A universe is a term used by the Smash Bros. community to collectively refer to all the particular characters, stages, items, music, and other properties appearing in the fighting games that are thematically featured in another game franchise.

These are the video game series and franchises that the Super Smash Bros. games classify as major enough that they assign each franchise its own unique symbol that appears with characters and stages belonging to that franchise. These franchises generally have characters, stages, items, and other properties that all appear in Smash Bros. games as part of their primary content. However, the minimum requirement for a symbol is to contribute one stage or one character to the games.

  • The Super Smash Bros. universe: The "default" universe, this represents the Smash Bros. games themselves and accompanies all appearances of characters and stages that are thematically original to the fighting games themselves. Many original characters have been introduced here, but none thus far have been actually playable, with most serving as enemies and bosses in single-player content. The universe symbol seen here is also used as a "placeholder" by the games to indicate a minor universe without its own symbol. In Super Smash Bros. 4, the Super Smash Bros. universe gets its own character representation by the Mii Fighter, but officially, they haven't been in any Smash game before their debut as playable in the Super Smash Bros. universe.
  • The Mario universe: Nintendo's flagship video game franchise. The company mascot at the head of this multi-genre series, Mario, is a primary playable character in Smash Bros. games, and has been accompanied by his brother Luigi (both since Smash 64), his alter-ego Dr. Mario (Melee and Smash 4), the Mushroom Kingdom princess Peach (since Melee), the villainous king of the Koopas Bowser (since Melee) and his mischievous son Bowser Jr. (Smash 4), the cosmic princess Rosalina along with her partner Luma (Smash 4), the dinosaur Yoshi (Smash 64), the gorilla Donkey Kong (since Smash 64), his chimp nephew, Diddy Kong (since Brawl), and the bellicose anti-hero Wario (Brawl) as playable characters that heavily identify with Mario. The Mario universe is so expansive that Yoshi and Wario have been given their own sub-universes, while Donkey Kong and Mario started off together and therefore are linked in that way. Brawl also treats Mario Kart as a partially separate universe, containing one stage and four music tracks, though it still uses the main Mario series symbol.
  • The Yoshi universe: Referred to as the Yoshi's Island universe by PAL versions of Brawl, the Yoshi universe is based on the more colorful and saccharine subset of Mario video games starring the dinosaur Yoshi, who is the main (and thus far only) playable character of the series in the Smash Bros. games. Several properties seen in Smash Bros. games can be identified as strictly belonging to this universe instead of the Mario universe.
  • The Donkey Kong universe: A franchise which the Mario series was partially spun-off from. The direction of British company Rareware (now known as Rare Ltd.), focusing on Donkey Kong and his many simian relatives and reptilian nemeses. Donkey Kong himself has been a playable Smash Bros. character throughout the entire series, while his monkey-like nephew Diddy Kong has been playable since Brawl.
  • The Wario universe: Referred to in NTSC versions of Brawl as the WarioWare universe, and as the WarioWare, Inc. series by PAL versions, the Wario universe is a sub-series of Mario games whose main character is Mario's ill-mannered and nefarious anti-hero counterpart, Wario. The games in this series are either platforming titles or (more prominently) micro-game collections, and Wario as he appears in both of these two genres of games within his series is the one playable character.
  • The Legend of Zelda universe: A series of adventure titles portraying several incarnations and continuities of its main characters, primarily the young Hylian hero Link (who is accompanied by Young Link in SSBM and Toon Link in SSBB and SSB4), the eponymous princess Zelda (since Melee), and the dark lord/warlock Ganondorf (since Melee). These four, as well as Zelda's ninja-like alter-ego Sheik (since Melee), are playable characters.
  • The Metroid universe: A science fiction series in either the side-scrolling platforming or the first-person adventure genres. The series' formerly silent protagonist, female bounty hunter Samus Aran clad in a versatile power suit (as well as without it in an alternative guise named Zero Suit Samus), is the primary playable character. In Brawl, another character from the universe appeared as a boss in the form of Ridley, and later as Meta Ridley. In Smash 4, Ridley has been hinted at as a stage boss in the Wii U version, but is not playable.
  • The Kirby universe: The game franchise headed by Masahiro Sakurai prior to and alongside his directorial involvement in his Smash Bros. series. The titular pink spherical hero Kirby (since Smash 64), his menacing rival Meta Knight (since Brawl), and the greedy King Dedede (since Brawl) have all been featured as playable characters.
  • The Star Fox universe: A series of space shooting games that got its start as among the first games to popularize 3D polygonal graphics in the Super Nintendo era. All the games' characters are anthropomorphic animals. The de facto leader of the "Star Fox" team Fox McCloud has been available for the entire series and is a veteran. Ace wing man Falco Lombardi was added to the list in Melee. Wolf O'Donnell, Fox's rival and leader of the mercenary group "Star Wolf", became playable in Brawl.
  • The Pokémon universe: One of video gaming's most lucrative franchises, this multi-genre franchise emphasizes handheld role-playing games that focus on the training and battling of 719 distinctive species of creatures called Pokémon, from which the series derives its name. Playable characters consist of electric mouse mascot Pikachu (since Smash 64) and its younger form Pichu (Melee only), the hypnotic pink puffball Jigglypuff (since Smash 64), psychic feline humanoid Mewtwo (Melee only), the jackal-like Lucario (since Brawl), a generic Pokémon Trainer who commands his three Pokémon (Squirtle, Ivysaur, and Charizard, although Charizard is separate in Smash 4) from the background to do battle in the foreground, and the speedy ninja frog Greninja. It is the most heavily represented universe to date.
  • The F-Zero universe: A futuristic racing game series featuring anti-gravity racing machines that zoom at extremely fast and intense speeds, with game play emphasizing speed boosts, cornering, and physically ramming each other's machines to lower life meters. The superhero-like bounty hunter Captain Falcon serves as the most recognizable racer and "mascot" of the series and is a playable character throughout the Smash Bros. series.
  • The EarthBound universe: Also referred to by its Japanese title, the Mother series. A postmodern, satirical, and psychedelic take on role-playing conceived by Shigesato Itoi, with three games in the series. The protagonists of the second and third games, EarthBound's Ness (since Smash 64) and Mother 3's Lucas (Brawl only) respectively, have been playable as characters.
  • The Ice Climber universe: An old classic NES game released focusing on a pair of parka-clad mallet-wielding children named Popo and Nana as they infinitely scale platformed mountains to retrieve vegetables from a Condor. The Ice Climbers feature together as one playable character in Melee and Brawl.
  • The Fire Emblem universe: A long-running series of tactical role-playing games set in sword-and-sorcery medieval fantasy settings and portrayed with numerous anime character designs. Formerly a series released only in Japan, it gained enough popularity in its appearance in Super Smash Bros. Melee that the franchise turned international from then on, and has proven quite popular as such. Main heroes from the various unrelated installments in the series, including Marth (since Melee), Roy (Melee only), and Ike (since Brawl) have been featured as playable characters. In Super Smash Bros. 4, Lucina and Robin were also added as representatives of this universe. It is the only series with characters that made their debut in a Smash Bros. game (specifically Roy).
  • The Game & Watch universe: The Smash Bros. games' representation of one of Nintendo's earliest digital products, which is a series of LCD handheld consoles named "Game & Watch". A previously unnamed black-and-white character in several of these games has been featured as a playable character under the name Mr. Game and Watch since Melee.
  • The Kid Icarus universe: An old classic NES game released alongside the original Metroid by the same designer Gunpei Yokoi. It is the story of a young angel knight named Pit as he battles to save the goddess Palutena from the forces of the evil Medusa, which was revived by Masahiro Sakurai. Pit appears with a major graphical redesign as a playable character in Super Smash Bros. Brawl and Super Smash Bros. 4 and Palutena makes her debut as a playable character in SSB4.
  • The Pikmin universe: A real-time strategy game series that started on the GameCube. The main character, Captain Olimar, and the titular creatures, the Pikmin, cameo as separate, collectible trophies. The five different Pikmin types, red, blue, yellow, purple, and white, along with Captain Olimar, are combined into a playable character known as Pikmin & Olimar in Super Smash Bros. Brawl and Super Smash Bros. 4.
  • The R.O.B. universe: Also known as the Robot universe. Not much is known about this universe, other than the fact that its symbol is a Gyro from Gyromite, and its only contributions are the character R.O.B., R.O.B.-based enemies in the Subspace Emissary, and a piece of music, Gyromite.
  • The Animal Crossing universe: This is a series of colorful life simulation games where the player's avatar lives in a woodland town featuring anthropomorphic animals as the town's residents and neighbors. It was introduced to the Smash Bros. franchise in Melee, with three trophies — K.K. Slider, Tom Nook, and Mr. Resetti. In Brawl, Animal Crossing was more prominent, with a stage, an item, an assist trophy, and many stickers and trophies that originated in this universe. In the fourth Smash Bros. game for Wii U and Nintendo 3DS, it became even more noteworthy, with a Villager added as a playable character, as well as Isabelle tagging along as an Assist Trophy.
  • The Sonic the Hedgehog universe: A third party franchise, one of SEGA's primary franchises, and a longtime rival franchise to Nintendo's Mario in the years before SEGA became a software developer for Nintendo and other companies. This world with anthropomorphic characters is the setting of many games covering multiple genres. Its eponymous mascot, Sonic the Hedgehog, is a playable character in Brawl and Smash 4 and was highly anticipated.
  • The Metal Gear universe: A third-party franchise. A series of stealth and espionage shooting games set on a fictional take of real-world Earth in somewhat apocalyptic time periods in the future where nuclear deterrence and various moral issues are dealt with as social commentary by the games themselves. The series' main star, Solid Snake, is a playable character in Brawl.
  • The Xenoblade Chronicles universe: Shulk, protagonist of Xenoblade Chronicles, wields the Monado, a unique sword, in battle. Shulk's playability was widely speculated prior to appearing in a series of video leaks, and he was formally confirmed as playable. Gaur Plain is a stage in both versions of SSB4.
  • The Pac-Man universe: A third party franchise, Bandai Namco's long running series about a yellow, spherical creature named Pac-Man, and his many adventures in "Pac-World". The eponymous character appears as a playable character in Super Smash Bros. 4, accompanied by characters and elements from other Namco Arcade games.
  • The Nintendo DS universe: Super Smash Bros. Brawl and Super Smash Bros. 4 dedicate an official universe symbol to what is merely the Nintendo DS platform itself. No characters appear in the game, and the only things that this universe has are two stages named PictoChat and PictoChat 2.

Minor universes

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These are the various franchises that have not been recognized as primary universes by any Smash Bros. game, and this is indicated by the fact these franchises do not carry their own universe symbols. As a general rule, such universes lack any playable characters or stages in the games, but if any of the following franchises contributes an item, assist trophy, music, or some other minor element to a given Smash game, the game assigns the property and its respective franchise the default Smash Bros. universe symbol.

  • 1080° Snowboarding/Avalanche: Snowboarding games released for the Nintendo 64 and GameCube. A character from the first game (but not the second), Kensuke Kimachi, cameos as a collectible trophy in Melee. Additionally, the music track Golden Forest (1080° Snowboarding) appears in Brawl in the My Music for Port Town Aero Dive.
  • Nintendo Wars: Various soldiers and tanks from the series appear as an Assist Trophy in Brawl where they fire projectiles at all foes.
  • Big Brain Academy: Artwork of Dr. Lobe from the Big Brain Academy games appears as a Sticker in Brawl, as well as the music track Title (Big Brain Academy) appearing in the My Music for Distant Planet.
  • Brain Age: Train Your Brain in Minutes a Day!: Music from this game appears as a My Music option in PictoChat.
  • Card Hero: A Game Boy Color game popularizing a relatively obscure trading card game in Japan. Trading cards came packaged with the original game. A sequel was released for the Nintendo DS in 2007 titled Kousoku Card Battle: Card Hero. A DSiWare title known as Card Hero: Speed Battle Custom was later released in 2010, but it only allowed the ability to battle and build decks. None of the games were released outside of Japan. One of its characters, Maruo Maruhidge, cameos as a collectible trophy in Melee, while Hiroshi, Master and Tameo cameo as stickers in Brawl.
  • Chibi-Robo: Kind-of simulation game whose titular character cameos as a collectible trophy in Brawl.
  • Clu Clu Land: An NES game whose main character, Bubbles, cameos as a collectible trophy in Melee. Additionally, a music track with the same name as the source game appears in the My Music for the stage Summit as well as Unira making an appearance as an item in Brawl.
  • Cubivore: A simulation Gamecube game, full title Cubivore: Survival of the Fittest, released in 2002. The Alpha trophy in Melee represents a denizen of this game world.
  • Custom Robo: Three robot combatants, Ray MK II, Bayonette, and Annie, cameo as collectible trophies in Melee. Ray MK III also appears as an Assist Trophy in Brawl.
  • Daigasso! Band Brothers: A Nintendo DS game that was never released outside of Japan, Barbara the Bat, one of the characters in the game, appears as an Assist Trophy in Brawl, where she plays her guitar that sends out damaging shockwaves.
  • Devil World: Tamagon, the game's protagonist, appears as a trophy in Melee, though it cannot be obtained unless the game is hacked in the North American version, and it is completely absent from the PAL version. Only in the Japanese version is it fully obtainable. In addition, the Devil from the game is an Assist Trophy in Brawl.
  • Dillon's Rolling Western: A western-styled action/tower defense game with two installments on the Nintendo 3DS eShop. The main character, Dillon, appears as an Assist Trophy in Super Smash Bros for Wii U.
  • Doshin the Giant: The two forms that the Giant can take, Love Giant and Hate Giant, cameo as collectible trophies in Melee.
  • Drill Dozer: Jill, along with her Drill Dozer, appears as one of the Assist Trophies in Brawl.
  • Elite Beat Agents: A music-based rhythm action game developed by iNiS for the Nintendo DS, where agents in black sing and dance famous songs of multiple genres to assist people in need. Some of the agents from the game, including Agent J, Agent Morris, Agent Derek, and Commander Kahn, are stickers in Brawl.
  • Excite: A side-scrolling racing game whose depiction of a motorcyclist racer is a collectible Excitebike in Melee and an Assist Trophy in Brawl.
  • Famicom Detective Club: Ayumi Tachibana cameos as a collectible trophy in Melee.
  • Golden Sun: A series of fantasy RPGs for Game Boy Advance, developed by Camelot Software Planning and thematically based on the four classical elements. The first game's silent protagonist, the young Earth-based warrior Isaac, appears as an Assist Trophy in Brawl. In addition, the music track Battle Scene / Final Boss (Golden Sun), based on two battle themes from the second game, Golden Sun: The Lost Age, can be unlocked for the My Music selection for Norfair.
  • Kaeru no Tame ni Kane wa Naru: Represented by a sticker in Brawl. Also, Sablé Prince appears as an Assist Trophy in Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS.
  • Freakyforms: Your Creations, Alive!: A unique series about creating and customizing a planet of creatures called Formees, which are created by putting together "forms" of different shapes and sizes. King Roy, the damsel-in-distress of Freakyforms Deluxe's dungeons, appears as a trophy in Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS.
  • Kung Fu: A Kung Fu game that is represented in Brawl. Possibly the NES port of Irem Corporation's arcade brawler Kung-Fu Master, which was released as "Kung Fu" and published by Nintendo in all regions.
  • Kururin: Helirin (incorrectly spelled "Heririn") cameos as a collectible trophy in Melee. The Helirin also appears as an Assist Trophy in Brawl, where it acts as a rotating platform that characters can stand on.
  • Mach Rider: A driving game that was one of the launch titles for the original NES. The titular character, Mach Rider, appeared in Melee as a collectible trophy. Also, music from Mach Rider can sometimes be heard on the Big Blue stage in Melee, whereas in Brawl the track moved to Port Town Aero Dive. The character is also a sticker in Brawl.
  • Magical Vacation: A series of two fantasy RPGs for Game Boy Advance and the DS, developed by Brownie Brown, the game takes place around various students at the magic school Will-O-Wisp who each control a different element. The story in both games give you the options of choosing a boy and a girl who, for the first game Magical Vacation, both appear as a sticker in Brawl but only the boy from the sequel gets the same treatment. The character Mokka from Magical Starsign appear as a trophy as well as the characters 'Putty' and 'Pyrite'.
  • Mii Force: A shoot 'em up game available in StreetPass Mii Plaza about a player's Mii and their squad of other Miis tagged via StreetPass as they save the galaxy from the thieving Gold Bone Gang. The helmets worn by the Mii Force squad members can be equipped by Mii Fighters in Super Smash Bros. 4.
  • The Mysterious Murasame Castle: Takamaru appears as an Assist Trophy in Super Smash Bros for Wii U. Also, the character is also a sticker in Brawl.
  • Nintendo hardware: A number of game consoles, a GameCube trophy and the item Super Scope in Melee, the item Super Scope and the music tracks Mii Channel and Wii Shop Channel through My Music in Brawl for the stage PictoChat all are based on Nintendo hardware of no specific universe. The Nintendo DS universe is also based on Nintendo hardware.Also, the Famicom Disk System's mascot, Diskun (aka Mr. Disk), cameos as a collectible trophy in Melee".
  • Panel de Pon: The Lip's Stick item is a tool from this game. Lip's Theme is a music track on PictoChat that is a reference to this universe.
  • Perfect Dark series: Sci-fi stealth-based FPS games by former Nintendo developer Rareware (now known simply as "Rare"). The Motion Sensor Bomb and Cloaking Device, featured as items, were listed as based on this series in beta versions of Melee, though the are considered non-universal in later versions.
  • Pinball: A pinball game that is represented in Brawl by the Chronicle.
  • Shaberu! DS Oryouri NAVI: A Japan-only digital cookbook for the DS. A music track from the game appears in Brawl in the My Music for PictoChat.
  • Rayman: A platforming franchise focusing on the limbless hero Rayman as he protects his world against everything from robot pirates to psychotic bunnies. Ubisoft's titular character appears as a trophy, marking the first time a third-party makes it into Smash without being connected to a playable representative.
  • Sakura Samurai: Art of the Sword: Sakura Samurai the protagonist is represented as a trophy in SSB-3DS
  • Sheriff: A 1979 arcade game whose main character and enemy sprites cameo together in a collectible trophy for Melee. Also, artwork of the Sheriff appears as a Sticker in Brawl, and in his sprite form as an Assist Trophy in 'for Nintendo 3DS.
  • Shin Oni Ga Shima: A game retelling of a Japanese folktale. It is part of the Famicom Folktales series, also consisting of Yūyūki. The main characters, Donbe & Hikari, cameo together as a collectible trophy in Melee. Additionally, the music track Shin Onigashima appears in the My Music for Summit in Brawl.
  • SimCity: Dr. Wright cameos as a collectible trophy in Melee. He also appears as a Assist Trophy in Brawl.
  • Sin and Punishment: Saki Amamiya appears as an Assist Trophy in Brawl.
  • Starfy: Starfy appears as an Assist Trophy in Brawl and SSB4. He uses spinning attacks to damage his foes, but is also one of the few Assist Trophies that can be knocked out of the arena.
  • Steel Diver: A weapon based on of the playable submarines in the first game, the Blue shark, appears in Super Smash Bros. for Wii U and 3DS.
  • Tennis: A Tennis game that is represented in Brawl by the Chronicle.
  • Wave Race series: A series of jet-ski racing games released for Game Boy Color, Nintendo 64, and GameCube. The flagship character of the latter two, Ryota Hayami, cameos as a collectible trophy in Melee.
  • Wild Gunman: A first-person shooter that is represented in Brawl as a sticker, and as Duck Hunt's side special in for Wii U/Nintendo 3DS.
  • The Wonderful 101: An action/RTS hybrid, developed by Platinum Studios for Wii U, where players take control of a team of masked superheroes, known as the Wonderful Ones, numbering up to 100 to save Earth from the GEATHJERK alien invaders. The main character, Wonder Red, appears as a trophy along with other Wonderful Ones.
  • X: A Japan-only Game Boy game which is represented by a music track in Brawl on the Lylat Cruise stage's My Music. The release of X-Scape as a DSiWare title in 2010 served as an eventual sequel to the game.