How many characters are in super smash bros ultimate no dlc

When Nintendo announced that the Switch version of Smash Bros. would be called Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, it wasn't kidding about the title; every single character that has ever appeared in any previous Smash Bros. game is available on the Nintendo Switch incarnation. Crikey.

Along with updated moves and final smashes, Sakurai-san and his team updated the visuals for almost all the characters matching them with, more often than not, their latest game appearance. We've put them together in this gallery of hi-res artwork for everyone to sit back and enjoy.

Remember, while the numbers currently go up to 81 (or 82 if you follow Nintendo's awkward numbering), you'll find more than that in our gallery thanks to the five 'echo' fighters — denoted here with a 'ε' — that share another fighter's spot (Ryu and Ken at #60, for example, or Simon Belmont and Richter at #66).

With Byleth from Fire Emblem: Three Houses taking up the final slot in the first batch of DLC, and Sora from the Kingdom Hearts series being the last recipient of a Smash Ultimate invitation, the Super Smash Bros. Ultimate roster is finally complete!

Updated 5th October 2021: Sora from the Kingdom Hearts series is the final DLC Challenger to get an invite! Challenger #11 will be arriving on 18th October.

Updated 15th June 2021: Kazuya from the Tekken series is confirmed as DLC Challenger #10, "coming soon"!

Updated 8th Mar 2021: Pyra and Mythra from Xenoblade Chronicles 2 join as DLC Challenger(s) #9 and occupy separate places on Nintendo's official roster!

Updated 11th Dec 2020: Sephiroth from Final Fantasy VII Joins as DLC Challenger #8!

Updated 1st Oct 2020: Steve, Alex, Zombie and Enderman are confirmed as DLC Challenger #7!

Updated 22nd Jun 2020: Min Min is confirmed as Challenger #6!

Updated 17th Jan 2020: Fire Emblem's Byleth is confirmed as Challenger #5 and Nintendo has announced a further six places to be filled by new challengers in the Fighters Pass Vol. 2 DLC. The hype continues!

Updated 5th Sep 2019: SNK's Terry Bogard has been revealed as Challenger #4, and Nintendo has revealed that even more DLC fighters are planned following the release of Challenger #5!

Updated 11th Jun 2019: During Nintendo's E3 2019 Nintendo Direct it was revealed that Hero from the Dragon Quest universe (with four variants: Eleven, Erdrick, Solo and Eight) would be next challenger. Also during the E3 Direct, it was teased and revealed that Banjo & Kazooie would be the 73rd entry. Guh-huh!

Updated 17th Apr 2019: Joker's official render was spotted in the source code on Nintendo's website.

Updated 7th Dec 2018: The game is finally here! Check out our full review to find out more.

Updated 1st Nov 2018: Today's Smash Direct has added two new characters, Ken and Incineroar. It was also announced that more characters will be added via paid DLC, with Piranha Plant being a pre-order bonus.

Updated 10th Aug 2018: During the Smash Direct it was announced that Dark Samus, Chrom, Simon, Richter and King K. Rool have all been added to the line-up!

Super Smash Bros Ultimate features every Super Smash Bros character ever created - including some new additions - all in one game. No more complaining about the lack of Pichu, Snake or Wolf - they're all in here.

One initial snag is there are not in the game initially. They require unlocking - with the game giving you the original cast of eight to begin with, and putting you to work on getting the rest.

There are multiple Super Smash Bros character unlock methods, and until you've got them all, we have a Super Smash Bros character list so you can work out who you are missing.

Not only that - but more Super Smash Bros DLC characters have been added over time.

On this page:

When you have them all, our Super Smash Bros Ultimate Tier List can help you decide who to play as. We also have some Super Smash Bros Ultimate tips if you want to brush up on the essentials, plus everything we know about Super Smash Bros Ultimate DLC.

The fastest way to unlock characters in Super Smash Bros Ultimate

There are multiple ways to unlock characters in Super Smash Bros Ultimate - some easier and more reliable than others.

Apart from World of Light, the way you'll encounter new characters is the same - you have to beat them in combat, with them challenging you to a match.

The fastest way to unlock characters in Super Smash Bros Ultimate

Play a Smash match (also known as Versus mode) and after the match is over, you'll be challenged by a random character so you can unlock them.

There is a ten minute in-game counter between these encounters, designed to slow down to rate of character unlocks. However, you can avoid this by restarting the game. The next time you play a Smash / Versus match, and you'll then get another character unlock.

You can make this go even quicker is you set it so match settings are set to Stamina, and each character's stamina being as slow as possible (10), enough so a single projectile will end the match - and saving that as a template for future runs.

If you get to a point where this no longer works, you may need to move a certain distance during at match between unlocks as well - dannyjayes1 on reddit recommends playing on the 'Moray Towers' (Splatoon stage), walking up and down, then completing the match.

Doing this method - playing a Smash match, unlocking a character, closing the game and repeating - is a grind, but is the fastest way to go.

Other character unlock methods in Super Smash Bros Ultimate

There are a few other ways to get characters in Super Smash Bros Ultimate:

• Each Classic Mode completion (found in the Games and More portion of the main menu) results in a character unlock. The benefit of this is the eight starting roster will unlock Super Smash Bros characters in a specific order, as shown in the following official image (thanks, Stuart98 on reddit):

• Encounter the respective character when playing World of Light, the game's single-player adventure, to unlock them across all modes. This is also how you unlock Mii Fighter styles.
• As mentioned in the fastest unlock method above, playing any other mode for ten minutes (of in-game time) will see a New Challenger encounter when you next exit the mode.

Note that if you fail when challenged by a character, then you can attempt again by selecting it on the main menu screen. It's intermittent, so keep playing until it appears again.

Every new character added in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, including Fighters Pass DLC, explained

Super Smash Bros. Ultimate lives up to its namesake when it comes to character roster alone, featuring every single character released in previous entries - the 64 original, Melee, Brawl, Wii U and 3DS editions - whether they've featured just once, as DLC, or have been with the series since the beginning.

Who are the new Super Smash Bros. Ultimate characters?

Not only is there a huge returning roster, there are several new fighters too, with more being added as DLC until the end of 2021:

• Inkling (from Splatoon)
• Ridley (from Metroid)
• Simon (from Castlevania)
• King K. Rool (from Donkey Kong)
• Isabelle (from Animal Crossing)
• Incineroar (from Pokemon)
• Piranha Plant (from Super Mario - free DLC if Smash Bros is purchased and bought by January 31st, available February 2019)
• Joker (from Persona 5 - first Fighters Pass Vol 1 character, available April 2019)
• The Hero (from Dragon Quest - second Fighters Pass Vol 1 character, available July 2019)
• Banjo and Kazooie (from Banjo & Kazooie - third Fighters Pass Vol 1 character, available September 2019)
• Terry Bogard (from Final Fight - fourth Fighters Pass Vol 1 character, available November 2019)
• Byleth (from Fire Emblem: Three Houses - fifth Fighters Pass Vol 1 character, available January 2020)
• Min Min (from ARMS - first Fighters Pass Vol 2 character, available June 2020)
• Steve (from Minecraft - second Fighters , available June 2020)

Meanwhile, the game introduces the concept of 'Echo Fighters'. It's not a new concept; they are reskins of other characters with offer subtle differences in their movesets, but unlike costumes, have their own place in the roster. These include:

• Lucina
• Dark Pit
• Daisy (new for Ultimate)
• Dark Samus (new for Ultimate)
• Chrom (new for Ultimate)
• Richter (new for Ultimate)
• Ken (new for Ultimate)

Are there any more Super Smash Bros. Ultimate characters coming?

Before the game's release, series director Masahiro Sakurai confirmed there would be post-release DLC for Super Smash Bros Ultimate as part of a Fighters Pass. Since then, there is news of a second set of characters, extending this run until the end of 2021, with Sora being the final character added to the game.

A Fighters Pass costs £22.49, and includes that volume's set of fighters. Alternatively, you can get them for £5.59 each, with each set adding a Fighter, a Stage and multiple music tracks - and no Echo Fighters.

It should be said the first Fighters Pass does not include Piranha Plant, which was free DLC if Smash Bros is purchased and bought by January 31st, and then made available in February 2019. If you missed out, it was later made available as paid DLC.

Super Smash Bros. Ultimate character list

Below is a list of every single Super Smash Bros. character coming to the game, their place in the roster, as well as any differences between their last game and Ultimate.