Super Smash Bros. 64 - 01 to 04 / Characters

This page lists the first half of the starting roster of fighters from Super Smash Bros. 64.

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01 – Mario

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/mariossbu.png

Mr. Video Game Himself /
Smashes Bricks with His Fists

^{Builder Mario}

^{Wedding Mario}

^{3DS/Wii U}

^Brawl

^Melee

⁶⁴

Voiced by: Charles Martinet

Home Series: Super Mario Bros.

Debut: Donkey Kong [Arcade], 1981

Creator: Nintendo

Publisher: Nintendo

Playable in: 64, Melee, Brawl, 3DS/Wii U, Ultimate

"Let's-a go!"

The titular hero of the Super Mario Bros. series, this iconic, superpowered mustachioed plumber is Nintendo's (and gaming's) most recognizable character. A resident of the Mushroom Kingdom, Mario saves its beloved princess from the claws of the nefarious Bowser, as well as a few other threats to his home, time and again.

It's certainly no wonder that Mario is featured across the entire Smash series. He is mostly a balanced character who is good for beginners and experienced players alike. His capabilities are overall solid, and his special moves serve many purposes when applied correctly.

Special Moves^{Click to show}

See the Mario Brothers page for more information on the character in his origin series.

Acrofatic: Downplayed. While he does have a belly, (which doesn't impede his jumping ability), his limbs are a lot more lankier than they normally are compared to his design in his own franchise. Notably, in Melee, he looks much slimmer and less stocky than usual (not quite Luigi, but still pretty Off-Model. Strangely enough, Luigi in Melee was chubbier than he normally is, probably due to being a palette swap of Mario at the time and being based off his N64 portrayal). His design in Ultimate looks similar to his design in Melee, appearing taller and slimmer. This could just have been done to somewhat scale him up with the other fighters, however. In the N64 game, he plays this trope straight, his model being based off of his Super Mario 64 appearance.
Adaptational Seriousness:
- Unlike most characters, his characterization in Smash is quite different than in his home franchise. He still says "Yahoo!" and "Let's-a go!", but as of Melee most of his animations make him seem rather serious. Further solidified in the Brawl cutscenes and 3DS/Wii U's reveal trailers, where he's a sort of Old West style Stoic and a headstrong leader, generally disinterested and straight-faced, but will jump headfirst into battle when a formidable enemy shows up.
- Smash really brings out his competitive streak. Only the N64 game kept him relatively close to the Mario games.
- Ultimate finally bucked the trend and brought him back in line with his canon personality, being smiley and cheerful, especially in his taunts or when he wins, while still taking the fight seriously. He even appears dynamic in his 3D render (as pictured above), appearing to have what seems to be a open-mouthed smile as he's about to kick some poor sucker in the face with his Goomba-stomping boots. That said, he still shows signs of being domineer and angry-looking still. His walk cycle appears to look more menacing than in the other Smash games, as seen in the Piranha Plant reveal trailer, but he definitely smiles a lot more than in the previous Smash games. His "leader" personality is also still prominent, as he is seen calling upon Sora by his own Keyblade, and even accepts a handshake from the guy himself!
Adaptational Wimp: Not Mario himself but his partner from Super Mario Sunshine, F.L.U.D.D. is a disappointing downgrade in the Smash Bros. series as he is nowhere near as versatile nor highly functional. Whereas in his debut, he was later equipped with three various nozzles that allowed Mario to either hover in mid-air for a few seconds, rapidly dash or swim faster, or launching off the ground rocket-style. Ever since Brawl his only asset is that his water spray can only push opponents away from Mario and is capable of edgeguarding, but lacks the aforementioned abilities, especially the Hover Nozzle where that function alone would vastly improve Mario's recovery.
All-American Face: While he's since been moved to being a Mushroom Kingdom native, he was originally from Brooklyn, and he's a Working-Class Hero who fights for good, and can sometimes be seen wearing a set of Golfer's Clothes with the American Flag on it.
Animal-Eared Headband: Anytime he's using the Bunny Hood or the Super Leaf, the ears associated with those respective items will always stay attached to his red cap. Even when he does his side-taunt, the ears are still on it.
Art Evolution: In Melee and Brawl, Mario's overalls were significantly more detailed than they've ever been in his own series. In 3DS/Wii U, this was toned down to be more similar to his design in his home series, but there's still a noticeable denim texture that was new at the time of release (2017's Super Mario Odyssey would finally feature detail comparable to Smash 4's). Ultimate further tweaks them, giving them the detail Brawl gave them while maintaining the color from 3DS/Wii U.
The Artifact: Ever since Brawl, Mario has had F.L.U.D.D. as his down special, even though it only played a major role as his companion in one game (Super Mario Sunshine). Even though later games would introduce Suspiciously Similar Substitute companions with different functions such as the baby Luma and Cappy, the move has remained the same for 10 years while Mario wouldn't get any newer moves based on later games (though Cappy appears in certain moves and taunts in Ultimate).
Asskicking Leads to Leadership: Until Ultimate where more fighters got a chance to shine, in any group he's ever been with, be it the Subspace Emissary or the 3DS/Wii U trailers, Mario's at the forefront. And nobody, not even Bowser, tries to contest it.
Ass-Kicking Pose: Does his Brawl render in promotional trailers and The Subspace Emissary.
Attack Reflector: His cape can send projectiles back and turn characters around.
Badass Adorable: Downplayed. While Mario still keeps his lovable cartoony design, he shows less of the Keet attitude he has in his home series (only showing through in some of his Voice Grunting). In any case, Mario defies and downplays this trope in all his appearances, by being a capable adult man rather than a more inherently vulnerable character type; according to Word of God, Mario is not primarily meant to be a "cute" character.
Badass Cape: You know your cape is badass when it can disorient enemies and reflect projectiles. In Ultimate, when he uses the Cape, he has it around his neck as he swings it, like in Super Mario World.
Badass in a Nice Suit: Ultimate gives him his classy wedding suit from Super Mario Odyssey as an alternate costume.
Battle Intro: Jumps out of a pipe while saying "Let's-a go!"
Beware the Silly Ones: Mario's silliness is slightly toned down here, but in the end, he's Nintendo's cartoonish mascot and definitely looks out of place compared to the likes of Link or Samus. However, he's Nintendo's most seasoned veteran, is far more serious here than in his home series, and frequently leads the charge whenever he forms a group with other fighters. The PAL version of Wii U even gives him a serious Boxing Ring title that contrasts with his usual cartoony nature, as seen above.
Big Brother Instinct: At the beginning of Piranha Plant's Promoted to Playable reveal trailer, a lot of Yoshis as well as Luigi were all dazed and defeated. Upon witnessing this, Mario investigates to see the source of what caused them to be like this as he aggressively marches up to the titular plant itself as it sprouts out of its pot who was indeed the one who curb-stomped his brother. The vengeful plumber attempted to put a stop to it but instead gets outright worfed by the plant.
Big Good: He usually leads the fighters in both Subspace Emissary and World of Light to fight world ending threats.
Blow You Away: His customizable options in 3DS/Wii U include a gust cape.
Boring, but Practical:
- His overall kit in a nutshell eschews flashy attacks or smash hits in favor of a series of basic punches, kicks and flips. While it doesn't make Mario the most visually exciting character, in practice his rapid-fire attacks can make it easy to string high-damage combos together, and his smash attacks are very fast and can be very hard to anticipate or predict.
- His neutral special is his iconic fireball, which is slow and does relatively little damage as far as projectiles go. It's nonetheless extremely disruptive, and the fact that it angles means it can interrupt opponents who are trying to recover from offstage, potentially resulting in a KO.
- His side-special has him swish the Feather Cape to turn around projectiles and enemies without any knockback. As lame as it sounds, it's still an Attack Reflector, can leave opponents left exposed as they attack in the wrong direction, or even have their recovery go away from the stage.
- His down-special from Brawl onward, F.L.U.D.D.. It doesn't deal any damage, just knockback, but like the Feather Cape, it is great at preventing the opponent from getting back on the stage since it doesn't give opponents another chance to use their recovery move.
Bring It: He makes this pose in Duck Hunt's trailer (in 8-bit form, no less!).
Butt-Monkey: This is more an impermanent/downplayed example. On one occasion during Adventure Mode in Melee, Mario attempts to jump onto the rooftop of Mushroom Castle... only to be jumped on top of, and sent falling down... by Luigi of all characters. It also doesn't help that trailers just don't stop showing Luigi using his down taunt on him when he's grabbing the ledge. Funny, considering that in terms of humiliating characters in their respective games, Mario seems to be the only character considered off-limits by Nintendo — even more so since Luigi himself is usually depicted as the Butt-Monkey of their franchise. In Sonic's reveal trailer, he gets knocked down by the hedgehog speeding past him and is the main target for his P-P-K combo. He gets kicked around a lot in 3DS/Wii U and Ultimate's CGI Trailers. He gets his head crushed in Ridley's reveal trailer, gets blown up by a Creeper in Steve's reveal trailer, and nearly gets impaled in Sephiroth's reveal trailer.
- Ultimate cements this with the in-game special move and Final Smash list, all of the pictures showing the selected fighter performing them on a silhouette of Mario.
Brought to You by the Letter "S": The "M" on his cap.
Cape Swish: In Ultimate after pulling off his Side Special, he performs a dramatic over-the-shoulder sweep of his cape with a captivating aura of heroism.
Character Catchphrase: "Let's-a go!", of course. Said at the beginning of each match.
Charged Attack: His down special as of Brawl, F.L.U.D.D., must be briefly charged up before it can be used at full effectiveness. The charge can also be stored.
Close-Range Combatant: Battling opponents within a closer proximity helps Mario to pull off a lot of his combo prowess and fancy finishers in 3DS/Wii U and Ultimate. Spamming his up tilt is genuinely his better combo starter, especially against heavyweights in particular in that regard. Ending a string of his quicker attacks with a well-timed Super Jump Punch can be outrageously rewarding.
Combo Breaker: The Super Jump Punch is useful in this regard.
Combos: A surprising example as of 3DS/Wii U; Mario has received a number of buffs that make his attacks faster and reduce his lag time, making him a very combo-heavy character, especially in competitive play.
Dance Battler: Mario's down-smash has always been a leg sweep resembling a breakdance move, but in Ultimate, more emphasis is placed on his leg movements, with his legs windmilling overhead between kicks. This is in line with his general aesthetics trending toward making him a little happier in this installment.
Dead Hat Shot: Mere seconds after apparently being killed by Ridley, Samus finds his hat on the floor.
Death of a Thousand Cuts: He was reworked to being this post-Brawl, being a combo-centric Grappler who can do from a Jack of All Stats to a destructive Lightning Bruiser when you're good enough with him.
Elemental Punch: His Forward Smash creates a fiery explosive burst of flames from his extended palm thrust. Explosive Punch ignites powerful explosions that are bigger than his entire body for his customizable Up Special.
Famed In-Story: Snake and Pit both acknowledge Mario's fame and history of heroism.
Family-Unfriendly Death: In Ridley's trailer in Ultimate, it's implied that Ridley broke Mario's neck, if not crushed his skull entirely.
Fighting Your Friend: Crosses swords with Yoshi during The Subspace Emissary.
Final Boss:
- In Brawl, Mario is one of the final opponents fought in the final Single-Player event match, as Giant Mario.
- In Wii U, he's the last character to show up in the last events of both Single and Co-Op Event Modes.
- In Ultimate, he's the last opponent that Bowser fights in his Classic Mode path, first as his regular self, then as Metal Mario.
Fireballs: His neutral B. They bounce weakly along the ground. They can be customized to fire straight-shooting faster variants, or a slower, multi-hitting fireball.
Flourish Cape in Front of Face: His updated animation for his Side Special in Ultimate where after he uses his yellow cape to reflect projectiles, he assumes a daring pose by swaying it beneath his chin and around the shoulder in an operatic manner.
Foil: As of Ultimate, he serves as a foil to Fox.
- Similarities: Both characters are part of the original eight starting roster fighters from Super Smash Bros (64). Both characters have had Moveset Clones in the form of Luigi and Falco. Both characters have since been subjected to Divergent Character Evolution since their debut games.
- Differences: However, Mario and Fox differ in that Mario is by and large a Jack of All Stats character in Smash who can be used effectively in casual and competitive gameplay. Meanwhile, Fox is a Difficult, but Awesome Glass Cannon who is preferred in competitive gameplay. Furthermore, in Smash, Mario's movesets and costumes tend to reflect his most recent game for the dedicated console. Meanwhile, Fox's moveset has remained more-or-less the same since Melee considering that Fox comes from a Shoot 'Em Up franchise.
Force and Finesse: Some of Mario and Luigi's specific smash attacks and aerials are primarily focused on how they prefer to land their physical blows as the former likes to make use of his fists while the latter has swift swipes. For Mario, his Forward Smash involves a small fiery explosion of flames from his palm, while Luigi's is a quick jutting sideways knife hand. Luigi's forward aerial is a quick mid-air karate chop, which can be seen as an optional combo starter, unlike his brother's, which is a powerful lunging slam dunk of a mighty punch that'll plummet any opponent downwards.
Good Old Fisticuffs: While he came a long way from the haymakers that acted as his basic punches in Super Mario 64, he still isn't exactly the most finesse-based fighter (acrobatics notwithstanding).
Grievous Harm with a Body: Mario does this to other surrounding characters while he's in the middle of doing his back throw.
Ground Punch: In the Subspace Emissary, not as an attack but to avoid hitting the princess Bowser held out in front of him. In an earlier cutscene before he joins forces with Link and Yoshi, he views Link from afar to see that he's "destroyed Peach", he races across the terrain and leaps upward into the air to strike him from above only for the Hero of Time to dodge his punch with his fist jammed into the ground.
Having a Blast: His second customizable up special, Explosive Punch, where the attack severely reduces the vertical height of Mario's recovery and exchanges it for an even stronger and fiery (but highly laggy) Super Jump Punch that not only sets off a deadly explosion, but it also enhances Mario's KO and launching power.
The Hero: He essentially fills this role among the cast, as Nintendo's mascot and a Red Is Heroic Primary-Color Champion who is depicted as front-and-center in most marketing materials. In Subspace Emissary, he shares this role alongside Kirby but it's Subverted in World of Light, where Kirby is the starting character and the closest thing to a main protagonist (although Mario is the first fighter to be rescued by Kirby).
Heroes Fight Barehanded: Most of his moveset consists of bare attacks, with the exception of his forward smash and some of his specials.
Home Stage:
- 64: Peach's Castle.
- Melee: Princess Peach's Castle and Rainbow Cruise when as an opponent in Classic Mode, Rainbow Cruise in All-Star Mode and Yoshi's Island in his All-Star Match event.
- Brawl: All debuting stages from his series^note, minus Mario Bros. due to its association with R.O.B..
- 3DS/Wii U: All stages from his series^note.
- Ultimate: New Donk City Hall in Ultimate's website, his fight in World of Light though takes place in Final Destination.
Human Hammer-Throw: His forward and back throws, which are based on the move performed on Bowser in Super Mario 64.
Idle Animation:
- He adjusts his cap.
- He moves his head from left to right, holding his fists in front of his face.
Impaled with Extreme Prejudice: Subverted in Sephiroth's reveal trailer. It looked like Mario would end up on the receiving end of Masamune... only to reveal that Sephiroth barely missed him and is holding up Mario by his overall strap.
Interface Screw: His Cape move is an Attack Reflector, but hitting the enemy turns them around the opposite direction, quite possibly foiling their attack attempt if they're in the middle of inputting a command.
In a Single Bound: He's famously known for his eponymous jumps in his series (although Luigi is the superior jumper). While his actual jumps are typically standard in gameplay, whereas in cutscenes and trailers, he's shown to make impressively higher leaps such as when he leaped into the skies as an attempt to attack Link in one scene in the Subspace Emissary. At one moment in Greninja's trailer, he backed away from Charizard's stomp attack by backflipping all the way back to his allies and then he takes off to the air and starts lunging towards his newfound opponent, who's a Flying-Type Pokemon, preparing to engage the dragon in battle with a fire attack of his own. He wasn't called Jumpman for nothing.
Jack of All Stats: Mario almost always fills this role in his home series (in fact, he was the former Trope Namer), and Smash is no different. For starters, his ground speed, jump height and weight are all as average as it can get, and his ground and aerial games are both equally decent. He's got plenty of combo options, a cape that comes in very handy, a great juggling game, and he's good at edgeguarding, but he also suffers from a lackluster recovery, low range, and lacks a reliable non-smash finishing move, making him skew closer to a Fragile Speedster archetype.
Kamehame Hadoken: His Final Smash, the Mario Finale. His forward smash can also be considered a short-range version of this, especially as it involves cupping one of his hands in a way similar to Ryu and Ken when firing their Hadokens.
Keet: Ever since Melee, this usual trope for Mario has been subverted, him wearing a pretty solidly serious countenance whenever Smash rolls back around. As of Ultimate, Mr. Nintendo's sporting his smiles again, in air not dissimilar from the upbeat competitive attitude he tends to sport in his own series spinoffs, and his new taunts show off his pluck.
Knockback: The purpose of F.L.U.D.D. is to cause this (or, more accurately, pushback) without additional chance of recovery. His cape also will give a spent target no recovery chance.
Lady and Knight: The White Knight to Peach's Bright Lady. Unlike Link, he's not a knight by job but he otherwise plays the trope straight both in his home series and in the Subspace Emissary.
The Leader: Among the five warriors in Subspace Emissary. Mario is always front and center of the group in cutscenes and character trailers. Despite Mario's mascot status, this is Averted in Ultimate, where Fox is depicted as the leader of the fighters in the World of Light opening. Mario, however, plays it more straight in the later cutscenes and especially in Sora's reveal trailer, where he acts as a Suspiciously Similar Substitute for King Mickey.
Leitmotif: As it is in his home series, usually Super Mario Bros' Ground Theme and its variations.
- In 64, it's the Peach's Castle Stage rendition.
- In Melee, he's more associated with Super Mario Bros. 3.
- In Brawl, there's no theme heavily associated with him, but there's a new ground theme.
- In Ultimate, it's Jump Up, Super Star. However, in his first and only challenger approaching battle in World of Light, it's Ultimate's Final Destination theme.
Let's You and Him Fight: He and Pit fight against Link and Yoshi in the Subspace Emissary mode, but they later join forces.
Limit Break: Mario Finale, where Mario fires two giant, spiraling fireballs forward.
Major Injury Underreaction: In Melee at times whenever he's been KO'ed, instead of grunting in pain or a screaming, he humorously blurts out an annoyed "d'oh!" in an almost Homer Simpson-esque manner.
Making a Splash: His Down Special starting since Brawl, F.L.U.D.D..
Master of None: In Melee and Brawl, Mario tends to be outclassed by other well-rounded characters that have access to better tools than him, like Dr. Mario in the former and Pit or Lucario in the latter. 3DS/WiiU and Ultimate fix this by giving Mario more combo-centric abilities that are more in-line with the series' Fragile Speedsters.
Meteor Move: His Forward Air (from Melee onwards) and Down Special, Mario Tornado (64 only, if the final hitbox connects), are Meteor Smashes, as well as his down air in Smash 64.
Mythology Gag:
- His Waluigi inspired costume harkens back to what happens when he equips the W and L Emblem badges in Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door.
- Four of his alternate costumes (Golf, Waluigi, Builder, and Wedding) are costumes in Odyssey.
Names to Run Away from Really Fast: The PAL version gives him "Smashes Bricks with his Fists" as a Boxing Ring title.
National Stereotypes: He and his brother are Italian as all get-out, what with his exaggerated accent, love of pasta, and constant exclamations of "Mamma Mia!". However, many sources say he originally hailed from Brooklyn before relocating to the Mushroom Kingdom, though Brooklyn does have a sizable Italian-American population.
Non-Player Companion: Cappy comes along for the ride in ' 'Ultimate''; in taunts and an easter egg in certain animations, occasionally breaking character as a hat to look around as he does in his game of origin.
Oh, Crap!:
- In Mega Man's trailer, he has a brief look of shock when he barely dodges Mega Man's Metal Blade; and in Bowser Jr.'s, he pulls this reaction after seeing Bowser Jr. call in the Koopalings.
- In Ultimate, he and the other fighters have this reaction in a bad ending just before Galeem vaporizes everything again.
- In Sephiroth's trailer, he get this reaction◊ when he's about to get impaled by Sephiroth.
Out of Focus: Half of the fourth game's reveal trailers feature Mario leading a group of fighters to face off against the new challenger. The other half depicts the new fighters showing themselves off or facing off against a single veteran such as Samus, Link or Captain Falcon (sometimes involving an Art Shift), and only feature Mario in gameplay; this type became more prevalent from Palutena's trailer onwards, with (fittingly) Bowser Jr.'s being the only one from that point to return to the previous format. Ultimate did away with the former format entirely, and in the one instance where the fighters are shown as a team (in World of Light), Fox is made the leader instead.
Palette Swap: Notable ones include Wario and Fire Mario (though these two currently seem to have been removed as of Ultimate for his new Builder and Wedding costumes). There's also one that resembles his classic outfit with the red overalls and blue shirt (albeit with a blue hat instead of his distinctive red one). Word of God on the brown overall palette is that it's based on Foreman Spike from Wrecking Crew. In 3DS/Wii U, he has a blue and pink outfit that was previously used for "overalls" Wario in Brawl, a stars and stripes outfit only seen in NES Open Tournament Golf, and a Waluigi outfit.
Perpetual Frowner: Inexplicably throughout Melee, Brawl, and 3DS/Wii U, Mario was this instead of his usual cheerful self. Ultimate brings him back in line with his canon personality.
Pinball Projectile: His Fireballs can bounce off of walls and floors.
Playing with Fire: One of his attacks is a fireball, his Side Smash is a burst of fire from his hand, and his Final Smash is a duo of huge twirling fireballs.
Primary-Color Champion: The most iconic hero in the series, and appropriately wears blue and red.
Red Is Heroic: Again, his iconic outfit is heavy on the red, and he's one of gaming's most noble and heroic figures. His fire motif does not hurt in this regard either.
The Rival: He's generally paired off against Bowser, appropriately enough. The animated trailers for 3DS/Wii U also have him assume this role against Charizard and Bowser Jr.
Sensitive Guy and Manly Man: The Manly Man to Luigi's Sensitive Guy. This is taken even further here than in the Bros.' home series, with Mario acting like more of a serious, stoic leader, and Luigi being his usual cowardly self and having all sorts of extra wacky mannerisms.
Series Mascot: Mario is Nintendo's official mascot, and while never explicitly stated to be such for Smash itself, he takes on this role in all but official titling, even moreso prior to Ultimate. He's the most prominent character in all five games and consistently gets first billing, being prominent on all games' boxart, appearing as the default online avatar in 3DS/Wii U, being used to customize controls and test stages, the name "Super Smash Bros." itself being a parody of the name of Super Mario Bros., and being sold as the most common and prominent amiibo in the Smash line (even being a pack-in with the Wii U version in some instances). Despite this, he doesn't play a notably important role in The Subspace Emissary and frequently finds himself getting Worfed. Downplayed in Ultimate; while Mario is still shown as the face of the game, Link and Kirby also share some of his spotlight in different ways, with Fox taking over the Standardized Leader role he had in 3DS/Wii U material.
Shock and Awe: His customizable attacks include an electric cape.
Shoryuken: Super Jump Punch, which has a near-identical trajectory to the Shoryuken, although it doesn't spin and is not very good for anti-air after the first game. In 3DS/Wii U, it can even be customized into a flaming punch. Ryu's Classic Mode image even shows him performing the real Shoryuken together with Mario doing a Super Jump Punch, along with other characters performing similar moves.
Shotoclone: He's got a fireball Hadoken, and a coin gathering Shoryuken, is the most prominently marketed character, and part of a Moveset Clone pairing (two in Melee and 3DS/Wii U). His Mario Tornado could also be considered a punching variation of the Hurricane Kick, and a never before seen Kamehame Hadoken attack was used for his final smash. From Brawl and onwards, he changed his input for his Tornado move. It should be noted that Ryu himself, the definitive Shotoclone, has very similar stats in Smash to Mario apart from size and weight.
Sibling Team: He teams up with his younger brother in the 1P mode of 64, certain events, and elsewhere if the player sees fit.
Skill Gate Characters: What Mario can essentially be considered in Melee and especially Brawl. While Mario is an easier character to use, he is surpassed by many other characters in higher levels of play. 3DS/Wii U instead has his Moveset Clone and alter-ego Dr. Mario take up this role, while regular Mario gets improved combo abilities, KO power, and mobility that remain effective at higher levels of play.
Spin Attack: His Mario Tornado, which was at first a Down-B, then his Down-Air.
Spotlight-Stealing Squad: This trope is expected considering how our plumber friend is the most famous video game character of all time (let alone Nintendo's company mascot), but it got particularly egregious in 3DS/Wii U. In it, Mario was basically depicted as the main character, being the Standardized Leader among the fighters and the single most common amiibo. He was also the default online avatar and the character whose voice clips were used in the Sound Test, and marketing material (particularly ads aimed at children/families) marketed the game as if it were a Mario spin-off. Ultimate toned this down once again, where despite Mario being fighter number 01 (being the first-billed character in the first Smash game), there is a clearer attempt to depict the cast as an ensemble, most notably with Link, Kirby, Fox and Inkling. In addition, a number of the 3DS/Wii U and Ultimate trailers have him getting beaten up in some fashion (e.g. Getting caught by Villager's net, Charizard almost lands on him, Sephiroth pulls a Bait-and-Switch by looking like he impaled the hapless plumber and then it's revealed he got Mario's overall strap instead).
Standardized Leader:
- As always. Not the flashiest character in Nintendo's stable, but he's the face of Smash and of Nintendo in general as the quintessential everyman and Jack of All Stats.
- This is subverted in Ultimate, particularly in World of Light. Fox is the one leading the massive pack of fighters facing Galeem's army.
Stats Dissonance: Mario is meant to be the Jack of All Stats; balanced in all areas and lacking any major strengths and weaknesses that over-centralize his game-plan. However, the range on his attacks is perpetually one fist short, and he often lacks any reliable kill options. Later installments would see him become reliant on edgeguarding and ladder combos to score KOs.
Stock Audio Clip: Charles Martinet's portrayal of him from Super Mario 64 was repurposed for 64 and Melee.
Super Special Move: The "Mario Finale" has him fire two massive fireballs that spiral past the edge of the screen. This is an amped-up version of his standard fireball, which serves as his neutral special.
Super-Strength: At the beginning of the More Fighters trailer for Ultimate, he slams his fist into the rock solid ground shattering chunks of it. Considering that he's been doing the same thing to bricks he's destroyed in his games, it comes as no surprise.
Supernatural Martial Arts: HEAVILY on the martial, minimal on the magical.
Suspiciously Similar Substitute: In Sora's reveal trailer, Mario acts as one to the version of Mickey Mouse from Sora's native Kingdom Hearts series (King Mickey), playing up how Mario is basically Nintendo's Alternate Company Equivalent to Mickey in general. After all the fighters have fallen to darkness, Mario acts as the Big Good, works together with Sora to welcome him into the fold and rescue the other fighters, and even briefly wields the Keyblade himself, something that Mickey is known for in the series. The whole trailer ends with Sora shaking hands with Mario, in a scene meant to convey the same feeling as his first encounter with King Mickey. Even moreso in that Mickey doesn't appear at all in Smash, essentially making Mario a Suspiciously Similar Substitute from Sora's perspective as well.
Three-Point Landing: Mario likes doing this in the character reveal trailers for 3DS/Wii U.
Throw the Dog a Bone: Nothing bad happens to Mario in Sora's reveal trailer and he's even the one to bring Sora in and even shakes hands with him at the end.
The Worf Effect:
- In The Subspace Emissary, he gets turned into a trophy anywhere from two to four times during cutscenes, potentially more than any other character with Bowser as a close second. Most notably, he is taken out in one shot from the Halberd.
- In some of the 3DS/Wii U introduction trailers, he serves as the go-to punching bag for showing off the combat prowess of other characters. The most prominent example happens when Bowser Jr. (someone he usually beats quite handily by himself) utterly crushes him despite Mario being backed up by Samus, Mega Man, Kirby, Link, and Rosalina.
- In Ridley's reveal trailer for Ultimate, Mario gets utterly brutalized by the demonic space dragon, with Ridley even mockingly twirling his iconic red hat to taunt Samus.
True Final Boss: In Brawl and Wii U for the 'The FINAL Final Battle' event match. In Brawl, he is giant-sized in comparison to the other fighters he's facing you with, while in Wii U, he is the final opponent to appear when you've beaten two opponents or the battle has dragged on for too long. He's also the last opponent to face you in The Ultimate Battle on Wii U's Co-Op Events.
Vocal Dissonance: Ever since Brawl, Mario's voice is a lot more raspier and hoarse compared to his more energetic sounds from Melee and Smash 64.
- Of another type, Melee was when Mario first became more serious for Smash. Despite this, he reuses all the more cheerful voice clips from Super Mario 64.
V-Sign: Only in his Smash 64 render.
Wall Jump: Just like in his own games (a glitch in the first, official in Super Mario 64 and onward).
Weak, but Skilled: His special moves make him this, especially since Brawl: compared to Luigi, Mario's upper special move isn't as powerful, but it always makes the same damage while his brother's move is irregular, and he needs less time to recover from it; while his cape isn't an offensive move, he can reply projectiles with them; and while his tornado attack has been replaced by F.L.U.D.D. who doesn't do any damage, it's a good long-range move to put away opponents while taking minimal risk. In team battle, you can even propel your teammate with it (if you allow friendly damage) for impressive combos.
Wearing a Flag on Your Head: One of Mario's palette swaps in 3DS/Wii U is him wearing red and white striped overalls along with a blue shirt with white stars. The end result makes him look like the U.S. flag.
White Gloves: Keeps them inexplicably shiny, considering his profession.
Working-Class Hero: Mario remains highly original as a video-game hero. Despite being the first major video game star, and living in a fantasy world, he stands out as a stocky, mustached plumber in working overalls whose real powers are his ability to move with his hands and legs, as opposed to video-game heroes who are elites — soldiers, warriors, and super-soldiers, as Smash's roster demonstrates. Though his home series rarely shows him doing actual plumbing work.
Wrestler in All of Us: Along with his Back Air typically being a Dropkick, later versions of his Back Throw are stylized like a Giant Swing.

02 – Donkey Kong

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/donkeykongssbu.png

King of the Jungle

^{3DS/Wii U}

^Brawl

^Melee

⁶⁴

Home Series: Donkey Kong

Debut:

Donkey Kong in name debuts in: Donkey Kong [Arcade], 1981

Current Donkey Kong debuts in: Donkey Kong Country [SNES], 1994

Creator: Nintendo (1981), Rare (1994)

Publisher: Nintendo

Playable in: 64, Melee, Brawl, 3DS/Wii U, Ultimate

A carefree inhabitant of Donkey Kong Island and one of Mario's longest-lasting friends and rivals. This banana-slamming primate is the son (or grandson) of the original arcade Donkey Kong and King of Kongo Jungle. He has taken on armies of enemies in his previous adventures including the Kremlings, the Tiki Tak Tribe, and the Snowmads. If anyone invades it or tries to steal his banana hoard, he'll make them realize why he has his title.

DK is a very strong physical fighter, standing out from other later heavyweights by being relatively fast. This allows him to perform some swift, powerful combos exclusive to the ape's capabilities. Unique to him is his signature "Kong Karry" (also referred to as "Cargo Throw"), where he can move around after grabbing an opponent and perform a unique set of throws.

Special Moves^{Click to show}

See his entry on the Kong's page for more information on the character in his origin series.

Accessory-Wearing Cartoon Animal: His trademark tie.
Armor-Piercing Attack: His Headbutt attack is capable of shattering shields. This is especially notable in 3DS/Wii U, where it is capable of bringing a shield to its final bar of health in one hit. His Hand Slap attack is also an effective shield breaker in that game.
Art Evolution: In Melee, Donkey Kong's fur was made a darker shade and has more yellowish skin, making him look like a cross between his Donkey Kong 64 model and a real gorilla. Brawl and 3DS/Wii U brightened these colors and made him notably less scrawny in the arm department. Ultimate takes it a step further and not only gives DK more detailed fur like he has in Donkey Kong Jungle Beat and Donkey Kong Country Returns onward but also makes him as expressive as he was in those titles.
The Artifact: In every Smash game, DK vocalizes with realistic gorilla noises. The first game was made during a time when DK didn't have a consistent voice, making only stock ape/monkey or ape-like noises in all of the games prior to having a real voice in Donkey Kong 64, released later that same year. While every other series DK has appeared in since 2008 has done away with this, later Smash games continued with this, even giving Diddy and King K. Rool, both of whom could speak full sentences in past games, more animalistic noises.
Ass Kicks You: Can use one to return to the stage when hanging if he is at low damage, though it has been removed as of 3DS/Wii U.
Badass in Distress: Is captured by the Subspace Army early in the Subspace Emissary saving Diddy from Bowser, and Diddy’s goal in the story is to save him.
Battle Intro: Bursts out of a DK Barrel and assumes a strongman pose.
Bear Hug: In Ultimate, his down throw while carrying his capture has him aggressively squeezing the opponent.
Berserk Button:
- Never steal his banana hoard. His opening cutscene in The Subspace Emissary shows him crushing several Goombas and Koopas, before going on a rampage after the Hammer Bros. that are driving away with his bananas.
- King K. Rool, in general, is this for him. His rivalry with the Kremling King has long since passed the usual Lost Food Grievance that usually sets off DK, and into intense vitriol on both sides. By the end of K. Rool's trailer, the surprise has worn off and DK is visibly pissed that said croc managed to follow him into Smash.
Blow You Away: Two of his customs in 3DS/Wii U, Storm Punch (for Neutral B) and Kong Cyclone (for Up B) have powerful wind effects.
Boring, but Practical: Fighting Polygon Team, Multiman Melee/Brawl, Kirby Team/Galore, etc.? Stand underneath a platform, repeatedly press B while holding down on the control stick, wait until the match ends. The computer players finally started wising up to this strategy by Brawl, but many players still abuse Donkey Kong's hand slap anyway because they still do not deal with it well.
Brought to You by the Letter "S": The "DK" on his tie.
Canon Immigrant: His white color palette is Eddie the Mean Old Yeti from the Donkey Kong Country TV series.
Charged Attack: Giant Punch can be charged and stored for later smacking.
Close-Range Combatant: Notably, he is the only 64 starter who lacks a projectile and it has been that way since. Not that he needs one though, as his actual moves do have reasonable reach in close combat and his surprising mobility can help him close gaps between him and his opponents.
Composite Character: The first game and Melee consider the playable Donkey Kong (who made his debut in Donkey Kong Country) and the Donkey Kong from the arcade games (who later became Cranky Kong) the same character, as seen in his fighter info. This was changed in later games, which consider Donkey Kong Country his debut game, but zigzagged with various 3DS/Wii U material, which uses the arcade sprite as his 8-bit form. He also plays the role in Mr. Game & Watch and Pac-Man's Classic Mode paths in Ultimate.
Cruel to Be Kind: Donkey hits his buddy Diddy with a Giant Punch and sends him flying in The Subspace Emissary, but only to knock him out of the way of a trophy beam which he takes himself.
Crutch Character: For novices, he is by far the easiest to use for the variations on the Multi-Man Melee, since the drones sent after you get positively creamed by the down special; there is even a bonus for using the move non stop against the fighting polygon team. Veterans, however, find that it's generally faster with any character (including DK) when using a mix of attacks.
Dance Battler: In Smash Bros. 64, his down smash was originally a mix between a 360º breakdancing spin and the splits. He hasn't retained this kind of attack in other installments of the series thereafter.
Death Glare: Whenever the Giant Punch is fully charged in Ultimate. He looks so enraged that there are veins seen pulsating in his eyebrows.
Eternally Pearly-White Teeth: His teeth are cleanly white just like in the modern Donkey Kong games. In Brawl, however, they were an odd shade of yellow.
Elemental Punch: One of his custom specials in 3DS/Wii U is Storm Punch, which causes a tornado. Another is an electric variant that charges and attacks quicker, but with less power.
Eye Pop: Used gratuitously in the fourth game and Ultimate to emphasize his pain animations. Also has a massive one when King K. Rool shows up, enough to shatter his house window.
Go-Karting with Bowser: The Banjo-Kazooie reveal trailer shows him and Diddy Kong napping alongside the Big Bad of their home franchise, King K. Rool.
Good Old Fisticuffs:
- Fights mainly with his mighty gorilla arms.
- Averted in both Brawl and 3DS/Wii U with his Final Smash, as he pulls out a pair of bongos from Donkey Konga and uses them to attack instead.
- Back to playing it straight in Ultimate, which changes his Final Smash to a large series of rapid-fire punches reminiscent of Donkey Kong Jungle Beat.
Goomba Stomp: His down air from 64 is a two-footed stomp while making a strong man pose. It was replaced from Melee onwards with a one-foot variation with DK facing more towards the camera.
The Grappler: By virtue of his unique forward throw, DK has a very strong grab game, encouraging him to work his way up close for damage. He can do anything from bouncing his opponent off the edges of the stage, throwing them up past the upper blast zone, and can set up for painful edge guards thanks to his strong aerials.
Ground Punch: His down special, the Hand Slap, where he repeatedly slaps the ground with his hands. It's based on the move DK has had since Donkey Kong Country.
- He utilizes this attack for his down smash since Melee, where he strikes the ground by swinging both of his powerful fists downward as the attack launches surrounding enemies skyward.
Hammered into the Ground/Use Your Head: His Headbutt drives a grounded opponent into the ground. In Melee, this gives you a few seconds to rack up damage with impunity (buried opponents are completely immune to knockback). It gets better as of Brawl, where buried opponents can be knocked away normally with a strong enough move, providing an excellent combo with his Giant Punch or forward smash.
Hitbox Dissonance: His floor attack spikes! Yes, it will hit a person who is both behind and underneath him.
Home Stage:
- 64: Kongo Jungle.
- Melee: Kongo Jungle and Jungle Japes, used interchangeably in single-player modes.
- Brawl: Both debuting stages from his series^noteRumble Falls and 75m.
- 3DS/Wii U: All stages from his series^note.
- Ultimate: Kongo Falls in Ultimate's website, his fight in World of Light though takes place in Kongo Jungle.
Idle Animation:
- He leans forward while crossing his eyes.
- He bumps his fists together and performs an uppercut.
Immune to Flinching: Since Brawl, his Spinning Kong attack has Super Armor during the beginning when used on the ground. Also since Brawl, the fully-charged version of his Giant Punch has Super Armor during the animation. Since Melee, he gains small amounts of Super Armor when carrying an opponent or a heavy item. His Stubborn Headbutt custom move in 3DS/Wii U also gives him Super Armor for the entire duration of the attack, and Ultimate gives the vanilla Headbutt some Super Armor.
Irony: In Brawl and 3DS/Wii U, DK's Final Smash, Konga Beat, is just an ordinary pair of bongos that he plays with which involves a Musical Gameplay mechanic as shockwaves are spread depending on the correct button timing and inputs on whatever kind of controller that the player uses. For Ultimate, His Final Smash has been heavily changed to Jungle Rush, which is a frantic and continuous Rapid-Fire Fisticuffs attack which is seen as a fast-paced beatdown technique that Donkey Kong uses on enemies and bosses in Donkey Kong Jungle Beat, a game where the main controller method involves using the bongo peripheral. And fittingly, every time Donkey Kong uses Jungle Rush, bongos can also be heard in the background while he's beating the enemy into submission.
Jaw Drop:
- Does this upon seeing King Dedede's K. Rool costume Bait-and-Switch.
- He, Diddy, and K. Rool do this in the Banjo-Kazooie trailer when the silhouette of Banjo and Kazooie was replaced by the dog and duck that comprise the Duck Hunt character.
Laser-Guided Karma: In Mega Man's debut trailer, DK spikes him during the initial beatdown ol' Rock got from Nintendo's all-stars. Guess who gets to be the guinea pig for the game's version of the Hard Knuckle?
Legacy Character: According to Otacon (and, often, Nintendo themselves), this Donkey Kong's grandfather, now known as Cranky Kong, is the one who fought Mario in the arcade game of the same name.
Leitmotif: As it is in his home series, usually Jungle Level and its variations.
- In 64, it's Kongo Jungle, which also plays in his first challenger approaching battle in Ultimate's World of Light.
- In Melee, Jungle Japes.
- In Brawl, Jungle Level V2 plays during his entrance in Subspace. It also plays in his Ultimate character trailer.
Lightning Bruiser: Despite being huge and heavy, his movement speed in the games is actually quite fast, and he is typically played as an aggressive, combo-centric rushdown character whose neutral B allows him to force opponents to play overly safe or end combos with an almost-guaranteed KO. However, some of his attacks are rather sluggish to balance this, and he also has poor defensive options and lots of ending lag on most of his stronger moves, which forces him to ensure that he can successfully land killing blows and finish everything that he starts.
Limit Break:
- Konga Beat (based on the Donkey Konga bongo-style controllers), which require players to succeed in playing a pseudo-Rhythm Game in order to maximize the range and damage of the attack.
- In Ultimate, this is changed to a Rapid-Fire Fisticuffs attack inspired by Donkey Kong Jungle Beat, Jungle Rush.
Living with the Villain: The Banjo-Kazooie trailer shows that Donkey Kong and Diddy Kong willingly let King K. Rool into their home after his trailer, seemingly not minding their arch-enemy sleeping on their floor.
Manchild: His infamous sleeping animation involves him lying on back while he's rocking his entire body back and forth as he's sucking on his thumb as if he was a (giant) baby, like Kiddy Kong.
Megaton Punch: His neutral special, Giant Punch. He charges it up and can be stored like Samus' Charge Shot. It even made it into his home series in Donkey Kong Country Returns, where he uses it to punch the moon down to Earth to defeat the Tikis!
Meteor Move: Has the most Meteor Smashes of any character: Headbutt (on an aerial opponent), down aerial, and forward aerial. In 3DS/Wii U, his Hand Slap becomes yet another one when used in midair.
Mighty Glacier: He was closer to being this in the original Super Smash Bros.. When slower, more powerful characters such as Bowser and Ganondorf were introduced in Melee, DK's speed was increased and his strength was decreased (though he's still very powerful) in order to stand out and he became more of a Lightning Bruiser. Overall, while he is technically a super-heavyweight, he has almost nothing in common with Bowser, Ganondorf, Dedede, or K. Rool in terms of playstyle.
Musical Gameplay: Tapping A in time to the music makes Konga Beat much more effective. In the fourth game, there's even a visible beat meter.
Nerf: In 3DS/Wii U, he had an infamous kill combo called Ding Dong that could guarantee a KO if he grabs the opponent when they're at high percents. In Ultimate, while Ding Dong is still there to an extent, you need either the assistance of platforms to cancel endlag and get closer to the upper blast line, or setups involving a Staled Cargo Throw\Kong Karry.
Oh, Crap!: Has this reaction along with Diddy Kong when he see King K. Rool in the latter's reveal trailer.
Palette Swap: Notable Swaps: his original black second player palette swap from Donkey Kong Country and his white costume is based on Eddie the Mean Old Yeti. Fitting, since Eddie was simply a palette swap of DK. His red costume resembles his appearance in Donkey Kong, and his pink costume resembles Junior (II) from Donkey Kong Jr. Math (who may or may not be this DK's father).
Primal Chest-Pound: A taunt of his since Brawl. He also does this briefly if he hits someone with his Final Smash in Ultimate.
Primal Stance: He's almost constantly standing with his fists on the ground; very appropriate for a gorilla.
Rapid-Fire Fisticuffs: His Final Smash in Ultimate is a flurry of punches a la Donkey Kong Jungle Beat, ending in a big uppercut.
Ret-Canon: Without giving anything away, he uses the Giant Punch in Donkey Kong Country Returns.
Rolling Attack: Has one in 3DS/Wii U, based on his rolling attack from the Donkey Kong Country series.
Running on All Fours: His default method of movement that's used for his walk cycle and his dash from a majority of the platformers he's been in ever since the Donkey Kong Country series, however his running animation was based on a galloping horse rather than a gorilla running. Although some cutscenes for the Subspace Emissary clearly shows DK running on 2 legs, which is rather similar to how a human moves.
Skill Gate Characters: His relatively high mobility and powerful attacks make him easy to use for beginners, but his large size and lack of a projectile attack hold him back at higher levels of play.
Spin Attack: His up special, Spinning Kong.
Shockwave Clap: For his Limit Break in Brawl and Smash 4, Konga Beat, if the bongos are played correctly he will let out a huge clap while in the middle of playing, which can send any opponent flying off the stage.
Suicide Attack: His ability to carry opponents with his grab can be used to suicide and KO other players along with himself by walking off the stage or into an horizontal blast line, though it is extremely unreliable and an opponent can easily escape with moderate Button Mashing if they're not at extreme damage, at which point DK may be better off just throwing them away.
Use Your Head: His up aerial attack and his Headbutt attack since Melee. He didn't have any head attacks in Smash 64.
Who Writes This Crap?!: His responding to the dramatic montage of various Nintendo protagonists facing off against their rivals by turning off his TV and yawning can be perceived as this.
Wing Ding Eyes: Some of his hurt animations in 64 include his pupils having the typical X symbol (even though he isn't dead) in his eyeballs.
Wrestler in All of Us: In 3DS/Wii U, the ground version of his Spinning Kong was reworked to look like a Zangief-esque Double Lariat. On top of that, his 64 Back Air is a dropkick.

03 – Link

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/linkssbu.png

Champion of Hyrule (Ultimate) /
The Hero of Hyrule (Wii U)

^{Tunic of the Wild}

^{3DS/Wii U}

^Brawl

^Melee

⁶⁴

Voiced by: Nobuyuki Hiyama (in the original game and Melee), Akira Sasanuma (in Brawl and 3DS/Wii U), Kengo Takanashi (in Ultimate)

Home Series: The Legend of Zelda

Debut:

Link in name debuts in: The Legend of Zelda [NES], 1986

Link from 64 and Melee debuts in: The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time [N64], 1998

Link from Brawl and 3DS/Wii U debuts in: The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess [GameCube/Wii], 2006

Link from Ultimate debuts in: The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild [Wii U/Switch], 2017

Creator: Nintendo

Publisher: Nintendo

Playable in: 64, Melee, Brawl, 3DS/Wii U, Ultimate

The Hero of The Legend of Zelda series, Link is one of many incarnations of the spirit of the hero and the chosen champion of the Golden Goddesses. Throughout his many reincarnations, he manages to grow from an ordinary boy to a legendary warrior and defeat the ultimate evil plaguing his world.

Though Link primarily wields the legendary Master Sword, the blade of evil's bane, it's not his only tool that he uses to fight as he comes equipped with several other items he's acquired in the many dungeons he's explored on his adventures. This gives him a wide variety of attack options, even when the hero himself is relatively bulky.

Smash 64 and Melee use the adult design of the legendary Hero of Time from The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time, Brawl and 3DS/Wii U base him on the Hero of Twilight from The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess, and Ultimate uses the Hylian Champion from The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild.

Special Moves^{Click to show}

See The Legend of Zelda: The Triforce Wielders for more information on the character in his origin series.

Alternate Self: The Twilight Princess based Link is this to Toon Link in Brawl and 3DS/Wii U, since they come from different branches of a diverging timeline.
Annoying Arrows: Even when charged, Link's arrows lack KO power outside absurdly high damage percentages. Subverted with the Power Bow custom variant in 3DS/Wii U, which has slower but more powerful arrows that can be used to easily KO foes to awesome effect.
Art Evolution: Hence the trait of Link having different incarnations across his games, his design in 64 and Melee is taken from The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time, his design in Brawl is inspired by The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess, his look in 3DS/Wii U is a mixture of Twilight Princess and The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword, and his design in Ultimate is directly taken from The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild.
The Artifact: Subverted with the Breath of the Wild-inspired Ultimate version's Kirby Copy ability. Kirby still uses the signature green cap, but it's the one in Link's alternate "Tunic of the Wild" costume, yellow stripe and everything.
Battle Boomerang: His side special (neutral special in 64). Changed in Brawl and 3DS/Wii U to the Gale Boomerang from Twilight Princess, giving it pull back effects.
Battle Intro:
- In 64, he descends from a pillar of light and then unsheathes his sword and shield. This is how Link would exit conquered dungeons in The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time.
- In Brawl and 3DS/Wii U, he appears out of a small tornado, then draws his sword and shield. Reminiscent of how Link could summon a whirlwind to warp in The Legend of Zelda.
- In Ultimate, he drops in from his Paraglider, then equips his sword and shield, as he does in The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild.
Pit: They're cherry-picking all the best bits!
Black Eyes of Crazy: His Dark Link alternate costume in 3DS/Wii U is updated to have pupils and black sclera in addition to red irises, rather than solid red eyes like in Brawl.
Blade Brake: During the opening scene of the Hero's trailer, after sword clashing with Dharkon's Marth clone, a "Meta Knight" comes out of nowhere and gave Link a boot to the back that sent him flying, but the Hylian warrior engraved the soil with his Master Sword that instantly halted the impact from the blow.
Blow You Away: The Gale Boomerang is of the wind element, though because it's a tornado, it actually sucks people in.
Blue Is Heroic: Ultimate has him wear the blue Champion's Tunic from Breath of the Wild, the Magitek attacks he uses consist in large part of blue Hard Light, and the Master Sword glows blue during stronger attacks.
Bow and Sword in Accord: From Melee onward.
Breakout Character: Link's role seems to have increased with each game. In 64, he wasn't very prominent on the box art and hardly appeared in ads, but was a fan-favorite character to play as; as a result, he earned himself a more prominent spot on Melee's box art along with Mario, Pikachu, and Bowser. From that point, he began to be treated as one of the four "mascots" of Smash along with Mario, Pikachu, and Kirby, even becoming the most prominently displayed character on the cover of 3DS, being shown with nearly equal status to Mario in other Cast Herd artworks, and earning himself his own video by Nintendo of Europe about his status as a fan-favorite. The teaser for Ultimate depicts him and Mario as equals, as the two returning veterans who are clearly visible (albeit in shadow), and they're the most prominent characters featured on the game's box art, both being in the dead center and larger than all the other characters.
Charged Attack: In addition to the Smashes, which are shared by everyone, his bows can be charged to shoot farther and faster, and in Brawl, his recovery special can be charged when used on the ground, as the Spin Attack always was in his games.
Composite Character: The Smash franchise tends to build characters off of moves they've used throughout their history (or stuff that's just flat-out made up). However, Link is a Legacy Character, so unlike most characters, who might change their costume or art style, the different Links are based on different people from across the Zelda timeline; evidenced by their different designs, voices actors, and even movesets. Despite the fact that the majority of Links in Zelda proper are "Young/Toon" Links, the "03 - Link" banner that stands in for the character as a whole has always been an "Adult" Link.
- In 64, he's based on Ocarina of Time's Adult Link, with the Fairy Boomerang from Ocarina's Young Link (that turns blue when thrown like the Magic Boomerang from the original and A Link To The Past). Apparently, this is only because of an oversight on Sakurai's part, who didn't know that Ocarina adult Link couldn't use the attack.
- In Melee, he's based on an updated version of the Ocarina of Time Link. His segment in the intro sequence has even him reliving moments from it, though he still uses the boomerang.
- In Brawl, his design is lifted from Twilight Princess, including swapping the Hookshot for the Clawshot, the Fairy Boomerang for the Gale Boomerang, and one of the updates on the official website referencing Barnes, the bomb shop from Twilight Princess. However, his on-screen entrance uses the warp tornado, from the original, instead of the cel-shaded dark portal transportation more fitting for Link from Twilight Princess. Navi also appears in one of his taunts. In The Subspace Emissary, he finds the Master Sword in the woods harkening to A Link To The Past, and again he clearly has Navi from Ocarina following him. He retains this design and its composite aspects in 3DS/Wii U.
- Ultimate features Link's Breath of the Wild incarnation in both his blue Champion's Tunic and green Tunic of the Wild. His bombs are now the Bomb Rune and remotely detonated instead of on a fuse, he no longer has a hookshot for grabs and tethers or the Gale Boomerang, and his Final Smash is the Ancient Arrow. But the promotional videos and pictures imply that he is The Champion and an Implied Love Interest for the Princess Zelda from A Link Between Worlds and archenemy to the youthful Ganondorf from Ocarina of Time, making them all composites across the various timelines and dimensions of the series despite where they take their primary influence from.
Confusion Fu: One of the biggest benefits to mastering his remote bombs in Ultimate is this. He already had a pretty good zoning game, but utilizing his kit in conjunction with his remote bombs allows you to zone in weird, unpredictable angles that can trap the opponent anytime, anywhere.
Cool Sword: The Master Sword, which is also known as "The Blade of Evil's Bane", or as of Breath of the Wild, "The Sword That Seals the Darkness".
Costume Evolution: As in Breath of the Wild, Link in Ultimate has a brand new outfit completely different from his iconic green tunic and cap that have been synonymous with his character for over 30 years, though a traditional green tunic and hat is available as a Palette Swap.
Cutscene Power to the Max:
- In Palutena's reveal trailer for 3DS/Wii U, Link uses his Clawshot to grab Pit in mid-flight by his ankle and pulls him down to earth. Yeah — go ahead and try doing that in the actual game. World of Light's opening cutscene shows Link actually managing to deflect one of Galeem's beams with the Hylian Shield - the shield's defenses aren't quite as absolute during Super Smash Bros. gameplay (though they are in The Legend of Zelda games such as Skyward Sword).
- In the Hero's reveal trailer, he's facing off against Dharkon's copies of Meta Knight and Marth, two of the fastest swordsmen in the game, and manages to defend well enough to block every strike (even if he is on the losing end). In-game, his speed is much less than theirs. Also counts as a slight zigzag - Link canonically has enough fighting skill for this feat both in his home series and the Super Smash Bros. universe, but this doesn't fully translate to his gameplay abilities.
Dark Is Not Evil: Has Dark Link's very sinister colors as a palette swap, but it's still the same old Link we're used to. This is the same as in Hyrule Warriors and The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, where Dark Link is just a costume recolor of regular Link rather than a separate, villainous character.
Death or Glory Attack: Downplayed. His dash attack in the fourth installment is the jump attack from his home series, and like it is there, it's very powerful, almost as much as a smash attack, and able to KO at appropriate percentages. However, also like in his home series, missing will briefly leave Link wide open for punishment.
Demoted to Extra: His Ocarina of Time incarnation (aka the Hero of Time), who was the playable Link in Smash 64 and Melee, is merely a trophy in 3DS (and didn't appear at all in Brawl or Wii U^note). As the playable Link is a Composite Character, having a separate Link as a trophy can seem rather odd to those unfamiliar with the reincarnation aspect of the character.
Difficult, but Awesome: His Breath of the Wild-inspired Ultimate incarnation trades in his traditional bombs with BotW's remote-detonated rune bombs. On one hand, they're less spammable, requires more foresight, it's harder to use them to help you recover, and they generally require more finesse. On the other hand, as shown by this video, there's a lot of advanced tech that he can do that neither Toon or Young Link can do, making them all the more powerful when used properly.
Facial Markings: The Fierce Deity costume has red streaks on the cheekbones and blue arc on the forehead.
Full Health Bonus: As of Ultimate, Link can shoot a Sword Beam with the first swing of his side smash when he's at 0%, or when he has the maximum health in a Stamina match.
Glacier Waif: Link has the body of a nimble, slender teen, but generally has below-average speed and above-average strength, in keeping with his movement speed and broad, spaced-out sword slashes from his home series. Brawl exemplified this by making him much slower and stronger than in Melee; 3DS/Wii U gives him better mobility and increases the speed and combo ability of his attacks, making him more well-rounded if still a bit on the slow side.
Grappling-Hook Pistol: Link uses the Hookshot/Clawshot for his grab. True to its use in the Zelda games, it can also be used to tether him to ledges. He loses it in Ultimate due to it being absent from Breath of the Wild.
Hair Flip: Had this as his taunt as his Ocarina of Time incarnation in Melee; absent from Brawl onwards.
Heroes Prefer Swords: The Master Sword can only be wielded by those with the spirit of the legendary Hero.
Heroic Ambidexterity: Holds his sword with his left hand but has no problem grabbing items and secondary weapons with his right. Canonically speaking, Link was just left-handed until Skyward Sword onward began depicting him as right-handed in order to accommodate motion controls, so Word of God declared he was ambidextrous in order to solve the discrepancies.
Heroic Mime: No dialog in his own games, no spoken words here.
Home Stage:
- 64: Hyrule Castle.
- Melee: Great Bay and Temple, though the former is more used in single-player modes.
- Brawl: Both debuting stages from his series^note.
- 3DS/Wii U: All stages from his series^note.
- Ultimate: Great Plateau Tower.
Humans by Any Other Name: Apart from the Pointy Ears, Hylians are virtually indistinguishable from real-life humans.
Hunk: Downplayed in Brawl and 3DS/Wii U. Twilight Princess Link had some very hunky characteristics in his home game, which showed him to have a Heroic Build via a Shirtless Scene and undertake various manly deeds. Smash doesn't show off these characteristics, though he still comes across as quite aloof and masculine compared to some of the other Bishōnen characters such as Shulk, Marth, and especially Pit.
Hyperspace Arsenal:
- Before Ultimate, most of his weapons seem to come out of nowhere, in keeping with his home series.
- In Ultimate, this is zig-zagged: Averted for most of his weapons as he's clearly equipping them and his animations include sheathing and unsheathing the Master Sword, drawing and hanging the traveler's bow (he also has a visible quiver for his arrows) and using the Sheikah Slate. Justified for the remote bombs since they're just hard light created by the slate. Played straight for the boomerang from his side special and the Ancient Bow and Arrow during his final smash, which materialize out of nowhere.
Idle Animation:
- He swipes the Master Sword while leaning forward.
- He drops his sword and pauses to look around.
Jack of All Stats: Not quite as pronounced as Mario, but his main strength is versatility, with both a strong melee and ranged game that is generally hampered by his below-average running and attack speed. Depending on playstyle, Link can reliably be a Long-Range Fighter, Close-Range Combatant, or even a Mighty Glacier.
Kiai: Pretty much the only noises he makes are screams.
Knightly Sword and Shield: He is an archetypical knight from a fantasy land and his most visible weapons are the Master Sword and the Hylian Shield. The Breath of the Wild Link is the only one in Smash that was ever officially a royal knight, however.
Lady and Knight: The White Knight to Zelda's Bright Lady.
The Lancer:
- During his time in The Subspace Emissary with the five-hero grouping, he was shown serving as this to Mario for some brief stints.
- Link is essentially portrayed as the Lancer to Mario's Hero in marketing, especially for later games. He's the second most prominent character (first on the cover of 3DS, equal to Mario on the cover of Wii U), is a more realistic and serious character juxtaposed with Mario's quirky and cartoony vibe, and wears green, a secondary color that directly contrasts with Mario's red.
- In the first teaser trailer for Ultimate, Mario and Link were the only two characters to get close-ups when a lineup of veterans greeted the Inklings. Also, he still is equally as prominent on the box-art as Mario, and his blue Champion's Tunic still contrasts Mario's red outfit.
Laser-Guided Karma: A few screenshots for 3DS/Wii U showed Peach and Link together with flirtatious undertones, including one with Zelda eyeing them from the background. During a video showcasing items, Zelda drops a Motion-Sensor Bomb near Link (who's near to Peach). Zelda "calls" him over and, of course, he promptly trips over the Bomb.
Late-Arrival Spoiler: Link's Tunic of the Wild was an unlockable outfit in the original game that required you to complete every shrine. Here, it's a costume at the start of the game.
Legacy Character: The multiple variations of Link playable in the series, used to represent the idea of Link as a whole. The adult Link used in 64 and Melee is the predecessor of Toon Link in one timeline, while the adult Link used in Brawl and 3DS/Wii U is descended from the Link/Young Link in Melee in another timeline. The Link from Ultimate comes from over 10,000 years down the line from all of them. (Give or take the 100 years he spent healing in stasis.)
Leitmotif: As it is in his home series, usually The Legend of Zelda Theme and its variations.
- In 64, it's Hyrule Castle.
- In Melee, he gets Great Bay.
- In Brawl, the Title Theme plays during his entrance in Subspace.
- In Ultimate, the Breath of the Wild Main Theme plays during his character trailer and his World of Light challenger battle.
Let's You and Him Fight: He and Yoshi fight against Mario and Pit in The Subspace Emissary mode, but they later join forces.
Limit Break:
- Triforce Slash, where Link traps his opponent between two Triforce symbols and repeatedly slashes them, launching them with one final thrust that breaks the symbols.
- In Ultimate, Breath of the Wild's Link instead breaks out an Ancient Bow to shoot a powerful Ancient Arrow at his enemies. Ironically, this Link is the only one with an attack that resembles the Triforce Slash in his original game, that being his Flurry Rush.
Luckily, My Shield Will Protect Me: If Link is standing still or crouching, his shield will stop most projectiles that touch it, just like in Zelda II: The Adventure of Link. It is easy to forget in a frantic game like this one.
Magitek: In Ultimate, his Down-B has him use Remote Bombs, Hard Light explosives produced by the tablet-like Sheikah Slate, while his new Final Smash has him pull out the high-tech Ancient Bow and fire an equally high-tech Ancient Arrow.
Mascot: Link is officially depicted along with Mario as one of the co-mascots of Ultimate, sharing nearly equal status with the red plumber for the first time in the series.
Master Swordsman: He qualifies by default. His sword is even called the Master Sword.
Meteor Move: His down strong attack (Melee onward), down aerial (3DS/Wii U), and Meteor Bomb Custom Special (3DS/Wii U) will Meteor Smash targets.
Monochromatic Eyes: The Fierce Deity, of course.
Multishot: In Ultimate, if Link shoots an arrow and then picks that arrow back up (a mechanic lifted straight from Breath of the Wild), he'll shoot two arrows at once next time.
Mystical White Hair: In his Fierce Deity and Dark Link palettes.
Nerf: From Melee to Brawl, where despite being given a large power buff, he was made into a generally slower character, with his air speed significantly reduced, special moves being less effective, and having his aerial game significantly hindered by the loss of L-Canceling. His Spin Attack also gains significantly less distance during recovery, reducing Link's recovering capabilities to again being one of the worst. 3DS/Wii U undid this by buffing his mobility and recovery while still keeping most of his power.
Numerological Motif: Three, in Ultimate. He's fighter number 3, is the third incarnation of regular Link^note to be featured in the Smash Bros. series, and there are also two alternate versions of Link in the game for a total of 3. This is probably a reference to the Triforce from his home series.
Oh, Crap!: His reaction to Mythra slicing one of his bombs in half.
- He also had one brief moment of being vulnerable when Dharkon's clones overpowered him.
Palette Swap: Notable swaps: red and blue Goron and Zora Tunics in all Smash Bros., Blue Ring lavender up until the fourth game, Dark Link's cameo from Twilight Princess in Brawl, a Skyward Sword casual clothes-patterned Link, Fierce Deity Link in 3DS/Wii U, and a reskin resembling the colors of classic, NES-style Link in Ultimate, as well as his iconic green hat and tunic based on BotW's Tunic of the Wild as an alternate from his blue Champion's Tunic.
Pink Girl, Blue Boy: In Ultimate, his default outfit is blue as it was in Breath of the Wild, while Zelda's is white and pink as it was in A Link Between Worlds.
Pointy Ears: Has these, as a member of the Hylian race. While these are a stereotypically elven trait, Hylians like Link are merely a pointy-eared race of humans rather than elves.
Pretty Boy: As has become standard for every Link in their teens, Link in Smash Bros. is very pretty. He also has the honor of being the only youthful human(oid) male character out of the original 12. Viridi even swoons over him in his Palutena's Guidance conversation in 3DS/Wii U, and Pit is visibly jealous of both adult Link's handsomeness and Toon Link's cuteness.
Really 700 Years Old: In Ultimate, he looks like a teenager like the Ocarina of Time and Twilight Princess versions before him but is actually over a century old due to him having spent that time asleep in the Shrine of Resurrection.
Real Men Wear Pink: His Hair Flip taunt in Melee is almost laughably girly.
The Rival:
- Marth is his primary foil, as acknowledged by Sakurai. It was intended that the two would be a Force and Finesse duo in 64. In future games, Event Matches and official pictures often make the two face off.
- Palutena's reveal trailer portrays him as such with Pit — both the chosen warriors of goddesses of light. Pit's commentary in 3DS/Wii U further enforces this as he sees Link as ripping off his style and complains that there's two Links.
- Cloud is another as the poster boys for critically acclaimed, blond haired fantasy video game heroes of the late 90s: Ocarina of Time for Nintendo and Final Fantasy VII for Sony/Square Enix. A nod is given to this in the Final Video Presentation for 3DS/Wii U, and the centerpiece of Cloud's character illustration has him crossing swords with Link.
- In general, Link is The Rival to just about anyone who brings a sword to Smash. See Running Gag below.
Rocket Jump: A recovery method for him, called the bomb recovery, common to all the Links, but beginning with him, of course. His bombs can be used to aid his recovery in exchange for adding more damage to him (on account of, essentially, blowing himself up, and using the physical recoil to get back to the stage), though it isn't that useful outside Melee.
Running Gag: As the poster child for Nintendo swordsmen and the first to get into Smash, Link is The Rival to just about everyone else who brings a sword to the series. Since Melee, he's often pitted against Marth in event matches and official screenshots, and he also had event matches vs. Self and vs. Young Link. In 3DS/Wii U, he's seen fighting Pit in Palutena's reveal trailer, faces off with Lucina in her official portrait, and teams up with Marth to fight Shulk in his reveal trailer.
Series Mascot: As of 3DS/Wii U and Ultimate, Link seems to have supplanted Kirby as the series' secondary mascot, frequently portrayed alongside Mario as an equal and foil of sorts. Ultimate's trailer depicts him (in his Breath of the Wild incarnation) and Mario as the two prominent veterans that the Inklings encounter.
Ship Tease:
- Like in his mainline games, he's frequently teased with Princess Zelda. Brawl is possibly the most blatent with it during one particular cutscene in Adventure Mode; depending on the player's choices, either Mario will witness Link (and Yoshi) defeating Princess Peach's Evil Doppelgänger, or Link will witness Mario (and Pit) defeating Princess Zelda's. Either way, the scene hits Link/Mario's Berserk Button and causes them to attack the other with extreme predjudice.
- Link gets quite a bit of these with Peach in 3DS/Wii U. Zelda is... less than pleased about it.
- Viridi has quite the obvious crush on Link. She's quick to deny it, despite evidence to the contrary. Palutena even offers to introduce the two of them, which Viridi doesn't exactly refuse.
Shock and Awe: A custom variant of his Spin Attack in 3DS/Wii U is a more powerful, electric variant.
Skill Gate Characters: Most pronounced in Melee. In casual play, he can hit like a train, but put him in competitive play and he just can't keep up.
Spin Attack: His signature move from his home series, which he can also use to recover. It becomes a chargeable attack as of Brawl.
Stab the Sky: His up aerial, one of his win poses, and his up smash in the first game.
The Stoic: Link's mannerisms make him come across as quite determined, serious, and battle-focused. A bit more so for his Twilight Princess version, since his Ocarina of Time and Breath of the Wild incarnations still show shades of Hot-Blooded, in keeping with each of their respective games of origin.
Super Special Move: Link's Final Smash in Ultimate is the Ancient Bow & Arrow from The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, a version of his standard arrow projectile using a powerful, technological equivalent.
Sword and Fist: His moveset has multiple kick moves along with the weapons.
Sword Beam: In Ultimate, if Link hasn't received any damage, he can launch beams with his side smash, a mechanic used in multiple Legend of Zelda games.
Sword Plant: His down aerial, taken from Zelda II: The Adventure of Link.
There Is No Kill Like Overkill: Triforce Slash in Brawl and 3DS/Wii U, where Link traps an opponent between two Triforce symbols and slashes them repeatedly.
Warm-Up Boss: In the 1P Mode of 64, he's the first enemy faced and puts up so little resistance he often doesn't even bother to recover when launched offstage. This allows the player to practice and get used to the game's controls.
Weapon Twirling: Link's Unorthodox Sheathing from Twilight Princess is used as a victory pose and a taunt.
Wrestler in All of Us: Ever since Melee, his down throw makes him perform an elbow drop on his opponent of all attacks.
You Will Not Evade Me: His Gale Boomerang in Brawl and 3DS/Wii U can pull enemies and items toward Link if aimed correctly. To a lesser extent, his Hookshot and Clawshot embody this trope.

04 – Samus

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/samusssbu.png

Bounty Hunter Extraordinaire

^{3DS/Wii U}

^Brawl

^Melee

⁶⁴

Home Series: Metroid

Debut: Metroid [NES], 1986

Creator: Nintendo, Intelligent Systems

Publisher: Nintendo

Playable in: 64, Melee, Brawl, 3DS/Wii U, Ultimate

Hailing from the Metroid series, Samus Aran is the galaxy's most feared Bounty Hunter and the first female fighter in the series. After her home planet and parents were wiped out by the Space Pirates, she was taken in by the Chozo civilization and trained to be one of the galaxy's most powerful warriors. She tears through galactic threats, kills giant monsters and destroys planets for a living, always ensuring the safety of the galaxy from any evils lurking within.

In Smash, she brings the Chozo's advanced Power Armor into the mix, allowing her to fight with all different kinds of weaponry. Before Brawl, she was relatively nimble in her armor but has since had to be slowed down to balance out her Zero Suit look. Despite her suit's bulk, its arsenal makes Samus more than capable of keeping her distance to prepare for a deadly combo.

The original and Melee use the Super Metroid design, Brawl uses the design from Metroid: Zero Mission and the Metroid Prime Trilogy, while 3DS/Wii U and Ultimate use the Other M design.

Special Moves^{Click to show}

See Samus's page for more information on the character in her origin series.

Action Girl: One of Nintendo's — and gaming in general's — most definitive examples.
Adapted Out: In spite of how iconic it is for Samus in her home series, including how she usually starts off the games wearing it, she never uses her basic yellow colored Power Suit as an alternate costume. It is only used in Smash Bros. at all in two trophies in Melee and Brawl.
Anchored Attack Stance: She uses her suit's built-in jet pack as retrorockets when firing her Zero Laser in Ultimate, presumably to keep herself from being blown away by the massive recoil.
Androcles' Lion: In The Subspace Emissary, her saving Pikachu makes him an immediate ally who eventually saves her from an ambush by Ridley.
Arch-Enemy: To Ridley, considering he killed her parents.
Arm Cannon: Her main means of attack come from there.
Art Evolution: In 64 and Melee, Samus' design was based off of Super Metroid. In Brawl, her costume is still Super Metroid-based, but lifts certain details from Metroid Prime and Zero Mission, bringing her in line with the then recently-debuted Zero Suit Samus. As of 3DS/Wii U, she matches her Other M design (with added black vents around the suit), but is just as tall in previous games and has her visor in full combat mode.
The Artifact:
- Because Samus is almost exclusively a projectile-based character in the Metroid series, the exclusively hand-to-hand standard moveset she's had since 64, a combination of regular melee attacks and short-ranged fiery cannon bursts, doesn't represent her home series depiction very extensively when compared to the dedicated projectile-oriented characters (Mega Man, Mii Gunner, and to a lesser extent, Villager and Bayonetta) introduced in 3DS/Wii U. While Samus only uses her projectiles in special moves and otherwise uses close-range attacks in her standard moveset, the newer Gunner-style characters use projectiles for many of their special and standard moves both. Interestingly enough, this increased emphasis on physical combat seems to have been worked into newer Metroid games, with Samus performing a series of brutal close-quarters takedowns on her opponents in both Other M and Samus Returns. This carries over to Dark Samus, who ends up lacking various unique abilities from her boss fights and Assist Trophy appearance.
- Ultimate has a lot less focus on Other M as a whole, with all the other Metroid characters getting new designs based on older Metroid games and Zero Suit Samus getting a physique upgrade that diverges even further from that game. However, Samus still retains the same design she had in 3DS/Wii U. This is partly enforced since Metroid: Samus Returns most likely started development much later than Ultimate.
Artifact Title: The Zero Laser's name made sense in Brawl, as using it forced her to transform into Zero Suit Samus. This is no longer the case in the fourth game and Ultimate.
Back-to-Back Badasses: With Pikachu in The Subspace Emissary when facing an army of clone Samus.
Battle Intro: Walks out of a Super Metroid-style Save Point.
Beam Spam: Able to spam both missiles and her power shot.
Bounty Hunter: Melee says she is a take no prisoners bounty hunter, and Brawl says she is the most renowned bounty hunter in the galaxy.
Charged Attack: The aptly named Charge Shot.
Cool Helmet: As part of her standard bounty hunter attire.
Cool Starship: Her ship, simply titled "Samus's Starship". In the fourth game, it becomes more closely associated with Zero Suit Samus than regular Samus, as both her stage entrance and her Final Smash.
Decomposite Character: Regular Samus and Zero Suit Samus are separate characters in the fourth game and Ultimate. That said, there's a minor Call-Back to their transformation status in the latter, as Zero Suit Samus dons the Varia Suit for her Final Smash.
Difficult, but Awesome: Reckless usage of Samus' attacks and projectiles generally doesn't work out too well, with their high lag leaving her open to brutal counterplay. But with careful and proper use of her abilities, she becomes a versatile and powerful fighter who can adapt to a variety of situations. For example, 3DS/Wii U gives Samus a number of Charge Shot combos that are fairly difficult to learn but are useful for breaking the enemy's shield and leaving them stunned.
Energy Ball: Her Charge Shot which is arguably her most powerful attack (besides her Final Smash) in all of the Smash games.
Enemy Mine: For the first time ever, in Ultimate, Samus teams up with her hated arch-nemesis Ridley to oppose Galeem. And this is Ridley we're talking about. The monster who murdered her parents and whom she shares a deep, mutual hatred with.
The Faceless: Zigzagged. In 64, Samus' face isn't shown at all. Melee then gives her a rare "Samus Unmasked" trophy that shows her face. Brawl and 3DS/Wii U unmask her in full as Zero Suit Samus, but when in the Power Suit, her face can't be seen at all through the visor except in two cases (a Subspace Emissary cutscene and Bayonetta's newcomer poster). This is retained in Ultimate, though we can see her expression through the visor when Ridley appears in his reveal trailer.
Hair of Gold, Heart of Gold: She's a gorgeous blonde underneath that iconic helmet, and she's one of the kindest and most heroic bounty hunters you could hope for — as seen when she rescues and teams up with the adorable Pikachu in The Subspace Emissary.
Hartman Hips: In 3DS/Wii U, her Power Suit is slightly more... form-fitting around her hips and pelvis.
Heroic Mime: She never says a word when in armor, possibly because her armor completely mutes her voice (as she gets fully voiced taunts as Zero Suit Samus).
Home Stage:
- 64: Planet Zebes.
- Melee: Brinstar and Brinstar Depths, though the former is more used in single-player modes.
- Brawl: Both debuting stages from her series^noteNorfair and Frigate Orpheon.
- 3DS/Wii U: All stages from her series^note.
- Ultimate: Norfair in Ultimate's website, her fight in World of Light though takes place in Brinstar.
Homing Projectile: Her weaker missiles, which would retain these properties in Metroid Prime.
Idle Animation:
- She traces her fingertips over her arm cannon.
- She drops her arm cannon for a moment.
Irony: Prior to Ultimate, almost all of regular Samus' attacks dealt less damage and knockback than Zero Suit Samus', even including regular Samus' projectiles and Screw Attack, with Charge Shot being the only real standout, in order to give the Varia Suit a focus on defense and the Zero Suit a focus on offense.
Jack of All Stats: Like Link, Samus is a fairly well-rounded character in Melee and 3DS/Wii U with unique strengths of her own, if not a definitive example of this trope like Mario is. While her strength, attack speed, and mobility are merely average, she's heavy and has a good recovery, decent combo potential, and a variety of projectiles with different specific uses.
Jump Jet Pack: She has one built into her suit that she uses for her standard jump. In Ultimate, they get re-purposed as retrorockets to cancel out the recoil of her Zero Laser.
Law of Inverse Recoil: Her charged shot and missiles.
Leitmotif: Typically Brinstar and its variations.
- In 64, it's Planet Zebes.
- In Melee and her Ultimate character trailer, she gets Brinstar.
- In Brawl, Theme of Samus Aran, Space Warrior plays when she dons her suit for the first time in The Subspace Emissary. This is her theme from her home series.
- In Ultimate, for World of Light, she gets Title Theme - Metroid.
Lightning Bruiser: In Ultimate, albeit with a focus on DPS rather than mobility. Samus' mobility is still below average and her recovery is above average, but with both her melee attacks and projectiles as well as how they can combo into each other, she can rack up damage very quickly and get her opponent within KO range in the process. That's not even getting into the options she has for early KOs, like her signature Charge Shot - one of the most powerful and fearsome projectiles in the game, especially when fully charged and unleashed at unexpected moments.
Lightning/Fire Juxtaposition: With both of her counterparts, Zero Suit Samus and Dark Samus. The armored Samus, unlike in her home series, mainly attacks with fire and explosions - in fact, she has the most fire-based attacks in the roster, even more than fighters like Roy and Charizard. Meanwhile, Zero Suit Samus specializes in electric attacks, especially with her Paralyzer and the plasma whip that it can transform into. Dark Samus, meanwhile uses electricity effects for attacks that originally used the flame effect on Samus. They even have the color schemes to match: Samus' Varia Suit is primarily red, orange and yellow and grants her heat protection in her home series, while in her Zero Suit, her blonde hair and neon yellow accents on her boots and bracelets match her electric attacks; while this is more subtle on Dark Samus, her electric attacks are a shade of blue that match her glowing Phazon accents, and her bluish hues in general still contrast with Samus' red.
Limit Break: The Zero Laser, a giant laser that shreds the stage. In Brawl, this overheats Samus's Power Suit, causing it to fall apart at her feet, leaving her in the Zero Suit. She apparently fixed this issue by the fourth game onwards, where her suit remains intact.
Long-Range Fighter: Subverted. Samus has a focus on long-range projectiles, but optimal play requires masterful use of both her melee and ranged skills to inflict Confusion Fu and keep the opponent guessing.
Meteor Move: Her down aerial in all games and Slip Bomb Custom Special in 3DS/Wii U will Meteor Smash opponents.
Metronomic Man Mashing: She can whack enemies into the ground in Melee onward.
Moe Couplet: Forms one with Pikachu in Brawl.
Nerf: From Melee to Brawl, her Smash Missiles, Smash attacks, and melee attacks were weakened in power. This may be because her Zero Suit form was introduced as a more agile close-range fighter to contrast her Varia Suit's focus on long-range attacks.
Not So Above It All: Much like in her home series, she is usually a serious and stoic bounty hunter. Upon meeting Little Mac, however, her first reaction is confusion followed by making sure he actually is that short. It earns her an uppercut to the kidneys.
Oh, Crap!: Her reaction when her arch enemy Ridley shows up in the reveal trailer. Even after she takes in a deep breath to psyche herself up to prepare for his incoming assault, she's still caught indirectly off balance by his sudden emergence when he bursts out of the metal bridge just to frighten her as she's seen gazing at him in utter shock.
Painfully Slow Projectile: The Slow Beam variant of her Charge Shot. A fully charged shot is so slow that Samus can actually walk past it. Her Homing Missiles also qualify to a lesser extent.
Palette Swap: Her notable ones include the Fusion Suit, the Pink Varia Suit from the original Metroid, the Gravity Suit, Dark Suit, Light Suit, and Dark Samus, which was replaced by a black-and-yellow suit when the latter was Promoted to Playable in Ultimate.
Playing with Fire: Oddly enough, Samus' specialty in the Smash series seems to be fiery explosions from her arm cannon, missiles and bombs, to the point of having more flame-based attacks than any other character (even ones more obviously associated with fire like Charizard and Roy). While she has used the Plasma Beam and variations thereof in the Metroid games as the closest thing to Playing with Fire, it was just one of many options available to her. Her down tilt and (as of 3DS/Wii U) her forward smash involve a single burst of flame from the tip of her arm cannon, and her forward aerial and up smash each involve multiple blasts of fire.
Pistol-Whipping: In all of the games, the second part of her neutral combo ends with her doing an overhead strike of her Arm Cannon.
Power Creep, Power Seep: In her home series, Samus is a Lightning Bruiser who runs at high speeds and has a ton of different projectiles of varying potency. In Smash, her movement speed is much slower (with Zero Suit Samus inheriting the "high speed" aspect), her moveset is mostly based on hand-to-hand combat, and her projectiles are more limited, turning her into a balanced Stone Wall. Ultimate, at least, puts more emphasis on her firepower, requiring her to rack up large amounts of damage to KO in most cases but making it easy for her to rack up that damage in the first place, like in her home series.
Powered Armor: She wears her Power Suit at all times (unless you're playing Brawl and use her Final Smash), which gives her increased weight but not-so-great speed.
Practical Taunt: In Brawl, taunting fast enough will allow her to shed her armor and turn into Zero Suit Samus.
The Rival: To Captain Falcon in numerous Event Matches.
Rocket Jump: Samus has her own variation of the aforementioned Bomb Recovery, based on her Bomb Jump ability from her own games. It's not very useful since the boost is very small.
Rolling Attack: Her Screw Attack, although instead of having it be a ground-based attack it rapidly rises and strikes upwards as she rolls her body into her opponents who're caught within it.
Samus Is a Girl: Brawl makes this obvious, but it's noticeable in the first game as well (if Samus is hit with electricity, her X-Ray Sparks animation shows a non-textured female model instead of a skeleton like the other characters). To anyone not familiar with her or who missed the clues like the electricity silhouette, the fact that she fights you alongside Zelda and Peach in the "Girl Power" event match of Melee gives the traditional reveal. She also had a rare trophy where she was depicted with her helmet off.
Shed Armor, Gain Speed: When she switches to Zero Suit Samus in Brawl, she's lighter and more agile, but that makes her easier to knock farther.
Shock and Awe: The galactic bounty hunter has several electrical attacks of her own, one of them is basically her primary Neutral Special, the Charge Shot, and her Screw Attack somersaults/zaps multiple opponents. Even her grab the Grapple Beam, if used in mid-air, is capable of damaging anyone with an electric shock.
Shoulders of Doom: Since she's donning the Varia Suit, she has massive shoulder pads. They aren't serving any function like in her home series; they're there purely for cosmetic reasons.
Shout-Out:
- Her green outfit is known as the "Mass-Produced Samus" by Sakurai, in reference to the Gundam series.
- One "Pic of the Day" showcased Samus's costume based on the Light Suit. Sakurai says that Samus isn't from the "Imperial Forces".
Slapstick: In a sense, given that every playable character in Smash is subject to slapstick. Being the only unambiguously female character in the first game, she's depicted on the box art being punched out by Fox. Even after more female fighters were introduced over time, Samus in her power suit appears to be the only humanoid female that can be hit by the male characters in the updates by Sakurai. And she was the main victim of Little Mac in his debut trailer. Wii Fit Trainer, the only other woman he tried to hit (or who even showed up), dodged him, resulting in him being KO'd.
The Smurfette Principle: In the first game, she was the only explicitly female member of the roster. Increasingly averted in the later installments, as more female fighters have joined her in the cast.
Spin Attack: Her Screw Attack, which can also be used by anyone holding the item of the same name. It causes her to jump upwards while spinning, pulling in nearby foes and damaging them.
Stone Wall: Samus has average movement speed with above-average weight and recovery, and her Morph Ball roll covers a lot of distance but is also very punishable. This mixed with her strong projectile game can make her hard to get close to and deal with, but her weak melee abilities (especially in 64 and Brawl) give her problems dealing with enemies herself. Melee and 3DS/Wii U make her a bit more balanced by giving her some comboing and shield-breaking ability, and Ultimate improves her offensive ability as a whole.
Super-Speed: In 64, she actually had the 4th fastest dash.
Tomboy: Samus (in both her forms) is one of the least feminine out of the female Smash fighters, perhaps only being rivaled by Sheik and Lucina.
Tomboyish Ponytail: Her "Samus Unmasked" trophy in Melee shows her sporting a blonde ponytail, which her Zero Suited self sports at all times in subsequent games.
Wall Jump: One of the characters with the ability to wall jump, just like some games in her home series.
Wave-Motion Gun: Her Final Smash is the Zero Laser, a massive blue laser that deals a lot of damage and has a vacuum effect to suck in opponents.
Weaponized Exhaust: A minor one considering the move itself, but when Samus is using Zero Laser, her suit's thrusters go into overdrive to keep her in place, which can hurt anyone who tries to sneak up on her.
The Worf Effect: The last clip of Dark Samus being Promoted to Playable displays her and Meta Ridley, overpowering Samus ending with both of them taunting to add insult to injury.

Characters / Super Smash Bros. 64 - 01 to 04

Voiced by: Charles Martinet

Voiced by: Nobuyuki Hiyama (in the original game and Melee), Akira Sasanuma (in Brawl and 3DS/Wii U), Kengo Takanashi (in Ultimate)

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Characters / Super Smash Bros. 64 - 01 to 04

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Voiced by: Charles Martinet

Voiced by: Nobuyuki Hiyama (in the original game and Melee), Akira Sasanuma (in Brawl and 3DS/Wii U), Kengo Takanashi (in Ultimate)

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