Updated World Icon FAQ created by Random_Guy_42 of GameFAQs:
Our newest addition today was the Foxhound icon, bringing the total up to 17.
1: Smash Bros Logo (Smash Bros.)
2: “DK” Logo (Donkey Kong)
3: Great Fox Emblem (Star Fox)
4: Warp Star (Kirby)
5: “F-Zero” Logo
6: Screw Attack (Metroid)
7: Earth (Earthbound)
8: Pokeball (Pokemon)
9: Triforce (Legend of Zelda)
10: Mushroom (Mario)
11: Egg (Yoshi)
12: Sword (Fire Emblem)
13: <Unknown, presumed to be Game & Watch>
14: Eggplant (Ice Climber)
15: Leaf (Animal Crossing)
16: “W” (WarioWare)
17: FOXHOUND/Kojima Productions Emblem (Metal Gear)
18: Bow & Arrow (Kid Icarus)
There is only one known icon that has not yet been used, and that is the Game & Watch Face from SSBM.
In previous postings of this list, I have seen a number of posts along the lines of “What is
this list?”, “Why are they arranged like that?”, “Why is Wario number 16?”, “Why does the list only go to 18?” etc, etc. This time round, I’ve included a Mini-FAQ (Next Post) which I hope will answer some of these questions.
Before we begin, I want to point out one question in particular that has been said far too many times, and that is: “Why does the list only go to 18?” It’s simple. This list only goes to 18 because that is the highest icon number we know of, belonging to Pit. There may be, and most likely are, numbers with icons higher then that. We just don’t know of them.
Icon FAQ
So what the heck is this list all about anyway?
As most of you have probably noticed, every update has a little icon in the top left corner. Some of these updates get a generic Smash icon (the one that’s behind the percentages of the Wire Frames, the Hands and Giga Bowser in Melee), however, most updates have icons that relate to the franchise they originated from. (Mario as the Mushroom, Link as the Triforce, etc.)
If you right-click these icons and view the source link for the images, you’ll see a link which ends in “world_b_##.gif”, where the ## is the number for whichever icon you are viewing. Taking the numbers on the end of these links and arranging them numerically gives us our above list. Also, the “b” in the link can be interchanged with a “w” to alternate between black and white backgrounds. There’s nothing fancy hidden in that part.
Since this was first discovered way back with the Mario and Link update, there have been many theories has to how these series corresponded with their numerical order, from it being simply alphabetical, to being the same as chronological release of the series. One of these theories was that the icons were loosely based on an order that went from original SSB icons, to Melee icons, to Brawl icons. As more icons were released, it became apparent that this tread was indeed being seen, so it is widely accepted as correct for the time being. It was previously thought that 3rd Party characters in Brawl would have their icons at the end of the list, but Snakes placement on the list has proven this is incorrect.
But hold on! What about items? Might they have their own icons, which would throw off this list?
As the icons are seen behind the damage percentages, and as items do not receive a damage tally, they don’t have their own icon. In Melee, we had the items like the Flipper (Balloon Fight) and Lip’s Stick (Panel de Pon) that were from games without playable characters and still had no icon. Dr. Wright has shown us this is the case for Brawl also, as his update featured the Brawl icon, and not some icon from SimCity.
So why bother showing us this list anyway? What’s the significance?
Excellent question. Prior to the announcement of the “Smashville” stage people had used this list to determine that there would be at least one other new series making its way into Brawl. This is because adding all the known icons at that point added up to 17, one less then Pit’s number of 18. To clarify, the Smash icon sits in the number one spot, and the original Smash gives us ten icons (Mario/Luigi & Pikachu/Jigglypuff share an icon each) totaling eleven icons. Adding in the three from Melee (Ice Climbers, Fire Emblem and Game & Watch) gave us fourteen, and adding the new icons in Brawl that are known (Kid Icarus, Wario and Metal Gear) (Meta Knight and ZSS don’t count, as they have the Kirby and Metroid icons respectively.) gave us our seventeen. This list was also used to determine whether a Mother character would be in (That symbol was the last SSB icon revealed at 7, so many assumed it would go there) and we may also be able to follow this up with Game & Watch’s inclusion if his icon turns out to be 13.
Because AC has a franchise icon along with all the other playable fighters, many believe that AC will have a playable fighter as well. However, it is still not yet known whether an AC character will join the fighting roster.
As the current amount of empty slots fit those that haven’t yet been used, we have to wait for either a higher numbered icon to be revealed or for an announcement on the Dojo that an old franchise has been dropped. Until then, we cannot gauge the presence of any more new franchises in Brawl. Unfortunately, neither option seems to be coming in the near future. Many were hoping that Snakes Emblem would reveal a few more places by being later on the list, but these hopes have been crushed.
