List of Super Smash Bros. series characters

In the Super Smash Bros. series, the characters are toys in the real world, but they are fighters in the world of the imagination. 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.

Mii Fighter Characters
The following characters are featured as costumes for the Mii Fighters
 * Akira Yuki - Virtua Fighter
 * Ashley - WarioWare, Inc.
 * Black Knight - Fire Emblem
 * Captain Falcon - F-Zero
 * Chrom - Fire Emblem
 * Dunban - Xenoblade Chronicles
 * Flying Man - EarthBound
 * Fox McCloud - Star Fox
 * Geno - Super Mario RPG
 * Gil - Tower of Druaga
 * Heihachi Mishima - Tekken
 * Inkling - Splatoon
 * Isabelle - Animal Crossing
 * Jacky Bryant - Virtua Fighter
 * King K. Rool - Donkey Kong
 * Knuckles The Echidna - Sonic The Hedgehog
 * Link - The Legend of Zelda
 * Lloyd Irving - Tales
 * MegaMan.EXE - Mega Man Battle Network
 * Proto Man - Mega Man
 * Samus Aran - Metroid
 * Tails - Sonic The Hedgehog
 * Takamaru - The Mysterious Murasame Castle
 * Toad - Super Mario Bros.
 * Viridi - Kid Icarus
 * X - Mega Man X
 * Zero - Mega Man X

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

 * In a Super Smash Bros. Direct, Masahiro Sakurai said that the fighters in the Super Smash Bros series are actually toys in the real world and that the Super Smash Bros. games take place in the world of imagination.
 * 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 were the only characters to be cut after appearing in multiple games.
 * Dr. Mario, Mewtwo, Ice Climbers, Wolf O'Donnell, Solid Snake, Pokémon Trainer, Ivysaur, Squirtle, and Roy are the only characters that have returned after being cut in the preceding title.
 * Pichu and Young Link are the only characters to return after being absent for multiple games.
 * Luigi, Captain Falcon, Ness, Jigglypuff, Ganondorf, Marth, Sonic, Lucario, and Toon Link are the only characters that debuted as hidden characters and went to become starter characters in the later games.
 * Wario, Peach, Bowser, Ice Climbers, Zelda, Sheik, Meta Knight, Pit, Zero Suit Samus, Pokémon Trainer, Charizard, Ivysaur, Squirtle, Palutena, Pac-Man, Villager, Wii Fit Trainer, Rosalina, Luma, Little Mac, Greninja, Mega Man, Robin, Shulk and Lucas are the only characters to debut as starters and have their availability options switched in future Smash Bros. installments.
 * Bowser Jr. is the only character to debut as both a starter and an unlockable character.
 * Dr. Mario, Falco, Mr. Game & Watch, and R.O.B are the only characters to be unlockable in every Smash Bros. installment they appear in.
 * Samus is the only female character to appear in all six Super Smash Bros. games, as Pokémon were not considered gendered at the time of the first game's release.
 * Mario, Donkey Kong, Link, Samus, Yoshi, Kirby, Fox and Pikachu are the only characters to be starters in all six Super Smash Bros. games.
 * Mario, Donkey Kong, Link, Samus, Yoshi, Kirby, Fox, Pikachu, Luigi, Ness, Captain Falcon and Jigglypuff are the only characters to appear in all six Super Smash Bros. games.