#i wanted to get it out of my drafts aghdkjdhgj

[gentletwin]

Headcanon: What is Smash? Where is Smash? How is Smash?

( Note these are just personal headcanons that build on the already-established fanon of the Smash Mansion! No one has to fully agree with me on any of these obviously but it may help contextualize some of the things I write in Smash-verse threads. )

In-universe, Smash is a fighting tournament which spans multiple different universes. It’s famous all across the multiverse, and only the best, brightest, and strongest get invited. You don’t apply to be in Smash. You wait for your invite.

Smash is situated at a hub of sorts within the multiverse, which all of the fighters’ different universes can connect to in order for everyone to convene. Cross-dimensional transportation is covered by the organizers. Don’t worry.

The guys running all of this are Master Hand and his slightly more chaotic relative Crazy Hand, who are beings disconnected from any particular universe. They know about the fighters in all of the different universes. They choose who gets invites. Does that make the hands gods? Or maybe Eldritch creatures detached from spacetime? We don’t know, but they give everyone free housing, so no one’s really complaining.

Despite how Classic boss fights make it seem, Master and Crazy Hand are actually benign outside of combat. ( It’s worth noting that in those Classic boss fights, which might make the Hands seem malicious without context, they’re simply the final challenge before a fighter claims victory. ) They put together each tournament and nominate the fighters — Master Hand the “heroes” of a given universe, and Crazy Hand the “villains.” Together, the Hands organize the events, created the whole Smash Mansion for everyone to live in, transport fighters to and from stages, and ensure that no one is actually mortally injured during the fights. Ever wonder why there’s never any blood in a Smash fight, even as people swing swords around and breathe fire? That’s the Hands’ technology at work. Fighters who get launched into oblivion, only to be safely returned back to the stage? The Hands’ technology. Shouldn’t all of this hurt like heck? Not with the Hands watching. Basically, you'll get knocked around and might come out busted up pretty good, but the Hands’ protection ensures that no one is actually gravely hurt.

Outside of fights, everyone is generally on friendly terms. It might be up to you to ask the hero and villain of any given universe how they feel about each other when separated from the chaos of their home universe ( ahem, Ridley ), but everyone is at least able to live under the same roof.

Speaking of that roof, the fighters all live together in a massive mansion that has gradually gotten bigger over the years. Every fighter gets a room, and they have every amenity they could possibly need or want. A huge kitchen and dining area to feed all the mouths there, a common area, a terrace, a beautiful garden, training facilities, and not to mention quarters for all of the Pokemon, assist trophies, and what have you. As the scale of Smash has expanded over time, the mansion has begun to look more like a gigantic estate. The mansion is also conveniently situated close to grocery stores, convenience stores, clothing stores, parks — pretty much anything you could think of.

This particular tournament ( Ultimate ) has expanded to such a wide scale that the mansion is multiple acres of land and has guest quarters for any friends or loved ones a fighter might want to bring to spectate. This is unique to Ultimate — spectators could previously only watch from their home universes. ( This is also how all their spirits ended up scattered around in World of Light — unfortunately, all these people from all over the multiverse being gathered in one pocket of it was the perfect scenario for Galeem. )

Anyone who isn’t staying in the guest quarters is able to watch matches on TV, livestreamed, or whatever their universe’s equivalent of that technology might be. They can also go in person if a match takes place on a stage in their universe.

Each tournament is one “year” apart ( in IC time; i.e., Brawl and 3DS/WiiU were one year of in-universe time apart despite the actual games being separated by six years of real time ). Though honestly, who really knows? Time might flow differently from one universe to another.

Lastly, it’s important to note that things like Subspace and World of Light are interruptions to the tournament which, thus far, have all come with the threat of the destruction of the multiverse. During these crises, Master and Crazy Hand are typically taken by whatever final boss is masterminding the whole operation ( Tabuu in Brawl, Galeem and Dharkon in SSBU — this is actually alluded to canonically in WoL ). Since these fights are not tournament sanctioned, the protective technology is not in place and there is real danger in these fights.

Once the Smash festivities end, transport back to one’s home universe is also covered. Contact is generally kept between fighters in between tournaments wherever possible — though cross-dimensional reception can get tricky.