History YMMV / SuperSmashBros

* MainstreamObscurity: A variation occurs within the fandom where one character would be an obvious pick for one fan but would be completely off-the-wall for another. Super Smash Bros is kind of a melting pot of various fanbases who may not normally interact with one another. For example, Simon Belmont would be a shoe-in for someone who grew up playing the ''Franchise/{{Castlevania}}'' games[[labelnote:note]]Castlevania games were a huge staple in Nintendo's library of games up until Creator/{{Konami}} started to divert resources into other ventures and effectively stopped producing new games during the 2010s[[/labelnote]] and is a die-hard fan, but watching videos of fans reacting to the August 8th 2018 direct reveals that while they [[PopCultureOsmosis might have heard of]] Simon Belmont, they're utterly confused by the inclusion of Richter Belmont (despite being the one who gave the "[[MemeticMutation Die Monster]]" speech) and other elements of the ''Castlevania'' series. Some fans would even admit that they haven't heard of the series at all and wonder why their inclusion was such a big deal.
** There's also many common roster picks from hardcore Smash fans that have a great deal of obscurity to mainstream gamers-- for example, [[VideoGame/SuperMarioRPG Geno]] is a common character in fan speculation despite having not having a significant in-game experience since 1996.

** Characters who are near-identical clones to other characters (officially defined as Echo Fighters in ''Ultimate'') have had a bumpy ride in the community's eyes. When these characters first showed up in ''3DS/Wii U'', they were generally derided by a large portion of the fandom for being a wasted slot.[[note]]This criticism was mostly thrown at Lucina and Dark Pit[[/note]] Come the announcement of ''Ultimate'', people were far more welcoming to the concept, as Sakurai had made it more clear that these characters were meant to be a side bonus, rather than taking up character slots, as well as the newly christened Echo Fighters introducing fan-requests such as Daisy, Dark Samus and Ken, on top of providing opportunities for other characters such as [[VideoGame/SonicTheHedgehog Shadow]] to be playable without really taking up a slot. However, over ''Ultimate'''s lifespan as people realized the inconsistency of who qualified as an Echo Fighter[[note]]Ryu and Ken for example, have enough different features such as speed and kill power to be surprisingly different than at first glance, whereas Peach and Daisy are essentially the same character, with a patch even taking away the one difference they had.[[/note]] as well as the fact that the mechanic was relatively unused in the grand scope of the game, led to people perceiving it as an UnderusedGameMechanic or wondering why it was even given as much attention as it was[[note]]Aside from acting as an AuthorsSavingThrow[[/note]].

* SugarWiki/DevelopmentHeaven:
** The series started out as a fun, but relatively simple brawler featuring Creator/{{Nintendo}} all-stars--a concept so inherently fun that messing around with it wasn't really necessary. The reason it's on this list is for its sequels, namely the trophies: starting with ''Melee'', the series features trophies of countless characters from Nintendo's past, all with descriptions of several sentences. It's a subset feature of the game which many people don't even look at. For those who do, it's hard to shake the feeling that somebody out there really, really admires Nintendo's history.
** There's a video series on Website/YouTube about the "History Behind ''Smash Bros.''" ([[https://www.youtube.com/user/CrappyCaptureDevice/search?query=history+behind+super+smash+bros link,]] if anyone's curious), which reveals that nearly everything in the game, from random parts of the stages to every item to the characters' fighting moves is a reference to the games on which they are based. The music is filled with random bits from various games, the stages have multiple references to older stages from the original games, and the moves, even quickest and most random, are from older games. The sheer amount of it is staggering.
** The [[VideoGame/MetalGearSolid Shadow Moses Island]] stage in ''Brawl'' is a huge reference to '''[[VideoGame/MetalGearSolid4GunsOfThePatriots a future game on a competing system]]'''. Now that's dedication.
** The best example of this might be [[UsefulNotes/GameAndWatch Mr. Game & Watch]]'s moveset. Every single attack he has is a reference to one of his games, including the moves that would usually be a generic punch or kick on a different character.
** The additions of [[Franchise/StreetFighter Ryu and Ken]] and [[VideoGame/FatalFury Terry Bogard]] take this a step farther: Not only are their moves as accurate as possible (as per normal for this series by now), but care is taken to import as much of their ''mechanics'' from their own series' as possible into the Smash Bros framework. You can perform a Hadouken/Power Wave for example, by simply pressing the Special button if you like, ''or'' you can do the traditional Half-Circle-Forward motion, and the game will even reward the extra effort with a stronger attack. This goes for ''all'' their special attacks. Burn Knuckle, Shoryuken, Power Dunk, etc.... This gives veterans of more traditional fighting games a frame of reference for entering the game, and those who've only played ''Smash'' an easy way to experience the style of the more traditional Fighting Games (which has often been accused of being complicated for beginners).
** [[VideoGame/{{Minecraft}} Steve/Alex]] bring their ability to place blocks from their home game to ''Smash'' in ''Super Smash Bros. Ultimate''. To accommodate for this, the development team actually went back and altered the programming of ''every stage in the game'' so that the characters could place blocks on them.

* AuthorsSavingThrow:
** When Corrin was announced, one point of controversy was that the male version was the default despite female Corrin being far more popular. This was particularly grating because it meant that the male would be getting the amiibo, which Creator/IntelligentSystems have used as a method to bring ''Fire Emblem'' characters into their games [[VideoGame/CodenameSteam time]] [[VideoGame/FireEmblemFates and]] [[VideoGame/FireEmblemEchoesShadowsOfValentia again]]. Eventually, it was announced that Corrin would be getting an amiibo for each gender, meaning that female Corrin would also get representation in those games going forward. Additionally, while male Corrin is still the default option in ''Ultimate'' (possibly due to GrandfatherClause), female Corrin is shown and marketed equally as much as him, even more so than other alternate characters.
** "Pure" clones became officially classified and numbered as "Echo Fighters" in ''SSB Ultimate'', which settled down a lot of people who complain that clones "steal roster spots" (which, as Sakurai explained, is false). After years of clones being widely derided in the fanbase, a single change of terminology was enough to actually make people become ''more'' accepting of clones and actively clamor for more of them.
** A few fans thought that Sakurai was trying to replace Yoshi's position in the original eight with [[CreatorsPet Pit]] when the latter gained equal billing in the fourth game's regal trailer, while Yoshi was completely absent from all footage for months. By the next game, Yoshi was revealed right away[[note]]and even then, he was the very last character to appear in the trailer[[/note]], and his status as an original fighter was emphasized by him being one of only eight starters.
** Early on there was some criticism regarding the lack of female fighters, which has started to steadily increase as of late, including several fighters who have interchangeable genders.
** A few characters from Melee found themselves being excluded from Brawl's roster, but some were eventually brought back in the fourth installment. Ultimate brought this to an extreme by including every single fighter in the series, even those who were thought to never return again.

** It is not uncommon for fans of ''Smash'' and fans of more conventional fighting games to clash with each other, often debating on whether ''Smash'' should be considered a proper fighting game. It doesn't help that many ''Smash'' fans and players [[JustHereForGodzilla only go to general fighting game tournaments]] for ''Smash'', with many cases of them being disruptive towards other games. It gets especially heated when characters who do hail from conventional fighting games, such as Terry from the ''Fatal Fury'' series and Kazuya from ''Tekken'' were added to ''Smash'', and the response from many Smash fans is "Literally who?" or "Why did they get in they're not as famous as Banjo & Kazooie", much to the ire of their fans.

* SeinfeldIsUnfunny: Character additions suffer from this down the line, especially third-party characters; the hype that they generate eventually dies down, leaving them to be treated like any other character. The most extreme example is Franchise/SonicTheHedgehog, who went from the single most hyped and rejoiced addition to ''Brawl'' to a very divisive THighTierScrappy and one of the less popular third-party characters in ''[=3DS/Wii U=]'', as he retains most of of his attacks in every iteration (including two variations of his Spin Dash) instead of being updated to include more attacks from ''VideoGame/SonicBattle''. Many of Sonic's detractors forget how much of a phenomenon his ''Brawl'' announcement was (or weren't even aware of the hype at the time). This continued into ''Ultimate'', where he remains a HighTierScrappy despite some huge nerfs that made him infamous in ''[=3DS/Wii U=]''.

** A few fans thought that Sakurai was trying to replace Yoshi's position in the original eight with [[CreatorsPet Pit]] when the latter gained equal billing in the fourth game's regal trailer, while Yoshi was completely absent from all footage for months. By the next game, Yoshi was revealed right away, and his status as an original fighter was emphasized by him being one of only eight starters.

* [[AndTheFandomRejoiced/SuperSmashBros And the Fandom Rejoiced]]

* [[TierInducedScrappy/SuperSmashBros Tier-Induced Scrappy]]

** The ''VideoGame/MarioKart'' series has a rather close relationship with the ''Smash'' series. This because they both are multiplayer Nintendo games (that later added online during the 7th generation) with large rosters. It helps that ''Smash Bros.'' carries a lot of ''Mario Kart'' related content and ''Mario Kart'' has crossover elements in its DownloadableContent, with it having characters and stages from outside of the ''Mario'' universe. They also share similar pet peeves with [[MovesetClone clone characters]], TierInducedScrappy characters, and annoying items.

* SeinfeldIsUnfunny: Character additions suffer from this down the line, especially third-party characters; the hype that they generate eventually dies down, leaving them to be treated like any other character. The most extreme example is Franchise/SonicTheHedgehog, who went from the single most hyped and rejoiced addition to ''Brawl'' to a very divisive TierInducedScrappy and one of the less popular third-party characters in ''[=3DS/Wii U=]'', as he retains most of of his attacks in every iteration (including two variations of his Spin Dash) instead of being updated to include more attacks from ''VideoGame/SonicBattle''. Many of Sonic's detractors forget how much of a phenomenon his ''Brawl'' announcement was (or weren't even aware of the hype at the time). This continued into ''Ultimate'', where he remains a high TierInducedScrappy despite some huge nerfs that made him infamous in ''[=3DS/Wii U=]''.

** Throughout the series' lifetime, many children and families have been drawn to ''Smash'' games because they apparently star ''Franchise/SuperMarioBros'' characters alongside other characters from other kid-friendly franchises such as Franchise/{{Kirby}}, VideoGame/{{Yoshi|sIsland}} and [[Franchise/{{Pokemon}} Pikachu]] and let kids play as their favorites[[note]]the PaletteSwap aspect is also a big draw for them, e.g. for kids who want to play as a blue or pink Yoshi[[/note]]; this causes some kids and their parents to treat the series as a multiplayer party game spinoff of ''Super Mario'' like ''VideoGame/MarioKart'' and ''VideoGame/MarioParty''[[note]]This was actually the ''original'' intention for the series, minus the ''Mario'' part.[[/note]]. As these children get older and more capable of accessing other Nintendo franchises due to monetary means and age ratings, they tend to focus more on the MassiveMultiplayerCrossover aspect.[[note]]Although the ''Mario'' components still get a lot of love from older fans, it usually isn't as single-handedly focused on the franchise as it is with young kids.[[/note]] Advertising for the games reflect this, where ads directed towards children/families treat ''Smash'' as a ''Mario'' game (featuring other friendly characters like [[VideoGame/{{Pikmin}} Olimar]], [[VideoGame/{{Splatoon}} the Inklings]], and [[VideoGame/AnimalCrossing Isabelle]]) in all but official status, while ads aimed at older gamers focus more freely on the different series and characters in the game (such as ''Franchise/FireEmblem'', ''VideoGame/XenobladeChronicles1'', and ''Franchise/TheLegendOfZelda''). In fact, the inclusion of [[FightingClown Piranha Plant]] as a fighter was [[UnexpectedCharacter initially met with confusion]] from most of the hardcore ''Smash'' community, but it makes sense from the perspective of someone who ([[CowboyBebopAtHisComputer mistakenly]]) views ''Smash'' as a ''Super Mario Bros.'' spin-off because such games usually include a ''Mario'' {{mook}} as a playable character.[[note]]The key difference here is that ''Smash'' has many franchises to pull characters from, whereas ''Mario'' spinoffs have a more limited cast and are therefore more prone to add such characters as playable.[[/note]]

** The notion of ''Smash'' as a "children's game" is one reason why the {{fanon}} of ''Smash'' being in a '''child'''[='s=] imagination is so widespread, and with it, exaggerations of the series' loose LivingToys concept to create similarities to ''WesternAnimation/ToyStory'', ''VideoGame/DisneyInfinity'', and ''WesternAnimation/TheLegoMovie'' — works that are even more overtly family-friendly and marketed to children even more heavily than the ''Smash'' games — yet comparisons to the older-skewing ''VideoGame/{{Deltarune}}''[[note]]which similarly has a "world of imagination" of sorts where real-world inanimate objects manifest as colorful characters[[/note]] are nowhere to be seen.

** Exaggerating or pushing the characters' LivingToys aspect, such as labeling the characters as tangible, actual toys that come to life a la ''WesternAnimation/ToyStory''[[note]]and that they should therefore "look like plastic"/"look fake" like the characters in ''VideoGame/DisneyInfinity''[[/note]], claiming that the in-game characters[[note]]that is, their animate, playable forms as opposed to their static trophies[[/note]] are the size of Toys/{{amiibo}}, or claiming that the characters do not exist at all beyond their doll/trophy forms (which is directly disproven by the various bits of CanonWelding in ''[=3DS/Wii U=]''). Although the characters being imagined from trophies is confirmed via WordOfGod and ''VideoGame/TheSubspaceEmissary'', the angle is mostly there to justify friendly/heroic characters fighting each other and characters not killing each other, and the ''Smash'' universe is shown to be a tangible fictional universe in its own right where trophies are simply the basis of its lifeforms; claiming that ''Smash'' is nothing more than tiny toys fighting each other can piss off some fans who claim that it devalues the crossover aspect and evokes the AnimationAgeGhetto.

* TheScrappy: Despite having a few defenders, mostly in the way of competitive players and fan artists (typically depicting the female design), a majority of ''Smash'' fans have come to denounce [[VideoGame/FireEmblemFates Corrin]]. A lot of this derision stems from being labelled as the reason for the [[BrokenBase "Too many]] ''Franchise/FireEmblem'' [[BrokenBase characters" debate]], as not only was their inclusion from the same game that introduced Lucina and Robin, doubling the amount of ''Fire Emblem'' characters from 3 in ''Melee'' and ''Brawl'' combined to 6 in ''For 3DS/Wii U'', but they were also seen as a cheap marketing gimmick to promote ''Fates'' when it hadn't even come out overseas yet, which, unlike Roy, didn't happen at a time when ''Fire Emblem'' was still a niche franchise in the west. Even fans who aren't invested in the ''Fire Emblem'' debacle don't look upon Corrin too fondly, as unlike the five characters before and Chrom and Byleth soon after, Corrin's design doesn't stand out too much, and their moveset is rather basic save for Dragon Lunge.

* HypeBacklash: The series may be very popular with the concept, but there are some gamers who think that ''SuperSmashBros'' is widely overhyped. There is also the problem with the lack of loyalty with the source material, the characters' different portrayals from their canon personalities, and them sometimes having disappointing movesets.

* MemeticPsychopath: The Villager was hit with this mere hours after he was announced due to his smiling expression hardly changing, even while attacking. The Wii Fit Trainer also became this, as some found her porcelain white skin and gray eyes [[UncannyValley very unsettling]].

* UncannyValley: The Nintendog Assist Trophy, especially as it appears in ''3DS''. It looks more like a bug-eyed alien than anything.

* CharacterPerceptionEvolution: Characters who are near-identical clones to other characters (officially defined as Echo Fighters in ''Ultimate'') have had a bumpy ride in the community's eyes. When these characters first showed up in ''3DS/Wii U'', they were generally derided by a large portion of the fandom for being a wasted slot.[[note]]This criticism was mostly thrown at Lucina and Dark Pit[[/note]] Come the announcement of ''Ultimate'', people were far more welcoming to the concept, as Sakurai had made it more clear that these characters were meant to be a side bonus, rather than taking up character slots, as well as the newly christened Echo Fighters introducing fan-requests such as Daisy, Dark Samus and Ken, on top of providing opportunities for other characters such as [[VideoGame/SonicTheHedgehog Shadow]] to be playable without really taking up a slot. However, over ''Ultimate'''s lifespan as people realized the inconsistency of who qualified as an Echo Fighter[[note]]Ryu and Ken for example, have enough different features such as speed and kill power to be surprisingly different than at first glance, whereas Peach and Daisy are essentially the same character, with a patch even taking away the one difference they had.[[/note]] as well as the fact that the mechanic was relatively unused in the grand scope of the game, led to people perceiving it as an UnderusedGameMechanic or wondering why it was even given as much attention as it was[[note]]Aside from acting as an AuthorsSavingThrow[[/note]].

** The ''VideoGame/MarioKart'' series has a rather close relationship with the ''Smash'' series. This because they both are multiplayer Nintendo games (that later added online during the 7th generation) with LoadsAndLoadsOfCharacters. It helps that ''Smash Bros.'' carries a lot of ''Mario Kart'' related content and ''Mario Kart'' has crossover elements in its DownloadableContent, with it having characters and stages from outside of the ''Mario'' universe. They also share similar pet peeves with [[MovesetClone clone characters]], TierInducedScrappy characters, and annoying items.

** Palutena keeps her humorous, playful, [[{{Troll}} trollish]], and adorable personality from ''VideoGame/KidIcarusUprising''. To name a few examples, it's apparent during her trailer when she blushes after assuring she arrived for DivineIntervention, during her Palutena's Guidance Smash Taunt when Pit activates it, on her embarrassed expression on her face during her Screen KO, and even with her Star KO scream. She even [[http://www.ssbwiki.com/images/c/c5/SSB4-Wii_U_Congratulations_All-Star_Toon_Link.png blushes]] during certain animations!

** Many Western players hate that the ''VideoGame/FireEmblem'' series gets far more attention than other franchises they consider more mainstream, since it took six games for one to get an English localization, and even then it never really left niche territory until ''Awakening'' and ''Fates'' started breaking sales records. However, ''Fire Emblem'' has always been a mainstream franchise in Japan, ever since the first game on the Famicom.

** A common misconception among fans is that children are the primary audience for ''Smash'' (as with some of its constituent franchises, such as ''Franchise/{{Pokemon}}'', ''Franchise/{{Kirby}}'', and ''VideoGame/{{Minecraft}}''), with the older fans and competitive players as a PeripheryDemographic that Sakurai favors the younger crowd over. While there's no denying that the games are made to be accessible and enjoyable for kids, and that Sakurai favors casual players in general, much of the franchise's marketing (especially in the West) is aimed towards teenagers and older; some kid-oriented marketing is present, but it isn't as prominent as for other ''Nintendo'' franchises (being roughly on the same level as ''Franchise/TheLegendOfZelda''[='=]s kid-focused marketing). There are elements in each game that are very clearly meant for the older crowd, including characters from franchises that kids ignore such as ''Franchise/FireEmblem'', ''VideoGame/{{Bayonetta}}'', ''Franchise/MetalGear'', and ''Franchise/{{Persona}}'', retro gaming allusions, and Zero Suit Samus's, Shulk's, and Sephiroth's [[{{Fanservice}} intentionally revealing outfits]]. The age-18-to-25 group, a mere subset of the older demographic, [[http://www.siliconera.com/2014/10/30/super-smash-bros-helping-pokemon-pre-orders/ makes up 30% of the 3DS version's audience in Japan and 50% in the West]].

** When Corrin was announced, one point of controversy was that the male version was the default despite female Corrin being far more popular. This was particularly grating because it meant that the male would be getting the amiibo, which Creator/IntelligentSystems have used as a method to bring ''Fire Emblem'' characters into their games [[VideoGame/CodenameSteam time]] [[VideoGame/FireEmblemFates and]] [[Videogame/FireEmblemEchoesShadowsOfValentia again]]. Eventually, it was announced that Corrin would be getting an amiibo for each gender, meaning that female Corrin would also get representation in those games going forward. Additionally, while male Corrin is still the default option in ''Ultimate'' (possibly due to GrandfatherClause), female Corrin is shown and marketed equally as much as him, even more so than other alternate characters.

* FanMyopia: A common occurrence in the fandom. ''Smash'' fans will often treat the game as if their specific demographic (typically NostalgiaFilter-laden "[[StopHavingFunGuys hardcore]]" Nintendo fanboys [[WeAllLiveInAmerica in the United States]] whose most favorite game genre is the [[PlatformGame 2D or 3D Platformer]]) is its primary demographic, and that any decision that doesn't specifically cater to them is proof that Sakurai is delusional and/or a {{Troll}} who doesn't care about his fanbase. And when the above-mentioned [[FandomRivalry Fandom Rivalries]] are mixed in, [[FromBadToWorse things get]] much, much [[FlameWar worse]]. This is the biggest reason [[VideoGame/{{Minecraft}} Steve]]'s inclusion (at least initially) got so much ire. These fans grew up in TheNineties during the UsefulNotes/SuperNintendoEntertainmentSystem and UsefulNotes/Nintendo64 era and not with ''Minecraft''. They believe that the game should only feature characters from their childhoods, much to the dismay of people who grew up in succeeding or previous decades. Mention other genres like [=RPG=]s and {{Fighting Game}}s and these same fans might be quick to dismiss their inclusions as "uncreative" or "unimportant" compared to their genre of choice.
* FountainOfMemes: [[NotHyperbole Quite literally]] ''everything'' [[VideoGame/FZero Captain Falcon]] says or has said is some kind of meme. ''Everything''. [[LargeHamAnnouncer The Announcers]], [[VideoGame/FireEmblemTellius Ike]], and [[VideoGame/XenobladeChronicles1 Shulk]] are no slouches either.

** [[InvokedTrope Invoked]] by Creator/HideoKojima, [[http://www.joystiq.com/2012/03/19/thank-kojimas-son-for-getting-snake-into-smash-bros-brawl who wanted Snake in the game]] to expose ''Franchise/MetalGear'' to a new audience, in addition to [[SoMyKidsCanWatch his son being a fan of Smash Bros. and wanting to see one of his father's characters in the game.]]

** In particular, Ridley (the recurring villain of ''Franchise/{{Metroid}}'') is largely ignored in Japan, but has been so commonly requested in the West that it reached [[MemeticMutation memetic]] levels. Sakurai himself even brought this up at E3 2018 when Ridley was finally PromotedToPlayable for ''Ultimate'', saying that requests for Ridley came mainly from other countries.

** The biggest example being [[Franchise/MetalGear Snake]] and [[Franchise/SonicTheHedgehog Sonic]] in ''Brawl'' as {{Guest Fighter}}s. This has attracted a large amount of fans to get the game just to use them. In the Wii U and 3DS games, this was the case as well with Franchise/MegaMan, VideoGame/PacMan, and Sonic (again) being in the starting roster, as well as [[Franchise/StreetFighter Ryu]], [[VideoGame/FinalFantasyVII Cloud]], and VideoGame/{{Bayonetta}} being DLC. ''Ultimate'' features all seven characters previously mentioned, plus [[Franchise/{{Castlevania}} Simon, Richter]], and [[Franchise/StreetFighter Ken]] in the base game, and [[VideoGame/Persona5 Joker]], the ''VideoGame/DragonQuest'' Heroes, [[VideoGame/BanjoKazooie Banjo & Kazooie]], [[VideoGame/FatalFury Terry]], [[VideoGame/{{Minecraft}} Steve, Alex, a Zombie and an Enderman]], [[VideoGame/FinalFantasyVII Sephiroth]], [[Franchise/{{Tekken}} Kazuya]], and [[Franchise/KingdomHearts Sora]] as DLC. And that's just the third-party characters!

** Throughout the series' lifetime, many children and families have been drawn to ''Smash'' games because they apparently star ''Franchise/SuperMarioBros'' characters alongside other characters from other kid-friendly franchises such as Franchise/{{Kirby}}, [[VideoGame/YoshisIsland Yoshi]] and [[Franchise/{{Pokemon}} Pikachu]] and let kids play as their favorites[[note]]the PaletteSwap aspect is also a big draw for them, e.g. for kids who want to play as a blue or pink Yoshi[[/note]]; this causes some kids and their parents to treat the series as a multiplayer party game spinoff of ''Super Mario'' like ''VideoGame/MarioKart'' and ''VideoGame/MarioParty''[[note]]This was actually the ''original'' intention for the series, minus the ''Mario'' part.[[/note]]. As these children get older and more capable of accessing other Nintendo franchises due to monetary means and age ratings, they tend to focus more on the MassiveMultiplayerCrossover aspect.[[note]]Although the ''Mario'' components still get a lot of love from older fans, it usually isn't as single-handedly focused on the franchise as it is with young kids.[[/note]] Advertising for the games reflect this, where ads directed towards children/families treat ''Smash'' as a ''Mario'' game (featuring other friendly characters like [[VideoGame/{{Pikmin}} Olimar]], [[VideoGame/{{Splatoon}} the Inklings]], and [[VideoGame/AnimalCrossing Isabelle]]) in all but official status, while ads aimed at older gamers focus more freely on the different series and characters in the game (such as ''Franchise/FireEmblem'', ''VideoGame/XenobladeChronicles1'', and ''Franchise/TheLegendOfZelda''). In fact, the inclusion of [[FightingClown Piranha Plant]] as a fighter was [[UnexpectedCharacter initially met with confusion]] from most of the hardcore ''Smash'' community, but it makes sense from the perspective of someone who ([[CowboyBebopAtHisComputer mistakenly]]) views ''Smash'' as a ''Super Mario Bros.'' spin-off because such games usually include a ''Mario'' {{mook}} as a playable character.[[note]]The key difference here is that ''Smash'' has many franchises to pull characters from, whereas ''Mario'' spinoffs have a more limited cast and are therefore more prone to add such characters as playable.[[/note]]

** Many of the male characters have amassed quite the gay following. Ganondorf, Bowser, and Captain Falcon have been perennial BaraGenre "daddy" favorites since the beginning, as are Ike, Little Mac, Ryu, Ken, the Belmonts, Terry, Sephiroth, and Kazuya with their statuses as {{Hunk}}s.[[note]]Although Ike already had some of this going for him in his games due to his [[AmbiguouslyBi questionable]] and [[BrokenBase oft-debated]] sexuality.[[/note]] In addition to [[{{Bishonen}} Link, Cloud,]] and the existing ''Star Fox'' fanbase, there's Shulk, whose swimsuit outfit makes him a poster boy for TheTwink archetype. Snake exists in a tier of his own, considering he's already a huge gay icon in his [[Franchise/MetalGear own series]].

*** In ''Ultimate'', there are fans making drawings and cosplay of what Dark Samus would look like in a Zero Suit, portraying her as looking like Samus with dark/alien physical features while still appearing attractive and often with the WhiteHairBlackHeart trope in play. [[https://thegamefanatics.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/10/Screen-Shot-2017-11-04-at-1.15.51-PM.png This in spite of Dark Samus canonically looking like a horrifying monster under the Phazon Suit.]] Oddly enough, this ''would'' be somewhat accurate to the [[VideoGame/MetroidFusion SA-X]], another ''Metroid'' villain similar to Dark Samus, which has been shown in both its original game and flashbacks in ''VideoGame/MetroidDread'' to be mimicking Samus' human face underneath its visor.

*** In ''Ultimate'', there are fans making drawings of what Dark Samus would look like in a Zero Suit, portraying her as looking like Samus with dark/alien physical features while still appearing attractive. [[https://thegamefanatics.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/10/Screen-Shot-2017-11-04-at-1.15.51-PM.png This in spite of Dark Samus canonically looking like a horrifying monster under the Phazon Suit.]]

** People who are unsatisfied with how particular franchises are represented in ''Smash'' will often draft possible changes to things the franchise includes in the game, such as adding, removing, remixing, or replacing music, attacks, animations, characters, stages, and collectibles like trophies or spirits.

* RecurringFanonCharacter: Sara Osborne is an OriginalCharacter who is a homophobic, ultra-conservative fundamentalist Christian and originates from the infamous TrollFic ''Fanfic/SupperSmashBrosMishonhFromGod''. Due to the popularity of the original fic, she has become relatively popular among the CrackFic community and ''Smash Bros.'' fans, appearing in fanfics such as ''Fanfic/TheHotTopicKrew'' and ''Fanfic/TinglesRavengTheTingling''.

** The biggest example being Snake and Sonic in ''Brawl'' as {{Guest Fighter}}s. This has attracted a large amount of fans to get the game just to use them. In the Wii U and 3DS games, this was the case as well with Mega Man, Pac-Man, and Sonic (again) being in the starting roster, as well as Ryu, Cloud, and Bayonetta being DLC. ''Ultimate'' features all seven characters previously mentioned, plus Simon, Richter, and Ken in the base game, and Joker, the ''Dragon Quest'' Heroes, Banjo & Kazooie, Terry, Steve, Alex, and a Zombie and Enderman from ''Minecraft'', Sephiroth, Kazuya, and Sora as DLC. And that's just the third-party characters!

* UnderusedGameMechanic:
** The first two games feature bonuses (and [[AchievementMockery anti-bonuses]]) for performing certain behaviors, such as [[FlawlessVictory clearing a stage with no damage]], [[PacifistRun clearing a stage without attacking the opponent]], and getting KO'd by explosives. This was dropped in future games; while they're not functionally very useful, especially in multiplayer matches, it is amusing to see [[DevelopersForesight to what lengths the developers could anticipate player behavior]].
** In ''all five games'', Yoshi is the only character with a non-standard shield.

* UnderusedGameMechanic: The first two games feature bonuses (and [[AchievementMockery anti-bonuses]]) for performing certain behaviors, such as [[FlawlessVictory clearing a stage with no damage]], [[PacifistRun clearing a stage without attacking the opponent]], and getting KO'd by explosives. This was dropped in future games; while they're not functionally very useful, especially in multiplayer matches, it is amusing to see [[DevelopersForesight to what lengths the developers could anticipate player behavior]].