Unlockable character

Character selection screen in Super Smash Bros. indicating unlockable characters.

An unlockable character (also referred to as a secret character or hidden character, and in-game as challengers) is one that is not available at the start of the game (unlike a starter character), but instead must be received in-game (unlike downloadable characters) through other means. In Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, every newcomer starting from Super Smash Bros. Melee are unlockable.

A unique criterion must be met in order to unlock a certain character, as outlined below. Once the player has met this criteria in-game, a message will display; in all cases, the player is given this screen after completely finishing gameplay.

As with most fighting games, in all five games if the player fails to defeat the character in the Vs. Match to unlock them after the criteria has been met, playing another Vs. Match or mode will allow for another attempt.

In Smash Smash Bros., the character select screen displayed placeholders for not yet unlocked characters. This was changed in Melee. The clone characters didn't use placeholders prior to unlocking. Instead their portraits simply appeared afterward. The placeholder slots were removed in Brawl, 3DS/Wii U, and Ultimate.

"Challenger Approaching!" screen

The Challenger Approaching! screen which Jigglypuff challenges the player in Super Smash Bros. 64

The Challenger Approaching! screen which Ganondorf challenges the player in Super Smash Bros. Melee

The Challenger Approaching! screen which Wolf challenges the player in Super Smash Bros. Brawl

The Challenger Approaching! screen which Dark Pit challenges the player in Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS

The Challenger Approaching! screen which Lucina challenges the player in Super Smash Bros. for Wii U

The Challenger Approaching! screen which Zelda challenges the player in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate

The "Challenger Approaching!" (挑戦者が現れました！, A Challenger has Appeared!) screen is a message that will be displayed after the player has met a criteria required to unlock any of the available characters. Every game has its unique screen.

Western versions of the game had a silhouette of the character merely displayed in a blue box in front of a black background, with an exclamation point in a red circle on the top of the screen, and the phrase "Challenger Approaching" next to it. Japanese versions had the approaching challenger fully revealed. The original game

also uses similar music to the 1P-Game's intro, with the only difference being the absence of drums for the "challenger approaching" tune. Melee added the phrase "A new foe has appeared!," and also had a silhouette of the approaching challenger. The poses for the challengers were silhouettes of their renders when selected on the Character Select screen (some, however, like Ganondorf's and Luigi's, were their renders from inside the boxes). The game also added animations to the screens, with an undulating matrix effect in the background, while the exclamation point, text and silhouette would be eased in. Original music was also provided solely for the screen, which took the sound of a slow, ominous siren. Brawl returned to the plain black background (there would be a silhouette of an unlockable character the player would face), but still had animations that would ease in, and when the player pressed any button, the images would fade to black, while the "Challenger Approaching!" text would scatter all over the screen; the siren is also considerably faster and more panicky in its sound than how it sounds in Melee. 3DS/Wii U reused Brawl's warning siren, but added in considerably more colors including hues of green, black, and violet; the screen also says "A challenger approaches!" instead of its previous quotations. However, the Wii U version kept the previous quotations.

After the "Challenger Approaching!" screen, the unlockable character will then be fought in an ordinary one stock match with no time limit, on a pre-determined stage and pre-determined music. The player uses the last character played as, as well as the same palette swap; in the case of multiplayer battles, the player who won the match will fight the challenger for the first three games, though if a CPU won the match, then the players are not given the opportunity to unlock the character. Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS and Wii U changed this formula, and it is no longer necessary to win a multiplayer battle in order to fight the challenger; if a CPU wins the match, then the human-controlled player with the highest rank will fight.

By defeating the opponent, the character becomes playable. If the player fails, however, they will not unlock the character, but in the next battle they win, they are guaranteed to meet with the challenger again.

The "Challenger Approaching!" screen has become somewhat of a meme in the Smash community. Many digitally manipulated versions of these screens have appeared, often featuring characters who do not appear in the games, mostly using artwork of the character from another game instead of original artwork (which gives away its falseness). The screens became so popular that they were featured as part of the DOJO!!; in earlier updates, whenever a new character was introduced, a banner that said "Warning! Challenger Approaching!" would appear above the entry.

Challenger Alarm	Description
	Super Smash Bros. challenger alarm.
	Melee's challenger alarm.
	Brawl, 3DS/Wii U, and Ultimate's challenger alarm.

Super Smash Bros.

Character	How to Unlock
Captain Falcon	Clear 1P Game with any character on any difficulty level in less than 20 minutes.
Jigglypuff	Clear 1P Game with any character on any difficulty level.
Luigi	Complete the Bonus 1 (Break the Targets!) stage with all 8 starting characters.
Ness	Clear 1P Game on normal difficulty or higher with three stocks or less and without continuing.

Gallery

Luigi challenging the player in Super Smash Bros.

Jigglypuff challenging the player in Super Smash Bros.

Ness challenging the player in Super Smash Bros.

Captain Falcon challenging the player in Super Smash Bros.

Super Smash Bros. Melee

Character	How to Unlock	Vs. Matches Required	Unlock Stage
Jigglypuff	Clear Classic or Adventure Mode on any stock or difficulty.	50	Pokémon Stadium
Dr. Mario	As Mario, clear Classic or Adventure on any difficulty without continuing.	100	Princess Peach's Castle
Pichu	Clear the "Legendary Pokémon" event.	200	Pokémon Stadium
Falco	Clear 100-Man Melee.	300	Battlefield
Marth	Clear or fail Classic Mode or Adventure Mode with all 14 starter characters, or use them all in Vs. Mode.	400	Fountain of Dreams
Young Link	Clear Classic Mode with 10 different characters.	500	Great Bay
Ganondorf	Clear the "Triforce Gathering" event.	600	Final Destination
Mewtwo	Play Vs. Mode for a combined total of 20 hours.	700	Final Destination
Luigi	Clear the first level of Adventure Mode with time ending in a "2" as the second digit of the seconds portion of the clock (Example: XX:X2XX). After that, defeat Luigi and Peach in less than a minute and then complete the Adventure Mode.	800	Mushroom Kingdom II
Roy	As Marth, clear either Classic or Adventure Mode without continuing.	900	Temple
Mr. Game & Watch	Clear Classic Mode, Adventure Mode, or Target Test with all other 24 characters.	1000	Flat Zone

Gallery

Luigi challenging the player in Super Smash Bros. Melee.

Dr. Mario challenging the player in Super Smash Bros. Melee.

Jigglypuff challenging the player in Super Smash Bros. Melee.

Falco challenging the player in Super Smash Bros. Melee.

Marth challenging the player in Super Smash Bros. Melee.

Roy challenging the player in Super Smash Bros. Melee.

Ganondorf challenging the player in Super Smash Bros. Melee.

Young Link challenging the player in Super Smash Bros. Melee.

Pichu challenging the player in Super Smash Bros. Melee.

Mewtwo challenging the player in Super Smash Bros. Melee.

Mr. Game & Watch challenging the player in Super Smash Bros. Melee.

Super Smash Bros. Brawl

Masahiro Sakurai once stated that he feels that it would be appropriate that third-party characters (like Solid Snake or Sonic the Hedgehog) would be unlockable characters. This became true when Super Smash Bros. Brawl came out on March 9th, 2008.

Also, all unlockable characters can be unlocked by playing through The Subspace Emissary, some just by playing through, while others involve completing the mode and returning to specific zones and going through previously absent doors to a playable stage where, after a short cutscene, the player will be able to fight and unlock the character. Once a character joins a group of playable characters, the character will be instantly unlocked for normal play, without requiring a "Challenger Approaching" battle. However, some characters, as per the SSE's story, must be battled to before they will join the party.

Character	How to Unlock	Subspace Emissary Method	Vs. Matches Required
Ness	Reflect 10 projectiles.	Clear Subspace (Part I).	5
Marth	Clear Classic Mode.	Clear Battlefield Fortress.	10
Luigi	Clear Classic Mode without using any continues.	Clear Subspace (Part I).	22
Falco	Clear 100-Man Brawl.	Clear The Swamp.	50
Captain Falcon	Play through Classic Mode on Normal difficulty or higher and clear it in 12 minutes or less.	Clear Outside the Ancient Ruins.	70
Lucario	Clear all five levels of Target Smash!! with any single character.	Clear Glacial Peak.	100
Snake	Play 15 Vs. Mode matches on Shadow Moses Island.	Clear Battleship Halberd Interior.	130
R.O.B.	Collect 250 different trophies.	Clear Subspace Bomb Factory (Part II).	160
Ganondorf	Clear Classic Mode on Hard difficulty with Link or Zelda/Sheik.	Collect both Link and Zelda's trophies in Subspace (Part II).	200
Mr. Game & Watch	Clear Target Smash!! with 30 different characters on any single difficulty level.	Clear Battleship Halberd Bridge.	250
Sonic	Clear Classic Mode with 10 different characters.	Clear The Great Maze.	300
	Play Vs. Mode for 10 combined total hours.
Jigglypuff	Clear 20 or more events after beating the Subspace Emissary.	After completing The Great Maze, defeat it in a secret room in The Swamp.	350
Toon Link	Clear Classic Mode after beating the Subspace Emissary.	After completing The Great Maze, defeat him in a secret room in The Forest.	400
Wolf	Clear Boss Battles mode with either Fox or Falco.	After completing The Great Maze, defeat him in a secret room in The Ruins.	450

Gallery

Ness challenging the player in Super Smash Bros. Brawl.

Marth challenging the player in Super Smash Bros. Brawl.

Luigi challenging the player in Super Smash Bros. Brawl.

Falco challenging the player in Super Smash Bros. Brawl.

Captain Falcon challenging the player in Super Smash Bros. Brawl.

Lucario challenging the player in Super Smash Bros. Brawl.

Snake challenging the player in Super Smash Bros. Brawl.

R.O.B. challenging the player in Super Smash Bros. Brawl.

Ganondorf challenging the player in Super Smash Bros. Brawl.

Mr. Game & Watch challenging the player in Super Smash Bros. Brawl.

Sonic challenging the player in Super Smash Bros. Brawl.

Jigglypuff challenging the player in Super Smash Bros. Brawl.

Toon Link challenging the player in Super Smash Bros. Brawl.

Wolf challenging the player in Super Smash Bros. Brawl.

Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS

In previous games, when someone unlocks a character, a unique text appears saying that the player has unlocked a character. However, when the player unlocks a character in this game, it will only say the name of the character unlocked followed by "Joins the Battle!".

Character	How to Unlock	Vs. Matches Required
Ness	Clear Classic Mode on any difficulty.	10
Falco	Clear Classic Mode without using any continues.	20
Wario	Complete 100-Man Smash.	30
Lucina	Clear Classic Mode as Marth without using any continues.	40
Dark Pit	Clear Classic Mode with three or more characters.	50
Dr. Mario	Clear Classic Mode as Mario on intensity 4.0 or higher.	60
R.O.B.	Collect at least 200 different trophies.	70
Ganondorf	Beat Classic Mode with Link or Zelda on intensity 5.0 or higher.	80
Mr. Game & Watch	Clear Classic Mode with 10 or more characters.	90
Bowser Jr.	Clear Classic Mode with Bowser on intensity 6.0 or higher.	100
Duck Hunt	Clear Classic Mode with 8 or more characters.	110
Jigglypuff	Collect at least 30 different Equipment items.	120

Gallery

Ness challenging the player in Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS.

Falco challenging the player in Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS.

Wario challenging the player in Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS.

Lucina challenging the player in Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS.

Dark Pit challenging the player in Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS.

Dr. Mario challenging the player in Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS.

R.O.B. challenging the player in Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS.

Ganondorf challenging the player in Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS.

Mr. Game & Watch challenging the player in Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS.

Bowser Jr. challenging the player in Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS.

Duck Hunt challenging the player in Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS.

Jigglypuff challenging the player in Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS.

Super Smash Bros. for Wii U

Unlike the 3DS version, Ness, Jigglypuff, Ganondorf & Bowser Jr. are starter characters. Like the 3DS version, a character is unlocked for every 10 versus matches played. Two exceptions to this are Mr. Game & Watch and Duck Hunt, which they need 20 more versus matches than R.O.B. and Mr. Game & Watch, respectively.

Character	How to Unlock	Vs. Matches Required
Falco	Clear Classic Mode.	10
Wario	Clear 100-Man Smash.	20
Lucina	Clear Classic Mode on intensity 5.5 or higher.	30
Dark Pit	Clear All-Star Mode on Normal difficulty or higher.	40
Dr. Mario	Clear a Master Orders ticket on Hard or higher.	50
R.O.B.	Clear Crazy Orders after playing 8 rounds or higher.	60
Mr. Game & Watch	Beat Classic Mode on intensity 2.0 or higher with 5 or more characters.	80
Duck Hunt	KO one or more opponents in Cruel Smash.	100

Gallery

Falco challenging the player in Super Smash Bros. for Wii U.

Wario challenging the player in Super Smash Bros. for Wii U.

Lucina challenging the player in Super Smash Bros. for Wii U.

Dark Pit challenging the player in Super Smash Bros. for Wii U.

Dr. Mario challenging the player in Super Smash Bros. for Wii U.

R.O.B. challenging the player in Super Smash Bros. for Wii U.

Mr. Game & Watch challenging the player in Super Smash Bros. for Wii U.

Duck Hunt challenging the player in Super Smash Bros. for Wii U.

Super Smash Bros. Ultimate

In Ultimate, the characters from the Original 8 in the original Super Smash Bros. are starters. Captain Falcon, Jigglypuff, Luigi, and Ness (from the Original 12) have reverted back to being unlockables. All the other newcomers (starting with Melee) are also unlockables. As such, the player has a new method capable of unlocking fighters, by playing the modes Adventure Mode: World of Light, Classic Mode, or Smash Mode.

If the player engages in VS. matches and has an unlockable fighter challenge the player where defeating him/her will unlock him/her, then there is a cooldown of 10 minutes for the next available unlockable fighter. However, the player can close the game, return to the Switch's home menu and restart Ultimate to bypass this method.

1. Ness
2. Zelda
3. Bowser
4. Pit
5. Inkling
6. Villager
7. Marth
8. Young Link
9. Wii Fit Trainer
10. Ice Climbers
11. Captain Falcon
12. Peach
13. Ryu
14. Ike
15. Jigglypuff
16. King K. Rool
17. Sonic
18. Simon
19. Zero Suit Samus
20. Little Mac
21. Isabelle
22. Shulk
23. Lucina
24. Wario
25. Ridley
26. Pokémon Trainer
27. Lucario
28. Daisy
29. Roy
30. King Dedede
31. R.O.B.
32. Falco
33. Luigi
34. Pichu
35. Richter
36. Lucas
37. Diddy Kong
38. Meta Knight
39. Snake
40. Ganondorf
41. Corrin
42. Mega Man
43. Bayonetta
44. Toon Link
45. Rosalina & Luma
46. Incineroar
47. Sheik
48. Olimar
49. Pac-Man
50. Dark Samus
51. Wolf
52. Mr. Game & Watch
53. Robin
54. Dark Pit
55. Cloud
56. Duck Hunt
57. Ken
58. Greninja
59. Chrom
60. Mewtwo
61. Bowser Jr.
62. Dr. Mario
63. Palutena
64. Piranha Plant (DLC Purchase)
65. Joker (DLC Purchase)
66. Hero (DLC Purchase)
67. Banjo Kazooie (DLC Purchase)
68. Terry (DLC Purchase)
69. Byleth (DLC Purchase)
70. Min Min (DLC Purchase)
71. Steve (DLC Purchase)
72. Sephiroth (DLC Purchase)
73. Pyra/Mythra (DLC Purchase)
74. Kazuya (DLC Purchase)
75. Sora (DLC Purchase)

Trivia

• The original Super Smash Bros. is the only installment in the Super Smash Bros. series where the unlockable characters cannot be unlocked by playing a specific number of VS. Mode matches.
  • Additionally, the original game is the only installment in the series where all the unlockable characters have one unlock criteria.
• The CPU level of unlockable character fights increases with each consecutive character, though the opposite is the case in Melee.
  • In Super Smash Bros. for Wii U, the CPU level for all eight characters is high, no matter what order they're fought in.
• Super Smash Bros. is the only installment to not show still silhouettes of the characters before fighting them, it shows them as their full models instead. However, when playing on an N64 emulator, the silhouette effect will not appear and the character's full color model can be seen.
• In Brawl, whenever the player fights a hidden character, his/her character always uses their default palette swap, even if another costume was selected.
• Luigi, Captain Falcon, Ness, Jigglypuff, Marth, Ganondorf, Wario, Lucario, Toon Link, and Sonic are the only non-DLC characters to have their availability status change in future Super Smash Bros. installments.
  • Wario is the first character debuting as a starter before becoming unlockable.
• In Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS and Wii U, some unlockable characters in the 3DS version are starter characters in the Wii U version. This was a personal choice of Masahiro Sakurai, who opted with his team to make said characters starters as they were unlockable in the 3DS to save players who already had this version to take extra time to unlock all, but still have fun unlocking hidden content.
  • Additionally, because of this, Sakurai's original plan was to make all characters available from the start in both versions; meaning there would be no hidden fighters. This idea was abandoned given the fact he acknowledged players enjoy the idea of the expectation of finding hidden content, as well as fighting a secret fighter in order to unlock him/her. To balance this with his original idea of making all characters available, he toned down the unlocking difficulty, meaning characters both in the 3DS/Wii U versions are easier to unlock than previous titles.
• Dr. Mario, Pichu, Falco, Young Link, Mr. Game & Watch, Snake, R.O.B., Wolf, Lucina, Dark Pit, and Duck Hunt are the only eleven unlockable characters to remain unlockable in every game they appear in.
• Super Smash Bros. Ultimate is the only game where every newcomer is an unlockable. This also applies to Echo Fighters.

See also

• Unlockable stage
• Starter character
• Starter stage
• Downloadable content