User:Miles of SmashWiki/Ordering

My take on the ordering mess. Comments welcome.

Introduction
Smash itself is relatively inconsistent when it comes to ordering of characters and series. In creating this list, I have attempted to create the best possible synthesis of its various ordering schemes, with the goal being to create something consistent and reasonably algorithmic, with the bare minimum of exceptions.

Series
The basis of my ordering scheme is the idea of chronological order by introduction in Smash. Therefore, I've sorted series by the Smash game in which they were introduced, and by the starter/unlockable status of their character representation.


 * 64 series:
 * Starters: There is generally a consistent order for the original 8 series, as seen in places like the 64 CSS, the Brawl and SSB4 trophy lists, Adventure Mode, the Brawl SSS, and the 3DS SSS. This order is by the chronological debut of the 8 series: / (1981), (1986),  (1986),  (1990),  (1992),  (1993),  (1996).
 * Yoshi: The only major alteration to this order I make is the re-positioning of Yoshi to be immediately following Mario. As my basis for this, I would point out that Yoshi elements are tied very directly to Mario elements not just in their home series, but also in Smash. In Adventure Mode and the SSB4 CSS in particular, Yoshi himself appears directly between Mario elements, showing that he is treated as a Mario element himself in some situations. The usage of Mario music (including from games that don't include Yoshi prominently) on and Woolly World, as well as the former's usage as a Mario home stage in All-Star Mode and in an event match solidify this. Moving Yoshi also still leaves the 8 starter character series from 64 in a continuous block, which is desirable.
 * Unlockables: and  come next. These two could be ordered either way chronologically; while EarthBound as a series predates F-Zero (1989 and 1990), Captain Falcon himself debuted in 1990 while Ness debuted in 1994. However, Smash more frequently puts F-Zero first, in instances like all trophy lists, Adventure Mode, and the 3DS SSS. Captain Falcon is also a starter character in one more instance than Ness:.
 * Melee series:
 * Starters: is the only such series.
 * Unlockables: and . Fire Emblem is newer chronologically (1990 compared to 1980), but Smash consistently puts Game & Watch last of the Melee character series. First, Marth and Roy must be unlocked in Melee before Mr. Game & Watch can be unlocked; Mr. Game & Watch is also fought last in All-Star Mode in Melee, even when all other characters are fought in random order. Game & Watch is also immediately after Fire Emblem in SSB4's trophy list, the 3DS SSS, and the Wii U SSS.
 * Brawl series:
 * Starters:, , and . This order is used reasonably consistently, and matches their chronological debuts (1986, 1994, 2001). This ordering is used for all trophy lists, the 3DS SSS, and the Wii U SSS. While Wario is sometimes moved near Mario elements, his series is more frequently grouped with the other Brawl newcomer series.
 * Unlockables: is the only unlockable Nintendo series.
 * Third parties: and . 3rd party series are always listed absolutely last out of all series, so they are placed later. Between Metal Gear and Sonic, Smash puts Metal Gear first consistently, matching both their chronological debuts (1987, 1991) and the order of their announcement for Smash (E3 2006, October 2007). This is seen in Brawl's trophy list, the Brawl CSS, and the Brawl SSS.
 * SSB4 series:
 * Starters:, , , . Animal Crossing content consistently comes first, either due to its existence as a recognized series with a stage and a series symbol in Brawl, or due to Villager being the first announced newcomer. This is reflected in trophy lists, the 3DS SSS, and the Wii U SSS. Beyond that, things get murky. Punch-Out!! and Wii Fit content are used in either order without apparent preference, apparently as a result of Punch-Out!! being the older series (1984 vs. 2007), but Wii Fit Trainer being announced prior to Little Mac. I've elected to place Punch-Out!! first on account of it being both the older series and having Assist Trophy representation in Brawl. Xenoblade is consistently the last of the set, as it is newer (2010) and Shulk was announced later.
 * Unlockables: is the only unlockable Nintendo series.
 * Third party starters:, . Reasonably consistently sorted in this order (and after veteran 3rd party series Sonic), this is the order of their announcement for Smash (E3 2013 and 2014 respectively). This is reflected in SSB4's trophy list, the 3DS SSS, and the Wii U SSS.
 * Third party DLC:, , . Continuing the process of sorting by time of announcement (June, November, and December 2015).
 * SSBU series:
 * Nintendo unlockable series:
 * Nintendo DLC series:
 * Third party unlockable series:
 * Third party DLC series:, , , , , ,

Characters
With the series themselves sorted as seen above, next comes sorting the characters themselves by their Smash introductions. I've laid the table out to show which characters debuted in which game, and whether that debut was as a starter, unlockable, or downloadable character; this most resembles the system used for character selection screens and trophy lists, which are not always consistent across games or with each other. Cases I want to mention in particular:


 * Clones are generally not moved to be near their base character. Smash rarely did so in its listings prior to SSBU outside of the Melee CSS, which itself has a very inconsistent layout. Re-arranging SSBU-classified Echo Fighters this way would also lead to messy situations like Dark Samus appearing among the original 8, which is undesirable.
 * Peach comes before Bowser consistently across all games' usages (Save for Brawl's Sound Test and internal character IDs).
 * Zelda comes before Sheik consistently across all games except Ultimate, where her spirit is listed first and was revealed first anyways.
 * Ganondorf comes before Young Link on the Melee trophy list and Ultimate spirit list.
 * Ridley comes before Dark Samus as a result of being announced earlier and not being an Echo Fighter.
 * Meta Knight comes before King Dedede in Brawl and Ultimate consistently, and on the SSB4 trophy list.
 * Mewtwo comes before Pichu on the Melee trophy list.
 * For Pokémon Trainer, Squirtle/Ivysaur/Charizard is the order for his Pokémon, matching the order they are obtained in the Subspace Emissary, their evolutionary stages, and most listings of the three on his DOJO!! page.
 * Marth comes before Roy as Marth must be unlocked first of the two in Melee; corroborated by the Melee trophy list.
 * Pyra is consistently listed before Mythra.
 * Simon Belmont is clearly the "main" Castlevania representative, with Richter Belmont as his Echo Fighter; therefore, Simon comes first of the two.
 * Mii Fighters are sorted Mii Brawler, Mii Swordfighter, Mii Gunner. This order is used in their reveal trailer and the Mii Fighter setup screens.