Characters in the ''Super Smash Bros.'' series

Summonable

Certain items in the Super Smash Bros. series can be used to temporarily summon other characters into battle. The first of these, the Poké Ball, was introduced in the original Super Smash Bros. game. It can be thrown to temporarily call forth a random Pokémon, which will perform one of its signature abilities to attack opponents or affect the battle in other ways. Each Super Smash Bros. game has had a different set of Pokemon that can appear from Poké Balls, though some such as Snorlax and Goldeen have appeared in multiple entries.

Another item, the Assist Trophy, was added in Super Smash Bros. Brawl and functions similarly to the Poké Ball. Players who pick up an assist trophy will summon a random character from one of Nintendo's various franchises, causing them to interfere with opponents. Available characters vary between games, and range from supporting members of already represented franchises, such as Super Mario's Waluigi and Star Fox's Andross, to more obscure characters like the Sheriff, Dr. Kawashima from Brain Age and Saki Amamiya from Sin and Punishment. Some assist trophies, including Little Mac, Dark Samus and Isabelle, have gone on to appear as playable characters in later series entries. There have also been assist trophies based on third-party characters, such as Bomberman, Monster Hunter's Rathalos, and Shovel Knight.

Bosses

Throughout the Super Smash Bros. series, most single-player modes have included several non-playable boss characters. Most of these bosses were created specifically for the Super Smash Bros. franchise.

Master Hand is a glove-like being that appears in all games to date, serving as the final boss of Classic Mode^[1] and, in Super Smash Bros. Melee, the 50th Event Match "Final Destination Match". In Melee, Master Hand is playable via a system glitch.^[2] Super Smash Bros. Melee introduced a left-hand counterpart to Master Hand named Crazy Hand, which appears alongside Master Hand under certain conditions. Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS and Wii U introduced a new form, Master Core, a shapeshifting mass of black particles that emerge from Master Hand and Crazy Hand after they are defeated.

Tabuu is the villain of Super Smash Bros. Brawl's story mode, The Subspace Emissary. He is a human-shaped apparition composed of pure energy, with a single eye-shaped object located where a person's stomach would be. He is able to conjure several weapons for use in battle, including a rapier and large chakram. His other powers include the ability to change his size at will and teleportation. Towards the end of The Subspace Emissary, it is revealed that Tabuu is the entity that controlled Master Hand and the true antagonist behind the events of the story.^[3]

The Subspace Emissary also features other boss characters.^[4] Some of these characters, such as Petey Piranha, Ridley, Meta Ridley, Porky, and Rayquaza, are from other franchises. Ridley eventually became a playable character in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, with Meta Ridley as an alternate costume for him. Three original bosses are also featured: the aforementioned Tabuu, Galleom, and Duon. Galleom is a giant cyborg that is fought twice while Duon is a giant twin-bodied robot.^[5]

Other boss characters from represented franchises may appear as hazards on certain stages and attack the fighters in the middle of a battle, such as the Yellow Devil from Mega Man, Metal Face from Xenoblade Chronicles, and Dracula from Castlevania.

Other

In each of the games, there is a group of generic enemy characters who are based on other fighters and are fought in large groups in the games' single-player campaigns and "Multi-Man Smash" minigames. In the Japanese versions of the games, these characters have always been called the "Mysterious Small Fry Enemy Corps". In the English localized versions of the games, they are given names that describe their physical form. These include the Fighting Polygon Team, the Fighting Wire Frames, the Fighting Alloy Team^[6] and the Fighting Mii Team. Along with Melee's Adventure Mode came the inclusion of minor, generic enemies, such as Goombas from the Super Mario series and Octoroks from The Legend of Zelda series.^[7] This trend continues into Super Smash Bros. Brawl, which also includes an assortment of original characters to serve as non-playable generic enemies led by the Subspace Army. Many generic enemies from various games appear as part of the "Smash Run" mode in Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS.

The Subspace Army are the antagonists of Super Smash Bros. Brawl, appearing in The Subspace Emissary and led by the Ancient Minister. Their goal is to pull the entire world into Subspace piece by piece using devices called Subspace Bombs.^[8][9] The Sandbag appears in every game's "Home-Run Contest" minigame beginning with Super Smash Bros. Melee. The object is to do as much damage as possible to Sandbag in a short time, then strike it with either a Home-Run Bat or a fighting move to launch it as far as possible.^[10] Sandbag also appears randomly as an item that drops other items when hit in various other modes in all games from Brawl onward.^[11]

Each Super Smash Bros. game has an announcer who calls out the player character names upon selection and victory. The announcer's voice is used in many of the promotional materials of the games. The role has been taken on by Jeff Manning in the original game, Dean Harrington in Melee, Pat Cashman in Brawl, and Xander Mobus in 3DS/Wii U and Ultimate.^[12] The announcer voice actor traditionally voices Master Hand and Crazy Hand as well.^[13][14]