Fighter number

Fighters listed by their number on the Super Smash Bros. Ultimate website.

Fighter numbers are a method of identifying and sorting characters in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate.

Definition

As explained by Masahiro Sakurai, the numbers order characters based on "the order in which they joined the series". They are ordered in the following way:

• SSB (01-12): The starter characters are ordered by their placement on the character selection screen, which in turn is based on each character's first appearance (with Mario and Donkey Kong as the oldest and Pikachu as the newest). The unlockable characters are similar, though they are sorted column-first rather than row-first as the starters are; as such, Ness precedes Captain Falcon despite being created later. This also matches their series debut order, explaining why Ness comes before Captain Falcon.
• Melee (13-26): The starter characters are ordered by their first appearance on Melee's E3 2001 reveal trailer (based on which ones had their faces shown first, meaning that the Ice Climbers and Sheik come before Zelda, whose hand appeared earlier in the opening). Zelda was the only character on Melee's starting roster who wasn’t revealed to be playable at E3 2001, which could also be the reason why Zelda is placed after Sheik, despite Melee treating her as the primary character and Sheik as an alternate form. The unlockable characters are ordered by how many Vs. Mode matches are required to unlock them, and thus Young Link, Ganondorf, Pichu, and Mewtwo's roles in the reveal trailer are ignored.
• Brawl (27-44): The characters first revealed in Brawl's original trailer are first (in the order they were revealed), followed by the remaining newcomers in the order revealed on the official website. Notably, Pokémon Trainer is not given a fighter number; instead, their three Pokémon (Squirtle, Ivysaur, and Charizard) are numbered, ordered by their cycling order.
• SSB4 (45-63) and Ultimate (64-82): The characters are ordered by when each newcomer was revealed. Pyra and Mythra are given separate numbers.
• Echo Fighters share their number with their "parent" in addition to an apostrophe (') stylistically referred to as "dash" in Japanese and Chinese or a superscript epsilon (^ε) in other languages, regardless of which game they joined in. For example, Samus's fighter number is 04, while Dark Samus's fighter number is 04^ε, despite Dark Samus making her playable debut in Ultimate.

Usage

The fighter numbers are used to order characters on Ultimate's character selection screen and promotional material. The Mii Fighters are the only fighters whose placement on the selection screen does not correspond with their numbers, as they are instead shown as the last characters on the selection screen, likely due to their customizable nature. The only major in-game usage of the fighter numbers is that Echo Fighters, due to not having their own fighter number, can be optionally stacked onto the character they are based on in the character selection screens for Vs. Mode, Special Smash (except for Smashdown), Tourney, and Online modes (except for Quickplay).

A similar system is used for ordering stages on Ultimate's selection screen, where all stages are ordered by when they first appeared in the series (with the exception of stages which debuted in and are shared between both versions of Super Smash Bros. 4, which are mixed in with stages that debuted exclusively in Super Smash Bros. for Wii U).

Order

Fighter Number	Fighter	IP status
01	Mario	First-party
02	Donkey Kong	First-party
03	Link	First-party
04	Samus	First-party
4.504ε	Dark Samus	First-party
05	Yoshi	First-party
06	Kirby	First-party
07	Fox	First-party
08	Pikachu	First-party
09	Luigi	First-party
10	Ness	First-party
11	Captain Falcon	First-party
12	Jigglypuff	First-party
13	Peach	First-party
13.513ε	Daisy	First-party
14	Bowser	First-party
15	Ice Climbers	First-party
16	Sheik	First-party
17	Zelda	First-party
18	Dr. Mario	First-party
19	Pichu	First-party
20	Falco	First-party
21	Marth	First-party
21.521ε	Lucina	First-party
22	Young Link	First-party
23	Ganondorf	First-party
24	Mewtwo	First-party
25	Roy	First-party
25.525ε	Chrom	First-party
26	Mr. Game & Watch	First-party
27	Meta Knight	First-party
28	Pit	First-party
28.528ε	Dark Pit	First-party
29	Zero Suit Samus	First-party
30	Wario	First-party
31	Snake	Third-party
32	Ike	First-party
33	Squirtle ( Pokémon Trainer)	First-party
34	Ivysaur ( Pokémon Trainer)	First-party
35	Charizard ( Pokémon Trainer)	First-party
36	Diddy Kong	First-party
37	Lucas	First-party
38	Sonic	Third-party
39	King Dedede	First-party
40	Olimar	First-party
41	Lucario	First-party
42	R.O.B.	First-party
43	Toon Link	First-party
44	Wolf	First-party
45	Villager	First-party
46	Mega Man	Third-party
47	Wii Fit Trainer	First-party
48	Rosalina & Luma	First-party
49	Little Mac	First-party
50	Greninja	First-party
51	Mii Brawler	First-party
52	Mii Swordfighter	First-party
53	Mii Gunner	First-party
54	Palutena	First-party
55	Pac-Man	Third-party
56	Robin	First-party
57	Shulk	First-party
58	Bowser Jr.	First-party
59	Duck Hunt	First-party
60	Ryu	Third-party
60.560ε	Ken	Third-party
61	Cloud	Third-party
62	Corrin	First-party
63	Bayonetta	Third-party
64	Inkling	First-party
65	Ridley	First-party
66	Simon	Third-party
66.566ε	Richter	Third-party
67	King K. Rool	First-party
68	Isabelle	First-party
69	Incineroar	First-party
70	Piranha Plant	First-party
71	Joker	Third-party
72	Hero	Third-party
73	Banjo & Kazooie	Third-party
74	Terry	Third-party
75	Byleth	First-party
76	Min Min	First-party
77	Steve	Third-party
78	Sephiroth	Third-party
79	Pyra	First-party
80	Mythra	First-party
81	Kazuya	Third-party
82	Sora	Third-party

Trivia

The order of the base roster fighters (without Ken and Incineroar, who were not revealed at the time) without Echo Fighters being placed next to their parent fighters.

The back of Ultimate's North American physical case, with many fighters misplaced.

• Coincidentally, Greninja and Inkling have the same fighter numbers as their respective costume numbers in Super Mario Maker.
• Had Echo Fighters been numbered normally (i.e. not grouped with their base fighters), they could be placed accordingly:
  • Dark Pit would have been either between Palutena and Pac-Man or between Shulk and Bowser Jr. Although he was officially revealed after the launch of Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS, his status as a playable character was teased directly after the reveal of Palutena.
  • Lucina would have been between Pac-Man and Robin.
  • Daisy would have been between Inkling and Ridley.
  • Richter's position would have been unchanged, as he was revealed directly after his base fighter Simon and before Chrom, making him the only Echo Fighter with this trait.
  • Chrom and Dark Samus would have been between Richter and King K. Rool, with Dark Samus listed after Chrom.
  • Ken would have been between Isabelle and Incineroar.
• Oddly, on the back of the North American physical case of Ultimate, several fighters are misplaced from their fighter number order:
  • Luigi is between Jigglypuff and Peach, rather than between Pikachu and Ness.
  • Zelda is between Young Link and Ganondorf, rather than between Sheik and Dr. Mario.
  • Roy is between Pokémon Trainer and Diddy Kong, rather than between Mewtwo and Chrom.
  • Ike is between Wii Fit Trainer and Rosalina & Luma, rather than between Snake and Pokémon Trainer.
  • Toon Link is between Ken and Bayonetta, rather than between R.O.B. and Wolf.
  • Palutena is between Ridley and Corrin, rather than between the Mii Fighters and Pac-Man.
  • Cloud is between Corrin and Simon, rather than between Ken and Corrin.