Super Smash Bros. Melee used the X and Y buttons on the Gamecube controller to change costumes. Also, the number of costumes was increased to six.
Bowser
- Green (default)
- Red: Seems to be primarily based on Bowser's 2P colors in Mario Golf. Also resembles a Spiny or red Koopa Troopa. Red Koopas are the second most common type of Koopa Troopa. On the character select, he has red eyes. In game, the eyes are blue.
- Blue: May be a loose reference to artwork from Super Mario Bros. 3, which depicted Bowser with silver horns, orange hair and a blue cape. Has some similarities to Iggy Koopa's in-game appearances in Super Mario Bros. 3 and Super Mario World. The shell may also be a reference to the Blue Spiny Shell from Mario Kart 64.
- Black May be based on Morton Koopa Jr.
Captain Falcon
- Navy Blue (Red) (default)
- Black: Based on the Japanese commercial for F-Zero X.
- Red: Based on Falcon's rival, Blood Falcon's, outfit, even altering the logo on his back. However, the falcon logo on the helmet is retained (Blood Falcon sports a skull logo on his helmet).
- White (Pink): An infamous palette swap that is often called "Captain Fabulous" by fans. Seems to be based on the colors of Jody Summer's outfit, aside from the helmet.
- Green: May be loosely based on Pico or his racer, the Wild Goose. The Blue Falcon also has an alternate green color in F-Zero X.
- Blue: Seems to be based on his artwork from the original F-Zero.
Donkey Kong
- Brown (default)
- Black: Based on Chunky Kong. It was also in the "Monkey Smash" mode in Donkey Kong 64.
- Red: Based on DK's sprite in Donkey Kong.
- Blue: Based on DK's alternate Mario Golf colors. It was also in the "Monkey Smash" mode in Donkey Kong 64.
- Green: Based on DK's rival King K. Rool. It was also in the "Monkey Smash" mode in Donkey Kong 64.
Dr. Mario
- White: (default) Despite wearing white pants in his own game, Dr. Mario wears indigo jeans in Melee.
- Red (Pink): Perhaps based on Nurse Toadstool's color scheme.
- Blue (Light Blue): Possibly based on the blue scrubs and purple nitrile gloves worn by modern doctors.
- Green Possibly to represent what surgeons wear.
- Black (Gray): Based on the Game Boy Dr. Mario from GB Dr. Mario.
Falco
- White (default)
- Red
- Blue (White)
- Green (Black): Assumed to be what Falco wore when he was not a member of the Star Fox team.
Fox
- White (default)
- Orange (Red): Based on his costume on the Japanese Star Fox box art.
- Used when Fox is on the Red team.
- Purple (Blue)
- Used when Fox is on the Blue team.
- Green: Possibly modeled after his father, James McCloud. Resembles his color scheme from original Star Fox concept art.
Ganondorf
- Brown (default)
- Green
- Red: Possibly represents one of Ganondorf's beast form's attire.
- Blue
- Purple
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.
- Purple and Pink (default)
- Used when Ice Climbers is on the Blue team.
- Green and Yellow
- Orange and Light Blue
- Red and Light Pink
Jigglypuff
- Pink (default)
- Red: Gives Jigglypuff a decorative flower at the left ear.
- Blue: Similar to the bows from the original Super Smash Bros.
- Green: Gives Jigglypuff a fighter's headband, similar to that worn by Fighter Kirby (except Kirby's headband is red).
- Yellow: This palette swap is that of a crown with the exact same design as Peach's.
Kirby
- Pink (default)
- Yellow: This color swap is Keeby. It is also the same as when he is Beam Kirby or Needle Kirby, without the hat. It was also an alternative palette for Kirby in the multiplayer for Kirby 64.
- Blue (Light Blue): The same as when he is Ice Kirby, without the hat. It was also an alternative palette for Kirby in the multiplayer for Kirby 64.
- Red (Orange): The same as when he is Fire Kirby, without the hat.
- Green: Likely a homage to his days on the green Game Boy screen. It was also an alternative palette for Kirby in the multiplayer for Kirby 64 and the skin tone for Plasma Kirby, without the hat.
- 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 (Gray): A homage to Dark Link. However, unlike the Brawl version, only his tunic is altered.
- White (Purple or Lavender): 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., with tan gloves instead of white in order to simulate Luigi's "bare-handed" look in these games.
- Cyan (Blue): Resembles the artwork for Mario on the cover for the NES version of Mario Bros., though that's not what he wore in the actual game.
- Used when Luigi is on the Blue team.
- Pink (Red): Comes from the game Wrecking Crew, in which Luigi wears pink.
- Used when Luigi is on the Red team.
Mario
- Red (default)
- Yellow: Based on Wario, the same as his previous yellow costume.
- Brown: A reference to Foreman Spike from Wrecking Crew '98.
- Blue: A red/blue reversal of his traditional colors and the colors he wore in his first appearance in the game Donkey Kong. 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 (like the Mario Bros. arcade), 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 at the time of the release of the games in the Super Smash Bros. series, but this color scheme does resemble the Balloon Fighter.
- 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: The only costume in Melee to change the color of his headbrace.
- Green: Possibly based on the standard color for NPC units in Fire Emblem.
- Black (Gray)
- Light Blue (White): Based on Leaf, the protagonist of Fire Emblem: Thracia 776.
Mewtwo
- 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" color.
Mr. Game & Watch
Mr. Game & Watch's costumes may come from the colored LCD screens used for some of his games.
- Black (default)
- Red
- Blue
- Green
Ness
- Red (default)
- Yellow
- 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 appeared in the Devil's Machine. However, contrary to popular belief, the reflection was not wearing a different hat than the real Ness.
- 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, tiara, and even Daisy's old skin color (in later games following Melee, Daisy's skin color was bleached significantly). The only thing that remains unchanged is Peach's hairstyle (the front bangs of Daisy's hair are parted in the middle).
- White: Represents Nurse Toadstool, but in white instead of pink. She also uniquely wears stockings with this costume.
- Violet (Blue)
- Used when Peach is on the Blue team.
- Green
Pichu
- Yellow (default)
- Red: This, like the other swaps, gives Pichu a boy scout's ascot in the corresponding color, similar to the "Camper" (formerly "Jr. Trainer") and "Picnicker" classes of trainers from the Pokémon series.
- 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 fur color is based on a "shiny" Pikachu.
- Blue: A party hat similar to the one from the original Super Smash Bros.
- Green: Gives Pikachu a cowboy hat.
Roy
- Purple (Brown) (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. Is the only palette to change Roy's golden highlight color (to silver).
- Green: Based on the "other" unit color in the Fire Emblem series.
- Yellow (Gold): Based on the "partner" unit color in the Fire Emblem series. Which was first in Fire Emblem: Path of Radiance which was released after SSBM, but was in the making since the N64.
Samus
- Orange (Red) (default)
- Used when Samus is on the Red team.
- Pink: Based off the appearance of the Varia Suit when missiles are selected in the original NES Metroid game.
- Black
- Green:
- 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, Super Mario World and Yoshi's Island.
- Green (default)
- Red: Based on the fire breathing Yoshi in Super Mario World
- Blue: Based on the flying Yoshi in Super Mario World.
- Yellow: Based on the stomping Yoshi in Super Mario World.
- Pink: Based one of the Yoshi's in Yoshi's Island.
- Light Blue: Based one of the Yoshi's in Yoshi's Island.
Young Link
All of Young Link's colors are exactly the same as Link's, except ordered differently.
- Green (default)
- Red: Based on the Goron Tunic from Ocarina of Time, even though Link never wears it as a child.
- Blue: Based on the Zora Tunic from Ocarina of Time, even though Link never wears it as a child.
- White
- Black: Based on Dark Link.
Zelda
- Pink (default): Resembles Zelda's appearance in The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time.
- This Sheik is a medium blue.
- Red: Resembles Zelda's first appearance in The Legend of Zelda if Link possesses the red ring.
- This Sheik is red.
- Blue: Resembles Zelda's first appearance in The Legend of Zelda if Link possesses the blue ring but not the red ring.
- This Sheik is a deep blue.
- Green: Resembles Zelda's first appearance in The Legend of Zelda if Link possesses neither the blue ring nor the red ring.
- This Sheik is green.
- Lavender: Resembles Zelda's appearance in The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past.
- This Sheik is a dark violet and lavender.
| Palette swaps | |
|---|---|
| Lists by Game | Super Smash Bros. · Melee · Brawl · for 3DS/Wii U · Ultimate |
| Characters | Builder Mario · Dark Link · Pikachu Libre · Alph · Koopalings · Meta Ridley · Heroes (III, IV, VIII) · Zombie and Enderman |