Unlockable character
An unlockable character is a character that is not available at the start of the game (unlike a starter character), but must be unlocked. A special criteria is needed in order to unlock a character. First, the player must do a special task, once the task is done, then a message will display "Warning! Challenger Approaching!" with a silhoutte of the character. The player must be then challenge and defeat the character to unlock the character. Template:Spoiler
Super Smash Bros.
Characters
| Character | How to Unlock |
| Captain Falcon | Beat the 1-player mode with any character on any difficulty level in less than 20 minutes. |
| Jigglypuff | Beat the 1-player mode wth any character on any difficulty level. |
| Luigi | Beat Target Test with all 8 starting characters in either 1-player mode or in practice. |
| Ness | Beat the 1-player mode with 3 lives, on normal difficulty, with any character, without continuing. |
Super Smash Bros. Melee
Characters
| Character | How to Unlock | VS Matches Required |
| Dr. Mario | Complete Classic or Adventure mode with Mario without using a Continue | 100 |
| Falco Lombardi | Clear 100-Man Melee | 300 |
| Ganondorf | Complete Event Match #29 (Triforce Gathering) | 600 |
| Jigglypuff | Complete Classic or Adventure Mode | 50 |
| Luigi | Complete Stage #1 of Adventure with time ending in a "2" | 800 |
| Marth | Play Classic Mode with all 14 regular characters, or use them in VS. mode | 400 |
| Mewtwo | Play VS. mode for a combined total of 20 hours* | 700 |
| Mr. Game & Watch | Complete Adventure & Classic Mode with all characters, or Clear Target Test with all characters | 1000 |
| Pichu | Complete Event Match #37 (Legendary Pokemon) | 200 |
| Roy | Complete Classic or Adventure mode with Marth | 900 |
| Young Link | Complete Classic Mode with 10 different characters | 500 |
Super Smash Bros. Brawl
Masahiro Sakurai once stated that he feels that it would be appropriate that 3rd-party, or "guest" characters, like Solid Snake or Sonic the Hedgehog, would be unlockable. It is unknown if this has since been changed, as Sonic was playable at E for All.
Also of note is that a quote from Smash Bros. DOJO!! claims, "You can earn most characters by playing through Adventure Mode: The Subspace Emissary."
Footnotes
* Time required to unlock Mewtwo can be split between players (eg. 2 human players requires 10hrs, 3 human players requires 6hrs 40mins, and four players requires 5hrs).
