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. In fact, all the playable characters of the Pokémon universe: Pikachu, Jigglypuff, Pokémon Trainer, Lucario; and Sonic lack six. The other exception is that Wario has two outfits each with multiple color choices, that effectively doubles his alternate costume choices. These are changed by clicking the character.
Bowser
- Bowser's red costume resembles a Red Koopa Troopa or a Spiny. It is also possibly based on Wendy O. Koopa's red shell and orange skin from her early in-game sprites.
- Bowser's blue costume resembles his appearance on the international covers of Super Mario Bros. This can be seen on the sticker of Super Mario Bros. This also resembles Iggy Koopa's appearance from Super Mario Bros. 3, since he has a blue shell and yellow hair.
- Bowser's white costume turns his hair red and his shell, skin, and spiked collars to white, resembling Dry Bowser from New Super Mario Bros. and Mario Kart Wii. It is also resembles Morton Koopa Jr.'s white and gold shell and darker skin.
- Bowser's brown costume resembles how he appeared in his first few games. It also resembles Boom Boom from Super Mario Bros. 3.
Captain Falcon
- Captain Falcon's black costume is his costume from the F-Zero X Expansion set, as well as the F-Zero X commercial in Japan.
- Captain Falcon's red costume is 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.
- Captain Falcon's pink/white costume resembles Jody Summers's outfit.
- Captain Falcon's lighter blue costume may be a reference to his original F-Zero appearances (his costume in the F-Zero games is more vibrant than his Super Smash Bros. outfits).
- Captain Falcon's green outfit resembles Pico's outfit.
Diddy Kong
- Diddy's yellow costume resembles the alternate outfit when the second player also played as Diddy Kong in the original Donkey Kong Country series.
- Diddy's pink costume 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. He also gains Dixie's light yellow fur color.
- Diddy's blue costume 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.
- His yellow tie costume gives him dark fur, a possible reference to Chunky Kong.
- Donkey Kong's red costume may represent the original Donkey Kong from the arcade game with the same name who had reddish orange fur.
- Donkey Kong's white costume makes him look like a yeti, perhaps the character Eddie the Mean Old Yeti from the Donkey Kong Country TV series. It also looks like Snowflake, the only albino gorilla known to this day.
Falco
- Falco's blue, red and green outfits look like the clothes Falco wears from Star Fox: Assault multiplayer.
- Falco's dark costume looks like the clothes he wore from Star Fox: Adventures excluding the black feathers.
Fox
- Fox's dark costume was named the "Dark Fox" on the DOJO!!. Plus the dark costume with the red eyepiece resembles Wolf.
- Fox's red, green and purple costumes look like the clothes he wears in Star Fox: Assault multiplayer.
- Fox's green and white costume (last on the right) appears to be derived from his outfit from Star Fox Adventures.
- Fox's green outfit resembles his father, James McCloud.
Ganondorf
- Ganondorf's brown costume has the same colors as his Spaceworld 2000 and Super Smash Bros. Melee designs, slightly darkening his red hair, using the same design of cape, and giving his armor the same kind of design seen in the demo.
- Ganondorf's red costume may or may not be referencing the fact that he wore red in the original Legend of Zelda.
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.
Ike
- Two of Ike's costumes make him look like regular soldiers.
- Ike's yellow and brown costume resembles the outfit of his father, Greil, from Fire Emblem: Path of Radiance.
- Ike's white costume is based on his third-tier vanguard class in Fire Emblem: Radiant Dawn. It also greatly resembles Sigurd from Fire Emblem: Seisen no Keifu.
- Ike's green costume is based on allied units from the GBA Fire Emblems.
Jigglypuff
- One of Jigglypuff's costumes has the red flower it had in Melee. It also resembles Phoebe's flower from Pokémon Advance.
- Jigglypuff's white costume gives her a hat like the hat the female hero of Pokémon FireRed & LeafGreen wears.
- The Jigglypuff with a straw hat (Blue outfit) is Shiny Jigglypuff. The difference is its green eyes. The hat also resembles Yellow's hat from the Pokemon Manga or Bug Catcher from the games. It also resembles the hat worn by a Lady in Ruby, Sapphire, and Emerald.
- Jigglypuff's green costume is very similar to the hat worn by Kirby when he has his Sleep ability.
- Jigglypuff's alternate costumes are mostly feminime accessories, which is one of the reasons why Jigglypuff is considered to be female.
King Dedede
- In Brawl, the pattern on King Dedede's outfit changes with the alternate colour.
- King Dedede's pink and green costumes are similar to alternate costumes in Kirby Air Ride.
- King Dedede's purple costume 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.
- King Dedede's brown costume mirrors Kirby's white costume, making him appear like he did in Kirby's Dream Land for the Game Boy Color.
- King Dedede's white costume features a belt that contains the same icons as one of the menu schemes from Kirby 64
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.
- Kirby's yellow costume is Keeby. It is also the same as when he is Beam Kirby in Kirby Super Star, sans the hat. When someone is Player 2 in the Kirby games, he or she would also be Keeby.
- Kirby's blue costume is the same as when he is Ice Kirby in Kirby Super Star, sans the hat.
- Kirby's red and green costumes are based on more recent Kirby games, which if one uses the multiplayer option, Player 3 would play as the red Kirby and Player 4 would play as the green Kirby. Alternatively, the red and green costumes could be based on Fire Kirby and Plasma Kirby respectively from Kirby Super Star, sans the hats.
- Kirby's white is based on his 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 to Shadow Kirby from Kirby & the Amazing Mirror. It is most similar in appearance to the alternate "chalk" palette in more recent Kirby games.
Link
Link's alternate costumes in SSBB
- In Brawl, Link's color changes also change the color of his shield.
- Link's red costume can be traced back to the Red Ring in the original 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.
- Link's blue costume can be traced to the Zora Tunic used during The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time.
- Link's white/lavender costume is based off of the Blue Ring from The Legend of Zelda for the NES.
- Link's yellow costume (with the black under shirt) is 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.
- Link's black costume is 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 Interlopers of Lanayru's vision in Twilight Princess. He also gains the negative version of his shield, symbolizing his negativity/darkness.
Lucario
- Lucario only has five colorations, and lacks its shiny color.
- It is sometimes considered that Lucario's blue costume may resemble Riolu, its pre-evolution.
Lucas
- One of Lucas's outfits makes his hair red, and also changes his clothes accurately to blue and yellow stripes, making him resemble his twin brother Claus. However, in the original game Mother 3, Claus also had a different hairstyle.
Luigi
- Luigi's red costume is based around what he wore from Wrecking Crew, in which Luigi wore pink.
- Luigi's white costume is 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.
- Luigi's purple costume makes him resemble Waluigi, his rival.
- Luigi's orange costume gives him a bright orange color similar to the Fire Flower effect from Super Mario Brothers 3.
- Luigi's blue costume 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.
Mario
Mario's alternate costumes in SSBB
- Mario's white costume has his shirt white and his overalls red. This is based on Fire Mario's appearance dating back to Super Mario Bros..
- Mario's blue costume is based on his overalls colors from when he was Jumpman from Donkey Kong, though he wore a red hat with that outfit. It's also base upon one of the promotional images for Mario Bros. Even though it's based on that promotional image, it's not what he wore in the actual game. It is also similar to Balloon Fighter.
- Mario's yellow costume is based on Wario just as before.
- Mario's brown costume is Foreman Spike from Wrecking Crew, which was confirmed on the original SSB Japanese site.
- Mario's green costume is the color inverse of his traditional colors. Contrary to popular belief it is not a reference to Luigi, however it does coincidentally resemble Luigi's colors from the arcade version of Mario Bros. It also appeared as part of the "flashing" animation from a Starman in the original Super Mario Bros.
Marth
- Marth's white costume is based on Leaf, the protagonist of Fire Emblem: Thracia 776.
- Marth's blue costume is more 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.
Meta Knight
- All of Meta Knight's costumes are similar to alternate costumes from Kirby Air Ride.
- His pink costume (feet, skin, etc.) also resemble like Kirby, only a brighter version.
- His blue Outfit makes him look a little like his Shadow Counterpart from Kirby and the Amazing Mirror.
Mr Game & Watch
- All of his colors are in the first color Game & Watch, Spitball Sparky.
- It is possible that the colors refer to the Tabletop and Panorama lines of Game & Watches, which had multi-colored LCD screens.
Ness
- His white costume 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.
- Some say that Ness's blue costume is a reference to EarthBound's final battle against Giygas, where a reflection of Ness's face wearing the same colored hat appeared in the Devil's Machine.
- Ness's black costume has a Mr. Saturn sprite drawn on the front of the shirt.
Olimar
- Olimar's black and gray costume makes him look like the President of Hocotate.
- Olimar's yellow costume with the blue gloves makes him look like Louie.
Peach
- In SSBB, Peach's parasol also changes color to match her costume.
- Peach's yellow costume resembles Daisy. However, unlike Melee, this is entirely a re-coloring. Her earrings, crown, brooch and skin remain unchanged.
- Peach's red costume makes her appear similar to Pauline from Donkey Kong.
- Peach's white costume may be a reference to her appearance at the end of Super Mario Bros and her wedding dress from Super Paper Mario. The white color of her dress isn't as bright as her Melee white costume, and this one doesn't include tights anymore.
- Peach's blue outfit has a crown looking similar to that of Rosalina from Super Mario Galaxy and Mario Kart Wii.
Pikachu
- Pikachu is the only character to have only four costume choices in Brawl.
- Pikachu's red costume is Red's hat, the protagonist of Pokémon Red and Blue. Pikachu's fur color also changes to look akin to a shiny Pikachu.
- Pikachu's green costume is Brendan's headband from the Emerald version of Pokémon Advance.
- Pikachu's blue costume are the goggles worn by Pichu in Melee, which are goggles possibly used by the "Swimmer" class in the Pokémon series. It could also be a reference to the protagonist from Pokemon Colosseum, who wears similar goggles.
Pit
- Pit's red, green and blue costumes are similar to some of his outfits in Kid Icarus.
- His black outfit makes him look like a fallen angel, according to the DOJO!!
Pokémon Trainer
- Pokémon Trainer's white costume makes him look like Leaf, the female hero (and thus Trainer's female counterpart) of the Pokémon remake for GBA.
- Pokémon Trainer's green costume takes the color scheme of Brendan from the Emerald version of Pokémon Advance.
- Ivysaur's bulb changes to yellow, which is Ivysaur's shiny color.
- Squirtle's shell changes to green, which is Squirtle's shiny color.
- Pokémon Trainer's blue costume makes Ivysaur have a grape hyacinth on its back.
- Charizard's blue palette swap is possibly inspired by its shiny coloration in Generation II, however in Brawl its primary color is far more red than the GBC's purple. Its current shiny color is black.
R.O.B.
- R.O.B.'s gray costume makes him look like North American versions of R.O.B. 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.
- R.O.B.'s purple costume resembles the North American SNES color scheme.
- R.O.B.'s green color change is similar to the R.O.B. Launcher from the Subspace Emissary.
- R.O.B.'s blue costume gives him colors similar to a R.O.B. seen in Startopics.
- R.O.B.'s yellow and black costume slightly resembles the Autobot Bumblebee, a third party character of Nintendo hailing from Transformers: The Movie and Transformers Animated.
Samus
- Samus's default costume is based off her Varia Suit.
- Samus's pink costume is based off the appearance of the NES Varia Suit when missiles are selected.
- Samus's cyan costume is based off her "Fusion Suit".
- Samus's brown costume is based on the Dark Suit from Metroid Prime 2: Echoes.
- Samus's purple costume is based off of the Gravity Suit from Metroid Prime and all games after.
Snake
- All of these camouflages are based on the ones Naked Snake (a.k.a. Big Boss) wore in Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater.
- Snake's red & black costume is based off The Fury's Fire camouflage.
- Snake's white costume is based off the Snow camouflage.
- Snake's green costume is based off the Leaf camouflage.
- Snake's orange costume is based off Revolver Ocelot's Animal camouflage.
Sonic
- In the black, green and red costumes, Sonic wears rings around his wrists of different colors, and the color of his shoes corresponds that color.
- Sonic's yellow costume gives him the bracelets of Silver the Hedgehog. The bracelets may also be a reference to Sonic and the Secret Rings.
- If the red, green, black, or yellow colored Sonic goes into a dark stage, such as Smashville at night, their different color tint will be much more obvious.
- Sonic's black costume is a possible reference to Dark Sonic in Sonic X.
Toon Link
- His red, blue, and purple costumes are based off of the Link copies from The Four Swords games.
- His light-green outfit is based on the color scheme of Link in the original 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. It also looks like his appearance in The Legend of Zelda CD-I games.
- His black costume is based off a toon version of Dark Link who appeared closer to this color scheme in "Four Swords Adventures". Also, like Link's dark version, Toon Link also has a negative shield.
Wario
- Unlike all other characters (aside from Ice Climbers), 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. That effectively doubles his alternate costume choices.
- Biker Wario's red costume resembles Fire Mario with the white helmet and red jacket. This is not to be confused with the Biker Wario that has a red helmet, black jacket, and white shirt, because that's not available on team battles.
- Overall Wario's red costume color scheme 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. Two of Wario's other alternate colors for his "classic" look appear similar to alternate costumes for Mario and Luigi (specifically, Mario's green costume and Luigi's blue costume).
- Overall Wario's black and white costume makes him look like his appearance in the Wario Land games until Wario Land 4, since those games were in black and white. The same may also be said of Overall Wario's brown costume.
Wolf
- Wolf's blue costume resembles the outfit worn by Panther Caroso in Star Fox: Assault.
- Wolf's white costume makes him wear colors similar to a Wolfen. It's also the opposite of the black outfits of Pit and Fox which gives them a villainous tone, as it makes Wolf look otherwise.
- Wolf's green costume makes his fur brownish looking similar to Fox's fur.
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.
- Yoshi's red, blue, and yellow palette swaps are based off of his special colorations in Super Mario World, which are obtained from Star Road.
- All Yoshi's palette swaps are a reference to the primary and secondary light colors.
- The soles of his shoes stay the same color, no matter what color he is.
Zelda/Sheik
- Zelda's red costume is based off her early appearances in The Legend of Zelda and Zelda II: Adventure of Link
- Zelda's pink costume is based off her appearance in Melee as well as Ocarina of Time. Sheik's is a darker, more purplish pink version of the standard.
- Sheik's black costume makes her look like a real ninja, as they usually wear black.
Zero Suit Samus
- ZSS's color swaps differ greatly from those with her suit on.
- The dark blue suit is the same as what Zero Suit Samus wears after completing Metroid Prime 2: Echoes & Metroid Fusion 100%
- The pink suit is a reference to Zero Suit Samus' first appearance in the original Metroid after clearing it 100% or by entering JUSTIN BAILEY into the password screen.
- The black suit resembles the bikini she wore after completing Super Metroid 100%