Zelda (Super Smash Bros. Melee)


 * This article is about Zelda's appearance in Super Smash Bros. Melee. For other uses, see Princess Zelda.  Also, for information about Zelda's alter-ego, see Sheik.

Zelda (, Zerudā) is one of the more unique characters in the lineup for Super Smash Bros. Melee. Zelda's most notable traits are her array of powerful magical attacks and her unique ability to transform herself into her alter ego, Sheik. This alter form of Sheik is very different from Zelda, as each was intended to help balance the other's weaknesses, so that ideally, one would change between the two so to match the flow of battle. However, of the two, Sheik is a far more effective stand-alone character.

Zelda is 18th on the tier list for her slow movement, lack of combos, poor recovery, Wavedash, and Dash Dance, and below average matchups. However, she has good KO power, particularly her Forward Aerial and Back Aerial "lightning kicks".

Attributes
Zelda has powerful, high priority attacks, but she has the slowest dash speed in the game along with Jigglypuff. Her wavedash and dash-dance do not make up for her slow mobility because they are both short. Despite her poor mobility, she can be very unpredictable if used well. Her Forward Aerial and Back Aerial are fast and powerful. However, Zelda lacks true combos beyond two or three hits due to most of her attacks having high knockback.

She also has very poor grabs and throws (excluding her Up Throw, which can combo). Zelda's Up Smash and Down Smash are both very fast. She has a projectile (Din's Fire), but it is slow and fairly predictable. In terms of recovery, her Up Special Move (Farore's Wind) covers a long distance, but is easily edgeguarded, due to being predictable and laggy. Zelda has the second-slowest falling speed. This means she is immune to many combos, but she is also very lightweight, meaning she is easy to KO off of the top.

Normal

 * Neutral Attack - Zaps magic quickly from her palm, in a similar fashion to Ganondorf's Neutral Attack. Three hits add up to 5% damage.
 * Dash Attack - Shoves her hands in front, with magic sparks coming out them. Does 13% damage if it hits with her head, 9% damage if it hits with her hands and forearms, and 7% damage if it hits toward the end of the attack.
 * Forward Tilt - Swipes her hand in front with sparks. 13% damage.
 * Down Tilt - Thrusts her foot out quickly from under her dress. 7% damage.
 * Up Tilt - Waves her hand in an arch above her, her hand filled with sparks. Surprisingly powerful. 11% damage.

Smash Attacks

 * Forward Smash - Sends a fierce jabs of magic in front of her. Like her Up Smash, multi-hitting and strong. 16% uncharged, 22% fully.
 * Up Smash - Waves her hand in an arch similar to her Up Tilt three times. Multi-hitting and powerful. 14% uncharged, 20% fully.
 * Down Smash - Quick roundhouse-like kick. Short range, but fast. 11% uncharged, 15% fully.

Other Attacks

 * Ledge Attack - Gets up and swirls her skirt forward. 6% damage.
 * 100% Ledge Attack - Slowly gets up and slaps in front. 8% damage.
 * Floor Attack - Swirls her dress around with foot extended and gets up. 6% damage

Aerial Attacks

 * Neutral Aerial - Spins with magic sparks twice. Many hitboxes, good for spacing. 13% if all hits connect.
 * Up Aerial - Releases a giant fireball upwards. 13% damage.
 * Back Aerial - Kicks to her back. If the foe is hit with the tip of her foot just as the move comes out, it zaps them very powerfully, even rivaling The Knee. 10% if not sweetspoted, 20% if sweetspotted.
 * Forward Aerial - Exact same to her Back Aerial, only she kicks in front, and slightly more slowly. 11% if not sweetspoted, 19% if sweetspotted.
 * Down aerial - Thrusts her foot downwards. A very weak Meteor Smash. 8% damage.

Grabs & Throws

 * Pummel - Zaps her foe. 2-3% damage.
 * Forward Throw - Launches her foe forward. Above average power. 12% damage.
 * Back Throw - Similar to her Forward Throw, only directly behind her. 11% damage.
 * Up Throw - Thrusts foe to the sky. 11% damage.
 * Down Throw - Drops foe and zaps them. Sends foe behind her with weak knockback. Multi-hitting, hits add up to 9%.

Fast fallers
These combos are Directional Influence based.


 * Chain throwing - By using her Up Throw, Zelda can perform a chaingrab. She can grab again right before the opponent lands. If the opponents DI, she can follow them a short distance to catch. Stops working around 30-40%.
 * Up Throw to Forward/Back Aerial - Throw them up and connect it with a Forward/Back Aerial.
 * Up Smash - If done with the right timing, Zelda can connect a series of these at low damage.
 * Down Throw + Forward/Back Aerial - If Zelda is facing right, Down Throw, short hop and use Forward/Back Aerial to the left. If Zelda is facing left, Down Throw and short hop Forward/Back Aerial to the right.
 * If the enemy DI's away from Zelda, she can't connect it.
 * If the enemy smashes buttons to break out of the grab, it might be a good idea to throw quickly. Since they were too busy breaking out, their chance to DI is gone and it can be connected.
 * If the opponent seems to go straight attempting to DI, get a few bits of damage by tapping A before throwing. Then it's suggested that Zelda go for Combo #2 if they are around the right damage.
 * Dash Attack spam - If the first Dash attack connects too early they will most likely be stunned a bit and pushed away. If the Dash Attack is used when nearly touching them they will be sent above. Zelda can dash away and back in for another Dash Attack most likely (again depends on DI as they rack up damage). If they DI right above, change it to a Combo#3 or Combo#2 by Up Throwing them. From this point really any move can be connected (Naryu's Love, etc.).
 * Forward Tilt spam - If they are too far away when doing a mid aimed tilt, it will send them away. However if caught them in it close, they can DI straight up, or behind (doesn't work with too low damage because they can tech out of this, and doesn't work with too high, so it becomes very rare to pull this out). When DI'ing straight up another one can be done.
 * This is extremely Damaged based.

Average weight & floaty

 * Down Throw + Forward/Back Aerial - If Zelda is facing right, Down Throw and short hop Forward/Back Aerial to the left. If Zelda is facing left, Down Throw and short hop Forward/Back Aerial to the right.
 * If the enemy DI's away from Zelda, she can't connect it.
 * If the enemy mashes buttons to break out of the grab, might be a good idea to throw down quickly. Since they were too busy breaking out, their chance to DI is gone and it can be connected.
 * If the opponent seems to go straight to attempting to DI, get a few bits of damage by tapping A before throwing.
 * Dash Attack + Up Tilt - Around usually 0-10% depending on the character, if the player can get a Dash Attack connected this early, they'll fly just right above Zelda. Up Smash or Up Tilt is good after this. If done on some characters (ex: Ganondorf, Roy, etc.) Zelda could jump to the side and Forward/Back Aerial the opposite direction based on the enemies choice of DI.
 * Dash Attack + Grab - Same concept as the second combo listed for floaties, but only if they go up right above Zelda's head. A grab can be sometimes obtained. Only works around 0-10%.
 * Forward Tilt + Choice - If they are too far away it'll send the opponent away. If close enough to Zelda they usually end up behind her or sent right above her (DI based). At this point, any move the player chooses could be connected: Lightning kick, another Tilt, a Jab, a Smash, a Dash Attack, etc. If they DI above Zelda, she could grab them if they don't fly too far away.
 * Note: Some characters (like Link and Samus) can use their Sex Kicks to get out of these.

Ledge game

 * Down Smash - Quick, and punishes characters who failed to sweetspot the ledge. Best used against Ganondorf, and Captain Falcon.
 * Down Aerial - Weak Meteor Smash, but can get the job done with good timing.
 * Forward Smash - If timed correctly, it can punish a Fox or Falco player that attempted to Fox Illusion or Falco Phantasm into the stage. Or any character whose Up Special Move leaves them over the ledge.
 * Forward Aerial - Time it well with the opponent's recovery. It can be landed really close to ground level.
 * Din's Fire - With great accuracy, Samus's Bombs can be destroyed, making it hard for her to recover. It is also used often to set up an opponent for another Forward Aerial.

Baiting
Zelda can apply the concept of watching her opponent and baiting them to make the first move. This allows her to either Dash dance away, short hop away, Shield to Forward Aerial, or anything to make them miss. Zelda shouldn't be too offensive, since a lot of her moves leave her vulnerable when missed, even if L-canceled.
 * Long High Heels - Short hopping away from the opponent when anticipating an attack, then C-sticking toward your enemy.
 * I'm back: Foxtrot away, and come back in after a missed attack. A Dash attack, a Crouch canceled Smash, or Forward Aerial is usually the best option.
 * I'm open! - Zelda's short dash-dance is actually useful in baiting. Zelda appears vulnerable, but she has tricks. Shield against long lag moves like Link's Spin Attack, Marth's Forward Smash, and punish them buy kicking out of the shield.
 * Reverse Shield Grab? - Again short dash-dancing helps out with this. This only works on opponents who tend to try and land behind the player after an Aerial Attack. Dash-dance, and as they wonder what the player is doing, they come in for a Aerial move. Dash-dance and end it with Zelda facing away from the enemy and bring up the shield. After they land behind, hitting the shield, the player should grab them.
 * Note: Doesn't work on everybody, especially not the Star Fox characters, who, even if they land behind Zelda, they can just L-cancel it into Reflector, and get away.
 * Farore's Wind - Realistically, if the opponent is well aware, the shift of the screen zooming in and out or left and right can tell them where Zelda is going, regardless of having a game tag on or not. However, Farore's Wind is an OK baiting move if Zelda is at the right distance. Knowing how to space Zelda is important here. Teleporting in place or quite a bit away from the enemy can bait them into thinking Zelda is going to be open when the move is finished. This move is pretty laggy, but that's why it can bait. Most opponents don't know when the lag ends.
 * Naryu's Love: When Zelda is fighting an opponent who has a ranged base of attacks, she can bait them by simply just reflecting their attacks, or dodging them, until they come to Zelda.
 * Note: Link is hard to counter because right after throwing a Boomerang, he can throw a Bomb he was already holding, so it hits Zelda after Naryu's Love is finished.
 * Note 2: Won't work on Falco or Fox, their projectiles are just too fast.
 * Note 3: Samus is a lot easier to use against. Just be sure she doesn't have an already fully Charge Shot. A thing to watch out for is when Samus starts spamming missiles and also has a saved up Charge Shot. There is a good chance where Samus wants Zelda to use Nayru's Love on the missiles, since there is a slight delay for the move to finish. During the delay, Samus can use this to her advantage and fire her Charge Shot. Avoid the missiles instead, since they don't travel far for very long. Overall, use caution when fighting a Samus user.
 * Note 4: Peach is the easiest to bait. Catch her Vegetables or reflect them until she comes close. However, be wary of the possible Bob-omb Peach might pull out.

Offense
Zelda's Defense/baiting technique is normally better, but she has some tricks up her sleeve when on the offensive.
 * Double Aerial Attack - Short hop with a Forward Aerial. If the opponent is facing Zelda, have her aerial land behind them, and go for a L-canceled Neutral Attack or another Forward Aerial. Good to know if the first kick was countered with a shield, so it isn't as easy to shield grab Zelda.
 * Jab Jab Grab - Good idea to mix these up when Zelda is forced with a close encounter so the opponent is thinking more about not getting grabbed or jabbed or which is coming.
 * Note - They can defiantly shieldgrab the jab if they are a quick grabber. Point is if they expect a jab, they will most likely shield, giving Zelda a chance to grab. If they expect a grab, they Spotdodge or some other alternative, like trying to hit Zelda first, since she's a slow grabber. Jab is rather quick, and can sometimes lead to a Forward Smash.
 * Farore's Wind Out of Shield - If Zelda is being overwhelmed with a barrage of attacks and the player needs spacing, this is a good idea to try. The beginning animation even stuns them momentarily. If it doesn't, a fast character like Captain Falcon can follow Zelda anyway. Depends on opponent's character.

Priority
Many of Zelda's attacks have great priority; large, extending (disjointed) hitboxes. This includes her Forward Smash, Up Smash, Forward Aerial/Back Aerial, Up Aerial, and even Dow Aerial. Her tilts also have decent priority.


 * Up Smash has Priority over Ganondorf and Captain Falcon's Side Special Move if Zelda starts it just after they start their attack.
 * Down Aerial can be used for edgeguarding from the ledge, to at least disrupt the opponent's sweetspot, but it should be done just a split second before they reach Zelda. Can be followed up by a Forward Smash if/once they Meteor Cancel it and aren't about to sweetspot again. An alternative could be to place a kick (Forward Aerial/Back Aerial) at the ledge while on the stage as the opponent comes close to the edge.
 * Forward Smash has priority on a lot of aerial moves on their ending frames (Ex: Captain Falcon's Knee has more priority at start, but as the move nears the end, Zelda's Forward Smash has better priority). This is why Baiting is a good idea to get the last frames of the Aerial Attacks coming the way.
 * Note: Exceptions are Marth or Ganondorf's Forward Aerial.
 * Naryu's Love just has a lot of priority in general. A Multi-hit attack, additional to its nice range. Zelda is open after this move, however. So, if blocked, or even just missed, she's most likely in trouble. Works on a lot of horizontal approaching moves, like Dash Attacks with the body of the character, Fox, Ganon, Mario. Fox, Falco, Captain Falcon, Ganondorf and Peach's Side Special Move, and projectiles.

In Single-player
In the game's single-player Adventure Mode, Zelda is fought after completing the Underground Maze on the Great Temple stage.

Zelda is featured in the following Event Matches:


 * Event 9: Hide 'n' Sheik: The player faces two Zeldas on the Great Bay stage. However, the KO will only count if Zelda is transformed into Sheik.
 * Event 15: Girl Power: The player (in a permanent Poison Mushroom effect) faces Zelda alongside Peach and Samus on the Fountain of Dreams stage with two stock each.
 * Event 20: All-Star Match 2: Zelda is the third opponent the player must fight in this series of staged battles. Their character battles him on the Great Temple stage, and their character has 2 stocks while Zelda has one. With a timer of four minutes, the player must defeat him and the other four characters with the overall time and life they have: Samus, Link, Captain Falcon, and Fox.
 * Event 29: Triforce Gathering: The player, as Link, is teamed with Zelda, the player faces Ganondorf on the Great Temple stage.
 * Event 44: Mewtwo Strikes!: Although Zelda appears, she is NOT the one the player must KO. After 15 seconds, Mewtwo will appear and KOing Zelda must be avoided at all costs.

Trophy Descriptions
In addition to the normal trophy about Zelda as a character, there are two trophies about her as a fighter, unlocked by completing the Adventure and All-Star modes respectively with Zelda on any difficulty:


 * Zelda
 * The crown princess of Hyrule. Zelda entrusted Link with the future of Hyrule after a revelation came to her in the world of dreams. She knows much about the Triforce; in fact, the only person who likely knows more about Triforce lore is Ganondorf himself, whom Zelda evaded in Ocarina of Time by transforming into her alter ego, Sheik.
 * Game: The Legend of Zelda [07/87]


 * Zelda (Smash Red)
 * Zelda is a bit slow and, because of her light frame, easy to send flying. On the other hand, her magical skills lend her reliable and explosive attack power. Zelda's easier to use if you focus on waiting and countering rather than pressing attacks. She can use Nayru's Love to reflect projectile attacks or as an offensive weapon.
 * B: Nayru's Love
 * Smash B: Din's Fire


 * Zelda (Smash Blue)
 * Zelda's midair Lightning Kick centers immense magical power in the ball of her foot. If she strikes perfectly, the attack is as strong as can be. If her aim is slightly off, it'll be exceedingly weak. Farore's Wind again utilizes Zelda's magical prowess, this time by transporting her great distances. It's vital to know the lay of the land before using this move.
 * Up & B: Farore's Wind
 * Down & B: Transform

Trivia

 * Zelda is the only character with the ability to transform into another character in Melee, and the first to do so in the Super Smash Bros. series, by being able to turn into Sheik. Pokémon Trainer in Brawl would later have the ability to "change" fighters by switching out different Pokémon, and Samus could change into her Zero Suit thorough various methods.
 * Zelda is the only female fighter in Melee (excluding Nana) whose recovery move could not be used by another character through the use of an item.
 * Like the other Legend of Zelda fighters in Melee, Zelda is based on her Ocarina of Time appearance.