Super Smash Bros. is a crossover platform fighting game series published by Nintendo. The series was created by Masahiro Sakurai, who has directed every game in the series. The series is known for its unique gameplay objective which differs from that of traditional fighters, in that the aim is to increase damage counters and knock opponents off the stage instead of depleting life bars.
Ken Hoang, also known as Kenny, SephirothKen, or Liquid`Ken, is an American professional Super Smash Bros. Melee player and television personality. Hoang was widely considered the most dominant Melee player in the world during the early years of the game's competitive scene in the early to mid-2000s. Hoang primarily plays Marth in Melee and is credited for pioneering several gameplay techniques integral to the game's competitive play, including the "dash dancing" movement technique and the "Ken Combo", an effective Marth combo for which he is the namesake. Hoang's dominance in the game earned him the nickname "The King of Smash".
Super Smash Bros. Melee is a 2001 crossover fighting video game developed by HAL Laboratory and published by Nintendo for the GameCube. It is the second installment in the Super Smash Bros. series. It features characters from Nintendo video game franchises such as Mario, The Legend of Zelda, Star Fox, Pokémon, and Donkey Kong among others. The stages and gameplay modes reference or take designs from these franchises as well.
Project M is a mod of the 2008 fighting game Super Smash Bros. Brawl for the Wii, created by the community group known as the Project M Development Team. It is designed to retool Brawl to play more like its two predecessors, Super Smash Bros. (1999) and Super Smash Bros. Melee (2001), in response to fan objections to Brawl's physics, slower-paced gameplay, larger use of chance elements, and mechanics of certain attacks. Project M reintroduces Dr. Mario, Mewtwo, and Roy, who were present in Melee but were cut from Brawl due to time constraints. In addition, it features a new art style for in-game menus and allows players to choose certain characters individually when they are only accessible as transformations of other ones in Brawl.
Joseph Manuel Marquez, known by his gamertag Mango, is an American professional Super Smash Bros. Melee player and streamer from Norwalk, California. Known for his aggressive, high-risk playstyle, he is widely considered one of the game's greatest players of all time, and is one of the "Five Gods" of Melee, along with Juan "Hungrybox" Debiedma, Adam "Armada" Lindgren, Kevin "PPMD" Nanney, and Jason "Mew2King" Zimmerman. Marquez began his career playing Jigglypuff, however he has primarily played Falco and Fox since 2011. He has been part of the Cloud9 esports team since 2014.
Jason Sheldon Zimmerman, known by his gamertag Mew2King, commonly shortened to M2K, is an American professional Super Smash Bros. player from Cinnaminson, New Jersey. He has won more than 70 tournaments during his career, primarily in Super Smash Bros. Melee. Zimmerman is one of the "Five Gods" of Melee, along with Juan "Hungrybox" Debiedma, Adam "Armada" Lindgren, Kevin "PPMD" Nanney, and Joseph "Mang0" Marquez and is also widely considered one of the greatest Super Smash Bros. Brawl players of all time. He has also competed at a top-level in Super Smash Bros. for Wii U, Super Smash Bros. Ultimate and Project M.
Adam Lindgren, known by his handle Armada, is a Swedish professional Super Smash Bros. player from Gothenburg. He is widely considered one of the greatest Super Smash Bros. Melee players of all time and the greatest Melee Peach player of all time. Lindgren has won several major tournaments: he is a three-time champion of GENESIS, two-time champion of EVO, two-time champion of Apex and one-time champion of The Big House. Considered one of the "Five Gods" of Melee, alongside Jason "Mew2King" Zimmerman, Joseph "Mang0" Marquez, Juan "Hungrybox" DeBiedma, and Kevin "PPMD" Nanney, Lindgren was ranked one of the top two Melee players in the world every year from the beginning of formal rankings in 2013 until his retirement from singles tournaments in 2018, with Lindgren ranked as the number one Melee player in the world in 2015 and 2016. A 2021 list by PGstats ranked Lindgren as the second-greatest Melee player of all time. Lindgren retired from professional Melee singles tournaments in September 2018, citing declining interest in the game, although he still occasionally enters doubles tournaments teaming with his brother Andreas "Android" Lindgren. He also runs a YouTube channel with over 125,000 subscribers.
Kevin Nanney, also known by his gamer tag of PPMD and formerly known as Dr. PeePee, is an inactive American professional Super Smash Bros. Melee player. Nanney is one of the "Five Gods" of Melee, alongside Jason "Mew2King" Zimmerman, Joseph "Mango" Marquez, Adam "Armada" Lindgren, and Juan "Hungrybox" DeBiedma. He is a two-time champion of the Apex tournament series and was ranked as one of the top six players in the world from 2010 to 2015, after which he was removed from rankings due to inactivity. Nanney uses Falco and Marth and is known for his intelligent and patient playstyle. A 2021 list compiled by Melee Stats, which was hosted on PGstats, ranked Nanney as the seventh-greatest Melee player of all time.
Juan Manuel DeBiedma, better known by his alias Hungrybox, is an American and Argentine professional Super Smash Bros. player, streamer, tournament organizer and commentator. Recognized as one of the greatest and most successful Super Smash Bros. Melee players of all time, he is one of the "Five Gods of Melee" along with Adam "Armada" Lindgren, Jason "Mew2King" Zimmerman, Joseph "Mang0" Marquez, and Kevin "PPMD" Nanney, and is regarded as the greatest Jigglypuff player in history. He is also an active competitor in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, and has been a member of Team Liquid since 2015, becoming its co-owner in December 2021. He is currently ranked as the 8th best Melee player in the world for 2023.
William Peter Hjelte, better known by his gamer tag Leffen, is a Swedish professional fighting game player and streamer. Although mostly known as a Super Smash Bros. Melee player, he has also competed in Dragon Ball FighterZ, Guilty Gear Strive, and Super Smash Bros. Ultimate. In Melee, Hjelte plays the character Fox, and is considered one of the best players in the world, having been ranked as one of the top seven Melee players in the world every year since 2014. A 2021 list compiled by PGStats ranked Hjelte as the sixth greatest Melee player of all time.
Joel Isai Alvarado, professionally known as Isai, is an American Super Smash Bros. 64 player widely regarded as the game's greatest player of all time. He is credited with developing the modern Smash 64 metagame and is renowned for his ability to play the game's entire character roster at a top professional level. His major tournament victories include Apex 2014 and Super Smash Con 2023.
Professional Super Smash Bros. competition involves professional gamers competing in the Super Smash Bros. series of crossover fighting games published by Nintendo. Organized tournament competition began in 2002 with Super Smash Bros. Melee, released for the GameCube in 2001; however, in the series' native Japan, there have been tournaments as early as 1999 with the original Super Smash Bros. for the Nintendo 64. Later tournaments have featured the other games in the series, with the two largest and most popular Smash Bros. scenes revolving around Melee and Super Smash Bros. Ultimate for the Nintendo Switch. Smaller scenes exist for the original game and Project M, a popular fan modification of Super Smash Bros. Brawl for the Wii, and to a lesser extent, Brawl itself. Major Smash Bros. tournaments include the GENESIS, Evolution Championship Series (EVO), Super Smash Con and The Big House annual series. Major League Gaming (MLG) has also previously included Smash Bros. games in its Pro Circuit.
Christopher Szygiel, better known by his handle PC Chris, is an American former professional Super Smash Bros. Melee player. He is best known for defeating top professional player Ken Hoang in grand finals of MLG New York 2006, in what was considered one of the greatest upsets in competitive Melee history at the time. Szygiel was documented in an episode of the 2013 documentary series The Smash Brothers. His handle PC Chris comes from his hometown of Port Chester, New York.
Nairoby Quezada, better known as Nairo, is an American streamer and retired professional Super Smash Bros. competitive player. He is widely considered one of the best players in the history of Super Smash Bros. Brawl, Super Smash Bros. for Wii U, and Super Smash Bros. Ultimate. After starting his career on Brawl in 2011, he quickly established himself as one of the best players in the United States, and became regarded as one of the best Brawl players in the world the following year; he would remain seen as a top Brawl player for the rest of his career, and would achieve similar success on Wii U and Ultimate following their respective releases.
The Big House is an annual Super Smash Bros. tournament series held in Michigan since 2011. It is considered one of the largest and most prestigious Smash Bros. tournament series alongside GENESIS, Evolution Championship Series (EVO) and Super Smash Con.
Genesis, stylized as GENESIS, is a series of annual Super Smash Bros. tournaments occurring in the San Francisco Bay Area of the US state of California. The first Genesis tournament took place in 2009 in Antioch at the Contra Costa County Fairgrounds.
Heir is an annual British Super Smash Bros. Melee tournament that began in 2014. The event has also featured a Project M tournament on several editions.
