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There are several different ways to unlock characters in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate. We cover them all in this comprehensive guide.

How to Unlock All Characters in Smash Bros. Ultimate

There are several different ways to unlock characters in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate. We cover them all in this comprehensive guide.

Unlocking characters in Smash Bros. Ultimate isn’t as complicated as you might think. And that’s good because there are 89 characters in this iteration of Smash Bros., which has a starting roster of 8 OG fighters from the N64 iteration. The only way to unlock the other characters (not counting the DLC characters) is to play through the game. That’s open-ended, but we’ve got a couple of quick methods you can use that can make unlocking all characters easier.

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How to Unlock Characters in Smash Bros. Ultimate

There is one surefire way to unlock characters in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, and that’s through fighting. However, it also depends on where and how you fight. Let us explain.

Unlocking Smash Bros. Ultimate Characters Through World of Light

Take the story mode of Smash Bros. Ultimate, World of Light. This pits you against the various smash characters occasionally with some added gimmicks. If you win the fight, you’ll earn the character, meaning you can play them in World of Light and during regular matches, online or local.

This is a guaranteed way to unlock characters. However, it could be the longest way to do soconsidering you have to play through the campaign of Smash Bros. Ultimate.

Unlocking Smash Bros. Ultimate Characters Through Classic Mode

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As for a faster method of getting new challengers, you can play through a round of classic mode. At the end, you’ll be met with the “A Challenger Approaches” screen featuring the silhouette of an unlockable fighter. Winning this 1v1 earns you the character to use in all modes of the game later.

Unlocking Smash Bros. Ultimate Characters Through Smash Matches

An even faster method, and possibly the most well-known, is regular smash matches. You make a match and go against a CPU opponent — or even your friends — and play a round together.  After the match “A Challenger Approaches,” giving you a chance to fight and earn another character.

The trick with this method is resetting the game by closing the game from the home menu and reopening it before making another round. This ensures you’ll have a new challenger after every round. Be careful, though. As you unlock more and more characters, they have been programmed to get harder to beat. However, if you lose a fight, it’s not over.

What Happens If You Lose a Challenger Fight In Smash Bros. Ultimate?

If you lose a challenger fight in Smash Bros. don’t panic. True, you didn’t unlock the character yet but you can get a rematch with them pretty easily.

Head to the Games and More section on the menu and look at the bottom left corner to see a gold door. Selecting that gives you another chance against fighters you might have lost to. Unfortunately, sometimes the fighters won’t be ready, so you’ll just have to wait until the character is ready to fight again.

Unlocking Mii Fighters and DLC Fighters in Smash Bros. Ultimate

Screenshot by GameSkinny

These are the easier fighters to unlock. As for the Mii fighter, go to the Games and More section, and choose Mii Fighter. Then you can build a fighter of your choice with abilities that only cater to you. After your creation is done, you can take it out in matches.

The DLC fighters, on the other hand, have to be bought. Getting the DLC nets you fighters like Sora, Joker, and Kazuya instantly. This also gives you special stages and music based on the original games the characters are from.

And that’s what you need to know to unlock all characters in Smash Bros. Ultimate. Now get out there and fight!

Featured Image by GameSkinny


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Miguel Burkett
Meh....... (Otaku, nerd, manga loving, player 2, freelancer) Stats: (xx/100) Intel: 90 Char: 68, Will: 95, Str: 93, Dex: 85, End: 95