Original 12

From SmashWiki, the Super Smash Bros. wiki

The term "Original 12" refers to the twelve veterans from the original Super Smash Bros., and, by extension, the only characters that appear in every single game. The term is mostly used when talking about characters in Super Smash Bros.' sequels, Super Smash Bros. Melee and Super Smash Bros. Brawl.

A related term, "Original 8," refers to the default eight characters in the game.

The "Original 12" are:

• Captain Falcon * **
• Donkey Kong
• Fox McCloud
• Jigglypuff *
• Kirby
• Link
• Luigi *
• Mario
• Ness * **
• Pikachu
• Samus Aran
• Yoshi

Note: * denotes secret characters ** denotes characters that were default characters in Super Smash Bros. Melee.