List of characters in the Super Smash Bros. series

This is a list of characters in Super Smash Bros., Super Smash Bros. Melee, Super Smash Bros. Brawl, Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS and Wii U, and Super Smash Bros. Ultimate.



Samus
Samus Aran is the main protagonist of Nintendo's science-fiction Metroid series and appears in all five Super Smash Bros. games to date. She was the fourth character to be introduced in the series. The series from Brawl onwards features an alternate form for Samus in the form of "Zero Suit Samus", which is the heroine in the form-fitting Zero Suit that first appeared in Metroid: Zero Mission. In Brawl, she transforms into Zero Suit Samus when she uses her Final Smash, the Zero Laser; in 3DS/Wii U and Ultimate, Zero Suit Samus is a separate character. In the gameplay portion of the A Piercing Screech trailer for Ultimate, Samus fights Ridley atop a mesa, briefly entering Morph Ball form to avoid several of his attacks and using a charge shot against him, only for him to knock her off the stage, and then use his Final Smash on her.

Zero Suit Samus
Zero Suit Samus is a form of Samus Aran from the Metroid series. She was the 29th character to be introduced in Super Smash Bros. Zero Suit Samus wears her form-fitting suit first seen in Metroid: Zero Mission, which has returned in every subsequent Metroid game. In Brawl, Zero Suit Samus becomes a playable character after using her Zero Laser Final Smash, which causes her suit to crumble. She can restore her suit using the Final Smash Power Suit Samus. She returns in Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS and Wii U and Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, this time as a separate character from suited Samus. She is now equipped with Jet Boots and a new Final Smash and recovery.

Prior to Zero Suit Samus's introduction into Super Smash Bros., Samus's suitless form had made cameos in the original game and as a trophy in Melee.

Ridley
Ridley is the archnemesis of Samus Aran and one of the major Space Pirate leaders in the Metroid series. Ridley has had a role in almost every previous Super Smash Bros. game (with the exception of Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS), but will finally become a playable character in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate after years of fan requests. He was revealed in a CG animated trailer, titled A Piercing Screech.

Introduced in Super Smash Bros.
The original 12 characters in Super Smash Bros. are referred to as the "perfect-attendance crew". They have appeared in every game in the series to date.

Mario
Mario is the main character of the Mario series and is Nintendo's mascot and the first character to be introduced in Super Smash Bros. In Ultimate, he is slightly redesigned to take into account his appearance in Super Mario Odyssey, including having his cap appear as Cappy. His interactions with the Metroid series do not just occur in the Super Smash Bros. series, in which he has appeared in all five.

In the 1986 manga, Mario can be seen briefly when Samus comes across an Air Hole and mistakes it for a Warp Pipe from Super Mario Bros. Samus appears in Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars, sleeping in the Mushroom Castle's guest room bed if Mario returns before going to Land's End. If talked to, Samus will say: "......I'm resting up for Mother Brain." A doll of Samus can also be seen in Booster’s Tower, in a toy box. Mario vs. Wario, a Nintendo Power-published comic, depicts another Samus doll that Mario wants to buy for Peach, though it turns out Luigi had bought it instead. Lastly, Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga was supposed to feature Samus and a few other Nintendo characters at the Starbeans Café, but they were removed and replaced by Professor E. Gadd at the last minute.

Some possible connections to the Metroid series occur in Super Mario Bros. 3 and subsequent remakes and games, where Mario can get a Starman that causes him to be able to spin jump. If this is done he will be covered in rainbow colors, bearing strong resemblance to the Screw Attack. Mario & Luigi: Partners in Time also has an enemy called a "Snoozorb", which is similar to the Nightmare boss from Metroid Fusion in many ways.

A Paint Job based on Mario can be unlocked in the Blast Ball mode of Metroid Prime: Federation Force using his amiibo. In addition to the Super Smash Bros. series Mario amiibo, other amiibo of Mario from games in his series, and the Dr. Mario amiibo can be used.

Mario appears in A Piercing Screech, Ridley's Ultimate reveal trailer, where he and Mega Man accompany Samus on patrol of a mechanical area. However, Mario ends up ambushed by Ridley, who presumably crushes his head, leaving only his hat behind. Ridley is then seen twirling it on his finger.

Donkey Kong
Donkey Kong (DK for short) is a character who originated in the Mario franchise. He has since gone on to become the protagonist of a franchise with the same name. He has been playable in every Super Smash Bros. game to date, and was the second character to be introduced.

In Adventure Mode: The Subspace Emissary, Donkey Kong meets Samus and Pikachu when he, along with Olimar, Captain Falcon, and Diddy Kong arrive to confront the Ancient Minister, although all six ultimately ally with him - or rather, R.O.B. - after Ganondorf backstabs the latter by forcing his fellow R.O.B.s to detonate the Subspace bombs enmasse, wiping out several members of the Subspace Emissary. Later, when they are forced to evacuate due to their being unable to disable the bombs, Captain Falcon proceeds to summon his ship, the Blue Falcon, to get them to safety, working with them to fight Meta Ridley as he pursues them.

In the gameplay portion of the A Piercing Screech trailer for Ultimate, Ridley uses his fully-charged neutral Special move on Donkey Kong in the Boxing Ring stage.

Donkey Kong Country Returns and Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze were developed by Retro Studios, the developer of the Prime Series. In an IGN interview, Kensuke Tanabe revealed that in development of the environments for Returns, he came across what looked like a "Metroid palm tree", or a tree that had the detail of a Metroid Prime game.

Link
Link is the main protagonist of The Legend of Zelda series. Often, he must travel across lands and through dungeons to either stop Ganondorf from either stealing the Triforce or save Princess Zelda, occasionally both. He appears in all five Super Smash Bros. games, and was the third character to be introduced. In Event 3: Bomb-fest, Link appears as an opponent alongside Samus. In all his appearances until Ultimate, he wore his trademark green tunic and hat. In Ultimate, however, he wore his blue outfit from The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild. In the gameplay portion of the A Piercing Screech trailer for Ultimate, he is seen fighting Ridley on a stage, with Ridley using his Special Down attack to impale Link in the chest from behind with his tail, and then watching as Link keels over before exploding.

He has had many connections with the Metroid series outside of Super Smash Bros. In the 1986 manga, he is seen when Samus is playing The Legend of Zelda on her Famicom Disk System while flying to Zebes. The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time Master Quest features a trailer for Metroid Prime, and Metroid Prime 3: Corruption and Metroid Prime Trilogy feature Ship Bumper Stickers that appear on Samus Aran's Gunship depending on what save data is on the player’s Wii. If the player has save data for The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess, the symbol on Link's shield appears on Samus' ship.

Link also shares several appearances with Samus in other Nintendo games, such as in Super Mario RPG, where he can be found sleeping in the Rose Town inn.

Yoshi
Yoshi is a character who originated in the Mario series as the tritagonist but also has his own sub-series of games. He appears in all five Super Smash Bros. games to date and was the fifth character introduced.

Shigeru Miyamoto, due to his friendship with the Metroid series director Yoshio Sakamoto, named Yoshi after the latter. Using the Samus or Zero Suit Samus amiibo in Yoshi's Woolly World unlocks color schemes for Yoshi based on them.

Kirby
Kirby is the main character of the series of the same name and is present in all five Smash Bros. games to date. He was the sixth character introduced. He has had interactions with elements from the Metroid series in his own games, outside of Super Smash Bros.

In Kirby Super Star, he can randomly became a statue of Samus Aran when he uses his Stone ability. The Screw Attack, known in-game as the Screwball, is also a treasure in the Great Cave Offensive game. The remake Kirby Super Star Ultra also features these cameos, though the Screw Attack is now named correctly.

Kirby’s Dream Land 3 also has a Metroid reference. In level 5-2, there are six Metroids that Kirby can encounter. If he destroys them with an ice ability, Samus Aran will appear at the end of the stage without her helmet and give him a Heart Star (or a 1-up if she has already given him the Heart Star). If the Metroids are not destroyed, Samus will have her helmet on and will not do anything. Interestingly, the Metroids cannot harm Kirby, even if they latch onto him and try to feed.

In both the Kirby and Smash Bros. games, Kirby has the ability to swallow enemies and copy their abilities. If he swallows Samus, he will wear her helmet and be able to use the Charge Beam. If he swallows Zero Suit Samus, he will have her ponytail and be able to use the Paralyzer. In Ultimate, if he swallows Ridley, he copies his fireball move and wears a hat based on Ridley's head. In the gameplay portion of the A Piercing Screech trailer for Ultimate, Kirby fires his Charge Beam while using her helmet on the Mushroom Kingdom U stage before turning around to face Ridley just as he arrives and stands tall on his hind legs, making Kirby one of only two characters Ridley doesn't actually fight or defeat in the trailer (the only other being Pikachu).

Fox
Fox McCloud is the leader of the Star Fox team and the main protagonist of the Star Fox series. He was the seventh character to be introduced.

Benimaru Itoh, who illustrated the Star Fox Nintendo Power comics in the early 90s, also illustrated the Super Metroid comics. Jeff McCloud from Metroid Prime: Episode of Aether shares the last name of Fox.

On the box art for Super Smash Bros., Fox is seen punching Samus hard enough to send her flying.

In Adventure Mode: The Subspace Emissary, a remix of the Sector 1 theme from Metroid Fusion plays when battling dopplegangers of Samus, Fox, Falco, Captain Falcon and Snake in The Great Maze. This is in spite of the latter four characters having no relation to Metroid.

In the gameplay portion of the A Piercing Screech trailer for Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, Ridley proceeded to briefly use his downward Special ability on Fox, grab him, and then throw him into the air by throwing him onto his back while in the Lylat Cruise stage.

Pikachu
Pikachu is the mascot from the Pokémon series of video games. He appears in all five Super Smash Bros. games to date, and is the eighth character introduced. Starting with Generation IV of the Pokémon franchise, Pikachu is given slight variations depending on its gender, with males having a whole tail, while females had a slightly notched tail that resembled a heart.

Samus is paired with Pikachu in The Subspace Emissary, a possible reference to her pet, Pyonchi, from the Metroid Manga. On a related note, Pikachu saving Samus from certain death from Ridley via a Thunderbolt and then causing Ridley to roar at them in anger after clutching its head when recovering just prior to his boss fight in Subspace Emissionary was later reused for the beginning of the third phase of the Proteus Ridley battle from Metroid: Samus Returns (only Pikachu and its Thunderbolt was replaced by the Baby and its life drain abilities, respectively). In addition, in the original game, Pikachu's electrical attacks were instrumental in causing a rather infamous glitch when used on Samus where her Power Suit is replaced with a silver polygon model.

In the gameplay portion of the A Piercing Screech trailer for Ultimate, Pikachu is seen doing its "Pika, Pika!" wave taunt as Ridley is being drained by a Metroid assist trophy on the Mario Galaxy stage (although no sound comes out from it), making it one of only two characters to not be attacked or even knocked out by Ridley in the gameplay portion (the only other being Kirby), although it was briefly shown to be dizzy just prior to the Metroid latching to Ridley.

Luigi
Luigi is the younger twin brother of Nintendo's mascot Mario, both hailing from the Mario series of games. Luigi serves as the deuteragonist in the Super Mario platformin titles, and is the protagonist of his own mini-series, Luigi's Mansion. The second game in that series, Luigi's Mansion: Dark Moon, was developed by Next Level Games after their prototype for a Nintendo 3DS Metroid title was shelved. They later developed Metroid Prime: Federation Force. Luigi has appeared in every Smash game to date, and was the ninth character introduced. He was an unlockable character for all games except for Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS and Wii U (although he is "playable" to a certain extent beforehand in the how to play section, as well as appearing as an opponent in 4-1 of the main game).

In Fatal Frame IV: Mask of the Lunar Eclipse, his outfit appears as an unlockable alternate costume alongside the Zero Suit.

Ness
Ness is the main character from the game EarthBound (MOTHER2 in Japan). He has been present in all five Smash Bros. games to date and is the tenth character introduced. He was initially an unlockable character, although he was made playable from the start in Melee and later made unlockable again in Brawl.

Captain Falcon
Captain Falcon is the main protagonist of the futuristic racing series F-Zero and is a bounty hunter similar to Samus Aran. He appears in all Smash Bros. games to date and is the eleventh character introduced. He was originally an unlockable character, although in Melee, he was promoted to being available from the start, and ultimately was made unlockable again in Brawl.

In Melee, he appears in Event 17: Bounty Hunters, where Samus (the player's character) and Falcon compete to see who can K.O Bowser first.

In Adventure Mode: The Subspace Emissary, Captain Falcon meets Samus and Pikachu when he, along with Olimar, Donkey Kong, and Diddy Kong arrive to confront the Ancient Minister, although all six ultimately ally with him - or rather, R.O.B. - after Ganondorf backstabs the latter by forcing his fellow R.O.B.s to detonate the Subspace bombs enmasse, wiping out several members of the Subspace Emissary. Later, when they are forced to evacuate due to their being unable to disable the bombs, Captain Falcon proceeds to summon his ship, the Blue Falcon, to get them to safety, working with them to fight Meta Ridley as he pursues them.

Later in The Great Maze, a remix of the Sector 1 theme from Metroid Fusion plays when battling dopplegangers of Falcon, as well as Samus, Fox, Falco and Snake in The Great Maze. This is in spite of Falcon and the latter three characters having no relation to Metroid.

In the gameplay portion of the A Piercing Screech trailer for Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, Ridley proceeded to use his upward Special attack on Captain Falcon and knock him away on a stage.

Jigglypuff
Jigglypuff (Purin in the Japanese version) is a Pokémon hailing from the series of the same name, and was intended to be the weakest character in the game. It has appeared in all five games and was the twelfth character introduced. In most games, it acted as an unlockable character, with the exception of Super Smash Bros for Nintendo 3DS and Wii U, where it was available from the start. According to the Japanese website for Melee, Sakurai was initially undecided as to whether to have Jigglypuff return for the game or not, but ultimately decided to have it return to not leave out fans of the character.

Introduced in Super Smash Bros. Melee
Melee adds fourteen new characters to the roster.

Bowser
Bowser, alternatively known as Koopa, is the main antagonist of the Mario series, who often kidnaps Princess Peach with the goal of marrying her and/or taking over the Mushroom Kingdom. In the Super Smash Bros. series, he first appeared in Melee and has returned in every installment since, either being available from the start or, in the case of Ultimate, acting as an unlockable character.

In Melee, he appears as the target in Event 17: Bounty Hunters. Samus is required to K.O Bowser before fellow Bounty Hunter Captain Falcon does, to avoid missing out on a bounty. In Super Smash Bros. for Wii U, the co-op event Peach in Peril sees Bowser (controlled by both players) having to defeat the female characters in the game, including Zero Suit Samus, to "protect" Peach from abduction. In fact, this is to eliminate other would-be kidnappers so that the Bowsers can seize her themselves.

Bowser's amiibo can be used in Metroid Prime: Federation Force to unlock a special Paint Job based on him, for use in Blast Ball. The Bowser amiibo from the Mario series, or the Hammer Slam Bowser amiibo from the Skylanders SuperChargers series can also be used to unlock the same Paint Job.

Dr. Mario
Dr. Mario is a form of Mario that appears in a spinoff of the Mario series, Dr. Mario. He appears in Melee, Nintendo 3DS and Wii U and Ultimate, having been scrapped from Brawl. Dr. Mario was originally repurposed as an alternate costume for Mario in Nintendo 3DS and Wii U, but was reinstated as a separate character later in development.

Dr. Mario's amiibo can be used in Metroid Prime: Federation Force to unlock a Mario Paint Job in Blast Ball.

Falco
Falco Lombardi is a very skilled pilot and a deuteragonist from the Star Fox series. He first appeared in Melee and has returned in every installment since.

In Adventure Mode: The Subspace Emissary, a remix of the Sector 1 theme from Metroid Fusion plays when battling dopplegangers of Samus, Fox, Falco, Captain Falcon and Snake in The Great Maze. This is in spite of the latter four characters having no relation to Metroid.

Ganondorf
Ganondorf (also known as Ganon) is the main antagonist of the Legend of Zelda series. He has appeared in Melee, Brawl, 3DS/Wii U, and Ultimate. Ganondorf was originally not planned for Melee; however, due to his character model from the Zelda Gamecube tech demo being similar to Captain Falcon's, he was able to make it in, albeit as a clone. In Melee, his appearance was derived from the Space World Demo in 2000 (which in turn was based on his Ocarina of Time design); in both Brawl and 3DS/Wii U, his design was derived from Twilight Princess; and in Ultimate, his design was once again based on his appearance in Ocarina of Time.

In Adventure Mode: The Subspace Emissary, Samus, alongside Pikachu and a newly-arrived Donkey Kong, Diddy Kong, Captain Falcon, and Captain Olimar, briefly witnessed Ganondorf (who appeared via hologram) control the various R.O.B.s on the Ancient Island and have them activate the Subspace Bombs, as well as having them attack the Ancient Minister when he attempted to stop them.

Ice Climbers
The Ice Climbers, consisting of a duo of Inuits (Popo and Nana), hail from the game Ice Climber. In Melee and Brawl, they appear as a duo; the player controls Popo while the computer-controlled Nana attempts to mimic all of the player's moves. They were scrapped from the 3DS and Wii U games, apparently due to difficulties which arose when they were used in the 3DS version of the game. While they functioned normally in the Wii U game, the decision was made to cut them to keep the character rosters between the versions identical. They will return in Ultimate for the Nintendo Switch.

Marth
Marth is the main character from both the first and third Fire Emblem games as well as the series' mascot. Marth appeared in Melee and Brawl, and 3DS/Wii U as a playable character. Because of the Fire Emblem series initially being a Japanese-exclusive franchise at the time of Melee, he was given a Japanese voicetrack in Melee, Brawl, and 3DS/Wii U (the last of which ironically occurred after his official debut game in the West, Shadow Dragons, was released), and is one of only two Fire Emblem characters to retain their Japanese voicetrack outside Japan even after being localized (the other being Roy).

Mewtwo
Mewtwo is a legendary Pokémon from the series of the same name. His only appearance as a playable character in Super Smash Bros. had been in Melee, though hackers determined that it was scrapped from Brawl. Mewtwo did not return in the initial release of Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS and Wii U, but was released as a downloadable character on April 15th, 2015, free for players who registered both versions of the game with Club Nintendo. Mewtwo was released to the general public on April 28th as a paid download. Samus appears in Mewtwo's character trailer, taking hits from its Neutral Attack.

Mr. Game & Watch
Mr. Game & Watch is a representation of characters and objects that appear in the handheld Game & Watch series of video games. He appeared as the final unlockable character in Melee and returned in Brawl and 3DS/Wii U.

Peach
Princess Peach is a major character in the Mario series. Her interactions with the Metroid series have mostly occurred in the Super Smash Bros. series. She first appeared in Melee and has returned in every subsequent installment.

In Melee, Peach is one of the opponents in Event 15: Girl Power, alongside Zelda and Samus.

In the Nintendo Power-published comic Mario vs. Wario, Peach desired a doll of Samus that caused Mario and Wario to fight over it, hence the title. In the end, however, it is revealed that Luigi had bought it.

In Super Smash Bros. for the Wii U, the event match Peach in Peril has Zero-Suit Samus, among other female characters, fighting against Bowser, with the flavor text indicating that Bowser was trying to "protect" Peach from being abducted by her and the others (although solely because he wanted to abduct her himself). Despite Peach being an AI opponent in the event match, KOing her would have the player lose.

A voice actress of Peach in some games, Leslie Swan, voices the Bottle Ship P.A. Announcer in Metroid: Other M.

Peach's amiibo can be used in Metroid Prime: Federation Force to unlock a special Paint Job based on her, for use in Blast Ball. Her amiibo from the Super Mario series can also be used to unlock the same Paint Job.

Pichu
Pichu is a Pokémon and is Pikachu's pre-evolution. It only appeared in Melee as a playable character, although it did appear in Brawl and Nintendo 3DS as a trophy. It will return in Ultimate.

Roy
Roy is the main character from the sixth Fire Emblem game. He was included in Melee as a playable character and clone of Marth (which means he had the same moveset with some changes). After being absent from Brawl, Roy returned in the 3DS and Wii U games as a downloadable fighter on June 14, 2015. Because of the Fire Emblem series initially being a Japanese-exclusive franchise at the time of Melee, he was given a Japanese voicetrack in Melee, which was retained in 3DS and Wii U. On a related note, Roy in at least the Japanese version of the game technically made his debut in Melee as his Fire Emblem debut, Fire Emblem: The Binding Blade, would not be released in Japan until four months after Melee. This would later be repeated with fellow Fire Emblem cast member Corrin, who debuted in 3DS and Wii U sixteen days before their official debut in the Fire Emblem franchise was released (as Fire Emblem: Fates was released on February 19th, 2016, while Corrin was released as a DLC character on February 3rd).

Young Link
Young Link is Link's child form from certain Zelda games, most notably The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time. He appears only in Melee as a playable character and clone of Link. He is replaced by Toon Link in the subsequent games, although he will return in Ultimate.

Zelda
Princess Zelda is the title character from the Legend of Zelda series who first appeared in Melee and has returned in every subsequent installment of Super Smash Bros.

Zelda and Samus appear together in numerous Event Matches throughout the series. In Melee, Zelda appears as one of the opponents in Event 15: Girl Power along with Peach and Samus. Co-Op Event 6: Unwanted Suitors in Brawl has Zelda and Zero Suit Samus fight against two invisible opponents on the Port Town Aero Dive stage (from F-Zero). In the Identity Crisis event of Super Smash Bros. for Wii U, in which Sheik must defeat Samus and Zero Suit Samus, the player character switches to Zelda if Sheik is KO'd.

Sheik
In Melee and Brawl, Zelda has an alternate form she can switch into: Sheik, her alter ego from The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time. Similar to Zero Suit Samus, Sheik is a separate character in Nintendo 3DS and Wii U and Ultimate; the two characters can no longer transform into each other.

Much like Zelda, Sheik and Samus appear together in Event Matches, with Zelda having the ability to transform into Sheik in Melee and Brawl events. Identity Crisis in Super Smash Bros. for Wii U has the player initially controlling Sheik, who must defeat Samus and then Zero Suit Samus in a single-stock battle.

Introduced in Super Smash Bros. Brawl
Brawl adds nineteen new characters to the roster. Mewtwo, Dr. Mario, Roy, Pichu and Young Link do not return; while internal data suggests that the former three were planned to be included but scrapped, there is no evidence that the latter two were ever planned to make a return.

Charizard
Charizard is a flying, fire-breathing draconic/reptilian Pokémon from the Pokémon series. Originally appearing as a member of Pokémon Trainer's team in Brawl (see below), it became a full playable character in Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS and Wii U, before returning to the Pokémon Trainer's team in Ultimate.

Diddy Kong
Diddy Kong is Donkey Kong's sidekick from the Donkey Kong series. His first appearance was in Brawl. He returns in 3DS/Wii U.

In Adventure Mode: The Subspace Emissary, Diddy Kong meets Samus and Pikachu when he, along with Olimar, Donkey Kong, and Captain Falcon arrive to confront the Ancient Minister, although all six ultimately ally with him - or rather, R.O.B. - after Ganondorf backstabs the latter by forcing his fellow R.O.B.s to detonate the Subspace bombs enmasse, wiping out several members of the Subspace Emissary. Later, when they are forced to evacuate due to their being unable to disable the bombs, Captain Falcon proceeds to summon his ship, the Blue Falcon, to get them to safety, working with them to fight Meta Ridley as he pursues them.

Ike
Ike is the main character of Fire Emblem: Path of Radiance, and appears in its sequel, Fire Emblem: Radiant Dawn. He appears in Brawl and 3DS/Wii U. He is also notable as being the first Fire Emblem character to have an English voicetrack instead of simply using his Japanese voicetrack, which is most likely due to his debuting in a game that had been localized into English by the time Brawl was released.

King Dedede
King Dedede is a major antagonist from the Kirby series, though he does assist Kirby occasionally. His first playable appearance was in Brawl, and he returned in 3DS/Wii U.

Lucario
Lucario is an Aura type Pokémon from the series of the same name and was the mascot of the fourth generation. His first appearance was in Brawl and he returns in 3DS/Wii U.

Lucas
Lucas is the main character from the Japan-only game Mother 3. He first appeared in Brawl. While Lucas was not present in the release version of 3DS/Wii U, he was released as DLC on June 14, 2015.

Meta Knight
Meta Knight is an anti-hero from the Kirby series. He appears in Brawl, and 3DS/Wii U.

An enemy from the Metroid series, the Holtz, bears some resemblance to Meta Knight.

Olimar
Captain Olimar is the main character of the Pikmin series. He appears in Brawl and 3DS/Wii U. He uses Pikmin in combat.

In Adventure Mode: The Subspace Emissary, Captain Olimar meets Samus and Pikachu when he, along with Captain Falcon, Donkey Kong, and Diddy Kong arrive to confront the Ancient Minister, although all six ultimately ally with him - or rather, R.O.B. - after Ganondorf backstabs the latter by forcing his fellow R.O.B.s to detonate the Subspace bombs enmasse, wiping out several members of the Subspace Emissary. Later, when they are forced to evacuate due to their being unable to disable the bombs, Captain Falcon proceeds to summon his ship, the Blue Falcon, to get them to safety, working with them to fight Meta Ridley as he pursues them.

Pit
Pit is the main character of the Kid Icarus franchise. Kid Icarus and Kid Icarus: Of Myths and Monsters both ran on the Metroid and Metroid II: Return of Samus engines, respectively (though Uprising had its own engine). He appears as a collectible trophy in Melee and is a playable character in Brawl, 3DS and Wii U, and Ultimate.

He shares numerous connections with the Metroid series. The Komayto enemies in his games resemble Metroids, and the Unknown Items in Metroid: Zero Mission seem to have taken inspiration from the three Sacred Treasures in Kid Icarus. In Kid Icarus: Uprising, Pit remarks that Komaytos resemble Metroids, but Viridi states that the Kid Icarus and Metroid universes are unrelated.

In Super Smash Bros. for Wii U, Pit is able to seek Palutena's Guidance on certain fighters. His conversation with Palutena and Viridi on Samus is as follows:


 * Viridi: "Oh, look. There's Metroid."
 * Pit: "That's not a Metroid! That's Samus!"
 * Palutena: "Just like Link isn't named Zelda."
 * Viridi: "And like Pit's name isn't Icarus!"
 * Pit: "OK, this joke has officially run its course."
 * Palutena: "Moving on, then. Pit, you can reflect Samus's Charge Shot with your Guardian Orbitars."
 * Palutena: "However, Samus can throw a storm of shots at you. If you use your Orbitars too often, she'll know what you're up to."
 * Palutena: "So try to reflect strategically, as opposed to your...usual game plan."

On Zero Suit Samus:
 * Pit: "Who's that woman?"
 * Palutena: "That's Zero Suit Samus."
 * Palutena: "She usually wears heavy armor, but not in this incarnation. Even so, she's still pretty powerful."
 * Pit: "She has some pretty hurty-looking equipment. Getting kicked by those Jet Boots has gotta sting!"
 * Palutena: "You have a good deal of "hurty-looking equipment" yourself, Pit."
 * Pit: "Yeah, and can you believe that there are some fighters that battle empty handed? Crazy!"
 * Palutena: "It's all about discipline, not weaponry. Don't worry, though. When we get home, I'll enroll you in Palutena's Boot Camp. That'll fix you right up."
 * Pit: "Or I can just keep my weapons. Yeah, let's do that."
 * Palutena: "Anyway, Zero Suit Samus is a difficult target to hit. Keep your attack sure and ready."

In the gameplay portion of the A Piercing Screech trailer for Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, Ridley proceeded to knock Pit away via a vertical spin attack with his tail on the Umbra Clock Tower stage.

Pokémon Trainer
Pokémon Trainer, appearing in Brawl, is based on the male protagonist of the Pokémon: Fire Red and Leaf Green games (canonically named Red). He does not take part in any battles himself and instead commands his three Pokémon: Squirtle, Ivysaur, and Charizard. The Pokémon Trainer and the former two Pokémon do not appear in the fourth game. In 3DS/Wii U, Charizard appears as a full playable character; see above. The trainer, however, will return in Ultimate, and will also come with a new skin based on the female protagonist from Pokémon: Fire Red and Leaf Green games (unofficially named Leaf). In addition, the Pokémon Trainer will no longer have a stamina drawback for the currently assigned Pokémon, meaning the player can stick with only one if they wish.

R.O.B.
The Robotic Operating Buddy (known better as R.O.B.) was an accessory for the Nintendo Entertainment System. One appears in Brawl and 3DS/Wii U as a playable character while several more appear as enemies in Brawl ' s Adventure Mode: The Subspace Emissary, and also acted as the true identity of the mode's false main antagonist Ancient Minister. R.O.B. also appears in Kirby’s Dream Land 3 along with Samus Aran.

R.O.B.'s Final Smash in Brawl is called "Diffusion Beam". This is also the name of one of Samus' beam upgrades.

Snake
Solid Snake is the main character of Konami's Metal Gear Solid series. He appeared in Brawl and will return in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate. He has a set of secret taunts that involve him having a conversation with another Metal Gear character about the fighter he is facing. Below are the conversations for Samus in both of her forms.

Samus:
 * Snake: Hey, Otacon. I got a woman here in a Power Suit...
 * Otacon: Huh? How'd you know she was a woman? Yeah, that'd be Samus Aran, the most renowned bounty hunter in the galaxy. Her Arm Cannon packs quite a wallop. If you get hit with a charged shot from that thing, you can kiss your butt good-bye.
 * Snake: Sounds like my kind of woman...
 * Otacon: Yeah, well, just don't get too close, Snake. Samus is deadly. After Space Pirates killed her parents, she was raised by the Chozo and trained in the fighting arts. She's been places and seen things that you and me can't even begin to imagine.
 * Snake: But underneath that cold, metal exterior beats the heart of a woman...

Zero Suit Samus:
 * Snake: Mei Ling, Samus took her clothes off!
 * Mei Ling: That's just her in the Zero Suit, Snake.
 * Snake: Without that bulky Power Suit, she's gotten a lot more agile... You know, I bet if I took off all this heavy gear, I could catch her.
 * Mei Ling: Um, yeah, you wish. Even without the Power Suit, all that training she did with the Chozo has made her a super athlete. I don't think a normal human could ever keep up. Just look at her.
 * Snake: ...Her loss.

The conversations implied that Snake had an infatuation with Samus. Ironically, when encountering similar characters to Samus in Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots, Snake held the exact opposite views to them.

In Event Match 36: High-Tech Special Forces, he was targeted by Samus, alongside Captain Falcon and Wolf O'Donnell of the F-Zero and Star Fox series, with the flavor text for the mission revealing that they had been hired by Snake's former unit FOXHOUND to take him out.

In Adventure Mode: The Subspace Emissary, a remix of the Sector 1 theme from Metroid Fusion plays when battling dopplegangers of Samus, Fox, Falco, Captain Falcon and Snake in The Great Maze. This is in spite of the latter four characters having no relation to Metroid.

Although he is not present in Super Smash Bros. for the 3DS and Wii U, certain elements of his character in the game were reused with various characters: In particular, the secret taunts that involve contacting a character's immediate allies (as well as someone otherwise unrelated to that character) was reused with the character Pit, as well as Zero Suit Samus's Final Smash having some similarities to Snake's Grenade Launcher Final Smash.

Sonic
Sonic the Hedgehog is the main character of Sega's Sonic the Hedgehog series as well as Sega's mascot. He appears in Brawl and returns in 3DS/Wii U as well alongside fellow Sega protagonist, Bayonetta, and later returns in Ultimate.

Sonic appeared alongside Samus, Mario, and Pit on the Duck Hunt reveal artwork, being sent flying by an explosion that was presumably caused by the dog and duck duo. Unlike the other characters, owing to Sonic's origins at Sega, he was the only one of the characters (including the eponymous duo) who did not use his NES sprites. Instead, he used his Sega Master sprite.

In the gameplay portion of the A Piercing Screech trailer for Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, he is knocked away by Ridley's side Special attack on a lava-based stage.

Toon Link
Toon Link is a character from the Legend of Zelda series. He is the cel-shaded version of Link from some Zelda games such as Wind Waker. He first appears as a playable character in Brawl, and returns in 3DS/Wii U.

Wario
Wario is a recurring antagonist in the Mario series. He also has two series of his own called Wario Land and WarioWare. The latter series has featured numerous Metroid-themed microgames, which are eight-second minigames based on moments from the Metroid games. Zero Suit Samus and Wario were both featured in the E3 2006 reveal trailer for Brawl. As he loses control of the Wario Bike, Zero Suit Samus and Pit jump out of its way before it crashes. When Wario grins in embarassment, Zero Suit Samus is one of the fighters who looks on in shock as he unleashes his Wario Waft attack, which forms an explosive mushroom cloud of flatulent gas.

Wolf
Wolf O'Donnell is the leader of the nefarious Star Wolf team, Fox McCloud's relentless rival, and an antagonist in the Star Fox series of games. He first appears in Brawl. In Event 36: High-Tech Special Forces, Solid Snake has to defeat Samus, Wolf, and Captain Falcon in a fight (which is implied in the mission statement to be due to the three being hired by FOXHOUND to take him out). He is listed in the mission to be a bounty hunter, even though unlike Samus Aran or Captain Falcon in their respective franchises, Wolf was not shown to be of the profession in the Star Fox series or anything beyond a mercenary (and ironically, was actually subject to a bounty himself in Star Fox: Command.). Wolf is not a playable character in Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS and Wii U, but his trophy is featured in the game, and Fox's purple palette swap is a subtle reference to Wolf. Wolf's voice actor in Brawl, Jay Ward, also provided narrations for Main Theme (Metroid) and Opening/Menu (Metroid Prime) (the latter being a subtle reference to the cut opening narration for Metroid Prime). He was cut out from Super Smash Bros. 4, but will appear in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, with his design being derived from his appearance in Star Fox Zero.

Introduced in Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS and Wii U
The Nintendo 3DS and Wii U games introduce nineteen new characters. The Ice Climbers, Pokémon Trainer, Snake and Wolf were all cut from this game, although Charizard returns as a separate character. The Ice Climbers were intended to return but scrapped due to hardware limitations, while it is likely that Snake was not retained due to copyright issues with Konami. Prior to the game's release, his creator Hideo Kojima had stated that Snake's return was unlikely.

They are also the first games to introduce downloadable fighters. Seven fighters were released between early 2015 to early 2016, including returning veterans Mewtwo, Lucas and Roy, and newcomers Ryu, Cloud, Corrin and Bayonetta.

Bayonetta
Bayonetta, alternatively known as Cereza, is the protagonist of the series of the same name. The winner of the Smash Bros. Fighter Ballot, Bayonetta was announced as the final DLC fighter for Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS and Wii U in November 2015, and released in February 2016. Prior to her reveal, one of Zero Suit Samus's congratulations screens was a direct reference to Bayonetta. She returns in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate.

Bayonetta and Bayonetta 2 on Wii U and Nintendo Switch feature a costume based on Samus Aran's original Power Suit from Metroid. See here for more information.

Bowser Jr.
Bowser Jr. (Koopa Jr. in Japan) is Bowser's son. He appears in Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS and Wii U. Bowser Jr.'s trailer, "The Future of Evil", featured CG animation done by Digital Frontier, whose studio was where the motion capture for Metroid: Other M was recorded. Samus appears in this portion of the trailer, dodging an attack from Bowser Jr.'s Koopa Clown Car, and proceeding with other fighters to do battle with Bowser Jr. and the Koopalings. In the gameplay portion, Zero Suit Samus is at one point seen standing on a step on the Skyloft stage, firing a Steel Diver at Bowser Jr., who ducks and avoids it.

His amiibo can be used in Metroid Prime: Federation Force to unlock a special Paint Job based on him, for use in Blast Ball.

Cloud
Cloud is the protagonist of Square Enix's Final Fantasy VII. He was announced as a future DLC character for Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS and Wii U on Nov. 12, 2015. Despite having an English voice actor ordinarily, his Japanese voice was utilized for the games, which was due to Steve Burton being a union-based voice actor.

Cloud shares a similar backstory to Samus Aran, notably in that he had been a mercenary whose hometown, Nibelheim was destroyed by his archnemesis Sephiroth with him acting as one of the few survivors of the disaster, similar to how Samus Aran had been the sole survivor of a raid conducted by her archnemesis Ridley against the colony K-2L.

Corrin
Corrin (Kamui in the Japanese version) is the main protagonist of Fire Emblem Fates, and a DLC character for Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS and Wii U. Corrin is playable as a male or female character, similar to Robin and Villager. (S)He's also the second character to technically make their debut in Super Smash Bros. before their home series (as (s)he was released as DLC on February 3rd, 2016, while Fates was not released until sixteen days afterward), such having previously been done by fellow Fire Emblem character Roy. Zero Suit Samus appears in Corrin's reveal poster, which was illustrated by Fire Emblem Fates art director Yusuke Kozaki. Kozaki also illustrated Robin and Lucina's poster, which does not feature Samus or Zero Suit Samus. In his/her trailer, "Corrin Chooses to Smash!", the male Corrin is seen impaling Samus and then kicking forward, driving through her.

Dark Pit
Dark Pit (known as Black Pit in Japan) is a recurring character in Kid Icarus: Uprising who appears in Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS and Wii U as a playable character. He is a clone of Pit, meaning he shares much of Pit's move-set and animations. In Ultimate, he'll act as an echo fighter for Pit.

Duck Hunt
"Duck Hunt" (Duck Hunt Duo in Europe) consisting of the dog and one duck from the game of the same name, appear as a playable duo in Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS and Wii U. The dog was rather notorious for his frequently popping up and laughing at the player if they missed shooting a duck. Samus appears in the debut trailer for the duo "One Dog, One Bird, One Zapper", alongside Mario, Link, Bowser, Pit, and Donkey Kong, both in their NES versions and their usual appearances in the game. In the gameplay portion of the trailer, the dog is seen headbutting and then kicking Samus during a fight. Samus also appears on the reveal artwork for the characters, alongside Sonic, Mario, and Pit, where they are launched by an explosion that was presumably caused by the duo. They appeared in their NES appearances in the artwork (or in the case of Sonic, his Sega Master appearance).

In Metroid Prime, there are birds that appear in the skies of the Chozo Ruins. While ingame they explode into feathers when shot, they have an unused death animation where they fall spiraling from the sky, similarly to the ducks in Duck Hunt.

Greninja
Greninja is one of the newest Pokémon and a newcomer in Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS and Wii U.

Little Mac
Little Mac is the protagonist from Punch-Out!!. He was featured as an Assist Trophy in Brawl, but appears in Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS and Wii U as a newcomer and returns in Ultimate.

Samus appears in Little Mac's debut trailer, "Champion of the Ring", in a hand-drawn animated scene. She compares her towering height to his, before getting sent flying by a K.O. Uppercut. In the gameplay portion, he is seen uppercutting her again, and then countering another move in a different match. Samus also appears at the end of his trailer during another animated scene, rolling across the screen in Morph Ball form.

Lucina
Lucina is a character from Fire Emblem Awakening. She appears in Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS and Wii U as an unlockable character. She will act as an Echo Fighter of Marth, of whom she was a clone in the previous game, in Ultimate. Samus briefly appears in Lucina and Robin's trailer, "By Book, Blade, and Crest of Flame", being attacked by Lucina. Lucina is also seen fighting Luigi on Pyrosphere in the same trailer.

Mega Man
Mega Man is the main character from the series of the same name and the mascot of Capcom. He appears as a newcomer in Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS and Wii U as a playable character. He is the franchise's third 3rd-party character.

Mega Man appears in A Piercing Screech, accompanying Samus and Mario on a patrol when he is suddenly ambushed, and killed by being impaled with Ridley's tail.

Mii Fighters
Mii Fighters are playable fighters in Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS and Wii U. Three variants can be chosen from: Mii Brawler, Mii Swordfighter and Mii Gunner.

A Mii Bobblehead was previously featured in Metroid Prime 3: Corruption. The Mii Gunner bears a resemblance to Samus and shares a similar moveset. A DLC costume based on Samus is available for the Gunner as well.

Pac-Man
Pac-Man is the eponymous character of the Namco series of the same name and Namco's mascot. He is playable in Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS and Wii U.

Palutena
Palutena is a goddess who has been a central character in the Kid Icarus series. She made cameo appearances in Brawl and made her debut as a playable character in the 3DS and Wii U Smash games. She returns in Ultimate

Robin
Robin is the default name for the main protagonist of Fire Emblem Awakening. Robin appears in 3DS/Wii U as a male and female variant. Samus briefly appears in Lucina and Robin's trailer, "By Book, Blade, and Crest of Flame", being attacked by Lucina.

Rosalina & Luma
Rosalina is a recurring character in the Mario series who first appeared in Super Mario Galaxy. She appears in Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS and Wii U and Ultimate, alongside a Luma. They are a duo referred to as Rosalina & Luma.

Rosalina's amiibo can be used in Metroid Prime: Federation Force to unlock a Paint Job based on her for use in Blast Ball.

Ryu
Ryu is the main protagonist of Capcom's Street Fighter series. He was revealed as a DLC playable character in Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS and Wii U on June 14, 2015, after his inclusion in the games was leaked through datamining of an update. This marked the first time two different characters from a third-party publisher appeared together in Smash (Mega Man and Ryu are both owned by Capcom). This feat would later be repeated with Sega's Sonic and Bayonetta. In Ryu's reveal trailer, Samus is one of three characters to challenge him as he makes his entrance. He is later seen attacking Link on the Pyrosphere stage.

Zero Suit Samus appears in Ryu's reveal poster on the official website. This poster is a direct imitation of a piece of promotional art for Street Fighter II: The World Warrior, with Smash characters taking the place of the other fighters from that game. Zero Suit Samus replaces Ken Masters. The poster is illustrated by Akira "Akiman" Yasuda, a former Capcom artist who was the character designer for Street Fighter II.

Ryu will return in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate

Shulk
Shulk is the main protagonist of Xenoblade Chronicles, who joins the cast as a playable character in Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS and Wii U.

Villager
Villager refers to the human player character in Animal Crossing. Villager can be played as a boy or girl, and appears in Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS and Wii U as a playable character. Some of the furniture, wallpaper, and even clothing he or she can get references Metroid. The Varia Suit, or at least pieces of it, can also be acquired by the player via fortune cookies in Animal Crossing: New Leaf.

Wii Fit Trainer
The Wii Fit Trainer is a holographic representation of a human female in Wii Fit. She appears in Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS and Wii U as a playable character. Her male counterpart is playable as an alternate costume. Samus appears in the Wii Fit Trainer's trailer, being attacked by the character's Final Smash attack (aptly titled Wii Fit).

Introduced in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate
Super Smash Bros. Ultimate is the first game in the series to see the return of every single fighter in its history, including those that did not return in subsequent installments. Consequently, there will be less newcomers than before, with only three being revealed as of June 13, 2018.

Inkling
Inklings are a species of squid-like humanoids and playable protagonists of the Splatoon games. On March 8, 2018, they were featured in the surprise trailer for Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo Switch, confirming them as the first new playable characters for the game.

Daisy
Princess Daisy is a character from the Mario series, who often appears in spinoff sports games. She was confirmed as a playable character in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, appearing as an "Echo Fighter", or clone, of Peach. Prior to her formal debut, however, Peach had always had an alternate costume turning her hair auburn, and dress yellow and orange to resemble Daisy.

Scrapped or considered characters
Certain characters were planned or considered for a particular installment, but were scrapped and have yet to debut as a playable fighter in the series. This section does not count characters who were scrapped for an installment but made their debut in a later one.
 * A number of characters were considered to represent the NES era of Nintendo in Melee, including the Balloon Fighter from Balloon Fight, the protagonist of Urban Champion, Bubbles from Clu Clu Land and an Excitebiker from Excitebike. Ultimately, the Ice Climbers were chosen. The Excitebiker became an Assist Trophy starting in Brawl.
 * Ayumi Tachibana from Famicom Tantei Club: Kieta Kōkeisha was considered for Melee, but scrapped as Masahiro Sakurai knew that she would be unfamiliar to Western audiences since her games were exclusive to Japan. She appears in-game as a trophy.
 * Unused, mostly empty character data files referencing "dixie", "toon_zelda" and "toon_sheik" are present in the internal data of Brawl. These are assumed to refer to Dixie Kong from the Donkey Kong franchise and Toon Zelda, the cel-shaded equivalent of Princess Zelda, with an accompanying cel-shaded version of Sheik, which has never been seen in the Legend of Zelda franchise. Sakurai stated that Dixie was intended to appear with Diddy Kong as a playable duo, but the idea was scrapped after running into technical issues.
 * Geno from Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars was considered for inclusion in Brawl, and was popularly requested. He was not implemented, likely due to copyright issues with Square Enix, who co-own the character rights of Geno with Nintendo.
 * Blastoise was considered for inclusion as part of the Pokémon Trainer's team in Brawl, but Sakurai chose Squirtle instead, partially to establish a balance in size and stages of the trainer's Pokémon.
 * Krystal from Star Fox, another popularly requested character, was considered for Brawl but passed over due to time constraints in favor of Wolf, who could be more quickly implemented based on Fox and Falco's models. Sakurai stated that Krystal would have required her own model and moveset. She appears as an Assist Trophy in Ultimate.
 * Data mining of the Nintendo 3DS and Wii U games has revealed an unused emblem reference for a Rhythm Heaven character, potentially the Chorus Men.
 * Alph from Pikmin is implied from interviews and design documents to have been intended as a clone of Olimar. He appears as an alternate costume of Olimar in the final games.
 * Takamaru, the protagonist of The Mysterious Murasame Castle, was briefly considered for a playable role in both Melee and Smash 4, but scrapped due to his low current relevance. He appears in Smash 4 and Ultimate as an Assist Trophy.
 * Chrom, the protagonist of Fire Emblem Awakening, was considered for Smash 4, but passed over in favor of Robin since his fighting style would have been too similar to Marth and Ike. He appears as part of Robin's Final Smash.
 * Heihachi Mishima from the Tekken series was briefly considered as Bandai Namco Entertainment's representative in Smash 4, but Pac-Man was chosen instead; partially because Sakurai felt that implementing his moveset would be difficult.