Ice Climbers

The Ice Climbers, named Ice Climber in Japan, are a pair consisting of a boy named Popo and a girl named Nana, who originate from the VS. System arcade game VS. Ice Climber. Though they have only had one single game of their own, aside from the modified NES home conversion Ice Climber, the Ice Climbers have made various appearances in other Nintendo games, including in Super Smash Bros. Melee, Super Smash Bros. Brawl, and Super Smash Bros. Ultimate as a playable fighter.

Super Smash Bros. Melee
In Super Smash Bros. Melee, the Ice Climbers are introduced as a default playable fighter. The two are unique, as they fight as a team, but act as two separate characters. Depending on the alternate costume, the player can control either Popo or Nana, while the other is a computer player that copies their inputs and returns to the player when they are separated. The Ice Climbers attack simultaneously, and as they are two characters the player can grab two opponents and hold two items at once. If the second climber is KO'd, the leading one can still fight, but their attacks are not as powerful as they would be if both are present. However, if the player-controlled climber is KO'd, they are both sent back to the respawn platform. Also unique to the Ice Climbers is that they have normal traction on slippery ground.

Their neutral special move is Ice Shot, which sends out icicles toward the opponents. Their side special is Squall Hammer, in which the climbers spin around with their hammers. Their down special move is Blizzard, which has Popo and Nana send out a blast of cold air. Their up special move is Belay, in which one of the climbers throws the others into the air with a rope to pull the other up.

Super Smash Bros. Brawl
The Ice Climbers return to the series in Super Smash Bros. Brawl, retaining their moveset and attributes from Super Smash Bros. Melee. However, both Ice Climbers are able to grab a ledge at the same time; in the previous game, the other climber cannot grab on if one is already on the ledge. Their Final Smash is Iceberg, in which they create a large iceberg in the middle of the stage. During their stage entrance, the Ice Climbers are flown to the stage by the condor.

Adventure Mode: 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 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 and Super Smash Bros. for Wii U, making them the only playable characters in the entire series that have been playable in more than one game before being 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, and that while the Ice Climbers were running perfectly in the Wii U version, they were cut as they were unlikely to get a new game and Sakurai didn’t want the Wii U version to have an exclusive character. Instead, they appear as a trophy in both versions of the game; the trophy is a random unlockable in Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS; to unlock the trophy in Super Smash Bros. for Wii U, the player has to KO his/her rival four times in a single Rival Smash match.

Icicle Mountain's theme from Super Smash Bros. Melee and Ice Climbers' theme from Super Smash Bros. Brawl returns in the Wii U version as alternate themes for the Wrecking Crew stage, despite the characters being cut.

In Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS, Polar Bears, an enemy of the Ice Climbers, are featured as an enemy in Smash Run.

Super Smash Bros. Ultimate
The Ice Climbers, alongside all Super Smash Bros. series veterans, return as unlockable playable fighters in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate. They received many aesthetic changes, such as Nana being more expressive when Popo grabs an opponent, or vice-versa. The Ice Climbers also have 8 costumes, like all other characters in the game. On a side note, the Ice Climbers' victory theme has been shortened compared to Super Smash Bros. Brawl.

The Ice Climbers retain their Final Smash from Super Smash Bros. Brawl, though it functions slightly differently.

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!

Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS / Wii U trophy
Blue indicates exclusive to the Wii U version.

Palutena's Guidance

 * Pit: Two of them? That's cheating!
 * Palutena: Say hello to the Ice Climbers. They haven't always had the best cooperation, but their teamwork seems pretty solid now.
 * Pit: OK, sure, but...What about the fact that there are two of them?! Didn't they get kicked out of Smash for illegal teaming?
 * Palutena: Well they're back now, so I'm pretty sure it's allowed. I mean, you could pair up with Dark Pit if you wanted to.
 * Pit and Dark Pit: Never!
 * Palutena: Your physical powers are equally matched. It's a perfect fit, really.
 * Pit: That IS true.
 * Dark Pit: Hmm...
 * Palutena: Now then, which one of you is the leader?
 * Pit: Definitely me!
 * Dark Pit: No way. I'm the leader.
 * Viridi: Oh yeah. They make a perfect team.
 * Palutena: In any case, when fighting the Ice Climbers, defeat Nana first to isolate Popo. Try to separate them!

Super Smash Blog bio
"Back in the battle after a ten-year absence! There are two of them, so does that make them twice as strong as other fighters?"

amiibo

 * That's Popo in the blue and Nana in the pink. These two stars of the Ice Climber™ game have scaled many an icy summit in their mountaineering careers. Back in their glory days, they chased eggplants, cucumbers, and other vegetables that inexplicably fell from frosty summits when a condor reigned supreme. They're rarely seen apart.

Trivia

 * In the German version, Popo was renamed to "Pepe" due to "Popo" meaning "buttocks" in German.
 * The Ice Climbers' Chinese name literally translates to "Snowman Brothers," despite the fact that Nana is female.
 * The Ice Climbers' losing/"No Contest" animation shows Popo and Nana crying rather than clapping, a reference to their "No Bonus" animation from Ice Climber.