There's a new Super Smash Bros. coming soon to the Nintendo Switch, and with it, every single character that has ever appeared in the franchise will return, along with a few new faces like the Inklings of Splatoon and Ridley of the Metroid series. So, with such a huge roster of returning characters, one question arises, which amongst the list of over 50 characters are the greatest? With a roster that has grown with each game, it can be a bit hard to choose a favorite, let alone rank them. Who are the most popular characters amongst casual and professional players? Who has the best abilities and is the strongest in a fight? Who are the coolest and most interesting fighters?
We're taking all this and more into consideration when ranking the top 30 characters form the Super Smash Bros. franchise. But first, a couple of rules; no clone characters (or characters that are similar enough to be considered clones), no characters that have not actually premiered yet (sorry Inklings and Ridley) and any new move sets or changes to abilities that may or may not appear in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate will not be brought into consideration. With all that out of the way, it's time to find out who smashes the hardest... who brings the most pain... who is the coolest, flashiest and most explosive fighter in the insane crossover brawler that is Super Smash Bros. Enjoy our ranking of the top 30 best Super Smash Bros. fighters and let us know your own ranking as well!
30 MARTH
We start with Marth at the bottom for two main reasons: the overall sub-par popularity of the Fire Emblem series, and the basic nature of the character's abilities within Smash. While there is a crowd for the Fire Emblem series, the games didn't come out in America until after Super Smash Bros. Melee made people interested in the character.
Sure, that might mean the character is indeed popular, but in terms of moves and abilities, Marth is essentially a simple swordsman and not much else. Still, there are others below him that we didn't include, so Marth makes the cut.
29 PAC-MAN
Pac-Man makes the top 30 for two reasons, the first of which is that it's just plain cool that one of the oldest video game characters is included in one of the greatest crossover fighting games. The second reason is that his move set is wonderfully creative, incorporating classic aspects of his character into attacks.
However, said moves and attacks are... not the greatest and are, at least for the average player, kind of hard to control and execute effectively, which is why Pac-Man comes in at number 29.
28 GANONDORF
Ganondorf is a bit of a mixed bag... We included him both to complete the Triforce and because he's one of the most noteworthy villains in video game history. And yet, despite being a powerful wizard with mystical abilities that have varied throughout his multiple incarnations, his move set in Super Smash Bros. is essentially a clone of Captain Falcon's.
If we had to compare them, Captain Falcon has the advantage of speed on his side while Ganondorf's attacks are slower and heavier. While the balance is there, Captain Falcon ultimately wins the comparison, placing Ganondorf at number 28.
27 SNAKE
Solid Snake is a weird entry on this list. Weird, both because the Metal Gear series is, without a doubt, considered to be a Playstation series more than anything (with only a tiny handful of releases on Nintendo consoles) and also because the game series itself is as ridiculous as it is entertaining.
So, the conclusion we came to with the character is that he is a fun one to play, with plenty of great moves and advantages in a fight, but because of how out of place he is, we're going to knock down his ranking.
26 MR. GAME AND WATCH
Mr. Game & Watch is a lot like Pac-Man, at least in terms of his inclusion in the series. For one thing, it's AWESOME that an even older video-game character was included in Smash, and the way he is depicted is perfect; the slow-frame-rate motion, the sound effects, his origin-inspired move set, etc.
However, also like Pac-Man, the character is not the easiest to get the hang of. Not impossible, for sure, but his delightfully retro move set is, surprisingly enough for a simplistic character, not perfectly cut and dry, which costs the fighter a few points.
25 WII FIT TRAINER
We're not going to claim that the Wii Fit trainer is everybody's favorite character, but come on, the sheer delightful ridiculousness of her inclusion in the Super Smash Bros. Brawl roster is enough to at least make the top 30. In addition, her move set is hilarious and brilliantly in-theme with the character, and she's not bad in a fight either.
Like we said, maybe the Wii Fit Trainer isn't top 10 material, but top 25? She certainly earns that much just by her silly and wonderful background and the themed attacks that come with it.
24 PIT
We're a little torn on Pit; for one thing, he is another instance of an old character coming back for the fighting game, his appearance somewhat helping to revive the Kid Icarus franchise, resulting in a new game for the the Nintendo 3DS.
However, if there's one thing that everyone agreed about Pit, at least in his first appearance in Brawl, it was that he was a spammy, overpowered fighter with a move that could not be easily countered and... we're inclined to agree. Pit's a very strong character; in fact, he's too strong, which, in this case, costs him some points.
23 LITTLE MAC
Super Smash Bros. is great about bringing back classic Nintendo characters -- it's half the draw of the series. Another example of a classic character coming back is Little Mac. The character did have a return in the reboot of Punch-Out, but other than that, his video-game career was rather sparse.
This is why seeing the character, a fighter in every sense of the word, in a fighting game of Nintendo characters was fantastic. Unfortunately, his controls are rather difficult, which isn't bad for seasoned players, but definitely tough for newcomers that want to play as Little Mac.
22 ICE CLIMBERS
Speaking of long-forgotten characters that are hard to control, the Ice Climbers are yet another example of what is essentially a trope of the Smash series. Originating from the game Ice Climber, Popo and Nana are easily the hardest fighters to master from Melee, solely for the fact that you are controlling two characters at once.
The difficulty of controlling two characters (with two separate damage percentages) is part of the reason why the Ice Climbers don't make the top 20, but for those who have mastered them, having two characters is a huge advantage.
21 GRENINJA
Greninja was one of the more surprising additions to the roster of Super Smash Bros. for the Wii U and 3DS. There is almost always a new Pokémon added, but the ninja frog wasn't exactly what everyone was expecting. Surprises aside, Greninja is a great fighter, one that almost makes the top 20.
What drops Greninja's ranking is that he's kind of overpowered. Similar to Pit, Greninja has very few weaknesses and even seasoned players have trouble stopping some of the spam-heavy attacks, which is nice when you're playing as the Pokémon, but terrible when you're the opponent.
20 PEACH
Princess Peach was a character that should have been included in the Super Smash Bros. franchise from the very beginning, but didn't make her debut until the second game in the series. These injustices aside, Peach is a wonderful, if not somewhat underpowered character with a good share of fans.
This is to say that the character got her due in Melee, and plenty have used her as their main since, but overall, her move set isn't all that impressive. It's enough to make the top 20, for sure, but not the strongest in the bunch.
19 METAKNIGHT
Meta Knight is equal parts silly, cool and adorable, and frankly, that's why we love him. A somewhat serious and gritty character, Meta Knight serves as an interesting foil for Kirby, and in Super Smash Bros. he serves as one of the most versatile and powerful fighters.
In fact, some might say Meta Knight, like Greninja and Pit, is too powerful, and it's not hard to see why. Pretty much every one of his special attacks, both in Brawl and in SSB4, is an over-powered spam-fest that earns the cool character some well-deserved points.
18 BOWSWER
It's hard to beat a giant dinosaur dragon turtle monster. Literally, the whole point of Bowser is that he is a boss character, the powerful foe at the end of a level who is tougher than the rest of the baddies. That concept remains consistent in Bowser's ability as fighter in Super Smash Bros. Bowser is slow, sure, but he's still a big mean monster with fire breath, a surprisingly quick shell-spin attack and plenty of durability.
All things considered, while he might not be everyone's top choice for a fighter, his lack of speed is a great trade-off for how strong Bowser is, which is why he comes in at number 18.
17 MEGA MAN
Though he is a Capcom character, all of Mega Man's initial appearances were on Nintendo systems, which is why it's so surprising that he didn't appear in a Smash game until the Wii U/3DS version. Regardless of how long it took, his appearance was wholly welcomed in the Smash community.
Mega Man has pretty much every one of the power ups featured in his first game, which makes him both powerful and hard to control at the same time. There is definitely a learning curve to fighting as Mega Man, but one that is worth getting the hang of.
16 SONIC
Sorry Mega Man fans, but the Blue Blur beats the Blue Bomber out by a bit. Part of the reason for this is because Sonic was featured in Smash before Mega Man and is arguably a more popular character. Regardless, Sonic's fantastically streamlined abilities, which fit perfectly to the character's motif, make him a great choice for any Smash fight.
Sure, he kind of lacks a down special attack since his spin-dash charge is effectively pointless, and his final smash is definitely over-powered, but we think Sonic deserves the ranking of number 16.
15 LUIGI
At first glance, Luigi looks a lot like a Mario clone (in both Smash games and in most Mario games, let's be honest), but Luigi's abilities and powers are unique enough to fully differentiate him from his more-famous brother.
Luigi does share two special moves with Mario -- his jumping punch and his fireball -- but even then they have slight variations with their own advantages and disadvantages. However, where he really differs, and in turn earns his ranking, is from his super jump punch and cyclone special attacks, which are, to some, formidable enough to consider choosing him over Mario.
14 WARIO
FAR more unique to Mario is Wario, his evil counterpart that could have easily been a copy with some variations, but is instead a wholly unique and strange fighter in Super Smash Bros. Taking elements from the WarioWare games, Wario has attacks like chomping his enemies or throwing a whole freaking motorcycle.
Wario's unique specials and overall wacky fighting style earns him a lot of love from us, which is why he ranks above Luigi at number 14.
13 MEWTWO
Mewtwo is easily one of the most powerful Pokémon in the game series, so it makes sense that he is also one of the best characters in Super Smash Bros. A psychic powerhouse, Mewtwo has an effective, cool and powerful special move set that was rather missed when he was swapped out for Lucario in Brawl.
Mewtwo can shoot a ball of psychic energy, teleport, stun enemies with a glare and spin them around to further stunning effect. It is not the greatest special move list of a Smash Pokémon character, but definitely one of the better ones.
12 YOSHI
Yoshi has been in the Super Smash series since the beginning, and as a result, his special moves and overall attacks are a bit simple, but their simplicity is part of the character's draw. Yoshi's ability to swallow enemies and incapacitate them as eggs is one of the most useful moves in the Smashs series to date, right up there with Kirby's inhaling abilities.
On top of this, Yoshi's weird glide and overall well-balanced strength and speed stats make him a strong choice as a main fighter, and easily one of the best of the original game's lineup.
11 NESS
Also featured in the series from the beginning, Ness' attacks are equal parts hard to master and hard to counter. Ness is definitely a character that takes a bit of getting used to if you want to use him to his fullest potential. Perhaps the best example of this is his PK Thunder attack.
The PK Thunder special is useful in its ability to be directed after being launched, but takes some mastery if one wishes to use it as a recovery move. This encapsulates Ness as a fighter -- easy to learn, but hard to master.