Main

A player's main character (often shortened to "main") is the character he or she uses the most often in tournaments. For instance, Isai Alvarado's main is Captain Falcon. "Main" also can be used as a verb (mains, mained/maint, mained/maint, maining): Ken Hoang mains Marth and Fox. This contrasts with a secondary character, used situationally or just for fun. Typically, the top players' main characters are near the top of the tier list, as it is difficult to reach the top levels of play without one of these characters. Fox, Falco, Sheik, Marth and Peach are the most common mains of the players in the Smash Panel Power Rankings.

It is possible for a player to use more than one main character, though very few outside the top pros are able to achieve the same level of play with multiple characters.