Alternate costume (SSBM)

NOTE: Every claimed source needs a cross-reference link; claimed sources need to be plausible, not horrendously obscure; default costumes usually don't need descriptions since they are not alternate costumes; returning costumes original to Smash do not need references to their appearances in previous Smash games.

A battle between four Dr. Marios, each one in different colored lab coats.

Super Smash Bros. Melee added additional alternate costume options to characters by using the X and Y buttons to cycle through the available list instead of using four C buttons to pick a specific color; this removes the limit as to how many are selectable, so there are no longer any costumes exclusive to Team Battles or computer opponents. As a result, many characters now have five different color schemes, with some having as many as six, though some still only have four.

When selecting characters in tournament mode, instead of displaying the character's colored image of the chosen costume, the character's name is given a tint and a colored bar is displayed in the player list. This color is usually an intuitive indicator of which costume has been chosen (with no color denoting default), but there are some that are slightly unusual (such as Luigi and Peach's white costumes that are denoted by a grey).

In Team Battle, if members of the same team use the same character, the second player would have a lighter tint applied to their character. A third player uses a darker tint. If a fourth player is forcibly added to a team with the Name Entry glitch, then the fourth character will be completely black; the game's data suggests that a fifth player, if possible, would be completely grey. A sixth player and afterward, would crash the game.

Strangely enough, alternate costumes can affect gameplay, such as Captain Falcon's model changing sizes depending on the costume.

Bowser

Green	G
Red	R	Resembles one of his alternate colors in Mario Golf. While the portrait depicts Bowser with red irises, they are green in-game.
Blue	B	Resembles his original design in Super Mario Bros.
Black

Captain Falcon

Indigo
Black		Based on his appearance in the Japanese commercial for F-Zero X.
Red	R	Based on Blood Falcon, Captain Falcon's clone and rival. It is Captain Falcon's only costume with a unique logo on the back: a skull with "Blood Hawk" (the name of Blood Falcon's vehicle) written underneath.
White		Resembles Jody Summer's original appearance in F-Zero X.
Green	G
Blue	B	Resembles his appearance in the original F-Zero.

Donkey Kong

Brown
Black		Resembles his in-game sprite from Donkey Kong '94 and Donkey Kong Land.
Red	R	Resembles the original D.K. from Donkey Kong.
Blue	B	Resembles one of his alternate costumes from Donkey Kong 64's Multiplayer Mode. It also resembles one of his alternate colors from Mario Golf.
Green	G

Dr. Mario

White		Resembles his appearance in Dr. Mario 64, but with black jeans instead of white trousers.
Red	R	Resembles the color of scrubs worn by modern nurses.
Blue	B	Resembles the color of scrubs worn by modern doctors.
Green	G	Resembles the color of scrubs worn by modern surgeons.
Black		Referred to as the "Unlicensed Doctor" on the Melee website.

Falco

Tan
Red	R
Blue	B
Green	G

Fox

White
Red	R
Blue	B
Green	G	Resembles concept art of him for the original Star Fox.

Ganondorf

Brown		Derived from his model used in the SpaceWorld 2000 GameCube Tech Demo, which in turn is based on his appearance in The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time.
Red	R
Blue	B
Green	G
Purple

Ice Climbers

As can be seen in the image, the Ice Climbers' orange and red costumes will place Nana in the lead, making Popo follow.

Blue	B
Green	G
Orange
Red	R	Nana resembles her appearance on the American boxart for Ice Climber.

Jigglypuff

Pink
Red	R
Blue	B	Resembles one of the possible colors for a nicknamed Jigglypuff in Pokémon Stadium. Its bow is reminiscent of its Blue Team costume from Smash 64.
Green	G	Resembles one of the possible colors for a nicknamed Jigglypuff in Pokémon Stadium. Its headband is reminiscent of the Blackbelt Trainer class.
Yellow		The crown is derived from Peach's model.

Kirby

Pink
Yellow		Based on and directly referred to as "Keeby" from Kirby's Dream Course. It also resembles Beam Kirby in Kirby Super Star.
Blue	B	Based on Ice Kirby in Kirby Super Star.
Red	R	Based on Fire Kirby in Kirby Super Star.
Green	G	The original Super Smash Bros. website referred to this costume as "Kusa-mochi Kirby".
White		Resembles Kirby's monochromatic appearance in Kirby's Dream Land.

Link

Green	G	Based on Adult Link from The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time.
Red	R	Based on the Goron Tunic from Ocarina of Time. It also resembles Link's tunic with the Red Ring equipped in The Legend of Zelda.
Blue	B	Based on the Zora Tunic from Ocarina of Time.
Black		Based on Dark Link.
White		Based on his tunic with the Blue Ring equipped in The Legend of Zelda.

Luigi

Green	G
White		Based on his in-game sprite from the original Super Mario Bros. His skin appears slightly darker in-game.
Blue	B	Resembles Mario's appearance on the American boxart for Mario Bros.
Pink	R	The original Super Smash Bros. website referred to this costume as "Strawberry Luigi". It resembles his appearance in Wrecking Crew.

Mario

Red	R
Yellow		Based on Wario's classic design.
Black		Based on Foreman Spike from Wrecking Crew, though the palette is more monochromatic than it was in Smash 64.
Blue	B	Based on his appearance on the Japanese boxart of Famicom version of Mario Bros., which itself is based on his appearance in the arcade version of Mario Bros.
Green	G	Resembles his appearance on the Japanese boxart for Wrecking Crew. Unlike in Smash 64, his overalls are brown instead of orange.

Marth

Blue	B
Red	R	Resembles the overworld sprites of enemy units in the Fire Emblem games.
Green	G	Resembles the overworld sprites of NPC units in the Fire Emblem games.
Black
White		Resembles Leif, the protagonist of Fire Emblem: Thracia 776.

Mewtwo

Purple
Red	R	Resembles one of the possible colors for Mewtwo in the Pokémon Stadium titles.
Blue	B	Resembles one of the possible colors for Mewtwo in the Pokémon Stadium titles.
Green	G	Resembles its Shiny coloration, but without the green irises.

Mr. Game & Watch

Notably, the 3 alternate costumes are the 3 primary colours.

Black		Resembles the characters from the Game & Watch games Fire and Parachute. He has the general color of the LCD frames in most of the Game & Watch handhelds.
Red	R	Reminiscent of characters and objects as depicted on the Virtual Boy.
Blue	B
Green	G

Ness

Red	R
Yellow		Based on the uniforms of the Hanshin Tigers, a Japanese baseball team. The shirt's pattern is reminiscent of the Gigantic Ant enemy from EarthBound.
Blue	B	Resembles his younger self that he encounters in Magicant.
Green	G

Peach

Pink	R
Yellow		Resembles Princess Daisy. This is more complex than her other costumes, as she wears a completely different dress and gloves. The color of her skin and hair changes, and her crown is pink, featuring emblems of daisies.
White		Resembles a wedding gown. The event match "Time for a Checkup" suggests it may also be an allusion to white nurse uniforms. Peach uniquely wears pantyhose with this costume.
Blue	B	Resembles one of her alternate colors from Mario Golf and Daisy's appearance on the title screen of NES Open Tournament Golf.
Green	G	Resembles one of her alternate colors from Mario Golf and her appearance on the title screen of NES Open Tournament Golf.

Pichu

Yellow
Red	R
Blue	B	Its goggles are reminiscent of the Swimmer Trainer class.
Green	G	Its backpack is reminiscent of the Pokémon Trainer class. It may derive from Ness's model.

Pikachu

Yellow
Red	R	Resembles one of the possible colors for a nicknamed Pikachu in Pokémon Stadium and its Shiny coloration. Its cap is reminiscent of Red, the protagonist of Pokémon Red and Blue.
Blue	B	Resembles its Blue Team costume from the original Smash 64.
Green	G	Resembles one of the possible colors for a nicknamed Pikachu in Pokémon Stadium.

Roy

Purple
Red	R	Resembles the overworld sprites of enemy units in the Fire Emblem games. Roy can have this color scheme in The Binding Blade's Link Arena mode.
Blue	B	Resembles the overworld sprites of player units in the Fire Emblem games.
Green	G	Resembles the overworld sprites of NPC units in the Fire Emblem games. Roy can have this color scheme in The Binding Blade's Link Arena mode.
Yellow

Samus

Orange	R	Based on the Varia Suit as it appears in Super Metroid.
Pink		Based on the Gravity Suit's in-game sprite from Super Metroid, but more closely resembles the color scheme of the Varia Suit of the original Metroid when missiles are selected.
Black
Green	G	The original Super Smash Bros. website referred to this alternate costume as "mass-produced Samus", a reference to Gundam.
Purple	B	Resembles artwork of the Gravity Suit from Super Metroid.

Sheik

All of these colors go with Zelda's costume and come from the same game as Zelda's.

Navy		Despite being blue, this costume is not used in team battles, likely because it corresponds with Zelda's pink default costume.
Red	R
Blue	B
Green	G
White

Yoshi

All of Yoshi's costumes appear as different variations of the Yoshi species in many of his games, such as Yoshi's Story and Super Mario World.

Green	G	Based on a Green Yoshi.
Red	R	Based on a Red Yoshi.
Blue	B	Based on a Blue Yoshi.
Yellow		Based on a Yellow Yoshi.
Pink		Based on a Pink Yoshi.
Cyan		Based on a Light Blue Yoshi.

Young Link

All of Young Link's colors are exactly the same as Link's, except ordered where the black and white costumes are switched.

Green	G	Based on his appearance from The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time and its sequel Majora's Mask.
Red	R	Resembles the Goron Tunic from Ocarina of Time.
Blue	B	Resembles the Zora Tunic from Ocarina of Time.
White		Resembles his tunic with the Blue Ring equipped in The Legend of Zelda.
Black		Resembles Dark Link.

Zelda

Pink		Based on Adult Zelda from The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time.
Red	R	Resembles her in-game sprite when Link rescues her with the Red Ring equipped in The Legend of Zelda.
Blue	B
Green	G	Resembles her in-game sprite when Link rescues her with no ring equipped in The Legend of Zelda.
White		Resembles her in-game sprite when Link rescues her with the Blue Ring equipped in The Legend of Zelda.

Stats

• There is a total of 123 alternate costumes.
• The average number of costumes per character is 5.
• Captain Falcon, Kirby and Yoshi share the highest amount of color swaps: 6.
• There are 10 fighters with 4 color swaps, and 13 with 5.

Trivia

• Betas for the game indicate that the back of Captain Falcon's Blood Falcon-inspired costume was originally going to read "Hell Hawk", the Japanese name of Blood Falcon's F-Zero machine.