Ice Climbers

The Ice Climbers, named Ice Climber in Japan, are a pair consisting of a little boy named Popo and a little girl named Nana, who originate from a NES game called Ice Climber. Though they've only had one single game of their own, aside from VS. Ice Climber, they've made frequent crossover appearances in other Nintendo games, including Game & Watch Gallery 4, WarioWare: Twisted!, WarioWare: Touched!, Tetris DS, a mention in Game & Watch Gallery 3, and another appearance in NES Remix. Both Ice Climbers are playable fighters in Super Smash Bros. Melee and Super Smash Bros. Brawl.

Super Smash Bros. Melee


The Ice Climbers appeared in Super Smash Bros. Melee, as one of the new characters. On top of being new, they were also default. The two are unique, as they fight as a team, but act as two separate characters. Thus, they act as a literal 2-in-1 player. For instance, if the player chooses to play as them, the player will get to control Popo, while Nana is controlled by the computer.

They can be very hard to avoid, as they are a team, but if Nana is defeated first, the other is easier to fight. If Popo is defeated first, it will count as a defeat for both, even if Nana wasn't actually defeated. Their attacks are not incredibly powerful, but they can use two attacks at once, as well as use two items at once, and hold and throw two people at once. However, their reach is very short, making their grab game difficult to master.

Both Popo and Nana are voiced by Sanae Kobayashi.

Super Smash Bros. Brawl
The Ice Climbers return to the series in Super Smash Bros. Brawl, with an updated appearance, retaining their moveset and gameplay mechanics from Super Smash Bros. Melee. Their appearance now adds detailed fur to their parkas. Their Hammers also have a more detailed appearance, actually showing the wood rings on their hammers. The Ice Climber stage in Super Smash Bros. Brawl is called Summit, which matches the Ice Climber style completely. The fish from Balloon Fight can be found on this stage. Their battle entrance features them holding on to a Condor, with them jumping off to land on the stage. Their Final Smash is Iceberg, in which they create a large iceberg in the middle of the stage.

The Subspace Emissary
The Ice Climbers were first seen climbing up the Glacial Peak, completely oblivious to the shootout between the Great Fox and the Battleship Halberd. However, they do see Meta Knight climbing past them, trying to get to the Halberd. The Ice Climbers see this as a challenge, and race him to the top, managing to reach it first. However, they discover the Aura Pokémon Lucario up there, who challenges Meta Knight. Popo and Nana could only watch. Just after the battle, the Halberd rams the Great Fox into the mountain. While Meta Knight and Lucario take this chance to get inside the Halberd, the Ice Climbers fall into the Canyon, where they find themselves with Marth, Lucas, the Pokémon Trainer, and Ike. The Subspace Army attacks them all, but they are saved by Mario, Link, Yoshi, Kirby, and Pit. The Ice Climbers eventually go to Subspace with all of the heroes, where they all get turned into trophies by Tabuu. Fortunately, Kirby is then revived by a badge created by King Dedede, so he saves Popo and Nana along with some other characters. The entire team then goes after Tabuu.

Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS / Wii U
The Ice Climbers do not return as playable characters in Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS / Wii U, making them the only playable characters in the entire series that have been playable in more than one game to be cut. The director of the games, Masahiro Sakurai, has stated this is because they were unable to run smoothly on the 3DS version of the game. Instead, they appear as a trophy in both versions of the game. Also, the Polar Bears from their series appear as enemies in the 3DS-exclusive mode, Smash Run.

Despite Sakurai mentioning that the Ice Climbers were running perfectly in the Wii U version, they were not kept in since Sakurai has stated he wanted both versions to share a consistent roster. Icicle Mountain's theme from Super Smash Bros. Melee and Ice Climber's theme from Super Smash Bros. Brawl returns in the Wii U version as alternate themes for the Wrecking Crew stage, despite the characters removed.

Snake's codec

 * Snake: So those two are the Ice Climbers, huh?
 * Mei Ling: Snake, have you ever heard of a "blood bond"?
 * Snake: Sure.
 * Mei Ling: It refers to a bond between two people that's so strong they'd die for each other. The Ice Climbers have conquered frozen glaciers and dangerous mountaintops together. I think they've formed a bond that we can't even fathom.
 * Snake: I dunno. Seems to me they'd get in each other's way fighting to see who gets to the top first.
 * Mei Ling: Snake, in China they say, "Though brothers may quarrel at home, outside they defend each other from slight."
 * Snake: Is that really a Chinese proverb?
 * Mei Ling: Even though they may get in each other's way occasionally, they'll pull together in times of need. They're an inseparable team, Snake. Don't underestimate them!

Trivia

 * In Super Smash Bros. Melee and Super Smash Bros. Brawl, the Ice Climbers, being that they wear cleats, have regular traction on ice; unlike other characters, they do not slip and can travel across frosty landscapes with ease.
 * In the German version, Popo has been renamed "Pepe", because in German "Popo" means "buttocks".
 * Although in Spanish "Popo" (accented on the second O) means "poop", Popo still has his name.
 * The Ice Climbers' Chinese name literally translates to "Snowman Brothers", despite the fact that Nana is female.