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. His moveset appears similar to that of Young Link. His appearance is based off of his look in The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker and The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass, among other games. He is currently ranked 17 on the tier list, thanks to his approaching ability and a great Forward-smash. He can, however, self-destruct in one of his attacks.

Role in Subspace Emissary
Toon Link is an optional character in Subspace Emmisary, much like Jigglypuff and Wolf. To find him players must enter a new door in Forest which appears after finishing the Subspace Emissary. It will take you to the stage Pirate Ship and you will then fight Toon Link. Defeating him for the first time will add him to your team. He does not have a significant role in the overall plot.

Gameplay differences between Young Link and Toon Link
Although technically different characters, Toon Link is essentially Young Link from Melee, and controls in much the same way, though with some differences.


 * Toon Link uses his sword for more attacks than Young Link due to his shorter legs.
 * Toon Link's Bow shoots farther and charges faster, but his arrows are slower and do not set aflame like Young Link's do.
 * Toon Link's Bomb(s) does 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.
 * Toon Link's recovery is significantly longer, as he has less fall time and higher second and third jumps.

Attributes
Toon Link is quick and powerful. He combos easily, and his attacks are generally high priority, medium lag moves. His aerial game is powerful, which combines with decent grabs and generally high knockback moves. Projectiles are also part of Toon Link's game, which he can use to set up comboes. His Stall-Then-Fall down aerial can negate horizontal knockback, which sets up the rest of his recovery, and can also make use of a Tether Recovery and bomb recovery. He is a lighter character, and his forward smash leaves him vulnerable, as does his grab should it miss. As well, he is somewhat floaty, and his Stall-then-Fall can cause some unwanted self destructs. Ultimately, Toon Link becomes what his player makes of him in combining and using his advantages to mitigate disadvantage.

Ground Attacks

 * Dash A - Horizontal slash, similar to Link's dash A. 10% damage. It knocks the enemy directly forward with little knockback, decreasing its combo-starting potential. Conversely, it can also cause the enemy to trip.
 * Neutral A - Slashes twice then thrusts his sword forward. 10% damage. Fairly fast, even for a neutral combo.
 * Forward Tilt - Slash from behind Toon Link to in front of him. Beginning of the attack hits behind him. Slowest of his tilts. 9% damage. Decent horizontal knockback makes it tolerable for edge-guarding if the Blast line is nearby.
 * Down Tilt - Swipes his sword along the ground. There is a chance it may trip opponents. 9% damage.
 * Up Tilt - Quick overhead swipe. Covers a fairly large arc. 9% damage. Knockback is entirely vertical, and it is usually possible to chain three of these in succession on a low-damaged enemy. Excellent for starting aerial combos.
 * Forward Smash - Standard Link-type weak slash forward, with option to tack on a much stronger forward smash by hitting A or forward on the C-stick within a window afterwards. 23% damage. The first strike is incapable of killing an enemy, but can be used to tack on damage or make a foe flinch.
 * Up Smash - Single overhead strike. Slower, longer ranged, and more powerful than his uptilt. 15% damage. It has good topkilling capability, 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. Arguably the least useful of his smash attacks, but 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

Aerial Attacks

 * Neutral Aerial - Double swipe of the sword, similar to Link's Forward Air or Marth's Neutral Air. 10% damage. 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.
 * 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.
 * Back Aerial - Quick backward arc, raising from his feet to about his head. High damage, but low knockback, enabling multiple-hits strung together consecutively. 10% damage. Excellent for midair combos, and a tolerable edge-guarding move if you stage an aerial-interception defense directly from the ledge itself. Excellent to use out of a short hop using the Reverse Aerial Rush.
 * Up Aerial - Sticks his sword above him, as per usual Link Up Air. Long duration, decent knockback. 14% damage. The range and disjointed hitbox of this move make it a good choice for juggling.
 * 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. This property means the move can be used while being knocked upwards to stop vertical knockback. The beginning of the downwards descent can spike the opponent powerfully. In addition, when Toon Link slams into the ground, any opponents near the impact point but not struck by the attack are pushed back with a fair amount of force. 13% damage. Note that it sometimes is identical to Link's, depending on your vertical trajectory during execution. Like Link's, this dair can pogo-hop off an enemy, allowing it to hit twice. This is easily followed up with one of his other aerials for a quick three-hit combo.
 * Tether Aerial - Fires his hookshot straight in front of him, just like Link 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. Toon Link's tether aerial (often called "Zair") is typically done following 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 airdodge (a typical combo is a short hop, airdodge, Zair), and is practically lagless when Toon Link hits the ground.

Grabs and Throws

 * Down Throw: Throws opponent on the ground and slams on top of them. 7% damage.
 * Up Throw: Throws opponent upward and slashes them. 7% damage.
 * Back Throw: Pulls opponent close, falls back, then kicks them backwards. 7% damage.
 * Forward Throw: Drops opponent quickly and slashes them forward. 7% damage.
 * Pummel: Beats opponent with the hilt of his sword. 2% damage/hit.

How to Unlock

 * After completing Classic Mode with any character on any difficulty after already finishing the Subspace Emissary, Toon Link will be fought after the credits.
 * Toon Link can also be found near the beginning of the Forest level of the Subspace Emissary after the story is completed.
 * Play 400 brawls on vs. mode

Strategies & Tips

 * Always have a bomb in hand. Don't pull one out in the thick of battle, but if you have a little distance then go ahead. They can disrupt opponents' combos and have a large blast radius so use them often.
 * Use the boomerang before going in to attack to cover yourself. Throw it diagonally up towards your opponent and if you start getting hit, the boomerang will come back to you, hit the opponent and interrupt them.
 * Toon Link has a lot of attacks that annoy and interrupt, so poke and prod as much as you need to before going for the final blow.
 * Always try to be unpredictable, don't rely on the same projectiles over and over again. Even Toon Link's slow uncharged arrows can slow down approaches.
 * Toon Link's dair can sometimes be used as a very powerful meteor smash, but only when the opponent is right below him. This is probably the most dangerous meteor smash, for if he misses, he'll drop to his death, resulting in a self-destruct.
 * When going to use a dair, pull out a bomb, throw it down and use the dair, it will cause additional damage and a sure hit on your opponent from your dair.
 * After pulling out a bomb, jump into the air and if you press the grab button during the landing animation, the bomb will lay there until it explodes on it's own, instead of exploding on impact. From there, it can be picked up, sent towards the opponent with the shockwave from a dair, or left there. If left there it can block various projectiles such as Mario's Fireball, Wolf's Blaster, and the Ice Climber's Ice Shot without exploding.

Stickers
Toon Link uses his sword for all of his attacks except his Back 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. Then 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 unsheaths his sword.

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.
 * Similar to the previous pose except he catches a 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 looks slightly more realistic in Brawl than in Wind Waker. Look closely at his standard trophy and his Outset Link trophy, and you will see the difference.
 * Toon Link came in second in the "Favorite Brawl Character" poll by Nintendopedia.
 * Despite being able to crawl voluntarily in Wind Waker, Toon Link can't crawl in Brawl.
 * Toon Link's arrows shoot at a very slight upwards angle.
 * Toon Link holds the world record for Level 4 and Level 5 Target Smash (Level 4 completed in 9.05 seconds, and Level 5 completed in 6.65 seconds), 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 Dair is unaffected by gravity.