Toon Link (Super Smash Bros. Brawl)


 * This article is about Toon Link's appearance in Super Smash Bros. Brawl. For other uses, see Toon Link.

Toon Link (トゥーンリンク, Tūn Rinku) is a playable character in Super Smash Bros. Brawl. "Toon Link" is simply a reference name to give distinction between the two Links that appear in Brawl and to not confuse him with Young Link (again, a reference name). In all actuality, he's simply named Link, and comes from a different timeline than "Twilight" Link does.

His moveset appears similar to that of Young Link. His appearance is based on his look in The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker, The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass, and The Legend of Zelda: Spirit Tracks which released a year later. However, Toon Link looks slightly more realistic in Brawl than in Wind Waker. This can be seen by comparing his standard trophy and his Outset Link trophy, as his character model in Brawl is not cel-shaded like that of Wind Waker, Phantom Hourglass or Spirit Tracks.

He is currently ranked 13th on the tier list (the highest ranked character of all the post-Subspace Emissary characters and the highest tier placement of all The Legend of Zelda characters), thanks to his good approaching ability, good projectiles and well-balanced attacks. However, below average matchups against the high tier characters and average matchups overall leave him in the C+ tier.

How to Unlock
NOTE: In all cases, the player will have to fight Toon Link in the stage Pirate Ship.
 * Complete Classic Mode with any character on any difficulty after beating the Subspace Emissary.
 * Play 400 versus matches.
 * After completing the Subspace Emissary, enter a secret room near the beginning of the Forest level, then defeat Toon Link. This also results in Toon Link joining the party.

Gameplay differences between Young Link and Toon Link
Toon Link replaces Young Link from Super Smash Bros. Melee, with some noticeable changes in his fighting style.


 * Toon Link has more range than Young Link, since he uses the Master Sword (and the latter uses the small Kokiri Sword).
 * Toon Link uses his sword for more attacks than Young Link does, due to his shorter legs.
 * Toon Link's Hero's Bow shoots farther and charges faster, but his arrows are slower and do not set targets on fire like Young Link's do. However, two can be fired out of a short hop, providing for an effective fence of pain.
 * Toon Link's Bombs do not perform combos like Young Link's and are weaker than Link's, but they have a bigger blast radius and a different smoke explosion, which was taken from The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker.
 * Toon Link's Up Smash is a single slash, rather than three, and it is a much better and stronger finisher.
 * Toon Link's recovery is significantly longer, as he has less fall time and higher second and third jumps.
 * Toon Link's Neutral, Back, and Forward Airs are different (Nair is two slashes, one forward and one backward, B-air is a standard backward slash, and Fair is a standard forward slash. Young Link's Nair was a Sex Kick, his Fair was two slashes forward, and his B-air was two kicks backwards).
 * Toon Link's Down Air goes straight down, is much faster, and is easier to control. However, it is more dangerous to use and can lead to a self-destruct if it is used offstage, does not connect with an opponent, and is not used properly as it is a Stall-Then-Fall that has a long falling distance and will not stop until it is used at very high altitudes, leaving Toon Link unable to recover.
 * Toon Link's Down Air meteor smash is in the beginning of the plunge; Young Link could only meteor smash on any frame with his Down Air if the opponent was directly above him and touched the hilt of his sword; this move, unlike Toon Link's, does set opponents on fire if the meteor smash sweetspot connects.
 * Toon Link is heavier than Young Link.
 * Toon Link is floatier than Young Link.
 * Toon Link's boomerang flies farther than Young Link's, however it deals less damage in close range.
 * Toon Link does not have a repeating neutral A-combo

Attributes
Toon Link is a small, quick character. As such, he is floaty and on the lighter side. Toon Link also has the ability to wall jump. His attacks are generally high priority, decent range (although poor compared to other swordsmen), and medium to low lag disjointed hitbox moves. Toon Link's aerial game is powerful, but he may have problems regarding finishing his opponent off. His best kill move is his up smash, and his down smash is not as powerful. The second hit of his forward smash can easily be evaded with directional influence and thus leave him vulnerable. His tether grab has decent range, but it leaves him vulnerable if it misses. Toon Link can block projectiles with his shield, and he will automatically block a projectile when it hits him. Toon Link can only block projectiles that hit his body, so projectiles that hit his head can do still damage.

Projectiles, his bombs in particular, are also part of Toon Link's game, which are great for mindgames, and, like Boomerangs, can be used to combine with other attacks. He has a decently powerful and ranged game due to having three projectiles and a Zair, as well as a shield to automatically block most other projectiles while standing in a stationary position. His Stall-Then-Fall down aerial can negate horizontal knockback (although it can also cause some unwanted self-destructs), which sets up the rest of his recovery, and can also make use of a Tether Recovery and bomb recovery. On the downside, his recovery is predictable, fairly easy to edge guard due his floatiness, and gives only decent distance overall.

Normal

 * Neutral A - Toon Link slashes twice then thrusts his sword forward. Fairly quick. Three hits; the first hit does 2-3% and has very little, set knockback. The second hit does 2% and also has little knockback, though not set, and introduces upward knockback. The third hit does 5% and, though it has actual "knockback", has little kill potential. Total, 10%. Primarily used as a way to create space against close-up opponents.
 * Dash Attack - A horizontal slash. It knocks the enemy directly forward with little knockback. Conversely, it can also cause the enemy to trip. 10% normally, 8% if hit with the tip.
 * Forward tilt - Toon Link slashes from behind to in front of him. The beginning of the attack hits behind him. Decent horizontal knockback makes it tolerable for edge-guarding if the Blast line is nearby. Can cause tripping. 9%, no matter where it lands.
 * Down tilt - Swipes his sword along the ground. Ideal for edge-guarding if an off-stage opponent is trying to grab a ledge. Can trip opponents. 9%, no matter where it lands.
 * Up tilt - Quick overhead swipe. Similar to his up smash, except faster and less powerful. Covers a fairly large arc. Knockback is almost entirely vertical, and it is usually possible to chain multiple up tilts in succession on a low-damaged enemy. Excellent for combining with aerial attacks. 9%, no matter where it lands.

Smash

 * Forward Smash - A Natural combo. Toon Link, slightly crouching, slashes forward, and if the player hits A, any direction on the C-stick, or even Z, he follows up with another finishing slash. A good finisher. Two hits; the first hit does 10%, 13% uncharged and has little, upward, set knockback. The second hit does 14%, 18% fully charged and has powerful knockback, but lightweights can easily escape it. Total, 23% uncharged, 32% fully charged.
 * Up Smash - Single overhead strike. Slower, longer ranged, and more powerful than his up-tilt. 15% damage uncharged, 21% fully charged. It has good Star KO potential, and its decent speed and range make it a good choice to execute during a dash.
 * Down Smash - Sweeps his sword in front of and then behind him along the ground. First hit knocks in to second hit. 17% damage uncharged, 23% fully charged. With proper timing it can be used to counter players who roll-dodge a lot. It is possible, by use of slopes (or sometimes automatically at low %s), to hit opponents with only the first hit of his smash, which has, though set, lots of knockback, possibly setting up for very early kills. Also, using it on the furthest left and right sides of Hyrule Temple while facing away from the edge will result in an instant KO. At very low percentages, the last hit has horizontal knockback.

Other

 * Ledge Attack - Gets on the stage and slashes from head to toe. 8%
 * 100% Ledge Attack - Slowly gets up and stabs forward. 10%
 * Floor Attack - Slashes in front of him and then behind him. 6%
 * Trip Attack - Slashes in front of him and then behind him just like his floor attack. 5%

Aerial Attacks

 * Neutral aerial - Double swipe of the sword, first in front then behind, similar to Marth's Neutral Air. 10% damage per swing. The first hit can bring the target into the second hit, provided the enemy is positioned properly. Minimal starting lag makes this a useful move out of a short hop. Very low lag beginning and after.
 * Forward aerial - Forward slash, high knockback. 13% damage. Good for edge-guarding if you are fond of leaving the stage to intercept the recovering enemy. Can be short hopped, but is not as effective in that capacity as his Nair or Bair. Is auto-cancelled after a short hop and doing it right away.
 * Back aerial - Quick backward arc, raising from his feet to about his head. High damage, but low knockback, enabling multiple-hits strung together consecutively. Excellent for combining with other aerial attacks, and a tolerable edge-guarding move if one stages an aerial-interception defense directly from the ledge itself. Excellent to use out of a short hop using the Reverse Aerial Rush. One of the best Back aerials in the game as it has high priority, excellent edgeguard, can kill and can combo at low percents. 10% damage. Has diagonal knockback that is better for Star KOs at later percentages.
 * Up aerial - Sticks his sword above him, like Link's Uair, though it has more knockback. Long duration, very high knockback. One of his best Star KO moves. The range and disjointed hitbox of this move make it a good choice for juggling. Similar to a sex kick, in that it will do more damage on the opening frames but is held out for a while. 14% on the first frames and 12% on the later frames. Incredibly high priority, even beating Marth's Dolphin Slash.
 * Down aerial - Sticks his sword straight down, as per usual Link Down Air. However, this has a twist. When the attack begins, it stalls momentarily in midair, then launches Toon Link downwards very quickly. The beginning of the downwards descent can meteor smash the opponent powerfully, but it's very risky because if he misses he will Self-destruct. In addition, when Toon Link slams into the ground, any opponents near the impact point but not struck by the attack are pushed with a fair amount of force. 16% damage when spiked, 13% later on. Note that it sometimes is identical to Link's, depending on one's vertical trajectory during execution. Like Link's, this D-air can pogo-hop off an enemy, allowing it to hit twice. This is easily followed up with one of his other aerials like his Nair or his U-air for a quick three-hit string of attacks. The pogo effect allows one to meteor smash an offstage opponent and pogo back to the stage. This move is taken from the game Zelda II: The Adventure of Link on the Nintendo Entertainment System (NES).
 * Hookshot Zair - Fires his Hookshot straight in front of him, just like Link's Zair but with shorter range. The only part of the attack which hits is the tip of the Hookshot. 4% damage. There is a very short knockback to this attack, which itself is commonly exploited to follow up with a ground grab attack, which can lead to aerial combos. Typically done in a short hop, and used at the peak of Toon Link's jump, or just as he begins to fall. This attack is unique in the sense it can be used instantly out of an air dodge (a typical combo is a short hop, air dodge, Zair), and is practically lagless when Toon Link hits the ground.

Grabs and Throws

 * Grab - Shoots out his Hookshot to grab the opponent. High ending lag if this move misses, but good range. Can be used as a Tether Recovery.
 * Pummel - Beats opponent with the hilt of his sword. 2% damage. Incredibly fast and almost no afterlag.
 * Forward throw - Drops opponent quickly and shoulder tackles them forward. 7% damage.
 * Back throw - Rolls onto his back, pulling his opponent with him, then kicks them backwards. 7% damage.
 * Down throw - Throws opponent on the ground and slams on top of them. 7% damage. If used on Jigglypuff it will only do 4% damage. This is because it hits twice, and Jigglypuff is too light to get hit on the first strike.
 * Up throw - Throws opponent upward and slashes them. 7% damage.

Role in Subspace Emissary
Toon Link is an optional character in Subspace Emissary, like Jigglypuff and Wolf. To find him, players must enter a new door in The Forest which appears after defeating Tabuu for the first time. It takes them to the stage Pirate Ship, where Toon Link notices the players and prepares for battle. They then fight Toon Link. When he is defeated, he becomes added to the player's team and the stage Pirate Ship where they fought. He does not have an actual role in the overall plot.

Stickers
Toon Link uses his sword for all of his attacks except his Back Throw, Forward Throw, and Down Throw. Because of this, he benefits greatly from [Slash] and [Weapon] Damage boosts. Toon Link has more ranged specials than direct, so a [Specials: Indirect] boost would also be beneficial to him.

Taunts

 * Up: Conducts with his Wind Waker baton, at the end of which, a sound from when Toon Link plays a song in The Wind Waker is heard.
 * Side: Puts his sword away and looks around the environment.
 * Down: Panics while slashing his sword around wildly, which tires him out.

On-Screen Appearance
Appears from a Wind Waker style explosion, and quickly sheaths and unsheathes his sword.

Idle Poses

 * Looks on both sides of him.
 * Stomps the tip of his boot on the ground.

Victory Pose
Victory Theme: Zelda Triforce Theme
 * He waves the Wind Waker baton.
 * He tries to catch a pig but ends up tripping and falling on his bottom and begins rubbing it gently with a small sigh as he falls.
 * Similar to the previous pose except he catches the pig and holds it above his head, all while struggling trying not to drop it.

Credits Music

 * Village of the Blue Maiden

Trivia

 * Toon Link holds the world record for Level 4 (9.05 seconds) and Level 5 (6.65 seconds) Target Smash!, Co-op Target Smash! Level 1 with Falco (2.66) seconds and Co-op Target Smash! Level 5 with another Toon Link (4.11 seconds).
 * Toon Link's hair is unaffected by gravity.
 * Toon Link is the youngest fighter in Brawl, being 12 years old.
 * The parting in his hair is reversed from his Wind Waker counterpart.
 * Toon Link has the same idle poses as Young Link in Super Smash Bros. Melee.
 * Toon Link, Bowser, Link, Luigi, and Yoshi are the only characters to wear their default color in team battles when they're on the green team.
 * If Toon Link eats Superspicy Curry and doesn't move or attack before the effect wears off, he won't take his sword and shield back out. When it ends, he takes them back out only if he moves or attacks.
 * Toon Link is one of the few characters to have all canon palette swap. His first four are from Four Swords and Four Swords Adventures, the Brown one is from Link's appearance in NES games, and the Dark one is based on Shadow Link from Four Swords Adventures.
 * Toon Link can do a Reverse Hyrule Jump using his bombs in a way similar to Snake's C4 Jump.
 * Along with Link, Toon Link is left-handed.
 * Toon Link is one of two characters from the Zelda series who is not in the bottom tier. The other is Sheik.