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.

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.

Pros

 * Smashes are quick with high knockback.
 * Fast character overall.
 * Tether Recovery available.
 * Down air is a Stall-Then-Fall aerial, allowing it to negate vertical knockback, being useful as a recovery move, as well as a powerful spike.
 * Can Wall jump (and is one of the best Wall jumpers.)
 * Shield may block projectiles.
 * Spin Attack can be charged and has good vertical recovery.
 * Small target.
 * Good at juggles and combos.
 * Can perform a type of Fence of Pain with aerials.
 * RAR can be used to combo with Bair.
 * Is able to Quickdraw his arrows.
 * Boomerang has a good Wavebounce.
 * Long Duration and high Knockback on Up and Down Aerials.
 * Excellent at edgeguarding.
 * Can recover via bombs (Bomb recovery).
 * Easy to use projectiles allow for avoidance of edgehogging.
 * Opponents have hard time approaching, due to his sword attacks and projectiles.
 * Throws are all decent combo starters.
 * Most attacks have high priority.
 * Short Hop Double Arrow (SHDA) provides good projectile walls.
 * Dair creates a shockwave when it hits the ground, pushing opponents away as he pulls it out. Though situational, his Dair's shockwave can push away recovering opponents without giving them back their third jump.
 * By pushing the grab button while holding a bomb and about to land, Toon Link will drop the bomb and it won't explode. It then can be pushed to opponents with dair, picked up, or be sort of like a mine. This technique is called Bomb Barrier. This technique can be done in a single short hop and even blocks some opponent's projectiles.

Cons

 * Can be KO'd fairly easy due to being a Lighter character.
 * Shield is unreliable for blocking projectiles, due to size and height.
 * F-smash leaves him wide open after the 2nd swing.
 * Short tether
 * Grab is slow and punishable if it misses.
 * Dair's long duration and stall and fall style can cause accidental SDs especially since it is used as a meteor smash.
 * Dair can be predictable if used offensively and is laggy when you hit the ground.
 * Floaty, although down aerial can mitigate this.
 * Opponents can easily dodge the second hit of the forward smash by airdodging or sidestepping

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 dsmash, 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.

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. 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 innocently, possibly a reference to his "expressions" introduced in The Wind Waker.

Down: Panics while slashing his sword around wildly, which tires him out. This could be a reference to fury stabs, being a Melee attack where certain characters could quickly attack in front of them by pressing the attack button repeatedly.

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 came in second in the "Favorite Brawl Character" poll by Nintendopedia.
 * Three of his alternate costumes mimic his 4 Swords colors (Blue, Red, and Violet), while another one of his costumes are his colors from the original Legend of Zelda. He also has a costume based off of Dark Link.
 * Despite being able to crawl voluntarily in Wind Waker, Toon Link can't crawl in Brawl.
 * His Final Smash is a copy of Link's, albeit shorter initial ranged and only the knockback of a smash attack, but greater range on the final slash.
 * Toon Link has all-sword attacks unlike his older counterpart (not including his throws).
 * Toon Link's arrows shoot at a very slight upwards angle and thus travels slightly further than Link's (uncharged).
 * In Wind Waker, the Mirror Shield and Power Bracelets were inevitably obtained in the quest to fully charge the Master Sword, yet here, Toon Link has a fully charged Master Sword and no Mirror Shield or Power Bracelets.
 * Unlike Link, Toon Link's Arrows travel almost horizontally until hitting a wall.
 * Toon Link's Up Smash attack is more powerful than Links, when hit correctly.
 * Toon Link's Brawl artwork is in a similar pose to official artwork for "The Wind Waker" showing him using the titular item.
 * There was a rumor that the Ice Climbers, Mr. Game & Watch, and Young Link were going to be replaced by Bowser Jr., Ridley, and Wind Waker Link. The only part of the rumor that was true was the part about Young Link being replaced (by Toon Link).