On-screen appearance
The on-screen appearance, also known as an intro or entrance, is a minor feature in Super Smash Bros., Super Smash Bros. Brawl, and Super Smash Bros. 4. It was not present in Super Smash Bros. Melee. It includes a small animation unique for each character entering the battle field during the announcer's three-second countdown before battle. It has no effect whatsoever on gameplay other than visually dramatic and comedic purposes. The exceptions to this rule are Zero Suit Samus's entrance in Brawl, which allows the players to hit their opponents with the fallen pieces of the power suit; Wario's entrance, which lets Wario charge up his Wario Waft the moment he appears; and Olimar's entrance, which automatically has him pluck three Pikmin. Each entrance usually relates to that character's universe, such as Mario entering in through a warp pipe. The animation will randomly have all characters enter at once, or one at a time with a closeup of each character.
In Super Smash Bros.
| Character name | Description |
|---|---|
| Captain Falcon | Jumps out of his vehicle, the Blue Falcon. |
| Donkey Kong | Breaks out of a DK Barrel. |
| Fox | Ejects out of an Arwing. |
| Jigglypuff | Releases from a Poké Ball. |
| Kirby | Crash-lands a Warp Star into the ground. |
| Link | Descends from a column of light, similar to the end-of-dungeon teleports in Ocarina of Time. |
| Luigi | Jumps out of a Warp Pipe. |
| Mario | Jumps out of a Warp Pipe. |
| Ness | Uses Teleport and crashes onto the stage. |
| Pikachu | Releases from a Poké Ball. |
| Samus | Exits a Super Metroid-style save point. |
| Yoshi | Breaks out of a Yoshi egg. |
Gallery
- Mario Bros. entrances.png
Mario and Luigi
- DK Yoshi entrances.png
Donkey Kong and Yoshi
- Link entrance.png
Link
- Samus Kirby entrances.png
Samus and Kirby
- CF Ness entrances.png
Captain Falcon and Ness
- Fox entrance.png
Fox
- Pokemon entrances.png
Pikachu and Jigglypuff
In Super Smash Bros. Melee
Unique character based entrances were removed in Melee. Instead, all playable characters instead briefly start as trophies that "come to life" at the start of the match, a reference to the game's introduction. Only Master Hand and Crazy Hand have "true" on-screen appearances, where they both gradually enter the stage from the background, laughing.
Sheik has the same onscreen appearance as every other character, but it should be noted that the sound played when Zelda transforms into Sheik is played when Sheik appears.
Giga Bowser, when fought in The Showdown and Adventure Mode, does not have any on-screen appearance of any type; when the countdown starts, he's already standing on the stage, although he does have an introduction clip before being fought in Adventure Mode, which consists of Giant Bowser's trophy being flung back onto the stage, transforming into Giga Bowser. Taking advantage of hacks, Giga Bowser may be fought in Vs. Mode. He then appears as a trophy when the "Must be ON" code from Action Replay is not turned on. When this happens, he will be in a T-pose upon trophy appearance. This freezes on stages that are not part of the Smash universe. The CPU players, including allies, in Event matches are already in the fight when the countdown starts. In Event 50: Final Destination Match, the hands' "true" appearances don't occur; they are already in the fight.
In Super Smash Bros. Brawl
The on-screen appearances in Brawl appear in VS matches only. The single player modes instead use Melee's quicker appearance method, the characters are simply already present when the match/mode starts, or have characters spontaneously spawn out of nowhere during the match.
| Character name | Description |
|---|---|
| Bowser | Emerges from a wall of flames. |
| Captain Falcon | The Blue Falcon spins to a stop, Captain Falcon jumps out, and then Blue Falcon speeds off. |
| Diddy Kong | Breaks out of a DK Barrel and claps his hands. |
| Donkey Kong | Breaks out of a DK Barrel, grunts and makes a strongman pose. |
| Falco | Ejects from an upside-down Arwing, much like the way he appears in the Subspace Emissary. |
| Fox | Ejects from an Arwing. |
| Ganondorf | Emerges from a portal of dark magic. |
| Ice Climbers | The condor flies in with them hanging from his feet, then they jump off. |
| Ike | Warps onto the stage using warp magic and then slashes his sword. The warp magic resembles that used by the Black Knight in Fire Emblem: Path of Radiance. |
| Jigglypuff | Releases from a Poké Ball, then does a short, bouncy dance. |
| King Dedede | Is carried in on a palanquin by four Waddle Dees, then jumps off, scattering them. |
| Kirby | Crash-lands a Warp Star to the ground. |
| Link | Appears in a whirlwind and unsheathes his sword. A whirlwind was used to teleport among dungeons in The Legend of Zelda. Also, a whirlwind was used to teleport Link in games where he makes use of his ocarina, particularly through the Song of Soaring. |
| Lucario | Teleports on stage, floats for a second, gathers aura in his hands then lands. This is unusual, because all other Pokémon come in on Poké Balls. |
| Lucas | Rides in on a Mr. Saturn-style coffee table, then hops off. The table is based on the one that Lucas rides to Saturn Valley in Mother 3. |
| Luigi | Jumps out of a Warp Pipe shaking in fear, saying "Let's-a go." in an uneasy voice. His pose is similar to Luigi's face on the cover of Luigi's Mansion. |
| Mario | Jumps out of a Warp Pipe punching his right fist in the air while shouting "Let's-a go!". |
| Marth | Warps onto the stage using warp magic with a twirl and unsheathes his sword. |
| Meta Knight | Teleports in wrapped in his cape. This is similar in appearance to his up taunt. |
| Mr. Game & Watch | Moves along a row of Game and Watch LCD frames until he reaches the foreground. |
| Ness | Arrives having used Teleport, then shakes off the soot he gathered after crashing. |
| Olimar | Olimar exits the Hocotate Ship and plucks three Pikmin from the ground. |
| Pikachu | Releases from a Poké Ball and emits sparks from its cheeks. |
| Pit | Appears onstage from a beam of light from the heavens while looking upwards. |
| Peach | Appears spinning out of a shower of hearts, then winks and poses with her parasol saying "Hi!". |
| Pokémon Trainer | Throws out his first Pokémon, yelling "Go Squirtle!", "Go Ivysaur!", or "Go Charizard!" |
| R.O.B. | Assembles piece by piece as his parts drop from the sky. This may be a reference to his appearance in Kirby's Dream Land 3. |
| Samus | Arrives from a Super Metroid-style save point, though the design is somewhat altered. |
| Sheik | Appears in magical sparks. |
| Snake | Appears kneeling with lighting and sparks around him. He also appears to be turning visible. This is a reference to the opening scene in Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty when Snake is using stealth camouflage and he does a free-fall jump onto a ship. The impact from the landing causes the stealth camouflage to malfunction. Snake also sometimes says, "Kept you waiting, huh?" which is what Snake said to Otacon after the free-fall jump. |
| Sonic | Jumps onto the stage (in ball form) from the foreground and gives the thumbs-up. |
| Toon Link | Appears in a cel-shaded, The Wind Waker-style explosion, then unsheathes his sword. |
| Wario | Rides in from the foreground on his bike, then falls off. The bike then explodes and Wario dusts himself off. |
| Wolf | Ejects from a Wolfen. |
| Yoshi | Breaks out of a Yoshi egg. Even if a Yoshi is selected with a color other than green, he will still break out of a white egg with green spots. |
| Zelda | Teleports in using Farore's Wind with Din's Fire in her hand. |
| Zero Suit Samus | Stands up from a kneeling position as her Power Suit falls off. Power Suit Pieces are scattered around Samus, which the player can then throw at their opponents. |
Gallery
- Bowser On-Screen Appearance Brawl.gif
Bowser
- Captain Falcon On-Screen Appearance Brawl .gif
Captain Falcon
- Diddy Kong On-Screen Appearance Brawl.gif
Diddy Kong
- Donkey Kong On-Screen Appearance Brawl.gif
Donkey Kong
- Fox On-Screen Appearance.gif
Fox
- Falco On-Screen Appearance.gif
Falco
- Ganondorf On-Screen Appearance Brawl.gif
Ganondorf
- Ice Climbers On-Screen Appearance Brawl.gif
Ice Climbers
- Ike On-Screen Appearance Brawl.gif
Ike
- Jigglypuff On-Screen Appearance Brawl.gif
Jigglypuff
- King Dedede On-Screen Appearance.gif
King Dedede
- Kirby On-Screen Appearance Brawl.gif
Kirby
- Link On-Screen Appearance Brawl.gif
Link
- Lucario On-Screen Appearance Brawl.gif
Lucario
- Lucas On-Screen Appearance Brawl.gif
Lucas
- Luigi On-Screen Appearance Brawl.gif
Luigi
- Mario On-Screen Appearance Brawl.gif
Mario
- Marth On-Screen Appearance Brawl.gif
Marth
- Meta Knight On-Screen Appearance Brawl.gif
Meta Knight
- Mr. Game & Watch On-Screen Appearance Brawl.gif
Mr. Game & Watch
- Ness On-Screen Appearance Brawl.gif
Ness
- Olimar On-Screen Appearance Brawl.gif
Olimar
- Pikachu On-Screen Appearance.gif
Pikachu
- Pit On-Screen Appearance Brawl.gif
Pit
- Peach On-Screen Appearance Brawl.gif
Peach
- Squirtle On-Screen Appearance Brawl.gif
Squirtle
- Ivysaur On-Screen Appearance Brawl.gif
Ivysaur
- Charizard On-Screen Appearance Brawl.gif
Charizard
- R.O.B. On-Screen Appearance Brawl.gif
R.O.B.
- Samus On-Screen Appearance Brawl.gif
Samus
- Sheik On-Screen Appearance Brawl.gif
Sheik
- Snake On-Screen Appearance Brawl.gif
Snake
- Sonic On-Screen Appearance Brawl.gif
Sonic
- Toon Link On-Screen Appearance Brawl.gif
Toon Link
- Wario On-Screen Appearance Brawl.gif
Wario
- Wolf On-Screen Appearance Brawl.gif
Wolf
- Yoshi On-Screen Appearance Brawl.gif
Yoshi
- Zeldaentrance.gif
Zelda
- Zero Suit Samus On-Screen Appearance Brawl.gif
Zero Suit Samus
