Young Link (Super Smash Bros. Melee)


 * This article is about Young Link's appearance in Super Smash Bros. Melee. For other uses, see Young Link. For information about the character of whom Young Link is a "clone", see Link (SSBM).

Young Link (こどもリンク, Kodomo Rinku) is a character in SSBM. He is a direct clone of Link, with some minor differences (covered in "Attributes" below). Young Link was replaced with Toon Link in Super Smash Bros. Brawl.

He ranks 17th, slightly lower than his clone, for his good combos, grapple, and projectile game, but has light weight and a predictable recovery.

Unlocking

 * Beat Classic or Adventure mode with 10 characters (two of which must be Zelda series characters, i.e. Zelda, Link or Ganondorf)
 * Playing 500 VS. mode matches.

Attributes
Young Link is a faster, smaller, lighter (although he can still be comboed easily and chain grabbed by certain characters), and less powerful version of Link. Also, Young Link's wavedash is far faster and longer than Link's. Young Link has multiple useful projectiles, leading to potent combos, spacing techniques, and edge-guarding tactics. His grab has long reach due to being a tether grab, but it suffers from high lag. Young Link's neutral aerial has good knockback and fast speed when SHFFL'd. For killing options, his dash attack can kill horizontally at high percentages, his down aerial spikes at the hilt of his sword, and his down smash is a powerful killing move used to finish opponents off at the end of combos. However, Young Link can still have trouble scoring KOs, as his finishers can be difficult to land cleanly. As for recovery, his 3rd jump is better than Link's, but his recovery is overall poor for a character of his weight class. His hookshot can also be used as a form of recovery, but it's fairly short. His Deku shield can act on it's own and defend against projectiles when standing stationary, but this only happens occasionally (unlike Link). Young Link can also wall jump at will, and is the only character that is required to use this technique in a target test.

Normal

 * Neutral attack- Same as Link's, three slashes, followed by a barrage of them if "a" is hit again after the last initial hit connecting. In respective order of damage: 2-3%, 2%, 4-5%, and 1% per consecutive hit.
 * Dash attack- slashes in front and slows down. Surprisingly powerful, for a dash attack, can lead into an edgeguard. 10% damage.
 * Down tilt- Swipes sword whilst crouching. Can lead into various combos, though somewhat slow. Incredibly powerful spike if used against a foe on the ledge. 7% damage.
 * Forward tilt- Brings sword down, in an axe-like fashion. There's a small noticeable startup delay. 9% damage.
 * Up tilt- Swings in an arch above himself. Quick, leads into various air combos if the foe DI's correctly. Above average KO power beyond high damages, usually 120%+. Does 7% damage.

Smash Attacks

 * Forward smash- Swings his sword in front once with low set knockback, and if "A" is pressed again, he will do a much more powerful cleave to follow. The first hit easily chains into the second, though DI-able. Very strong finisher, damage and knockback wise. First hit does 9% uncharged, 13% fully, then 9% uncharged, 8% fully.
 * Down Smash- Swipes sword to both sides. 13% front, 11% back uncharged, 16% front, 14% back fully charged.
 * Up smash- Does his up-tilt three times in a row. Hits all usually follow into eachother with the final having the most knockback, though DI-able and is an unreliable finishing attack. 2%, 2%, 7% uncharged, 4%, 2%, 10% fully. Fully charged is usually the hardest to get all hits successfully connecting. The last hit has an odd property, as it usually knocks the foe to the left or right.

Other attacks

 * Ledge attack- Gets up and flips, thrusts out sword. 8% damage.
 * 100% Ledge attack- Climbs up slowly and sticks out his sword in a similar fashion to the third hit of his neutral attacks. 8% damage.
 * Floor attack- Quickly swipes to both sides and picks himself up. 6% each side.

Aerial Attacks

 * Neutral aerial- A usual Sex Kick. 11% when it comes out, 6% weakest
 * Down aerial- Very similar to Link's, thrusts his sword down with massive damage, knockback, ending lag, and duration. Have an opponent above or to the side of Young Link to powerfully meteor smash. 17% damage.
 * Forward aerial- Two sword swings in front. Some ending and startup lag. Around 6-7% per slash.
 * Back aerial- Two kicks to his behind. The last hit is hard to connect with. 7%, then 6% damage.
 * Up aerial- Aims sword upwards. Not good for KO-ing, better at juggling. 12% damage.

Grabs & Throws

 * Pummel- The average 2-3% damage per pummel, Young Link whacks the foe with the end of his sword's handle.
 * Forward throw- Kicks foe forward. Can chaingrab against heavy foes, or can simply lead into a combo or follow-up attack. 6% damage.
 * Up throw- Takes foe and swings his sword in an arch above, launching to foe above. Can lead into various combos, or simply his up aerial. 6% damage.
 * Down throw- Very suddenly grounds the foe and tackles them. This launches the foe temporarily in the air right in front of Young Link, and can lead into many combos, though DI-able. More d-throw combos covered in the "Throws" section of "Strategies/Techniques". 6% damage.
 * Back throw- Takes foe and kicks them to his back. Oddly, there appears to be two different hitboxes for this throw, both 3%, adding up to 6%.

General

 * Young Link can wall-grapple
 * Deku shield can defend against projectile attacks, if you are crouching as Young link, you can even block against a fully charged Charge beam from Samus
 * Arrows catch opponent on fire and add small "stun"
 * More control over his boomerang than Link
 * Expert use of the Reverse Angle Boomerang
 * Up+B attack traps enemy and can hit multiple times
 * Can perform the Boomerang Superjump
 * Hitting an opponent with a bomb makes for a good combo start/and finisher
 * Use Down-Air on an opponent above and to the side of you to perform a meteoric Fire Spike.

Basic Combos
Due to Young Link's massive variety of projectile weapons he has many combos both for creating damage and finishing off.

Creating damage

 * Smash B + Charged B + Repeat -> When there is distance between you and your opponent this combo does some damage and confuses them to a point that they want to break something, but it doesn't work on Fox or Falco because they can use shine to reflect it.
 * Running A (At enemy) -> On heavier characters you can keep running at them and slashing them once with a Running A until they get to the edge.

Throw Combos
With his long grab range and unique throws, Young Link has various setups to combo foes.

Down throw

 * Throw down + Up B -> This does damage to the opponent but doesn't work on lighter characters such as Kirby & Jigglypuff or when your opponent is at a high percentage. This after, it can lead into another grab or ground move.
 * Down throw + Up tilt- a reliable combo against fast fallers, and can KO at very high percents.
 * Down throw + Up smash- similar to his up tilt combo, though better for damage racking.
 * Down throw + Up tilt + Up smash- at low percents, this is a devastating combo, with excellent damage, usually around 23% damage.
 * Down throw + Down Smash- this combo does not always work, though when used at the right angle near ledges, it sets up for edgeguards.
 * Down throw + turn around + down tilt- a hard combo to pull off, YL must turn the opposite way when he finishes his d-throw and use his d-tilt, usually spikign the foe to the ground and set up other combos.
 * Down throw + turn around + F-Smash- Do the down throw, turn around, and use F-Smash for reliable kills.

Up throw

 * Up throw + up tilt + up special- A basic combo low % where foes can be thrown directly above Link to set up a u-tilt, and can be followed with his up special.
 * Up throw + up tilt + up smash- A similar combo to one of his d-throw combos, best used at mid-percents. YL throws the foe up, uses his u-tilt, and finishes with u-smash. Usually does 24%
 * Up throw + up special- used best against fast fallers, where the fast faller goes right into his up-special
 * Up throw + up smash + aerial attack- a good mid %s combo, up throw, lead into up smash, and quickly jump into his aerial attacks
 * Up throw + jump + up special- A good higher % combo, when foes are knocked too high to lead into a ground attack or even a quick aerial, this combo is DI-able and not all hits may connect, though a good combo nonetheless.

Forward throw

 * Forward throw + f-tilt- a very basic combo at low %s, though predictable
 * forward throw + f-smash- another basic but escapaeble combo, the chance of this combo working depends entirely on the foe's fast falling rate, weight, and YL's reaction time to the f-throw ending. Sometimes this combo doe not work at mid-percents.
 * forward throw + dash attack- bets used at higher % when foe gets forcefully landed on the floor, also decent for KO-ing

Back throw

 * Back throw + dash attack- a basic combo similar to his forward throw's version.
 * Back throw + f-tilt- a predictable combo where YL will have to turn aroudn and use his f-tilt.

Finishing Off
Young Link's attacks are not as strong as the upper tier characters'. Instead, he depends more upon intricate combos and edge-guarding techniques. Young Link fares quite well off the stage and commands an arsenal of projectiles each with unique trajectories and damage properties. These projectiles mixed with a good recovery can stop the opponent from returning. Naturally, Young Link does best at finishing his opponents horizontally since (unlike his older counterpart) most of his moves send the opponent across instead of up.Young Link's best off-the-top finisher is definitely his down-air followed closely by his up-air.

So with that said here are some of his better finishing off combos:
 * Bomb throw + Down air -> Works well against floaty opponents at percents around 70% and up
 * Grapple + Throw up + Up/Down air -> Choosing between up and down air all depends on the percentage of your opponent; if their percentage is VERY high (160+) then go with the up air because it has a better chance of connecting, but if they are at a lower percentage (100-120) than you're better off with D-air because it kills at lower percentages.
 * If the opponent is recovering from beneath the stage you can time Young Link's Tilt Down A so it sends your opponent right back to where they came from. (Works best on Fox, Falco, Ness, Luigi, Mario and any other character with a predictable recovery)

Trophy Information
Trophy #286

Description
Link's younger incarnation is often considered to be the true Link: he was a young boy in the very first Legend of Zelda'' game, and he has appeared as a youth in most of the subsequent games. Since his debut on the original NES in 1987, Link's appearance has changed over and over again, each time adding to the mystique of his incomparable story.''

Game: The Legend of Zelda Trophy #287

Description
''Young Link is lighter and faster than his older self, and his Kokiri sword packs less punch. Even though his Boomerang has a shorter range, he has greater control over it. He's a smaller target, and while his Hookshot has less reach than older Link's, you can still use it in midair as a last ditch attempt to grab a ledge.''
 * B: Fire Bow
 * Smash B: Boomerang

Trophy #288

Description
"With a youthful spring in his step, Young Link can perform amazing wall-jumps. Once he hits a wall, tap the Control stick in the opposite direction to send him leaping upward; you can practice to your heart's content in Target Test. His Spin Attack can strike multiple times even on the ground, and although it's hard to discern, so do his Bombs."
 * Up B: Spin Attack
 * Down B: Bomb

Trivia

 * Even though Young Link is wielding the Deku Shield, it will not burn up when contacting fire. (e.g. Bowser's flames)
 * Young Link has the longest taunt in the game
 * Link and Young Link's hookshot use the same model; as a consequence, it looks somewhat oversized when used by the latter character.
 * Toon Link may be an updated version of Young Link, representing his child incarnation from Wind Waker rather than Ocarina of Time. Some of their moves share the same characteristics, further suggesting this. (Down aerial spikes, Up B has greater distance than adult Link's, etc.) Both characters are lighter and faster than normal Link as well.
 * In the game which his model is based he couldn't use the hook shot or the fire arrows, however, in Majora's Mask he could use them, but not in Ocarina of Time.
 * Young Link is one of only five characters who were taken out of Super Smash Bros. Brawl. The other four are Dr. Mario, Mewtwo, Pichu and Roy.