Manga and anime character

A manga character or anime character is a character that first hailed from a manga or anime before appearing in a video game. All manga/anime characters so far that have appeared in the Super Smash Flash series have not made an appearance in the Super Smash Bros. series and most likely will be exclusives to the Super Smash Flash series.

In Super Smash Flash
The first game in the series, Super Smash Flash, only had two manga/anime representatives. and were both unlockable characters.

In Super Smash Flash 2
More manga/anime characters appear in Super Smash Flash 2. SSF2's original roster had seven manga/anime characters but the only characters from that list who are still a part of the game are, and. Unlike in Super Smash Flash, all the manga/anime characters that have been revealed so far were starter characters.

Controversy
While the appearance of manga/anime characters in Super Smash Flash was met with, for the most part, applaud from fans because the game was mostly seen as a joke. However, the view point of there appearance in Super Smash Flash 2 is varied. Some fans enjoy that more manga/anime characters are included in the roster, others are indifferent to their inclusion and some do not like them being in the game feeling that they have nothing to add to the roster or they take away from the game feeling like a true Smash Bros. game. The fans who have a negative reaction to the manga/anime characters protested against their inclusion which may have led to some characters being cut from the roster and one of the main reasons behind the roster change. The most famous example of this is Rock Lee who was originally going to be playable along side Naruto and Sasuke Uchiha, but was cut and is now a background character. Vegeta was also cut and is now a background character as well with Bleach's Renji Abarai now appearing as an Assist Trophy instead of a playable character like he was originally supposed to be.

Trivia

 * Naruto is the only manga/anime character that appeared in both Smash Flash games.
 * Cleod9 stated that the main reasons the devs wanted to cut back on manga/anime characters is because there would be far too many if they doubled up for each anime. In some cases the devs originally planned 3 from the same anime, but considered that would be to much.