Super Smash Bros. Ultimate

Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, abbreviated as SSBU and titled Great Fray Smash Bros. Special in Japan, is a crossover platform fighting game developed by Bandai Namco Studios & Sora Ltd., and published by Nintendo for the Nintendo Switch. It is the sixth overall entry in Nintendo's ''[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Super_Smash_Bros. Super Smash Bros.] series following the dual-release of Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS / Wii U'' (2014). As with previous entries, the gameplay entails selecting a fighter from a roster comprising various characters from both Nintendo and third-party properties, and battling opponents with attacks of varying attributes, in an attempt to knock said opponents off of an arena. The game features a roster of 89 total playable characters, including every single prior fighter from past Super Smash Bros. games, in addition to 11 newcomers in the starting roster, and 12 additional characters released as paid downloadable content (DLC). The game released worldwide on December 7, 2018.

Characters
Joker: Just ahead of the game's launch, Nintendo announced during The Game Awards 2018 that the protagonist of Persona 5 would be making an appearance as a playable fighter under his "Joker" codename, and would be headlining the first of five paid downloadable content (DLC) "Challenger Packs" to release as part of the Fighters Pass. Joker's Challenger Pack released in April 2019. Joker's appearance in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate is an abridged take on his depiction in the source game, as his primary attacks tend to emphasize his athleticism and physical traits as a Phantom Thief, as well as weapons such as his Gun (neutral special) and knife (basic jab, up-tilt, aerial attacks). His specials are otherwise loosely derived from in-game mechanics, such as being able to cast Eiha naturally in his side-special, using a Grappling Hook in his up-special as both a means to pull enemies towards him, as well as a tether recovery should he get knocked off-stage. His down-special, "Rebel's Guard," is a wholly original defensive move based on the act of Persona summoning, where his damage accumulated during battle will fill a gauge displayed above his damage percentage. When full, he will immediately summon his main Persona, Arsène and receive upgraded versions of his special attacks, including "Gun" being upgraded to "Gun Special" and allowing multiple bullets to be fired at once, Eiha being replaced with its stronger counterpart Eigaon, and his recovery special becoming "Wings of Rebellion," which uses Arsène's wings to propel Joker upwards while sporting invincibility frames. His Final Smash, "All-out Attack," is directly lifted from Persona 5 and sees him call upon other members of the Phantom Thieves of Hearts to finish his opponents with a coordinated strike. His victory screen is based on the After Battle results sequence following Shadow encounters in Persona 5, and his taunts include cameo appearances from Morgana, a major party member and supporting character in the original game. His alternate costumes largely re-color his Phantom Thief jacket, deriving from the color schemes of Megami Ibunroku Persona, Persona 2: Innocent Sin / Eternal Punishment, Persona 3 and Persona 4, as well the Crow outfit worn by Goro Akechi. His Player 7 and Player 8 alternates however, are instead inspired by his regular and summer uniforms he wears while attending Shujin Academy as a student.

Stages
Mementos: As part of Joker's Challenger Pack, a stage based on the Mementos dungeon was also added as a playable arena. The default stage consists of a larger central platform and two, smaller pass-through platforms hovering on each side. A third platform with a television screen display can also appear on occasion. Additional background elements include scenery based on the Mementos map in Persona 5, and a color motif based on the game's overall visual style. On occasion, various stage hazards can appear to be taken advantage of by the fighters, including emerging walls for containing the fight, and the sudden passing of the underground Shibuya subway car that can damage players significantly if they come into contact with it. The stage also features cameo appearances from other supporting characters in Persona 5, including every permanent member of the Phantom Thieves of Hearts spectating the fight after being dropped off by the Morgana Car. If the player controlling Joker scores a stock during the fight, they will also respond with encouragement. In addition to the standard design of Mementos, its visual appearance can be altered to reflect Persona 3 or Persona 4 depending on if a music track from those respective games is set to accompany the match. The Persona 3 variant of Mementos alters the background to a predominantly blue color scheme and features a Full Moon overlooking the city landscape, while the design of the main platform features a set of Dark Hour clocks on its underside, and the television display platform plays excerpts of Persona 3 Portable 's opening movie. The Persona 4 variant of Mementos adorns the main platform with rainbow trail designs and places flowers across the ground, while the television screen platform displays the loading screen graphic of Teddie appearing on a TV set from Persona 4 Golden. Additionally, Joker's victory screen will also be changed to reflect which version of Mementos is staging the match upon its conclusion, and will replace the victory theme with the corresponding one from Persona 3 or Persona 4 depending on the outcome.

Music

 * "Beneath the Mask" (remix) - A rearrangement of the track used when returning to Café Leblanc in the evening or exploring Tokyo at night. This remix was arranged by the music trio ACE, with original vocalist Lyn Inaizumi providing a redone performance of the song.
 * "Wake Up, Get Up, Get Out There" (original) - The track used in Persona 5 's opening movie.
 * "Last Surprise" (original) - The main battle track in Persona 5 and the non-Ambush encounter track in Persona 5 Royal.
 * "Rivers in the Desert" (original) - The track accompanying the boss fights against Masayoshi Shido's shadow, the Holy Grail, and the Velvet Room attendants Caroline & Justine.
 * "Our Beginning" (original) - The track accompanying the boss fight against Demiurge, which serves as the final boss in Persona 5 and the penultimate boss of Persona 5 Royal.

Fighter Spirits

 * Joker (Phantom Thief)
 * Joker (Student)

Primary Spirits

 * Morgana
 * Ryuji Sakamoto
 * Ann Takamaki
 * Yusuke Kitagawa
 * Haru Okumura

Support Spirits

 * Phantom Thieves of Hearts
 * Igor
 * Caroline & Justine
 * Makoto Niijima
 * Futaba Sakura
 * Goro Akechi

Mii Fighter Costumes

 * Morgana Hat - Custom equippable headgear deriving from the visual appearance of Morgana, using his head & eye shape as well as his cat ears as reference.

Music

 * "I'll Face Myself" (remix) - A rearrangement of the boss track used in Persona 4. This version of the track is particularly an amalgam of the -battle- version's instrumentation, the melody of the -acceptance- version, and music excerpts from the track "Never More," whose motifs can be heard at various points in the original game. This remix was supervised by Yusuke Yamauchi.
 * "Reach Out To The Truth" (original) - The standard battle track in Persona 4, and the track that plays when achieving a Player Advantage at the start of an encounter in Persona 4 Golden.
 * "Time To Make History" (original) - The primary battle track in Persona 4 Golden.
 * "Victory!" (Persona 4) - If Joker wins a standard match in any of the Smash modes while on Mementos' Persona 4 counterpart, the resulting victory track will be the after-battle results music that plays in said game.

Mii Fighter Costumes

 * Persona 4 Protagonist Outfit - A custom Mii Swordfighter set based on the appearance of the main playable protagonist of Persona 4. This outfit set comes with the character's Yasogami High Uniform, a Persona 4 Protagonist Wig that resembles Yu's hair, and a sword based on Yu's starting katana.
 * Teddie Hat - Custom equippable headgear based on the appearance of Teddie in Persona 4. Its design is based off of the head portion of the Teddie Costume.

Other cameos

 * Teddie also makes a small cameo in the Persona 4 variant of the Mementos stage, on the right platform. He is depicted inside of a TV; which is based on the loading screens for that Persona 4.
 * Yosuke has been mentioned in the description of the Teddie Hat on the News menu.

Music

 * "Mass Destruction" (original) - The main battle track of "The Journey" story arc in Persona 3 and Persona 3 FES, as well as the the male protagonist's route in Persona 3 Portable. Notably, this version of the track is slightly censored to remove instances of the word "damn" being uttered by Lotus Juice, in accordance with the Entertainment Software Ratings Board (ESRB) guidelines.
 * "Battle Hymn of the Soul" (original) - The track that plays during the final confrontation with Nyx Avatar in Persona 3, serving as the final boss of "The Journey." It was originally titled "Battle for Everyone's Souls" on the Persona 3 Original Soundtrack.
 * "Victory!" (Persona 3) - If Joker wins a standard match in any of the Smash modes while on Mementos' Persona 3 counterpart, the resulting victory track will be the after-battle results music that plays in said game.

Mii Fighter Costumes

 * Persona 3 Protagonist Outfit - A custom Mii Swordfighter set based on the apperance of the male protagonist of Persona 3. This outfit set comes with the character's Gekkoukan High Uniform and SEES Armband, a Persona 3 Protagonist Wig that resembles' the main character's hair, and a custom sword based on a one-handed katana the protagonist can wield in the original game. Notably, this outfit set is the same regardless of the Mii Fighter's gender, and there is no equivalent set to match the female protagonist from Persona 3 Portable.

Music

 * "Aria of the Soul" (remix) - A rearrangement of the recurring Velvet Room theme featured across the series, that debuted in the original Megami Ibonroku Persona. This version of the track is considerably more upbeat and sports an instrumentation style reminiscent of the "acid jazz" influence in Persona 5 's original soundtrack. This arrangement was supervised by Mitsuhiro Kitadani.

Spirits

 * Tsubasa Oribe - The deuteragonist of the original game. Her Spirit can also be enhanced into her Carnage form.

Spirits

 * Sophia - A major party member and supporting character in the original game. She was initially released as an unlockable bonus Spirit that could only be obtained by linking Persona 5 Strikers to a Nintendo Switch console with Super Smash Bros. Ultimate save data, but was later made available as a standalone Spirit in the game's Shop.

Trivia

 * According to Super Smash Bros. Ultimate director Masahiro Sakurai, Nintendo personally asked him to prepare a reveal trailer for Joker's inclusion in time for the Game Awards. An animated cinematic trailer was produced as a result of the character not being in a playable state at that point to create a gameplay-focused trailer like the other Ultimate newcomers. This makes Joker the first fighter in series history to have more than one trailer associated with their appearance in the roster.
 * The trailer's execution of the reveal was then written around the fact that it would be screened first at the Game Awards, with Sakurai conceptualizing the premise of Joker "infiltrating" the show to steal its Treasure, in this case an invitation to Super Smash Bros.
 * The trailer's use of the instrumental version of "Life Will Change" can thereby be interpreted as a reference to its use in Persona 5 and most of Persona 5 Royal, as the song associated with infiltrating a Palace the day after a Calling Card is sent to its Ruler.
 * As the trailer was first screened at The Game Awards for international audiences, Joker is also one of two Super Smash Bros. characters to be revealed at an event or presentation not hosted or produced by Nintendo (Sephiroth from Final Fantasy VII was later revealed as a DLC fighter for Ultimate at The Game Awards in 2020), as well as the only character with a reveal trailer that first premiered with English audio,
 * Sakurai would additionally surmise that scheduling with Xander Mobus, who voices Joker in English in addition to reprising the Announcer, Master Hand and Crazy Hand in Ultimate, proved to be difficult, but that the atmosphere at the recording studio was otherwise "pretty cheerful."
 * The animation for Joker's reveal trailer was produced by studio Domerica, which co-produced the animated cutscenes in Persona 5, Persona 5 Royal and Persona 5 Strikers. The trailer's aesthetic additionally derives from the monochromatic style of Persona 5 's opening movie.
 * While Joker's Grappling Hook could be an allusion to its appearance in the System sub-menu of the original Persona 5, this game marks the first time Joker uses it during gameplay, as it predates its reveal as a major gameplay mechanic in Persona 5 Royal.
 * Joker's Classic Mode Route, titled "Shadows," references elements from the Persona series:
 * In general, opponents Joker has defeated later becomes his ally in the next round. This references Joker's method of obtaining Personas in his original game.
 * The first round has him fighting against a horde of Mr. Game & Watches. They reference the Shadows in general
 * The second round has him fighting against a Giant Kirby in his dark costume on the Kalos Pokémon League. The stage references the Velvet Room with the Aria of the Soul remix theme accompanying it. Kirby is a reference to Black Frost.
 * The third round has him fighting against Samus and Dark Samus in the P3 variant of Mementos with Mass Destruction playing. Both Samuses are a reference to Aigis and Metis. The Blue Kirby appearing as Joker's ally is a reference to Jack Frost.
 * The fourth round has him fighting against Meta Knight on the P5 variant of Mementos in Battlefield Form with Beneath The Mask remix playing. Meta Knight is a reference to the masked Shadows
 * The fifth round has him fighting against Link, Young Link, and Toon Link all in their dark costumes, in the P4 variant of Mementos with Reach Out to the Truth playing. Meta Knight is a reference to the Shadow Selves and Izanagi.
 * The sixth round has him fighting against Incineroar on the Omega form of the P5 variant of Mementos, with Rivers in the Desert playing. Incineroar is a reference to the final form of Shadow Shido.
 * The final round has him facing off against Master Hand (with Crazy Hand if Joker reaches 7.0 or higher) on the omega form of the P5 variant of Mementos, with Our Beginning playing. The battle itself is a reference to the final boss of Persona 5, Yaldabaoth. Master Hand and Crazy Hand share the same voice actor as Joker (Xander Mobus).
 * Taking into consideration Atlus being owned by parent company Sega, Joker is by technicality the third official representative from the publisher in the Super Smash Bros. series, following the inclusion of Sonic the Hedgehog in Super Smash Bros. Brawl, and Bayonetta being featured as a DLC character in Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS / Wii U.
 * Despite this, Atlus is listed as a seperate company in the copyright holders list on the game's title screen, official website and promotional material.
 * Joker is the fourth playable fighter in the Super Smash Bros. series to appear in games that are rated M for Mature by the Entertainment Software Ratings Board (ESRB). He shares this distinction with Solid Snake, Bayonetta and Simon Belmont.
 * Joker is the fourth playable fighter in the series who canonically comes from a real-world location (Japan). He shares this distinction with Solid Snake, Little Mac, Ryu, Ken Masters, Terry Bogard and Kazuya Mishima.
 * Prior to Joker's appearance in Smash, his English voice actor, Xander Mobus appeared as the Announcer and voiced both Master Hand & Crazy Hand in Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS / Wii U and Super Smash Bros. Ultimate.
 * Additionally, his Japanese voice actor, Jun Fukuyama, provided the voice of the character Roy from the Fire Emblem series, reprising his role from Super Smash Bros. Melee and Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS / Wii U.
 * Super Smash Bros. series director Masahiro Sakurai is a self-proclaimed fan of the Persona series, and actually played through Persona 5 in its entirety while developing Super Smash Bros. Ultimate throughout 2016.
 * Sakurai would later state in an interview that he had managed to max out almost every Confidant route in the game by the end of his playthrough, but missed the window to complete the route for Yusuke Kitagawa.
 * Sakurai would later write an editorial for the Japanese magazine Famitsu in November 2016, where he praised Persona 5 for its character art, game mechanics, music, Persona designs, story and dialogue. He would single out particular acclaim for its Graphical User Interface (GUI) design, calling the aesthetic of the menus, "magnificent."
 * Masahiro Sakurai would later reveal in a seperate column that he was inspired by Persona 5 's menu design and art direction when creating the user interface for Super Smash Bros. Ultimate.
 * Joker's animation for using Eiha involves him snapping his fingers to summon the spell. Th is detail could be a potential reference to Joker snapping his fingers whenever using a consumable Item in Persona 5 and Persona 5 Royal.
 * Joker pointing his Gun towards his opponent when using an Assist Trophy is a reference to his animation when initiating a Hold Up in the aforementioned games.
 * While Joker's up-special "Wings of Rebellion" is completely unique to the character as he appears in Smash, the move's name derives from a phrase used when initiating a new Confidant route in Persona 5 / Royal.
 * Additionally, the visual of Arsène's wings allowing Joker to fly could be derived from a s imilar animation seen in Persona 5 's opening movie.
 * The animation for Joker's down-special Rebel's Guard depicts him holding his mask over his face while being surrounded by pr otective blue flames. This is a visual callback to the animation that plays when Joker or a party member use a Persona's Skill during battle in Persona 5 / Royal.
 * In Masahiro Sakurai's final column for the Japanese publication Famitsu, he stated that Jo ker required double the work of most Super Smash Bros. Ultimate fighters due to Arsène having its own unique animations when fighting alongside Joker. For this reason, Sakurai conceptualized these animations with a pair of posable wooden figures.
 * Sakurai has used the process of posing figures to visualize character movesets prior to de velopment since Super Smash Bros. Brawl.


 * Excluding Kasumi Yoshizawa, Sophia and Zenkichi Hasegawa due to Joker's DLC pack predating the releases of Persona 5 Royal and Persona 5 Strikers, Goro Akechi is the only technical member of the Phantom Thieves of Hearts at that time to not feature as a background character on the Mementos stage, possibly alluding to his status as a temporary member of the group due to his role in the game's story.
 * Sophia from P5S is also the only permanent Phantom Thief to have a character Spirit but lack a physical appearance in any capacity otherwise.
 * Joker's inclusion in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate marks the third official appearance of any Persona-related content on Nintendo Switch, preceded by his inspired costume for the custom Avatar character in Sonic Forces, and the appearance of Persona 4 Arena characters in the crossover fighting game BlazBlue: Cross Tag Battle, which launched on Switch six months prior to Joker's reveal.
 * It would also be the first physical appearance of Persona 5 characters and content on Nintendo Switch, followed by the releases of Persona 5 Strikers, Catherine Full Body and Persona 5 Royal itself on the console in 2020 and 2022, respectively.
 * Tokyo Mirage Sessions #FE is the only game in the entire Megami Tensei franchise other than the Persona series to have representation in any form.
 * Other than Joker, several voice actors who did voice work for the Persona series also provides voices for Non-Persona characters in this game.
 * Morgana's English voice actress; Cassandra Lee Morris, voices Sothis, a character appearing in Byleth's Final Smash.
 * Morgana's Japanese voice actress; Ikue Ōtani, voices Pikachu.
 * Both the English and Japanese voice actors for Yusuke Kitagawa (as well as Kanji Tatsumi in English); Matthew Mercer (EN) and Tomozaku Sugita (JP), voices Chrom.
 * Madarame's English voice actor, Kyle Herbert, voices Ryu.
 * Tatsuya Suou and Masayoshi Shido's English voice actor; Keith Silverstein, voices Simon Belmont.
 * The Persona 4 protagonist and Tohru Adachi's English voice actor; Johnny Young Bosch, voices the Assist Trophy Zero.
 * The Persona 4 protagonist's Japanese voice actor, Daisuke Namikawa, voices Lucario.
 * Ryotaro Dojima's Japanese voice actor, Unshō Ishizuka voices Incineroar.
 * The Persona 3 protagonist, Ryoji Mochizuki and Yosuke Hanamura's English voice actor; Yuri Lowenthal, voices Marth and the Assist Trophy Alucard.
 * Rise Kujikawa's (up until Persona 4 Arena: Ultimax) and the Persona 3 Portable protagonist's English voice actress; Laura Bailey, voices Lucina.
 * Theodore's English voice actor (up until Persona 4 Arena: Ultimax); Travis Willingham voices the Assist Trophies Knuckles the Echidna and Guile.
 * Maya Amano's English voice actress; Lani Minella, voices Lucas, Pit (only in Brawl), Larry Koopa, Morton Koopa Jr., Wendy O. Koopa, Lemmy Koopa, and the Assist Trophy Lyn.
 * Junpei Iori's Japanese voice actor; Kohsuke Toriumi, voices Little Mac.
 * Akihiko's Japanese voice actor; Hikaru Midorikawa, voices Marth.
 * Zen's Japanese voice actor; Yūki Kaji, voices the Hero (Dragon Quest VIII).
 * This is the second fighting game crossover to feature the Persona series, the first being BlazBlue: Cross Tag Battle.