Character customization

Character customization, officially character creation (, character building), referred to as Custom Move Sets (, Customize Special Techniques) in the Smash Direct, is a feature in Super Smash Bros. 4. It allows players to alter several fundamental properties of playable characters and amiibo, particularly their special moves. All non-DLC characters can replace each of their default special moves with one of two variations unlockable through gameplay, with the exception of and the s, who instead have a selection of completely different specials, which are all available from the start. Certain characters, such as, have moves that appear to function significantly differently as well. In Smash 4, the height and weight of Mii Fighters are customizable as well, affecting their speed and other attributes.

In Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, only s can be customized, with custom equipment and custom moves for other characters removed. Mii Fighters can still be customized with special moves and outfits, and additionally can have their voices adjusted as well, but their height and weight are not customizable. Effects similar to those of custom equipment are present in Ultimate's Spirits mode.

Before the Super Smash Bros. Direct where the feature was officially announced, in June 2013, Masahiro Sakurai had stated that players will be able to customize characters in the 3DS game and transfer those customizations to the Wii U game. He had also stated that the customizations would not be alternate costumes, with exception of the Mii Fighters, and that they would not have to be unlocked through repeated tasks.

It is possible to save up to 10 custom versions of each character and 99 Mii Fighters per game file. If custom fighters are allowed via the option button on the character selection screen, then upon selecting a character, all customized versions of that character will show up, and the player can choose which version to play as or against. The same goes for Mii Fighters, with which every Mii Fighter ever created by the player will appear in a list for the player to choose from. Character customization can be enabled when playing locally or when playing online with friends or in certain tournaments, but not when playing online with anyone. Also, some game modes do not allow customizations to be used at all, which includes all the Stadium game modes (Target Blast allowed them prior to version 1.0.8, and still do via Master Orders), All-Star Mode, Trophy Rush (Smash 3DS only), Stage Builder, and certain event matches in Events.

Custom characters and Mii Fighters can also be copied between the 3DS and Wii U versions, and the latter can also be submitted or downloaded online. However, copied customizations cannot be modified at all, requiring the player to have to go back to the customization's game origin to make any changes. Aside from Miis, customizations cannot be shared between identical versions.

As with custom controls, character customizations can be tested on the fly with the customization test stage, allowing the player to try out their special moves on a Sandbag.

General
The options for customizing movesets appear in the form of "Custom parts", which come in multiple types:


 * Equipment: Collected through the games' numerous game modes, these items can be equipped to characters to boost three potential stats: speed, attack, and defense. Some of these items may be identical in appearance in menus, but offer different stat boosts. They do not affect the appearance of fighters in-game.
 * Specials: Players can change the special attacks of fighters (except downloadable characters, who have no alternate specials); up to three options are available for each directional input.
 * Headgear: Head accessories for Miis that behave similarly to outfits.
 * Outfits: Can be used to customize the outfits and accessories of Mii Fighters. Costume parts can be earned from Classic Mode and, in the 3DS game, Smash Run. Some costumes also alter the appearance of the weapon held by Swordfighters and Gunners (such as a leather bodysuit changing a Swordfighter's sword into a beam sword, or a tuxedo giving a Gunner's arm-cannon a smaller, sleeker appearance). Most costumes are exclusive to a particular class of Mii Fighter.
 * Powers: Assorted powers that only take effect in Smash Run. A similar system was earlier used in . All powers have multiple levels; higher levels grant a greater number and/or more effective uses, but take up more of the total weight limit. The total weight limit is determined by a character's weight and speed, including equipment affecting their speed; the faster and lighter they are, the lower the weight limit. However, all downloadable characters can carry a total weight of 25. That gives an advantage over  and, who can carry only 23 for example.

In tournament play

 * Main article: Official Custom Moveset Project

Custom movesets are banned in Smash 4, though a number of tournaments allow their use in side-events. Custom movesets were temporarily legal from March 2015 to July 2015, as part of the Official Custom Moveset Project on SmashBoards, but concerns regarding gameplay balance and logistics issues caused custom movesets to be banned after the conclusion of EVO 2015.

With the removal of custom moves for every fighter besides the Mii Fighters, custom moves in Ultimate tournaments only apply to those characters. For their legality, many tournaments allow both Mii Fighters and custom moves unlike Smash 4. If the Mii Fighter created for tournament is customized with different moves, their name will typically be placed with numbers for which custom move is used for each of the four specials (Examples: 1111 or 1332).

Trivia

 * While Bowser, Little Mac, and Wario use mirrored versions of their regular special moves as opposed to custom versions after transforming via their Final Smash, Lucario is still able to use its custom special moves, further enhanced by the boosted Aura.
 * When copying a character, Kirby will always copy that character's default neutral special, even if that character has it set to a custom move.
 * However, when copying with customs enabled, Kirby's side special variant will actually affect the variant of Pikmin Throw used.
 * When all special moves are collected, the game shows a message that says "Collected every custom special move! Show me your moves!", which references Captain Falcon's taunt.
 * In the 3DS version, taking the first letter of each category of custom parts available to Miis (Equipment, Specials, Headgear, Outfit, Powers) yields the word "eShop".
 * When all outfits and headgear items are collected in the PAL version of SSB4, the game shows a message that says "Collected every outfit! Your body is ready!", which references Reggie Fils-Aimé's famous line from the E3 2007 Nintendo press conference.
 * Though, being downloadable, doesn't actually have any custom moves, one could gain access to them in version 1.0.6 through a glitch involving carried-over Mii Fighters. Doing so would cause incredibly glitchy effects.
 * If a player were to copy a character with a custom move they only have on one version (e.g., copying a from  that had Sleepy Toad, but the player didn't have that move unlocked on ), the move will show up as the default version.
 * In the character customization menu, Mr. Game & Watch cannot be rotated with the C-Stick.