAF 33 → 30), improving its combo potential.
• Dash attack has less startup (frame 9 → 7), with its total duration reduced as well (FAF 42 → 40).
• Up smash:
  • The move has less startup (frame 11 → 9), with its total duration reduced as well (FAF 48 → 46).
  • It starts charging sooner (frame 8 → 7).
• Up aerial has more base knockback (30 → 40).
• Down aerial has less startup lag (frame 14 → 11) with its total duration reduced as well (FAF 46 → 43).
• Pummel has a larger hitbox (5u → 6.3u), allowing it to connect more consistently.

Moveset

For a gallery of Isabelle's hitboxes, see here.

Note: All numbers are listed as base damage, without the 1v1 multiplier.

		Name	Damage	Description
Neutral attack			2%	Swings a toy hammer downward. This move is a single-hit jab with very low knockback. At low percent, the move can hit multiple times due to its speed and low ending lag. Can lock. At high percents, it can combo into tilts, down smash, or Pocket.
Forward tilt			9%	Swings a candy umbrella horizontally. Compared to Villager's, it launches at a slightly lower angle and higher knockback growth, but more ending lag.
Up tilt			8%	Swings a broom in an overhead arcing motion. Fast and can combo into itself or aerials.
Down tilt			13% (close), 8% (far)	Uproots some weeds. Compared to Villager's, this move's sweetspot deals slightly more damage, while the sourspot deals considerably lower damage. It also has marginally less ending lag than Villager's, but a shorter hitbox duration.
Dash attack			10% (beginning), 6% (pot)	Trips while holding a ceramic pot. Like Villager's, the pot itself is a projectile that will either break or bounce off the ground after hitting it. The hitbox on the pot disappears after bouncing off the ground. When used near a ledge, it will fall off and continue to have a hitbox. However, the move comes out faster than Villagers variant and has less ending lag.
Forward smash			17% (clean), 8% (late)	Fires a party popper forward. Strong, but has noticeable ending lag (27 frames) and poor range despite being disjointed. Somewhat fast startup at frame 14 and has two hitboxes: a small hitbox close to Isabelle and a bigger one farther away from her. It is her most reliable KO option, but the clean hit only lasts 2 frames, and its late hit fails to KO at reasonable percents.
Up smash			2% (hit 1), 12% (clean hit 2), 10% (late hit 2)	Blows her whistle, causing a do-not-enter sign to spring up from the ground in front of her. It has 2 hits that connect into each other. Can combo into up aerial at low percents.
Down smash			10% (front), 8% (back)	Splashes a bucket of water in front of herself and then behind herself. Similar to Inkling's Slosher, but considerably faster and has less range. Sends opponents at a very low angle.
Neutral aerial			10% (clean), 6% (late)	Twirls around twice while holding pom-poms. The late hit can lock at low percents.
Forward aerial			7% (clean), 4% (mid), 2.5% (late)	Fires a pellet from a slingshot. Functions identically to Villager's.
Back aerial			9% (clean), 5% (mid), 3% (late)	Fires a pellet from a slingshot. Functions identically to Villager's.
Up aerial			10% (clean), 5% (late)	Swings a pair of white turnips upward. Due to swinging two turnips, hers is overall more consistent compared to Villager's, and the move has less landing lag.
Down aerial			10% (clean), 5% (late)	Swings a pair of white turnips downward. Like her up aerial, she will always swing two turnips, making it more consistent than Villager's, in addition to having less landing lag. The clean hit will meteor smash opponents, whereas any other part of the turnips will launch opponents horizontally.
Grab		Net	—	Swings a net downward. Like Villager's, using it on an item will cause her to pocket it. Compared to Villager, her dash grab has 1 less frame of startup. Notably, all four of Villager's throws were altered somewhat in his transition to Ultimate, whereas Isabelle's throws retain the properties of Villager's throws from SSB4.
Pummel			1%	Yanks the net backward.
Forward throw			9%	Throws the opponent with an overhead swing. Its low knockback scaling makes it best suited for throwing opponents off the stage to setup edgeguards.
Back throw			11%	Turns around to throw the opponent with a horizontal swing. Isabelle's strongest throw, and the only one that can KO at high percents.
Up throw			10%	Flips the net over and tosses the opponent upward.
Down throw			6%	Turns her net horizontally and slams it on the ground. Can combo into aerials at low to mid percents.
Forward roll Back roll Spot dodge Air dodge		—	—
Techs		—	—
Floor attack (front) Floor getups (front)			7%	Isabelle swings a broom in front, and then behind her.
Floor attack (back) Floor getups (back)			7%	Same as her other floor attack, but swings the broom behind her first.
Floor attack (trip) Floor getups (trip)			5%	Swings a broom in front, then behind herself while getting up.
Edge attack Edge getups			9%	Isabelle slides along the ground and shoves with pom-poms in her hands.
Neutral special		Pocket	1.9× (multiplier)	Pockets projectiles and items, similar to Villager. After pocketing a projectile, using the neutral special input will produce and use the projectile. Using neutral special with a pocketed item will put the item in Isabelle's hand.
Side special		Fishing Rod	≈9.5%-18.7%	Casts out a fishing rod. The distance is cast depends on whether or not it was inputted while flicking the stick. It can be left out for about 5 seconds before Isabelle will automatically begin to slowly reel it in. Pressing the special or attack button will automatically reel it in completely at any time. When an opponent is captured by the fishing rod, she reels them in and can throw the opponent in one of 4 directions. The forward, back and up variants can kill at high percents, while the down variant can combo until high percents. The damage dealt varies, but what determines it is currently unknown. The fishing rod can also be used as a tether recovery and can also grab items. Unlike normal grabs, it cannot grab opponents through shields, even when reeled in.
Up special		Balloon Trip	—	Sits on a swing with two bunny-shaped balloons. Nearly identical to Villager's variant, and grants a lot of distance, though it travels a slightly shorter distance than Villager's. Pressing or holding the special button will cause Isabelle to rise. Pressing the attack button will cancel the move while propelling her slightly upwards. If canceled with the attack button, the next use will only have one balloon until landing on stage.
Down special		Lloid Trap	1.6% (hits 1 & 2), 0.9% (hits 3 - 5), 12% (hit 6)	Plants Lloid the Gyroid into the ground. When someone steps over him, or when the down special is inputted again, Lloid propels himself vertically, dragging the opponent with him. If nothing happens for 10 seconds, the trap will disappear. After taking 8%, not counting the 1v1 multiplier, he will explode, which will damage Isabelle if she is near the explosion.
Final Smash		Dream Town Hall	10% (collateral loop), 15% (collateral explosion), 50.5% (entirety)	When activated, Tom Nook, Timmy and Tommy appear and build a Town Hall, trapping opponents that get caught in their construction zone. Once the Town Hall is completed, Isabelle, Tom, Timmy and Tommy celebrate briefly before it explodes, causing high damage and knockback. While similar to Villager's Dream Home, it deals more damage and has both higher knockback and a faster final hit.

On-screen appearance

• Isabelle comes out of the Town Hall cheering before it shrinks and then disappears into a puff of smoke.

Isabelle's on-screen appearance.

Taunts

• Up taunt: Isabelle waves her hand while looking toward the screen. Based on the "Greetings" emote.
• Side taunt: Isabelle claps her hands while facing the screen. Based on the "Delight" emote.
• Down taunt: Isabelle dances, waving her arms in an inward circular motion while stepping in place. She then jumps up, and lands facing the screen with her arms spread out. Based on the "Complete" emote in Happy Home Designer.

• 

  Isabelle's up taunt.

• 

  Isabelle's side taunt.

• 

  Isabelle's down taunt.

Idle poses

• Stretches her arms.
• Turns around and inspects her outfit.

• 

  Isabelle's first idle pose

• 

  Isabelle's second idle pose

Victory poses

• Left: Waves twice and spreads her arms.
• Up: Waves goodbye to Lloid as he flies upwards in the background, then turns toward the camera with a pose similar to her official render.
• Right: Dusts herself off, jumps twice, and poses triumphantly with her hands on her hips. Her end pose is based on the "Pride" emote.

A remix of the first "Phrase" of the original Animal Crossing theme for the Nintendo 64 and GameCube, slightly sped up.

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In competitive play

When Isabelle was first revealed, there was a glimmer of hope for the character due to her similar neutral and campy patient playstyle with Villager. On release, she was considered to be generally effective, as she shared some abilities from Villager: her slingshot was considered a good option for zoning and/or approaching and edgeguarding, and her Pocket prevented camping from other zoners. Her unique tools were also considered: Lloid Trap functioned as an effective tool for stage control, and could also force reactions from her opponent or set up an aerial combo, while Fishing Rod became rather notorious for dealing with recoveries and being rather difficult to deal with, especially at lower skill levels.

However, Isabelle's representation quickly dropped after the first few months, with players considering her not as good of a character as initially imagined. In addition to sharing the same weaknesses as Villager, Isabelle has additional flaws that hinder her (such as her infamously short smash attacks), while her camping game does not benefit as much to Ultimate's engine.

As a result of these factors, Isabelle has not made a significant impact in tournaments and has little representation throughout Ultimate's current metagame. This is also exacerbated by the fact that she is outshined by her original counterpart, Villager, who is also struggling in the meta with limited representation, despite being considered a better character than her. Due to Villager's stronger presence and Isabelle’s weaknesses, numerous professionals view her as one of the worst characters in the game. On the other hand, a few other players believes the character is underrated and has potential due to her strong camping game and effective ledge tools. Furthermore, dedicated players such as Nery, kept, and Lv.1 use her as either a solo main or a secondary and have placed well at both a regional and national level. Finally, update 4.0.0. gave her several buffs to her moveset, including her neutral attack's "Wobbelle" technique, which traps the opponent at ledge with a jab until kill percent. As of now, her true tournament viability and tier placement in the meta is questionable.

Notable players

Active

•  B-Rice - Placed 7th at Ascension 2020: Back to Basics, 9th at both Ascension VIII and Super Ascension, as well as 13th at Ascension IX and 33rd at Ascension II. Has wins over Lucky, KiraFlax and SilentRain.
•  DevvyStar - Placed 49th at Glitch 7 - Minus World and 97th at Super Smash Con 2019 in conjunction with Little Mac. He has defeated players such as Frozen and Pink Fresh.
•  kept - Placed 2nd at Karisuma SP 2, 5th at KVOxTSB 2019, 7th at Sumabato SP 4, 17th at Sumabato SP, and 25th at both Umebura SP 2 and EVO 2019 with both Isabelle and Villager.
•  Komota - Although better known for his Kirby, he also uses Isabelle as a co-main. Placed 17th at Frosty Faustings XII 2020 and COST 2019 and 65th at The Big House 9 with both Isabelle and Kirby.
•  Light - Has a strong Isabelle secondary and is considered the best Isabelle player in Europe. Placed 1st at Calyptus Cup X: Purple Age, 3rd at ICARUS V, and 5th at Calyptus Cup X: Powwer Up as one of his characters.
•  Lv.1 - Placed 2nd at Karisuma SP 7, 7th at Sumabato SP 5, 9th at Sumabato SP 10, and 49th at Umebura Japan Major 2019 with both Isabelle and Toon Link.
•  Mr.Zercon - Placed 17th at The Scarlet Classic V and 65th at Let's Make Big Moves. Has a win over AceAttorney.
•  Nery - Placed 2nd at BIT MASTER MTY Round 4, 5th at Abierto Guadalajara Ultimo Reto, 7th at both WeTecThose 9 and BIT MASTER MTY 5, 9th at Smash Fest to the Sky and BIT MASTER MTY 8, and 17th at BIT MASTER MTY 2nd STRIKE and BIT MASTER MTY 9.

Inactive

•  Panda Bair - Placed 4th at NEW GAME PLUS: The ULTIMATE Overnight Experience and 5th at Midwest Mayhem Ultimate using both Isabelle and Villager.
•  SirShyGuy - Placed 9th at Phoenix Blue 2 and 13th at Valhalla II before dropping Isabelle.

Classic Mode: Best in Show

Isabelle's congratulations screen.

Isabelle's opponents are composed of nearly every female challenger that appears in Ultimate. The only base roster female characters absent are Dark Samus and Spiky-eared Pichu.

Round	Opponent	Stage	Music	Notes
1	Villager (x4)	Smashville	Title Theme - Animal Crossing: Wild World (Brawl)
2	Wii Fit Trainer , Pokémon Trainer , and Pikachu	Wii Fit Studio	Super Hoop
3	Palutena , Lucina , Zelda , Corrin , and Robin	Temple (Battlefield form)	Title Theme - Animal Crossing: Happy Home Designer	This battle is a free-for-all.
4	Zero Suit Samus , Bayonetta , and Samus	Moray Towers	Split & Splat	Inkling and Ice Climbers (with Nana leading, and with their red costume equipped) are CPU allies.
5	Peach , Daisy , Rosalina & Luma , and Wendy	Princess Peach's Castle	Plaza / Title Theme - Animal Crossing: City Folk / Animal Crossing: Wild World
6	Sheik	Gerudo Valley	Ocarina of Time Medley
Bonus Stage
Final	Master Hand	Final Destination	Master Hand (Less than 7.0 intensity) Master Hand / Crazy Hand (Intensity 7.0 or higher)	On intensity 7.0 and higher, Crazy Hand fights alongside Master Hand.

Note: Every round plays music from the opponents’ home series, except for Round 3 and 5.

Credits roll after completing Classic Mode. Completing it as Isabelle has Plaza / Title Theme - Animal Crossing: City Folk / Animal Crossing: Wild World accompany the credits.

Role in World of Light

Finding Isabelle in World of Light

Although Isabelle does not appear in the World of Light opening cutscene, she was vaporized and later imprisoned alongside the rest of the fighters (sans Kirby) when Galeem unleashed his beams of light.

She can be found near a small town on a secluded road, that requires the spirit of Kapp'n (Wild World) to be driven through a tunnel to reach. Freeing her unlocks a path to the town.

Fighter Battle

No.	Image	Name	Type	Power	Stage	Music
68		Isabelle	Grab	3,900	Town and City (Ω form)	Plaza / Title Theme - Animal Crossing: City Folk / Animal Crossing: Wild World

Spirit

Isabelle's Fighter Spirit can be obtained by completing Classic Mode. It is also available periodically for purchase in the shop for 500 coins. Unlocking Isabelle in World of Light allows the player to preview the spirit below in the Spirit List under the name "???". As a Fighter Spirit, it cannot be used in Spirit Battles and is purely aesthetic. Each Fighter Spirit has an alternate version that replaces it with the fighter's artwork in Ultimate.

• Isabelle Spirit.png

  827. Isabelle

In Spirit battles

As the main opponent

Spirit				Battle parameters							Inspiration
No.	Image	Name	Series	Enemy Fighter(s)	Type	Power	Stage	Rules	Conditions	Music	Character
27	File:Baby Peach Spirit.png	Baby Peach	Super Mario Series	•Tiny Isabelle •Mario		3,600	Princess Peach's Castle	N/A	•Defeat the main fighter to win •The enemy favors dash attacks •The enemy has increased move speed	Ground Theme - Super Mario Bros. (Melee)
145	File:Dixiekong.png	Dixie Kong	Donkey Kong Series	•Isabelle •Diddy Kong		9,100	Jungle Japes	•Item: Banana Peel	•The enemy is easily distracted by items	Swinger Flinger
192		Saria	The Legend of Zelda Series	•Isabelle •Young Link		9,900	Garden of Hope	•Hazard: Fog	•The stage is covered in fog •The enemy will charge up a powerful Final Smash	Saria's Theme
251		Medli	The Legend of Zelda Series	•Isabelle •Charizard		9,300	Pirate Ship	N/A	•The enemy has increased jump power	Dragon Roost Island
304	File:Crazee Dayzee Spirit.png	Crazee Dayzee	Yoshi Series	•Isabelle		1,700	Yoshi's Island	•Flowery	•You constantly take minor damage •Only certain Pokémon will emerge from Poké Balls (Meloetta)	Flower Field
336		Nago	Kirby Series	•Isabelle		1,900	Green Greens (Battlefield form)	•Item: Soccer Ball	•The enemy has an extra midair jump	Forest/Nature Area
358		Susie	Kirby Series	•Isabelle •Metal Meta Knight		3,400	Halberd (hazards off)	N/A	•The enemy is metal	Pink Ball Activate!
433		Meowth	Pokémon Series	•Gold Isabelle (×2)		3,300	Golden Plains	N/A	•Take your strongest team into this no-frills battle •Only certain Pokémon will emerge from Poké Balls (Meowth)	Road to Viridian City - Pokémon Red / Pokémon Blue
667		Lissa	Fire Emblem Series	•Isabelle •Robin •Chrom		3,300	Arena Ferox	N/A	•Take your strongest team into this no-frills battle	Duty (Ablaze)
681		Sakura (Fire Emblem)	Fire Emblem Series	•Isabelle •Corrin		9,100	Reset Bomb Forest (hazards off)	N/A	•Defeat the main fighter to win •The enemy heals over time	Lost in Thoughts All Alone (Remix)
685	File:Elise.png	Elise	Fire Emblem Series	•Isabelle		9,600	Coliseum	•Item: Recovery Types	•Timed battle •The enemy heals over time •The enemy is easily distracted by items	Lost in Thoughts All Alone (for 3DS / Wii U)
741	File:5volt.png	5-Volt	WarioWare Series	•Isabelle		3,500	Gamer	•Earthquake •Sudden Damage	•All fighters take serious damage after a little while •Periodic earthquakes will shake the stage	Gamer
791	File:Cream and Cheese Spirit.png	Cream & Cheese	Sonic The Hedgehog Series	•Isabelle •Tiny Squirtle		3,500	Green Hill Zone	•Hazard: Low Gravity	•Gravity is reduced •The enemy takes less damage while in the air	Rooftop Run	Cream
851	File:Hariett.png	Harriet	Animal Crossing Series	•Isabelle		3,700	Town and City	•Strengthen Weapon •Item: Swords	•All fighters' melee weapons have increased power after a little while	Plaza / Title Theme - Animal Crossing: City Folk / Animal Crossing: Wild World
854		Kaitlin & Katie	Animal Crossing Series	•Isabelle •Tiny Isabelle		4,100	Smashville	•Hazard: Fog	•The stage is covered in fog	Tour - Animal Crossing: New Leaf	Kaitlin (normal Isabelle) Katie (tiny Isabelle)
858		Zipper T. Bunny	Animal Crossing Series	•Bunny Isabelle		1,800	Smashville	N/A	•Take your strongest team into this no-frills battle	Title Theme - Animal Crossing: Wild World
862	File:Digby.png	Digby	Animal Crossing Series	•Isabelle		3,900	Smashville	N/A	•The enemy has increased power for the first part of the battle	House Preview
912		Roll Caskett	Mega Man Legends Series	•Isabelle •Diddy Kong		3,700	Pilotwings	•Item: Hocotate Bomb	•Take your strongest team into this no-frills battle	Light Plane (for 3DS / Wii U)
1,015		Cereza	Bayonetta Series	•Tiny Isabelle •Bayonetta		1,900	Luigi's Mansion	N/A	•Defeat the main fighter to win	Let's Dance, Boys!
1,084	File:Coraline Spirit.png	Coraline	StreetPass Mii Plaza Series	•Isabelle •Mii Gunner (Moveset 1111, Pirate Hat, Splatoon 2 Outfit, No Voice)		1,800	Wuhu Island (Speedboat)	N/A	•The enemy favors side specials	Mii Plaza
1,179	File:Demille.png	DeMille	Tomato Adventure	•Bunny Isabelle		1,800	Yoshi's Island (Melee)	•Item: Maxim Tomato	•The enemy becomes more powerful after eating •The enemy is easily distracted by items	Attack and Run!
1,212	File:AshleyRobinsSpirit.PNG	Ashley Robbins	Trace Memory Series	•Isabelle •Villager		3,700	Luigi's Mansion	N/A	•The enemy is invisible	Main Theme - Luigi's Mansion (Brawl)
1,218		Ouendan Cheerleaders	Osu! Tatakae! Ouendan Series	•Isabelle (×3)		4,000	Pokémon Stadium	•Attack Power ↑	•The enemy has increased attack power after a little while •The enemy favors neutral air attacks	Ring a Ding
1,238		Looksley	Looksley's Line Up	•Isabelle •Villager		1,500	Paper Mario	•Invisibility •Item: Smoke Ball	•All fighters are invisible	Freakyforms: Your Creations, Alive! Medley
1,277	File:Arcade Bunny Spirit.png	Arcade Bunny	Nintendo Badge Arcade	•Bunny Isabelle		3,700	PictoChat 2 (Battlefield form)	•Assist Trophy Enemies (Arcade Bunny) •Item: Franklin Badge	•Hostile assist trophies will appear	Arcade Bunny's Theme
1,379		Lappy	ASTRAL CHAIN	•Giant Isabelle		2,400	Fourside (hazards off)	•Invisibility •Item: Throwing Types	•The enemy is invisible •The enemy is giant	Balloon Trip (for 3DS / Wii U)
1,408	File:C.J. Spirit.jpg	C.J.	Animal Crossing Series	•Isabelle •Inkling (×2) ()		4,400	Wuhu Island (The boat)	•Assist Trophy Enemies (Starfy) •Item: Unira	•Defeat the main fighter to win •Hostile assist trophies will appear when the enemy's at high damage •The enemy favors side specials •Only certain Pokémon will emerge from Poké Balls (Goldeen)	Kapp'n's Song

As a minion

Spirit				Battle parameters							Inspiration
No.	Image	Name	Series	Enemy Fighter(s)	Type	Power	Stage	Rules	Conditions	Music	Character
844		Lloid	Animal Crossing Series	•Villager (×2) () •Isabelle (×2) ()		1,600	Mushroomy Kingdom	N/A	•The enemy favors side specials	Title Theme - Animal Crossing	Lloid
852	File:Brewster Spirit.png	Brewster	Animal Crossing Series	•Falco •Villager (×2) () •Isabelle		8,800	Luigi's Mansion	•Item Tidal Wave (Food)	•Defeat the main fighter to win •Reinforcements will appear during the battle •Certain items will appear in large numbers after a little while	The Roost - Animal Crossing: Wild World	Isabelle
856	File:Frillard.png	Frillard	Animal Crossing Series	•Wario •Isabelle •Villager		2,400	Town and City	N/A	•The enemy loves to taunt	Town Hall and Tom Nook's Store - Animal Crossing: Wild World	Isabelle

Alternate costumes

Gallery

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  Villager and Isabelle artwork, as posted on the official Japanese Animal Crossing Twitter account.

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  Isabelle's splash art.

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  Isabelle's amiibo.

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  Isabelle's fighter card.

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  Isabelle's unlock notice.

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  Isabelle using her down smash on Squirtle on Delfino Plaza.

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  Isabelle using her up smash on Mushroom Kingdom U.

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  Isabelle in three of her alternate costumes using Balloon Trip on Rainbow Cruise.

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  Isabelle using her forward smash on Link on Luigi's Mansion.

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  Isabelle using her neutral attack on Mario on Tomodachi Life.

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  Isabelle using her Fishing Rod on Goldeen on Tortimer's Island.

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  Isabelle using Lloid Trap on Gerudo Valley.

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  Isabelle using Pocket on Mario's Fireball on Skyworld.

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  Isabelle grabbing Snake with her Fishing Rod on Great Bay.

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  Isabelle using Balloon Trip on Fourside.

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  With Inkling and Joker in his school outfit on Delfino Plaza.

Trivia

• Isabelle is the fourth character to be announced in Ultimate that was previously featured as a Mii costume in Super Smash Bros. 4, the others being Inkling, Chrom, and King K. Rool. Additionally, she uses a party popper in her forward smash, which is used in the Mii Gunner outfit based on her instead of an arm cannon.
  • Isabelle is also the third character to become playable after previously appearing as an Assist Trophy, after Little Mac and Dark Samus.
• The Nintendo Direct that revealed Isabelle as a playable fighter was supposed to air on September 6th, 2018. However, an earthquake struck Hokkaidō, Japan that day. Its aftermath prompted Nintendo to postpone the Direct—and by extension, news of Isabelle's inclusion in Ultimate—by one week, out of respect for those affected by the tremor. This makes Isabelle the only playable character in the series' history whose reveal was explicitly delayed for any given reason.
• Isabelle's reveal trailer initially appeared to be a reveal trailer for a new Nintendo Switch installment of the Animal Crossing series and was followed by an actual teaser trailer confirming such a title (later named Animal Crossing: New Horizons) for 2019.
  • Tom Nook is even seen watching Isabelle's own trailer on his computer, before telling the audience he has to get back to work, in order to prepare for the upcoming game.
  • This is the second time an upcoming Nintendo game has been teased through a character reveal trailer, the first being Luigi's Mansion 3, which was teased by Luigi's new Poltergust in Simon and Richter's reveal trailer.
• In her reveal trailer, Isabelle opens a letter inviting her to join Smash Bros. that is enclosed in an envelope with a wax seal in the shape of the Super Smash Bros. logo. This is a callback to Villager's reveal in the first trailer for Super Smash Bros. 4.
  • Joker, Terry, Byleth, and Min Min also receive similar letters in the trailers revealing them as downloadable fighters for Super Smash Bros. Ultimate.
• There was an error on Isabelle's page on the Smash Bros. Ultimate site where her Animal Crossing symbol is the same color as Villager's (a dark green), instead of chartreuse, her background color.
• Isabelle is the first newcomer in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate to be from a franchise that had their first character introduced in Super Smash Bros. 4. Her inclusion also makes Animal Crossing the first franchise with a single character in Smash 4 to receive another playable character, the other being Street Fighter.
• Strangely, Isabelle's reveal trailer shows that Super Smash Bros. Ultimate was then still Rating Pending, even though the rating had already been revealed to be rated E10+ at the time. Whether this was an error on Nintendo's part or ESRB's part is unknown, though European trailers kept the PEGI 12 rating.
• In a Famitsu column, Sakurai noted that because Isabelle and Villager have significantly different proportions and personalities, it was not possible for Isabelle to be Villager's Echo Fighter, and therefore she was developed as a unique character, although she still shares many moves with Villager. This makes Isabelle the only character so far whose reasoning for not being labeled as an Echo Fighter has been explicitly confirmed.
• Isabelle is the only character in the base roster whose official confirmation was not part of a Super Smash Bros.-centered Nintendo Direct. Instead, she was revealed as part of a general Nintendo Direct.
• Isabelle, Joker, Terry and Byleth are the only characters in the series with a grab that can be blocked, the former's being her Fishing Rod and the latter three's being Grappling Hook, Buster Wolf and Sword of the Creator, respectively.
  • Notably, all of these characters debuted in Ultimate.
• Similar to Wario's Chomp, characters trapped in Isabelle's grab appear to have the upper half of their models removed, presumably so that even large characters can fit inside the net. This also happens with Villager.