Characters (Page 1)

This newest entry in the Smash Bros. series has a LOT of characters. 48, plus three types of custom Mii characters. They're listed here in the order in which they appear on the character select screen. If you're missing a character, see the Unlockables subsection of the Basics section of this guide. See the DLC section for more information about DLC characters.

Mario

Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS screenshot - Characters (Page 1)

Mario is the most well-rounded fighter in the roster, making him great for beginners. He has a somewhat varied set of moves with no real weaknesses. Make use of his forward air attack, which sends enemies straight down and can easily smash someone into the abyss. His down aerial attack is a spin that draws enemies in and damages them. His up and down smash attacks hit enemies both in front of and behind him.

Standard Special – Fireball: Throw a fireball that bounces along the ground, like in the Super Mario Bros. games, except slower.

Side Special – Cape: Wave Mario's yellow cape from Super Mario World, turning enemies around and reflecting projectiles back to their sources.

Up Special – Super Jump Punch: Rise into the air, repeatedly damaging any enemies caught in your path. The last hit sends enemies flying a little bit.

Down Special – F.L.U.D.D.: Press down and B to start charging it. You can suspend the charge by rolling to the side or blocking. Once it's charged, press down and B again to fire a stream of water that doesn't damage, but does push enemies. Tilt the circle pad up or down to adjust its trajectory.

Final Smash – Mario Finale: Fire a wave of huge fireballs. This can push weakened enemies out of the ring.

Luigi

Luigi is another well-rounded character. He shares a few moves with Mario, with a few key differences that make him a bit more complicated than his brother. His up special, especially, is a great KO move if it lands perfectly, but isn't so useful if you're off a little bit. When recovering, it's generally a good idea to use his side special before his up special, which doesn't have much lateral movement. His down taunt actually sends enemies flying straight up into the air, but it doesn't send them any higher with high damage, and doesn't do much damage itself, so it's really more of a novelty. Use it on an enemy who is hanging from a ledge for a hilarious Long Live the King moment.

Standard Special – Fireball: Luigi's fireball travels in a straight line. It will bounce off of walls and slanted ground if it hits it, though.

Side Special – Green Missile: Hold the input to charge it, then release to launch to the left or right and do a good bit of damage. There's a 1/10 chance this will misfire, sending you flying even farther, doing even more damage if you connect, potentially killing you if you don't.

Up Special – Super Jump Punch: Doesn't travel very high, or at all to the left or right. Doesn't trap enemies like Mario's version, but it does a lot of damage and sends enemies flying far if it hits at the very start of the move. If you pull it off in mid air, it can KO enemies with low damage.

Down Special – Luigi Cyclone: Luigi spins, drawing enemies in and damaging them. Press the button repeatedly to rise into the air a little.

Final Smash – Poltergust 5000: Luigi's Negative Zone final smash has been replaced with this less interesting one. Luigi uses his Poltergust 5000 to suck in all enemies within a certain radius, then spits them back out.

Peach

Peach is an easy character for beginners to use. Her movements are cute and feminine, as you'd expect from a character like her, but she's no pushover. By holding the jump button, Peach can float great distances horizontally, and her up special allows her to float even farther, giving her excellent recovery. Her forward aerial attack takes a moment to come out, but has good launching power. Her side smash attack cycles through three weapons in this order: A tennis racket (has high knockback), a golf club (has long range), and a frying pan (does more damage).

Standard Special – Toad: Poor Toad. Whip him out to absorb attacks and negate damage. Toad counters with a cloud of damaging spores.

Side Special – Peach Bomber: Hop sideways butt-first to smash into an enemy, doing a respectable amount of damage with some good launching power.

Up Special – Peach Parasol: Jump into the air and open a parasol to gracefully float down to earth. A great recovery move. The parasol hurts enemies even after it has been opened.

Down Special – Vegetable: Pluck a vegetable out of the ground. The expression on its face is random and determines its attack power. Less happy faces deal more damage.

Final Smash – Peach Blossom: Puts all enemies to sleep and spawns three giant peaches which each restore 20% health. If the enemies wake up, they can grab the peaches for themselves.

Bowser

Bowser is big, strong, slow, and heavy. He's easy to hit but takes a lot of damage to finish off. When his damage is low, weak attacks won't even make him flinch. Meanwhile, he does good damage himself overall. His one projectile attack doesn't have that much range. You'll want to try to get in close while playing as Bowser. His down aerial attack is like a faster, weaker version of his down special, and his down smash is similar to his up special, with no lift and higher damage and launch potential, especially when charged.

Standard Special – Fire Breath: Hold B to breathe a stream of fire, similar to one from a Fire Flower. You can aim the fire slightly up or down with the circle pad. The fire starts to lose range and power after a few seconds, and takes time to recharge. Best used in short bursts.

Side Special – Flying Slam: Grab an opponent, then jump and slam them into the ground. You'll need to be pretty close to connect.

Up Special – Whirling Fortress: Withdraw into your shell and spin around. Has low vertical range but high horizontal range for recovery.

Down Special – Bowser Bomb: Jump into the air and slam down, or just slam down if you're already in the air. High power and potential to launch. When used on the ground at close range, you can lift opponents into the air on the way up and then slam them into the ground.

Final Smash – Giga Bowser: Become huge and ugly. You'll be slower, but all of your attacks will do much more damage.

Yoshi

Yoshi isn't very strong, but he's quick and he moves somewhat strangely. His up special doesn't carry him very far (but it does carry him a little) so his double jump sends him a great distance. His forward aerial attack has respectable launching ability in the air, and his down aerial can do quite a bit of damage if all of its kicks land. That's not likely to happen against human beings, but it's handy vs. Master Hand and other computer controlled non-character enemies. Unlike other characters, his shield is an egg, which can't (and doesn't need to be) aimed, because it covers the entirety of Yoshi's body until it breaks. His grab uses his tongue, which has good range as far as grabs go.

Standard Special – Egg Lay: Slurp up an enemy and poop him out as an egg. The amount of time and effort it takes for them to break free depends on how much damage they've taken.

Side Special – Egg Roll: Go inside of an egg and roll around. You can turn while rolling. Damage done is determined by speed at the time of contact. Be careful not to roll off the stage.

Up Special – Egg Throw: Toss an egg at an arc. Direction can be controlled with the circle pad. It's not immediately obvious, but this does let Yoshi travel a little farther in the air.

Down Special – Yoshi Bomb: Hop into the air and slam into the ground, or simply drop and slam if you're already in the air. Does a bit of splash damage when you land.

Final Smash – Super Dragon: Yoshi sprouts wings and gains the ability to breath fire. Yoshi is invincible in this form. Press the jump button for a quick stream of fireballs, or an attack button to fire one large ball of fire. Yoshi can fly freely in this form, but be careful not to be too far from the stage when the effect wears off.

Rosalina and Luma

Rosalina is an imposing presence, with her gigantic body and echoing voice. She fights with a Luma at her side. The Luma can get KO'd but will respawn a little while later. You can send the Luma out with her standard special, and it will attack when Rosalina attacks with A. It will attack in the same direction as Rosalina and can even smash attack. The Luma can spray Star Bits a short distance from itself, wherever it may be. With a bit of skill, you can bounce enemies back and forth between Rosalina and the Luma. Rosalina's back aerial attack is a good launcher.

Standard Special – Luma Shot: Shoot the Luma forward, where it will stay until called back by pressing B again. Charge this move to send the Luma farther and do more damage.

Side Special – Star Bits: Shoot a flurry of star bits a short distance from the Luma.

Up Special – Launch Star: Launch out of a launch star to fly far. Good recovery move, but doesn't damage enemies. Use the circle pad to aim the launch.

Down Special – Gravitational Pull: Draw projectiles and items towards you. Projectiles will disperse unless they're ones that can be picked up, like Mega Man's Metal Blade, in which case they'll harmlessly fall to the ground. This is great for nabbing items that are a short distance away.

Final Smash – Power Star: Summon a Power Star that shoots smaller stars around, damaging foes. This gradually gets bigger until it explodes.

Bowser Jr.

You can actually play as any of the Koopa Kids by selecting different costumes for Bowser Jr., but they all play the same way. Bowser Jr. is a little slow and heavy and hits somewhat hard, but not to the same degree as dad. The various tools that come out of his Clown Car make him a bit unpredictable. He might have some trouble getting close, but he has a couple of projectiles to help him out from a distance. Attacks that hit the Clown Car will do less damage than attacks that directly hit Bowser Jr.!

Standard Special – Clown Cannon: Fire a simple cannon ball straight ahead. Doesn't move very fast, but can be charged by holding the button.

Side Special – Clown Kart Dash: Turn the Clown Car into a kart, speeding forward, doing more damage if it hits at higher speed. This is a great way to accidentally fly off the stage and die horribly.

Up Special – Abandon Ship: It's unusual for an upward special to only damage enemies below, but here you go. Your Koopa Kid launches out of the Clown Car, which drops a distance about equal to the height of one jump, and then explodes. Doesn't damage on the way up, but you can swing a hammer on your way down to avoid being completely helpless. The Clown Car respawns immediately after you land, of course.

Down Special – Mechakoopa: Toss out a Mechakoopa that walks along the ground until it hits an enemy and explodes. It will also explode on its own after a certain amount of time has passed.

Final Smash – Shadow Mario: Transform into Shadow Mario and paint a giant X on the screen. Enemies that touch the paint will take damage. The X explodes after a while, doing more damage.

Wario

Wario is a bit faster than you might expect. That's not to say he's a fast character, mind you, but he's nowhere near Bowser or Ganondorf levels of slow, and he has a nifty motorcycle to get him across the stage faster. He has some weird movements and he's... pretty gross. Unless you're playing a short match (like in Classic mode), you'll want to do what you can to expedite the gas factory in Wario's gut by eating random things. Some might argue that this puts Wario at a disadvantage when playing with items turned off. When choosing Wario on the character select screen, you can switch between his classic outfit and his Wario Ware costume by switching his colours.

Standard Special – Chomp: Devour items and projectiles, or just chew on enemies. Eating things will recover a bit of Wario's health and charge his down special a bit. You might also gain the special effect of that item, depending on the item. Eating healing items will heal him more than picking them up would. Eating explosives will damage Wario, but not as much as they would if they exploded outside of him. Biting enemies will grab them and allow you to chew them to damage them before spitting them out.

Side Special – Wario Bike: Hop on your motorcycle and go for a ride. You can run over enemies and hop off by jumping or pressing either attack button. If you manage not to drive it off a cliff, you can pick the bike up and throw it as a projectile, or even eat it.

Up Special – Corkscrew: Jump upwards and spin to recover from a fall or damage enemies. This attack draws enemies in to hit them multiple times.

Down Special – Wario Waft: Truly a devastating attack. If Wario is flashing, this attack is fully charged. It takes a couple of minutes, but this process can be expedited by eating things. The charge doesn't get reset if Wario gets KO'd. Wario lets out the most terrifying fart you've ever heard, severely damaging enemies to the point where they'll surely regret surviving. This also propels Wario into the air.

Final Smash – Wario-Man: Wario eats some garlic and turns into a superhero. Or supervillain. Who can tell? He's faster and stronger in this form, not to mention invincible, and he can "fly" by doing aerial attacks.

Mr. Game & Watch

This little LCD man seems a bit out of place as the one 2D character in the entire game. His animations are jittery in a retro way, with most only consisting of two distinct "sprites." This can make him difficult to predict if you're not used to him. He has a couple of attacks capable of doing tons of damage, but they're either random or difficult to pull off, adding to his unpredictability. Being paper thin, he's not very heavy and goes flying easily.

Standard Special – Chef: Fling food forward at random trajectories. Hold the button to fling five things in a row.

Side Special – Judge: Smack the enemy with a hammer. The number displayed above Mr. Game & Watch determines its effect. 1 does 2% damage and doesn't cause the enemy to flinch, doing 12 damage to Mr. Game & Watch. 2 does 4%. 3 does 6% and pierces shields, causing the enemy to fly towards Mr. Game & Watch. 4 does 8% and launches foes at an angle. 5 does 4% electric damage 3 times in a row. 6 does 12% and is a flame attack. 7 does 14% damage and makes an apple appear, which can be eaten. 8 freezes the enemy and does 9% damage. 9 is an electric attack that does a whopping 32% damage and launches the opponent with enough force that they'll likely be KO'd..

Up Special – Fire: Leap from a trampoline into the air, and then float down with a parachute.

Down Special – Oil Panic: Hold out a bucket to collect projectiles. Only energy based projectiles can be collected, not physical ones like arrows or Master Hand's bullets. Once three are collected, they can be dumped out in the form of oil. This takes effort to pull off, but its power is relative to the strength of the projectiles used to fill the bucket. Certain large projectiles can fill the entire bucket at once.

Final Smash – Octopus: Become a giant LCD octopus. You can move horizontally and jump in this form. You are, of course, invincible. Press the attack buttons to extend your tentacles and do damage.

Donkey Kong

DK is as big and strong and heavy as you'd expect from a gorilla. His long arms give his attacks great reach. His smash attacks do tons of damage and launch enemies far. He's so strong that he can pick enemies up and carry them around before tossing them away. He can even jump while carrying enemies and large items like crates. He's faster than he was in previous games, but heavier, too, meaning he falls faster. On an eventless Omega stage, his down special and smash attacks make it easy for him to hold his ground. His aerial forward is a good aerial finisher, as is basically any attack he uses on the ground.

Standard Special – Giant Punch: Press the button to start winding up. You can cancel the windup (and store the energy you've gained) by rolling away or guarding. Once it's fully charged, or before that during the windup, press B again to throw a powerful punch that sends enemies flying and does big damage.

Side Special – Headbutt: Smash the enemy into the ground, keeping them stationary momentarily. If used in the air, it will smash the enemy towards the ground.

Up Special – Spinning Kong: Spin, spin, spin. Draws enemies in and damages them. Doesn't give DK much height, but it does allow him to travel far horizontally.

Down Special – Hand Slap: Slap the ground and send nearby opponents into the air. Can be used repeatedly. Works as a meteor smash in the air.

Final Smash – Konga Beat: Whip out those bongos like some kind of simian yuppie. Press the regular attack button in time with the music to send out shockwaves of sound. There's rhythm game meter to help you out, though it can get confusing with the moving camera.

Diddy Kong

Diddy is small, quick, and agile. He's basically the opposite of DK. His aerial down is a great meteor smash. He can cling to walls and jump off of them, then move back to ascend, making him pretty handy for Smash Run. Diddy is fun to use if you appreciate quick characters.

Standard Special – Peanut Popgun: Shoot a peanut from a gun. Hold the button to charge it and send it straighter and farther. Overcharge it and your gun will explode, which seems like a bad thing, but not necessarily. The explosion damages enemies a fair bit, and while it will leave you open for a moment, it won't damage you.

Side Special – Monkey Flip: Hop forward to latch onto someone, then press the attack button repeatedly to do unspeakable things to their face. You can jump off of an enemy you're mutilating to get some nice air. Alternatively, press the button again while flying towards your foe to do a kick.

Up Special – Rocketbarrel Boost: Blast into the air using a questionable wooden jetpack. Charge this move to go higher. You can control this pretty freely after it launches.

Down Special – Banana Peel: Toss a banana peel behind Diddy. Works exactly like the standard banana peel item.

Final Smash – Rocketbarrel Barrage: Blast around the stage with the rocketbarrels, firing explosive peanuts. The peanuts will only shoot "down" relative to whatever direction Diddy is pointed. For example, fly to the right to point Diddy's head to the right and fire peanuts to the left.

Link

Everyone's hero. Link has been one of the most used characters since the original Super Smash Bros. for the N64 way back in 1999. Link's down aerial attack is a good meteor smash, but missing can lead to catastrophe since it takes a little while to recover from. Link uses his Clawshot to grab enemies from a distance, and can even use it to grab onto ledges and pull himself to safety. This is generally less useful than simply recover with his spin attack, though. The third hit of his upward smash attack is an excellent finisher. His forward smash has a second hit if you press the button again. The second hit is the real launcher. If Link is standing still, projectiles can bounce right off of his shield if they hit it.

Standard Special – Hero's Bow: Hold the button to draw the string to gather power. The more you gather, the farther the arrow will fly and the more damage it will do.

Side Special – Gale Boomerang: Damages enemies on the way out, pulls them toward you on the way back.

Up Special – Spin Attack: This iconic attack works as a pretty good launcher. You can charge it to make it faster and stronger. Works as a decent recovery move in the air.

Down Special – Bomb: Whip out a bomb. Not as strong as a Bob-omb, but it's handy. It will explode on impact, or when the fuse burns out. Skilled opponents can catch bombs thrown their way and throw them right back.

Final Smash – Triforce Slash: Send out a quick beam of light to trap foes in a Triforce, then go to town on them with a combo of slashes, the final one working as a powerful finisher. Has medium range.

Zelda

Zelda can no longer transform into Sheik, and is best played by keeping her distance when she can. She attacks with powerful magic both in her specials and her regular attacks. Her forwards and backwards aerial attacks do a lot of damage and work well as finishers, but only if you land them juuuuuust right. Try to hit enemies with the point of light that appears at the end of her foot, rather than the foot itself. The same holds true for her down aerial attack, as a meteor smash. Her upward smash attack is another good finisher, and much easier to pull off.

Standard Special – Nayru's Love: Surround yourself with a magical barrier that damages enemies and reflects projectiles.

Side Special – Din's Fire: Send out a tiny ball of fire that explodes when you let go of the button. Can be controlled to go slightly higher or lower after it has been fired. Becomes more powerful, the farther it travels.

Up Special – Farore's Wind: Teleport in any direction. Damages enemies when you disappear and reappear. Has great distance and is a great recovery move. Can't go through solid floors or walls.

Down Special – Phantom Slash: Summon a Phantom from nothingness, then send it forward to slash at enemies. Hold the button to charge the attack and send the Phantom farther. The Phantom will be defeated if it's damaged enough, and Zelda won't be able to summon it for a while.

Final Smash – Light Arrow: Shoot out a beam that stuns foes, quickly followed by a deadly arrow made of light. Will KO most enemies without too much damage.

Sheik

Sheik is her own character now. She's very fast and is powerful in the air. She can grab onto walls and jump from them, being a ninja and all. Her upward aerial attack is a good aerial finisher, while her up and down smashes are the way to go on the ground. Her dash attack is better for finishers than her smash attack.

Standard Special – Needle Storm: The more you charge, the more needles you'll throw, up to 7. They fly straight ahead on the ground or down at an angle in the air.

Side Special – Burst Grenade: A brand new move for this brand new Smash Bros.. Toss out a sneaky grenade that pulls enemies towards its centre before exploding.

Up Special – Vanish: Disappear in a puff of smoke and reappear somewhere else. Damages enemies.

Down Special – Bouncing Fish: Flip forward towards an enemy, and bounce off of them if you manage to hit them.

Final Smash – Light Arrow: Basically identical to Zelda's final smash. Shoot out a beam of light that stuns foes, then finish them off with a light arrow.

Ganondorf

To say Ganondorf is slow and heavy is an understatement, but he hits like a truck. Even his neutral attack can be enough to KO enemies sometimes. His special moveset is similar to that of Captain Falcon, but much slower and much more powerful. His upward standard ground attack takes a while to charge but sends enemies flying far, as do his smash attacks, as well as basically anything else he does. Ganondorf players might have a lot of trouble with quicker characters.

Standard Special – Warlock Punch: Charge up a powerful punch that will send enemies flying. Can be interrupted, but takes some effort. Turn around while charging the punch for an even more powerful strike on an enemy behind you.

Side Special – Flame Choke: Rush forward to grab an enemy and throw them to the ground. Airborne enemies will be slammed to the ground.

Up Special – Dark Dive: Dive upwards to grab and shock an enemy before launching them away.

Down Special – Wizard's Foot: A kick that flies straight ahead on the ground or diagonally down in the air.

Final Smash – Beast Ganon: Transform into Dark Beast Ganon and paralyze enemies in your path before rushing forward. Enemies directly in front of Ganondorf will be buried in the ground first. For some reason.

Toon Link

Toon Link really should still be called Young Link, come on guys. Young Link is basically a faster, weaker Link. He can grab ledges and enemies with his Hookshot. His upward smash is a good finisher, though it's only one hit instead of a three-hit combo. The downward aerial stab that people love so much sends Toon Link flying straight down, meaning it's basically impossible to recover from over a pit, even if you make contact with the enemy. His forward smash attack has a second hit if you press the button a second time, which you should, because the second hit is extra strong. His shield can deflect projectiles, provided he's not moving.

Standard Special – Hero's Bow: Charge it up for more damage and a longer range.

Side Special – Boomerang: Damages enemies coming and going, unlike Regular Link, who only damages enemies on the way out.

Up Special – Spin Attack: Unlike Regular Link's version, Toon Link's Spin Attack draws enemies towards the centre, allowing them to be hit multiple times. It also keeps him in the air longer. A good finisher on the ground or in the air, if you charge it up all the way.

Down Special – Bomb: Pull out a bomb and toss it at an enemy, hoping they don't catch it and toss it back. Will explode on its own after a short time. The explosion from Toon Link's bomb is really pretty, and larger than Big Link's, but does less damage.

Final Smash – Triforce Slash: Just like Grownup Link's Triforce Slash. Send out a quick beam of light to trap a foe in a Triforce, then slash and stab at them before knocking them out with a powerful finishing strike. Has medium range.

Samus

Samus has lost her ability to transform into Zero Suit Samus, but that's probably a good thing. Samus fights with the various weapons she has collected on her bounty hunting adventures. She's decently fast and powerful, with a grapple beam that can grab enemies and ledges from a distance. She can jump from walls, but she can't grab onto them and hold herself there. Her forward aerial and upward smash attacks are powerful flamethrowers that will do more damage if more bursts of flame connect. Her back aerial is a pretty good launcher and her down aerial is a great meteor smash. Samus is no slouch in the air, though her hardest hits will come from her special attacks.

Standard Special – Charge Shot: Press B to start charging your laser. You can move to cancel the charge while keeping the energy to resume the charge later. Press B again while charging or any time after it's fully charged to release a huge blast of energy.

Side Special – Missile: Launch a small missile that homes in on foes, or smash launch a large missile that travels faster and does more damage but only travels in a straight line.

Up Special – Screw Attack: Spin and rise into the air, damaging enemies multiple times. A pretty good recovery move.

Down Special – Bomb: Drop a bomb that explodes momentarily. The bomb won't hurt Samus, but it will make her hop into the air a little bit.

Final Smash – Zero Laser: Fire a massive laser that will do heavy damage to anything it hits. This can be aimed slightly up or down with the circle pad.

Zero Suit Samus

Zero Suit Samus is her own character now, and she's gone through a few changes, with a new final smash and some spiffy new boots that enable her to perform fast and powerful kicks. Like regular Samus, her Plasma Whip allows her to grab enemies and ledges from a distance, and she can wall jump, but not wall cling. She's better in the air than her armoured counterpart and has worse projectiles. Her forward and back aerial attacks are good aerial launchers, and while her down aerial attack has meteor smash properties, barring some miracle, it will certainly send Zero Suit Samus to her death if she uses it over a pit. It's more useful for the splash damage it does when it hits the ground. Her upward smash attack has nice reach. Her whip attacks count as energy projectiles for Mr. Game & Watch's Oil Panic move and Ness' PSI Magnet.

Standard Special – Paralyzer: Fire a small beam that momentarily stuns enemies. Can increase its range and power by charging, but this decreases its speed.

Side Special – Plasma Whip: Send a whip out a short distance to damage enemies, or grab onto platforms, which you can also do by pressing the Throw button. At the moment it becomes fully extended, the very tip of the whip has high knockback.

Up Special – Boost Kick: Kick an enemy into the air, then send them flying with a spinning kick. Gets decent height but not very good horizontal distance.

Down Special – Flip Jump: A handy move that is a little tricky to pull off. Samus jumps at an arc and, hopefully, lands on top of a foe. If the enemy is on the ground, this will bury them. If they're in the air, they'll be meteor smashed straight down. If you press B again in the air, you'll do a kick that does more damage. This doesn't meteor smash or bury the foe, but it does send them flying. You can double jump or Boost Kick after doing this move, so use it to get some horizontal distance when recovering. You can only use it once per jump. Such versatility!

Final Smash – Gunship: Hop into Samus' iconic gunship and fly away. A reticule will appear on the screen, which can be moved with the circle pad. Fire huge lasers with the attack button. There's time to fire up to five volleys of hot laser death, but it's better to aim and fire than mash the button and hope for the best, since you can't move the laser much after it starts firing.

Pit

Pit is a very mobile character, who can fly using his double jump and whose up special is useful only as a triple jump, since it doesn't do any damage. Strangely, for a flying character, he doesn't really have any good launchers in the air. His down aerial is a meteor smash if it connects properly, but that's easier said than done, and is just as likely to send an enemy off to the side or even upwards. His ground attacks are quick and not too powerful on their own, but many of them hit multiple times so the damage adds up. Between his up smash and side special, he has an easier time KO-ing enemies by sending them straight up, though his side smash is effective, too.

Standard Special – Palutena's Bow: Hold the button to charge and do more damage. While holding the button, you can aim straight up, but not diagonally. After firing an arrow, you can control it with the circle pad, causing it to arc up or down, or left or right if you fired up.

Side Special – Upperdash Arm: A good finisher. Dash sideways and uppercut enemies into the stratosphere. Can deflect projectiles, too.

Up Special – Power of Flight: Quickly blast through the air in a straight line. Travels far but doesn't damage opponents at all. You can aim in any upwards direction while charging the move, but you can't aim down at all.

Down Special – Guardian Orbitars: Push enemies away and reflect projectiles that come from the sides. You're still vulnerable from above and below, though.

Final Smash – Three Sacred Treasures: Pit get's all tarted up with a new weapon, shield, and helmet, and fires a bunch of powerful projectiles. This attack ends with a series of columns of light from above.

Palutena

Pretty Palutena is decently quick and powerful, with some great reach for her regular and smash attacks. Her up smash, in particular, creates a pillar of light several times the height of Palutena herself and has good launching capability to boot. Great for sneaking some hits in on people on higher platforms, or bosses like Master Hand. Her side and down smashes have long reach and can push enemies away with wind even if they don't connect. She has one special each for negating/countering physical and projectile damage, meaning a skilled player needn't ever take a hit. All of her specials are based on powers from Kid Icarus: Uprising.

Standard Special – Autoreticle: Automatically aim at foes within a defined area and fire at them. Won't work if there's nobody within the specific field of effect, which you can see when you press the button.

Side Special – Reflect Barrier: Send out a wall of light that pushes enemies a short distance and reflects projectiles.

Up Special – Warp: Teleport a good distance in any direction. Doesn't damage enemies, but is a great evasion/recovery move.

Down Special – Counter: Negate an attack and retaliate with an attack of your own. Stronger attacks mean stronger counters. Who expected her to have a move like this?

Final Smash – Black Hole Laser: Trap enemies in a black hole and fly away to blast them with a huge laser while they're stunned.

Marth

Marth is a force to be reckoned with in the air. All of his air attacks are quick and have good knockback. Even his neutral aerial attack has relatively good range forward and backward. His downward aerial is a great meteor smash. He's no slouch on the ground, either, with several worthwhile smash attacks and specials. The one thing that makes him tricky to use is the fact that most of his attacks are most effective if just the tip of Marth's sword connects with the enemy. Always try to just graze your foes when playing as Marth.

Standard Special – Shield Breaker: Charge up and thrust your sword forward to do high damage and break shields. This is a pretty good launcher.

Side Special – Dancing Blade: Repeatedly press B to string attacks together for a combo. Hold up or down to change each individual attack to an alternate attack.

Up Special – Dolphin Slash: Rise into the air with a slash. This is more powerful at the start of the attack. A good aerial launcher, not that Marth is lacking those otherwise.

Down Special – Counter: Negate an attack and damage the enemy in return. Damage is relative to the strength of the incoming attack.

Final Smash – Critical Hit: Quickly dash forward and do a powerful attack that will most likely KO even a foe with 0% damage. Can hit multiple enemies if they're grouped together.

Ike

This game might have too many characters that use swords, really, but Ike is unique in that he's heavy, slow, and hits hard. His smash attacks are all great for getting KO's, and his upward smash hits foes above, ahead of, and behind Ike. His sword is long, giving many of his attacks good reach. His aerial attacks hit as hard as his ground attacks, but they're slow so they can be difficult to land. His aerial down is a meteor smash.

Standard Special – Eruption: Takes forever to charge and damages the user when fully charged, but it does a lot of damage and sends enemies far into the air. The resulting pillar of flames can damage enemies on platforms above Ike's position.

Side Special – Quick Draw: Ike needs this move. Dash forward and quickly strike with your sword. One of Ike's few good options for closing distances. Can be charged.

Up Special – Aether: Swipe upwards and toss your sword into the air, along with any enemies who happen to be too close, then slam back down to earth. Be careful using this move over pits, because you won't be able to recover if there's nowhere to land. Has limited potential for horizontal movement.

Down Special – Counter: Sensing a trend here? Negate an attack and strike back with an attack proportional to the one you just negated.

Final Smash – Great Aether: Knock nearby enemies high into the air (and to the center of the stage), do a flashy aerial combo, then slam them into the ground. Handy for KO-ing enemies and can hit multiple enemies at once if they're close together.

Robin

True to his character in Fire Emblem Awakening, Robin is quite versatile, using both spells and swords. Robin must eat one page of a spell tome every time he casts a spell (prove me wrong), meaning each tome will run out after a certain number of uses. The same holds true for his electrified Levin sword, which he uses in his smash and aerial attacks. Both his tomes and Levin sword will respawn after a short time, and you'll be able to do weaker attacks with a normal sword in the meantime. His Levin sword will reappear in his hand when it's ready to go again, as will his spent tome, provided it's still the last spell you tried to use. (The equipped tome changes depending on the spell.) Keep in mind that his fast neutral A combo uses his Elwind tome, which he also uses for his up special recovery move, and it is possible to drain the whole tome with a long enough neutral combo, preventing you from triple jumping for a little while. This particular tome respawns quite quickly, though. (His slow neutral combo uses Arcfire, but that's less important.) Robin has a few adequate launchers, including his upward and side smash attacks. Even his neutral attack combo ends with an explosion if you do it slowly enough.

Standard Special – Thunder: Press B to start charging this. Stop charging and keep stored energy by rolling or shielding. Unlike similar attacks, you'll need to charge for a moment before earning enough energy to keep the charge. If you just tap B to start charging and immediately cancel it, you won't retain anything. This goes for when you already have some energy stored, too. The attack that comes out depends on how much magic you've stored. Thunder comes out immediately but is weak and has a short range. Elthunder is stronger and travels farther. Arcthunder is stronger still and explodes when it hits an enemy. Thoron requires a full charge and is massively powerful with a huge range. If you hold the button when firing, it will travel even farther and do significantly more damage, so always hold the button if you can. This move can KO opponents.

Side Special – Arcfire: Thorw a ball of fire that becomes a pillar of flames when it hits an enemy. Great for dealing with groups.

Up Special – Elwind: Cast a wind spell downwards, damaging enemies below and propelling yourself into the air. A good recovery move, but it will become unavailable for a while if you use it too much!

Down Special – Nosferatu: Drain the life from an enemy and use it to heal yourself. This attack is somewhat slow to prevent it from being abused.

Final Smash – Pair Up: Robin's bestie Chrom dashes forward (where was he hiding, anyway?) and sends the enemy up above the centre of the stage. Robin and Chrom float around, attacking the enemy from all sides before smashing them back down to earth.

Kirby

Kirby is light and easy to knock away, but don't mistake him for a weakling. He has several attacks that do surprisingly high damage and send opponents flying far. He can fly by tapping the jump button. His aerial game is decent, with useable side and up aerial attacks, though he's not as great in the air as you might expect from someone who can fly. His most remarkable move is the ability to copy any foe's standard special attack.

Standard Special – Inhale: Inhale one enemy and either copy their standard special ability for yourself (by pressing B again, or down on the circle pad), or spit them out with A. Spat enemies can damage other enemies. Use copied abilities with B, meaning you can't inhale anyone else while you have one. Use a taunt to discard enemy specials, or get beat up a lot to drop them.

Side Special – Hammer Flip: A good damage dealing move that has great launching potential. Hold the button to charge it up. You can move and jump while charging, though not very quickly or high. When it's fully charged, it will do a huge amount of damage, but it will also slowly damage Kirby as long as he holds the charge.

Up Special – Final Cutter: Launch an enemy into the air, slice them a few times with a blade, then slam down to earth. Handy for recovery if your target platform is high above you and you're out of flight power, but it will slam you down into the abyss if you miss.

Down Special – Stone: Become a stone or some other heavy, hard object. What you transform into is random, but they all work the same way. Will damage foes if you drop down on them. You won't take any damage while in stone form, but you can't move, either, and you can still be grabbed.

Final Smash – Ultra Sword: Swing a gigantic sword and perform a powerful combo on any enemies you hit.

King Dedede

Dedede is another big, slow, heavy hitter. He's the heaviest character who can fly. He attacks with a hammer which, of course, is great for sending enemies flying and has a pretty good reach. All of his smash attacks a great finishers. His aerial down is a meteor smash, but it might be a little bit tough to land since it's surprisingly narrow for an attack done with a huge hammer. Dedede's biggest weakness is that many of his attacks require a substantial windup period.

Standard Special – Inhale: Inhale enemies and spit them at other enemies as stars. Try inhaling an enemy near the edge of a stage and spitting them out, then guarding the ledge with smash attacks.

Side Special – Gordo Throw: Throw a Gordo that bounces along the stage. Enemies can hit it right back with a well-timed blow.

Up Special – Super Dedede Jump: Leap into the air and come crashing down, doing splash damage. This is a decent recovery move in that it sends Dedede pretty high, but it also sends him plummeting down. You can cancel this move by pressing up on the circle pad to save yourself from doom. You can't change your trajectory after leaving the ground otherwise.

Down Special – Charge Hammer: Charge your rocket-powered hammer to land a mighty blow that does lots of damage and sends enemies flying. You can move and jump while charging, but you'll start gradually taking damage after it's fully charged. Worth it.

Final Smash – Dedede Burst: Inhale enemies closer to stun them, then smack 'em with your hammer a few times before finishing them off with a massive bomb.

Meta Knight

Meta Knight is quick and light. He's able to fly and has good recovery. His attacks don't do much damage individually, but you'll be slicing and dicing enemies with flurries of quick blows. The down side is that Meta Knight doesn't have many good finishers. (Basically just his side and up smashes and the third strike of his side attack to a lesser extend.) His side and up specials are the best you're going to do for finishers in the air.

Standard Special – Mach Tornado: Spin like a tornado to damage enemies. Mash the button to spin faster and hit more times.

Side Special – Drill Rush: Spin forward like a drill. Use the circle pad to change the angle up or down.

Up Special – Shuttle Loop: Knock an enemy into the air, then loop around and hit them. The final hit is a good launcher.

Down Special – Dimensional Cape: Vanish and teleport in any direction. You can do a standard attack after reappearing. You'll reappear facing the opposite direction, so this is good for teleporting behind enemies and stabbing them in the back.

Final Smash – Galaxia Darkness: Meta Knight swings his cape. If it hits someone, the screen goes black and the unlucky foe is sliced with a giant slash.

Little Mac

There's no jumping in boxing. This is important to remember when playing as Little Mac, because he is a demon on the ground but considerably weaker in the air. His aerials are no good but he's very fast and very strong with his feet on the ground. All of his smashes are good finishers, as are a couple of his specials. While his side smash is charging, you can tilt the circle pad up or down to turn it into an uppercut or low punch. As you fight, a meter near his health counter will gradually fill up. Once it's full, you can pull off a powerful uppercut finisher by doing his standard B move. Sometimes, when taunting, you'll hear some brief words of encouragement from Doc Louis.

Standard Special – Straight Lunge: A powerful charged punch. You can't store the charge. Press B once to start charging and again to punch. Mac will punch automatically when he reaches full power. This does a lot of damage and sends enemies far. Takes a while to charge, but can KO enemies with relatively low damage at full power.

Side Special – Jolt Haymaker: Leap forward over low attacks and obstacles and punch an enemy. You can press B mid-leap to punch early. Try not to send yourself off a cliff, because you won't recover from it.

Up Special – Rising Uppercut: Uppercut a foe into the air. Hits multiple times on the way up.

Down Special – Slip Counter: Evade an attack and counterattack. Seems like a lot of people have this exact move, don't they?

Final Smash – Giga Mac: He ain't so little no more! Become a bigger, stronger version of Mac. He has the same moves, but they're much more powerful. A fully charged straight lunge in this form can finish an enemy who has no damage. Unfortunately not called "Big Mac."

NEXT: Characters (Page 2)