Universe

A universe (or franchise) is a term used by the Smash Bros. community to collectively refer to all the particular characters, stages, items, music, and other properties appearing in the fighting games that are thematically featured in another game franchise.

Primary Universes

These are the video game series and franchises that the Super Smash Bros. games classify as major enough that they assign each franchise its own unique symbol that appears with characters and stages belonging to that franchise. These franchises generally have characters, stages, items, and other properties that all appear in Smash Bros. games as part of their primary content. However, the minimum requirement for a symbol is to contribute one stage or one character to the games. Universes that only contribute a stage, with the sole exception of Animal Crossing in Brawl, do not get a separate universe listing in the trophies pages and items are not tagged with the symbol. (examples: Golden Hammer is listed as a Mario Item and the Rocket Belt is listed under others.)

The Super Smash Bros. universe: The "default" universe, this represents the Smash Bros. games themselves and accompanies all appearances of characters and stages that are thematically original to the fighting games themselves. Many original characters have been introduced here, but none thus far have been actually playable, with most serving as enemies and bosses in single-player content. The universe symbol seen here is also used as a "placeholder" by the games to indicate a minor universe without its own symbol. In Super Smash Bros. 4, the Super Smash Bros. universe gets its own character representation by the Mii Fighter, but officially, they haven't been in any Smash game before their debut as playable in the Super Smash Bros. universe, not to mention that Miis have appeared in various other games, such as the StreetPass Mii Plaza games, including Find Mii.
Special Stages: The series that represents Battlefield and Final Destination on Melee (although Final Destination uses the Smash Bros. symbol, it is labelled under Special Stages). Not much is known about this universe, except that the Fighting Wire Frames, Master Hand, and Crazy Hand are always fought here (unless one executes the Name entry glitch).
Subspace: A sort of sub-universe of the greater Smash Bros. universe, Subspace encompasses Tabuu and his Subspace Army, as well as the realm of Subspace itself and other original content restricted to the Subspace Emissary.
The Mario universe: Nintendo's flagship video game franchise. The company mascot at the head of this multi-genre series, Mario (the mascot of Nintendo and who appears on all Nintendo systems), is a primary playable character in Smash Bros. games, and has been accompanied by his brother Luigi (both since Smash 64), his alter-ego Dr. Mario (Melee and Smash 4), the Mushroom Kingdom princess Peach (since Melee), the villainous king of the Koopas Bowser (since Melee), his mischievous son Bowser Jr. (Smash 4) (who also has the seven Koopalings join him in the form of alternate costumes), the cosmic guardian Rosalina along with her child Luma (Smash 4), the dinosaur Yoshi (since Smash 64), the gorilla Donkey Kong (since Smash 64), his chimp nephew, Diddy Kong (since Brawl), and the bellicose anti-hero Wario (since Brawl) as playable characters that heavily identify with Mario. The Mario universe is so expansive that Yoshi and Wario have been given their own sub-universes, while Donkey Kong and Mario started off together and therefore are linked in that way, although the former has unofficially become a sub-universe of the latter. Brawl also treats Mario Kart as a partially separate universe, containing two stages and a collection of music tracks, though it still uses the main Mario series symbol.
The Yoshi universe: Referred to as the Yoshi's Island universe by PAL versions of Brawl, the Yoshi universe is based on the more colorful and saccharine subset of Mario video games starring the dinosaur Yoshi, who is the main (and thus far only) playable character of the series in the Smash Bros. games. Several properties seen in Smash Bros. games can be identified as strictly belonging to this universe instead of the Mario universe.
The Donkey Kong universe: A franchise which the Mario series was partially spun-off from. The direction of British company Rareware (now known as Rare Ltd.), focusing on Donkey Kong and his many simian relatives and reptilian nemeses. Donkey Kong himself has been a playable Smash Bros. character throughout the entire series, while his monkey nephew Diddy Kong has been playable since Brawl.
The Wario universe: Referred to in NTSC versions of Brawl as the WarioWare universe, and as the WarioWare, Inc. series by PAL versions, the Wario universe is a sub-series of Mario games whose main character is Mario's ill-mannered and nefarious anti-hero counterpart, Wario. The games in this series are either platforming titles or (more prominently) micro-game collections, and Wario as he appears in both of these two genres of games within his series is the one playable character.
The Wrecking Crew universe: A curious NES puzzle/platform game starring Mario and Luigi as demolition workers, trying to destroy old buildings while avoiding sentient wrenches, Foreman Spike and the infamous Eggplant Man. Previously classified as a Mario game, the sub-series was given its own symbol and stage in Super Smash Bros. for Wii U.
The Legend of Zelda universe: A series of adventure titles portraying several incarnations and continuities of its main characters, primarily the young Hylian hero Link (who is accompanied by Young Link in Melee and Toon Link since Brawl), the eponymous princess Zelda (since Melee), and the dark lord/warlock Ganondorf (since Melee). These four, as well as Zelda's ninja-like alter-ego Sheik (since Melee), are playable characters.
The Metroid universe: A science fiction series in either the side-scrolling platforming or the first-person adventure genres. The series' formerly silent protagonist, female bounty hunter Samus Aran clad in a versatile power suit (as well as without it in an alternative guise named Zero Suit Samus), is the primary playable character. In Brawl, another character from the universe appeared as a boss in the form of Ridley, and later as Meta Ridley. In Smash 4, Ridley appears as a stage boss in the Wii U version.
The Kirby universe: The game franchise headed by Masahiro Sakurai prior to and alongside his directorial involvement in his Smash Bros. series. The titular pink spherical hero Kirby (since Smash 64), his menacing rival Meta Knight (since Brawl), and the greedy King Dedede (since Brawl) have all been featured as playable characters.
The Star Fox universe: A series of space shooting games that got its start as among the first games to popularize 3D polygonal graphics in the Super Nintendo era. All the games' characters are anthropomorphic animals. The de facto leader of the "Star Fox" team Fox McCloud has been available for the entire series. Ace wing man Falco Lombardi was added to the list in Melee and has been in every game since. Wolf O'Donnell, Fox's rival and leader of the mercenary group "Star Wolf", has been playable in Brawl only.
The Pokémon universe: One of video gaming's most lucrative franchises, this multi-genre franchise emphasizes handheld role-playing games that focus on the training and battling of 802 distinctive species of creatures called Pokémon, from which the series derives its name. Playable characters consist of electric mouse mascot Pikachu (since Smash 64) and its younger form Pichu (Melee only), the hypnotic pink puffball Jigglypuff (since Smash 64), psychic feline humanoid Mewtwo (Melee and Smash 4), the jackal-like Lucario (since Brawl), a generic Pokémon Trainer (Brawl only) who commands his three Pokémon (Squirtle, Ivysaur, and Charizard, although Charizard reappears by itself in Smash 4) from the background to do battle in the foreground, and the speedy ninja frog Greninja (Smash 4). It is the most heavily represented universe to date.
The F-Zero universe: A futuristic racing game series featuring anti-gravity racing machines that zoom at extremely fast and intense speeds, with game play emphasizing speed boosts, cornering, and physically ramming each other's machines to lower life meters. The superhero-like bounty hunter Captain Falcon serves as the most recognizable racer and "mascot" of the series and is a playable character throughout the Smash Bros. series.
The EarthBound universe: Also referred to by its Japanese title, the Mother series. A postmodern, satirical, and psychedelic take on role-playing conceived by Shigesato Itoi, with three games in the series. The protagonists of the second and third games, EarthBound's Ness (since Smash 64) and Mother 3's Lucas (since Brawl) respectively, have been playable as characters.
The Ice Climber universe: A classic NES game focusing on a pair of parka-clad mallet-wielding children named Popo and Nana as they infinitely scale platformed mountains to retrieve vegetables from a Condor. The Ice Climbers feature together as one playable character in Melee and Brawl.
The Fire Emblem universe: A long-running series of tactical role-playing games set in sword-and-sorcery medieval fantasy settings and portrayed with numerous anime character designs. Formerly a series released only in Japan, it gained enough popularity in its appearance in Super Smash Bros. Melee that the franchise turned international from then on, and has proven quite popular as such. Main heroes from the various unrelated installments in the series, including Marth (since Melee), Roy (Melee and Smash 4), and Ike (since Brawl) have been featured as playable characters. In Super Smash Bros. 4, Lucina, Robin & Corrin were also added as representatives of this universe. It is the only series with characters that made their debut in a Smash Bros. game (specifically Roy).
The Game & Watch universe: The Smash Bros. games' representation of one of Nintendo's earliest digital products, which is a series of LCD handheld consoles named "Game & Watch". A previously unnamed black-and-white character in several of these games has been featured as a playable character under the name Mr. Game and Watch since Melee.
The Kid Icarus universe: An old classic NES game released alongside the original Metroid. It is the story of a young angel knight named Pit as he battles to save the goddess Palutena from the forces of the evil Medusa, which was revived by Masahiro Sakurai. Pit appears with a major graphical redesign as a playable character in Super Smash Bros. Brawl and Super Smash Bros. 4 and Palutena makes her debut as a playable character in Smash 4. Dark Pit, a major character in Kid Icarus: Uprising, also debuts as a playable character in Smash 4.
The Pikmin universe: A real-time strategy game series that started on the GameCube. The main character, Captain Olimar, and the titular creatures, the Pikmin, cameo as separate, collectible trophies in Melee. The five different Pikmin types, red, blue, yellow, purple, and white, along with Captain Olimar, are combined into a playable character known as Pikmin & Olimar in Super Smash Bros. Brawl and Super Smash Bros. 4. Alph, the protagonist of Pikmin 3, appears as a playable character in Smash 4 as one of Olimar's palette swaps.
The R.O.B. universe: Also known as the Robot universe. Not much is known about this universe, other than the fact that its symbol is a Gyro from Gyromite, and its only contributions are the character R.O.B., R.O.B.-based enemies in the Subspace Emissary, and a piece of music, Gyromite.
The Animal Crossing universe: This is a series of colorful life simulation games where the player's avatar lives in a woodland town featuring anthropomorphic animals as the town's residents and neighbors. It was introduced to the Smash Bros. franchise in Melee, with three trophies — K.K. Slider, Tom Nook, and Mr. Resetti. In Brawl, Animal Crossing was more prominent, with a stage, an item, an assist trophy, and many stickers and trophies that originated in this universe. In Smash 4, it became even more noteworthy, with a Villager added as a playable character, as well as Isabelle tagging along as an Assist Trophy.
The Sonic the Hedgehog universe: A third party franchise, one of SEGA's primary franchises, and a longtime rival franchise to Nintendo's Mario in the years before SEGA became a software developer for Nintendo and other companies. This world with anthropomorphic characters is the setting of many games covering multiple genres. Its eponymous mascot, Sonic the Hedgehog, is a playable character in Brawl and Smash 4 and was highly anticipated.
The Metal Gear universe: A third-party franchise. A series of stealth and espionage shooting games set on a fictional take of real-world Earth in somewhat apocalyptic time periods in the future where nuclear deterrence and various moral issues are dealt with as social commentary by the games themselves. The series' main star, Solid Snake, is a playable character in Brawl.
The Wii Fit universe: Nintendo's recently successful Wii Fit series introduced Wii Fit Trainer as a playable character in Super Smash Bros. 4. The Wii Fit Studio, where Yoga and Strength Training are performed in Wii Fit, appears as a stage in Super Smash Bros. for Wii U.
The Punch-Out!! universe: A series of boxing games, best known for the large cast of colorful (yet stereotypically depicted) characters. The main character of the NES and Wii games, Little Mac, appears in Brawl as an Assist Trophy and as a playable character in Smash 4.
The Xenoblade universe: A JRPG series with a combat system styled after MMOs. Shulk, the protagonist of Xenoblade Chronicles, wields the Monado, a unique sword, in battle against the mysterious "Mechon" enemies. Gaur Plain is a stage in both versions of SSB4.
The Duck Hunt universe: A classic NES title using the Zapper Gun peripheral that has the player shooting ducks. The Duck Hunt dog, with the ducks, appear as a single playable character in Super Smash Bros. 4, as well as a stage also named Duck Hunt. In SSB4, two other games that use the NES Zapper, Hogan's Alley and Wild Gunman, are listed with Duck Hunt as part of the 'Light Gun Series' in the Trophy Box.
The Mega Man universe: Capcom's long-running series is another third-party universe with a playable character, the titular Mega Man. A franchise spanning at least five different series, the main concept for each one being the robotic protagonist fighting colorful enemies and taking their powers. Wily Castle appears as a stage in Super Smash Bros. 4.
The Street Fighter universe: Announced via a leak as the first ever DLC third-party franchise in Smash history via the introduction of the wandering World Warrior called Ryu and an updated version of his stage from Street Fighter II, this long-running fighting game series tells the many tales of these combatants out to prove themselves as the greatest fighter on the planet.
The Pac-Man universe: A third party franchise, Bandai Namco's long running series about a yellow, spherical creature named Pac-Man, and his many adventures in "Pac-World". The eponymous character appears as a playable character in Smash 4, accompanied by characters and elements from other Namco Arcade games.
The Final Fantasy universe: Another new third-party series joining Smash, Square-Enix's long-running RPG franchise tells the stories and legends surrounding a group of heroes who go out on a epic quest to stop supernatural evil forces from taking over their world. Cloud Strife, the main hero of the most popular entry of the franchise, Final Fantasy VII, was announced as a new DLC character along with his stage based on the city of Midgar from the same game.
The Bayonetta universe: The third and final DLC/third-party franchise to join the Smash Bros. multiverse, this series tells a rather dark, twisted and deadly tale about an ancient war between angels and demons in a modern world of fear and deception and the story about an angel hunter who sets off to find her lost memories of her past and rid herself of the war once and for all. The lead titular character, Bayonetta, as well as the opening scene of the original game, Umbra Clock Tower, enters Smash as a new playable character and stage respectively.
The Nintendo DS universe: Super Smash Bros. Brawl and Super Smash Bros. 4 dedicate an official universe symbol to what is merely the Nintendo DS platform itself. No characters appear in the game, and the only things that this universe has are two stages named PictoChat and PictoChat 2.
The Electroplankton universe: Likewise, a stage named Hanenbow is the main and only representation of this "universe" based on the Nintendo DS musical "toy" game, Electroplankton.
The Nintendogs universe: The Living Room stage in Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS serves as the main representation of this universe, consisting of several pet simulation games. The other representation is an Assist Trophy in both this game and Brawl, Nintendog.
The Find Mii universe: A stage, Find Mii, in Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS is the only representation of this universe, which is made up of a two-part game built into the Nintendo 3DS, featuring the player using StreetPass to collect Miis to save the player's Mii from ghosts.
The Balloon Fight universe: A stage titled Balloon Fight in Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS is the main representation of the universe, in which a balloon-propelled man flies through the air and pops the balloons of other enemies, though there were trophies, music, and items in Melee, as well as music and a stage hazard in Brawl prior.
The Tomodachi universe: The Tomodachi Life stage in Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS is the main and only representation of this universe. The universe is made up of simulation games featuring the player's Miis.
The Pilotwings universe: Besides stickers in Brawl, the stage Pilotwings in Super Smash Bros. for Wii U and the Rocket Belt item in both versions are the only known representations of this universe, made up of games allowing the player to fly planes across unique environments.
The Wii Sports universe: A series of sports games released to demonstrate the Wii's motion-sensing capabilities. It received one music track in Brawl before receiving its own stage in Super Smash Bros. for Wii U.
The Miiverse universe: The Wii U's and 3DS's social network. It has one stage in Super Smash Bros. for Wii U.

Secondary universes

These are the various franchises that have not been recognized as primary universes by any Smash Bros. game, and this is indicated by the fact these franchises do not carry their own universe symbols. As a general rule, such universes lack any playable characters or stages in the games, but if any of the following franchises contribute an item, assist trophy, music, or some other minor element to a given Smash game, the game assigns the property and its respective franchise the default Smash Bros. universe symbol. These universes contribute elements to the gameplay itself i.e. assist trophies, enemies, items or attacks.

• Brain Age: Music from this game appears as a My Music option in PictoChat and the host, Dr. Kawashima appears as an Assist Trophy in Smash 4.
• Clu Clu Land: An NES game whose main character, Bubbles, cameos as a collectible trophy in Melee. Additionally, a music track with the same name as the source game appears in the My Music for the stage Summit as well as Unira making an appearance as an item in Brawl and Smash 4.
• Color TV-Game: A series of early "pong consoles" released by Nintendo, making then it's oldest game series, older than Game and Watch. A representation of Color TV-Game 15 appears as an assist trophy in Smash 4.
• Custom Robo: Three robot combatants, Ray MK II, Bayonette, and Annie, cameo as collectible trophies in Melee. Ray MK III also appears as an Assist Trophy in Brawl.
• Devil World: Tamagon, the game's protagonist, appears as a trophy in Melee, though it cannot be obtained unless the game is hacked in the North American version, and it is completely absent from the PAL version. Only in the Japanese version is it fully obtainable. In addition, the Devil from the game is an Assist Trophy in Brawl and Smash 4.
• Dig-Dug: A game series based around defeating underground monsters with an air pump, the common enemy Pooka appears as a Smash Run foe and as a cameo in Pac-Man's taunt.
• Dillon's Rolling Western: A western-style action/tower defense game with two installments (and an upcoming third installment titled Dillon's Dead-Heat Breakers) on the Nintendo 3DS eShop. The main character, Dillon, appears as an Assist Trophy in Smash 4.
• Drill Dozer: Jill, along with her Drill Dozer, appears as one of the Assist Trophies in Brawl.
• Excite: A side-scrolling racing game whose depiction of a motorcyclist racer is a collectible Trophy in Melee and Smash 4 and an Assist Trophy in Brawl.
• Golden Sun: A series of fantasy RPGs for Game Boy Advance, developed by Camelot Software Planning and thematically based on the four classical elements. The first game's silent protagonist, the young Earth-based warrior Isaac, appears as an Assist Trophy in Brawl. In addition, the music track Battle Scene / Final Boss (Golden Sun), based on two battle themes from the second game, Golden Sun: The Lost Age, can be unlocked for the My Music selection for Norfair. An additional music track, Weyard is also unlockable in Smash 4.
• Jam with the Band: A series of music games released only in Japan and Europe. Barbara the Bat, one of the characters in the game, appears as an Assist Trophy in Brawl, where she plays her guitar that sends out damaging shockwaves.
• Kaeru no Tame ni Kane wa Naru (Translated as "For the Frog the Bell Tolls"): An obscure Japan-Only Game Boy release. The unnamed main character, the Sablé Prince, appears as an Assist Trophy in Smash 4.
• Kururin: Helirin (incorrectly spelled "Heririn") cameos as a collectible trophy in Melee. The Helirin also appears as an Assist Trophy in Brawl, where it acts as a rotating platform that characters can stand on.
• Nintendo Wars: Various soldiers and tanks from the series appear as an Assist Trophy in Brawl and Smash 4 where they fire projectiles at foes.
• Panel de Pon: A long running series of puzzle games that only saw western release after rebranding with other Nintendo mascots, such as Yoshi or Pokémon, typically under the name Puzzle League. The Lip's Stick item is a tool from this game. Lip's Theme is a music track on PictoChat that is a reference to this universe.
• Perfect Dark: Sci-fi stealth-based FPS games by former Nintendo developer Rareware (now known simply as "Rare"). The Motion Sensor Bomb and Cloaking Device, featured as items, were listed as based on this series in beta versions of Melee, though they are considered non-universal in later versions.
• Rhythm Heaven: A series of music games from the same team behind the WarioWare series where the player must tap along to the rhythm of a song while quirky situations play. A character from one of the games "Sneaky Spirit" appears as a Smash Run enemy.
• Sheriff: A 1979 arcade game whose main character and enemy sprites cameo together in a collectible trophy for Melee. He also appears as an Assist Trophy in his sprite form in Smash 4.
• SimCity: Dr. Wright cameos as a collectible trophy in Melee. He also appears as an Assist Trophy in Brawl and Smash 4.
• Sin and Punishment: Saki Amamiya appears as an Assist Trophy in Brawl and Smash 4.
• The Legendary Starfy: Starfy appears as an Assist Trophy in Brawl and Smash 4. He uses spinning attacks to damage his foes, but is also one of the few Assist Trophies that can be knocked out of the arena.
• Steel Diver: An item based on one of the playable submarines in the first game, the Blue Shark, appears in Smash 4.
• The Mysterious Murasame Castle: Takamaru appears as a sticker in Brawl and as an Assist Trophy in Smash 4.
• Xevious: Bacuras appear as indestructible foes in Smash Run.

Minor universes

Main articles: List of minor universes, List of Namco universes

Many other series are represented in smaller forms, such as trophies, stickers, music, or Mii Costumes.