Here Are Smash Bros. Ultimate's Starting Characters
Eight characters out of the 74-plus will be available when first booting up.
As part of the recent (and final) Nintendo Direct broadcast centered around Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, Nintendo revealed the final members of the character roster, as well as the fact that even more will released as DLC. It also confirmed exactly who you'll be able to play as right out of the gate, and it hearkens back to the N64 days of the series.
While Ultimate boasts a huge roster with a total of 74-plus characters, the initial lineup is much smaller. As is appropriate for a mash-up like this, the characters you start with all hail from the original Super Smash Bros., consisting of nothing but classics like Mario, Samus, and Link. Here's who you'll start out with:
- Mario
- Donkey Kong
- Link
- Samus
- Yoshi
- Kirby
- Fox
- Pikachu

Alongside those eight, you'll of course have access to a randomized feature if you can't make up your mind. (If that's a problem, good luck once you have everyone unlocked.)
The Direct presentation filled out the roster with two more characters: Street Fighter's Ken and Pokemon's Incineroar. (Piranha Plant is also coming after launch, but only as a pre-order bonus, as are other DLC fighters.) The company also detailed a huge variety of other aspects of the game, including the ability to adjust handicaps for players (convenient if you're better or worse than a friend), a new Spirits system and mode, new Amiibo figures, and much more.
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A new Super Smash Bros. Ultimate Switch bundle launched on November 2, though the game itself releases on December 7. For more, check out our Ultimate pre-order guide.
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