Super Smash Bros 64/Characters

Everything About Fiction You Never Wanted to Know.


For the main article, go here.

For characters who debuted in Melee, go here.

For characters who debuted in Brawl, go here.


Playable characters

Starting characters

Mario

Voiced by: Charles Martinet

"Here we go!"

Playable in: original, Melee, Brawl

As Nintendo's most recognizable character, it's no wonder Mario is featured in all three Super Smash Bros. games. He is mostly a balanced character who is good for beginners.


Donkey Kong

Voiced by: None

(gorilla noises)

Playable in: original, Melee, Brawl

Mario's one-time rival Donkey Kong is also one of the characters available from the beginning in all three games. He is notable for being the only character in the first game to be able to move while holding a barrel or a crate. However, all characters have this ability in Melee and Brawl (though everyone but DK does so very slowly.)


Link

Voiced by: Nobuyuki Hiyama (In the original game and Melee), Akira Sasanuma (In Brawl)

"Scraaaaaaah!!!!!"

Playable in: original, Melee, Brawl

Link, the star of Nintendo's The Legend of Zelda series, is a character available from the beginning of all three Super Smash Bros. games. The first two games take his design from the The Legend of Zelda Ocarina of Time version of Link, but Brawl uses his appearance from The Legend of Zelda Twilight Princess.


Samus Aran/Zero Suit Samus

Voiced by: Alesia Glidewell

"Is that all?"

Varia Suit Samus: Playable in: original, Melee, Brawl
Zero Suit Samus: Playable in: Brawl

Samus is the first female character in the series, and the only one in the first game (unless you count Jigglypuff). A Bounty Hunter hailing from the Metroid series, Samus is a great character in all three games (albeit for different reasons).


Yoshi

Voiced by: Kazumi Totaka

"Yoshi!"

Playable in: original, Melee, Brawl

Mario's pal Yoshi is one of the characters to appear in all three games of the Super Smash Bros. series. In all of the games except Brawl, he lacks a third jump, but has a very high and Super Armor-protected second jump. (He gets to keep the latter, and his Egg Throw now gives him a little extra height.)

  • Big Eater: Yoshi uses his tongue to grab enemies into his mouth and release them as eggs. And yes, he is a male.
  • Boss Subtitles
  • Creator Cameo: Not exactly by a creator, but Yoshi is voiced by Kazumi Totaka, who composed the Yoshi's Story score.
  • Fragile Speedster: Mainly in playstyle. Yoshi's walking/dashing speed is fast in every Smash game, as well as having the fastest air speed (second fastest in Melee), and generally fast attacks. While Yoshi is great at taking a hit, his defensive options are generally poor, mainly due to having a functionally different shield that's inferior, being slower to put up and down, as well as being impossible to jump out of (which greatly hinders Yoshi's ability to counter attack after shielding, a vital part of competitive play in Smash).
  • Half-Dressed Cartoon Animal: Saddle and shoes, but that's it.
  • Let's You and Him Fight: He and Link fight against Mario and Pit in the Subspace Emissary mode, but they later join forces.
  • Limit Break: Super Dragon.
  • Palette Swap: Has the main 6 Yoshi's Story colors.


Kirby

Voiced by: Makiko Ohmoto

"Hiiiiiiiii!"

Playable in: original, Melee, Brawl

Kirby, from the Kirby series of games, was also created by Masahiro Sakurai, so it's obvious that Kirby would appear as a major character in all three games. Especially in Brawl, where the Subspace Emissary mode contains a lot of Awesome Moments for him.

  • Badass Adorable: He may look really harmless, but Kirby is really hardcore in the Subspace Emissary mode. He destroys the Subspace Gunship with his legendary air ride machine, the Dragoon!
  • Big Eater: Kirby is one of the characters who can eat his enemies.
  • Boss Subtitles
  • Blue Eyes
  • Cool Starship: His Warpstar and Dragoon could technically count as starships.
  • Glass Cannon: In both the original and Brawl, Kirby has impressive attack power, but is one of the lightest characters.
  • Ground Pound: Turns into a rock to do it.
  • Joke Character: While maybe not intentional, Kirby was essentially this in Melee, where he ranged from subpar to terrible in nearly every aspect, on the receiving end of a huge nerf from his top tier capabilities in the original Smash.
  • Kid Hero
  • Limit Break: Cook Kirby.
    • Chef of Iron: It has him transform into a chef and cook his foes alive.
  • Nerf: The most notorious nerf in Smash, as Kirby went from second best in the first game to arguably the worst character in Melee (it varies from person to person on who is worst between him and Pichu, and is tied with him for the worst spot on the current official tier list), having his power, speed, reach, and combo ability nerfed to atrociously poor levels. Reversed in Brawl, where Kirby was essentially improved greatly in every area, though not to his Smash 64 levels, as he's just an upper middle tier character here.
  • Mega Manning: Kirby's copy ability allows him to copy the standard move of the character he inhaled.
  • Palette Swap: Has yellow, red, and green; the three Kirby colors used for Multiplayer in most Kirby games, as well as blue. He also has a Black and White one as a Continuity Nod to his first appearance on the Game Boy.
  • Pint-Sized Powerhouse
  • Practical Taunt: Taunting while having a copy ability makes him lose it.
  • Rapid-Fire Fisticuffs: Has the Vulcan Jab move from the Fighter ability as his standard combo.
  • Skill Gate Characters: In Brawl at least, Kirby is a relatively popular character among lower level players, having strong, spammable smash attacks, a simple yet very effective recovery, and generally easy to utilize moves. Among higher level play, Kirby is much less common, though subverted in that unlike your typical skill gate character, Kirby is still relatively effective.
  • Tagalong Kid: while has a Vague Age, he essentially counts as this when traveling with Mario, Link, Pit, and Yoshi in Subspace Emissary.
  • Wolverine Publicity: Along with Mario, Link, and Pikachu, they feature front and center in promotional materials and during cinematics. Kirby is most likely in with those four because the Smash Bros. series is made by the creators of the Kirby series; as far as revenue and recognition Kirby is beat by several other characters. This same reason is likely why Kirby and his rivals are heavily involved in the Subspace Emissary story.


Fox McCloud

Voiced by: Shinobu Satouchi (In the original and Melee), Steve Malpass (In his ship), Kenji Nojima (in Japanese Brawl), and Jim Walker (In English Brawl)

"Come on!"

Playable in: original, Melee, Brawl

The pilot from the Star FOX series. Since then, Fox has become a proficient fighter in his own games as well. Since his appearance in the original Smash Bros, Fox has been playable in Melee and Brawl.

  • Attack Reflector: His "Reflector" move is currently the trope picture.
  • Badass
  • Beam Spam: With his gun.
  • Big "What?": In Melee, whenever he is knocked out from the sides or bottom.
  • Boss Subtitles
  • Captain Crash: In the Subspace Emissary, almost every time Fox gets in his Arwing, it winds up crashing or being destroyed. Isn't he supposed to be a great pilot?
  • Cool Starship: His Arwing.
  • Difficult but Awesome: In Melee, Fox is considered the best character, but also has arguably the highest technical demands of any character in Smash. In Brawl, his technical demands were reduced (as well as his competitive capabilities), though he is still considered to be one of the most difficult characters to play at a high level, while being borderline high tier.
  • Do a Barrel Roll
  • Flash Step: Fox Illusion, his side-B.
  • Glass Cannon: In Brawl, Fox exemplifies this. He has great offensive prowess, being one of the fastest characters in movement and attack speed, with the capability to rack up damage quickly, and has access to a fast and very powerful finisher in his up smash. However, Fox sustains the fourth most knockback in Brawl, is heavily vulnerable to combos and follow-ups when hit, has very poor horizontal momentum cancelling, and no longer has the great vertical endurance he had in Melee.
  • Gratuitous English: In Melee, his dialogue was in English but spoken by Shinobu Satouchi, a Japanese voice actor. "Misshon konpurito!"
  • Green Eyes
  • Lightning Bruiser: He's arguably this in Melee rather than a Glass Cannon, as he has some of the best attacks considering strength per speed of execution (most notoriously, his up smash and up aerial). And he's very hard to KO upwards, which can allow Fox to outlive much heavier characters, even heavyweights like Samus. He also has great defensive options.
  • Limit Break: The Landmaster.
  • Nerf: Fox received a notable nerf from Melee to Brawl, with his endurance greatly reduced, his up smash and up aerials weakened, and his "Shine combos" removed. His nerf wasn't as bad as what some characters received though, and he has managed to be successful enough competitively to be considered borderline high tier.
  • Palette Swap
  • Petting Zoo People
  • Rapid-Fire Fisticuffs: Has the Hyakuretsu Kyaku as a standard combo.
  • Wall Jump


Pikachu

Voiced by: Ikue Ohtani

"Pika!"

Playable in: original, Melee, Brawl

Pikachu is arguably the most famous Pokémon ever, and he boosted his fame with his appearance in all three games in the Super Smash Bros. series, bringing his electrical powers and lightning-quick reflexes to the fight.

Unlockable characters

Luigi

Voiced by: Charles Martinet.

"Bang! Bang!"

Playable in: original, Melee, Brawl

Mario's cowardly younger brother appeared as one of the original four unlockable characters in the first game, and he continues to be unlockable in each new game.

  • Adorkable: His taunts especially make him look this.
  • Ass Kicks You: As the last part of his standard combo attack.
  • Badass Moustache
  • Bare-Fisted Monk: Most of his moveset like his brother, but he doesn't seem to use his fists a whole lot, preferring open palm strikes more.
  • Boss Subtitles
  • Blue Eyes
  • Brought to You by The Letter "S": The "L" on his cap.
  • Butt Monkey: In Subspace Emissary Mode, Luigi is scared half to death by Waddle Dees, hit into the sky with King Dedede's hammer, ignored by his own brother when he needed help, and he gets a badge stuck to his nose. It must suck being Luigi.
    • Throw the Dog a Bone: He was however, one of the characters who could rescue the others in the final parts of the Subspace Emissary when the majority were turned into trophies by Tabuu, making him one of the six characters who will stay in your final party if you miss or purposefully don't rescue the others. Those six are also always a part of the ending sequence for the same reason.
  • Confusion Fu: A mild example. He has odd characteristics, some odd moves, and some of his moves don't hit exactly when you expect them to. And his Final Smash: Negative Zone is all kinds of weird. The misfire on his Green Missile is also unpredictable, whether you charged it or not.
  • Cowardly Lion: Luigi may be scared out of his wits most of the time, but that won't stop him from kicking your ass.
  • Difficult but Awesome: A mild example with his recovery in Melee and Brawl. His recovery can be great if his three moves capable of recovery are mastered and utilised together, but is otherwise poor.
  • Divergent Character Evolution: He started out almost a clone to Mario, but by Brawl, their attacks and playstyle have become quite different.
    • He even used to be the Trope Namer!
    • Compare his and Mario's moves in the original to his and Mario's moves in Brawl. Mario seems to draw more inspiration from kick-boxing while Luigi seems to have practised an odd form of karate.
  • Fireballs: His neutral-B. It's different from Mario's in that it just floats forward instead of obeying gravity, and it's colored green.
  • Glass Cannon/Mighty Glacier: An odd combination of these two tropes in Brawl, though leaning more towards the former than the latter, especially in Melee. He has fast and powerful attacks that can knock you very far, but has poor mobility and he can be knocked out of the ring quite easily because of his floatiness. But master his Luigi Cyclone, Green Missile, and Super Jump Punch, and they can be used to recover from this to good effect on somewhat high percentages if you know what you're doing.
  • Kung Fu Wizard/Supernatural Martial Arts: Heavily on the martial, minimal on the magical, like his brother. Luigi has more magical/supernatural variety though.
  • Lethal Joke Character: Mild example in Brawl. While he's not labeled as such, his Lovable Coward tendencies, Butt Monkey status, and somewhat odd fighting style can cause opponents to underestimate him. His general characterization in every sequel since the original seems to have made him into the SSB version of Dan, except he's still effective as far as gameplay goes.
  • Limit Break: Negative Zone.
  • Lovable Coward: Luigi may be easily frightened, but he has many, many fans.
  • Man Child: His taunts include a whole photo shoot session within a few seconds. Also, "Bang bang!" (sadly enough, there's no "proper" version of this.)
  • Palette Swap: His notable palette swaps include Fire Luigi and Waluigi.
  • Pinball Projectile: Not as noticeable as his brother, but his fireballs can indeed bounce of walls and floors like Mario's fireballs do.
  • Practical Taunt: his down taunt is a meteor smash.
  • Ryu and Ken: He started with very similar moves as Mario's.
  • Secret Character: One of the original four in the first game, and is usually grouped together with Captain Falcon, Jigglypuff, and Ness for this reason. Together with Jigglypuff, he has also stayed consistently unlockable through all three games.
  • Use Your Head: His Up Smash, grab attack, and his Side Special Green Missile!
  • White Gloves


Captain Falcon

Voiced by: Ryo Horikawa

"Show me your moves!"

Playable in: original, Melee, Brawl

Captain Falcon is the championship racer/bounty hunter who is playable in the original game, Melee, and Brawl. He appears as an unlockable character in the first game, and is available from the beginning in Melee, but he goes back to being unlockable in Brawl.

His seemingly baseless moveset is a remnant of the prototype title Dragon King: The Fighting Game (before it became a Mascot Fighter), where it was the moveset for the one character programmed in at the time.

  • The Ace
  • Awesome but Impractical: His FALCON PUNCH is very powerful (and just fun to use because it looks cool and hearing Captain Falcon is hilarious), but it's too slow to hit anything without good planning, and he's vulnerable while using it.
  • Awesome Yet Practical: Captain Falcon's other famous move, his forward aerial, dubbed by fans as the "Knee of Justice". The attack involves Captain Falcon ramming his knee in front of him, and if the initial hitbox of it is landed, it powerfully sends the opponent away in electricity. In Melee, the attack's great speed and low ending lag for its great power, as well as Falcon's ability to easily combo into it, has led to it being considered one of the best attacks in the game, and is the centerpiece of Falcon's offense. The attack was nerfed in Brawl, being slower and much harder to sweetspot, though unlike the Falcon Punch, it is still usable in competitive play.
  • Badass
  • Bare-Fisted Monk: Well, his fists are surrounded in fire.
  • Boring but Practical: In order to be played successfully in Brawl competitive play, Captain Falcon has to rely on heavy use of his jab and up aerial, playing a safe and predicting style, and focusing on punishing the opponent's mistakes, rather than rely on the Falcon Punch, his Knee Smash, and the flashy combos and maneuvers Falcon was known for in previous Smash games.
  • Boss Subtitles
  • Bounty Hunter
  • Calling Your Attacks: "Falcon Punch! Falcon Kick! C'mon, Blue Falcon!"
  • Cool Car: Blue Falcon.
  • Cool Starship: Falcon Flyer.
  • FALCON PAWNCH!
  • Gratuitous English: Voiced by the Japanese Ryo Horikawa in all versions.
  • Hot-Blooded
  • Incendiary Exponent/Playing with Fire
  • Large Ham
  • Let's Fight Like Gentlemen: He has a gun in the holster on his belt, which he never uses.
  • Lightning Bruiser: He's very fast, has some of the most powerful moves, and has one of the best endurances. Despite his nerf, Captain Falcon still fits the Lightning Bruiser build in Brawl, though without the competitive success.
  • Limit Break: Blue Falcon
  • Nerf: He was good in Smash 64 and in Melee. In Brawl, he is low tier. The sad part is that Brawl‍'‍s Captain Falcon is almost identical to Melee‍'‍s Captain Falcon; his actual moves and abilities weren't nerfed that much. The nerfing mainly comes from the complete change of the physics system and the lack of any real hitstun, which removed the one thing he absolutely excelled at: combos.
  • Out-of-Character Moment: Looking at his characterization in his home series after Smash Bros. can be jarring, as F-Zero firmly establishes him as a blunt, comically serious bounty hunter, while Smash Bros. has him as a Hot-Blooded, fiery brawler.
  • Palette Swap: One of them is his evil clone Blood Falcon. Another one is based off of fellow F-Zero racer Jody Summer.
  • Pre-Ass-Kicking One-Liner
  • Promoted to Unlockable: Started out as unlockable, but after being playable from the start in Melee, he became locked again for Brawl.
  • Rapid-Fire Fisticuffs: As his standard combo.
  • Real Men Wear Pink: One of his Palette Swaps.
  • Secret Character: One of the original four in the first game, and is usually grouped together with Luigi, Jigglypuff, and Ness for this reason. The only game where he was playable from the start is Melee.
  • Shock and Awe: His forward aerial, the aforementioned Knee Smash.
  • Signature Move: Falcon Punch. It even became a Memetic Mutation. His Knee Smash can also be considered a second signature move.
  • Super Speed: He was the fastest character, until Brawl where he was slowed down and Sonic was introduced. He's still the second-fastest, though,
    • One event has you play as Falcon running on a track while F-Zero cars are zooming by and the entire game speed is literally hyper speed, making Falcon possibly as fast as Sonic for that one level.
  • The Unexpected
  • Wall Jump
  • White Gloves: More like white and yellow gloves.


Ness

Voiced by: Makiko Ohmoto

"Okay."

Playable in: original, Melee, Brawl

The hero of EarthBound, Ness is one of the original four unlockable Smashers. After appearing in 64 and Melee, it was feared that Lucas would take his place in Brawl, but this rumor was revealed to be mostly false. (He was supposed to be replaced by Lucas back in Melee, but Mother 3 was delayed again.) Ness is unlockable in the original game and Brawl, but a starter character in Melee.

  • Awesome but Impractical: The only way you're going to hit someone with a fully charged PK Flash is if there are a 3rd or 4th player to keep each other busy, the opponent is incapacitated, or as an edgeguard to catch an opponent returning to the stage.
    • Or if you have an opponent that prefers to approach from above, but even then they should only fall for that once or twice. Emphasis on "should".
    • PK Thunder as a recovery move, since it has an extra "step" to the process that if interrupted (such as the opponent merely jumping into it), will cause Ness to fall to his doom. It also tends to fail horribly in tight vertical corridors or below one-way platforms.
  • Batter Up: His forward smash involves him swinging forward with his bat.
  • Black Bead Eyes
  • Boss Subtitles
  • Calling Your Attacks: "PK Flash! PK Fire! PK Thunder! PK STARSTORM!!!!!!!!!!"
  • Difficult but Awesome: Particularly in the first game—his attacks' hitboxes were a bit disjointed (not as bad as some later characters, but in the original, it was quite noticeable), he had some awkward ways to get his moves to work, and his saving maneuver was the one of the hardest to use. However, he also had insane power, incredible jumps, was the only character that could regain health by absorbing enemy attacks, and anyone that could use PK Thunder as a recovery move well had the ability to use one of the most powerful saving maneuvers in the game. While still one of the trickier to use in the game, Ness is one of the most Nerfed characters from the original.
  • Energy Absorption: His down special, PSI Magnet, causes energy attacks to heal him by the amount they should have damaged him, making him one of only three characters who can heal on their own (Lucas and Mr. Game & Watch with food items on the other two). More potent in the original game, where any projectile, physical or energy, would be absorbed by the move (with the exception of Link's boomerang).
  • Gratuitous English: Obviously only in the Japanese version.
  • Improbable Weapon User: He fights with a baseball bat and a yo-yo.
  • Kid Hero
  • Killer Yoyo
  • Ness Debuted In Smash Bros.: If you lived in the UK or anywhere else in Europe, Ness can be this in all three games, since his game was never released over there. Ironicly, this predates the Trope Namer, Marth.
  • Nerf: Used to be considered one of the best in the original (has since fallen to low tier), but was highly nerfed in Melee, to being a perpetual bottom tier character. And while he was buffed in Brawl, his buff was not of the same level that Kirby and Pikachu received.
  • Limit Break: PK Starstorm
  • Pint-Sized Powerhouse
  • Psychic Powers
  • Promoted to Unlockable: Same as Captain Falcon in Brawl.
  • Rapid-Fire Fisticuffs: His down tilt can be rapidly spammed.
  • Secret Character: One of the original four in the first game, and is usually grouped together with Luigi, Captain Falcon, and Jigglypuff for this reason. The only game where he was playable from the start is Melee, much like Captain Falcon.
  • Squishy Wizard: Though he's not entirely fragile for one, he can be hard to use. His unwieldy recovery move doesn't help.
  • The Unexpected: His appearance in the first game.


Jigglypuff

Voiced by: Mika Kanai (Japanese), and Rachael Lillis (English)

"Jigglypuff!"

Playable in: original, Melee, Brawl

One of the two Pokémon playable in the first game, Jigglypuff could put her enemies to sleep by singing, and her "rest" attack is about the strongest attack in the series. This Pokémon has gone on to appear in all three games.

  • The Artifact: The main reason Jigglypuff was included in the game is because Jigglypuff in the Animated Adaptation was a huge Ensemble Darkhorse, but by the time Brawl was released, said character hadn't appeared in years.
  • Blue Eyes
  • Bonus Boss: One of the 3 for the Subspace Emissary.
  • Boss Subtitles
  • Continuity Cameo: That hat it wears is that of Leaf, Red's (aka "the Pokémon Trainer"'s) female counterpart. Pikachu wears Red's original hat and Jigglypuff Leaf's. Jigglypuff is also sometimes considered a counterpart to Pikachu.
  • Crouching Moron, Hidden Badass: Jigglypuff's most powerful move is her falling asleep, but the move is super effective!
  • Glass Cannon: In Melee, her aerial game was incredible, with the fastest air speed, fast and powerful aerials, and the ability to utilise her jumps to chase an opponent far off the stage using the advanced "Wall of Pain" technique. And to top it off, her Rest attack can KO under 25% while having guaranteed combos into it. However, a combination of being the second lightest character and having the slowest falling speed made her get KO'd vertically at extremely low percentages, well before other characters would get KO'd at. She has slightly better endurance in Brawl, though her offensive capabilities have been severely reduced.
  • Joke Character: In the original. In the sequels, she's a Lethal Joke Character.
  • Killer Rabbit: According to its Pokédex entry, Jigglypuff's cuteness is really a form of self defense, luring enemies in only to put them to sleep and give them a beating.
  • Limit Break: Puff Up.
  • Magic Music: Her singing.
  • Hachimaki: One of her alternate outfits in Melee.
  • Mon
  • Nerf: In Melee, Jigglypuff was a terrifying glass cannon with an unmatchable aerial game, fast and powerful attacks, and the ability to combo about anyone into an attack that KOs under 25%. In Brawl, her strong attacks were weakened and/or slowed down, Rest went from KOing under 25% to not KOing until around 75%, and Jigglypuff's combo ability was more hindered than other characters' were by the decreased hitstun. Brawl's more defensive play has also amplified Jigglypuff's survivability issues, despite Jigglypuff being slightly heavier. Jigglypuff is currently the character to suffer the largest tier drop from Melee to Brawl, going from third best and top tier to third worst and bottom tier.
  • Nice Hat: Her alternate costumes.
  • No Biological Sex: Her gender is ambiguous, but referred to as female for simplicity's sake.
  • Non-Elemental
  • Pint-Sized Powerhouse
  • Ridiculously Cute Critter
  • Tertiary Sexual Characteristics: The bow on the back of her palette swaps in all games, the flower by her ear starting from Melee, and Leaf's hat in Brawl. Also, in Melee, another of her alternates was a crown that looked a lot like Princess Peach's.
  • Secret Character: One of the original four in the first game, and is usually grouped together with Luigi, Captain Falcon, and Ness for this reason. Together with Luigi, she has also stayed consistently unlockable through all three games.
  • Signature Move:
    • Sing, despite being able to be learned by a large number of Pokémon, is strongly associated with Jigglypuff.
    • Rest is also associated with this particular Jigglypuff.


Boss Characters

Giant Donkey Kong

Appears in: original, Melee, Brawl

Giant Donkey Kong is, well, a giant Donkey Kong, and the first mini-boss of the original's one-player gauntlet. He's so big that when you face him in 1P Mode in the original, you get two CPU allies to help you. In Melee, he shows up as a boss in Adventure Mode, but you don't get any allies. However, in this game he is simply Donkey Kong under the effects of a Super Mushroom. He also appears in a few events in both Melee and Brawl, sometimes as the player character, sometimes as an enemy.


Metal Mario

Appears in: original, Melee

Metal Mario is the second mini-boss of the original game's 1P Mode. He is very different from Mario, as he is much slower, but can take far more punishment. In Melee, he is once again a mini-boss, this time in Adventure Mode. However, the introduction of the Metal Box, which could put any character in a similar state, lowered his importance, and he doesn't return as a boss in Brawl.


Master Hand

HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA!

Appears in: original, Melee, Brawl

The final boss of Classic Mode, and the god of the Smash Bros universe. A disembodied right hand.

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