Brawl characters ranked 35 through 1

Who's Number 1!? (I'll give you a hint, it's neither one of these guys).

It's finally here! My list of the top characters in Brawl from 35 (as the worst) to 1 (as the best). Like all lists, I need to give you my criteria for judging the characters. They are judged in this way, though not in this order, speed, strength, versatility, ease of use, and of course the final smashes. Keep in mind, this is MY list, not anyone else's. These are my opinions and if you so desire, please disagree or agree with them. I hope you enjoy it. All right, let's kick off my very first list!! :-D And all controller references use the Gamecube controller.

35. JigglyPuff

Not only do I think Jigglypuff is the worst brawler all around, I think 'she's' the worst character to be put into the game (of those that are already in the game). I would have loved to see Crash Bandicoot or even an easily attainable Nintendo character such as Bowser Jr. being put in. But I've got to give it to 'her', she's been in every game so respect is due. All in all, JigglyPuff is weak and one of her premier attacks, i.e., what 'she' is known for, only makes the opponent helpless for an extremely short time if you haven't worked their HP percentage up. But if you know how to use her and use rest (down b) after using sing, you can send opponents flying. So 'she' does have upside, but not something that the so-so casual player would see. Even though 'she' is at the bottom of the list, 'she' can still whoop you with the right person controlling.

34. Ganondorf

I know. I know. Ganondorf is so freaking strong. But with all that strength comes a horrible downside. He's slower than ice melting in a cold room where it's watching paint dry and grass grow. If you play free for all and everyone decides to gang up on you, you better hope for a final smash or else you'll get creamed.

33. King DeDeDe

Yes, he can float. Yes he can inhale (but not change his attacks like Kirby). Yes he's big so he's strong, but honestly, King DeDeDe is just a poser. He's not really that good of a brawler and his hammer is ok, if you can land it. But overall, nothing too impressive. Plus he's a HUGE target. HUGE.

32. Bowser

(See above). He's a huge target. But, I will give it to him, when he lands some punches, grabs you, or does a down A attack and gets a lot of people in a spin he can be dangerous. But his downside is that he's so big. He's higher on the list than KDDD and Ganondorf because he's faster than Ganondorf and has a better set of moves than KDDD.

31. Diddy Kong

He's nimble. He's quick. He's small. But his array of moves are just not there. His >B attack doesn't do much, and it's hard to land. Throwing a banana peel is great...if this were Mario Kart, and as cool as his final smash is, it's hard to control and aim. He's fun to play with, but you have to be really committed to have him as your main character.

30. Zelda/Sheik

Zelda can be a real asset for someone who knows how to use her, but in the heat of battle some of her moves take to long and don't land. When she changes into Sheik she's more nimble but the moves aren't as powerful. Plus the down B is given up to change. So it's giving up one thing for another. She can be deadly, but she's not near the top.

29. Ice Climbers

"But Jeremy there are two of them!" Yeah, but what happens when they knock the pink one out, how are you going to get back on the platform. Ice Climbers are FANTASTIC during grab the coins. Trust me, I played 3 times against the computer on semi-hard difficulty and they won EVERY time in a four person match, because there are two of them. But they need each other to be effective and if another person is smart enough and gets them separated, bye bye ice, hello avalanche, cause they are falling.

28. R.O.B.

Ok, I really didn't want to put R.O.B. this low, but I had no choice. His laser has to re-charge and when you do his final smash, it sucks. Seriously, it sucks, it's no good, and it hardly compares to some of the other people on the top of this list (top means scroll down, so I guess that's technically bottom, but they are higher up on the number list). He has good smash attacks and a great recovery up B move, but it's not worth losing out on a smash attack.

27. Toon Link

He's here simply because he's not as good as the real thing, and he's lighter. Don't get me wrong, he can be a forced to be reckoned with, I like playing with him, but he's just a spawn off of Link and he's not AS good as some of the other characters on this list.

26. Peach

The reason I have Peach here is because of her ability to float and her ridiculous smash attack when it comes to hitting you with a golf club/tennis racket/frying pan. Let me get something out there, her smash attack sucks. Yes it puts people to sleep, but when they wake up they can eat all her peaches. She is the ONLY one with a smash attack that can actually BENEFIT the competition.

25. Donkey Kong

He's big, real big. But he can be nimble like Diddy Kong (not the same AS Diddy but LIKE), and he's frickin strong with just his regular attacks. Can be hard for beginners to use him, but once you figure it out, DK can be pretty vicious.

24. Mr. Game and Watch

He is deceptively strong. His smash attack isn't much to look at, just like he isn't much to look at, but he'll tear you a new one if you don't watch out. Even though he looks like a pipsqueak, he's pretty strong, for a 2D character.

23. Pit

Pit is fun to play with. He's got some pretty nifty attacks with his sometimes bow sometimes dagger thingy (Palutena's Bow). But really, Pit is not that strong and he's not that quick. He seems strong, and he seems quick, but he's not. He's GREAT for a beginner player because they should absolutely have NO trouble getting back on the platform with his up B attack. But that's just it, his up B attack does nothing to anyone, it just helps him out a heck of a lot by letting him fly across the Atlantic in 5 swoops if he wanted to.

22. Ike

Boy am I gonna get it on this one. Ike is the man. Let me get that out of the way. Ike is so dog on strong, any idiot can see that. But Ike is slow man. Not Ganandorf slow, but it takes a while to lift that strong sword. For the veteran, you could make a case that Ike should be number one on this list and I won't argue with you, but overall, he's just not the easiest player to figure out and use. But he's got tremendous upside.

21. Wolf

I like Wolf because he's got agility, even though he doesn't have speed. And he has power to boot. But as far as his up B attack and his side B attack, pretty much the same. He's a nice intermediate fighter, but doesn't cross either edge into a beginner or veteran category. To use the tired cliche, he is what he is.

20. Olimar

Olimar is nothing without his Pikmin, but in all fairness it's not hard to pull six Pikmin out of the ground quickly with B. The problem is that there's a lot of luck involved with which Pikmin he gets. Sometimes it'll be a powerful Pikmikn to attack with and at other times not so powerful. He does have an upside with how small he is, and his final smash is a surefire hit, but what Olimar gains in size and speed, he gives up in a down B and up B attack. The down B (which calls Pikmin to him wherever they may be stranded on the level) is almost moot since he can get new Pikmin so quickly. It also also allows for a new Pikmin to be put in the front of the line. The up B hardly ever hits anyone and is best used when having six Pikmin so that his "rope" of Pikmin is longer to get back on the level.

19. Meta Knight

This guy rocks. He's quick, he can take on multiple enemies, he can fly and he reminds you of a stealthy ninja. But he's not strong and his final smash doesn't always hit. Furthermore, if you do his up B attack to try to get back on the platform you better have some serious side-scrolling airplane landing skills or else you'll go straight into the -1 column in the brawl bank.

18. Mario

Yes, all you Nintendo darlings, I put Mario at 18. Because that's what he is, he's in the middle. He's a nice all around character. You'll get a little quickness here, a little smash there, a decent final smash over there. But all around, Mario is nothing impressive, he's simply efficient. And that ain't so bad.

17. Wario

Yes, the arch-rival, kinda sorta, is better than the good guy. He can ride a bike into you, use the bike and throw it at you, he walks like he's missing a frame-rate and yet he'll punch your lights out. His final smash doesn't look like much, but he's much stronger. A huge downfall of Wario is what makes him go into his downfall, his up B doesn't have much range.

16. Pokemon Trainer

This is another character I wish I could put higher, but the fact is I can't. The reason being is that even though you can choose between 3 (count it 3) characters, you give up a down B attack just like in the case of Zelda. Now this isn't the end of the world as you have small quick, medium all around, and strong slow to choose from, but switching takes time and some characters strengths are other characters weakness. My favorite out of the three is Squirtle (16 A) because I think he has the best all around attacks and character build. After him is Charizard (16 B) then Ivysaur (16 C).

15. Sonic

And if you aren't grilling me about Mario, you WILL grill me on Sonic. Look Sonic is awesome (now if we could just get him to have a decent solo game), but he's weak. He's the fastest in the game, no doubt, and that can cause some serious headaches for your opponents, but he's weak. His up B attack is great at getting you back on the platform, but he's weak. His spin moves are awesome (even if it seems as if ALL his moves are spin moves), but he's weak. It's ok, he's still the fastest thing alive.

14. Luigi

Deceptively, Luigi is strong. He's not stronger than Wario, and he's not as well rounded as Mario, but he embodies something those other two don't have and final smash, on most levels, is a sure-fire hit. His little dagger punches are pretty darn strong. Don't let his demeanor fool you, Luigi will knock you out.

13. Fox

Fox is so dog on fast. But he's not Sonic fast. His moves however are extremely varied and they embody what Fox is, he's quick, and powerful in short bursts. He won't manhandle you with his strength, but when he hits, he doesn't hit you once, he hits you three times and then darts out of the way and hits you again. Not to mention his up B attack can take all 3 opponents out of the game because it will just encompass them in flames and before you know it, he's gone.

12. Yoshi

Yoshi is big, but not the biggest, fast, but not the fastest, agile, but not the most agilest (wow spell check didn't say ANYTHING about that word, wonder if it means most agile), and because he is all three of those things, that's earned him a top spot. Sure, his up B move is pretty pathetic when getting back on the platform, but his double jump should be more than enough in most cases. Yoshi has always intrigued me because he is easy to learn, but hard to master, and that makes for a great character.

11. Ness

Ness just made it out of the top ten because of one thing. Learnability. Yes, you heard me right, Ness is a little bit harder to control than Lucas is, and his up, down, and side A attacks are quick, but they aren't that great. Don't get me wrong, Ness is a wonderful Brawler, but he had to just squeak out of the top ten because of his learnability with most gamers.

10. Captain Falcon

Captain Falcon is surprisingly strong. And oh my word is he quick. It's amazing, because usually in SSB you have to give up something to be good at another thing, but Capt. Falcon is pretty much one of the most well rounded players in Brawl. Yeah his final smash sort of takes the control away from the player cause you are just watching what is essentially a cut-scene, and sure his special attacks aren't the greatest, but he can pretty much own you with the right moves.

9. Lucario

One of the most intriguing characters in Brawl. His final smash is sick, let's get that straight, and his moves are strong. He can be slow, sometimes painfully when in the arena with Brawlers such as Sonic and Fox, but as he gets hurt, he gets stronger. As a Brawler, it's inevitable that your percentage HP is going to go up, but you give me a character like Lucario and I can make the most of it. Superb.

8. Link

He can be quick, or a little slow, depending on the swing of the sword. I like the new tornado boomerang, and his range is added with his bow and arrow. He's not the flashiest of characters, and his final smash seems to work best if you can get one character, although it's possible to get more, but Link is Link. He's a bad boy, and he's really not that hard to use. The problem I think people may have with him is that he's not as flashy as some of the other characters. But if that's his only problem, then who cares.

7. Falco

Wow. Surprise surprise. No one was expecting this were ya? And if you were, then you know why I'm putting this here. Falco gives me fits, when I'm brawling, when I play on Classic, and when I play on All-Star. He gives me fits because he's quick like Fox, with strength like Wolf. No he's not as fast as Fox, but I would be so bold as to say he's almost as strong as Wolf. Falco fights like a cool person playing 2nd fiddle to Fox is supposed to fight like. He's tough, he's fast, and he embodies everything you need in a brawler.

Samus

If this was Melee, Samus might be lower, but because Samus can essentially change into an entirely different character without sacrificing any of her moves to get there is something magnificent. I was pretty bummed when I found out you couldn't pick Zero Suit Samus from the regular character lineup. But after further review there are ways around this at the character selection screen and also in game without a final smash. All in all having essentially two characters to choose from helps out the character of Samus. Because with all her array of well varied moves and special attacks she is the only character with a true second character to play with.

5. Pikachu

I was brawling with Pikachu the other day and you know what I thought, "Holy Pokemon!" Ok, so I didn't say that, but gracious, Pikachu is a monster. His down B attack is enough to make a grown man throw his controller through a window and hit the neighbors dog in frustration. Pikachu is quick, but he is oh so strong for his size. His final smash is a bit hard to control, but hey, he can't have everything right?

4. Snake

One of the only reasons Snake isn't number one is because it's hard to figure out your strategy with him, i.e., he acts like a beginner character to a degree, but when you start using him you realize you need to know what you are doing. His regular hand to hand attacks are surprisingly strong, and his weapons are even better. But you'll have to get used to the lag to use this Foxhound spy the best.

3. Marth

He is everything Ike isn't. He's got speed people, and his swing of the sword is just right. His counterattack, when used properly can be deadly. I remember one time when I hadn't played Melee in a while and I played a couple of people I knew, both of them chose Marth and both of them whipped my behind. Marth is a force to be reckoned with.

2. Lucas

Lucas looks pretty much like Ness, except he's a blondie. But don't let that fool you, Lucas can Take...YOU....OUT! His Psi attacks are ree-dik-you-las, and they aren't even his special moves. The smash attacks are what make Lucas so good in my eyes. I love using him. Unlike Ness who just uses a yoyo on his up B and down B attacks, Lucas uses a Psi attack that can send your opponent flying. When executed at the right time you can really put the other brawlers on their heals.

1. Kirby

BYYYYYEEEYYEEYYYEE! Don't you hate hearing that after Kirby K.O.'s you. His stupid little taunt. All jokes aside, Kirby is the best all around character. Yes, he's the easiest character to use and some might say the cheapest, but at the same time he has his weakness'. He is light and can be smashed pretty quickly. But Kirby is the epitome of what a Brawler should be, fast, quick, agile, strong, stealthy, and deceptive. Not to mention Kirby can copy ANY one of the Brawlers. He literally is the best all around character.


I hope you all enjoyed the post (for those of you that finished it), let me know what you think, feel free to leave numerous comments agreeing or disagreeing, it's all in fun. It's my first list!

-Adridius aka Jeremy