Link (Super Smash Bros. Brawl)


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

Link (, Rinku) was confirmed for Super Smash Bros. Brawl at E3 2006. His graphics have been completely revamped from his Super Smash Bros. Melee form, since his new look is derived from the game, The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess. His special moves have also been changed to fit the style of Twilight Princess (i.e. a different bow design), but Link himself is the same person as in Melee, just updated.

Despite his projectiles and large number of advanced techniques, he is currently ranked 36th (third from bottom) in the tier list due to his poor mobility, bad options out-of-shield, sluggish moves with poor frame data (his fastest ground attack, jab, is 7 frames, and fastest aerial, back air, is 6 frames), vulnerability to chain grabs, and abysmal recovery (although projectiles, good DI and a tether grab grant him some options, if still poor), resulting in poor match-ups against most characters.

Attributes
Link may be a character of poor speed, but he makes up for that with power. His sliding DACUS also helps his slow mobility. Link is moderately heavy, having the same weight as Captain Falcon. Link is also one of the heaviest characters in the game with good Directional Influence and momentum canceling, especially vertically, which along his extremely quick fast fall allows him to live almost as long as Snake, though he has arguably the worst recovery in the game and sometimes his fast fall can also give him problems recovering. His heavyweight backfires, however, by making him extremely vulnerable to chain grabs that force him offstage. Link's tilts are fast and powerful, and his down tilt is particularly good for getting opponents into the air. It can also meteor smash at the tip of the sword or hitting behind Link. His up tilt is fast and good for juggling, and his forward tilt can easily kill at high percentages. Link's forward smash can become a two hit combo; it is also a great kill move, depending from were the sword connects. His down smash is an easy kill move at fairly high percentages, and is Link's quickest smash. However, it is predictable making it easy to watch out at higher percents, and has some ending. Link's up smash doesn't kill easily, but it racks up decent damage. Link's aerial attacks are also good, as both his Nair and Zair, combined with a short hop and fast falling, is a great option for approach. Link's back aerial is good for spacing when needed. Link's forward air is fairly fast, is a good set-up move and its second hit is powerful, but this killing move is hard to land, since the first hit only set ups the second hit at very low percentages and the first hit lacks KO power. Link's up and down aerials are some of his best kill moves, having high duration and high knockback, but have high ending and landing lag. Even though his aerial attacks are effective, his slow air speed, fast falling speed, and small jumps give Link a very weak air game. His grab, like all tether grabs, has good range but has 12 frames start-up and is laggy if missed. Specials for Link are also good for keeping distance, racking up damage, and great for survival. On the ground, Link can charge his Up special (spin attack). It is a good edge guarding tool, but is predictable. Spin attack can also deflect projectiles if used in the air. His Neutral Special is a bow that charges and shoots high-speed projectiles. If activated in the air, just before hitting the ground, an uncharged arrow will shoot instantly, making it a fast attack that will often hit unsuspecting enemies. Link's down special allows him to pull out a bomb and throw it, which can be used for mind games, but his own bombs can be used against him. His Gale Boomerang, Link's side special move, has fairly good range and can gimp some opponent's recovery. Smashing the side special will cause the boomerang to reach farther. Link's shield can act as a shield on its own: when Link doesn't move, many projectiles coming from the opposite direction he's facing can't hit him. Crouching can also block most attacks as well, but leaves his upper hitbox open. He also has a great Spot dodge.

Link's critical problem is his abysmal recovery, making him easy to KO despite being a heavyweight with great Momentum Canceling. Although his projectiles, particularly Gale Boomerang help it somewhat, his poor jumping, quick fall speed, slow air speed, and poor distance on the Spin Attack make his recovery arguably the shortest in the game both horizontally and vertically and also very predictable, so it's suggested that all Link mains have good Directional Influence. Link's spin attack is also a slow recovery move, with predictable trajectory, making it fairly easy to edgeguard, mostly with moves that out prioritizes his projectiles, and due to the poor distance of his recovery he can get KO'd offstage with a fairly low amount of hits and not being able to recover, especially when he loses his 2nd jump, and due his poor vertical distance that also means spikes are devastating for his recovery. Link's most effective mode of recovery is to first throw the Gale Boomerang to disrupt the opponent, then use his up special right after doing his second jump to give more momentum so he can gain more height, but even this is a poor recovery option. Using Spin Attack immediately after being hit while recovering makes it give no horizontal distance at all. His Clawshot is also useful, being the second longest tether grab in the game, but, like all tether recoveries, it is easily edgehogged. Another method of recovery is where Link pulls out a bomb, uses his Spin Attack, and his bomb blows up on him for little damage but gives Link another Spin Attack. At higher percentages the knockback from the bomb can be used for additional height. Although, Link has a large ledge sweetspot, but due to his poor recovery, Link heavily relies on edge grabbing, leaving him vulnerable to edgehogging (though, this can be prevented with his projectiles). If Link is lucky, the Gale Boomerang can carry the opponent out far enough so they can't recover, but this rarely ever happens.

Changes from Melee to Brawl
Link has suffered a nerf, though he has not changed drastically from Melee to Brawl. His recovery is worse due to his much slower air speed and shorter grappling device. The grapple is now a tether recovery and can no longer be used on any part of a stage, but it finds and tracks the wall, automatically sweetspotting a nearby ledge instead of just latching onto it when it touches. Link's arrows are faster (but are unable to shield him from projectiles now), but the infinite sword stab in his neutral combo has been removed. The first hit of Link's side smash and his bombs cause greater knockback (it can now KO). Link now has a larger character model. His spin attack can be charged on the ground, but the uncharged Spin Attack has lower knockback and longer start-up and it no longer semi-spikes (although in the PAL version it didn't semi-spike). If Link uses Spin Attack in mid-air after just getting hit, it will almost never move horizontally anymore. Link's boomerang (now called Gale Boomerang) pushes opponents on the way back without causing damage. It also does lower damage and has a set knockback now. Further, the absence of L-canceling makes his poor aerial game even worse, particularly for his dair, his best KO move.

Link also had several cosmetic changes from Melee to Brawl. His design and voice actor are now from The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess. He also has two new costumes; Dark Link (which replaces his previous black tunic) and a "gold" costume. His forward helpless state is now the animation of Link when he finishes his double jump (from both Melee and Brawl), but his back and neutral helpless states are the same. Link's taunt from SSBM has been replaced by his one in SSB. Also, Link has a new standing animation making his Hylian Shield less useful.

Normal

 * Neutral attack - Swipes his sword across his body (can jab lock), second swipe goes outwards (has lots of hitstun, allowing to be comboed to many of his moves) and the third hit is a stab forward. Loosely based off of Link's final blow to Ganon in The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time. The first 2 hits are great when jab canceled, as it can lead into his grab, up b, down smash or even to Jab again if the opponent doesn't Smash DI out of it. First hit can jab lock characters laying on the ground, which Bomb footstool fast falled Nair can set-up at lower percents. First slash does 4%, second does 3%, and the stab does 5%.
 * Dash attack - Swings sword from head to toe. Good combo starter. Does 12% normally, 10% if hit with the tip of the sword, and 11% if hit at very close range.
 * Strong Side - An overhead swipe. Does 13% damage and is an efficient kill move at higher damages.
 * Strong Up - Swings sword in an arc. Does 9% damage and has good range and knockback. Good for juggling heavy opponents at low percentage.
 * Strong Down - Swipes sword across ground. Does 12% damage. Meteor smashes aerial opponents in contact with Link's body, and opponents hanging on a ledge. Unlike Ike's strong down, Link's strong down is more difficult to use as a meteor smash, because the sweetspot is significantly smaller ranging only from his head to his body (while crouching). There is also a small sweetspot on his sword that can be found by playing on Final Destination and examining the vertical lines that range across its surface. This move will meteor smash a character hanging on a ledge if the tip of Link's toes are touching the very last line on either side of the stage. The same place on Link's sword will also be the sweetspot for meteor smashing aerial opponents, although usually opponents will not be meteor smashed due to the low chance of this sweetspot connecting.

Smash

 * Side Smash - Swings sword forward, if attack button is pressed again, he swings again but with more force. Both hits can be used to rack up damage quickly at very low damages. First hit is stronger in the tip, while the 2nd hit is stronger if hit from close. First hit, 15% (14% if hit at very close range) uncharged, 21% (19% if hit at very close range) fully charged. Second hit, 17% (20% if hit at very close range) uncharged, 23% (26%-28% if hit at very close range) fully charged. Can be used to perform Bomb Smashing. Although the first hit has 15 frames start-up, it has almost 0 animation until hit frame, making it near, if not impossible to react to.
 * Up Smash - Swings sword in an arc three times. First hit, 4% uncharged, 5% fully charged. First two hits have no knockback, while the 3rd hit has below average knockback. This move is easily Smash DIed out of the last hit. Second hit, 3% uncharged, 4% fully charged. Third hit, 10% (8%-9% at very close range, depending on distance) uncharged, 14% (11%-13% at very close range, depending on distance) fully charged.
 * Down Smash - Swipes sword from front to back, very quick start up but moderately long ending lag; like his down tilt but with more force and it aims behind him too, however it does not spike if sweetspotted, but it can sometimes spike opponents when they are trying to recover. Forward hit, 14% uncharged (16%-17% at very close range, depending on distance), 19% (23% at very close range) fully charged. Backward hit, 16% (17% at just the right distance) uncharged, 22% (23% at just the right distance) fully charged. Opponents can be hit by both swipes if they are between Link and the Gale Boomerang during it's second phase as it pulls the opponent towards Link. However, good timing is required. 31%-35% uncharged, and 42%-48% charged if both hits connect.

Other attacks

 * Ledge attack - Pulls himself up into a front flip and slices downward. Does 8% damage.
 * 100% ledge attack - Slowly climbs up and stabs in front of him. Does 10% damage.
 * Floor attack - Does two slashes front and back. Does 6% damage.

Aerial Attacks

 * Nair - Does a flying jump-kick. 6% normally, 10% sweetspotted. Sex kick. Good priority. Has almost no landing lag at all, being great to use to land safely from juggles.
 * Fair - Swings his sword twice while spinning 360 degrees. Second hit has great knockback, though the first hit only set ups the second hit at very low percentages, making it hard to use as a killing move. Takes some time to start up, but has surprisingly little landing lag. Great with ledge dropped double jumped Fair to try to get-up from the ledge safely, and has invincibility during first hit if used early enough after grabbing the ledge normally or with tether. First hit, 9%. Second hit, 12%.
 * Bair - Does a two kick combo. First kick does 4%, second does 7%. Has almost no landing lag, 1st hit truelly comboes into his Up Tilt.
 * Uair - Thrusts his sword upward, just like the upward thrust attack in Zelda II: The Adventure of Link. Long duration and can Star KO at higher damages, though it has fairly slow start-up (15 frames), little horizontal range and significantly high ending lag, with 30 frames landing lag. 15% in the first several frames, 13% in the rest with slightly lower knockback.
 * Dair - A very powerful finisher that can K.O as low as 75%, although extremely high landing lag if missed (51 frames), leaving him open to some slow, powerful moves. Holds his sword downward, this time based off of the downward thrust from Zelda II. Can bounce off when the attack lands, scoring an additional hit. Hitting during the very start deals 22% with very high knockback, hitting in later frames deals 17% with still high knockback, although less than the 22% one. Bouncing after hitting an opponent or their shield deals 8% damage with little knockback. Can't be auto-canceled in flat plataforms, even if started at the highest height jump and double jump combined (though it can from a ledge jump). However, it is very spammable in stages like Norfair, where it can be easily auto canceled, especially against characters without a disjointed aerial that outranges it vertically (to completely outprioritize it). A Bomb footstool canceled can truelly set-up the Dair. The pogo effect can be canceled by a fast fall, though it doesn't affect the power of the Dair. Link learns a similar-looking move in Twilight Princess, which is called the Ending Blow; used as a finishing move, the attack was used to defeat Ganondorf.
 * Zair - Fires his Clawshot forward, scoring two hits. Has no landing lag at all. Can be used as a tether recovery. First hit, 4%. Second hit, 6%. Very useful for spacing, and stopping approaches against taller characters. This tether recovery can be used to save Link from a KO at extremely high damages ranging up to even higher than 300%. This can be done by simply air dodging and then immediately using Zair (or pressing Z twice or more) after getting hit by an attack that can semi-spike, such as Fox's, Jigglypuff's, or Zelda's Down Smashes. Link's Zair can also be used while a bomb is held to cancel an airdodge, which also allows him to Tether recover with a Bomb. Link has the 2nd longest Zair in Brawl, though is only a bit shorter than Samus'.

Grabs & Throws

 * Grab - Holds opponent with his right hand after grabbing them with the Clawshot. Very high ending lag if this move misses, leaving him open to slow, powerful moves.
 * Pummel - Hits opponent with the hilt of the Master Sword. A fairly fast pummel. Does 2% damage.
 * Forward Throw - Lets go of foe then kicks them, football punt style. Does 7% damage.
 * Back Throw - Throws foe back then back kicks. Does 7% damage.
 * Down Throw - Throws foe down then elbow drops them. If Link and Toon Link use their down throw on Jigglypuff it will only do 4% damage. This is because their down throw hits twice and Jigglypuff is too light to get hit on the first strike (as the second strike does 4 damage and the first does 3). Does 7% damage.
 * Up Throw - Throws foe a very short distance above him, then slashes. Can KO at high percents. Does 7% damage.

Taunts

 * Up: Twirls his sword twice and spins the sword while sheathing it. Similar to his Twilight Princess "victory pose", which he performs after defeating a boss, learning a hidden sword technique, or putting his sword away at a specific moment after beating a common enemy.
 * Down: Link's mysterious taunt from the original. He pulls his knee to his chest and draws his sword back behind his head. Similar to Lucario's down taunt. May be loosely based off of Link's attacking pose from Zelda II.
 * Side: Takes out Navi, a fairy, who will fly around him.

Role In Subspace Emissary
Link's role begins with him walking through a forest with his fairy companion, Navi. Upon reaching the Master Sword's resting place, Link pulls the sword from its pedestal, wielding it once more. In a clearing of the forest is a napping Yoshi, who Link at first pays no mind to. However, the Halberd soon flies over the clearing, dropping Shadow Bugs which soon form into Primids. At this point, Link and Yoshi form a team and battle through the enemies while in pursuit of the Halberd, only to lose their aforementioned target as it flies far off into the distance, though they quickly continue their pursuit. Link's next appearance plays out depending on which princess is saved earlier on in the story. If Peach was saved, Link and Yoshi do battle with a Shadowbug clone of Peach (who had recently been turned into a trophy by Bowser) after it attempted to turn an unsuspecting Mario and Pit into trophies until Link prevented the attack by slicing the Dark Cannon in half. Upon defeating the clone of Peach, Link is attacked by Mario, who witnessed the defeat of Peach's copy as it reverts into Shadowbugs and drifts away, apparently mistaking it for the real Peach. Then Link and Yoshi fight him and Pit. If Zelda is saved earlier on, then it is she who is cloned, and Mario and Pit fight the clone of her, and must then fend off an attack by Link and Yoshi, whom Link thinks Mario killed the real Zelda. After the defeat (and subsequent trophification) of Mario and Pit/Link and Yoshi, King Dedede arrives in a cargo, and snatches the trophies of the fallen duo with an arm attached to it. Fortunately, Kirby (who had accompanied Peach/Zelda earlier) appears and frees the two trophies, and revives them as well. Upon revival, Pit/Link fires an arrow at the incoming cargo, slowing it down a little. The five characters then form an alliance and pursue Dedede.

During their pursuit, they find Dedede's cargo (now empty) parked outside of a cave, and decide to enter it. After getting out of the cave, they find Dedede's trashed hideout, and, upon finding a hole in the wall, they decide to enter it. After they get out of the hole, they find Bowser, who Mario tries to attack until Bowser raises Peach/Zelda's trophy as a shield, forcing him to miss. Pit then fires an arrow at Bowser, which he barely dodges, before escaping in his Koopa Clown Car.

They then pursue the Ancient Minister in a desert, trying to stop him from detonating another Subspace Bomb. Mario and Link begin to approach the Minister while dodging the lasers he fires at them. Despite their best efforts, the Subspace Bomb still explodes while the heroes barely escape the blast.

Link later appears after the team makes its way to the desert, where they aid another group (consisting of Marth, Ike, the Ice Climbers, Lucas, and the Pokémon Trainer) in fighting off the Subspace Army. Later, Link and Zelda are both present when meeting Tabuu, but they are defeated by Tabuu's Offwaves. If Link and Zelda's trophy forms are retrieved after the initial attack by Tabuu, they will both be shown agreeing to revive Ganondorf (who was turned into a trophy earlier on when he tried to attack Tabuu on his own), at which point they show him where their common target is. Link helps the other heroes throughout the rest of the story.

Origin
Even though Link's design is from Twilight Princess, he has blond hair in SSBB, and dirty blond/brown hair in Twilight Princess. His face is also somewhat more slender and sharper, with smaller eyes and a more fierce expression - possibly hinting that this is a slightly older version of the Link in Twilight Princess. This is also supported by the fact that the Master Sword is a lot smaller compared to him than it was in Twilight Princess (though, it could also be simply be that the sword has been scaled down, like his bombs). It is also possible that this is the original Link from Ocarina of Time but with his Twilight Princess look. A fairy appears alongside Link as he pulls the Master Sword from its pedestal when he is introduced in the Subspace Emissary, and this fairy also appears in Link's side taunt, in which Link takes it out of his pocket, letting it fly round him once before putting it back. This fairy could be Navi, from Ocarina of Time, who got Link's attention in that game by flying around him. Navi was never in Twilight Princess, although a fairy was used as the pointer when you pointed the Wii Remote at the screen. It is often be theorized that this is a merging of several Links, or a general Link that represents his universe in Brawl, much like Snake could be either Solid Snake or Naked Snake.

Trivia

 * Link, Pit, and Toon Link are the only characters in Super Smash Bros. Brawl who are left-handed.
 * Link uses battering items such as the Beam Sword and Lip's Stick with his right hand in order to wield his sword with his left. This prevents him from using his shield when holding items.
 * Link, Bowser, Luigi, Toon Link, and Yoshi are the only characters to wear their default costumes in team battles, when they are on the green team.
 * Link and Snake are the only characters in SSBB who use a different weapon for each of their special attacks.