TheSuper Smash Bros.series has amassed a gigantic roster from its inception in 1999 up to the present day. However, as it’s a fighting game made to celebrate a massive range of video games, some characters will find themselves with abilities they didn’t have in their original games.
Sometimes it may be a conditional oversight. Other times, characters get abilities that were present in their series, but they themselves didn’t have. Finally, the games might simply include more moves to make the character a viable fighter. InSmash,all these characters have different moves than they do in their own games.
5Robin (Fire Emblem Awakening)
Smash Debut: Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS and Wii U
The avatar ofFire Emblem Awakening, Robin, is an interesting case. Unlike mostFire Emblemcharacters inSmash, their moves tend to revolve around the variety of weapons they can wield, rather than a singular, specialized, legendary weapon (likely owing to their lack of one.)
However, there is one caveat. InFire Emblem Awakening,there is no class Robin can play that will allow them simultaneous use of their Levin Sword, and the life-draining dark magic tome, Nosferatu. Robin’s starting class is Tactician, and their garb seems to be based around it as well. In this class, Robin can use most tomes (such as Arcfire, Elwind, and Thoron) and swords, but not dark magic tomes. Robin is capable of re-classing, and becoming a dark mage who can use all kinds of magic, but at the cost of the Tactician’s swords.
Ultimately, everySmashmove is one that appears inAwakening, but they cannot be used all at once likeSmashpresents. However, if amale Robin marriesAversa, they have a daughter, Morgan, who can use all of Robin’s moves at once. This is thanks to Aversa’s inherited “Shadowgift” skill, which allows every magic class to use dark magic, including Tacticians.
4Ness (Earthbound)
Smash Debut: Super Smash Bros.
One of the four first-ever unlockable characters in theSuper Smash Bros.series, Ness is one of a handful of heroes from theinfluential cult classicEarthbound. In his original game, his companions are Paula, Jeff, and Poo. Ness and the majority of his companions have PSI powers. However, most of Ness’s PSI powers throughout theSmashseries are nothisown in the original game.
In the originalSuper Smash Bros., Ness uses PK Fire, PK Thunder, and PSI Magnet. All of these moves are actually learned by Paula and/or Poo inEarthbound. InMelee, Ness gained PK Flash, a PSI attack he actually uses inEarthbound. Ness’s final smash, PK Starstorm, also comes from elsewhere, as it was Poo’s in the original game. These discrepancies are explained by references in variousSmashgames that mention the other characters teaching Ness their moves. Perhaps as a nod to his continual usage of their moves, inUltimate, both Paula and Poo appear alongside Ness to perform the PK Starstorm.
3Byleth (Fire Emblem: Three Houses)
Smash Debut: Super Smash Bros. Ultimate Fighters Pass Vol. 1
Fire Emblem: Three Housesis one of the few games represented in theSmashseries to debut afterUltimate’s release.Three Houseshas a branching narrative, where Byleth becomes a teacher at a monastery, assigned to one of three student houses. Each house is led by a member of royalty; Edelgard, Claude, and Dimitri.
As the game progresses, Byleth comes into conflict with members of the other houses, due to a mixture of historical grudges and differing ideologies. Simply put, it is impossible that all three students will accompany Byleth at once. This is worth noting, as inUltimate, Byleth makes simultaneous use of the students' three designated Heroes' Relics, alongside their own Sword of the Creator.
In theFire Emblemgame, each relicrequires a specific crestto utilize effectively. In subsequent playthroughs ofThree Housesandits spinoff,Three Hopes, Byleth can gain artificial crests through dragon signs. However, it is canonically impossible for Byleth to simultaneously use all of their students' relics in the manner advertised inUltimate.
2Lucas (Mother 3)
Smash Debut: Super Smash Bros. Brawl
The protagonist ofEarthbound’sJapan-only sequel,Mother 3, Lucas is also a child gifted with PSI powers. However, like Ness, Lucas uses a lot of moves that were learned by other characters in the original series. Most of these moves are modified versions of the same ones Ness uses, except for PK Freeze (save forSSB4, where it can be one of Ness’s custom moves.) However, Lucas does not learn PK Freeze inMother 3.His companion, Kumatora does, along with all the other PSI moves he uses in theSmash Bros.series.
Ironically, Lucas learns the move PK Flash in his original game but has never been able to use it in theSmashseries. InUltimate, Kumatora and Boney (Lucas’s pet dog with no PSI powers) join him for his own variation of the PK Starstorm. Kumatora is also said to have taught Lucas how to use this move.
1Captain Falcon (F-Zero)
Captain Falcon is an iconic character in theSmash Bros. series, and is, like Ness, one of twelve to be present in every installment. His iconic Falcon Punch has become something of an internet meme and cemented his status as a popular character in theSmashmythos.
The only problem? His game of origin,F-Zero, is a racing game, where he does not use his Falcon Punch, Falcon Kick, or any of his other special moves. Even more baffling, his moveset is largely cloned for Ganondorf inMelee. The primary difference between the pair’s move sets is that Ganondorf’s emphasizes power and sacrifices speed and agility. In a roundabout way, this does make sense for both of their games. As a racer at heart, Captain Falcon would emphasize speed, andas the wielder of the Triforce of Power, Ganondorf’semphasis on the attribute makes sense. Captain Falcon finally gained a move relating to his own series inBrawl.In his Final Smash, he uses his vehicle fromF-Zero, the Blue Falcon, to ram his opponents off a raceway.
