In Rivals of Aether, each character has a different set of alternate skins for the purpose of distinguishing between players or just for looking cool. In addition to default skins and premium skins, the player is able to create a custom skin with whatever colors are desired. After simply completing Story Mode, a second slot is unlocked.
Player may choose their character's skins on the selection screen. In team battles the player will also be surrounded in an outline of their team color. Players may not use the same character with the same skin (if an online opponent chooses the same skin as you, the game will make them appear with a different skin on your screen). There are options to turn off custom skins in Casual online matches. In Ranked matches, players cannot select custom skins.
Default Skins[]
Zetterburn[]
Orcane[]
Wrastor[]
Kragg[]
Forsburn[]
Maypul[]
Absa[]
Etalus[]
Ranno[]
Clairen[]
Sylvanos[]
Elliana[]
Ori and Sein[]
Shovel Knight[]
Default Custom Skins[]
Players can customize two skins for each rival. While the first one is unlocked by default, the second one can be unlocked by completing Story Mode casually. Rivals of Aether comes with two custom skins already made for each character.
Zetterburn[]
Orcane[]
Wrastor[]
Kragg[]
Forsburn[]
Maypul[]
Absa[]
Etalus[]
Ranno[]
Clairen[]
Sylvanos[]
Elliana[]
Ori and Sein[]
Shovel Knight[]
Abyss Skins[]
Once a character reaches level 10 in Abyss Mode, a special skin will be unlocked for that character.
Gold Rank Skins[]
When players reach Rank Gold in online ranked matches, special skins are unlocked. These skins all have a shine animation, which cannot be replicated using custom colors.
Milestone System Skins[]
Several characters have special skins as their milestone rewards. They can be obtained by reaching 250 kills with the corresponding character.
- Zetterburn (Lovers of Aether)
- Bradshaw
- Forsburn (Lovers of Aether)
- Absa (Lovers of Aether)
- Ayala
Premium Skins[]
Some alternate skins are only obtainable during special events or by purchasing them. These are known as Premium Skins. They generally have a special color scheme and slightly changed attributes, such as having a different taunt.
Champion Skins[]
These are partially transparent skins, which cannot be replicated using custom colors. The taunt of Champion skins involves characters holding a shining crystal, and the pose can be extended if the taunt button is held.
Early Access Skins[]
Players who purchased the game while it was still in early access can use the early access skins. The skins use Gameboy colors and no shading, which cannot be replicated using custom colors. They do not have different taunts.
Golden Skins[]
There are currently eight golden character skins: Golden Orcane, Golden Etalus, Golden Zetterburn, Golden Kragg, Golden Maypul, Golden Sylvanos, Golden Ranno and Golden Shovel Knight. They are only obtainable by purchasing a Rivals of Aether plushie from Symbiote Studios. They have a special sparkle effect and different taunts.
- Orcane's taunt turns him into a sparkling trophy.
- Etalus' taunt gives him a royal cape and a kingly pose.
- Zetterburn's taunt involves him looking at the Zetterburn plushie.
- Kragg's taunt has him produce a golden rock. Attacking the rock will chisel it into a statue of Kragg.
- Sylvanos's taunt has him produce the Sylvanos plushie. Taunting again will have him tear it to shreds. Moving makes him drop it.
- Maypul's taunt shows her hugging Lily. If Lily is already planted she will take out a plush and hug it.
- Shovel Knight’s taunt has King Knight replace Chester emerging from the chest.
- Clairen's taunt has a time capsule appear, as she pulls a Clairen plush out of it and hold it up to the air similar to Link.
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Tournament Skins[]
Many skins are related to tournaments and can be bought at the venue or through a tournament's website. The exception is Twitch Absa, which can be obtained through giveaways from the Rivals of Aether Twitch channel. These skins normally use the tournament's colors and have a special taunt.
So far, these are all of the tournament skins:
- Summit Kragg (Smash Summit)
- Has a snowy particle effect.
- Twitch Absa (Twitchcon)
- Absa's clouds resemble the Twitch logo.
- Absa's taunt has Absa sit on a cloud, put on headphones, summon some snacks on a cloud, and play a video game on a TV with the Twitch logo. Holding down the taunt button for a few seconds will cause an 8-bit remix of the Rivals of Aether theme to play. When the taunt button is released, Absa throws her controller on the ground.
- Summit Orcane (Smash Summit 3)
- Orcane's bubbles are replaced with snowflakes.
- Taunting while on top of a puddle will cause Orcane to become covered in snow. Taunting again will shake the snow off.
- Genesis Forsburn (Genesis 4)
- Forsburn's smoke has a new animation.
- Forsburn's fire glows.
- Arcade Maypul (Super Smash Con 2017)
- Every time Maypul respawns, she changes color. The possible colors are blue, green, and purple.
- If Maypul taunts without Lily on stage, she uses a device to project a hologram of Lily, which she high-fives.
- Lily becomes an arcade machine. When Maypul taunts, the machine projects a hologram of Lily, which she waves at.
- Maypul's seeds are replaced with coins. She throws a coin for her Neutral Special, and when using Side Special or aerial Down Special, she turns golden and leaves a trail of coins.
- Shine Zetterburn (Shine 2017)
- Zetterburn's taunt is based off one of Fox's taunts from Super Smash Bros.
- Zetterburn's Neutral Special gets a new animation that is based off Fox's Reflector (Shine).
- Genesis Clairen (Genesis 5)
- Clairen's taunt projects an image from her visor. Her taunt changes based on directional input: Neutral Taunt makes a G5 sign, Up Taunt makes a thumbs up (👍), Down Taunt makes a thumbs down (👎), Right Taunt makes a >:(, and Left Taunt makes a :).
- On PC, attack, jump, special, strong attack, and block also make different taunts. Holding attack makes a KO, jump makes an OK hand (👌), special makes a :P, strong attack makes a :o, and block/parry makes a QQ.
- Clairen's tipper hit effect creates diamonds.
- Hero Clairen (2GG: Hyrule Saga)
- Clairen's tipper hit effects are now triangular and have the Triforce symbol inside them.
- Clairen's taunt is based off one of Link's taunts from Super Smash Bros.
- A fairy based on Navi from the Legend of Zelda series follows Clairen around the stage.
- Side Special has a Triforce animation.
- Pool Party Ranno (Smash'N'Splash 4)
- Ranno's pants have a flower pattern.
- Ranno's poison bubble now looks like a beach ball.
- Ranno rides a surfboard for his taunt.
- Arcade Elliana (Super Smash Con 2018)
- Every time Elliana respawns, she changes color. The possible colors are green, purple, and blue.
- Explosions from all Strong and Special Attacks are pixelated.
- Elliana's taunt is a playable "Snake" game. The player controls a pixel snake that can move in four directions and must eat the randomly spawned food. The pixel snake gets longer the more it eats. If the head of the snake hits a part of its body, the game ends and Elliana does a short angry animation. Elliana is not invincible while playing the game.
- Heat Wave Forsburn (Heat Wave 2)
- Forsburn's cape is the flag of Arizona.
- Forsburn's smoke clouds have the flag of Arizona pattern on them.
- Combust has the flag of Arizona pattern in it.
- Forsburn's up special causes him to leave a cactus behind.
- Forsburn's taunt has him decorate a cactus with his cape, mask, and knife. If he does this so that the cactus is in the air, it will fall and end up posing while lying down.
- Genesis Sylvanos (Genesis 6)
- Sylvanos's vines, tail bulb, and mane (during certain attacks) are surrounded by a red aura.
- Sylvanos' taunt will start normally, but will glitch, causing him to distort. His sounds become corrupted and an "image not found" box briefly appears. For a short time after he taunts, the background near him will be filled with code.
- Pool Party Orcane (Smash'N'Splash 5)
- Orcane has an animated wave pattern.
- Orcane's taunt allows him to transform into a beach ball, palm tree, inflatable duck pool tube, beach chair, or smoothie with sunglasses.
- Arcade Clairen (Super Smash Con 2019)
- Every time Clairen respawns, she changes color. The possible colors are green, blue, and pink.
- Clairen's taunt causes her to pull out a ball and hit it forward with her sword. All players can hit the ball to knock it back. The ball will explode in confetti and play a sound effect if exits the blast zones.
- Collegiate Wrastor (The Big House 9)
- Wrastor is surrounded by a white outline to resemble a mascot.
- Wrastor spawns with a cap and flag, which fall off once he moves or attacks.
- Wrastor's side special replaces his tornado with a football which leaves behind a football field line.
- Wrastor's taunt has him cheer with a cap, flag, and foam finger. The cap and flag stay on him until he moves or attacks.
- Dreamscape Forsburn (DreamHack Atlanta 2019)
- Forsburn's cape has a starry pattern.
- The color of Forsburn's smoke clouds depends where on the screen they are. Smoke clouds near the top will be dark purple, while those near the bottom will be fuchsia. This gives Forsburn's smoke a gradient across the screen.
- Forsburn's taunt has him twirl his cape in the air.
- Genesis Etalus (Genesis 7)
- Etalus's taunt has him create a red block of ice and break it to reveal a TV. Attacking the TV causes the image displayed on it to change. The TV can display the Genesis 7 logo, the Rivals of Aether title screen, the current stage, or Mr. Cai from Lovers of Aether.
- Elliana on the Edge (GoTE Online Charity Tournament)
- Elliana's taunt has her fly into the air with dragon wings and breathe fire.
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Make Your Mark Series[]
Skins in the Make Your Mark series are based on competitive players who win certain Rivals of Aether tournaments. There are currently two Character Skins in the Make Your Mark series.
- Penguin Absa (for Penguin after winning Elemental Rivalries)
- Absa's clouds are replaced with penguins. When Absa hits a cloud, it explodes into multiple smaller penguins.
- Absa's taunt causes her to open a tin of mints and eat one, but Forsburn steals the rest of the mints.
- Panda Etalus (for FullStream after winning Genesis 6)
- Etalus's sprites are changed to resemble a panda.
- Etalus's taunt causes him to produce a tier list. The top tier (S tier) contains Panda Etalus, the middle tier (B tier) contains four random characters, and the bottom tier (F tier) contains the opponent's character.
Alternate Character Skins[]
These are skins that change the appearance of a character instead of just changing the colors.
- Ragnir Maypul (based on Ragnir from Brawlhalla)
- Maypul's plant-based attacks become fire-based.
- Lily is a fiery weapon planted in the ground.
- Ragnir's neutral special throws spike balls instead of seeds.
- Ragnir's taunt causes him to levitate while surrounded by flames. This is most likely a reference to the "Next Level" emote from Brawlhalla. If Lily is on stage, she will turn into a fiery version of her original appearance while Ragnir taunts.
- Tuxedo Ranno (in collaboration with Tuxedo Esports)
- Ranno has new sprites in which he no longer has his poison sash, but now wears a tuxedo.
- Ranno's poison darts are replaced with roses.
- Ranno's taunt has him throw a rose behind him. If the rose hits an opponent, it will deal 1% damage and no knockback, making this taunt unique in that it is one of the only taunts that can affect the game (albeit very minimally).
Other Premium Skins[]
- Spangled Wrastor (for Mang0)
- Wrastor's wings have white "stars" on them to resemble the American Flag.
- His taunt leaves an American Flag on the stage.
- Panda Maypul (for Plup)
- Lily looks like a cherry blossom tree.
- Maypul's taunt has her sit and meditate under a fully bloomed Lily.
- Excalibur (for Alpharad)
- Zetterburn shines every few seconds.
- Taunting leaves a sword in the ground.
- Excalibur is a purposely bad and overly edgy OC (Original Character) created by YouTube content creator Alpharad as a joke in one of his videos.
- Excalibur was added as a skin after Alpharad made it past Wave 40 in an early version of abyss mode, which used lots of placeholder graphics.
- Burrito Kragg (for Burrito Esports)
- Kragg's rock has eyes that blink and his pillar looks like a burrito.
- Kragg's new taunt involves eating burritos.
Seasonal Skins[]
Seasonal Skins are available to all players for free for a limited time. When using these skins, characters will spawn and respawn with clothes or other accessories that disappear when they move or taunt. Aside from this, the Seasonal Skins are essentially recolors of the characters, without unique taunts or effects.
Valentine's Day[]
Summer[]
Halloween[]
Christmas[]
Infamous Skins[]
Infamous Skins were given to all players who purchased the corresponding DLC characters before the release of the Definitive Edition. Currently, there is no way to obtain Infamous Skins. Taunting while using any of these skins will cause the character to spray paint the player's in-game tag on the stage.
Trivia[]
- Certain skins, most notably Ragnir Maypul, are banned from official tournaments due to the skin's visuals not lining up with the character's hurtboxes.
- Before the Definitive Edition was released, DLC characters weren't playable in Abyss mode. Despite this, it was possible to "unlock" these skins by editing the player's save data.