SSBU Character Unlock Order: How to Actually Get the Full Roster Without Losing Your Mind

You just popped the cartridge in. Or maybe you finally hit "download" on the eShop after years of holding out. You’re staring at the starting screen of Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, ready to wreak havoc with Cloud or Joker or maybe even a weird plant in a pipe. Then it hits you. The roster is tiny. You’ve got eight characters. That’s it. Just the original N64 crew looking back at you, leaving over 60 empty slots mocking your existence.

Honestly, it’s a grind. But there is a specific ssbu character unlock order that the game follows, and if you don't understand how the internal timers work, you're going to be playing for forty hours just to get Ganondorf.

Most people think it’s random. It isn't. Nintendo actually baked a very specific "encounter" list into the code. Whether you’re playing Versus matches, Classic Mode, or World of Light, the game is checking a list. If you want everyone, you have to play the game’s way, or you have to learn how to cheese the system.

The Internal List You’re Not Supposed to See

The game operates on a queue. Think of it like a line at a club. Ness is at the front, and Palutena is way in the back. When you trigger a "New Challenger" notification, the game looks at who you've already unlocked and gives you the next available person on the master list.

Here is the secret: it doesn't matter who you play as in regular Versus mode. The order stays the same.

1. Ness
2. Zelda
3. Bowser
4. Pit
5. Inkling
6. Villager
7. Marth
8. Young Link
9. Wii Fit Trainer
10. Ice Climbers

And it keeps going. If you just play 10-minute matches with your friends, this is exactly how they’ll show up. You’ll see King K. Rool at 16, Ryu at 32, and poor Isabelle doesn’t show her face until number 41. If you're looking for a specific "main," you might be waiting a while. For example, if you're a Wolf fan, he's sitting at 51. You basically have to beat most of the game's roster just to see him.

The Classic Mode Shortcut

Now, here is where it gets interesting. The ssbu character unlock order changes completely if you step out of the Versus menu and into Classic Mode. This is the "pro tip" most people miss.

Classic Mode uses "branches." Every time you finish a run with a specific character, you trigger a specific unlock path. If you beat Classic Mode with Mario, you will always trigger Sonic first. Then, if you beat it again (as Mario or Sonic), you'll get Bayonetta.

This is huge. If you know who you want, you can target them.

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Let's say you want Pikachu’s tree. Finishing Classic Mode with Pikachu leads to:

• Villager
• Shulk
• R.O.B.
• Mega Man
• Sonic (if not already unlocked)
• Isabelle

It’s a different logic. It's faster for some, slower for others. If you’re a Kirby main, your path leads you straight to the heavy hitters like King Dedede and Ness. If you’re playing as Link, you’re on the path to getting the other Legend of Zelda characters like Breath of the Wild’s version of Zelda and Great Sea Link.

Resetting the Ten Minute Timer

Nintendo didn't want you to get everyone in an hour. They put a "cool down" on the unlocks. Usually, after you fight a new challenger, the game puts a 10-minute lock on the next one. You have to actually play the game—moving around, jumping, attacking—to build up "input distance" before the next one triggers.

But gamers are impatient. We found a way around it.

Back when the game launched, the "Language Swap" trick was king. You’d trigger an unlock, win the fight, then go into the settings and change the game language from English to French. This forced the game to reload its entire cache, resetting the internal timer. You could get a new character every two minutes.

Does it still work? Sort of. Patch updates have made it finicky. The most reliable way now is simply closing the software. Trigger a fight, win, then immediately hit the Home button on your Switch, X to close the game, and restart. The game "forgets" it just gave you a character and checks your distance stats again. If you’ve been playing for a while, you likely have enough "stored" distance to trigger five or six unlocks in a row using the restart method.

What Happens When You Lose?

It’s going to happen. You’re tired, you’re playing at 2 AM, and suddenly a Level 9 CPU Joker destroys you. You didn't unlock him. Now what?

He doesn't go back to the end of the line. He goes to the Challenger's Approach.

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Look in the "Games & More" section of the main menu. Occasionally, a little glowing door icon will appear in the bottom right corner. That’s your second chance. There is no timer here, but the door disappears if you lose again, requiring you to play more matches to bring it back.

A lot of people freak out thinking they missed their chance forever. You didn't. They’re just waiting in the hallway.

World of Light: The Long Way Around

Then there’s the "Adventure Mode." World of Light is a massive, sprawling RPG. If you unlock a character here, they become available on your main roster immediately.

But it's slow.

You start with Kirby. You have to navigate a massive map, fight "Spirits," and find the physical trophies of the fighters. Some characters, like Simon Belmont or Richter, are tucked away in specific dungeons (like Dracula’s Castle) that take hours to reach.

If you want the ssbu character unlock order to feel natural and like a real journey, play World of Light. If you just want to play with your buddies on Friday night, stay far away from it. It's a time sink. It’s a fun time sink, but it’s a time sink nonetheless.

Does DLC Change Anything?

Nope. If you bought the Fighters Passes, those characters (Piranha Plant, Steve, Sephiroth, etc.) are just... there. They don't participate in the unlock "queue." They’re the VIPs who get to skip the line.

The moment you buy them and the game updates, they’ll be sitting at the bottom of your character select screen. It’s a bit anticlimactic, honestly. There’s something rewarding about seeing that "Challenger Approaching" screen that you just don't get with DLC.

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Managing the Grind: Real Insights

If you’re trying to do this efficiently, don't just spam 1-stock matches against a Level 1 CPU. The game tracks movement. If you just stand there, the timer won't always reset properly.

Run around. Jump. Use your specials.

The most efficient "speedrun" for the roster looks like this:

• Play a 20-minute session of Versus to build up "input distance."
• Trigger the first unlock (Ness).
• Win.
• Close the game immediately.
• Reopen.
• Play one more quick 1-stock match.
• The next character (Zelda) should appear.
• Repeat.

If they stop appearing, it means you've exhausted your "distance" and need to actually play the game for 10-15 minutes to "refill the tank."

The Nuance of Difficulty

Here is something people rarely talk about: the unlock fights get harder.

The first few characters like Ness or Zelda are basically punching bags. By the time you get to the 50s and 60s—characters like Palutena or Wolf—the CPU is actually trying to win. They use combos. They edge-guard.

If you’re struggling, pick a character with a "cheese" move. Bowser’s side-special (the Flying Slam) is great for taking CPUs off the stage if you have a stock lead. Kirby’s "suck and jump off the cliff" trick still works on about half the roster. Don't feel bad about playing dirty. The game is trying to gatekeep your favorite characters; gatekeep its win rate right back.

Your Practical Next Steps

Now that you know how the system actually functions, here is how you should spend your next hour in Smash:

• Check the Door: Go to "Games & More" right now. If that glowing door icon is there, clear out your "lost" challengers first.
• Target Your Main: Look up which Classic Mode "tree" your favorite character belongs to. If you want Cloud, you need to start playing through the Link branch.
• Reset the Loop: Start a Versus match, trigger an unlock, and try the "Close Software" trick to see if you can bypass the 10-minute wait.
• Check Your Distance: If unlocks stop happening, jump into a 10-minute infinite time match and just run back and forth. It sounds stupid, but it builds the internal "distance" metric the game requires to trigger the next encounter.

The roster is huge, and the climb is steep, but once that "Every Fighter has been Unlocked!" screen hits, it’s all worth it. Or, you know, you can just keep playing Kirby. He’s pretty good too.