Sephiroth

Sephiroth is the antagonist from Square Enix's Final Fantasy VII. He is a former renowed member of an elite fighting force called SOLDIER, who defected and went on a murderous rampage after discovering the circumstances of his existence, eventually becoming a world-ending threat for Cloud Strife and his allies to stop. He is set to appear in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate as a downloadable character.

Super Smash Bros. Ultimate
Sephiroth is set to release in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate as the third fighter of Fighters Pass Vol. 2, following Min Min and Steve. During held on December 10, 2020, he was announced as the fighter for Challenger Pack 8. A follow-up broadcast hosted by Masahiro Sakurai on December 17, 2020, further showcased his moves as well as his home stage, the Northern Cave. The pack is set to release officially on December 22, 2020, though from December 17 until its release, if the player has purchased the individual pack or Fighters Pass Vol. 2 and updated the game to version 10.0.0, they can partake in a "Sephiroth Challenge" event, where they can fight Sephiroth in a Stamina battle on the Northern Cave stage on Easy, Normal, or Very Hard difficulty. If the player defeats Sephiroth on any difficulty, they unlock him, the stage, and its music early.

The reveal trailer for Sephiroth takes place during the events of the adventure game mode, World of Light, emerging during a fight between various characters and Galeem and several Master Hands. Unlike all of the other characters in-game, he is the only playable character that seems to not join forces with the cast; however, he cuts Galeem in half right before his appearance, seemingly being against both separate parties. Cloud then recognizes Sephiroth upon his appearance. After brief gameplay footage, Sephiroth is seen attempting to stab through Mario (a reference to his actions towards Cloud during the Nibelheim Incident flashback in the original game as well as a similar action in their duel in ), which is then interrupted by Cloud, and the two begin swordfighting.

Classic Mode route
All of Sephiroth's opponents are bosses, making his Classic Mode route similar to Boss Battles mode from Super Smash Bros. Brawl.

Final Smash
Supernova is Sephiroth's Final Smash. When the move is activated, Sephiroth swipes his Masamune in a wide arc. If at least one opponent is hit, a cutscene is initiated. Sephiroth turns into his final form, Safer∙Sephiroth, and begins an attack resembling his Supernova ability in Final Fantasy VII, summoning Meteor to wipe out several planets.

In its original appearance, Supernova's animation plays for nearly two minutes, whereas in this game, it has been shortened to roughly six seconds.