List of Super Smash Bros. series characters

A character is the term used to describe beings in the Super Smash Bros. series. Characters can be sorted into playable and non-playable, which distinguishes whether characters can be used without the use of a cheat device (like Action Replay) or not. Playable characters can further be divided into starter, unlockable, or downloadable, which distinguishes whether characters can be played right away, whether they need to be unlocked by fulfilling certain requirements, or must be downloaded before gameplay is possible.

Playable Characters
This is a list of the playable characters in the Super Smash Bros. series, commonly known in official sources as fighters.

Non-playable characters
The following characters are considered non-playable. These include boss characters and enemy teams, among others. Hacking and action replay codes may allow some level of play.

Trivia

 * Meowth, Dixie Kong, Plusle & Minun, and various 'toon' versions of characters were all planned characters from various SSB games that never made the final cut as characters in any game.
 * The Ice Climbers are the only characters to be cut after appearing in multiple games.
 * Dr. Mario, Mewtwo, and Roy are the only characters that have returned after being cut in the preceding title.
 * Luigi, Captain Falcon, Ness, Jigglypuff, Ganondorf, Marth, Sonic, Lucario, Toon Link and Bowser Jr. are the only characters that debuted as hidden characters and went to become starter characters in the later games.
 * Wario is the only character to debut as a starter and appear as a hidden character in the next title.
 * Dr. Mario, Falco, Mr. Game & Watch, and R.O.B are the only characters to be unlockable in every game that they were in.
 * Samus is the only female character to appear in all four Super Smash Bros. games, as Pokémon were not considered gendered at the time of the first game's release.