List of Super Smash Bros. Ultimate character trailers
Several characters in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate have been announced via promotional trailers. As with the character trailers for Super Smash Bros. 4, most trailers for the game are animated with CGI while also showing in-game footage of the characters.
Below is a list of all the character trailers for the confirmed newcomers.
Animated trailers
Inkling
Inkling wasn't given a specific trailer, but made her debut along with the game's reveal on its teaser trailer, simply titled "Super Smash Bros. is coming to Nintendo Switch!", at the conclusion of the March 8th Nintendo Direct. The beginning of this trailer has a pair of male and female Inklings fighting each other, heavily based on the debut trailer for Splatoon at E3 2014. After a few seconds of fighting, the Inkling girl comes to a halt as the white void fades to black. She turns around to look at the large, fiery object as the only source of light in the room. As she watches in dismay, the object is revealed to be the Super Smash Bros. logo, with its image being reflected in her eye. The camera pans to the logo with multiple unidentifiable veterans shown standing in front of it. Close-ups of Mario and Link (wearing the Champion's Tunic from The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild) are shown. The camera cuts back to both Inklings staring towards the logo and veterans, while the screen fades to white, followed by a provisional logo, title and release date of 2018 for the game.
Inkling was only officially announced as a newcomer in the "Everyone is here!" trailer, shown in Nintendo's E3 2018 presentation on June 12th, with both female and male variants being playable.
Ridley
Ridley's trailer, titled "A Piercing Screech", was first shown at the conclusion of Nintendo's E3 2018 video presentation. The trailer opens with a portion of a white Super Smash Bros. logo marking as the camera zooms in and then showcases a dark room. In this room, Samus, Mega Man and Mario are seen walking cautiously on a narrow bridge. Mega Man is grabbed off-screen and then pierced by a tail (and his "lost a life" sound is played), then Mario is snatched and smashed by a claw. Samus turns around, seemingly shocked, but regains her composure and readies her arm cannon, only to find Mario's hat laying on the ground. After a loud stomp, a creature bursts out of the ground in front of Samus, revealed to be Ridley. Ridley lets out a screech as the tagline "Ridley Hits the Big Time!" appears on screen, twirling Mario's hat as the trailer moves to in-game footage. After Ridley's Final Smash, the Ultimate logo is shown on screen, and cuts back to CGI. As Ridley looks over the destruction, he growls. Samus ejects from her suit, becoming Zero Suit Samus, as she leaps out from an explosive fire and prepares to kick Ridley before the trailer concludes.
The pose Samus takes before Ridley is revealed is heavily similar to her pose in the final shot of the Metroid segment of the Melee opening movie, where she was seen fighting against Ridley.
Simon and Richter
Simon and Richter's trailer, titled "Vampire Killer", opens to a rainy night outside of Dracula's Castle. Someone is seen approaching the building, wearing a cloak, then Luigi is heard screaming. The trailer cuts to Luigi inside the castle attempting to use his Poltergust to fight off a pair of mummies to no avail, then fleeing. He pauses in a chapel, only to resume running from a Medusa statue that is coming to life. Luigi's flight is brought to an end when he finally trips and lands face-to-face with Death. As Death prepares his scythe, Luigi faints and is then struck, separating his spirit from his body. Death then holds a blue flame in his hand. However, the cloaked person arrives and smashes Death's face with his whip. He throws off his cloak to reveal himself to be Simon and the tagline "Simon Lashes Out!" appears as he throws a cross, destroying Death. Gameplay footage of him is shown, demonstrating his moves.
Simon is then seen walking on the stage version of Dracula's Castle as Dracula himself appears. Simon is damaged by one of Dracula's attacks as it cuts back to CGI, showing Dracula attempt to land the killing blow on a downed Simon, only for it to be stopped by another whip, this one belonging to Richter, who shouts that Dracula does not belong in this world as his tagline, "Richter Crosses Over!" appears. Richter's moves are then demonstrated through gameplay footage, as well as Alucard briefly as an Assist Trophy.
"Super Smash Bros. Ultimate × Castlevania" then appears on the screen (with the × being a Cross). After it disappears, Luigi's spirit is seen approaching his body and preparing to merge back with it when Carmilla appears at the window, causing him to scream in terror again.
King K. Rool
As Sakurai wraps up the Nintendo Direct, the screen starts to shake along with a stomping noise. It then shows King K. Rool's trailer, titled "The Rivals", which starts out with art showing various Nintendo heroes and their respective arch-nemeses or rivals of Super Smash Bros. facing off: Mario trying to save Peach from Bowser, Link protecting Zelda from Ganondorf, Kirby facing Meta Knight, Fox and Falco facing Wolf, and finally Samus facing Ridley. It then reveals it was a TV show being watched by Donkey Kong and Diddy Kong who are lounging lazily in their treehouse when they are interrupted by the ground shaking. They run to the window to see the source as a giant shadow looms overhead. A silhouette of what appears to be King K. Rool is seen, but is then revealed to actually be King Dedede in disguise. Dedede laughs at the surprised Donkey Kong and Diddy Kong, not noticing the real King K. Rool looming behind him, who proceeds to send him flying. King K. Rool's tagline, "King K. Rool Comes Aboard!", appears and King K. Rool grins at the Kongs, whose eyes pop out so far they break the glass of the window.
King K. Rool roars and is then seen in actual gameplay. After he uses his Final Smash, it cuts back to a cinematic style as Donkey Kong slides across DK Island before recovering and charging towards King K. Rool alongside Diddy Kong. King K. Rool is then shown to be doing the same. The three leap into the air and their punches meet in a massive explosion, followed by the Ultimate logo. It then cuts back to gameplay showing Donkey Kong and Diddy Kong taunting next to a downed King K. Rool, who rolls away. A giant King K. Rool walks up and stomps on the Kongs, burying them, then taunts. This last scene is a reference to the final boss fight in Donkey Kong Country, where K. Rool feigns his defeat as the Kongs celebrate and fake credits scroll by the screen, only to suddenly spring back into action to attack the Kongs.
Isabelle
At the end of the September Nintendo Direct, a trailer, titled "All In A Day's Work" (NTSC)/"A hard worker's dream" (PAL), was played. Isabelle is shown doing some tidying around the office, when the option to tell her to take a break shows up, but she insists she enjoys working. She wishes "the mayor wasn't so busy with the campsite and Smash", and thinks about becoming the mayor instead, but quickly dismisses the idea. She then gets a letter from Pete, saying how she's wanted in Smash, which then transitions to gameplay of her moveset and the Ultimate logo. The trailer finishes with Isabelle in Onett saying "I hope you'll cheer me on!"
Directly after Isabelle’s trailer was a teaser trailer for the then-unnamed Animal Crossing: New Horizons. At the beginning of that trailer, Tom Nook congratulates Isabelle for joining Smash.
Ken and Incineroar
Ken and Incineroar's trailer, titled "Clash of Flames" (NTSC)/"Fighting Fire with Fire" (PAL), features Little Mac fighting in Boxing Ring against an unseen opponent, who, after hitting Little Mac with a left hook, is revealed to be Ken, which transitions into gameplay of him. In the middle, the background of the Boxing Ring shows a pair of eyes glowing, before returning to Little Mac against Ken. Ken manages to knock Little Mac into the arena's screen, which, despite being damaged, still manages to say "K.O.".
After celebrating, the camera cuts to the background character, who is now running up to the ring to attack Ken. Ken gets out of the way, and then it is revealed that this character is Incineroar. Ken says "So, you want to fight fire with fire, huh?", the two collide and then the trailer transitions into gameplay of Incineroar. After using its Max Malicious Moonsault on Ken, he is sent flying into the screen, which then says KO, and Incineroar does a victory laugh and pose. The trailer ends with King K. Rool, Bowser Jr., and Villager ready to fight, with Incineroar sighing in exasperation.
First Joker trailer
In the middle of The Game Awards 2018, the entire arena blacked out, interrupting the show, and a trailer, titled "Take Your Heart", began to play, starting with a static screen. The screen then turns red, showing the Phantom Thieves of Hearts logo, with Joker saying, "This is Joker. I've infiltrated the theater." While Joker runs across the screen, several off-screen characters comment on the situation. Ryuji Sakamoto asks, "Wait, seriously? He went alone to the Game Awards?" Ann Takamaki further comments, "But...it's so far away! Why is he there...?" Morgana then says, "There's only one thing the Phantom Thieves of Hearts specialize in..." Yusuke Kitagawa then realizes, "He's there to steal a treasure! Have you already sent a calling card?" Morgana responds, "We're not the ones who sent a card this time. In fact, we've been invited. Invited to steal the greatest treasure of all." Joker then grabs a card and tosses it, and it transforms into a Smash Bros. invitation. Ann, in reaction to this reveal, screams, "WHAT?!" Ryuji then asks, "Smash Bros.? Is this for real?!" While smoke-styled art of the Smash characters appear (specifically Mario, Donkey Kong, Samus, Link, Fox, Kirby and Ness), Morgana then comments, "We'll be going up against the best of the best! Can't wait to see our fearless leader show his stuff!" The screen then transitions to black, before light shines on Joker, and he takes off his mask and shouts "Persona!", unleashing Arsene, who says, "I am thou, thou art I. Show the strength of thy will, and rage against all challengers!", before fading away from Arsene's flaming face. The trailer, in text, then announces "Challenger Pack 1: JOKER from Persona 5!", fading to red when "from Persona 5!" appears on-screen. The Ultimate logo then appears in front of the red background, before appearing alongside "× Persona 5", using the Persona 5 logo.
The dialogue for the official reveal of the trailer from Nintendo's YouTube channel changes to remove references to the Game Awards; Joker begins with, "This is Joker. The mission is go.", Ryuji asks, "Wait a sec! You mean...he went alone?", and Ann asks, "What's so important that he'd run off by himself?"; the rest of the dialogue remains unchanged.
Second Joker trailer
In April, a second trailer for Joker, entitled "The Masked Rebel", was uploaded to Nintendo's YouTube channel, itself the beginning of a 15 minute video detailing version 3.0.0 of the game. It begins similarly to the "Take Your Heart" trailer, showing Joker burst in, run off, and grab the Smash invitation, after which he faces the screen and a tagline appears stating "Joker Steals the Show!". The trailer cuts to showing Joker in game, with Morgana stating "Joker! It's the moment you've been waiting for!". The trailer shows Mario, Link, Kirby, Cloud, Ryu, and Sonic, making Futaba Sakura say "So many legendary fighters! Awesome!". As it cuts to various gameplay clips of Joker in combat, Yusuke comments "Uhhh...are you sure he can handle this?", to which Makoto Niijima responds "I mean he's got a knife and a gun...I'm sure he'll be fine.". As Joker is shown in his Shujin Academy uniform in-game, Ryuji remarks "I don't know...they look pretty tough!". As Morgana himself is seen in game, he says "Harness the power of the heart to summon a Persona! Unleash the rebellious spirit growing inside you!", just as Joker is shown building his Rebellion Gauge. Joker then removes his mask and shouts "Persona!", summoning Arsene. As gameplay footage showing Joker's Persona boosted attacks is shown, the characters continue to comment: Yusuke goes "Ah...Arsene!"; Ryuji remarks "Arsene? Can't he use a more powerful Persona?"; Ann says "What are you talking about? Arsene is awesome!"; and Morgana states "It's Joker's main Persona! As long as you hold on to your rebellious spirit, Arsene will give your attacks an extra punch!". Joker then uses Arsene's wings to recover, causing Haru Okumura to say "Wow! He can use wings instead of his grappling hook!". Morgana then mentions "If Joker is attacked while Arsene is around, he can counterattack with Tetrakarn and Makarakarn!" as gameplay footage demonstrates such; Futaba expresses shock, saying "A counter that's also a reflect?! Is that even allowed?!"
The trailer then cuts to show combat on the Mementos stage, to which Makoto asks "This is...Mementos?" and Haru asks "The Palace birthed from the hearts of the masses, right?". Morgana affirms "Yes. And Mementos has a little secret."; after he says this, the other Phantom Thieves bar Futaba and Akechi are shown to appear in the stage's background. Right after Yusuke quips "Isn't its entire existence a secret?", the stage's color is shown to change, verified by Morgana as he remarks "The base color changes depending on the music!". As most of the thieves gasp in awe, Ryuji asks "Seriously? That's awesome!" and Ann goes "I can hardly believe my eyes!". A Smash Ball then appears on the stage, causing Ryuji to exclaim "Now's our chance! Let's help him out!". After Joker grabs it and activates his Final Smash, Morgana yells "Witness the power of the Phantom Thieves!", with them all yelling "GO!" as Joker initiates an All-Out Attack. As Joker's unique victory screen is shown, Morgana says "Smash is looking cool, eh Joker?". The trailer then cuts to the Phantom Thieves logo, before showing the Ultimate logo alongside the Persona 5 logo just as the previous trailer did.
Afterward, Joker is shown "stealing" King K. Rool's crown and Wario's bike.
Hero
The trailer, titled Heroic Encounter, opens with Dharkon commanding puppets of Marth and Meta Knight to battle Link in a dark forest. The Hero from Dragon Quest XI is seen on a white horse, arriving just in time to save Link, who has been cornered by his enemies, leaping off his horse and taking both out with one sword swing in midair and sending both flying away. The Hero lands, with light shining on him, and his tagline, "The Hero Draws Near!", appears. Footage of the Hero in-game is then shown, culminating in him being surrounded by various puppet fighters and launched by a puppet Ganondorf. After he is KO'd, it cuts back to the cinematic animation, showing the Hero slamming into a pillar as various Slimes watch, shocked. As he starts to rise back to his feet, an immense horde of puppet fighters approach, but he is suddenly joined by the heroes from Dragon Quest VIII and IV, as well as Erdrick from Dragon Quest III. The four heroes charge the horde together and the trailer switches back to gameplay, showing each of the other heroes as alternate costumes and ending with their Final Smash, which shows multiple heroes from different Dragon Quest games attacking together. The Super Smash Bros. Ultimate logo then appears, followed by "× Dragon Quest", using the Dragon Quest XI S logo.
Banjo & Kazooie
This trailer, titled Best Friends, opens nearly identically to King K. Rool's, with the same illustrations of various heroes and arch-nemeses/rivals fighting, but ends with Donkey Kong and Diddy Kong facing King K. Rool as well. The TV turns off and then cuts to Donkey Kong and Diddy Kong's treehouse, also like King K. Rool's, but Donkey Kong and Diddy Kong are now joined by a sleeping King K. Rool himself. A Jiggy flies into the treehouse, exciting the two Kongs, and Diddy Kong wakes up King K. Rool before the three jump to the window. The three fight for room to see to the point of breaking the window with their heads. A shadow with wings looms over them, and the three squint their eyes in suspicion. A silhouette resembling Banjo and Kazooie appears, but is revealed to be Duck Hunt in disguise. The dog performs his infamous laugh at the trio, whose jaws drop in response. Banjo & Kazooie then jump down from the sky, knocking Duck Hunt out of the way and posing as their tagline, "Banjo-Kazooie are Raring to Go!", appears, followed by Donkey Kong, Diddy Kong, and King K. Rool enthusiastically cheering for them. They are then shown in-game battling various opponents, then using their Final Smash on King K. Rool, which switches the video back to the cinematic animation, where King K. Rool is seen plummeting off a cliff and being crushed by a rock. Banjo & Kazooie jump off the rock and land with Banjo giving a victory sign as various fighters pose behind them. Golden puzzle pieces fill the screen, leaving only Banjo's face visible briefly before covering it entirely and fading to the Super Smash Bros. Ultimate logo, which is joined by "× Banjo-Kazooie", using the Banjo-Kazooie series' logo. Banjo is then seen stealing pancakes from a sleeping giant Ivysaur, who wakes up and chases him off-screen.
The similarities between this trailer and King K. Rool's, as well as Banjo & Kazooie's general interactions with the three Donkey Kong characters, are references to their shared creator, Rare Ltd.; Rare is also referenced through the duo's tagline. As Banjo's first appearance was in the game Diddy Kong Racing, he even teams up with Diddy Kong in one portion of the trailer. Additionally Duck Hunt disguising themselves as Banjo-Kazooie references the similarities between them.
Terry
This trailer, titled –Breaking News– The Challenger, introduced Terry as a fighter. The trailer starts with a list of Nintendo consoles of many generations, going from Nintendo Switch to Color TV-Game game systems, before going back to Super Nintendo Entertainment System, which was released in 1990. And then the screen turns right and highlights the Neo Geo AES, a game system created by SNK, where it transitions to the Neo Geo AES startup screen. The next cutscene shows a Smash Bros. invitation letter rotating around while messages appear, saying "- 2019 - YOU ARE CORDIALLY INVITED TO SMASH. DON'T BE LATE. [S]". After the message, the cutscene shows right hand of Kyo Kusanagi, the protagonist of The King of Fighters series, trying to grab the invitation letter but fails to do so, trembling in frustration. Ryo Sakazaki, the protagonist of Art of Fighting series, appears and rushes toward the letter but he also fails to grab it, with his hand shaking in frustration. Andy Bogard, Terry Bogard's brother, and Joe Higashi, a companion of Terry and Andy, also rush in to grab the letter; they fail to grab it as well. The cutscene transitions itself on top of the tower, where Geese Howard, the main antagonist of the Fatal Fury series, was standing. As the letter flies by, he smiles, and rushes toward the letter, but, like other fighters, he fails and falls into the bottom of the tower. The cutscene transitions once again, showing Nakoruru from Samurai Shodown and her hawk Mamahaha trying to grab the letter but failing as well. The next cutscene shows Iori Yagami, the rival of Kyo, where he, with his burning hand, tries to grab the letter; it slips through his hand just as he was about to grab it. After failing to grab the letter, Iori laughs maniacally. The unclaimed letter slowly falls onto the ground, only to get picked by a fighter in a silhouette with a star on his back; that fighter, being rendered in 3D, reveals himself as Terry Bogard with a tagline "Terry Faces the Fury!". The trailer ends with Super Smash Bros. Ultimate title logo, with an "× Fatal Fury" appearing next to it.
The beginning of the trailer parodies the opening scene of The King of Fighters '94, where it shows an invitation letter from Rugal Bernstein, a recurring antagonist of The King of Fighters series, (according to the letter "R" on the back of the envelope") and a right hand of Kyo Kusanagi burning the letter after grabbing it. The message accompanying it also appears in the original scene, only slightly altered to fit the atmosphere of Smash Bros., and the scenes in which other SNK characters are featured are also parodied from opening scenes of their respective games.
Other character reveals
Veterans
Uniquely, all of the returning characters in Ultimate were revealed simultaneously in the "Everyone is here!" (PAL)/"Challenger Approaching Intro Video" (NTSC) trailer, as well as the formal reveal of Inkling. Every character is given a number corresponding to their debut in the Super Smash Bros. series. The trailer opens up with a shot of Battlefield before showing fighter number one, Mario, emerging from a Warp Pipe before demonstrating gameplay footage of him, then moving on to Samus; Kirby; Bowser; Link; Donkey Kong; Fox and Falco; Marth; Zelda and Sheik, Villager; Meta Knight and Mewtwo; Sonic; Peach; then Pikachu. The Ice Climbers, who were absent from Super Smash Bros. 4, are shown on Summit; followed by the first in-game footage of Inkling; then Captain Falcon, Zero Suit Samus and Wii Fit Trainer; Charizard, Ivysaur, and Squirtle returning as part of Pokémon Trainer; Ness and Lucas; Ryu and Ganondorf; Ike; then Cloud. Snake appears on Shadow Moses Island and as he stands up, the text "EVERYONE IS HERE!" appears in front of him. The trailer then proceeds to show Jigglypuff and Pichu; Roy; Olimar and Diddy Kong; Lucario; Lucina and Robin; Bayonetta; Mr. Game & Watch and Greninja; Dr. Mario, R.O.B., and Duck Hunt; Pit, Dark Pit, and Palutena; Corrin; Bowser Jr.; Toon Link and Young Link; Rosalina & Luma and King Dedede; the Mii Fighters; Wario and Little Mac; Pac-Man; Shulk; Wolf; and Mega Man. After showing the game's full logo for the first time, revealing its title as Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, the trailer shows Luigi and Yoshi who, despite being two of the Original 12, are notoriously often revealed to be in the game late in development, something that Masahiro Sakurai commented on when revealing Luigi for Super Smash Bros. 4.
Daisy
Daisy wasn't given a specific trailer, but made her debut in Nintendo's E3 2018 presentation, after the "Everyone is here!" trailer. After noting that previous veterans Lucina and Dark Pit were marked with epsilons next to their number (which, unlike the rest of the cast, corresponded to the numbers of Marth and Pit repectively instead of their own debuts), Sakurai announced the Echo Fighter status of the former two, and that they were echo fighters of the latter two. He then promptly confirmed Daisy as another Echo Fighter, this time of Peach.
Chrom and Dark Samus
Chrom and Dark Samus both weren't given a specific trailer, but made their debut in the Super Smash Bros. Ultimate Direct. Following Richter's reveal as an Echo Fighter of Simon, Sakurai revealed Chrom and Dark Samus as two new Echo Fighters. After their short gameplay segments, it was revealed that Chrom and Dark Samus are Echo Fighters of Roy and Samus respectively. Directly after their reveal, it was revealed that players would have the option to either display echo fighters separately or together.
Piranha Plant
The trailer, titled "Piranha Plant Pipes Up!", features Luigi (next to a Green Shell) and a group of Yoshis dizzy. Mario walks across the stage, before a pot appears before him, with a Piranha Plant inside. The Piranha Plant then reveals itself, then dodges Mario's dash attack and executes its forward smash, knocking Mario out. The Piranha Plant taunts, followed by its splash art "Piranha Plant Pipes Up!", then transitions to gameplay showcasing its moveset.
Trivia
- Luigi's appearance in Simon's trailer may be a reference to an easter egg in Castlevania: Lords of Shadow - Mirror of Fate; there is a letter found alongside a corpse which mentions Mario as the writer's brother, Mushrooms and Pipes.
- Luigi also notably uses the design of the Poltergust in Luigi's Mansion 3, which was, at the time, not even announced by Nintendo.
- Ironically, Simon attacks Death with his cross, but his tagline is a pun on the whip, while Richter attacks Dracula's fire with his whip, but his tagline is a pun on the cross.
- If one listens closely in the first Ultimate teaser trailer, a small, faint excerpt from "Lifelight" can be heard.
- In the "Everyone is Here" trailer, the music takes on a slower tone when Zelda and Sheik are introduced. This is also true of Sheik's scene in the Melee opening.
- In the "Clash of Flames" trailer, Little Mac was flung into the giant screen and breaks it. However, when the same thing happens to Ken later, there are no other signs of damage on the screen and no sign of Little Mac either, curiously.
- Isabelle's trailer is the only trailer whose splash art is shown in multiple languages other than Japanese, English, and Korean. This is likely due to her trailer being entirely text-based, thus making it necessary to translate it entirely.
- It's worth noting, however, that the French and Spanish translations of her trailer are exclusive to the European French and Spanish translations of the site; the Canadian and Latin American sites receive the English translation instead.
- Isabelle's trailer is also the only trailer to have a different tagline in Japanese; most characters use "参戦!", but Isabelle's features hiragana writing of the first kanji character ("さん戦!") to form a pun, as she is referred to as しずえさん in Animal Crossing. "さん" is also in a lighter shade of yellow than the regular "参", likely to emphasize the pun.
- Additionally, Isabelle’s trailer is the only character reveal that was paired with the trailer of a separate game.
- Yoshi is the only Original 8 member to not appear in any reveal trailers in CGI portions.
- Richter and Ken are the only new Echo Fighters who were revealed in a CGI trailer.
- Coincidentally, both characters are from third-party franchises.
- Interestingly,Hero'Japanese Reveal Trailer title"伝説の勇者"(The Legendary Hero),was Erdrick'Character titles in Boxing Ring in all version.
- Banjo & Kazooie’s trailer is currently the only character reveal trailer to recycle assets from a previous trailer.
- Terry's trailer is the only one to feature characters from universes which do not have a playable character, as characters from Art of Fighting, The King of Fighters and Samurai Shodown make cameos in the trailer.
- There is an error present in the beginning of the non-Japanese versions of Terry's trailer. When a list of all the Nintendo consoles is shown, the release years of the NES and SNES are those of the Japanese years (1983 and 1990, respectively). However, when the camera zooms in to focus on each Nintendo console, their releases years change to that of the North American release years (1985 and 1991, respectively).
