A leak is information about a game that has been released prematurely.
Super Smash Bros. Brawl[]
Smashboards & GameFAQs Leaks[]
Multiple users by the usernames NyaseNya, ChaosZero, and ShadowXOR had all leaked correct information about the then upcoming Super Smash Bros. Brawl game. All were often treated as trolls and had some of their posts taken down due to the large speculation around them. The following is what each leaker had leaked:
NyaseNya had revealed:[]
- Ness, Mr. Game & Watch, and Captain Falcon returning from Melee.
- Brawl would have 35 playable characters (this is true if multi-characters such as Pokémon Trainer and Sheik/Zelda are counted as one character).
- Toon Link and Olimar would be newcomers.
- Brawl would be delayed from its promised release date
ChaosZero had revealed:[]
- Ganondorf, Captain Falco, Falco, Sheik/Zelda, and Ness would all return from Melee.
- Mewtwo would be cut from Brawl instead of returning.
- Sonic, Lucario, and Wolf would be newcomers.
- Final Destination would return from Melee.
- New features such as Stage Builder and the Dragoon item.
ShadowXOR had revealed:[]
- Captain Falcon, Ness, and Marth returning from Melee.
- R.O.B would be a newcomer.
Ness/Jigglypuff/Lucario leak[]
In Super Smash Bros. Brawl one of the most famous leaks was the Ness, Lucario, and Jigglypuff leak. Nintendo's Japanese website posted a video of various features in Super Smash Bros. Brawl, including how the use of stickers works. At around 4:21 in the video, various stickers are shown and in the bottom part of the screen is the head of characters that could equip the sticker. Ness is next to Lucas for one of these stickers, while Jigglypuff and Lucario appear next to Pikachu and the Pokémon Trainer in another. Because the heads were used to represent playable characters, this confirmed that Ness, and Jigglypuff would be returning in Brawl, and that Lucario would be making his first appearance into the franchise.
Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS and Wii U[]
Ninka Leak[]
Before E3, a user on Smashboards by the username of Ninka Kiwi had revealed new information on the upcoming Super Smash Bros. game. They had revealed that Charizard and Mario would get new palette swaps with Mario specifically having a blue and pink palette swap. Later on, Ninka yet again revealed information, stating that Wolf, Lucas, Snake, and the Ice Climbers would all be cut and that Shulk, Duck Hunt, Bowser Jr. (along with the other Koopalings) and Dark Pit would all be newcomers. Along with this, they had revealed that Dr. Mario would return after being cut from Brawl. Later on, a friend of Ninka had revealed that Robin would be playable and stated that The Chorus Kids, Mewtwo, Ridley, and Dixie Kong, despite being in heavy demand, would not be playable, in which Ninka stated that his friend was correct. Eventually, all of the before mentioned characters were either confirmed or deconfirmed for the game, making the posts correct.
ESRB Leak[]
A leak originating from 4Chan. It originally stemmed from an image containing all previous characters. The original post asked users which characters they thought would be cut from the upcoming Smash game, in which the original image was edited to cross out fighters and, in place of other characters, put unseen menu icons of them along with newcomers. The characters Pichu, Young Link, Roy, Ice Climbers, Snake, Wolf, Squirtle, Ivysaur, and Lucas were all crossed out with 'X's with Mewtwo having a question mark over their icon which stemmed much mystery. Along with this, previous fighters Ness, Jigglypuff, Ganondorf, Falco, Dr. Mario, Mr. Game & Watch, R.O.B, and Wario all had previously unseen character icons containing them. Along with this, newcomers Dark Pit, Duck Hunt, Bowser Jr., and Shulk all had icons despite not being revealed yet. This post was highly debated as most users tried to debunk as much as possible, pointing out minor detailed such as Shulk resembling Little Mac in facial structure and Dr. Mario and Bowser Jr. possibly being based on internet fan renders. There was also much debate about why Mewtwo had a question mark over its icon. On the same post, there was revealed video of the characters Charizard, Lucina, Ganondorf, and Shulk all fighting on Yoshi's Island. The video was also heavily debated as if it was a Brawl mod or not. After the leak started to lose popularity, another video was released, showing video of Bowser, Kirby, Bowser Jr., and Pikachu all battling on the new Battlefield design. There were also revealed trophies for various characters such as Dedenne, Gastly, Pauline, Lyn, Specknose, and Devil Car. Eventually, by the time of the games release, everything was confirmed along with the trophies, stages, and all of the characters.
Gematsu Leak[]
The Gematsu leak stemmed from an anonymous e-mail listing several characters. Through these two e-mails, most characters were revealed or revealed and then cut. The first leak consisted of a list of characters, listed with Mega Man, "Animal Crossing Guy", the Wii Fit Trainer, Pac-Man, a Mii, and Little Mac. The mentioned "Animal Crossing Guy" turned out to be Villager. Through the second leak, there was another list of characters, listed with Chrom, a Pokémon from X & Y, Shulk, Palutena, and The Chorus Kids. All of the characters were the first leak were confirmed when the game had released. However, the second leak had only some characters in the final game, as The Chorus Kids and Chrom were missing. However, multiple sources state that the two removed characters were planned early in, but were scrapped, as Sakurai had revealed that he intended Chrom to be playable, but found he couldn't be unique enough from Lucina, Marth, and Ike. As for The Chorus Kids, they are can be discovered through the roster code with a label of "Rhythm". This implies that a Rhythm Heaven character could have been in the roster, most likely The Chorus Kids from the leak.
Super Smash Bros. Ultimate[]
E3 Figures Leak[]
A YouTuber by the name of GU KingofHeart claimed that they had information on the upcoming E3 statues for the upcoming Super Smash Bros. game. He had listed the following:
- The Golden Hammer item
- Bayonetta's gun and boots
- Fox's Blaster
- Shulk's Monado
- Captain Falcon's helmet
- Link's Master Sword
- Inkling's Splattershot
- Marth's Falchion
At E3, all of the above statues were showcased, thus confirming Inkling as a newcomer and the return of Bayonetta, Fox, Shulk, Captain Falcon, Link, and Marth from the past game.