Honestly, looking at the character select screen in this game is enough to give anyone a minor panic attack. It’s huge. It's too big, really. When Masahiro Sakurai stood on stage years ago and promised "Everyone is Here," we all thought it was a cool marketing slogan for a greatest hits collection. We didn't realize he was actually going to lose sleep for three years making sure even the most obscure characters like Pichu and Young Link made the cut.
But if you try to count the super smash bros ultimate full roster by hand, you’re probably going to get the number wrong.
Is it 74? 82? 89? Depending on who you ask at a local tournament, you’ll get a different answer. Let’s actually break down why the math is so weird and what the final state of this "monstrous" game looks like now that the dust has finally settled.
The Magic Number: 89, 82, or 92?
Here is the deal. If you look at the official numbering system in the game, the last character, Sora, is labeled as #82. Easy, right? Case closed.
Not really.
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Nintendo has a very specific way of counting that ignores "Echo Fighters." These are the characters that are basically clones with slight tweaks—think Daisy, Dark Samus, or Ken. If you add those seven Echoes back into the mix, your total jumps to 89.
But wait. If you’re a competitive player, you know that Pokémon Trainer isn't just one guy. It’s Squirtle, Ivysaur, and Charizard. They have completely different movesets, weights, and frame data. If you count them as three distinct fighters, and then you look at Pyra and Mythra as two separate entities (which they are), you’re suddenly looking at a total of 92 unique ways to play the game.
It’s an absurd amount of content. Sakurai himself has recently said in his YouTube series that he doesn't see how the franchise can ever get bigger than this. He basically called it a "one-time thing."
Why the Full Roster is a Licensing Nightmare
We sort of take it for granted now, but the super smash bros ultimate full roster is a miracle of corporate law.
Think about the companies involved here. You’ve got Nintendo, obviously. But then you’ve got Sega (Sonic, Bayonetta), Capcom (Mega Man, Ryu, Ken), Konami (Snake, Simon, Richter), Square Enix (Cloud, Sephiroth, Hero), Disney (Sora), Microsoft (Banjo-Kazooie, Steve), Bandai Namco (Pac-Man, Kazuya), and SNK (Terry).
Getting Sora into the game was the "impossible" task. Fans spent years assuming Disney would never play ball. It took a chance encounter at an award show between a Nintendo executive and a Disney rep to even start the conversation. Without that lucky break, the roster would feel incomplete. It’s the kind of thing that makes you realize how fragile this whole project was.
The DLC Impact
The game didn't start this big. When it launched, you only had the "Original 8" from the N64 era. You had to earn everyone else. Then came the two Fighters Passes.
- Fighters Pass 1: Joker, Hero, Banjo & Kazooie, Terry, and Byleth.
- Fighters Pass 2: Min Min, Steve, Sephiroth, Pyra/Mythra, Kazuya, and Sora.
- The Oddball: Piranha Plant (who was a standalone bonus).
Steve from Minecraft is arguably the most controversial addition in the history of the series. Even in 2026, tournament organizers are still debating whether or not to ban him because his block-building mechanic breaks the fundamental "physics" of Smash. He’s the only character who can literally rewrite the stage layout mid-match.
Competitive Reality: Who Actually Wins?
You’d think with 89+ characters, the game would be a balancing mess. And yeah, it kind of is, but it’s surprisingly playable.
The 2025 LumiRank—which is basically the "gold standard" for pro rankings—put Steve, Sonic, and Snake in the S+ tier. It’s a bit of a grim meta if you hate campy playstyles. Sonic is notorious for timed-out matches, and Steve is just... well, he’s Steve.
But the beauty of the super smash bros ultimate full roster is the "A-Tier" viability. You can realistically win a major tournament with Mario, Cloud, or even Palutena. Even "bad" characters like King K. Rool or Bowser have enough "cheese" potential to upset a top pro if they aren't careful. The only ones who are truly struggling at the bottom of the barrel are Ganondorf and Little Mac. Poor Ganon hasn't been truly viable since... maybe never? His recovery is just too exploitable for high-level play.
What Most People Get Wrong About "Everyone is Here"
The biggest misconception is that "everyone" means every single character that has ever existed in a Nintendo game. It doesn't. It specifically meant that every fighter who had appeared in previous Smash games was coming back.
This was a huge deal because licensing issues usually mean someone gets cut. In Brawl, we lost Roy and Mewtwo. In Smash 4, we lost Snake and Wolf. To have Snake, Cloud, and Ice Climbers all in the same game is something we probably won't see again.
If Nintendo makes a "Smash 6" for their next console, expect a massive "Thanos snap." Sakurai has been very transparent about the fact that the next game will likely have a significantly smaller roster. They’ll probably focus on "rebooting" the movesets of the original cast instead of just adding more bodies to the pile.
Actionable Insights for Roster Completion
If you're just starting out or haven't finished your collection, here is how you actually handle this beast:
- Don't Buy Individual DLC: If you're going to get the extra fighters, buy the "Fighters Pass" bundles. It saves you a significant amount of money compared to buying Joker or Sephiroth one by one.
- The "Classic Mode" Shortcut: If you want to unlock the base 74 characters fast, don't just play Versus matches. Each character you finish "Classic Mode" with triggers a specific unlock path. For example, clearing it with Mario will eventually lead you to Sonic and Bayonetta.
- World of Light: If you want the "true" 100% experience, you have to play the story mode. It’s a grind, but it’s the only way to unlock certain spirits that make the late-game challenges manageable.
- Amiibo Training: If you’re struggling against the CPU, don't forget you can train Amiibo. They actually "learn" from your playstyle and can become much harder to beat than the standard Level 9 AI.
The super smash bros ultimate full roster represents a peak in gaming history that likely won't be summited again. It’s a museum of digital icons. Whether you're a Steve main or a die-hard Ganondorf loyalist, the sheer scale of the character select screen is a testament to what happens when a developer refuses to say "no."