Character artwork
Character artwork refers to the official main images of the playable characters used in the games and their promotional materials; including websites, strategy guides, and posters. In 64, the artwork for the characters were 2d illustrations not seen in the game itself. In Melee, Brawl, and 4, they were rendered from 3d models at a higher quality than how they appear in gameplay; though they accurately depict how they characters are designed and how they are ideally depicted in the style of the Smash Bros. game. In Brawl and SSB4, cropped versions of the character artwork are used in the character menus themselves. (Some, but not all were used in Melee.) Also in Brawl and SSB4, the main renders served as the basis of at least one trophy for each playable character. The character renders in SSB4 were also the basis of the poses for the Super Smash Bros. series of amiibos.
Super Smash Bros. 4
Prior to the release of Super Smash Bros. 4, high resolution renders (up to the size of 5120x5120 pixels) of some of the non-unlockable characters were released in press kits for the video game press to use. High quality renders were presumably given to publishers of official strategy guides as well as amiibo package manufacturers.
Renderings of each character could be found in the 3DS game's data at a resolution of 512x512. The renders can also be found in the Wii U game at a higher resolution.
Low resolution renders of the characters in 4 can be found on the Super Smash Bros. 4 Official Site. These versions of the images have a transparent background and transluscent shadow. The website renders group the male and female Robins together, though it did not do this for other characters with drastic costume swaps like Wii Fit Trainer, Villager, or Olimar/Alph.
The official artwork for these characters have been used by fans in unofficial wallpapers and videos, and high quality and high resolution renders are sought for the characters but are not widely available. Some high resolution renders have a transparent background. Some have the transluscent shadow. But others simply depict the characters standing in a square with their associated color as seen in the 3DS game and in promotional materials.
Availability of high resolution SSB4 renders
This section is a guide for would-be image editors and photoshoppers as to what official character artwork is available for each character. Many could be found simply using a Google Images search. This wiki will not host such images, because hosting high resolution copyrighted artwork is beyond the purpose of this wiki. If new ultra-high resolution versions of the renders are found, users are encouraged to discuss them in the talk page.
Characters with 5120x5120 (or comparable resolution) character artwork with transparent backgrounds and a shadow:
Bowser, Captain Falcon, Charizard, King Dedede, Donkey Kong, Fox, Greninja, Kirby, Link, Little Mac, Little Mac (wireframe version), Lucas, Lucina, Luigi, Mario (with fireball), Mario (without fireball), Marth, Mega Man, Mewtwo, Olimar, Peach, Pikachu, Pit, Robin (both), Robin (male), Robin (female), Rosalina, Samus, Sheik, Sonic, Toon Link, Vilager (default male), Wii Fit Trainer (female) Yoshi, Zelda, Zero Suit Samus
Characters with 5120x5120 (or comparable resolution) character artwork with transparent backgrounds but no shadow:
Bowser, Captain Falcon, Charizard, King Dedede, Diddy Kong, Donkey Kong, Fox, Greninja, Ike, Kirby, Link, Little Mac, Little Mac (wireframe version), Lucario, Luigi, Mario (with fireball), Mario (without fireball), Marth, Mega Man, default Mii Brawler, default Mii Gunner, default Mii Swordfighter, Mii fighters group, Olimar, Pac-Man, Palutena, Peach, Pikachu, Pit, Rosalina, Samus, Sheik, Shulk (default), Shulk (swimsuit), Sonic, Toon Link, Villager, Wii Fit Trainer (female), Yoshi, Zelda, Zero Suit Samus
Remaining characters with 5120x5120 (or comparable resolution) artwork available with NO transparent background:
Bowser Jr. - jpg with color background; shadow
Duck Hunt - jpg with color background; shadow
Jigglypuff - jpg with color background; shadow
Mr. Game & Watch - jpg with color background; shadow
Ness - png with white background; shadow
Roy - jpg with color background; shadow
Ryu - jpg with color background, shadow
Every remaining character has at least a 1500x1500 image; as well as alternate costume swaps, with a white opaque background and shadow: http://imgur.com/a/0RQtP?gallery
If more high resolution transparent background renders are found or provided, please mention in the talk section. DO NOT upload them to this wiki.
