List of character posters
For Super Smash Bros. 4 and Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, posters have been released for many of the newcomer playable characters. These pieces of artwork are revealed on the game's official site along with the characters' confirmations, and are sometimes highlighted in Nintendo Directs or Masahiro Sakurai's Miiverse posts. In addition to their appearance in digital form, prints of several of the posters were also made available as rewards through the Club Nintendo program prior to its discontinuation.
The posters generally feature a newcomer and several veterans. The posters are generally set in a location evocative of the newcomer's home series, resemble cover or promotional artwork from their source games, and/or are illustrated by an artist who worked on their home series. Several also make reference to the newcomers' concurrently-released reveal trailers.
For Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, only Inkling, Joker, Terry, Min Min, Pyra/ Mythra, and Kazuya received posters, rather than every newcomer in the game. However, a similar concept was used for the Smash Bros. Countdown.
Villager
Villager was revealed at E3 2013. Villager's poster shows him above an Animal Crossing town, chasing after a Smash Ball with his bug-catching net. Link, Kirby, and Mario are also leaping towards the Smash Ball. Isabelle can also be seen on the ground, looking up in distress.
Mega Man
Mega Man was revealed at E3 2013. Mega Man's poster mirrors the style of several Mega Man game covers and posters, such as the Japanese boxart for Mega Man 7, in which Mega Man stands in front of a group of allies and/or Robot Masters with the main antagonist looking over from the top. In this case, Mega Man is depicted in the foreground, with the role of the usual number of eight Robot Masters being replaced by eight of the nine veterans confirmed at E3 2013: Link, Mario, Donkey Kong, Pikachu, Kirby, Pit, Samus, and Fox. The role of the antagonist looming in the background is filled by the last veteran shown at that point, Bowser.
Mega Man's poster was illustrated by Ryuji Higurashi, a recurring Mega Man series artist.
Wii Fit Trainer
Wii Fit Trainer was revealed at E3 2013. Wii Fit Trainer's poster is based on the Japanese boxart for Wii Fit, showing her in silhouette form on the Wii Balance Board in the Tree pose. The other silhouettes are of other characters performing the same pose (such as they can), specifically Mario, Donkey Kong, Pit, Link, Kirby, and Samus. Mario, Link, and Kirby also attempted this pose in Wii Fit Trainer's trailer.
Rosalina & Luma
Rosalina & Luma were revealed on December 18th, 2013. Rosalina & Luma's poster is based on the boxart of Super Mario Galaxy, but with Rosalina replacing Mario as the centerpiece of the art. In addition to her, Mario, Fox, and Wii Fit Trainer are shown flying through space as well. The scenery the characters are flying over resembles that of the Mario Galaxy stage in Super Smash Bros. for Wii U, including elements such as the Gateway Galaxy's starting planet and the Starship Mario.
Little Mac
Little Mac was revealed on February 13th, 2014. Little Mac's poster is based on the design of the arcade cabinet of the original Punch-Out!!. The top screen of the cabinet uses the same HUD and design style as the arcade game, but with the modern Little Mac design replacing the original portrait of "Challenger", and with Donkey Kong as the champion opponent. Donkey Kong's appearance as the opponent is based on his role as the final, hidden boss of Punch-Out!! on Wii; the arcade board indicates that the two have fought before, as the match is labeled "Fight #2". The bottom screen of the cabinet is a screenshot of two characters fighting on Boxing Ring, posed to resemble the gameplay of the arcade Punch-Out!! games.
Greninja
Greninja was revealed on April 8th, 2014 during the Super Smash Bros. Direct. Greninja's poster depicts a free-for-all battle with Greninja in the center, throwing Water Shurikens. Behind it, Charizard is shown fighting Mario, as they did in Greninja's reveal trailer; Mario is shown in his Fire Mario-based alternate costume. In the foreground, Pikachu, Peach, and Toon Link are also fighting.
Greninja's poster was illustrated by Ken Sugimori, the lead Pokémon series artist since the series' inception.
Palutena and Dark Pit
Palutena was revealed at E3 2014. Palutena's poster depicts her watching over a battle between Pit and Link, as was shown in her reveal trailer. Dark Pit appears in the background, watching the scene. While Dark Pit was not confirmed as playable at the time, he did make a cameo appearance at the end of Palutena's trailer and was never given any further formal introduction beyond this.
Palutena's poster was illustrated by Hideyuki Morioka, a member of Studio Shaft. Studio Shaft animated the Kid Icarus: Uprising animated short Palutena's Revolting Dinner, as well as Palutena's reveal trailer for Smash; Morioka was credited as "Animation Character Designer" in said animated short.
Pac-Man
Pac-Man was revealed at E3 2014. Pac-Man's poster depicts his SSB4 model in the foreground, while the background consists of a maze in the style of the original Pac-Man. Around the maze are various other characters in their NES sprite appearances: Donkey Kong as he appeared in Donkey Kong; Mario, Peach, and Bowser as they appeared in Super Mario Bros.; Mega Man as he appeared in the first six Mega Man games; Kirby as he appeared in Kirby's Adventure; Link as he appeared in The Legend of Zelda; and Samus as she appeared in Metroid. Sonic also appears, although he is depicted in his 16-bit appearance from Sonic the Hedgehog. Other Pac-Man elements appear in their original form as well, such as the Ghosts, Bonus Fruit, and Power Pellets.
Robin and Lucina
Robin and Lucina were revealed on July 14th, 2014. Robin and Lucina's poster depicts the two of them surrounded by Smash opponents, all depicted in the art style of Fire Emblem Awakening. These characters are Link, Pikachu, Charizard, Mario, Luigi, Mega Man, Peach, Captain Falcon (revealed in the same trailer), and Kirby. In the background, Chrom makes a cameo appearance.
Robin and Lucina's poster was illustrated by Yusuke Kozaki, the key character artist of Fire Emblem Awakening.
Shulk
Shulk was revealed on August 29th, 2014. Shulk's poster depicts him high above Gaur Plain on Bionis' Leg, holding the Monado with Monado Buster activated. Surrounding him are Kirby, Pit, Marth, and Bowser, the latter two of which also appeared in Shulk's trailer. Dunban and Riki, two of Shulk's allies who assist in his Chain Attack Final Smash, appear as well. The Mechonis appears in the background, as it normally does from Gaur Plain; given that many other posters reference cover artwork of characters' home games, it may be a deliberate reference to the cover art of Xenoblade Chronicles.
Shulk's poster is not credited to a specific artist, only to Monolith Soft generally. Nevertheless, it does resemble the style of official artwork from Xenoblade Chronicles.
Bowser Jr.
Bowser Jr. was formally revealed on October 23rd, 2014 during the 50-Fact Extravaganza. Bowser Jr.'s poster is a direct continuation of his trailer, showing him facing off with Mario in a moonlit canyon setting; Bowser is now looming behind him as well. The top of the poster depicts the Koopalings against the moon as they appeared in the trailer, whereas the bottom of the poster depicts Samus, Link, Kirby, Rosalina, Villager, Mega Man, and Meta Knight opposite them. Villager and Meta Knight did not appear in the trailer, and appear to have been added to even out the number of fighters that are opposite the seven Koopalings.
Duck Hunt
Duck Hunt was formally revealed on November 5th, 2014. Duck Hunt's poster is an imitation of the cover art of Duck Hunt. The single flying duck of the original cover has been replaced by the dog laughing alongside a duck, and the background is now the grassy field of Game A and B of the original game. The Zapper "explosion" effect has been moved, and now appears to be sending Pit, Mario, Samus and Sonic flying. The former three appear in their 8-bit forms (from Kid Icarus, Super Mario Bros., and Metroid respectively), while Sonic (as in Pac-Man's poster) uses his 16-bit sprite from the original Sonic the Hedgehog.
Other changes include the Nintendo logo from the cover art being replaced with "Takes Aim", Duck Hunt's tagline from their splash screen, with the registered trademark symbol being replaced by the Super Smash Bros. logo. The "Entertainment System" text from the cover art is replaced with "Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS/WiiU". Finally, the Nintendo Seal of Quality was edited from "This seal is your assurance that Nintendo has approved and guaranteed the quality of this product." to instead say "This seal is your assurance that Nintendo has approved and guaranteed that hunting season is open."
Ryu
Ryu was revealed on June 14th, 2015. Ryu's poster is a direct imitation of a piece of promotional art for Street Fighter II: The World Warrior, with Smash characters substituted for that game's cast. Donkey Kong replaces E. Honda, Wii Fit Trainer replaces Zangief, Zero Suit Samus replaces Ken, Link replaces Guile, Peach replaces Chun-Li, Pac-Man replaces Blanka, and Captain Falcon replaces Dhalsim. The Smash poster also adds more characters around the edges of the art: Olimar and two Pikmin, Mr. Game & Watch, Villager, Mii Gunner, Mii Brawler, Mii Swordfighter, Kirby, Palutena, Rosalina & Luma, and Mega Man.
Ryu's poster was illustrated by AKIMAN, the character designer for Street Fighter II.
Cloud
Cloud was revealed on November 12th, 2015, although his poster wasn't revealed until December 15th, 2015. The centerpiece of Cloud's poster is him in his default costume facing off against Link. Around this are Mr. Game & Watch, Donkey Kong, Mario, Kirby, and Cloud in his Advent Children costume.
Cloud's poster was illustrated by Tetsuya Nomura, the character designer for Final Fantasy VII and many other Final Fantasy games and media.
Corrin
Corrin was revealed on December 15th, 2015. Corrin's poster shows both the male and female incarnations surrounded by Smash opponents: Rosalina & Luma, Bowser, Zero Suit Samus, Pit, Greninja, and Mario. In the background, Xander, Elise, and Ryoma appear, watching the battle in shock; these three characters were among the voiced cameos in Corrin's trailer.
Corrin's poster was illustrated by Yusuke Kozaki, the key character artist of Fire Emblem Fates; Kozaki previously illustrated Robin and Lucina's Smash poster.
Bayonetta
Bayonetta was revealed on December 15th, 2015. Bayonetta's poster shows her posing in the center of a large number of other fighters, who are loosely associated with Paradiso (heaven) on the left and Inferno (hell) on the right. On the left are Fortitudo, Pit, Yoshi (with wings), Palutena, Shulk, Samus, Zelda (wielding Light Arrows), Peach, Mega Man, and Ryu. On the right are Gomorrah, Meta Knight, Charizard, Ganondorf, R.O.B., the pink-haired female Villager, Lucina, Mr. Game & Watch, Bowser, and Little Mac. The Umbra Clock Tower in the background exploding creates the Super Smash Bros. logo against the moon.
Bayonetta's artwork features more fighters than any other poster. The back of Bayonetta's legs are uncovered, matching artwork for Bayonetta 2. However, in both Bayonetta 2 and SSB4, she appears to wear leggings underneath her outfit.
Bayonetta's poster was illustrated by Eiji Funahashi of PlatinumGames, the developers of the Bayonetta series. Funahashi was credited for Character Modeling in Bayonetta 2, and had also previously drawn promotional artwork of the Nintendo content in Bayonetta 2.
Inkling
Inkling was implied to be a playable character on March 8th, 2018, when the first trailer for Super Smash Bros. Ultimate was revealed. She was officially shown in gameplay on June 12th, 2018, during E3 2018. Her poster, revealed the same day on the Japanese Splatoon Twitter account, includes herself (with the Smash Bros. logo reflecting in her eye, much like the original trailer), Link, Mario, Samus, Bowser, Donkey Kong, Fox, and Peach (with a blue Inkling in squid form), all posing around the Smash Bros. logo. Uniquely, it was not uploaded to Ultimate's official site, but rather the Japanese and French Splatoon Twitter accounts, the Nintendo Versus Twitter account, and Splatoon's official Tumblr page. It is currently unknown who illustrated the poster, but it uses a similar art style to that used by most of the Splatoon series' own promotional artwork.
Joker
Prior to Ultimate's American release, Joker was announced as a DLC fighter for Ultimate at The Game Awards 2018. In tandem with the announcement, @p_kouhou (the official Persona account) posted an illustration of Joker by Shigenori Soejima, character designer of the Persona series.
Terry
Terry was confirmed to be a playable character on September 4, 2019. To commemorate his inclusion, Kyōtarō Azuma, the artist of The King of Fighters manga series, The King of Fighters: A New Beginning, posted this illustration on Twitter to commemorate Terry's inclusion in Smash. In addition to Terry, Ryo Sakazaki cameos in the background.
Min Min
Min Min uniquely has two posters, one revealed before her release and one afterwards. The first poster features her eating ramen with Captain Falcon, in reference to her reveal trailer, with Mario, Inkling, Donkey Kong, Zero Suit Samus, and Isabelle also in attendance at the Mintendo Noodle House, while Spring Man and Biff watch from a window outside. It was posted on June 22nd, 2020, following Min Min's reveal.
The second poster features Min Min along with Mario, Inkling, Donkey Kong, Isabelle, Samus (now in her armored form), Link, and Fox. Donkey Kong is carrying a barrel of bananas which Link avoids using his shield, while Inkling has used Super Jump, splattering some ink on Isabelle. It was posted on June 29th, 2020, following Min Min's release.
Like Inkling's poster, neither of these posters were uploaded to Ultimate's website, but were rather shared through the official Japanese Twitter accounts for ARMS and Smash Bros.; according to Sakurai, they were illustrated by the staff who worked on the game. The artstyle most closely resembles that of Shigehisa Nakaue, the lead 2D artist for the Mario series.
Pyra and Mythra
Pyra and Mythra were revealed on February 17th, 2021. Pyra and Mythra's poster depicts them on Gaur Plain with Shulk, Bowser, Inkling, Mario, Kirby and Pichu.
Pyra and Mythra's poster was illustrated by Masatsugu Saito, the character designer for Xenoblade Chronicles 2.
Kazuya
Kazuya was revealed on June 15, 2021. His poster depicts him ready to drop Ryu off of a cliff while Min Min, Yoshi, Mario, Peach, Villager, Bowser, King Dedede, Luigi, Inkling, Pikachu, Donkey Kong, Link, Zelda, Marth, Pit, Kirby, Fox, Samus, Captain Falcon, and Pit look in either shock, fear, or retaliation (with the exception of Bowser, who appears amused).
Kazuya's poster was posted to Twitter by the director of the Tekken series, Katsuhiro Harada.[1]
Trivia
- Diddy Kong, Sheik, Ike, King Dedede, and Lucario are the only starter characters in both versions of Smash 4 to never appear in any of its posters.
- Sheik is the only one of them to not be a Brawl newcomer, and is the only one that had multiple playable appearances before Smash 4.
- EarthBound is the only Smash 64 franchise to not feature playable characters in any of the posters containing newcomers who debuted in Smash 4.
- This applied to the Yoshi series prior to DLC.
