Editing Character selection screen

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The '''character selection screen''', also called the '''character selection menu''' and abbreviated as '''CSS''', is the menu where a player chooses their [[character]] to be used in a game [[mode]] and also where the player may sometimes make changes to the [[rules]]. The character selection screen is composed of boxed portraits of the heads or busts of playable fighters, normally arranged together by game series or related characters, with more characters added once they are [[unlockable character|unlocked]] or [[Downloadable content|downloaded]]. It is utilized in each game and appears in both single-player and multiplayer modes where the player is not required to use a specific character(s). Character selection screens are almost always uniform across game modes for each game, with the exception of the character selection screen for [[Tournament Mode]] and the [[Subspace Emissary]] single-player mode in ''[[Brawl]]'' which uses a very featureless character selection screen for assembling a party of characters.

==Character selection screen features==

Player character portraits after character selection are usually interactive. In ''[[Super Smash Bros.]]'' the color of the character's model will change in real-time when cycling through [[palette swap]]s. The player can cycle through the palettes of each character in ''Brawl'' in an alternate way by pressing the selection button while hovering their hand cursor over the player character's portrait. Additionally in ''Brawl'' and ''Ultimate'', the player can select the default form or starter character where applicable by using the cursor to highlight the form or character in the portrait. In ''Ultimate'', players can change the character selection screen so that [[Echo Fighters]] can be stacked together in the same slot with the fighters they are based on. When such an option is enabled, the player may switch between the base fighter and their Echo Fighter by selecting the desired character icon on the top right corner of the character's portrait. Stacking echo fighters also causes [[Mii]] Fighters to also be stacked, similarly to how they were in ''SSB4''. This option will only affect the screen in [[Vs. Mode]], [[Tourney]], [[Custom Smash]], [[Super Sudden Death]], and [[Online play|Quickplay]]. A player may also choose a [[name]] from an expandable box in ''Melee'', ''Brawl'', ''SSB4'' and ''Ultimate''.

SSBWiiU Character Select.jpg|The character selection screen in {{forwiiu}} with all of the characters unlocked and all DLC characters purchased.

SSBU Character Select.png|The character selection screen in ''[[Super Smash Bros. Ultimate]]'' with all non-DLC characters unlocked.

SSBU Smashdown.png|The character selection screen for Smashdown in ''[[Super Smash Bros. Ultimate]]'', with all non-DLC characters unlocked.

SSBU Smashdown DLC.png|The character selection screen for [[Smashdown]] in ''[[Super Smash Bros. Ultimate]]'', with all characters unlocked and all DLC characters purchased.

BetaCharacterSelect.jpg|A [[beta elements (SSBM)|beta]] character selection screen in ''Melee''.

Betameleescreen.jpg|Another beta character selection screen in ''Melee''. {{SSBM|Zelda}}'s portrait has been omitted.

E3 Character select screen.png|The character selection screen from the [[E3]] demo of ''Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS''.

Smash 3DS CSS (Demo).png|The character selection screen used in the eShop demo of ''Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS''.

==Trivia==

[[File:Ultimatecssjapan.png|thumb|300px|The Character Selection Screen in the Japanese version of ''Ultimate''. Note how some names take up only one line instead of two.]]

*''Super Smash Bros.'' is the only game to feature all portrait boxes for characters that haven't been unlocked, as well as the only game to have character animations for picking a character. These animations were to be implemented also in ''Melee'', but were scrapped, although the animation files remained in the disc.

*Starting with ''[[Super Smash Bros. 4]]'', the announcer says "Choose your fighter" instead of "Choose your character" when selecting a fighter in the character selection screen, unlike previous installments.

*In multiplayer modes in ''Melee'' onwards, [[KO Star]]s appear in the player character portrait tallying the number of [[stock]]s taken off of other players.

*In ''Brawl'', a unique [[Wii Remote selection sound|sound effect]] will play if the player is using a [[Wii Remote]] while selecting a character.

*When a character is selected in {{forwiiu}}, a small sparkle effect will appear over their eyes (or in {{SSB4|Mr. Game & Watch}}'s case, where the eyes would be).

*Prior to [[List of updates (SSB4-3DS)#1.0.4|version 1.0.4]], lifting the character selection token for a CPU Mii Fighter in [[With Friends]] in ''Super Smash Bros. for 3DS'' would often cause the game to crash if the player isn't the original room creator.

*{{SSBU|Mario}}, {{SSBU|Pikachu}}, {{SSBU|Link}} and {{SSBU|Villager}}'s portrait used their in-game model as opposed to their official render in the E3 demo of ''[[Super Smash Bros. Ultimate]]''.

**Similarly, {{SSBB|Zero Suit Samus}} is the only character that doesn't appear in ''Brawl''{{'}}s.

*Zelda and Sheik (although only in ''Brawl'') and Pyra and Mythra are the only two characters to share the same character slot, despite Sheik first appearing in ''Melee'' (see above).

*In ''Ultimate'', Wii Fit Trainer and the Mii Fighters are only characters whose names are not fully capitalized in their icons. Bowser Jr., Mr. Game & Watch, and Dr. Mario additionally follow this rule, but only on the Japanese, Chinese, and Korean versions.

**Similarly, the "Ready to fight!" banner will not be fully capitalized if the game's language is currently set to Spanish or German.

{{AllGames|Modes}}