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 and they aren't characters only usable in a specific part of game (such as Master Hand in World of Light mode). 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 game play is possible.
↑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.
↑ 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 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.
↑ 9.09.1Including Echo Fighters and DLC Characters. Pokémon Trainer not taken in the count, just his controllable Pokémon.
↑Including 4 DLC Fighters. Vanilla game has 17 newcomers.
↑ 11.011.1Including 12 DLC Fighters. Vanilla game has 76 characters whom 11 are newcomers counting echoes.
↑Including 7 DLC Fighters. Vanilla game has 51 characters.
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
Sans - Undertale
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.
↑ 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
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 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 were the only characters to be cut after appearing in multiple games.
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.