Unlocking the Secret Characters in Super Smash Brothers Brawl
Full Roster of Playable SSBB Characters
There are 14 hidden characters in Nintendo’s manic, yet amazing fighter, Super Smash Brothers Brawl. After unlocking them all, you can choose between 35 different characters (37 if you count Zero Suit Samus and Sheik). You already know the 21 default characters, but what about the rest? There are multiple ways to unlock the 14 hidden brawlers, and this guide shows how to unlock them all. You still have to unlock them, but you get some choices. Of course, it would be nice if all of the characters were playable right out of the box. But what do I know? I’m just an old guy that doesn’t want to grind stuff out.
Unlocking Captain Falcon
Captain Falcon, the hero of the F-Zero games, is back for the fight once more. Although he is not a surprising addition to the roster, since he was in the last two games. At least you know he wasn’t cut. He can be unlocked in the following ways:
1. Beat Classic mode 12 minutes or less, and defeat him after you’ve seen the “Challenger Approaching” scene.
2. Complete 70 Brawls.
3. Play through the Subspace Emissary until you meet the good Captain in the story.
Unlocking Falco
Ace pilot Falco Lombardi from the famous Starfox team makes a second appearance in Super Smash Brother Brawl. Similar to Fox, Falco is a well-rounded character. Unlock him in the following ways:
1. Complete a 100-Man Brawl.
2. Complete 50 Brawls.
3. Play through the Subspace Emissary until you meet Falco with Fox and Diddy Kong.
Unlocking Ganondorf
The evil Ganondorf returns in Super Smash Brothers Brawl. He boasts tremendous power, but his speed is sluggish, as it was in Super Smash Brothers Melee. Unlock Ganondorf in the following ways:
1. Clear Classic mode on the Hard setting with either Link or Zelda.
2. Complete 200 Brawls.
3. Play through the Subspace Emissary, Ganondorf will join you eventually.
Unlocking Jigglypuff
Jigglypuff makes her third appearance in Super Smash Brothers Brawl, a welcome return, being one of the original characters from the first game. Jigglypuff has some useful escape moves, is quick on her feet, but does not have as much raw power as a larger character. Unlock Jigglypuff in the following ways:
1. Complete the Subspace Emissary and then win events 1-20.
2. Complete 350 Brawls.
3. Fight Jigglypuff in the swamp stage in the Subspace Emissary after completing it.
Unlocking Lucario
Lucario makes his first appearance in the Super Smash Brothers series. He boast power, maneuverability, and range. This guy even has a bunch of counter moves to boot. You can’t go too wrong with Lucario. Unlock him in following ways:
1. Complete all 5 Target Tests with any character.
2. Complete 100 Brawls.
3. Play through the Subspace Emissary, Lucario will join.
Unlocking Ness
Good old Ness of Earthbound fame rejoins the cast in Super Smash Bros. Brawl. Ness is a lot of fun to play, if you can ever get over his wonky recovery move. You can unlock him rather quickly in any of the following ways:
1. Reflect 10 projectiles and then beat Ness when he challenges you.
2. Play through the Subspace Emissary, and Ness will join you.
3. Complete 5 brawls and then beat Ness when he challenges you.
Unlocking Marth
Ahh, Marth. Rather than offend anyone, I think I will just cut straight to the chase on Marth. Of course, I play Meta Knight, so I guess I don’t have much room to complain. Unlock King Marth in any of the following ways:
1. Complete 10 brawls and then defeat Marth when he challenges you.
2. Play through the Subspace Emissary, and Marth will eventually join you.
3. Complete Classic Mode on any difficulty, and then defeat Marth when he challenges you to a fight.
Unlocking Snake
What’s not to love about Solid Snake? The Metal Gear hero makes his debut in the Smash series in brawl. Boasting land mines, grenades, and a rocket launcher, you can be sure that Snake is the character to choose if you love setting up your opponents. Be warned, though, Snake is going to take some practice. Just because he can hide in a box, doesn’t mean you’ll be able to own with him right out of the box. Unlock him in any of the following ways:
1. Complete 15 brawls on the “Shadow Moses Island” stage and then defeat Snake when he challenges you to a fight.
2 . Play through the Subspace Emissary until Snake joins your party.
3. Complete 130 brawls and then defeat Snake when he approaches you for a challenge.
Unlocking ROB the Robot
ROB is a pretty cool edition to the Brawl series. He is the old Robot that came with the Deluxe NES set way back in the day. You used him to play Stack Up and Gyromite. I never had a chance to actually use an original ROB, although I did own a few non-operational ones. Unlock ROB in Brawl by doing any of the following:
1. Complete 160 brawls and then defeat ROB when he challenges you to a fight.
2. Play through the Subspace Emissary until ROB joins your party.
3. Collect 250 different trophies (Ah, they do have a purpose!) and then defeat ROB when he challenges you to a fight.
Unlocking Luigi
You didn’t think they’d banish Luigi to the land of lost characters did you? Your favorite skinny plumber is back in Brawl to do what he does best: Wear pink jumpsuits. Unlock him in any of the following ways:
1. Complete 22 brawls and then defeat Luigi when he challenges you.
2. Play through the Subspace Emissary until Luigi joins you.
3. Beat Classic Mode without continuing and the defeat Luigi when he challenges you.
Unlocking Sonic the Hedgehog
Poor Sega. Their systems were always ahead of the curve but usually to their own detriment. Now their hallmark character is reduced to scraping out a living by street-fighting Nintendo characters. Talk about a cruel twist of fate. Torture Sonic by unlocking him in any of the following ways:
1. Beat the Subspace Emissary
2. Complete 300 brawls and defeat Sonic when he challenges you.
3. Play over 10 hours in “Vs.” mode.
4. Clear “Classic” mode on any difficulty with 10 characters and beat Sonic when challenged.
Unlocking Mr. Game and Watch
Mr. Game and Watch return in Brawl, and this time he’s playable! He’s better than playable. He’s actually pretty good, and he retained his random 1 to 9 forward B move, so you can still wreak some havoc with him in a group match. Unlock Mr. Game and Watch as follows:
1. Complete 250 brawls and then defeat Mr. Game and Watch when he challenges you to a fights.
2. Play through the Subspace Emissary until Mr. Game and Watch joins you.
3. Beat classic mode with every character (ouch!).
4. Clear “Target Smash” mode with 30 different characters and defeat Mr. Game and Watch when he challenges you to a brawl.
Unlocking Wolf
Wolf is another Star Fox character who wanted some fighting game action. Wolf is fast and packs a punch. Careful with him over the edge, though. He drops like a rock and doesn’t have a lot of distance on his recovery moves. Unlock him in any of the following ways:
1. Complete 450 brawls and then defeat Wolf when challenged.
2. Complete the Subspace Emissary. Once completed, play as Fox on stage 14 “The Ruins.” During the second part of the level, when a flat platform is lowering you into a pit, skip the first door (it’s okay if you fall) and enter the second door at the bottom of the pit.
3. There is also another method that involves the beating “Bosh Rush Mode,” but I don’t understand it well enough to write about it. If anyone can explain it clearly in comments, I will add it here.
Unlocking Toon Link
Toon Link was not the best little character in Melee, but in Brawl he got some buffs. Check him out by doing any of the following:
1. Complete 400 Brawls and then defeat Toon Link when he challenges you.
2.Complete the Subspace Emissary and then beat “Classic” mode with Zelda or Link. Defeat Toon Link when he challenges you.
3. Complete the Subspace Emissary, and then replay stage 9, the forest. After the first mini battle, a new door will appear. Enter it, and defeat Toon Link to add him to your roster.
Resources and References
All screenshots captured by Michael Elkins
How To Unlock All 16 Super Smash Bros. Brawl Secret Characters Guide: Video Game Blogger: https://www.videogamesblogger.com/2008/03/12/how-to-unlock-all-16-super-smash-bros-brawl-secret-characters-guide.htm
