Super Smash Bros. Melee used the X and Y buttons on the Gamecube controller to change costumes. Because of this, there were no limits on how many costumes a player can choose from (unlike SSB's limited four C-buttons).
Bowser
- Green (default)
- Red: Resembles a Spiny or red Koopa Troopa. It also resembles Wendy O. Koopa's early in-game sprites.
- Blue: Came from Bowser's international artwork for Super Mario Bros. It also looks like Iggy Koopa.
- Black: Looks like Morton Jr. Koopa.
Captain Falcon
- Purple (default)
- Black: Possibly came from the Japanese commercial for F-Zero X.
- Red: Based off Falcon's rival, Blood Falcon's, outfit, even altering the logo on his back.
- White: Based off the colors of Jody Summers's outfit.
- Green: Based off the colors of Pico's outfit.
- Blue
Donkey Kong
- Brown (default)
- Black: Based on Chunky Kong.
- Red: Based on DK's sprite in Donkey Kong.
- Blue: Came from Donkey Kong 64's "Monkey Smash".
- Green: Came from Donkey Kong 64's "Monkey Smash".
Dr. Mario
- White (default)
- Black
- Green: Possibly a reference to Rudy the Clown, Dr. Mario's main rival in the series.
- Blue
- Red
Falco
- White (default)
- Red
- Blue
- Green: Assumed to be what Falco wore when he was not a member of the Star Fox team.
Fox
- White (default)
- Red: Based off of his costume on the Japanese Star Fox box art.
- Blue
- Green: Possibly modeled after his father, James McCloud.
Ganondorf
- Brown (default)
- Green
- Red
- Blue
- Purple: Possibly represents one of Ganondorf's beast forms' attire.
Ice Climbers
As can be seen in the image, the Ice Climbers' orange and red costumes will place Nana in the lead, making Popo follow.
- Blue (default)
- Green
- Orange
- Red
Jigglypuff
- White (default)
- Red
- Blue: Similar to the bows from the original Super Smash Bros.
- Green
- Yellow: This palette swap is that of a crown with the exact same design as Peach's.
Kirby
- Pink (default)
- Yellow: This costume is Keeby. It is also the same as when he is Beam Kirby or Needle Kirby, sans the hat.
- Blue: The same as when he is Ice Kirby, sans the hat.
- Red: The same as when he is Fire Kirby, sans the hat.
- Green: Likely an homage to his days on the green Game Boy screen.
- White: A reference to his monochrome appearance from the original Kirby's Dream Land for Game Boy. It is also similar to the colors of Kirby's depiction on the North American box cover of Kirby's Dream Land.
Link
- Green (default)
- Red: Based on the the Goron Tunic from The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time.
- Blue: Based on the the Zora Tunic from The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time.
- Black: An homage to Dark Link. However, unlike the Brawl version, only his tunic is altered.
- White: Resembles the use of the Blue Ring in The Legend of Zelda.
Luigi
- Green (default)
- White: A reference to Luigi's appearance in Mario Bros. and Super Mario Bros.
- Blue
- Red: Comes from the game Wrecking Crew, in which Luigi wears pink.
Mario
- Red (default)
- Yellow: Based on Wario, the same as his previous yellow costume.
- Blue: A red/blue reversal of his traditional colors. This is seen as a partial reference to Mario's varying appearances in games prior to Nintendo's officially establishment of Mario's outfit of consisting of a red shirt, blue overalls and red hat. In various earlier games, Mario occasionally also appeared with sometimes a blue hat, red shirt with blue overalls or a red hat, blue shirt with red overalls. Interestingly however, Mario never appeared in any game with the particular combination of a blue hat, blue shirt, with red overalls as it appears here.
- Brown: A reference to Foreman Spike from Wrecking Crew.
- Green: A 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.
Marth
- Blue (default)
- Red
- Green
- Black
- White: Based on Leaf, the protagonist of Fire Emblem: Thracia 776.
Mewtwo
Mewtwo's alternate costumes in SSBM
- Purple (default)
- Orange: Used as an Easter Egg in Pokemon Stadium.
- Used when Mewtwo is on the Red team.
- Blue: Resembles Mewtwo's in-game sprite colors for Pokemon Red & Blue. Also used as an Easter Egg in Pokemon Stadium.
- Green: Mewtwo's "shiny" colour.
Mr. Game & Watch
Mr. Game & Watch's costumes may come from the coloured LCD screens used for some of his games.
- Black (default)
- Red
- Blue
- Green
Ness
- Red (default)
- Yellow
- Blue: It is possible this costume came from the Devil Machine's eye for the color of Ness's hat.
- Green
Peach
- Pink (default)
- Used when Peach is on the Red team.
- Yellow: This costume changes nearly Peach's entire appearance to that of Daisy, including her hair color, earrings, dress style, gloves, crown, and even skin color.
- Blue
- White: Represents how she appeared in her first appearance in Super Mario Bros, sans the red hair. She also uniquely wears tights with this costume.
- Green
Pichu
- Yellow (default)
- Red
- Blue: Gives Pichu goggles similar to the "Swimmer" class of the Pokémon series. Despite Pichu not returning for Brawl, Pikachu's blue costume in that game is based off of these same goggles.
- Green: Gives Pichu a backpack similar to the one worn by Pokémon Trainers throughout the Pokémon series.
Pikachu
- Yellow (default)
- Red: Has Pikachu wearing the hat of Red, the protagonist of the original Pokémon installment. The skin colour is based on a "shiny" Pikachu.
- Blue: A party hat similar to the one from the original Super Smash Bros.
- Green
Roy
- Purple (default)
- Red: Based on the "enemy" unit color in the Fire Emblem series.
- Blue: Based on the "player" unit color in the Fire Emblem series.
- Green: Based on the "other" unit color in the Fire Emblem series.
- Yellow
Samus
- Orange (default)
- Pink: Based off the appearance of the Varia Suit when missiles are selected in the original NES Metroid game.
- Used when Samus is on the Red team.
- Brown
- Green: Based off the appearance of the Power Suit in Super Metroid.
- Purple: Based on the Gravity Suit.
- Used when Samus is on the Blue team.
Yoshi
All of Yoshi's costumes appear as different variations of the Yoshi species in many of his games, such as Yoshi's Story and Super Mario World.
- Green (default)
- Yellow
- Light Blue
- Red
- Blue
- Pink
Young Link
All of Young Link's colors are exactly the same as Link's, except ordered differently.
- Green (default)
- Red
- Blue
- White
- Black
Zelda
- Pink (default)
- This Sheik is a medium blue.
- Red: Resembles Zelda's first appearance in The Legend of Zelda.
- This Sheik is red.
- Blue
- This Sheik is a deep blue.
- Green
- This Sheik is green.
- Light Blue: Resembles Zelda's appearance in The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past.
- This Sheik is black and white.