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. Despite that, the Link in Brawl is still the same incarnation as in Melee, just with an updated look.

On the current tier list he ranks 36th (second from bottom) due to his poor matchups, slow attacks, poor air speed, low jumps, and his abysmal recovery.

Attributes
Link may be character of poor speed, but he makes up for that with power. Link's tilts are fast and powerful, and his down tilt is particularly good for getting opponents into the air for combos. It can also spike at the tip of the sword. 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. His down smash is an easy kill move at fairly high percentages, and is Link's quickest smash. Link's up smash doesn't kill easily, but it racks up decent damage. Link's aerials are also good, as both his nair and zair, combined with a short hop and fast falling, is a great option for approach. Links back aerial is good for spacing when needed. Links forward air is fairly fast and is powerful. Link's up and down aerials are some of his best kill moves, having high duration and high knockback, but have high ending lag. 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, it is a good edge guarding tool, but is predictable. His Neutral Special is a fast bow that can also be charged up. Links down special pulls out a bomb and throws it, which can be used for mind games. His Boomerang, Links 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 can't hit him, Crouching can also block most attacks as well, but leaves his upper hitbox open.

The most crippling problem for Link is his abysmal recovery. 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. Link's most effective mode of recovery is to 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. His Clawshot is also useful, but, like all tether recoveries, it is easily edgehogged. These weaknesses (small jumps, slow air speed, fast falling speed) also mean that Link has a very weak air game. Also note that Link is fairly easily chain grabbed due to him being relatively large, heavy, and falling fast. As mentioned above, his speed (movement-wise, not attack speed) is one of the slowest in the game (although his DACUS can help with this problem). His grab is laggy if missed, and his own bombs can be used against him.

Changes from Melee to Brawl

 * Slower air speed.
 * Grappling device is shorter, and can no longer be used on any part of the stage, making his recovery much shorter(this is odd as the "Clawshot" in "Twilight Princess" actually has quite a bit of range, compared to his "Hookshot" in "Ocarina of Time".
 * Larger character model compared to the rest of the cast.
 * Link's Bombs cause greater knockback on high damage percent fighters.
 * The first hit of side smash has higher knockback.
 * New design from The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess
 * New voice actor (from Twilight Princess rather than in Melee where the Ocarina of Time voice actor was used)
 * Spin Attack can now be charged on the ground, but no longer semi-spikes (though in PAL Melee it also doesn't semi-spike).
 * Arrows are faster.
 * Infinite sword stab in neutral combo removed.
 * Boomerang (now called Gale Boomerang) pushes opponents on the way back without causing damage. Also, it does lower damage and has a set knockback now.
 * New costume (Dark Link costume, replaces his black tunic from Melee), in addition to a "gold" costume.
 * Foward 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.

Normal

 * Neutral attack - Swipes his sword across his body, second swipe goes outwards and the third hit is a stab forward. 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 percents.
 * 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. Spikes 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 an examining the vertical lines that range across its surface. This move will spike 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 spiking aerial opponents, although usually opponents will not be spiked due to the unlikeliness 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 percents. 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.
 * Up Smash - Swings sword in an arc three times. First hit, 4% uncharged, 5% fully charged. 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; 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 oppenents 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

 * 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. Can be auto-canceled.
 * Fair - Swings his sword twice while spinning 360 degrees. First hit, 9%. Second hit, 12%.
 * Bair - Does a two kick combo. First kick does 4%, second does 7%. Can be auto-canceled.
 * Uair - Thrusts his sword upward. Can Star KO at higher percents. 15% in the first several frames, 13% in the rest.
 * Dair - A very powerful finisher that can K.O as low as 75%, although notoriously high landing lag if missed. Holds his sword downward. Can bounce off when the attack lands, scoring an additional hit. Both hits can do anywhere from 8% to 22%. The pogo effect can be canceled by a fast fall.
 * Zair - Fires his Clawshot forward, scoring two hits. Auto-cancels. Can be used as a tether recovery. First hit, 4%. Second hit, 6%. Very useful for spacing, and stopping approaches. This tether recovery can be used to save Link from a KO at extremely high percents ranging up to even higher than 300%. This can be done by simply air dodging and then immediately using Zair 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. 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 Claw Shot. High ending lag if this move misses.
 * Pummel - Hits opponent with the hilt of the Master Sword. 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. Does 7% damage.
 * Up Throw - Throws foe a very short distance above him, then slashes. 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 or certain enemies putting away the sword in the right moment).

Down:Link's mysterious taunt from the original. He pulls his knee to his chest and draws his sword back. Similar to Lucario's down taunt.

Side: Takes out 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. 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. 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. It is also possible that this is the original Link from Ocarina of Time but with an updated appearance. 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 round 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 could 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 and Toon Link are the only characters in Super Smash Bros Brawl who are laterally left-handed, as they are in their own games. The Ice Climbers also hold their hammers with their left hand in Brawl, but they were ambidextrous in Ice Climber on the NES.
 * 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.
 * Link's spin attack has been known to deflect projectiles (in the air).
 * Link does not have his taunt from SSBM, unlike other SSBM veterans. Although this technically also holds true for Zelda, her Melee taunt can be seen as one of her victory poses. Instead Link takes his taunt from SSB, making it the only taunt to be in SSB and SSBB but not SSBM.
 * In addition to alternate costume colors, the color pattern of Link's shield changes with each costume, unlike in SSB or SSBM. This is quite possibly because Link wears only his standard green tunic in Twilight Princess, though he does have different colors of armor in the game.
 * If Link and Toon Link use their down throw on a 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)
 * Link's On-Screen Appearance appears to be based off of the Recorder from the original Legend of Zelda, which allowed him to warp to any dungeon via usage of a tornado. So Link is the only character to have a different On-Screen Appearance than the one in SSB.
 * Link's Brawl tier ranking is the lowest of any default character, as well as the lowest ranking for any character with a projectile. He also is the lowest tiered character in Brawl that was in the original.
 * While Link has always been a somewhat sluggish and slow character in the smash games, he is canonically very quick on his feet and nimble, in addition to being strong. This was done to balance out the range he has with his projectiles, and his disjointed hitboxes.  As is such however, exchanging speed for power often results in a lower tier position, and Link has therefore never been higher than low tier.
 * Link, Snake, and Sonic are the only characters to be playable in a different fighting game other than the Smash Bros. series. Link appeared in the Gamecube version of Soulcalibur II, Sonic appeared in Sonic the Fighters and Sonic Battle, and Snake appeared in DreamMix TV World Fighters.
 * When Link does his back roll, his left arm goes out of the sleeve.