Universe

A character's universe refers to the series of video games and related media (the franchise) he, she, or it is tied to. For instance, Link is the main hero in games from The Legend of Zelda™ series; thus, he belongs to The Legend of Zelda universe. Falco is a supporting character in the Star FoxTM series; thus, he belongs to the Star Fox universe. Every of this Universes have their own symbol.

The Super Smash Bros. universe is the original series universe that hosts the matches, bouts, and tournaments where the various game franchises contribute their characters and properties to the action. The following lists are of the various video game universes that have thus far been represented in the Super Smash Bros. series.

Main universes
These are the universes whose characters have had starring roles as fighters in Smash Bros. games.


 * The Mario universe: Encompasses characters, items, and worlds from the many Mario video games. Playable characters include the titular Nintendo icon Mario (and his medicine man guise as Dr. Mario), his brother Luigi, his giant reptilian rival Bowser, the princess Peach (with Princess Daisy as an alternate costume), Mario's dinosaur steed Yoshi, his (usually) friendly gorilla rival Donkey Kong, and his greedy, obese counterpart Wario. This is Nintendo's biggest universe, so big that there are sub-universes found within here:
 * The Yoshi universe: Encompasses characters, items, and worlds from the subset of Mario video games concerning Yoshi. Yoshi himself is the only playable character thus far.
 * The Donkey Kong universe: Encompasses characters, items, and worlds from the subset of Mario video games that revolve around Donkey Kong. Himself and Diddy Kong are the only playable characters thus far.
 * The Wario universe: Encompasses characters, items, and worlds from the Wario sub-franchise of video games. Wario himself is the only playable character thus far.


 * The Legend of Zelda universe: Encompasses characters, items, and worlds from The Legend of Zelda series of adventure video games. Playable characters include the elven warrior Link, the princess of Hyrule Zelda, her transformable guise as the ninja-like Sheik, Link's younger self as Young Link, and the king of evil Ganondorf in his human form.


 * The Metroid universe: Encompasses creatures, main character, items, and worlds from the Metroid series of space-exploration video games. The playable characters from Metroid thus far have been female bounty hunter Samus Aran in her power suit and her unarmored form Zero-Suit Samus.


 * The Kirby universe: Encompasses characters, items, and worlds from the Kirby series of video games. Playable characters include the titular pink spherical creature Kirby, his menacing, masked, but honorable rival Meta Knight, and his arch-nemisis, the selfish and greedy self-proclaimed king of Dream Land, King Dedede.


 * The Star Fox universe: Encompasses characters, items, and worlds from the Star Fox series of space shooter video games. Playable characters include main Star Fox team pilot Fox McCloud and team copilot Falco Lombardi.


 * The Pokémon universe: Encompasses creatures, items, and worlds from the expansive Pokémon media franchise. Playable characters include electric Pokémon mascot Pikachu, its pre-evolved younger form Pichu, the pink spherical Jigglypuff, and the genetically engineered humanoid psychic feline Mewtwo. An unnamed Pokémon Trainer, who uses Squirtle, Ivysaur, and Charizard to fight for him, is also playable in Super Smash Bros. Brawl.


 * The F-Zero universe: Encompasses characters and worlds from the F-Zero series of futuristic racing video games. Thus far, F-Zero flagship racer Captain Douglas Jay Falcon (who has Blood Falcon as an alternate costume) has been the only officially playable character from this series.


 * The EarthBound universe: Encompasses character, items, and world from the series of video games, entitled "Mother" in Japan. The only American game released was Mother 2, better known as EarthBound. Psychically gifted tyke Ness is the main character and has been playable in the first two games of the Super Smash Bros. series, while Lucas, hero of the sequel of EarthBound, Mother 3, is the only character from the series confirmed for Brawl.


 * The Ice Climber universe: Encompasses characters and world from the Ice Climber video game. The two-member fighting team Ice Climbers (Popo and Nana) are one playable fighter.


 * The Fire Emblem universe: Encompasses characters and worlds from the fantasy strategy-RPGs developed under the Fire Emblem name. Marth, main character of Fire Emblem 1 and 3, and Roy, main character of the sixth game in the series, are playable characters. Ike, the main character of Fire Emblem: Path of Radience is also playable in Brawl, though the statuses of Marth and Roy are currently unknown.


 * The Game & Watch universe: Encompasses character and world from the Game & Watch series of handheld game systems. The modern representation of the formerly unnamed protagonist of several of these games, Mr.Game & Watch, is a playable character.


 * The Kid Icarus universe: Encompasses character, items, and worlds from the Kid Icarus series of adventure video games. Pit, the so-called Kid Icarus and main character of the series, is playable in Brawl.


 * The Metal Gear universe: Encompasses character, items, and worlds from the third-party Metal Gear video games. Main series character Solid Snake is playable in Brawl.


 * The Sonic the Hedgehog universe: Encompasses character, items, and worlds from the third party Sonic the Hedgehog video games. Main series character Sonic the Hedgehog is playable in Brawl.


 * The Super Smash Bros. universe: Encompasses characters, items, and worlds which come from the Super Smash Bros. series itself. Master Hand, Crazy Hand, Giga Bowser, the Fighting Wire Frames, the Polygon Team, and Sandbag are all original characters which make their appearances in the series, fitting various roles, such as being a boss.

Minor universes
These are the various franchises who have not had characters starring as fighters in Smash Bros. games.


 * 1080 Snowboarding/Avalanche: Snowboarding games released for the Nintendo 64 and GameCube. A character from the first game (but not the second), Kensuke Kimachi, cameos as a collectible trophy in Melee.
 * Animal Crossing series: A GameCube game in the style of the PC game The Sims, later seen on Nintendo DS. Three trophies - Tom Nook, Totakeke, and Mr. Resetti - are of characters in the game, and these serve as a "preview" to the game because Melee was released before Animal Crossing on GameCube. Also a stage based on the Animal Crossing franchise called Smashville and a Pitfall item have been confirmed for Super Smash Bros. Brawl, and Mr. Resetti is also an Assist Trophy.
 * Balloon Fight: An NES game whose titular character cameos as a collectible trophy in Melee, and the Flipper obstacle is featured as an item from Melee. In addition, Balloon Fighter was one of the candidates, along with Excitebiker, to be a playable character in SSBM; however, the position eventually went to the Ice Climbers. Interestingly enough, the Balloon Trip music from the NES game was put into SSBM as an alternate song for Icicle Mountain, the Ice Climbers' home stage. Balloon Fighter artwork is also a Sticker in SSBB, and the fish from the original game also appears in the Ice Climber stage, The Summit.
 * Big Brain Academy: Artwork of Dr. Lobe from the Big Brain Academy games appears as a Sticker in SSBB.
 * Brain Age: Train Your Brain in Minutes a Day!: Music from this game appears as a My Music option in PictoChat.
 * Card Hero: A trading card game based on a Game Boy Color game; both were not released outside Japan. One of its characters, Maruo Maruhidge, cameos as a collectible trophy in Melee.
 * Clu Clu Land: An NES game whose main character, Bubbles, cameos as a collectible trophy in Melee.
 * Cubivore: A simulation Gamecube game released in 2002. The Alpha trophy represents a denizen of this game world.
 * Custom Robo series: Three robot combatants, Ray MK II, Bayonette, and Annie, cameo as collectible trophies in Melee.
 * Devil World: Tamagon, the game's protagonist, appears as a trophy in Melee, though it cannot be obtained unless the game is hacked in the North American version, and it is completely absent from the PAL version. Only in the Japanese version is it fully obtainable. In addition, the Devil from the game is an Assist Trophy in Brawl.
 * Doshin the Giant: The two forms that the Giant can take, Love Giant and Hate Giant, cameo as collectible trophies in Melee.
 * Duck Hunt: A classic shooting game for NES that made use of the NES gun perpheral. A pair of the unfortunate ducks involved cameo as a collectible trophy in Melee.
 * Excitebike: A side-scrolling racing game whose depiction of a motorcyclist racer is a collectible trophy in Melee and an Assist Trophy in Brawl.
 * Famicom Detective Club: Ayumi Tachibana cameos as a collectible trophy in Melee.
 * Famicom Disk System: A disc-based add-on for the Famicom, the japanese NES. Its simplistic mascot, Diskun (aka Mr. Disk), cameos as a collectible trophy in Melee.
 * Kuru Kuru Kururin: Heririn cameos as a collectible trophe in Melee.
 * Mach Rider: A driving game that was one of the launch titles for the original NES. The titular character, Mach Rider, is a collectible trophy. Also, music from Mach Rider can sometimes be heard on the Big Blue stage.
 * Nintendo DS: The Nintendo DS' default PictoChat program is represented by the PictoChat stage in Brawl.
 * Nintendo Wars: A tactical war game, represented by the Infantry Assist Trophy in Brawl.
 * Nintendogs: A pet simulation game released in multiple versions for the Nintendo DS. The puppies from Nintendogs appear as an Assist Trophy character in Brawl. A Nintendog is also a Sticker and a Trophy in the same game.
 * Panel de Pon: The Lip's Stick item is a tool from this product.
 * Perfect Dark series: Sci-fi stealth-based FPS games by former Nintendo developer Rareware (now known simply as "Rare"). The Motion Sensor Bomb and Cloaking Device are featured as items.
 * Pikmin series: A real-time strategy game series for GameCube and an original creation of Shigeru Miyamoto. The main character, Captain Olimar, and the titular creatures, the Pikmin, cameo as separate, collectible trophies. In fact, the former is acquired by starting Melee with a memory card containing a Pikmin save on it inserted into the GameCube. Bulborb appears as a trophy in Brawl
 * Punch-Out!!: A boxing game on the NES, represented by Little Mac as an Assist Trophy.
 * Robot: A two-game series consisting of the games Gyromite and Stack-Up. Their protagonist, R.O.B., appears as a member of the Subspace Army in SSBB.
 * Shaberu! DS Oryouri NAVI: A Japan-only digital cookbook for the DS. A song from the game appears in the Japanese version of SSBB. It is unknown if it will appear in other releases.
 * Sheriff: A 1979 arcade game whose main character and enemy sprites cameo together in a collectible trophy for Melee. Also, artwork of the Sheriff appears as a Sticker in SSBB.
 * Shin Oni Ga Shima: A game retelling of a Japanese folktale. The main characters, Donbe & Hikari, cameo together as a collectible trophy in Melee.
 * SimCity series: Dr. Wright cameos as a collectible trophy in Melee. He also appears as a Helper in Brawl.
 * Sin & Punishment: Saki Amamiya appears as an Assist Trophy in Brawl.
 * Wave Race series: A series of jet-ski racing games released for Game Boy Color, Nintendo 64, and GameCube. The flagship character of the latter two, Ryota Hayami, cameos as a collectible trophy in Melee.
 * Wii: Two songs from default software on the Wii appear as My Music options in PictoChat.

Note
There is a theory of the inclusion of series in Brawl that involves the numbering of each icon on the official website for Brawl, Smash Bros. DOJO!!. When the icons are saved as images, they have predetermined names. Each name has a number and labeled under the file names of 'world_b_#'. Due to the numbering of the icons, the franchises that were introduced in Super Smash Bros. Melee are numbered between those in the original Super Smash Bros. and Brawl. However, there were only three franchises introduced in Melee -- Fire Emblem, Game and Watch, and Ice Climber. The 12th icon is Fire Emblem, and the 14th icon is Ice Climber. Due to this ordering, icon 13 has to be a franchise that was introduced to Super Smash Bros. in Melee. Because Fire Emblem and Ice Climber are already icons 12 and 14, the Game and Watch series is the only franchise that can be icon 13, meaning that there will be some Game and Watch content in Brawl.

This is a listing of the confirmed universes and their accompanying file names:
 * World_B_01: Super Smash Bros.
 * World_B_02: Donkey Kong
 * World_B_03: Star Fox
 * World_B_04: Kirby
 * World_B_05: F-Zero
 * World_B_06: Metroid
 * World_B_07: Mother/Earthbound
 * World_B_08: Pokémon
 * World_B_09: The Legend of Zelda
 * World_B_10: Mario
 * World_B_11: Yoshi
 * World_B_12: Fire Emblem
 * World_B_13: ??? (Presumably Game & Watch
 * World_B_14: Ice Climbers
 * World_B_15: Animal Crossing
 * World_B_16: Wario
 * World_B_17: Metal Gear
 * World_B_18: Kid Icarus
 * World_B_19: ??? (WHAT THE---?!?)
 * World_B_20: Sonic the Hedgehog
 * World_B_21: Nintendo DS

As you can see, there are 21 universes. HOWEVER, one universe has not been shown yet or known to be from a previous installment other than the Game & Watch series. Therefore, there is still yet another universe that has not yet been shown, and there may even be more individual universes not yet shown.