"Challenger" redirects here. For info on fighters, to whom the title "challenger" is often applied, see List of Super Smash Bros. series characters.
Character selection screen in Super Smash Bros. indicating the unlockable characters.

An unlockable character (also referred to as a secret character or hidden character, and in-game as challengers, or newcomers in the N64 game's Backup Clear menu) is one that is not available at the start of the game (unlike a starter character), but instead must be received in-game (unlike downloadable characters) through other means.

Unique criteria must be met in order to unlock each character, as outlined below. Once such criteria are met, the challenger will appear the next time the player returns to the menu. If the player wins the subsequent battle, a message will appear congratulating them for unlocking the new fighter.

In Super Smash Bros., the character select screen displayed placeholders for not yet unlocked characters. This was changed in Melee, where the clones didn't have placeholders prior to unlocking, with their portraits simply appearing afterward. The placeholder slots were completely removed from Brawl onwards.

"Challenger Approaching!" screen

 
The Challenger Approaching! screen which Captain Falcon challenges the player in Super Smash Bros. 64.
 
The Challenger Approaching! screen which Inkling challenges the player in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate.

The "Challenger Approaching!" (挑戦者が現れました!, A Challenger has Appeared!) screen is a message that will be displayed after the player has met a criteria required to unlock any of the available characters. Every game has its unique screen.

The original game had a silhouette of the character merely displayed in a blue box in front of a black background, with an exclamation point in a red circle on the top of the screen, and the phrase "Challenger Approaching" next to it. The screen uses similar music to the 1P-Game's intro, with the only difference being the absence of drums for the "challenger approaching" tune. This is the only game where the challengers' silhouettes are animated, showing them in their fighting stances while rotating (like in the character select screen), rather than just shadowed versions of their official illustrations.

Melee added the phrase "A new foe has appeared!," and also had a silhouette of the approaching challenger. The poses for the challengers were silhouettes of their renders when selected on the Character Select screen (some, however, like Luigi and Ganondorf's, were their renders from inside the boxes). The game also added animations to the screens, with an undulating matrix effect in the background, while the exclamation point, text and silhouette would be eased in. Original music was also provided solely for the screen, which took the sound of a slow, ominous siren.

Brawl returned to the plain black background (there would be a silhouette of an unlockable character the player would face); but this would only occur if the Adventure Mode: The Subspace Emissary method was not used. It still had animations that would ease in, and when the player pressed any button, the images would fade to black, while the "Challenger Approaching!" text would scatter all over the screen; the siren is also considerably faster and more panicky in its sound than how it sounds in Melee.

Smash 4 reused Brawl's warning siren, but there are some differences in both versions. The 3DS version added in considerably more colors, including hues of green, black, and violet; the screen also says "A challenger approaches!" instead of its previous quotations. The Wii U version uses a font style similar to the ones in the newcomer trailers, and the background contains a picture of a supernova; the text is nonetheless reused from past games. The unlockable character in both versions of Super Smash Bros. 4 on the screen is still a silhouette that the player would face (just like in the previous three installments).

As in Smash 4, the warning siren from Brawl is used in Ultimate. This time there is a dark pink background with a white/pink light shining behind the silhouette of the unlockable character. The text about unlocking characters remains the same from prior games.

After the "Challenger Approaching!" screen, the unlockable character will then be fought in an ordinary one stock match with no time limit, on a predetermined stage with predetermined music. The AI difficulty of the duel depends on the game, usually at low difficulty for the first fighter, then it gradually increases with every fighter unlocked, however, it is reversed in Melee, and always high in the Wii U version of Smash 4. The player uses the last character played as, including the last used costume. In the case of multiplayer battles, in the first three Smash games, the player who won the match will fight the challenger; if a CPU wins the match, the challenger will not appear. Super Smash Bros. 4 changed this formula such that if a CPU wins the match, then the human-controlled player with the highest rank will battle the challenger.

By defeating the opponent, the character becomes playable. If the player fails, however, they will not unlock the character, but in the next battle they win, they are guaranteed to meet with the challenger again.

The "Challenger Approaching!" screen has become somewhat of a meme in the Smash community. Many digitally manipulated versions of these screens have appeared, often featuring characters who do not appear in the games, mostly using artwork of the character from another game instead of original artwork (which gives away its falseness). The screens became so popular that they were featured as part of the DOJO!!; in earlier updates, whenever a new character was introduced, a banner that said "Warning! Challenger Approaching!" would appear above the entry.

Challenger Approaching Screens

Challenger Approaching Alarms

Super Smash Bros.

Characters

Character How to unlock Unlock location
Captain Falcon Complete 1P Game in 20 minutes or less without using any continues. Planet Zebes
Jigglypuff Complete 1P Game with any character. Saffron City
Luigi Complete Bonus 1: Break the Targets with all starter characters. Peach's Castle
Ness Complete 1P Game on Normal or higher with three lives or less and without using any continues. Dream Land

Gallery

Super Smash Bros. Melee

Characters

Character How to unlock VS matches required Unlock Location Music
Jigglypuff[note 1] Complete Classic Mode or Adventure Mode with any character. 50 Pokémon Stadium Pokémon Stadium
Dr. Mario[note 1] Complete Classic Mode or Adventure Mode with Mario without using any continues. 100 Princess Peach's Castle Dr. Mario
Pichu Complete Event 37: Legendary Pokémon. 200 Pokémon Stadium Battle Theme
Falco Complete the 100-Man Melee. 300 Battlefield Corneria
Marth Complete Classic Mode or Adventure Mode with all starter characters, or use all starter characters at least once in VS. mode. 400 Fountain of Dreams Fire Emblem
Young Link Complete Classic Mode or Adventure Mode with ten different characters. 500 Great Bay Saria's Theme
Ganondorf Complete Event 29: Triforce Gathering. 600 Final Destination Great Bay
Mewtwo[note 2] Play VS. mode for 20 hours. 700 Final Destination Poké Floats
Luigi Complete Adventure Mode when the second on the time limit in the first stage gets a "2". For example: XX:X2:XX.
Afterwards, defeat Luigi and Peach within 1 minute.
800 Mushroom Kingdom II Mushroom Kingdom II
Roy[note 1] Complete Classic Mode or Adventure Mode with Marth without using any continues. 900 Temple Fire Emblem
Mr. Game & Watch[note 1] Complete Classic Mode, Adventure Mode, or Break the Targets with all 24 other characters. 1000 Flat Zone Flat Zone
  1. ^ a b c d If the player had previously used the Erase Data > Hidden Characters option in the Options menu, these characters can be unlocked again if All-Star Mode is cleared under the established conditions.
  2. ^ The time required is calculated in "player-hours" (e.g. two human players gives two hours for every hour of game-time, three human players give three and four players give four).

Gallery

Super Smash Bros. Brawl

Masahiro Sakurai stated that it would be appropriate that third-party, or "guest" characters, like Solid Snake and Sonic the Hedgehog, would be unlockable characters. This became true when Brawl was released.

In addition to the challenges and versus match method of unlocking, all unlockable characters can be unlocked by playing through Adventure Mode: The Subspace Emissary. The majority of these characters are unlocked as part of the linear story of SSE. However, Jigglypuff, Wolf, and Toon Link are only unlockable after the main SSE gameplay is completed by finding a secret area while replaying levels. Once a character joins a group of playable characters, the character will be instantly unlocked for normal play (without requiring a "Challenger Approaching" battle). However, some characters, as per the SSE's story, must be battled before they will join the player's party, such as Lucario (depending on the path chosen in The Glacial Peak).

Characters

Character How to unlock Subspace Emissary method VS matches required Unlock location Music
Ness Reflect ten projectiles. Complete Subspace (Part I). 5 Onett Mother (Melee)
Marth Complete Classic Mode. Complete Battlefield Fortress. 10 Castle Siege Fire Emblem (Melee)
Luigi Complete Classic Mode without using any continues. Complete Subspace (Part I). 22 Luigi's Mansion Luigi's Mansion Theme
Falco Complete 100-Man Brawl. Complete The Swamp. 50 Lylat Cruise Area 6
Captain Falcon Play through Classic Mode on Normal or higher and beat it in 12 minutes or less. Complete Outside the Ancient Ruins. 70 Port Town Aero Dive Mute City
Lucario Clear all levels of Target Smash!! with any single character. Complete Glacial Peak. 100 Spear Pillar Victory Road
Snake Play 15 Vs. Matches on Shadow Moses Island. Complete Battleship Halberd Interior. 130 Shadow Moses Island Encounter
R.O.B. Collect 250 different trophies. Complete Subspace Bomb Factory (Part II). 160 Mario Bros Mario Bros.
Ganondorf Clear Classic Mode on Hard with Link or Zelda. Collect both Link and Zelda's trophies in Subspace (Part II). 200 Final Destination Hidden Mountain & Forest
Mr. Game & Watch Clear Target Smash!! with 30 different characters on any single difficulty level. Complete Battleship Halberd Bridge. 250 Flat Zone 2 Flat Zone 2
Sonic Complete Classic Mode with ten characters, or Brawl for ten combined total hours. Complete The Great Maze. 300 Green Hill Zone Sonic Heroes
Jigglypuff[note 1] Have 20 or more events cleared after beating the Subspace Emissary. After completing The Great Maze, defeat it in a secret room in The Swamp. 350 Pokémon Stadium 2 Pokémon Center
Toon Link[note 1] Complete Classic Mode after beating the Subspace Emissary. After completing The Great Maze, defeat him in a secret room in The Forest. 400 Pirate Ship Dragon Roost Island
Wolf[note 1] Complete Boss Battles mode with Fox or Falco. After completing The Great Maze, defeat him in a secret room in The Ruins. 450 Lylat Cruise Star Wolf
  1. ^ a b c Toon Link, Jigglypuff and Wolf are not part of the main plot of Subspace Emissary; players must beat the main story first then revisit certain stages to find them that way.

Sonic is the only character who can be unlocked four different ways.

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Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS

Characters

The inclusion of Wendy O. Koopa (as one of Bowser Jr.'s alternate costumes) and Lucina as unlockable characters makes them the first female characters to be unlockable. After every tenth VS. match, the player gets to challenge an unlockable character, starting with Ness and finishing with Jigglypuff when 120 matches are played.

In addition to the characters below, Mii Fighters are not shown on the character select screen until the player has created at least one. However, since the ability to create Mii Fighters is granted from the beginning, the characters cannot truly be called unlockable.

Although Duck Hunt has a home stage of the same name added into the game in the 1.1.1 update, they will always be fought on Battlefield in their unlocking battle regardless of which version of the game is being played.

Character How to unlock VS Matches Required Unlock location Music
Ness Clear Classic Mode on any difficulty 10 Magicant[note 1] Magicant / Eight Melodies (Mother)
Falco Clear Classic Mode without using any continues 20 Corneria Corneria
Wario Complete 100-Man Smash 30 WarioWare, Inc.[note 2] WarioWare, Inc.
Lucina As Marth, clear Classic Mode without any continues 40 Arena Ferox Id (Purpose)
Dark Pit Clear Classic Mode with three or more characters 50 Reset Bomb Forest Wrath of the Reset Bomb
Dr. Mario As Mario, clear Classic Mode on intensity 4.0 or higher 60 Mushroomy Kingdom Ground Theme (Super Mario Bros.)
R.O.B. Collect at least 200 different trophies 70 PictoChat 2 PictoChat
Ganondorf As Zelda or Link, clear Classic Mode on intensity 5.0 or higher 80 Gerudo Valley Gerudo Valley
Mr. Game & Watch Clear Classic Mode with 10 or more characters 90 Flat Zone 2 Flat Zone 2
Bowser Jr. As Bowser, clear Classic Mode on intensity 6.0 or higher 100 3D Land Super Mario 3D Land Theme / Beach Theme
Duck Hunt Clear Classic Mode with 8 or more characters 110 Battlefield Battlefield
Jigglypuff Collect at least 30 different equipment items 120 Unova Pokémon League N's Castle Medley
  1. ^ Flying Men do not appear.
  2. ^ Microgames do not occur.

Gallery

Super Smash Bros. for Wii U

Characters

Unlike Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS, Ness, Jigglypuff, Ganondorf and Bowser Jr. are starter characters. Like the 3DS version, a character is unlocked for every ten versus matches played starting with Falco. Two exceptions to this are Mr. Game & Watch and Duck Hunt, which they need 20 more versus matches than R.O.B. and Mr. Game & Watch, respectively. Unlike the previous three installments (Melee, Brawl, and the 3DS version), no Super Smash Bros. universe stages are used for challenger approaching battles. Instead, all unlockable characters use a stage from their respective universe except for R.O.B., in which he uses the Wrecking Crew stage due to him not having a stage from his own universe.

In addition to the characters below, Mii Fighters are not shown on the character select screen until the player has created at least one. However, since the ability to create Mii Fighters is granted from the beginning and there is no Challenger Approaching fight, the character cannot truly be called unlockable.

Character How to unlock VS Matches Required Unlock location Music
Falco Clear Classic Mode 10 Orbital Gate Assault Theme from Area 6 / Missile Slipstream
Wario Clear 100-Man Smash 20 Gamer Gamer
Lucina Clear Classic Mode on intensity 5.5 or higher 30 Coliseum The Devoted
Dark Pit Clear All-Star Mode on Normal 40 Palutena's Temple Boss Fight 1 (Kid Icarus: Uprising)
Dr. Mario Clear Master Orders on Hard 50 Delfino Plaza Delfino Plaza
R.O.B. Clear Crazy Orders after ten rounds and defeat Crazy Hand 60 Wrecking Crew Wrecking Crew Medley
Mr. Game & Watch Clear Classic Mode on intensity 2.0 or higher with five characters 80 Flat Zone X Flat Zone 2
Duck Hunt Get at least one KO in Cruel Smash 100 Duck Hunt[note 1] Duck Hunt Medley
  1. ^ Dog and ducks do not appear.

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Super Smash Bros. Ultimate

The starting roster in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate comprises the eight starter characters from the original Super Smash Bros. game, with all other fighters being unlockable. There are two ways to unlock characters: by defeating them in a Challenger Approaching fight, or by awakening them in the World of Light.

In the World of Light, only characters that have been awakened in that mode can be used, with only Kirby initially being available. However, awakening a fighter in the World of Light also unlocks them for the regular roster as well.

Challenger Approaching

In a Challenger Approaching fight, the character must be fought in a one-on-one fight, with the stage and music being specific to that fighter. The difficulty of Challenger Approaching fights start out at being very low, but progressively increases with each character unlocked. If the player loses the fight, they can redo the Challenger Approaching fight via Challenger's Approach on the Games and More menu after a few minutes pass.

All characters except Mii Fighters can be unlocked in a Challenger Approaching fight. Instead, each Mii Fighter can be unlocked by creating a custom Mii Fighter of that type. However, Mii Fighters may also be unlocked by awakening them in the World of Light.

Timed encounters

When the player finishes a VS. match, a Mob Smash, a Spirit Board fight or exits the World of Light, a new character can challenge the player to a Challenger Approaching duel. However, the player must then wait 10 minutes before a new Challenger Approaching challenge will be issued. This 10 minute cooldown can be bypassed by closing the game and reopening it.

Time-based Challenger Approaching challenges are issued in a specific order, skipping any characters unlocked in the World of Light or whose Challenger Approaching fight has already been triggered due to Classic Mode.

Classic Mode

When the player completes Classic Mode, a new character will challenge the player to a Challenger Approaching duel. This character will be the next character in the table below who has not already been unlocked or issued a Challenger Approaching duel. After all of the characters in a column are unlocked, the unlock sequence loops around to Mario's column, then Donkey Kong's column, and so on.

The unlock sequence for downloadable fighters begin at Mario's column.

The Challenger Approaching duels are the same as those issued on a timed basis, this is simply another way to trigger them.

Notably, all clones, semi-clones, and pseudo-clones except for Ganondorf, Roy, and Chrom are in the same column as the character they are based on.

Unlock Order                
1st                
2nd                
3rd                
4th                
5th                
6th                
7th                
8th                

Challenges

Below is a table listing the stage and music for each character's unlock battle. It also includes the order they are unlocked in as time-based challenges.

The values listed under "Cumulative Wait Time" are idealized values that assume that no characters are unlocked in the World of Light or have their Challenger Approaching fights triggered by Classic Mode, that the player never closes the game after first opening it until they trigger Palutena's Challenger Approaching fight, and the player never spends longer than the minimum amount of time (10 minutes) between triggering Challenger Approaching fights.

Order Character Cumulative Wait Time Unlock location Music
1st   0 minutes Onett (hazards off) Bein' Friends
2nd   10 minutes Temple Ocarina of Time Medley
3rd   20 minutes Mushroom Kingdom U King Bowser - Super Mario Bros. 3
4th   30 minutes Skyworld Underworld
5th   40 minutes Moray Towers Splattack!
6th   50 minutes Smashville Title (Animal Crossing)
7th   1 hour Castle Siege Story 5 Meeting (Fire Emblem) (Melee)
8th   1 hour & 10 minutes Great Bay Saria’s Theme
9th   1 hour & 20 minutes Wii Fit Studio Main Menu - Wii Fit
10th   1 hour & 30 minutes Summit Ice Climber (Brawl)
11th   1 hour & 40 minutes Port Town Aero Dive F-ZERO Medley
12th   1 hour & 50 minutes Princess Peach's Castle Rolling Hills A
13th   2 hours Battlefield Ryu Stage
14th   2 hours & 10 minutes Coliseum Eternal Bond (Ike’s Theme)
15th   2 hours & 20 minutes Saffron City Pokémon Main Theme (64)
16th   2 hours & 30 minutes Jungle Japes Gangplank Galleon
17th   2 hours & 40 minutes Green Hill Zone Green Hill Zone
18th   2 hours & 50 minutes Dracula's Castle Vampire Killer (New Remix)
19th   3 hours Brinstar Theme of Samus Aran, Space Warrior
20th   3 hours & 10 minutes Boxing Ring Jogging/Countdown
21st   3 hours & 20 minutes Town and City Plaza / Title (Animal Crossing: City Folk / Animal Crossing: Wild World)
22nd   3 hours & 30 minutes Gaur Plain Xenoblade Chronicles Medley
23rd   3 hours & 40 minutes Arena Ferox Id - Purpose (Original)
24th   3 hours & 50 minutes WarioWare, Inc. WarioWare, Inc.
25th   4 hours Norfair Vs. Ridley (New Remix)
26th   4 hours & 10 minutes Pokémon Stadium Main Theme - Pokémon Red & Pokémon Blue (Brawl)
27th   4 hours & 20 minutes Spear Pillar Battle (Team Galactic)
28th   4 hours & 30 minutes Figure-8 Circuit Mario Tennis/Mario Golf
29th   4 hours & 40 minutes Castle Siege Beyond Distant Skies - Roy's Departure
30th   4 hours & 50 minutes Fountain of Dreams King Dedede's Theme (Brawl)
31st   5 hours Wrecking Crew Stack-Up/Gyromite
32nd   5 hours & 10 minutes Corneria Star Fox Medley
33rd   5 hours & 20 minutes Luigi's Mansion Main Theme - Luigi's Mansion (New Remix)
34th   5 hours & 30 minutes Pokémon Stadium 2 Pokémon Red / Pokémon Blue Medley
35th   5 hours & 40 minutes Dracula's Castle Divine Bloodlines
36th   5 hours & 50 minutes New Pork City Unfounded Revenge/Smashing Song of Praise
37th   6 hours Kongo Falls Bramble Blast/Stickerbrush Symphony
38th   6 hours & 10 minutes Halberd Meta Knight's Revenge
39th   6 hours & 20 minutes Shadow Moses Island Encounter
40th   6 hours & 30 minutes Bridge of Eldin Death Mountain
41st   6 hours & 40 minutes Coliseum Lost in Thoughts All Alone (New Remix)
42nd   6 hours & 50 minutes Wily Castle Mega Man 2 Medley
43rd   7 hours Umbra Clock Tower Let's Hit the Climax
44th   7 hours & 10 minutes Pirate Ship Dragon Roost Island
45th   7 hours & 20 minutes Mario Galaxy Egg Planet (Remix)
46th   7 hours & 30 minutes Boxing Ring The Battle at the Summit
47th   7 hours & 40 minutes Gerudo Valley Gerudo Valley (Remix)
48th   7 hours & 50 minutes Distant Planet Main Theme - Pikmin (New Remix)
49th   8 hours Pac-Land Pac-Man
50th   8 hours & 10 minutes Frigate Orpheon Multiplayer - Metroid Prime 2: Echoes
51st   8 hours & 20 minutes Lylat Cruise Star Wolf (Brawl)
52nd   8 hours & 30 minutes Flat Zone X Flat Zone 2
53rd   8 hours & 40 minutes Castle Siege Prelude (Ablaze)
54th   8 hours & 50 minutes Reset Bomb Forest Dark Pit's Theme
55th   9 hours Midgar Fight On!
56th   9 hours & 10 minutes Duck Hunt Duck Hunt Medley (New Remix)
57th   9 hours & 20 minutes Boxing Ring Ken Stage
58th   9 hours & 30 minutes Kalos Pokémon League Battle! (Trainer Battle) (Pokémon X / Pokémon Y)
59th   9 hours & 40 minutes Arena Ferox Id - Purpose (New Remix)
60th   9 hours & 50 minutes Spear Pillar Battle! (Dialga/Palkia) / Spear Pillar
61st   10 hours Delfino Plaza Delfino Plaza (New Remix)
62nd   10 hours & 10 minutes New Donk City Hall Fever (Dr. Mario) (Melee)
63rd   10 hours & 20 minutes Palutena's Temple Destroyed Skyworld

World of Light

In World of Light, each fighter must be unlocked through a fighter battle, with a very few exceptions:

  Kirby is available from the beginning.
  Bowser is obtained after defeating Giga Bowser.

Downloadable fighters are directly available after downloading them, after awakening at least 10 other fighters.
The fighter battles all feature the same single condition: Win the battle to awaken the fighter

No. Name Type Power Stage Music Location
01   Mario Neutral 2,500 Final Destination Final Destination In the Light Realm, right at the beginning
02   Donkey Kong Grab 3,300 Kongo Jungle Ω Jungle Level (64) In the Light Realm
03   Link Shield 3,600 Great Plateau Tower Ω Main Theme - The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild In the Light Realm
04   Samus Shield 7,500 Brinstar Ω Title Theme - Metroid In the Light Realm (beyond the light breach)
04ε   Dark Samus Grab 12,500 Frigate Orpheon Ω Multiplayer - Metroid Prime 2: Echoes In The Final Battle area
05   Yoshi Grab 3,600 Super Happy Tree Ω Obstacle Course - Yoshi's Island In the Light Realm
06   Kirby There is no fighter battle for Kirby; this fighter is available from the beginning
07   Fox Shield 3,700 Corneria Ω Star Fox Medley In the Light Realm
08   Pikachu Attack 3,300 Pokémon Stadium Ω Main Theme - Pokémon Red & Pokémon Blue (Melee) In the Light Realm
09   Luigi Grab 10,600 Luigi's Mansion Ω Main Theme - Luigi's Mansion In the Dark Realm (in the Mysterious Dimension sub-area)
10   Ness Attack 7,500 Magicant Ω Magicant (for 3DS / Wii U) In the Light Realm (beyond the light breach)
11   Captain Falcon Attack 3,300 Port Town Aero Dive Ω F-ZERO Medley In the Light Realm
12   Jigglypuff Shield 3,300 Mushroom Kingdom U Ω Road to Viridian City - Pokémon Red / Pokémon Blue In the Light Realm
13   Peach Grab 7,500 Mushroom Kingdom U Fortress Boss - Super Mario World In the Light Realm (in the Molten Fortress sub-area)
13ε   Daisy Attack 10,600 Mushroom Kingdom U Underground Theme - Super Mario Land In the Dark Realm (in the Dracula's Castle sub-area)
14   Bowser There is no fighter battle for Bowser; to unlock Bowser, simply defeat Giga Bowser, who is located at the end of the Molten Fortress
15   Ice Climbers Grab 7,500 Summit Ω Ice Climber (Brawl) In the Light Realm
16   Sheik Shield 2,500 Final Destination Final Destination In the Light Realm, one of the 3 starter routes (north route)
17   Zelda Shield 10,100 Temple Ω Ocarina of Time Medley In the Dark Realm (in the Sacred Land sub-area)
18   Dr. Mario Shield 3,400 Mario Bros. Ω Fever In the Light Realm
19   Pichu Attack 7,500 Prism Tower Ω Pokémon Red / Pokémon Blue Medley In the Light Realm (in the Power Plant sub-area)
20   Falco Attack 7,500 Lylat Cruise Ω Space Armada In the Light Realm
21   Marth Attack 2,500 Final Destination Final Destination In the Light Realm, one of the 3 starter routes (west routes)
21ε   Lucina Attack 10,000 Arena Ferox Ω Id (Purpose) In the Dark Realm
22   Young Link Grab 10,300 Temple Ω Saria's Song In the Dark Realm (in the Sacred Land sub-area)
23   Ganondorf Attack 10,700 Bridge of Eldin Ω Death Mountain In the Dark Realm (in the Sacred Land sub-area)
24   Mewtwo Grab 12,000 Spear Pillar Ω Battle! (Dialga/Palkia) / Spear Pillar In the Dark Realm (in the Mysterious Dimension sub-area)
25   Roy Attack 12,500 Castle Siege Ω Beyond Distant Skies - Roy's Departure In The Final Battle area
25ε   Chrom Attack 10,600 Castle Siege Ω Id (Purpose) (Remix) In the Dark Realm (in the Sacred Land sub-area, by jumping into a treasure chest)
26   Mr. Game & Watch Shield 7,500 Flat Zone X Ω Flat Zone 2 In the Light Realm (beyond the light breach)
27   Meta Knight Attack 11,800 Halberd Ω Meta Knight's Revenge In the Dark Realm (in the Mysterious Dimension sub-area)
28   Pit Shield 3,300 Skyworld Ω Underworld In the Light Realm (in the Temple of Light sub-area)
28ε   Dark Pit Shield 11,200 Reset Bomb Forest Ω Dark Pit's Theme In the Dark Realm (in the Dracula's Castle sub-area)
29   Zero Suit Samus Grab 7,500 Brinstar Depths Ω Theme of Samus Aran, Space Warrior In the Light Realm (beyond the light breach)
30   Wario Attack 10,100 WarioWare, Inc. Ω WarioWare, Inc. In the Dark Realm (in the Dracula's Castle sub-area)
31   Snake Grab 9,000 Final Destination Encounter In the Light Realm (in the Military Base sub-area)
32   Ike Attack 11,200 Coliseum Ω Eternal Bond In the Dark Realm (in the Mysterious Dimension sub-area)
33-35         Pokémon Trainer (Squirtle, Ivysaur and Charizard) Attack 7,500 Battlefield Ω Main Theme - Pokémon Red & Pokémon Blue (Brawl) In the Light Realm (beyond the light breach)
36   Diddy Kong Grab 9,000 Kongo Jungle Ω Stickerbrush Symphony In the Light Realm (in the Kongo Jungle sub-area)
37   Lucas Shield 6,600 New Pork City Ω Unfounded Revenge / Smashing Song of Praise In the Light Realm
38   Sonic Attack 9,800 Green Hill Zone Ω Green Hill Zone In the Dark Realm (in the Sacred Land sub-area)
39   King Dedede Attack 9,000 Fountain of Dreams Ω King Dedede's Theme (Brawl) In the Light Realm (in the Gourmet Race sub-area, after obtaining a score of 11)
40   Olimar Grab 3,300 Distant Planet Ω Main Theme - Pikmin In the Light Realm
41   Lucario Attack 3,300 Spear Pillar Ω Battle! (Team Galactic) In the Light Realm
42   R.O.B. Shield 10,500 Wrecking Crew Ω Stack-Up/Gyromite In the Dark Realm (in the Mysterious Dimension sub-area)
43   Toon Link Attack 7,500 Wuhu Island Ω Main Theme - The Legend of Zelda: Tri Force Heroes In the Light Realm (in the Forest Hill sub-area)
44   Wolf Attack 11,800 Lylat Cruise Ω Star Wolf (Brawl) In the Dark Realm (in the Mysterious Dimension sub-area)
45   Villager Grab 2,500 Final Destination Final Destination In the Light Realm, one of the 3 starter routes (east route)
46   Mega Man Shield 7,500 Wily Castle Ω Mega Man 2 Medley In the Light Realm
47   Wii Fit Trainer Shield 3,300 Wii Fit Studio Ω Yoga In the Light Realm
48   Rosalina & Luma Shield 10,000 Mario Galaxy Ω Egg Planet In the Dark Realm
49   Little Mac Attack 3,300 Boxing Ring Ω Jogging / Countdown In the Light Realm
50   Greninja Shield 10,600 Kalos Pokémon League Ω Battle! (Trainer Battle) - Pokémon X / Pokémon Y In the Dark Realm (in the Mysterious Dimension sub-area)
51   Mii Brawler Attack 10,000 Final Destination Final Destination - Super Smash Bros. for 3DS / Wii U In the Dark Realm (in the Sacred Land sub-area, after setting the clock to 4:40)
52   Mii Swordfighter Shield 3,300 Final Destination Final Destination - Super Smash Bros. for 3DS / Wii U In the Light Realm
53   Mii Gunner Grab 7,500 Tortimer Island Final Destination - Super Smash Bros. for 3DS / Wii U In the Light Realm (beyond the light breach)
54   Palutena Attack 12,500 Palutena's Temple Ω Destroyed Skyworld In The Final Battle area
55   Pac-Man Grab 3,300 Pac-Land Ω PAC-MAN In the Light Realm
56   Robin Grab 10,700 Castle Siege Ω Prelude (Ablaze) In the Dark Realm (in the Dracula's Castle sub-area)
57   Shulk Attack 8,200 Gaur Plain Ω Xenoblade Chronicles Medley In the Light Realm (beyond the light breach)
58   Bowser Jr. Grab 12,500 Mushroomy Kingdom Ω Fortress Boss - Super Mario Bros. 3 In the Dark Realm (in the Sacred Land sub-area)
59   Duck Hunt Grab 3,300 Duck Hunt Ω Duck Hunt Medley In the Light Realm
60   Ryu Attack 9,000 Suzaku Castle Ω Ryu Stage In the Light Realm (in the World Tour sub-area)
60ε   Ken Neutral 10,600 Boxing Ring Ω Ken Stage In the Dark Realm (in the Dracula's Castle sub-area)
61   Cloud Attack 11,200 Midgar Ω Fight On! In the Dark Realm (in the Sacred Land sub-area)
62   Corrin Shield 10,700 Castle Siege Ω Lost in Thoughts All Alone In the Dark Realm (in the Mysterious Dimension sub-area)
63   Bayonetta Shield 12,500 Umbra Clock Tower Ω Let's Hit the Climax! In The Final Battle area
64   Inkling Attack 3,300 Moray Towers Ω Splattack! In the Light Realm
65   Ridley Attack 10,600 Brinstar Depths Ω Vs. Ridley (Brawl) In the Dark Realm (in the Dracula's Castle sub-area)
66   Simon Grab 7,500 Dracula's Castle Ω Vampire Killer In the Light Realm (in the Temple of Light sub-area)
66ε   Richter Grab 11,800 Dracula's Castle Ω Divine Bloodlines In the Dark Realm (in the Dracula's Castle sub-area, after killing all evil ghosts)
67   King K. Rool Attack 10,600 Pirate Ship Gang-Plank Galleon In the Dark Realm (in the Mysterious Dimension sub-area)
68   Isabelle Grab 3,900 Town and City Ω Plaza / Title Theme - Animal Crossing: City Folk / Animal Crossing: Wild World In the Light Realm
69   Incineroar Attack 12,500 Spear Pillar Ω The Battle at the Summit! In the Dark Realm
70-75    Downloadable fighters There are no fighter battles for Downloadable fighters; these fighters are available after downloading them, after awakening at least 10 other fighters

Gallery

Trivia

  • In Smash 64, Brawl, for 3DS and Ultimate, the AI level of unlockable character fights start out at being very low, but increases with each consecutive character unlocked.
    • In Melee, the opposite is the case.
    • In for Wii U, the AI level for all eight characters is high, no matter what order they are fought in.[citation needed]
    • In Ultimate, the difficulty of the AI was lowered in patch 1.2.0, after notorious reports of the level of difficulty for each match.
  • Masahiro Sakurai originally intended for all the characters in Super Smash Bros. for Wii U to be available from the start, but eventually decided against it.
  • If Mii Fighters are considered unlockable, the Yoshi universe is the only universe to have never had any unlockable characters.
  • When a player fights a secret character to unlock in Brawl, their character always uses their default costume even if the character was originally using an alternative costume.
  • Super Smash Bros. Ultimate is the first game in the series to feature unlockable characters in its cover artwork.
  • In Super Smash Bros. Brawl, each character unlock notification has a different tone depending on the debut game of the character.
    • Strangely, Jigglypuff's unlock notification tone is the same as the Brawl newcomers despite debuting from Smash 64. This is likely because it is unlocked in the post-game Subspace Emissary, as well as its internal ID being right next to Toon Link and Wolf, Brawl newcomers.
    • Smash 64 newcomers (except Jigglypuff) use "Rare Trophy" from Melee, Melee newcomers use Brawl's stage unlock fanfare, and Brawl newcomers (and Jigglypuff) use Brawl's sound effect when collecting songs or completing minor challenges.
  • Prior to Ultimate, the only unlockable characters whose playable status was not kept a secret prior to release were Snake and Sonic in Brawl, and Lucina in Smash 4.
  • Wario is the only starter character to become an unlockable character in a later installment prior to Ultimate.
  • Counting Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS and for Wii U separately, Jigglypuff, Falco, and Mr. Game & Watch are tied for the most unlockable appearances, with five each.

See also