Palette Swap (Super Smash Bros. Brawl)

Brawl changed the idea with color changes just a bit. While Melee added a few extra outfits to some characters, Brawl promises six colors each.

However, there are exceptions. All the playable characters of the Pokémon universe (Pikachu, Jigglypuff, Pokémon Trainer and Lucario), as well as Sonic, have less than six. The other exception is that Wario has two outfits, each with multiple color choices, effectively doubling his alternate costume choices. These are changed by clicking on the character (any controller), pressing 1/2 (Nunchuck), or pressing X/Y (Classic, Gamecube).

Color Blindness
A few characters (namely, Lucario and Sonic) have sets of costume changes that can be difficult to distinguish from each other in a match. As such, tournaments have a rule stating that in a doubles match, a partly colorblind Lucario or Sonic player may request to be given the blue team. In some cases, texture hacks are used to make the color difference more obvious.

Bowser

 * Green (Default) based on his appearance from SNES, N64, GCN, Wii, GBA, and DS.
 * Black
 * Red: Resembles a Red Koopa Troopa or a Spiny.
 * Blue: Resembles Bowser's appearance on the international covers of Super Mario Bros.
 * White: This costume turns Bowser's hair red and his shell and spiked collars to white, somewhat resembling Dry Bowser from New Super Mario Bros. and Mario Kart Wii. It also resembles Morton Koopa Jr.'s white and gold shell and darker skin.
 * Brown: Resembles Boom Boom from Super Mario Bros. 3.

Captain Falcon

 * Blue (Default)
 * Black: Falcon's costume from the F-Zero X Expansion set, as well as the F-Zero X commercial in Japan.
 * Red: Nearly identical to his rival Blood Falcon's outfit, even the writing on his back changes to say "Blood Hawk" with a skull design around the lettering.
 * Green: Resembles the color scheme of the Wild Goose, Pico's F-Zero vehicle.
 * Light Blue: This is a reference to his original F-Zero appearances (his costume in the F-Zero games is more vibrant than his Super Smash Bros. outfits).
 * Used when Captain Falcon is on the Blue team.
 * White: Resembles Jody Summers' outfit.

Diddy Kong

 * Red (Default)
 * Yellow: Resembles the alternate outfit when the second player also played as Diddy Kong in the original Donkey Kong Country series.
 * Pink: Resembles the outfit worn by fellow DK character Dixie Kong in Donkey Kong Country 2: Diddy's Kong Quest and Donkey Kong Country 3: Dixie's Double Trouble. Diddy also gains Dixie's light yellow fur color.
 * Purple: Resembles the alternate costume worn by Diddy when the second player used him in Donkey Kong Country 2.
 * Green The color inverse of his default colors.
 * Blue: Resembles the outfit worn by fellow DK character Lanky Kong in Donkey Kong 64.

Donkey Kong
All of Donkey Kong's color changes can be traced back to the multiplayer mode of Donkey Kong 64. DK had several alternate costumes that looked similar to the ones in Brawl.
 * Brown (Default) based on his appearance from the SNES, N64, GCN, Wii, GBA, and DS.
 * Black: A possible reference to Chunky Kong.
 * Red: May represent the original Donkey Kong from the arcade game with the same name who had reddish orange fur.
 * Blue:
 * Green:
 * White: Looks like Snowflake, the only albino gorilla known to this day. It may also be a reference to Eddie the Mean Old Yeti from the Donkey Kong County animated series.

Falco

 * White (Default): Based off his character model from Star Fox: Command.
 * Yellow: Looks like clothes from Star Fox: Assault ' s multiplayer.
 * Blue: Looks like clothes from Star Fox: Assault ' s multiplayer.
 * Red: Looks like clothes from Star Fox: Assault ' s multiplayer.
 * Green: Looks like clothes from Star Fox: Assault ' s multiplayer. Also believed to be what Falco wore when he was not a member of the Star Fox team.
 * Black: Looks like the clothes he wore from Star Fox: Adventures, excluding the black feathers. The black color is also to match Fox's (and by extension, Wolf's) dark costume.

Fox

 * Grey (Default): Based off his character model from Star Fox: Command.
 * Black: Named the "Dark Fox" on the DOJO!!. Similar dark color schemes are also available for Falco and Wolf.
 * Red: Looks like clothes from Star Fox: Assault ' s multiplayer.
 * Green: Looks like clothes from Star Fox: Assault ' s multiplayer. Also resembles the outfit of his father, James McCloud, as well as original Star Fox concept art.
 * Blue: Looks like clothes from Star Fox: Assault ' s multiplayer.
 * White: Appears to be derived from his outfit from Star Fox Adventures.

Ganondorf

 * Black (Default): Based off his most recent character design in The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess.
 * Grey: This may be a reference to the original Phantom Ganon. However, that could be a stretch, seeing as Phantom Ganon had a white face, and not white hair.
 * Blue
 * Green
 * Red: Similar to his second Ocarina of Time costume, as well as referencing the fact that in most 2D games he wore a red cloak.
 * Brown: This costume has the same colors as his Super Smash Bros. Melee design, slightly darkening his red hair, and using the same design of cape.

Ice Climbers
Popo and Nana switch positions for their red, black, and white costumes, but they do not switch positions on the selection screen like they did in Melee.
 * Pink and Dark Blue (Default)
 * Red and Light Blue A variation based on their default look.
 * Blue and Blue
 * Black and White:
 * Green and Yellow
 * White The only costume that renders both climbers' coats the same color, but also the only one that gives them different mitt colors.

Ike

 * Brown (Default): Based on his Ranger class outfit from Fire Emblem: Path of Radiance.
 * Yellow: Resembles the outfit of his father, Greil, from Fire Emblem: Path of Radiance.
 * Red: Resembles the outfit of Mia from Fire Emblem: Path of Radiance and Fire Emblem: Radiant Dawn.
 * Blue: Based on his third-tier vanguard class in Fire Emblem: Radiant Dawn. It also greatly resembles Sigurd from Fire Emblem: Seisen no Keifu.
 * Green: Based on allied units from the GBA Fire Emblem games.
 * Tan: Based on the mages in Fire Emblem: Path of Radiance.

Jigglypuff
Jigglypuff's alternate costumes are mostly feminine accessories, which is one of the reasons why this Jigglypuff is considered to be female.
 * Pink (Default)
 * Red: The same red flower Jigglypuff had in Melee. It also resembles Phoebe's flower from Pokémon Ruby and Sapphire.
 * White: Gives Jigglypuff a hat like the hat the female hero of Pokémon FireRed & LeafGreen (known as Leaf by default) wears, just as Pikachu wears the hat of the male hero of Pokémon FireRed & LeafGreen.
 * Blue: Jigglypuff's shiny color. The hat resembles those worn by the Bug Catcher and Lady trainer classes from the Pokémon games. It also resembles the hat worn by Yellow from the Pokemon Manga.
 * Green: Very similar to the hat worn by Kirby when he has his Sleep ability.

King Dedede

 * Red (Default)
 * Pink: Similar to an alternate costume in Kirby Air Ride.
 * Green: Similar to an alternate costume in Kirby Air Ride.
 * Purple: Features a very ornately decorated belt, similar to one on a formal Japanese kimono. This costume is also similar to an alternate costume in Kirby Air Ride.
 * Blue: Features a belt that contains the same icons as one of the menu schemes from Kirby 64.
 * Brown: Mirrors Kirby's white costume, making him appear like he did in Kirby's Dream Land for the Game Boy.

Kirby
All these colors are also similar to different Kirby colors in games such as Kirby Air Ride and Kirby & the Amazing Mirror. They are all also usable in Squeak Squad, where color variations are distinct and each have their own names.
 * Pink (Default)
 * Yellow: Shigeru Miyamoto originally wanted Kirby to be yellow, but Sakurai was determined to make him pink. Sakurai won, but the yellow Kirby design later appeared as Keeby, the character controlled by Player 2 in the Kirby games. Yellow Kirby also resembles Beam Kirby from Kirby Super Star, sans the hat.
 * Blue: The same as when Kirby is Ice Kirby in Kirby Super Star, sans the hat.
 * Red: The same as when Kirby is Fire Kirby in Kirby Super Star, sans the hat. Also used for Player 3 in recent multiplayer games.
 * Green The same as when Kirby is Plasma Kirby in Kirby Super Star, sans the hat. Also used for Player 4 in recent multiplayer games.
 * White: Based on Kirby's monochrome appearance from the original Kirby's Dream Land. It is also similar to Kirby's appearance on the North American box cover. In addition, it resembles Ice Kirby from Kirby's Adventure. It also resembles Shadow Kirby from Kirby & the Amazing Mirror. It is most similar in appearance to the alternate "Chalk" palette in more recent Kirby games.

Link

 * Green (Default): Based off his latest character design from The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess.
 * Red: Can be traced back to the Red Ring in the original The Legend of Zelda and possibly the Shield Spell in its sequel The Adventure of Link. However, it is more likely based on the Goron Tunic that featured in Ocarina of Time. Is the only one to change the color of his belt.
 * Blue: Can be traced back to the Zora Tunic used during The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time.
 * Lavender: Based off of the Blue Ring from The Legend of Zelda for the NES.
 * Yellow: A reference to an instance in The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess; when he drinks either Rare Chu Jelly or Great Fairy Tears, it would give him a golden appearance.
 * Black: Based off Dark Link who originated from Zelda II: The Adventure of Link and appeared again in Ocarina of Time. Due to the red eyes, some people believe this particular design comes from the Dark Links that Lanayru used to symbolize the Dark Interlopers in his vision in Twilight Princess.

Lucario

 * Tan (Default)
 * Used when Lucario is on the Blue team.
 * Red
 * Blue:
 * White/Silver
 * Green

Lucas

 * Yellow (Default)
 * Orange: Makes Lucas' hair burnt orange, and also changes his shirt to blue and yellow stripes, making him resemble his twin brother Claus.
 * Red
 * Blue
 * Green
 * Purple

Luigi

 * Green (Default) resembles his outfit from the Mario games on SNES, N64, GCN, Wii, GBA, and DS.
 * Orange
 * Red: Based around what Luigi wore from Wrecking Crew, in which he wore pink.
 * Blue: Probably resembles Mario on the American cartridge art for Mario Bros. It is also one of the 'flashing colors' when using star power in an underground stage of the original Super Mario Bros.
 * White: Based on Fire Luigi. This costume replaced the white version that appeared in SSB and SSBM, which was based off Luigi's colors in Super Mario Bros on the NES.
 * Purple: Makes Luigi resemble Waluigi, his arch-rival from the Mario games from N64, GCN, Wii, GBA, and DS.

Mario

 * Red (Default) based on his appearance from the Mario games on the SNES, N64, GCN, Wii, GBA, and DS.
 * White: Based on Fire Mario's appearance dating back to Super Mario Bros. onward.
 * Blue: Based on Mario's overalls colors from when he was Jumpman from Donkey Kong, though he wore a red hat with that outfit. It's also based upon one of the promotional images for Mario Bros., although it's not what he wore in the actual game. Also resembles Ice Mario in New super Mario Bros. Wii.
 * Yellow: Based on Wario from the Mario games on N64, GCN, Wii, GBA, and DS, just as in the previous Smash titles.
 * Brown: Based on Foreman Spike from Wrecking Crew '98, which was confirmed on the original SSB Japanese site. It also makes him resemble Flying Mario in Super Mario Galaxy.
 * Green: The color inverse of his default colors. It also appeared as part of the "flashing" animation from a Starman in the original Super Mario Bros.

Marth

 * Blue (Default)
 * Red
 * Green
 * Black
 * White: Based on Leaf, the protagonist of Fire Emblem: Thracia 776.
 * Light Blue: Closely based off the official artwork for Fire Emblem: Monsho no Nazo (even the hair color changes to match the said artwork). It closely resembles the color scheme used for the non-promoted male Lord class in many Fire Emblem games, especially when coupled with the abnormally blue hair and bright red cape lining.
 * Used when Marth is on the Blue team.

Meta Knight
All of Meta Knight's costumes are similar to alternate costumes from Kirby Air Ride.
 * Blue (Default)
 * White Resembles a Paladin, a Holy Knight.
 * Red
 * Green
 * Black: Although believed by some fans to be inspired by Kirby and the Amazing Mirror ' s Dark Meta Knight, it actually resembles his official art from his first appearance in Kirby's Adventure, where his mask and shoes were depicted as a dark purple color, his body was close to black, and his cape was red. However, in this appearance, his eyes were not red and his gloves were white, unlike the palette swap.
 * Pink: Meta Knight's skin color in this palette swap resembles Kirby, although the costume itself is irrelevant.

Mr Game & Watch
All of his colors are in the first color Game & Watch, Spitball Sparky.
 * Black (Default): Based on the G&W characters from the games Fire and Parachute.
 * Red : Looks like when Mr. Game & Watch gets stunned.
 * Yellow : Looks like when he is holding a fully charged Super Scope.
 * Blue : Looks like when he gets hurt by an aura attack.
 * Green
 * Light Blue : The inverse of his red palette swap.

Ness

 * Red (Default)
 * White: Features a white T-shirt with red sleeves, the same as the shirt Fuel wears in Mother 3. However, this may not be a reference, as nothing else Ness wears matches Fuel's appearance. This outfit, as well as the Purple/Black outfit make Ness the first main character from the Mother series to wear a non-striped shirt.
 * Yellow
 * Green
 * Blue: Is based off of Ness's younger self that he encounters briefly in EarthBound, who was wearing a blue hat. Some also consider this outfit to be a reference to EarthBound ' s final battle against Giygas, where a reflection of Ness's face wearing a blue-purple hat appeared in the Devil's Machine.
 * Purple/Black: Has a Mr. Saturn sprite drawn on the front of his shirt. This outfit, as well as the White outfit make Ness the first main character from the Mother series to wear a non-striped shirt.

Olimar

 * Tan (Default)
 * White Makes Olimar look like an astronaut.
 * Red
 * Black/Gold: Makes Olimar look like the President of Hocotate. Resembles Raccoon Olimar's uniform.
 * Green: Makes Olimar resemble his son.
 * Blue: Makes Olimar look like Louie.

Peach

 * Pink (Default) based on her outfit from the Mario games on the SNES, N64, GCN, Wii, GBA, and DS.
 * Yellow: Resembles Daisy. However, unlike Melee, this is only a re-coloring. Her earrings, crown, brooch, and skin remain unchanged and is based on Daisy's outfit from the Mario Games on the N64, GCN, Wii, and DS.
 * Red: Makes Peach appear similar to Pauline from Donkey Kong.
 * Blue: Resembles Peach's outfit from NES Open Tournament Golf. Also gives Peach's crown the same color scheme as the crown of Rosalina from Super Mario Galaxy.
 * Green: Resembles Daisy's outfit from NES Open Tournament Golf.
 * White: May be a reference to her appearance at the end of Super Mario Bros and her wedding dress from Super Paper Mario. Might also be off Super Mario Sunshine, as her parasol and some parts of her dress were white. The white color of her dress isn't as bright as her Melee white costume, and this one doesn't include tights anymore.

Pikachu
Pikachu is the only character to have only four costume choices in Brawl.
 * Yellow (Default)
 * Red: Includes Red's hat, the protagonist of Pokémon Red and Blue. Pikachu's fur color also changes to look akin to a shiny Pikachu.
 * Green: Includes Brendan's headband as it appeared in Pokémon Emerald.
 * Blue: Has the goggles worn by Pichu in Melee, which are possibly a reference to those worn by the "Swimmer" class of trainer in the Pokémon series. Because the goggles are the same as Pichu's, it is widely believed by fans that this Pikachu is in fact the same Pichu from Melee that happened to evolve. This theory is further proven by the fact that his Final Smash is Volt Tackle, a move only learned by a Pichu.

Pit

 * White (Default)
 * Yellow
 * Red: Similar to an outfit in Kid Icarus.
 * Green: Similar to an outfit in Kid Icarus.
 * Blue: Similar to an outfit in Kid Icarus.
 * Black: Makes Pit look like a fallen angel, according to the DOJO!!

Pokémon Trainer

 * Standard (Default)
 * All three pokemon appear with their standard palette.
 * Red: The trainer's hat resembles that of Leaf, the female trainer in Pokémon FireRed and LeafGreen.
 * Charizard resembles its pre-evolution, Charmeleon.
 * Green: The trainer takes on the color scheme of Brendan as he appeared in Pokémon Emerald.
 * Ivysaur and Squirtle appear with their "shiny" colors.
 * Blue
 * Charizard's purple colour is similar to that of his shiny color from Generation II.
 * Squirtle's blue colour is possibly inspired by the original sprite in Generation I, particularly Pokémon Yellow.
 * White:
 * Charizard's yellow tint resembles the shiny colors of its pre-evolutions, Charmander and Charmeleon.

R.O.B.

 * Red (Default): Based on R.O.B.'s Japanese color scheme for the Famicom. This design also was the source for the R.O.B. Sentry.
 * Grey: Makes R.O.B. look like North American versions of R.O.B.s. Even the words on his base change from "Family Computer Robot" to "R.O.B. - Robotic Operating Buddy", the same as the American design. R.O.B.'s gray costume also appears similar to the R.O.B. Blaster from the Subspace Emissary.
 * Yellow Makes R.O.B. look like Bumblebee from the Transfromers film series.
 * Purple: Resembles the North American SNES color scheme.
 * Blue: Gives R.O.B. colors similar to a R.O.B. seen in Startropics, It also makes him look like Thundercracker, Cyclonus, Scourage, and Galvatron from the original Transformers TV show.
 * Green: Similar to the R.O.B. Launcher from the Subspace Emissary, though lacking the same bright blue cord, It also makes him look like Autobot Hound from the original Transformers TV show.

Samus

 * Orange (Default): Based on the Varia Suit.
 * Blue: Based on the Fusion Suit from Metroid Fusion.
 * Pink: Based on the appearance of the Varia Suit of the original Metroid when missiles are selected.
 * Used when Samus is on the Red team.
 * Brown: Based on the Dark Suit from Metroid Prime 2: Echoes.
 * Purple: Based on the Gravity Suit as it first appeared in Super Metroid and most games in the series since. The Gravity Suit costume was previously used as Samus' blue team color.
 * Green: Based on the colors of the Power Suit in Super Metroid.

Snake
Most of these are based on different camouflage suits worn by Naked Snake (a.k.a. Big Boss) in Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater.
 * Grey (Default): Based on Snake's standard camouflage suit from Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty.
 * Red: Based off the Fury's Fire camouflage.
 * Blue Based off the Sorrow's camouflage.
 * White: Based off the Snow camouflage.
 * Green: Based off the Leaf camouflage.
 * Yellow: Based off Revolver Ocelot's Animal camouflage.

Sonic
Sonic is the only non-Pokémon character to have fewer than six palette swaps. The stripe on his sneakers is white in all palette swaps, and, in all but the default palette swap, the rest of his sneakers match his wristbands.
 * Blue (Default) Sonic's costume from Sonic '06
 * Black: Looks like Dark Sonic from Sonic X.
 * Yellow: Gives Sonic the bracelets of Silver the Hedgehog. It could also be a reference to how in every Sonic game, Sonic collects gold rings.
 * Green:
 * Red: A reference to Sonic's original art from Sonic the Hedgehog(1989) including the red wristbands

Toon Link

 * Green (Default): Based on the character design from The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker.
 * Red: Based on the red Link copy from the Four Swords saga.
 * Blue: Based on the blue Link copy from the Four Swords saga.
 * Purple: Based on the purple Link copy from the Four Swords saga.
 * Brown: Based on the color scheme of Link in the original The Legend of Zelda. The brown hair and sleeves with the more traditional green tunic resembles some of the older iterations of Link in games such as The Legend of Zelda and Zelda II: The Adventure of Link.
 * Black: Based on a toon version of Dark Link, who appeared closer to this color scheme in Four Swords Adventures.

Wario
Unlike all other characters, Wario has two outfits each with multiple color choices: his biker costume from the WarioWare games, which is his default costume, and his classic overalls. This doubles his alternate costume choices. Wario's overalls closely resemble the cartoonish look in both the Mario and Wario games, in contrast to Mario, Luigi, and Waluigi, who were given more realistic-looking overalls.
 * Yellow (Default)
 * Red: Resembles Fire Mario with the white helmet and red jacket.
 * Orange Loosely resembles the color scheme for Wario's default overalls costume.
 * Green
 * Black A color swap of his red alternate.
 * Blue References the colors of an actual biker, with the denim jeans and jacket combo and the white undershirt.
 * Yellow (Default) based on his outfit from the Mario games on the N64, GCN, Wii, GBA, and DS.
 * Red: Resembles how Mario looked like in the early Mario games where he had red overalls and a blue shirt instead of the blue overalls and red shirt he wears today. This somewhat mirrors the way that Wario's "classic" outfit appears as one of Mario's alternate costumes.
 * Blue: Resembles Mario's appearance on the cover of the e-Reader game Mario Bros.-e.
 * Green: Similar to Mario's green costume.
 * Brown: Perhaps, like Mario's brown outfit, a reference to Foreman Spike as he appeared in Wrecking Crew '98.
 * White: Makes Wario look like his appearance in the first three Wario Land games on the Game Boy and Game Boy Color until Wario Land 4, since those games were in black and white. Also somewhat resembles the traditional outfit of ship captains.

Wolf

 * Grey (Default)
 * Red
 * Black
 * Green
 * Blue: Resembles the outfit worn by Panther Caroso in Star Fox: Assault.
 * White

Yoshi
All of Yoshi's costumes are different variations of the Yoshi species in many of his games, specifically Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island, Yoshi's Story, Super Mario Advance 3, and Yoshi's Island DS. The soles of his shoes, the saddle on his back, and his scales stay the same color, no matter what color he is.


 * Green (Default) based on his appearance from the SNES, N64, GCN, Wii, GBA, and DS.
 * Red
 * Blue
 * Yellow
 * Pink
 * Light Blue

Zelda/Sheik

 * Purple/Light Blue (Default): Based on her character model from The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess. Masahiro Sakurai stated that Sheik's appearance reflects how she would have looked like if she appeared in that game, based on designs drafted up during that game's development.
 * Red: Based off Zelda's early appearances in The Legend of Zelda and Zelda II: Adventure of Link. This is also the only one of her color schemes in which she doesn't wear gloves.
 * Blue: Official art for A Link to the Past shows Zelda with a blue dress, while Sheik seems based off of Tetra with the blue costume and red scarf.
 * Pink: Based off Zelda's appearance in Melee as well as Ocarina of Time.It also makes her look like Princess Peach.
 * Green: If the original Zelda is beaten without a ring, Zelda's dress will be green.
 * Black: Based off Zelda's mourning outfit from Twilight Princess. Makes Sheik look like a ninja.

Zero Suit Samus
ZSS' color swaps differ greatly from those with her suit on.
 * Blue: (Default)
 * Blue and black: Based on her outfit she wears upon completion of Metroid Prime 2: Echoes.
 * Pink (red): A reference to her first appearance in the original Metroid after clearing it 100% or by entering JUSTIN BAILEY into the password screen.
 * Black: May be a reference to her bailey in Super Metroid.
 * Purple and White:
 * Green: May be a reference to her suitless appearance in the Captain N comic.