Jake's Super Smash Bros. includes a total of 250+ playable characters from a number of video game series, primarily focusing on the intellectual properties created by Nintendo; 220 of these are unique fighters. While the series represented are primarily ones that have seen releases in more-recent years, there are a number of more-obscure characters that represent Nintendo's rich history. The game's philosophy is not to include a roster full of characters that "make sense" as fighters or as representatives of a series, but rather to include a large number of characters that are interesting and may not be as well known even to longtime Nintendo fans.
In addition to characters owned by Nintendo, select characters owned by third party companies will also be playable including representatives from SEGA, Capcom, Bandai Namco, and Koei Tecmo, among others. According to the creator of the game, any character that has debuted in a video game is eligible to appear as a playable character in the game, though characters from Nintendo's first- and second-party franchises are to be prioritized over any third-party fighter. A small number of characters hailing from media other than video games will also be included in the game.
A number of characters with movesets based on another character's, called "Dash Fighters" and marked with an acute accent (´), are also included in the game, but do not increase the number count on the roster and the player can choose to stack the icons of Dash Fighters atop their "original" on the character select screen. There are a total of 30 Dash Fighters in all.
