The starting roster may look underwhelming when loading up Super Smash Bros. Ultimate for the first time. You get eight fighters to choose from—the same amount offered to Super Smash Bros. players on Nintendo 64 back in 1999. And you’re expected to unlock the other 66 characters by playing different game modes.
Usually, you are expected to unlock characters by completing the game’s main adventure mode, where finding a fighter there immediately unlocks them in your roster. There are ways to unlock characters in Classic Mode over time, like how the original games would lock characters away.
If you have absolutely no interest in playing through the Adventure or Classic modes and want to duke it out with your friends in multiplayer, you’ll be happy to know that you can unlock characters after completing a set amount of battles in a specific order over time.
After a match finishes, you’ll occasionally have the option to fight a character in a one vs. one. If you win, that character will be added to your character select screen, permanently joining your roster. If you lose, you’ll have a chance to fight them again at the end of the next match. The fight is only for whoever won the previous bout. But in what order do these characters unlock?
Super Smash Bros. Ultimate character unlock order
| Unlock number | Smash Bros. Fighter |
|---|---|
| 1 | Ness |
| 2 | Zelda |
| 3 | Bowser |
| 4 | Pit |
| 5 | Inkling |
| 6 | Villager |
| 7 | Marth |
| 8 | Young Link |
| 9 | Wii Fit Trainer |
| 10 | Ice Climbers |
| 11 | Captain Falcon |
| 12 | Peach |
| 13 | Ryu |
| 14 | Ike |
| 15 | Jigglypuff |
| 16 | King K. Rool |
| 17 | Sonic |
| 18 | Simon Belmont |
| 19 | Zero Suit Samus |
| 20 | Little Mac |
| 21 | Isabelle |
| 22 | Shulk |
| 23 | Lucina |
| 24 | Wario |
| 25 | Ridley |
| 26 | Pokémon Trainer |
| 27 | Lucario |
| 28 | Daisy |
| 29 | Roy |
| 30 | King Dedede |
| 31 | R.O.B. |
| 32 | Falco |
| 33 | Luigi |
| 34 | Pichu |
| 35 | Richter |
| 36 | Lucas |
| 37 | Diddy Kong |
| 38 | Meta Knight |
| 39 | Snake |
| 40 | Ganondorf |
| 41 | Corrin |
| 42 | Mega Man |
| 43 | Bayonetta |
| 44 | Toon Link |
| 45 | Rosalina & Luma |
| 46 | Incineroar |
| 47 | Sheik |
| 48 | Olimar |
| 49 | PAC-MAN |
| 50 | Dark Samus |
| 51 | Wolf |
| 52 | Mr. Game & Watch |
| 53 | Robin |
| 54 | Dark Pit |
| 55 | Cloud |
| 56 | Duck Hunt |
| 57 | Ken |
| 58 | Greninja |
| 59 | Chrom |
| 60 | Mewtwo |
| 61 | Bowser Jr. |
| 62 | Dr. Mario |
| 63 | Palutena |
If you’ve already unlocked a character on the list, you’ll face off against the next fighter until you unlock them all. If you fail to knock a new fighter, you’ll be given a second chance further down the line.
If you purchase a DLC fighter, you won’t need to unlock them. They are available as soon as you start playing. Additionally, if you play through classic mode with these characters, you can unlock them in the following order.
Super Smash Bros. Ultimate Classic Mode character unlock order
| Fighter to play as in Classic Mode | Unlockable Fighters in order |
|---|---|
| Mario | Sonic, Bayonetta, Little Mac, Ike, Luigi, Roy, Dr. Mario, Olimar |
| Donkey Kong | Bowser, Pokémon Trainer, Rosalina & Luma, King Dedede, Sheik, Greninja, Diddy Kong, Duck Hunt |
| Link | King K. Rool, Ice Climbers, Simon Belmont, Meta Knight, Snake, Young Link, Richter Belmont, Toon Link |
| Samus | Inkling, Wii Fit Trainer, Pit, Incineroar, Dark Samus, Cloud, Wario, Dark Pit |
| Yoshi | Lucario, Marth, Ryu, Ganondorf, Lucina, Ridley, Chrom, Ken |
| Kirby | Ness, Jigglypuff, PAC-MAN, Zelda, Robin, Corrin, Lucas, Palutena |
| Fox | Captain Falcon, Zero Suit Samus, Peach, Falco, Daisy, Bowser Jr, Wolf, Mewtwo |
| Pikachu | Villager, Shulk, R.O.B., Mega Man, Isabelle, Mr. Game & Watch, Pichu |
Depending on which fighter you are after, doing one method over the other might be quicker. But if it was up to us? Just play Adventure Mode, and you’ll unlock everything and everyone, including a bunch of useful Spirit, and you can use any DLC fighters you have in the mode straight away to make life easier.
