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.
↑ 3.03.13.2While there hasn't been any official confirmation that Mewtwo, Roy, and Dr. Mario were intended to be in Brawl, unused data on Brawl's disc labelled for each of them strongly implies that the characters were developed to some degree for Brawl.
↑Sakurai stated that, while the Ice Climbers could run smoothly on the Wii U version, the 3DS could not handle the "two-in-one" coding of the duo, and, in order to keep the roster the same between the two versions, they had to be cut from the roster.
↑Sakurai stated that he originally intended to replace Ness with the new protagonist of Mother 3 (Lucas) in Melee, though Mother 3's delay caused him to go back on the idea and keep Ness.
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.
↑ 2.02.1While Giant DK and Metal Mario were unplayable in the original Super Smash Bros., they are effectively playable in the following installments by picking up a Super Mushroom or a Metal Box, respectively.
↑Sandbag is mechanically considered an item in Brawl and Smash for 3DS/Wii U, not a character.
Trivia
Meowth, Dixie Kong, Plusle & Minun, and various 'toon' versions of The Legend of Zelda 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.
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.