News:
Confirmed Characters Returning:
Confirmed Newcomers:
Franchises in Brawl:
Bowser:
 | Bowser may be the baddest guy in the Mushroom Kingdom, rival to the most famous video game hero, but is always up for a game with his enemies. But he's not afraid to play dirty with fire and raw strength!
Bowser is a heavyweight character. He doesn’t fly very far when hit, but this makes is recovering difficult. These together make him possible to be KOed above 75%. He is also fairly slow with some of his attacks. He makes up for this with raw power and a versatile array of moves and abilities that make use of his large size. Works: |
Captain Falcon:
Diddy Kong:
 | Diddy Kong is DK's little buddy, always tagging along with him for their own adventures. He may be much smaller than Donkey Kong, but he's much more nimble, and can still pack a punch with his peanut popgun!
Diddy Kong is a medium weight character who can be KO’ed around 75%. He hits surprisingly hard and has many disruptive attacks on the opponent. He is a fairly close range character, though he does have long range weapons. He is adept at both ground and air, but excels in his ground attacks the best. He can also wall cling and jump off of them for a bit of dodging and recovery ability too. Works: |
Donkey Kong:
 | He's the leader of the bunch, you know him well, he's finally back to kick some tail, his coconut gun can fire in spurts, if he shoots ya, it's gonna hurt! He's bigger, faster, and stronger too, he's the first member of the DK crew! Huh! DK, Donkey Kong! DK, Donkey Kong is here! While his father used to rival Mario himself, Donkey Kong has begun adventures of his own. This stubborn gorilla is often fending off baddies from his own lands, with strength rivaling Bowser! Donkey Kong is a very heavy character who hits hard and has some surprisingly fast attacks. He has no ranged abilities and recovery is a bit of a problem for him. He can be KO’ed around 100% damage. DK is a mostly ground based character since his throws and smash attacks are very good. However, he does have two spiking attacks. Works: |
Falco:
Fox:
Ganondorf:
 | Ganondorf is a large, heavy, fast-falling character. He is difficult to use, due to a complete lack of projectile attacks and multi-hit attacks. However, he can deal extremely high damage with moves like Warlock Punch. He’s a clone of Captain Falco, although not as much as in Melee, and very different in use. You can cancel his wizard foot and create a lagless transition to other techniques by apparently rolling to the edge of a stage, then wizard footing towards the middle, which strangely behaves as though he had footed himself off the ledge and allows some aerial techniques or his choke attack to be started sooner.
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Ice Climbers:
 | The Ice Climbers are probably the character(s) with the most intricate moveset and metagame. You only control one of them, usually Popo, but both will attack in unison. Nana is controlled by the cpu, but tries to mimic your inputs. If you can desynchronize them from each other, it’s as though you’re attacking with two separate characters rather than a single character which hits twice for every attack. Since only one of them can grab at once, together, they can initiate chain grabs that are inescapable in the hands of a good player. They have a lot of advantage when using items, since not only will you grab both items, denying them from opponents, but you’ll use them both at once too. Only the climber you control will actually take damage, but Nana can be knocked out. If she is, Popo will become fairly weak with only himself attacking, plus his special moves will be weakened greatly. They are lightweight so they can be KOed around 75% by strong hits.
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Ike:
Jigglypuff:
King Dedede:
King Dedede's the self-proclaimed King of Dream Land, and a bit of a bully, but he's been softening up a bit and has often helped Kirby's adventures more than try and stop him. He's a penguin with a bit, hard-hitting hammer and can even fly and inhale like Kirby - but he doesn't take abilities like Kirby does, he's already perfect.
Kirby:
 | Don't let this pink, cute puffball fool you! Kirby's saved Dreamland singlehandedly from a number of maniacs in his meantime, ranging from beings of pure dark to universe destroying robots. He can use your own abilities against you, too, so watch out! Poyo!
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Link:
 | Link, with his Triforce of Courage, has once again went off to save Hyrule from the dreaded Ganondorf. Throughout his adventures, he's gathered a lot of gear, like the Hero's Bow, the hookshot, and the new gale boomerang!
Link is a heavy character now that he wears chainmail in Brawl. His recovery and jump height have been severely limited since Melee, making link a much more difficult character to play. Though his extra weight (about that of Captain Falcon) allows him to not get knocked as far, he will have a tough time getting back to the stage. Overall, he hits hard and has many projectile attacks to keep opponents at bay. He can be KOed around 60% damage, though most of the time, his trajectory will be low, so position yourself near a low wall if you can. Also remember that by standing still, many projectiles can be blocked by Link’s shield if you’re not holding an item. Works: |
Lucario:
Lucas:
 | From the small village of Tazmily of the Nowhere Islands, Lucas meets the vets and joins Brawl. He may have be a bit teary at times, but Lucas knows how to overcome trials and uses his ability to love to save the world.
Lucas is a lightweight character. He can easily be KO’ed by an opponent if he is above 60 percent damage. Some of his best attacks are also slow to hit and leave him very open to opponents. However, Lucas’ attacks are some of the most powerful in the game and he is a very versatile character, having a way to recover from damage, deflect attacks, recover from great distances and he can even turn himself into a projectile. His attacks excel at aerial abilities due to his very effective second jump. His best smash attack is upwards, so this helps him accumulate damage on opponents and follow up with his good aerial techniques. Works: |
Luigi:
 | Though once hidden in his brother's shadow, Luigi comes back to fight and make a name for himself. Unlike Mario, Luigi possesses a different style and unique abilities his brother lacks. Sure, he doesn't regularly save the princess like Mario, but he goes on his own misadventures from time to time.
Starting as an almost perfect clone of Mario in the Smash Bros series, Luigi has now evolved into a completely different character with very unique abilities and playstyles. He is fairly light, or rather, very floaty. He flies far when hit, falls slowly and has very versatile recovery techniques. He does not have a way to deflect projectiles like Mario does though. Overall, he is a very air based character, excelling in manoeuvring through the battlefield. He is easily KO-able at 75% damage or so. Works: |
Mario:
 | Nintendo's beloved icon graces the scene, joining in as a longtime veteran. His days of carpentry and plumbing are over and he regularly spends his days saving the princess of the Mushroom Kingdom and facing his rivals in a variety of sports games.
Mario is THE overall character in terms of speed, movement and abilities. He has a few unique tricks but for the most part, he’s average. His abilities include a couple useful projectile attacks, A deflection ability, some useful grabs and a very good final smash. For recovery, he has only the standard second jump and a mediocre up b attack jump. His weight makes him sturdy enough to not be KO’ed until about 75% damage. Mario is also capable of wall jumping, which lets him recover from falls slightly better than others on some stages and opens up a lot of useful techniques to jump up the wall and hit the opponent on the way up. Works: |
Marth:
 | Marth is the lightest middle height character in Brawl and is considered to be on the Top Five list for best characters in Melee and Brawl. Since his Melee days, he has increased in power and speed. Though his sword length has slightly decreased, the tip is his sword immensly increases his power as opposed to the rest of his sword.
Marth is a good character when it comes to combos, and though he isn’t a power master, he makes up for the damage for both ground and aerial combos. He is good with dodging opponents combos and has a good range when it comes to his sword. However, his throws are poor. Works: |
Meta Knight:
Meta Knight can be a oddball on whether or not he's fighting or helping Kirby, but either way he fights with knightly honor. (...Just not in this game, evidently.) With his sword, Galaxia, in hand, he's an intimidating opponent. He's even gone on an adventure to defeat the strongest warrior in the galaxy, just to prove his strength!
Mr. Game & Watch:
 | Mr. Game and Watch packs a punch. Most of his attacks have big hitboxes, low lag, and great knockback. He can negate projectiles well with Oil Panic. Being a quick, small target that’s hard to KO despite his lightness, Mr. Game and Watch is a great character for beginning players.
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Ness:
 | Hailing from the land of Onett, Ness once again joins the brawl! Leader of the Chosen Four, he and his companions battled against many foes and met the cosmic destroyer, Giygas. With everyone's prayers, they managed to defeat the enemy and put the world at peace. Ness is a light weight character. He doesn’t fly too far when hit and has good recovery. He can be ko’ed easily around 60 percent damage. His attacks don’t often leave him too open but he does have several that stop his movement altogether. His smash attacks aren’t quite as punishing as Lucas’ are but he does have many powerful moves at his disposal and reliable ways to rack up damage on his foes. He can recover from damage, deflect attacks, recover from moderate distances and turn himself into a projectile. He is a fairly ground based character with a small amount of effective aerial moves including a spike attack. Works: |
Olimar:
Peach:
 | Princess Toadstool has recently come out of her shell and has decided to kick butt instead of being a damsel in distress. Peach is a brave and adventurous sort of princess who doesn't simply put up with enemies trying to kidnap her. She will do what she can to aid Mario and has even taken the leading role in her own adventure.
Peach is a medium weight character with great recovery options. Her jumps allow her to hover in the air for three seconds if you hold the jump button. She also has a horizontal attack that pushes her forward and a vertical recovery that furthers her horizontal maneuverability. The hovering ability is very useful for her playstyle which is based on short jumps to perpetuate air combos and the ability to chase opponents even after they’ve left the main platforms of the stage. She has a few great projectile attacks but has only a few good finishers. Overall, he is a very air based character, excelling in maneuvering through the battlefield. She is easily KO-able at 75% damage or so. Works: |
Pikachu:
 | Pikachu might be regarded as one of the cutest and most beloved creatures of all time, but shockingly, this mouse type can hold its own. This Pokemon icon continues to brawl against one of the mightiest foes out there.
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Pit:
 | Pit is a strange one. He has tons of powerful ranged abilities, and plenty of moves that lead to combos, plus lots of defensive techniques, plus the ability to glide, but he has absolutely no reliable finishing moves. Expect him to be able to rack up tons of damage, but not KO the opponent until they’re at least 80%. In terms of weight, Pit is pretty light and gets knocked around easily, but he can easily fly back to the stage to keep fighting. Expect to be KOed around 75% by a powerful attack.
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Pokemon Trainer:
R.O.B:
 | Rob is a powerful and versatile character capable of great movement, powerful ranged attacks, and great aerial gameplay. He is a slightly heavy-weight character and can be knocked out of the arena at around 100% damage. He has two effective normal jumps, plus a movement up special that does not leave him helpless if he attacks.
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Samus:
 | Samus, equipped with the ancient Chozo Varia Suit, is a force to be reckoned with. With her wide arsenal of missiles, beams, and visors, even the most fearsome of Space Pirates fear her. Her suit may look heavy, but she is surprisingly agile in it!
Samus has two forms. Power suit Samus is the default form unless you hold the R button during the stage select until the level loads. Samus is a strange heavyweight character, but falls slowly and has good jumping abilities despite her heavy power suit armour. The overall medium weight feeling, combined with multiple recovery options allows her to survive up to about 100% damage. She had good jumping ability and a tether grab for ledges. Her hits are moderately powerful, though getting them to combo together takes a bit of work. She has a good Samus has a great ranged game, with two ranged attacks as well as bomb dropping. Her falling speed is fairly slow, allowing for a good aerial game. Samus’ biggest weakness is her lack of effective finishing moves. Works: |
Sheik:
 | To start a battle in Sheik form, simply click on Sheik in the character select portion that shows what different costume appearances are like. Sheik is a fairly light weight character. She attacks very quickly, with little downtime between hits and almost no knockback for most of them. She falls quickly through the air and runs incredibly quickly along the ground. The weak but quick attacks allow many to be combined. She has a tether recovery in the form of her side special chain attack, a chargeable neutral special, moderate recovery options with the vanish teleport, the ability to cling and jump from walls and the ability to crawl while crouching. All of these combine to make Sheik a very effective character, but the lack of good finishing moves prevents her from being as powerful as in Melee.
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Snake:
Sonic:
Toon Link:
 | Toon Link as opposed to Link is a light character. He flies far when hit but has much better recovery options. He hits moderately hard compared to link, but most of his attacks are weaker. He can be KOed at 75% easily enough. This is a higher damage amount than Adult Link because Toon Link has a better jump and will be sent flying at a higher angle, allowing horizontal recovery to be a factor. Like Adult Link, Toon Link’s shield can be used to block many projectiles if you stand still or duck while not holding an item.
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Wario:
 | Wario sure has made a name of himself outside of being Mario's side villain in recent years. Now rocking the mini-game market, this stinky garlic-eatin' brute has come to the smashing scene and rides in style.
Wario is a heavy weight character who can be KO’ed around 100%. His attacks are generally very powerful and due to his unique maneuverability, he can chase opponents easily. Though he has no ranged attacks, he can break down his bike and throw the parts. He can eat objects and physical attacks going his way. Over time, gas builds up, and he can release a very powerful fart attack. Yep, Nintendo and fart jokes; you can never be too old. Works: |
Wolf:
Yoshi:
 | Mario's sidekick is rollin' back into battle and takes the field! This cute lil dino dude is done with the babysitting gig and is ready to show off his stuff.
Yoshi is a medium weight character who can be KO’ed around 75%. His hits are moderately weak, but he has great aerial attacks. He has a variety of abilities to control his opponents and has good area denial with his ranged eggs. Unfortunately though his second jump is very good, he only has the two jumps. His shield is unique in that it does not get smaller as it is used and always covers his whole body. Works: |
Zelda:
 | Zelda is the Princess of Hyrule, and despite often being captured by Ganon, similar to Peach, don't be fooled! Her magical abilities are very powerful, being able to send telepathic messages and shoot arrows of light. She plays a key role in stopping Ganon, too! Zelda and Sheik are two characters in one. Together, they are most like Pokemon Trainer in that you can change form whenever needed, as opposed to Samus who can only transform upon using a final smash. This character guide is in two parts due to the vastly different styles and movesets of each form. Dispite her height, Zelda is a lightweight character. She has rather slow speed, but powerful magic based attacks. She has a non-reflectable projectile attack, a deflection move, spiking capability, excellent recovery and powerful damage output. She can be KOed around 65%. Works: |
Zero-Suit Samus:
 | Samus has two forms. Power suit Samus is the default form unless you hold the R button before the stage select screen loads. Zero Suit Samus (Zss for short in this guide) is quite a bit lighter once her armour falls off, though she is faster and has very good combo abilities. Like Samus, the Links, Sheik, Lucas, etc. Zss has a tether grab that unlike those mentioned characters, cannot be used to latch onto ledges. She has great KOing moves, many recovery options, great jumping ability for aerial moves, Longer ranged smash attacks with a high priority over other moves, and even if she starts the match without her power suit, Zss gets the parts of the suit to throw at opponents as soon as the match begins. The only thing Zss seems to lack is defense, since she has a fairly tall model, no extra shield moves and can be KOed as low as ****
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