Super Smash Bros. Ultimate: The Worst Characters

Nintendo lovers are all about the Super Smash Bros. series. The famous Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, the latest release in the series, invites players back to fight with new characters and levels while still staying true to the game. This fighting game is a crossover that allows players to brawl with their favorite Nintendo characters.

They can unlock new characters and use new powers while either playing alone or with friends. It’s a blast overall. There are a lot of characters in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate. However, there are some fighters that pale in comparison to others.

Updated September 26, by Gerardo Molina: When Nintendo designs its characters for this game, it’s unlikely that they plan on making some of them weak, clunky, or bad. In many cases, it’s time and players’ skills that raise some characters from the roster to crown them as the best, while classifying others in the bottom tier. While it would be unfair to say that certain characters are bad all-around, it’s undeniable that a few of them perform worse than others when faced with most obstacles, either due to their size, speed, or even reach.

Sure, with enough practice, arguably any character from the roster can be turned into a killing machine, but there’s a lot of grinding involved. More often than not, it’s just easier to pick a character that feels good to play with from the beginning.

22 Jigglypuff

Lightweight And Thus Easier To K.O.

• Originally appeared in Pokemon Red and Blue
• Major Weaknesses: Easy to K.O., poor ground performance

While Jigglypuff is very cute, it’s also quite lightweight, and it doesn’t have the best defense, which makes it very prone to not only being knocked around rather easily, but also K.O.’d faster than others in the game’s roster. When playing against more experienced players who know how to pressure their opponents and give them no breathing room, Jigglypuff represents a considerable disadvantage.

One of the few positive things that can be said about this character is that it has outstanding air mobility, allowing players to recover and return to the fighting arena without requiring advanced skills.

21 Ridley

Too Large And Slow

Advertisement

• Originally Appeared In EarthBound
• Major Weaknesses: Inferior to his counterpart, Lucas

One of the main disadvantages Ridley has is its size. With such gargantuan proportions, this character has a larger-than-normal hitbox, which makes it easier for other players to land hits. While Ridley’s weight class is quite solid and can’t get knocked around too much, it’s still vulnerable to quick combos. Ridley also has one of the most predictable recovery moves and, unlike Jigglypuff and other lighter characters, he has a harder time returning to the battle arena.

All in all, while Ridley’s bulky physique grants him more survivability in terms of not getting knocked around with every hit, his massive size makes him an easy target.

20 Byleth

Not Even Close To Being One Of The Best Swordfighters In The Game

• Originally Appeared In Fire Emblem: Three Houses
• Major Weaknesses: Boring and uninspired moveset

It might be easy to add Byleth to a list of the worst Smash characters given how many players hated their announcement as a playable character in Ultimate. The game is already plagued with swordfighters, and adding another one to the mix didn’t exactly seem like the smartest move around.

It didn’t help that Byleth’s moveset is both painfully unmemorable and quite ineffective as well. There are way better swordfighters that players can opt for in the game instead, making Byleth a somewhat pointless addition to the Smash meta.

19 Sora

Too Floaty And Sometimes Hard To Control Because Of This

Advertisement

• Originally Appeared In Kingdom Hearts
• Major Weaknesses: Floaty movement, isn’t really all that strong in any department

Kingdom Hearts getting its representation in Super Smash Bros. was definitely a big moment for both series. However, there’s no denying that Sora himself is a pretty average character who doesn’t really excel at anything.

It doesn’t help that controlling him isn’t that great since the character feels pretty floaty in combat as well. All of this combines to make for a boring character who is frustrating to both control and fight against.

18 Pyra/Mythra

Bad Recovery Moves

• Originally Appeared In Xenoblade Chronicles 2
• Major Weaknesses: Abysmal recovery that overshadows all her good qualities

Xenoblade Chronicles is the flagship JRPG franchise on Nintendo consoles that has churned out hit after hit. The second game in the series had more of a mixed reception but still features some memorable characters, including the character of Mythra and her alternate personality, Pyra.

While these characters aren’t the worst to control, their recovery is downright abysmal. A single well-placed hit that sends this character flying will definitely lead to an inexperienced player losing a valuable life.

17 Ness

It’s Always Better To Choose Lucas

Advertisement

• Originally Appeared In EarthBound
• Major Weaknesses: Inferior to his counterpart, Lucas

Lucas and Ness might seem like echo fighters, but this couldn’t be further from the truth. Sure, their moves might have the same names, but there are more than enough changes between both characters and how their moves work.

In general, Lucas is considered to be the stronger zoner and the better option to take of the two. As a result, Ness ends up being largely unpicked in most battles despite being pretty fast.

16 Min Min

Terrible At Close-range After Being Nerfed

• Originally Appeared In ARMS
• Major Weaknesses: Has become a poor close-range fighter after being nerfed

There was a time when Min Min was one of the most feared characters to battle against in Smash. However, a bunch of nerfs have been rolled out since then that have reduced Min Min’s effectiveness as a fighter.

As a result, Min Min has now become a pretty unremarkable character who is nowhere near as good in close-quarters combat as she used to be. As a result, she has become a largely forgotten fighter in the massive roster of Super Smash Bros. Ultimate.

15 King K. Rool

Telegraphed Attacks And Slow Speed Overall

• Originally Appeared In Donkey Kong Country
• Major Weaknesses: Large size, slow attack/charge speed, telegraphed attacks

King K. Rool made waves when he was first announced back in 2018 alongside several other characters (partly because of Donkey Kong and Diddy Kong’s eyes in the trailer). However, when players aren’t able to string together his powerful moves, he can be easily overwhelmed by some of the other worst Super Smash Bros. Ultimate characters coming up.

King K. Rool’s main weakness is his size and speed. His most powerful attacks take a long time to charge up, and most of his other attacks are very well-telegraphed so opponents know exactly what’s coming. Add that to his large model size and slow movement speed and it becomes unlikely that this canonical version of King K. Rool would stand a chance against D.K.

14 The Three Mii Variants

A Fun Addition To The Game, But Underwhelming Compared To Other Characters

• Originally Appeared In Super Smash Bros 4
• Major Weaknesses: Unoriginality, lack of power compared to stronger counterparts

The Mii fighters of Ultimate are neat because they let players battle it out as whichever Miis they have saved to their Switch, including customized Miis resembling characters from franchises not yet fully represented in the series like Skyrim‘s Dragonborn or Undertale‘s Sans.

The main flaw of the Mii Swordfighter, Brawler, and Gunner is their lack of originality and their lack of power compared to normal characters. They all take inspiration from other Ultimate characters in some way, and aside from the custom look of each Mii, there’s not much going for these characters that their inspirations don’t do better.

13 Banjo and Kazooie

Large Hitbox Makes It Easy To Hit Them

• Originally Appeared In Banjo-Kazooie
• Major Weaknesses: Heavy character, low range, awful air recovery

Banjo and Kazooie were one of the most surprising announcements for characters added to Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, and fans of the series hoped that the seminal gaming icons would be well represented in the game. Unfortunately, they ended up being pretty sub-par.

They have a larger hitbox than many characters in the game, making them an easy target. Additionally, some of Banjo and Kazooie’s moves are hard to use effectively, such as their air recovery. They aren’t first picked by most professional players, but players who have dedicated themselves to the duo have proven they aren’t as bad as some make them out to be.

12 Diddy Kong

Not As Powerful As He Was Once

Advertisement

• Originally Appeared In Donkey Kong Country
• Major Weaknesses: Lack of power, Ultimate-specific nerfs

Diddy Kong has been in the Super Smash Bros. series since Super Smash Bros. Brawl with very few changes to his overall move set. What Diddy Kong lacks in power he makes up for in speed, but it’s just not enough to make D.K.’s smaller partner a viable pick.

In Ultimate specifically, Diddy Kong received several major nerfs both to his overall speed, range, and ability to finish off opponents. His move set is certainly unlike any other in the game, but Diddy just isn’t as powerful as he was in previous iterations of the series and is considered by many to be the worst Smash Bros character because of it.

11 Pac-Man

Terrible Grab And Poor Side Smash Attacks

• Originally Appeared In Pac-Man
• Major Weaknesses: Lengthy combos, slow smashes, worst grab in the game

Pac-Man is a pretty terrible character in terms of meta-rankings, but many players agree that despite this he’s one of the most fun characters to play. His grab is awful, his side smash attacks are unbearably slow, his Fruit attacks are easily repelled, and he’s dependent on complicated combo setups to be effective – despite being a classic, many pros consider him to be the worst Smash Bros. Ultimate character.

Like King K. Rool and Diddy Kong, though, Pac-Man’s unique move set makes him fun for casual play. That’s not to say that especially good players can’t make Pac-Man work in tournaments, though. Sometimes, getting extremely good with a typically terrible character is the best way to counter a pro who’s gotten too used to the meta.

10 Isabelle

Cute, But Not At All Powerful

Advertisement

• Originally Appeared In Animal Crossing
• Major Weaknesses: Worse than the comparable Animal Crossing villager, lack of power overall

Animal Crossing might be a great series, but expecting one of its characters to make waves in Smash as a powerful fighter is just wishful thinking. This is why Isabelle suffers as a character.

The fact that she’s considered to be even worse than Villager — another character from Animal Crossing who isn’t really a fan favorite either — is why she’s considered by some to be the worst character in Smash. Any player who doesn’t want to deal with embarrassing losses should steer far away from this character.

9 Robin

Unimpressive Moveset And Weaker Overall Than Other Fire Emblem Characters

• Originally Appeared In Fire Emblem: Awakening
• Major Weaknesses: Uninspired move set, weakness compared to other Fire Emblem characters

There are simply too many swordfighters in Smash — a complaint that many fans echo. As a result, there are bound to be some major duds that most fans avoid.

Robin is one such character that suffers as a result of an unimpressive moveset, coupled with the fact that other Fire Emblem characters are simply more enjoyable to play as. No Smash player worth their salt would make the mistake of selecting this character for a fight.

8 Ganondorf

Slow And Predictable Attacks

Advertisement

• Originally Appeared In The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time (Ganon was in the original Legend of Zelda)
• Major Weaknesses: Slow and easily avoided attacks compared to Captain Falcon, who has almost the same moveset

Ganondorf is a great villain. Nobody can prove otherwise. Despite this, he is not the best character to use in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate. He appears as his Ocarina Of Time version, and he’s arguably one of the weakest out of all of them.

Ganondorf usually attacks with his sword but he does not have a large variety of moves which makes him vulnerable. His sword is also not that effective against many more powerful opponents, making him one of the worst Super Smash Bros. characters across his many appearances.

7 Donkey Kong

His Attacks Leave Him Open To Being Hit Repeatedly

• Originally Appeared In Donkey Kong
• Major Weaknesses: Size, attacks that leave D.K. open, and long charge-up time for many smashes

It’s unfortunate that a promising heavyweight like Donkey Kong ended up being one of the worst Smash characters. His power might be serviceable, but the compromises made on safety make him a rather annoying character to play as.

Players who decided to choose this character need to get used to activating their special attacks wisely. Failing to do so leaves Donkey Kong open to getting smashed very easily, which is extremely frustrating.

6 Little Mac

Bad Air Recovery And Imprecise Movements

• Originally Appeared In Punch-Out!
• Major Weaknesses: Extremely imprecise movements, terrible air recovery, reliance on ground-based fighting

Mike Tyson might want to make a new Punchout!! game but it’s no secret that Little Mac is one of the worst characters in Smash. He may be one of the greatest boxers in all of gaming, but he’s considered by most players to be the overall worst Smash Bros. Ultimate character.

Little Mac is able to hold his own on the ground because that’s pretty much all he can do. Regardless, other characters simply have more moves and cause much more damage. Little Mac is fun to play with on a chill day of Super Smash Bros Ultimate. However, if players really want to get down and dirty they should not fight with him, ever.

5 Incineroar

Good Throws, But Slow Movement And Bad Recovery

• Originally Appeared In Pokemon Sun and Moon versions
• Major Weaknesses: Slow movement speed, bad air recovery, but good throws

What happens when one of the characters fans were most excited about turns out to be pretty disappointing on the battlefield? Other than disappointment, players may have had to play as Incineroar.

The wrestling Pokemon may pack a hype Alonal Whip with some other powerful throws but what player can land them with that atrocious run speed? His massive sides will leave players getting juggled for days before his abysmal recovery lands them in the blast zone.

4 Dr. Mario

Few Combos And Many Are Underwhelming

• Originally Appeared In Dr. Mario
• Major Weaknesses: Bad recovery, lack of combos, worse than vanilla Mario

Dr. Mario may have made his return to the gaming world but his appearance in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate leaves a lot to be desired. Mario is a fan favorite no matter what. Once a favorite and even tournament-viable character in Super Smash Bros. Melee, Dr. Mario has fallen down to the point of being unviable in competitive play.

Players will be frustrated with his poor recovery, finding themselves falling into the blast zones more often than making it back to the stage. Like doing combos? Dr. Mario will more likely be the victim in the next epic combo video than performing any himself. All of this complied with his slow speeds make him a frustrating character to use.

3 Ice Climbers

Nerfed Beyond Recognition Over The Years

• Originally Appeared In Ice Climber
• Major Weaknesses: Not very effective as a duo team, Ultimate-specific nerfs compared to previous entries

Oddly enough, there was a downgrade for the Ice Climbers between Super Smash Bros. Brawl and Ultimate. Unfortunately, this means that they are not great characters to fight with anymore. In Super Smash Bros Ultimate, they cannot work together as effectively.

For example, if one of them is attacking an opponent, the other one cannot do anything anymore. There might as well just be one of them to fight with at this point. The Ice Climbers also provide barely any damage as a team, making many consider them to be bad choices in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate specifically.