Series symbol

:This article lists the logos of every universe that appears in the Smash series. For information about the Smash series logo specifically, see Super Smash Bros. logo.
A series symbol is a distinctive iconography that represents game universes, assigned to fighters and stages. For fighters, it is displayed next to their damage meter (in the same color as the player's slot), as well as on the victory screen. For stages, it is visible on the stage selection screen.
To an extent, these symbols are also applicable for items (as seen on the Smash Bros. DOJO!! pages), trophies (as seen in Super Smash Bros. 4s trophy collections), music (as seen in the sound tests from Brawl onward, as well as music previews on the Smash 4 and Ultimate official websites), and spirits (displayed while creating a party and within the Spirit List); however, these generally require a playable character in order to have a symbol assigned. Otherwise, the Smash Bros. logo or ellipsis symbol is assigned by default, or else no symbol appears at all. While some series have a symbol due to being represented by stages, if the universe is not represented by a fighter, the symbol will not be used outside of the stage.
The following is a list of all series symbols, along with a short explanation of what they are and where they come from within their game universes.
== List of series symbols ==
===Series represented by fighter===
Universe	Image 	Image 	Description 	Explanation
 	colspan="2" 	An asymmetrical cross in a circle 	This logo has represented the series since the first Super Smash Bros. game for the Nintendo 64. Masahiro Sakurai has stated that the cross represents the crossover of the various Nintendo characters and properties, while the logo's four sections reference the four-player aspect of the games.http://sourcegaming.info/2015/03/30/smash-reader-response-page-9-meaning-behind-smash-logo-lip-ice-climbers-and-balloon-fight/ 	
 	style="text-align:center"	style="text-align:center" 	A Super Mushroom 	A common power-up in the Mushroom Kingdom which usually makes Mario and Luigi grow in size. In Smash 64 and Melee, the Super Mushroom's design derives from its appearance in Super Mario World, albeit lacking spots; in Brawl onwards, along with gaining spots, its design derives from its appearance in Mario Kart DS, which itself was the first appearance of the modern Mushroom design.
 	style="text-align:center"	style="text-align:center" 	The letters "DK" 	The initials on Donkey Kong's red tie, introduced in promotional art for 1994's Donkey Kong for the Game Boy. Also found on DK Barrels. Used as Donkey Kong's symbol in all Mario spin-offs. From Brawl onwards, the DK logo is slightly bigger and the gap between the letters was made smaller, along with the "D" being slanted slightly less.
 	colspan="2" 	The Triforce 	A powerful relic of Hyrule and the driving force of the series. Its iconography is prevalent throughout the series (for example, it appears on Link's Hylian Shield) and is also used as part of the logo for several games, such as Skyward Sword and A Link Between Worlds. 	
 	style="text-align:center"	style="text-align:center" 	Pre-Brawl: Post-Brawl: Stylized, Screw Attack-esque "S" symbol 	Pre-Brawl: An item that allows Samus to use the . Usually obtained after defeating Ridley in the 2D Metroid games.Post-Brawl: An S-shaped icon that closely resembles the Screw Attack is used prominently in the Metroid games, as seen in the ending of Super Metroid, the logos of Metroid Fusion and Metroid Prime, and as suit upgrades in the Metroid Prime sub-series.
 	style="text-align:center"	style="text-align:center" 	 	Yoshis can be found in eggs and utilize eggs for several signature techniques. Used as Yoshi's symbol in all Mario spin-offs and also as part of the Yoshi logo. Brawl tweaked the symbol slightly, rotating the egg counterclockwise and redesigning the spots.
 	colspan="2" 	A five-pointed star 	Stars are the signature design motif of the Kirby series, as reflected in its Japanese name, Kirby of the Stars, as well as its logo design. This emblem could represent Warp Stars, which transport Kirby between areas; , Kirby's similarly-shaped home planet; or simply the series' use of stars in general. 	
 	style="text-align:center"	style="text-align:center" 	A winged fox 	This logo adorns each of Team Star Fox's various vehicles, such as the Great Fox, Arwings and the Landmaster. It was slightly tweaked in Brawl to be longer and more detailed, making the logo resemble how it looked in Star Fox Command.
 	style="text-align:center"	style="text-align:center" 	A Poké Ball 	An item used to catch and store Pokémon, commonly used as a symbol even in its home universe, appearing in the logo of several in-universe brands and organisations. The symbol from Brawl onwards also represents the white colouration of the bottom half of the Poké Ball.
 	style="text-align:center"	style="text-align:center" 	Earth 	The Mother games' Japanese logos, as well as the logo for the English EarthBound Beginnings, all substitute this symbol for the letter "O". Based on the original, non-rotated version of "", a famous photo of Earth from space.EarthBound Central, "The World is MOTHER" From Brawl onwards, the icon has been made more detailed, looking closer to its original design in Mother and Mother 2.
 	colspan="2" 	A falcon 	The golden crest on Captain Falcon's helmet. 	
 	colspan="2" 	An eggplant 	The first of the the Ice Climbers sought to collect in the bonus levels of Ice Climber. 	
 	colspan="2" 	Falchion 	The legendary sword wielded by Marth in the first, third, eleventh and twelfth Fire Emblem games. Uses the weapon's Fire Emblem: Mystery of the Emblem design. 	
 	style="text-align:center"	style="text-align:center" 	A Game & Watch character ringing a bell 	Represents the alarm feature; this bell was featured on many Game & Watch games. The Melee design features two bells to represent how Game & Watch titles would show all their sprites at once when turned off. The overall design of the Mr. Game & Watch-esque character on the symbol is very reminiscent of the alarm cell from the Game & Watch game Helmet. In Brawl onwards, the second bell on the symbol was removed, along with the first one being centered.
 	colspan="2" 	The Palutena Bow 	Pit's main weapon and the icon of Bow-type weapons in Kid Icarus: Uprising. 	
 	colspan="2" 	A "W" for "Wario" 	Wario has this printed on his hat and gloves. Used as Wario's symbol in all Mario spin-offs. 	
 	colspan="2" 	A 's flower (known as in the real world) 	Fully grown Pikmin have flowers above their stems; the flower also appears on the s, acting as their main propeller, and has been bred in the real world as a marketing stunt for the first Pikmin game. 	
 	colspan="2" 	A gyro 	One of the real-world accessories used by R.O.B. for the game . Also incorporates the Subspace Army's insignia. 	
 	colspan="2" 	A leaf with a hole in it 	Represents a piece of furniture in the player's inventory. It is also the logo of Tom Nook's shop, and appears as part of the logo for Animal Crossing: New Leaf. 	
 	colspan="2" 	A silhouette of the Dancer yoga pose 	One of the poses featured on the Wii Fit box art, and the software icon for Wii Fit U. It is also 's official artwork pose in Smash 4. 	
 	colspan="2" 	A boxing glove 	Punch-Out!! is a series of boxing games. This particular design appears on the title screen and victory screens of all versions of the NES . 	
 	colspan="2" 	The Monado 	A weapon that Shulk wields in Xenoblade Chronicles. It is cropped exactly like in the loading screen of said game. 	
 	colspan=2 	A duck 	This symbol resembles one of the ducks' flying sprites in Duck Hunt. It is also very similar to the artwork of one of the ducks on the Japanese and European box arts for Duck Hunt. 	
 	colspan="2" 	An Inkling in squid form 	The squid icon appears often throughout the Splatoon games, in places such as gear ability icons and on the loading screens. 	
 	colspan="2" 	An extended fist 	Represents the series' focus on the titular sport. It is specifically drawn from the logo of the ARMS Japan Grand Prix 2017 competition.Origin of ARMS symbol 	
 	style="text-align:center"	style="text-align:center" 	Brawl: FOX Unit's insigniaUltimate: An exclamation point 	Brawl: The insignia of the covert operations group FOX from Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater; also the former logo. Although Solid Snake used this for his previous symbol, he was actually never involved with FOX, and it was instead Naked Snake. Unlike the original FOX logo, this version doesn't have any gaps.Ultimate: Exclamation points are used in the Metal Gear series to indicate when an enemy has spotted Snake or noticed something.
 	colspan="2" 	Sonic's head, in profile 	Often used to represent Sonic and used in 's logo, albeit with eyes. A similar symbol appeared inside the "O" of "Heroes" in the logo. 	
 	colspan="2" 	A cog 	In Japan, cogs are commonly used to represent the Mega Man series.Origin behind Mega Man's series emblem Outside of Japan, cog imagery became prevalent in Mega Man 11. 	
 	colspan="2" 	Pac-Man in his classic "wedge" shape 	Based on Pac-Man's original sprite in , his first and most famous appearance. 	
 	colspan="2" 	The letters "SF" 	The appearance of the letters as they appear in the Street Fighter II logo. 	
 	colspan="2" 	The letters "FF" 	The series' initials, rendered in the font used for the franchise's iconic logo. Taken directly from the logo for Finest Fantasy for Advance, a line of Game Boy Advance remakes of classic Final Fantasy games. This could also be a reference to how the series creator Hironobu Sakaguchi, back when creating the series, initially wanted the then-nameless first game to be abbreviated as "FF" (エフエフ, Efu Efu) before finally choosing Final Fantasy.Square Enix on the origin of the Final Fantasy name 	
 	colspan=2 	A moon with a dot in the center 	The internal design of an Umbran Watch. Also used as part of the logo of . 	
 	colspan=2 	A castle with a bat in the upper left corner	Represents Dracula's Castle, a central location within the Castlevania series. Its appearance is based on its design dating back to the title screen of the original Japanese version of Akumajō Dracula (Castlevania) on Famicom Disk System,Castlevania title screen comparison on TCRF while the bat is taken from the original box art for Castlevania. 	
 	colspan="2" 	Stylized mask and top hat 	The logo of the Phantom Thieves of Hearts from . 	
 	colspan=2 	Erdrick's emblem 	This sigil, which resembles the el colibrí (hummingbird) glyph of the , is usually seen on important equipment owned by Erdrick, which can be found in the first three Dragon Quest games. This symbol most closely resembles the one found on the Mark of Erdrick, a recurring item that was also found in the first three Dragon Quest games. 	
 	colspan=2 	A Jiggy 	Jiggies—golden jigsaw puzzle pieces—are key items in the Banjo-Kazooie series, granting access to additional levels when collected. 	
 	colspan="2" 	A five-pointed star tilted at an angle 	This star appears on the back of Terry's jacket and has been used as part of the logo of several games in both the Fatal Fury and The King of Fighters series, as well as the icon for when Terry wins a round in Garou: Mark of the Wolves. 	
 	colspan="2" 	A Block 	Blocks are the main feature of Minecraft; various blocks have been used as icons for the game in the past, such as Grass Blocks and Crafting Tables. The way the block in the symbol is oriented is similar to Minecrafts former desktop icon. 	
 	colspan="2" 	Kazuya's fist 	Clad in Kazuya's trademark metal-studded fingerless gloves, it is symbolic of the series' name, often depicted both in kanji ("") and rōmaji ("Tekken"), which literally translates to "iron fist". 	
 	colspan="2" 	A crown 	A three-pointed crown symbol that frequently recurs in the Kingdom Hearts franchise, usually in association with Sora. Notably, it appears as part of the Kingdom Hearts logo, in Sora’s necklace and as the negative-space silhouette in the teeth of his Keyblade. 	
===Represented by stage===
Universe	Image	Description 	Explanation
 	 	The "dual screen" logo 	Represents the upper and lower screens of the Nintendo DS which were used in part of its logo. Prominently featured on the casing for the DS Lite.
 	 	A Nanocarp 	Nanocarp, one of the various Electroplankton; featured on the game's box art.
 	 	A pair of balloons 	In Balloon Fight, the player starts off each life with this particular amount of balloons, with the sprite being designed to portray one balloon being behind the other, as in the symbol.
 	 	A paw print 	Represents a dog's paw print. A dog paw print is part of the Nintendogs logo, albeit with a different design.
 	 	A house 	Representative of the residential setting of the series and the homes inhabited by married Miis.
 	 	The Regal Crown 	The crown worn by the player's Mii, who takes on the role of a King or Queen in both of the Find Mii games.
 	 	A steel drum 	Steel drums can be used in to trap enemies.
 	 	An airplane 	The Pilotwings series focuses on piloting aircraft; this symbol's design is based on the plane in the logo of Pilotwings Resort.
 	 	A palm tree next to a volcano	A stylized representation of Wuhu Island, the setting of , with the volcano representing Maka Wuhu.
 	 	The Miiverse logo 	Shows three people, representing the community of players on . Also used to represent the Miiverse Administration. Appears as a decorative element on the Miiverse stage.
===Represented by other===
Universe	Image	Description 	Explanation
 	 	The word "Mii" 	The logo used for Miis since their introduction on the Wii. This symbol is unique in that it is not used for any stages, modes, or playable characters, instead being reserved only for spirits from games with Miis as their main playable characters.
Other 	 	The ellipsis "…"	This symbol is used in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate's music section for universes without any series symbol and in the party selection screen for spirits without any series symbol (except when accessed via team setup).
===Non-game symbols===
The following symbols do not represent any game series, but are used for certain stages or modes.
Usage 	Image 	Image 	Description 	Explanation
Metal Mario 	colspan="2" 	A metallic Super Mushroom 	The Mario symbol from Smash 64, but edited to look metallic. 	
Battlefield (SSBM)	colspan="2" style="text-align:center"	A circle cut into eighths and slightly spread apart 	This symbol is used in Melee as the series of . One could presume it represents "Special Stages", as this is given as the title of the stage, but (which is also titled Special Stages) is given the Super Smash Bros. symbol instead. The meaning and intent of this symbol is therefore unknown.	
 	colspan="2" style="text-align:center"	A hollow circle with a bar on the inner left 	Featured prominently on many Subspace Army creatures and objects within The Subspace Emissary. Also used to represent the mode as a whole. Resembles a Mite's head. 	
Custom stages 	style="text-align:center" 	style="text-align:center" 	SSB4: A circle, a square and a triangleUltimate: A stage with a pencil going through it 	These symbols are used in and Ultimate to represent stages created with the Stage Builder when they are about to be chosen for a match. Despite Stage Builder being present in Brawl, there was no symbol associated with it until for Wii U.
Assist Trophy 	colspan="2" style="text-align:center"	An unknown character inside capsule, similar to official render	This symbol is used in Ultimate to represent voice clips of Assist Trophies in Sound Test. Although an icon associated with voice clips was present in SSB4, the Super Smash Bros. symbol was used in that game (as with the announcer and stage hazards). 	
World of Light 	colspan="2" style="text-align:center"	Four curved wings around a circular nucleus 	A stylized render of Galeem, one of the two main antagonists of World of Light. Also used to represent the mode as a whole. 	
==Trivia==
*In Brawl, the Fire Emblem series symbol as used on the results screen has a somewhat different design than in all of its other appearances (in both the rest of Brawl and in all other Smash games). The Brawl results screen variant has a thinner blade, an extended crossguard, an asymmetrical hilt, a longer handle, and a flat-sided pommel.
**A similar inconsistency can be seen in the Persona symbol, where the symbol featured on the official site for Ultimate has no stray line above the brim of the hat, various bumps in the lining around the hat, and a differently shaped flame that does not reach outside of the hat itself.
*Though the Wii Fit Trainer herself has a ponytail hairstyle, the Wii Fit series symbol has her hair in a bun. A similar case occurs with her Final Smash.
*Super Smash Bros., The Legend of Zelda, Kirby, and F-Zero are the only universes to use their exact same symbols in all Smash Bros. games.
*Metal Gear is the only universe to have its series symbol entirely changed in one game after debut rather than edited.
**The original Metal Gear symbol in Brawl was based on the emblem of Metal Gears FOX Unit, which is also the former logo for Kojima Productions, used while the studio was a part of Konami. The symbol's change to an exclamation point in Ultimate was likely made due to the dissolution of Kojima Productions from Konami and its re-establishment as an independent studio in 2015, a move itself precipitated by Hideo Kojima's departure from Konami amidst rumors of disagreements with the company's management.
*In Ultimate, the spirits from universes with only stages do not use their stage symbols; the Wrecking Crew spirits are listed as Mario series spirits, while the rest are listed as Mii series spirits (StreetPass Mii Plaza, Pilotwings) or "other" series spirits (Balloon Fight, Electroplankton, Nintendogs).
*Donkey Kong, Wario, Street Fighter, and Final Fantasy are the only universes to use their initials as the series symbol.
*In the files for Super Smash Bros. for Wii U, an unused fighter emblem for can be found, suggesting the series was originally going to receive a fighter, but was scrapped later in development for unknown reasons.https://sourcegaming.info/2015/01/26/smash-4-wii-u-data-discoveries/ The identity of the fighter and how far into development they got is unknown.
*The Wii Sports series symbol would later inspire the design of the Wuhu Island emblem seen in in , with a similar stylized motif featuring a palm tree, Maka Wuhu, and the ocean in an identical configuration to the Smash symbol.
*On the official site for Ultimate, in the "Fighters" page displaying by series, every series symbol has a stripe pattern, with the one exception being . This is more noticeable on the mobile layout of the site as the desktop layout has an identical stripe patterned background that shows through the symbol.
==References==
Category:Series symbols