17. ICE CLIMBERS (POPO & NANA)

Franchise / home series: Ice Climber

Notable non-Smash games: Ice Climber (1985)

The Ice Climbers made their debut in Melee, reviving a classic pair from Nintendo’s early NES era. Their inclusion highlighted Sakurai’s willingness to bring obscure retro characters into the spotlight, and they quickly became one of the most technically fascinating fighters in the series.

In Smash, the Ice Climbers function as a duo fighter, with Popo controlled by the player and Nana acting as a synced partner. Their moveset revolves around coordinating attacks, combos, and desync techniques, where the two characters intentionally act out of sync to create advanced setups. Their defining attributes include strong grab-based punishes, powerful smash attacks, and unique movement interactions between the pair.

They became infamous in competitive Brawl due to chain grabs and infinites that led to tournament bans in some regions. While they were absent in Smash 4 due to hardware limitations on the 3DS, their return in Ultimate restored their signature duo mechanics with new quality-of-life improvements. The Ice Climbers remain one of the most iconic examples of Smash’s experimental character design.