A prominent Super Smash Bros. community organizer reveals that former United States president Barack Obama plays as Captain Falcon in the game. Obama is one of the most video game friendly presidents in its history, with Obama's administration seeing the declaration of video games as free and protected speech. One thing gamers might not have known was that Obama has played Super Smash Bros., and his main is apparently Captain Falcon from F-Zero.
This piece of information comes from a Super Smash Bros. community organizer, Cody Daniels, who met with the former president in 2015. Daniels is a prominent organizer of the N64 game's tournaments, having one of the largest house tournaments for the original game. His meeting with Obama was thanks to the Make-A-Wish foundation, where his wish was to play a couple rounds of the original game on the Nintendo 64 with the president. Daniels talks more about his experience facing off against the president in the game in a recent livestream.
This event was Hustler Casino's Max Pain Monday poker stream, an event used to raise money for the Make-a-Wish foundation. Daniels, alongside competitive Super Smash Bros. Melee player, Daniel "Tafokints" Lee, discussed various aspects about their competitive careers, including the aforementioned experience playing with Barack Obama. Daniels explains to Lee that he "took it easy" on Obama, playing as Ness instead of his mains, Pikachu and Fox. While he invited others to guess who the former president played as, he eventually reveals that Captain Falcon was Obama's main.
Captain Falcon as a former president's main does make a fair bit of sense. Captain Falcon radiates American influences, with F-Zero's creator being inspired by Batman when designing him. As such, the character feels like a patriotic superhero in both Super Smash Bros. and F-Zero. Captain Falcon remains an iconic member of the Super Smash Bros. roster, even if his franchise remains dormant.
Cody Daniels notes that Obama was much better at the game than one might think, describing him as better than a casual player. Not only did they get to play the game, the former president also signed a copy of Daniels' Super Smash Bros. Nintendo 64 cartridge, which he has a photo of as well. Daniels' appearance on Max Pain Monday was his way of paying things forward, donating all of his winnings to a future Make-A-Wish foundation person.
Super Smash Bros. was originally released in 1999 for the Nintendo 64.