A fighter, also known as a playable character or simply character, refers to a playable character in the Super Smash Bros. series roster. These characters are located on the character selection screen and can be used without a cheat device (e.g. Action Replay). Playable characters can further be divided into starter, unlockable, and downloadable, which distinguishes whether characters can be played right away, whether they need to be unlocked, or whether they need to be downloaded.
List of fighters
This is a list of the playable characters in the Super Smash Bros. series, commonly known in official sources as fighters.
The following does not include some bosses who can be playable on occasion.
| Key | Starter | Unlockable |  Unlockable /  Starter
|
Downloadable | Customizable[1] | Transformation[2] |
|---|
Notes
- ^ Mii Fighters are automatically unlocked upon creation in the Mii Fighter menu.
- ^ Some characters are accessible through others' movesets. Transformation characters don't receive their own slot on the character selection screen, but in most situations players can start the match as them through alternate means.
- ^ a b c Sakurai mentions these characters as having been planned for Super Smash Bros. on this page.
- ^ Bowser Jr.'s alternate costumes also allow players to control any of the Koopalings instead.
- ^ a b c d e f g This fighter’s alternate costumes have male and female variants. Only the default gender’s stock icon is shown on the table.
- ^ a b c d e f As part of the Pokémon Trainer.
- ^ a b c While there hasn't been any official confirmation that Mewtwo, Roy, and Dr. Mario were intended to be in Brawl, unused data on Brawl's disc labelled for each of them strongly implies that the characters were developed to some degree for Brawl.
- ^ Known as Duck Hunt Duo in PAL regions.
- ^ Half of Hero’s costumes represent 4 different protagonists from across the franchise: Luminary, Erdrick, Solo, and Eight. Luminary is the default, and only his stock icon is shown on the table.
- ^ Sakurai stated that, while the Ice Climbers could run smoothly on the Wii U version, the 3DS could not handle the "two-in-one" coding of the duo, and, in order to keep the roster the same between the two versions, they had to be cut from the roster.
- ^ Sakurai stated that he originally intended to replace Ness with the new protagonist of Mother 3 (Lucas) in Melee, though Mother 3's delay caused him to go back on the idea and keep Ness.
- ^ Sakurai mentions Marth as having been planned for Super Smash Bros. on this page.
- ^ Known as Mii Sword Fighter in PAL regions.
- ^ In Smash 4 and Ultimate, half of Olimar's costumes allow players to control Alph instead.
- ^ a b Pokémon Trainer's moveset allows the player to switch between Squirtle, Ivysaur, and Charizard using their shared down special, Pokémon Change.
- ^ a b Samus' Final Smash in Brawl, Zero Laser, transforms her into Zero Suit Samus.
- ^ a b As part of Zelda's moveset.
- ^ Former head of Sonic Team, Yuji Naka, stated in an interview that Sonic was very close to being included in the game, but because of time constraints, was not.
- ^ Wario was planned to be a playable character in Melee, but due to time constraints and not wanting over-representation of the Mario franchise, he was ultimately cut.
- ^ a b Zelda's down special in Melee and Brawl, Transform, allows her to transform into Sheik.
Newcomers and veterans
A newcomer is a character who appears as playable for the first time in the series in a given game. A veteran is the opposite: a character who has been playable in a previous game. For example, Diddy Kong is a newcomer in Brawl, as he did not appear as playable in any previous games, but is a veteran in all subsequent games. Note that the definition of newcomers is distinct from that of "unlockable" or "secret" characters, which are playable characters who must be unlocked by completing certain tasks; Melee, Brawl, and Smash 4 all had starter veterans, starter newcomers, unlockable veterans, and unlockable newcomers. Ultimate is the first game in which all newcomers are unlockable; however, most veterans are also unlockable.
The term newcomer was originally used to describe the unlockable characters in the original Super Smash Bros. by the data deletion menu. It was later used in the first trailer for Super Smash Bros. Brawl, in which new characters were introduced with the title "Newcomer" atop their name. The word newcomer was later used on the Smash Bros. DOJO!! site to classify new characters whether unlockable or not. This use of the term has become the community-preferred usage for other games in the series.
"Perfect-attendance crew"
Less commonly, the term "veteran" can also denote the "eight regulars" or "perfect-attendance fighters", terms which refer to the eight starter characters in the original Super Smash Bros. which have been in all subsequent games of the series. The terms originated in the description for the 10th Brawl event match All-Star Battle Regulars, reading: "The Smash Bros. perfect-attendance crew! Fight the eight regulars in order!" A popular, unofficial term referring to this group is "The Original 8" (Mario, Donkey Kong, Link, Samus, Yoshi, Kirby, Fox, and Pikachu), which may also be called "The Original 12" if including the four unlockable characters (Luigi, Ness, Captain Falcon, and Jigglypuff). The 29th Brawl event match All-Star Semifinal Regulars states: "Four hidden characters from the past game! They're secret perfect attendees." Super Smash Bros. for Wii U is the only installment where all the "Original 12" are starter characters. Super Smash Bros. Ultimate refers to the concept of the perfect-attendance crew by making the only starter characters the aforementioned “Original 8.”
Trivia
- Dr. Mario, Ice Climbers, Mewtwo, Pichu, Pokémon Trainer (excluding Charizard), Roy, Snake, Wolf, and Young Link are the only characters to have ever been cut.
- Lucas was cut from the base roster in Super Smash Bros. 4, but later returned as downloadable content.
- Roy is the only "non-native" character to debut in a Super Smash Bros. game before appearing in any other game in their respective series. His inclusion in Melee was intended to promote Fire Emblem: The Binding Blade, which was released shortly after Melee in Japan.
- According to Super Smash Bros. series director Masahiro Sakurai, The Binding Blade was originally scheduled for release before Melee.[1]
- Captain Falcon (in SSB), the Mii Fighters, and Pac-Man (in Ultimate) are the only characters to use head icons that don't portray their faces.
- Wario is the only character prior to Ultimate to debut as a starter before becoming unlockable in another game, as well as the only one prior to Smash 4 to have never had fewer than 8 palette swaps.
- 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.
- Yoshi and Captain Falcon are the only characters who appear in all five Super Smash Bros. games that are the sole representatives of their series.
- They are also the only characters who debuted the same day but in different games.
- Metal Gear and Ice Climber are the only universes to have the entirety of their characters cut from one game to the next, and then both being reintroduced in the next game after that.
- Samus is the only female character to appear in all five Super Smash Bros. games, as Pokémon were not considered gendered at the time of the first game's release.
- Super Smash Bros. Ultimate is the first game in the series since Melee to not have any veterans cut from the roster. All the previously cut veterans that haven't appeared since Melee and/or Brawl return with various changes to their appearances and/or movesets including new Final Smashes (except for Ice Climbers and Pokémon Trainer)
- Lucas is the only character to have been a starter character, unlockable character and downloadable character at one point.
- Currently, Charizard, Little Mac, Ridley, Dark Samus, and Isabelle are the only characters to have been made fully playable after major non-playable appearances, excluding characters that are playable via items (Metal Mario, Giant Donkey Kong, and Giga Bowser).
- Meta Knight, Pit, Wario, Squirtle, King Dedede, Olimar, Villager, Palutena, Bowser Jr., Ludwig von Koopa of the Koopalings, the duck of Duck Hunt, Inkling, Daisy, Chrom, King K. Rool, Ken, and Piranha Plant have also made appearances in previous Super Smash Bros. games prior to their playable debuts in the form of minor representation. These include Trophies, Stickers, Mii Fighter costumes, and cameos in stages and Final Smashes.
- Charizard is the only character who used to be part of a transformation character, became a standalone fighter, and then returned to being part of a transformation character.
- Alph and the female Pokémon Trainer are the only alternate characters who debuted after their base fighter.
- The Koopalings and Heroes from Dragon Quest III, IV and VIII are the only alternate characters who debuted before their base fighter in their home series.
See also
References
| Fighters in Super Smash Bros. | |
|---|---|
| Fighters | Captain Falcon · Donkey Kong · Fox · Jigglypuff · Kirby · Link · Luigi · Mario · Ness · Pikachu · Samus · Yoshi |
| Fighters in Super Smash Bros. Melee | |
|---|---|
| Veterans | Captain Falcon · Donkey Kong · Fox · Jigglypuff · Kirby · Link · Luigi · Mario · Ness · Pikachu · Samus · Yoshi |
| Newcomers | Bowser · Dr. Mario · Falco · Ganondorf · Ice Climbers · Marth · Mewtwo · Mr. Game & Watch · Peach · Pichu · Roy · Young Link · Zelda (Sheik) |
| Fighters in Super Smash Bros. Brawl | |
|---|---|
| Veterans | Bowser · Captain Falcon · Donkey Kong · Falco · Fox · Ganondorf · Ice Climbers · Jigglypuff · Kirby · Link · Luigi · Mario · Marth · Mr. Game & Watch · Ness · Peach · Pikachu · Samus · Yoshi · Zelda / Sheik |
| Newcomers | Diddy Kong · Ike · King Dedede · Lucario · Lucas · Meta Knight · Olimar · Pit · Pokémon Trainer (Charizard · Ivysaur · Squirtle) · R.O.B. · Snake · Sonic · Toon Link · Wario · Wolf · (Zero Suit Samus) |
| Fighters in Super Smash Bros. 4 | |
|---|---|
| Veterans | Bowser · Captain Falcon · Charizard · Diddy Kong · Donkey Kong · Dr. Mario · Falco · Fox · Ganondorf · Ike · Jigglypuff · King Dedede · Kirby · Link · Lucario · Lucas · Luigi · Mario · Marth · Meta Knight · Mewtwo · Mr. Game & Watch · Ness · Olimar · Peach · Pikachu · Pit · R.O.B. · Roy · Samus · Sheik · Sonic · Toon Link · Wario · Yoshi · Zelda · Zero Suit Samus |
| Newcomers | Bayonetta · Bowser Jr. · Cloud · Corrin · Dark Pit · Duck Hunt · Greninja · Little Mac · Lucina · Mega Man · Mii Fighter (Mii Brawler · Mii Gunner · Mii Swordfighter) · Pac-Man · Palutena · Robin · Rosalina & Luma · Ryu · Shulk · Villager · Wii Fit Trainer |