Spirit (Super Smash Bros. Ultimate)

Spirits in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate are characters that have lost their physical forms, and act as collectible power-ups that can be equipped to fighters to grant them special abilities in battle. They are featured prominently in the game's Adventure mode, World of Light, where most characters except for the playable fighters themselves are shown being reduced to this form through disintegration from Galeem's attack. Spirits consist of characters, creatures, and objects from Nintendo video games, including both those produced internally by the company and those produced by third parties for Nintendo systems. Therefore, they are similar to the stickers from Super Smash Bros. Brawl and the equipment from Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS and Super Smash Bros. for Wii U, and consequently, also replace trophies from earlier installments.

The main method to obtain spirits is through spirit battles, in which players fight a CPU-controlled puppet fighter containing a specific spirit. The battle conditions, stage and music track for each spirit battle, as well as the fighter(s) fought during the spirit battle, usually reflect the character of the spirit. Spirits are divided into four classes of power, each represented by a star rating: Novice (one star), Advanced (two stars), Ace (three stars), and Legend (four stars). Four types of spirits can be obtained: fighter, primary, support and master. Fighter spirits are spirits that cannot be equipped, but simply serve to represent the playable characters, and are obtained either by clearing Classic Mode with them, or buying the spirits in the Vault Shop. A number of characters' alternate costumes (such as female Robin) also have separate fighter spirits, which can only be purchased in the Vault Shop.

Primary spirits have one of four strength types: red, limegreen, dodgerblue, and neutral, with attack being strong against grab, grab against shield, shield against attack, and neutral having no advantage or disadvantage against the other three. Support spirits are equipped on top of primary spirits and grant the fighter specials skills, such as increased jumping, or equipping them with a specific item. Many primary spirits also give skills to the fighter, and equipping more than one spirit with the same skill will stack its effect.

Master spirits are an unequippable type of spirit, appearing in the World of Light. Their strength in spirit battles is always neutral. After they are defeated, they unlock one of three activities – Gym (of which there is only one, Doc Louis), Dojo, or Explore – or a shop in Shopping. In the Gym, the player can leave up to four primary spirits to have them level up overtime. In the Dojo, up to four primary spirits can be left to learn special styles that increase some stats while weakening others (in the case of Slowpoke, spirits can forget styles they have learned). This process can be accelerated by paying Spirit Points. In Explore, the player can send primary and/or support spirits to the Ruins, Caves, or Jungle to search for treasure. The expedition lasts for multiple real-time hours, and can be canceled at any time. Upon its completion, the player receives rewards (including Spirit Points, coins, and inventory items), and any primary spirits sent on the expedition also gain experience points. In Shopping, the player can purchase inventory items, Skill Spheres, and other spirits. Each store has a high likelihood of selling a specific type of spirit; for example, in Anna's shop, known as Anna's Emporium, there is a greater chance of spirits with equipment appearing. Spirits are also occasionally sold at a discount.

Beating a spirit battle within the Adventure mode instantly gifts the spirit to the player. In the Spirit Board, however, after beating a puppet fighter, the next screen shows the fighter under a dark sky dazed and surrounded by a round, spinning shield, where the player has a chance to obtain the spirit by firing a gun through the opening of the shield. If the player times the shot correctly, the dark sky clears and the spirit is acquired. If the player unsuccessfully hits any part of the shield, it is broken off and they do not win the spirit, though the damage carries over to the next battle. The shield rotates faster the higher rank the spirit is. If the player fails, but has enough Spirit Points, the player can spend some Spirit Points for a retry, with more powerful spirits requiring more Spirit Points per retry. Players can use two items to aid hitting the puppet fighter, both of which can stack: Shield Spacer and Sluggish Shield. Shield Spacer removes a portion of the shield, while Sluggish Shield slows the shield's movement slightly.

Spirits have levels, which they get after participating battles (winning or losing) or after being fed snacks, which are gained through various means including but not limited to winning a spirit battle with a weaker spirit than the opponent or purchasing them through shops. After reaching the 99th level, certain spirits can be enhanced, often making them stronger such as increasing rank or giving special attributes, but resetting the spirit to level 1. This is denoted by a silver border next to the type icon, which turns gold if the spirit is enhanced.

Some spirits can also be obtained by completing in-game challenges, or bought in shops (either the Vault Shop or one of the five shops unlocked throughout the World of Light). Having already obtained a spirit does not prevent it from appearing in Spirit Board or any of the shops.

List of spirits
The numbers by the primary spirits indicate the number of support spirit slots they have available, while the numbers by the support spirits indicate the number of slots they take up when equipped to primary spirits. Names colored in gray are spirit names used when the Switch's regional settings are set to Europe or Australia.

Trivia

 * In version 1.0.0 of Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, the spirit list featured a number of differences from the other versions:
 * King Boo, the 49th spirit, was listed as the 121st spirit, next to the rest of the Luigi's Mansion-series spirits.
 * Fishman was named "Merman." (This was also the original name for the spirit, as shown in the World of Light trailer.)
 * The  opponent spirits (except ) were ordered differently (from spirit numbers 936-945: Von Kaiser,, , Bear Hugger, , Don Flamenco, Soda Popinski, , Super Macho Man, and Mr. Sandman).
 * The Super Smash Bros. Melee event match "Bomb-fest" utilizes conditions very similar to those used in Spirit Battles.