Super Smash Bros Melee/Characters

Everything About Fiction You Never Wanted to Know.


For the main article, go here.

For characters who debuted in 64, go here.

For characters who debuted in Brawl, go here.


Playable characters

Starting characters

Bowser

Voiced by Eric Newsome

"Groaaaaaaar!!!!!!!!"

Playable in: Melee, Brawl

The first villain to be playable in a Smash Bros.game, the King of the Koopas is one of the five Mario characters in Melee(unless you count Yoshi and Donkey Kong.)


Princess Peach

Voiced by Jen Taylor (Melee), Samantha Kelly (Brawl)

"Oh, did I win?"

Playable in: Melee, Brawl

Usually, Princess Peach relies on Mario to fight for her, but in Meleeand Brawl, she's able to fight.


Princess Zelda/Sheik

Voiced by Jun Mizusawa

"Hah!"

Playable in: Melee, Brawl

One is the Legacy Character princess of Hyrule, the other is her field persona used to avoid capture. Both of them are not to be underestimated.


Ice Climbers

Voiced by Sanae Kobayashi

"Ha!"

Playable in: Melee, Brawl

From the old NES game Ice Climber, Popo and Nana are a mountain climbing duo with a seemingly brother and sister bond.

  • An Ice Person
  • Black Bead Eyes
  • Boss Subtitles
  • Difficult but Awesome: In both Meleeand Brawl, the Ice Climbers demand higher awareness than most characters, precise timing to pull off their deadly chain throws, and knowledge of difficult advance techniques such as desyncing, to be played at a competitive level. The Ice Climbers however, are considered borderline high tier in Melee, and top tier in Brawl.
  • Drop the Hammer
  • Kung Fu-Proof Mook: Grab one of them and the other can slam you right off.
  • Limit Break: Iceberg.
  • Palette Swap: Notably, half of the outfits allow the player to control Nana instead of Popo.
  • Pink Girl, Blue Boy: Their outfits.
  • Sibling Team: Not literally, but they sure look the part.
  • The Southpaw
  • The Unexpected: Them appearing in Meleewould qualify, since they previously only ever existed in a single arcade/NES title, and were only added to the roster for their gameplay potential.
  • We Cannot Go on Without You: Whichever one is in the lead (Popo as the default) is the only one whose life counter matters; if the lead Ice Climber is KO'd, the other Ice Climber disappears.


Unlockable characters

Marth

Voiced by Hikaru Midorikawa

"There's no way I can lose." (translated from Japanese)

Playable in: Melee, Brawl

The prince of Altea, and the hero of the original Fire Emblem: Dark Dragon and the Sword of Light, its sequel, and the remakes thereof. Brought into the game by popular demand of the Japanese fanbase, but a complete surprise for the English base; he only speaks Japanese to reflect his games being Japan-only titles.


Mr. Game & Watch

Voiced by None

(beeps)

Playable in: Melee, Brawl

The epitome of old school, Mr. Game & Watch is the first successful digital character in Nintendo history, predating even Mario.

  • Blue and Orange Morality: According to Word of God, Game & Watch has no concept of right or wrong. He defects to the hero's side in the Emissary just because Peach gave him her parasol.
  • Boss Subtitles: Averted Trope, strangely enough.
  • Composite Character: The Game & Watch characters did not have consistent appearances, so Mr. Game & Watch is mostly based on the falling civilians in "Fire", but his moves come from many other Game & Watch games. Some of them even come from the Game & Watch games based on Mario.
  • Confusion Fu: His animations don't telegraph a lot of his attacks. Additionally, his "Judge" attack has random power, knockback, and sometimes other effects, based on a scale of one to nine. One is practically Scratch Damage, nine is a One Hit KO under normal circumstances.
  • Drop the Hammer
  • Energy Absorption: He can absorb energy attacks with his Oil Panic special - if he absorbs three, he then can use it as an attack that does the damage of the three absorbed attacks combined. In terms of raw percentage, this potentially can be the most powerful attack in the game that is not a counter or a final smash.
    • In Melee, the most powerful attack has been determined to be Mr. Game and Watch absorbing three PK Flashes, and then throwing it on Roy and having Roy counter it.
  • Glass Cannon: He is among the lightest characters in both Meleeand Brawl, but has powerful aerials, some of the strongest smash attacks, and two special moves that can potentially KO someone at 0%.
  • Hammerspace: Where he gets his "weapons" from.
  • Improbable Weapon User: He can kill with you a fish bowl, a racing flag, and a turtle.
  • Lightning Bruiser: It's arguable he is this instead of a Glass Cannon for Brawl; he has above average speed, great power, strong defensive options, and the ability to survive to surprisingly high percents with Bucket Braking and his strong recovery.
  • Limit Break: Octopus.
  • Monster Progenitor: Tabuu uses an unknown substance Game & Watch produces to create the endless Shadow Bugs that make up Tabuu's Subspace Army.
  • Nerf: Inverted. Mr. Game & Watch was given a buff in nearly every way in Brawl, being a faster, heavier, stronger character. His down special, Oil Panic, also was given the unique ability to negate all momentum, allowing him to survive to much higher percents than a character of his weight class conceivably would. These buffs made Mr. Game & Watch a top tier character in Brawl'searly days, though he has since fallen to lower high tier.
  • Secret Character: In both Meleeand Brawl.
  • Spam Attack: Uses Stan's gas sprayer as a standard A.
  • The Unexpected
  • The Voiceless: But of course.
  • Wall of Weapons Random Objects

Falco Lombardi

Voiced by Hisao Egawa (Japanese), Ben Cullum (Melee; In his ship), Dex Manley(BrawlEnglish)

"Hands off my prey!"

Playable in: Melee, Brawl

Fox's somewhat arrogant wingman, and trusted ally.

  • Attack Reflector: In Melee, he had one that worked just like Fox's. He kicks it forward in Brawl, allowing him to reflect projectiles from farther way at the expense of not being able to hold it like in Melee.
  • Beam Spam/Fricking Laser Beams: Falco's competitive metagame in both Meleeand Brawlutilise heavy use of his Blaster.
  • Blue Eyes
  • Boss Subtitles
  • Cool Starship: His Arwing.
  • Difficult but Awesome: Falco was one of the most technical characters in Melee, demanding fast reflexes and high technical skill to master his Shine combos and other advance techs. In Brawl, Falco doesn't demand as much technical skill, those he still requires more than most characters to be played at a competitive level. In both games, Falco is considered top tier.
  • Flash Step: Side Special: Falco Phantasm.
  • Fragile Speedster: Falco's attacks are among the fastest in both Meleeand Brawl, though he doesn't sustain hits very well (except for vertical KO hits in Melee, where his vertical endurance was among the best). Thanks to Falco's strong defensive options however, he competes better than the typical Fragile Speedster.
  • Lightning Bruiser: It's arguable Falco is this in Melee, where his Shine combos can be zero to death combos, has access to a fast and powerful forward smash, and has one of the best vertical endurances.
  • Limit Break: Landmaster
  • Petting Zoo People
  • Rapid-Fire Fisticuffs: Shared the Hyakuretsu Kyaku with Fox in Melee, but gained a spinning jab in Brawl.
  • Razor Wings: In Brawl, many of his attacks involve hitting the opponent with his wings, which make a "cutting" sound on contact.
  • Ryu and Ken: With Fox. His blaster was different (slower firing, but flinches enemies) and his attacks got more variations in Brawl, to the point of keeping him viable in the metagame while Fox was Nerfed.
  • Secret Character: In both Meleeand Brawl.
  • Wall Jump


Ganondorf

Voiced by Takashi Nagasako (Melee), Hironori Miyata (Brawl)

"Hm..."

Playable in: Melee, Brawl

The legendary and immortal King Of Evil, Ganondorf is the second villain to become playable in Smash Bros.

  • Awesome but Impractical: Ganondorf's Warlock Punch and up tilt (dubbed the "Volcano Kick") invoke this. The former involves Ganondorf charging his fist to unleash a mighty punch that sends opponents flying in darkness, while the latter involves Ganondorf charging his leg in a midair split, before violently crashing it into the ground in a large explosion. Both attacks can KO at ridiculously low percents. Both attacks are also the slowest attacks start-up lag wise in both Meleeand Brawl, being nearly impossible to land on a non incapacitated opponent.
  • Badass: It's Ganondorf. What did you expect? Though it's subverted in Brawl, where he is bottom tier.
  • Beard of Evil: In Brawl.
  • Boss Subtitles
  • Casting a Shadow
  • Dark Is Evil
  • Dark-Skinned Redhead
  • Difficult but Awesome: Ganondorf's "Flight of Ganon" and "Flipman" techs in Brawl. The former gives Ganondorf access to a super jump he can use at anytime when grounded, and the latter gives Ganondorf a method of getting back on stage from hanging on the ledge without lag. Both however, are very difficult to pull off consistently, especially in the midst of battle.
  • Evil Redhead
  • Fingerless Gloves
  • The Dragon: Subspace Emissary.
  • Enemy Mine: Even hepulls one in the Subspace Emissary.
  • Evil Laugh
  • Evil Sorcerer
  • Genius Bruiser: In Subspace Emissary. For a sorceror, he's awfully comfortable with high-tech gadgetry.
  • Hijacked by Ganon: Subverted, it appears to be this (and Bowser, making this a faux Big Bad Duumvirate) until an original villain re-hijacks it.
  • Limit Break: Beast Ganon
  • Mighty Glacier: Painfully slow, but one of the strongest characters.
    • Lightning Bruiser: Although his Meleeincarnation appears to be the above example at first glance, he has decent speed, and quite a few of his moves come out ridiculously quick for a character of his power.
  • Mythology Gag: His design and his sword only appeared in a tech demo, not in any actual games so far.
  • Nerf: In Melee, Ganondorf was the strongest character and a borderline Lightning Bruiser, with some very fast options and aerial attacks that were sickeningly powerful yet fast. In Brawl, Ganondorf was slowed down immensely, with many key attacks weakened or nerfed in other ways, which resulted in him becoming who is considered to be the worst character in Brawl.
  • Royals Who Actually Do Something: Is king of the Gerudo.
  • Ryu and Ken: With Captain Falcon, to many people's confusion. It's possible that he was a fairly last-minute inclusion for Meleeand they didn't have time to give him a completely original moveset, but he still cribs off Falcon in Brawl.
  • Secret Character: In both Meleeand Brawl.
  • Supernatural Martial Arts: He fights with magic-boosted punches and kicks. One of his taunts has him pull a sword, but he doesn't use it.

Dr. Mario

Voiced by Charles Martinet

"Waa-haa!"

Playable in: Melee

Mario as he appears in his most famous puzzle game title. Jokes involving prescriptions and heated combat not included.


Young Link

Voiced by Fujiko Takimoto

"Haaaaah!"

Playable in: Melee

The Hero of Time's younger self.


Pichu

Voiced by Satomi Koorogi

"Pichu!"

Playable in: Melee

The pre-evolved form of Pikachu. Pichu is an overall weak character, being even lighter than Jigglypuff with weak attacks, but hard to catch. He is easy to throw, however.


Roy

"It was a difficult fight." (translated from Japanese)

Voiced by Jun Fukuyama

Playable in: Melee

The main character of Fire Emblem: Sword of Seals, a game that would be released soon after Melee. He was put in the game so fans could get excited about the new game.

  • Blue Eyes
  • Demoted to Extra: While the others were reduced to trophies, he was nothing more than a sticker and unused playable data.
  • Fragile Speedster: While he appears to be a Mighty Glacier to casual players and novices due to his powerful forward smash, Flare Blade, and his laggy attacks, Roy fights as a Fragile Speedster in competitive play. His fast dashing and falling speed give Roy access to one of the fastest SHFFLs, but Roy suffers from being heavily susceptible to combos, having one of the worst recoveries, poor horizontal endurance, and severe difficulties in finishing off opponents due to his lack of reliable KO moves outside his forward smash.
  • Marth Debuted in Smash Bros: No, Roy literally did. That said, given that Sword of Sealsnever saw international release, the trope pretty much played out as normal.
  • Playing with Fire
  • Power Creep, Power Seep: For all the romanticizing Roy recieved from Smash Bros., he is infamous in Sword of Sealsfor being pretty weak on average.
  • Ryu and Ken: He shares animations with Marth.
  • Secret Character: In Melee.
  • The Unexpected: Roy made his debutin Melee. Fire Emblem: Sword of Sealscame out a few months later. Even the Japanese were surprised.


Mewtwo

Voiced by Masachika Ichimura

"Heiee!"

Playable in: Melee

One of the original legendary Pokémon next to Mew. Mewtwo's mastery of psychic power is nearly unrivaled.

  • Awesome but Impractical: His moves may be awkward and ineffective, but the animations are awesome. For example, his dash attack with the Beam Sword has the sword spinning in front of him.
  • Badass
  • Casting a Shadow
  • Demoted to Extra: Reduced to a trophy in Brawl.
  • Glass Cannon: He hits hard, with some of the strongest throws in Melee, but has poor endurance that combines with his high susceptibility to combos due to his large size. Mewtwo is supposed to weigh 269 pounds/122 kg. Here, it is lighter than Peach, Zelda, and even the Ice Climbers.
  • Mind Over Matter: His telekinetic lift. Also, he never comes into contact with any of the items he picks up, nor does he touch the ground while moving around.
  • Mon
    • Olympus Mons: Incredibly powerful, but a man-made clone of Mew, not anything related to mythology.
  • No Biological Sex: Technically genderless, but referred as male for simplicity's sake.
  • Palette Swap: His shiny form is one of them.
  • Power Creep, Power Seep: One of the best Pokémon in the games turned low tier character in Melee.
  • Psychic Powers
  • Secret Character: In Melee.
  • The Voiceless: In the English localizations. In Japanese, he speaks when he wins.


Boss characters

Crazy Hand

GAAH-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA!

Appears in: Melee, Brawl

The Bonus Boss of Classic Mode, and Master Hand's more impulsive and destructive counterpart. A disembodied left hand.

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