- This article is about Link's appearance in Super Smash Bros. Melee. For the character in other contexts, see Link. For information about Link's clone, see Young Link.
| “ | A sword-wielding hero who also boasts long-range attacks. | ” |
| —Description from Melee's manual. | ||
Announced at E3 2001, Link (リンク, Link) is a starter character in Super Smash Bros. Melee. Link returns as a veteran character from the previous game, acting mostly the same as before, as a swordsman with powerful short-range attacks and a wide variety of long-range attacks. Link, however, has received some large buffs, making him a considerably better fighter in Melee.
Link is ranked 18th in the tier list, in the E tier, which is much higher than his second to last current rank in the Smash 64 tier list (11th out of 12), and two below his clone, Young Link. Link's placement is due to a very good approach, due to some low lag aerials (with his neutral and forward air), a good variety of projectiles and a very high air speed. A disjointed hitbox also gives Link a slight advantage against others, as well as a fully functional shield that can block a wide variety of projectiles. Link is also a potent edge-guarder in the NTSC versions of the game; his Spin Attack is possibly the best semi-spike in the game, though he still has many other options. Link, however, suffers from a rather high falling speed and a high weight, making him an easy target for chain grabbing and combos. His recovery is also predictable, though he can extend it slightly.
Attributes
Link generally falls under the "slow, but powerful" archetype of fighter, though many of his attacks are fairly versatile and long reaching. Link has a rather high weight, as well as an average falling speed and high air speed, an unusual combination of physics for someone of his weight class.
Arguably Link's greatest asset is his range. His sword has a large, disjointed hitbox, allowing him to attack safely from a distance. Unlike the duo of Marth and Roy, Link only has one hitbox on his sword, allowing his approach to be considerably less "specific" than either. Additionally, Link has a multitude of projectiles on his special moves; while the Bow is decidedly situational due to its low range, speed, and power, Link's boomerang and bombs allow him to start combos, continue them, or simply deal damage; the latter also can extend Link's recovery if he slashes them with his Spin Attack.
Another benefit are his variety of useful attacks in his arsenal; a majority of his grounded attacks have good KO potential, including his tilts, with his up tilt having rather decent speed and acting as an excellent combo starter that takes advantage of his above-average air game. Link's air game is solid; his fast, low-lag back, forward, and neutral aerials coupled with his low short hop and high falling and air speeds give Link among the best SHFFLs in the game. Link's boomerangs and bombs also give the character excellent zoning abilities, with the former's modifiable trajectories potentially making it a good approach tool as well. In addition, Link has a variety of powerful finishers; all of his smashes have decent power with acceptable start-up and cool-down lag, his forward smash can be extended should the first hit fail to connect, and both his up and down aerials can be potent finishers, especially when combined with his aforementioned SHFFL. In the NTSC regions, Link's Spin Attack is also a deadly edge-guarding technique when used on the ground; its later hitboxes sharply semi-spike the opponent, and if Link can land this attack on recovering opponents, he can quickly and safely gimp opponents. While the attack lost its semi-spike properties in PAL regions, the attack's long range and high power still make it a decent edge-guarding technique.
Link's grab game has a variety of positive and negative attributes; while his grab has a long range, it also has high ending lag. Link's grab also cannot grab opponents in the air, limiting his chaingrab potential. Link's throws, however, have low knockback and relatively high hitstun, as well as low ending lag, allowing Link to potentially string in a few hits against his opponent.
Link's recovery is also considered to be above-average. Link by himself is difficult to edge-guard, as his recovery has a wide variety of options; his wall-grapple can allow him to enter "safe-zones" underneath the ledge, and his spin attack covers the top of him, with his bombs also potentially allowing for some form of recovery if he slashes them with his spin attack. In addition, Link's high weight and falling speed make him rather resilient to the upper blast line, though these attributes impact his horizontal survivability.
A high falling speed and being a rather large target, however, reveals Link's primary flaw: Link is a particularly easy target for chain throwing and combos. Against fast characters, such as Fox or Sheik, Link players must read opponents very well as to avoid such techniques; unlike most others, however, Link's only fast move that can potentially break combos is his neutral air, causing him to be rather predictable in these cases. In addition, Link boasts among the worst out-of-shield options in the game; both Spin Attack and his up tilt are slow to come out, and his grab cannot grab opponents in midair.
Exacerbating Link's ease to be comboed is his poor overall mobility. While still rather fast for a character of his strength, weight and range, Link still has a rather slow, inflexible approach on the ground, due to his slow dash speed, poor dashdance, and short wavedash. Additionally, Link has multiple high-lag attacks, notably his down and up aerial attacks; while this can be alleviated with L-cancelling, they can still be punished, requiring Link players to carefully set up combos and KO moves.
Changes from Smash 64 to Melee
In his transition from Super Smash Bros. to Super Smash Bros. Melee, Link received numerous buffs, most of which made him a more potent fighter, going from bottom tier to mid-low tier.
Aesthetics
- Link has a new taunt.
- Link's helpless animation has changed.
- Link has a different dash animation.
Attributes
- Link is generally a faster character, with a higher air speed and faster aerials, improving his combo and aerial games.
- Link's recovery was strongly buffed; it is considerably longer and more flexible, with Spin Attack granting a much higher vertical distance, and his higher air speed improving his horizontal recovery. He also has new options, with the wall grapple and bomb recovery.
Ground attacks
- Dash attack: New animation that is a slash rather than a stab. It has slightly better combo ability and can be considered an improvement.
- Forward smash: Has a new animation which is considerably stronger than his old forward smash.
- Up smash: Is slower, has less vertical range, and has smaller hitboxes.
Aerial attacks
- All aerials attacks are generally better.
- Down aerial: Is stronger in both damage and in knockback.
Grabs and throws
- Lower grab range, along with Link no longer being able to grab aerial opponents.
- The Hookshot now has considerably less startup and ending lag.
Special moves
- Hero's Bow: Link;s new neutral special move that makes him fires an arrow from his bow. This arrow's power and distance can be increased by holding the B button.
- Boomerang: Reassainged as Link's side special move. The boomerang now travels faster and have less startup lag, as well as having a higher chance of returning to Link.
- Boomerangs cannot travel as far as it did in Smash 64.
- Spin Attack: The grounded version is now a very powerful edge-guarding option.
- The aerial version, due to now being a multi-hit attack, can no longer KO reliably unless the last hit is landed, and even then, it has less power overall.
PAL differences
Like other characters, Link received some changes in the PAL version of Melee.
- Spin Attack has lost its semi-spike properties, making it slightly less useful for edge-guarding, though it still acts as a potent attack.
- The boomerang superjump and chain dance glitches were removed; these were also removed in NTSC version 1.2.
Moveset
| Image | Name | Damage | Description | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Neutral attack |  |
5% | Link performs a three-hit combo consisting on a vertical slash, a horizontal slash, and then a forward stab. If the A button is pressed rapidly after the second hit, Link will instead initiate a rapid stab attack that deals weak knockback. | ||
| 3% | |||||
| 6% | |||||
| 1% (loop) | |||||
| Forward tilt |  |
13% (body), 14% (tip & hilt), 15% (base) | Link performs a downward swing with his sword. This attack has relatively high knockback for a forward tilt. | ||
| Up tilt |  |
9% | Link swing his sword in an arc over his body. | ||
| Down tilt |  |
11% | Links swings his sword across the ground. This attack can meteor smash a ledge-grabbing foe only if they come in contact with the hilt of Link's sword. | ||
| Dash attack |  |
9% (tip), 12% (base), 11% (body) | Link dashes forward and performs a downward strike with his sword. | ||
| Forward smash |  |
13% (tip), 14% (body) | Link swings his sword downward and if the A button is pressed after the first strike, he performs a horizontal strike that deals more damage and knockback. Interestingly, the second slash does not increase in damage or knockback whenever it's "charging". | ||
| 18% (tip), 20% (body) | |||||
| Up smash |  |
4% (hit 1), 2% (hit 2), 9%-10% (hit 3) | Link slashes in an upward arc three times, with the last hit dealing the most damage and launching the opponent vertically. Deals below-average knockback for an up smash attacke. | ||
| Down smash |  |
13% (front hit tip), 11% (back hit tip), 16% (blade & body), 17% (hilt) | Link sweeps with his sword in front of and then behind him. The first hit comes out fast, though the second hit has some startup lag. | ||
| Neutral aerial |  |
11%/9%/8% (clean foot/back leg/hip) 7% (late) | Links does a jump kick attack that contains sex kick properties. This attack comes out very fast and has low ending and landing lag. | ||
| Forward aerial |  |
13% (hit 1), 8% (hit 2) | Link performs a double spinning sword attack. It's usually difficult for both hits to connect and the first hit doesn't deal much knockback, making it a situational attack to use while edge-guarding. | ||
| Back aerial |  |
7% (hits 1-2) | Link performs a spinning double back-kick attack. The properties of the first hit makes it difficult for the second hit to reliably connect, especially at higher percents. | ||
| Up aerial |  |
16% (clean), 12% (late) | Link thrust his sword upward. Acts as a reliable vertical finisher at higher percentages. | ||
| Down aerial |  |
22%/20% (clean), 19% (late), 6%/8% (after bounce) | Link uses his sword as a pogo stick, stabbing opponents below him. Hitting an enemy with this attack will make Link bounce in the air, making it possible to hit the same enemy again, but this only works if the opponent's damage is low. Has huge landing lag if Link lands in the middle of the animation (though L-cancelling helps). | ||
| Grab aerial |  |
Hookshot | 6% | Link uses his Hookshot to attack enemies while airborne. Can be used to wall grapple. This attack has the unusual property of not suffering from stale-move negation. | |
| Grab |  |
Hookshot | — | Link fires his Hookshot forward to grab enemies from afar. | |
| Pummel |  |
3% | Link bashes the opponent's head with the hilt of his sword. | ||
| Forward throw |  |
3% (hit 1), 3% (throw) | Link attacks with a front kick, knocking the opponent away. | ||
| Back throw |  |
3% (hit 1), 3% (throw) | Link throws the opponent behind him and kicks them away. | ||
| Up throw |  |
2% (hit 1), 4% (throw) | Link throws the opponent above him attack them with an upward slash. | ||
| Down throw |  |
4% (hit 1), 2% (throw) | Link places the opponent on the ground and elbow drops them. | ||
| Floor attack (front) |  |
6% | Link quickly gets up and slashes on both sides. | ||
| Floor attack (back) |  |
6% | Link quickly gets up and slashes on both sides. | ||
| Edge attack (fast) |  |
8% | Link returns to the stage and performs a downward slash with his sword. | ||
| Edge attack (slow) |  |
8% | Link slowly returns to the stage and thrusts his sword forward. Only the sword has a hitbox—meaning foes close to the end of the ledge Link was on can avoid this attack completely. | ||
| Neutral special |  |
Bow | 5-18% | Link fires an arrow at the opponent. The damage and speed the arrow flies will increase the longer you hold down the B button. | |
| Side special |  |
Boomerang | 14% (throw), 16% (smash throw), 6% (far), 3% (return) | Link throws his boomerang at the opponent. The trajectory the boomerang flies can be altered by tilting up or down on the control stick. When inputted as a smash attack, the boomerang will fly farther and deal slightly more damage. Only one Boomerang can be on the field at a time. | |
| Up special |  |
Spin Attack | Ground: 15% (clean), 5% (late) Air: 4%/6% (hit 1), 2% (hits 2-4), 4%/6% (hit 5) |
When used on the ground, Link performs a spinning attack on the ground that only hits once. When used in the air, Link performs a jumping spinning attack that can hit multiple times and be used as a recovery move. Link can grab an edge of a stage even if he isn't facing one, but it can only be done before he performs the last slash. | |
| Down special |  |
Bomb | 1~7.2% (contact), 4% (explosion) | Link pulls out a bomb that explodes on impact or when the fuse expires. When used in the air, the explosion can grant Link another Spin Attack if one has already been used, making it useful when returing to the stage. | |
Taunt
- Sheathes sword and shield and brushes the hair out of his eyes, grunting slightly.
Crowd cheer
| English | Japanese | |
|---|---|---|
| Cheer | ||
| Description | Go Link! *claps three times* | Lin-k! |
| Voices | Male | Male |
Victory poses
Template:Victory/SSBM
Matchups
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Combos
- A good combo to use in one on one battles is to use the Boomerang, to momentarily disable the character of any attacks (they will pop into the air), use this momentarily, cease fire to use a Spin Attack and send them flying away. Must be done quickly or else chances are they will attack.
- Another great combo is to grab the opponent, throw them up/down, depending on character and damage the opponent has, if its a fast faller then use Up Throw, if they have high damage use the Down Throw anyway, then instantly use the Spin Attack. On high damage this is lethal. Follow the Spin Attack with a Boomerang and charge in for the kill. A Forward Aerial or another Spin Attack usually does the trick.
- Up Throw, Up Aerial, then Spin Attack. If the enemy still lives, Up Smash.
- Pull a bomb, Spin Attack, throw the bomb into the air, grapple the opponent and throw them upwards. If done quickly enough the opponent will be hurled into the bomb and fly away, doing no harm. However if too much time is wasted, the bomb will bounce off the opponent and land on Link.
- Down Tilt, jump, Forward Aerial or Neutral Aerial.
- Down Throw, Jump, then Down Aerial. If done correctly, Down Aerial will strike the enemy as soon as they get up. Great for racking up the enemy's %.
- Down Throw, turn around, Down Tilt, then Spin Attack. May not work if the enemy is at a high %.
- For more tricks and combos, go to this tutorial.
In 1-P Mode
Classic Mode
In Classic Mode, Link can appear as a solo opponent, as an opponent team battles paired up with either Luigi, Young Link, Zelda or Marth, as a giant opponent, as a metal opponent, an as an ally in team and giant battles. Link will always appear on either Great Bay or Temple with the exception of when on a team with Luigi, where they will be fought on Mushroom Kingdom, as well as the metal battle, where, like everybody else, he will be fought on Battlefield.
Adventure Mode
Link's sole appearance in the Adventure Mode is in the Underground Maze stage. In the stage, the player must find the Triforce in one of six stages; however, five of these stages contain a Master Sword, where the player will fight a Link. While players have the option to skip these matches by merely jumping over the stage, the player receives the "Link Master" bonus if they KO all five Links in the stage.
All-Star Mode
In All-Star Mode, Link and his allies are fought on Great Bay.
Event Matches
Link is featured in the following event matches:
- Event 3: Bomb-fest: The player chooses any character and must defeat Link and Samus on Princess Peach's Castle. Link and Samus will only use their bomb special moves, and only items that create explosions (such as the Motion-Sensor Bomb and Bob-ombs) will spawn on the stage.
- Event 18: Link's Adventure: The player uses Link and must defeat Dark Link in a two-stock match on Temple.
- Event 20: All-Star Match 2: Link is the second opponent to be fought in this series of staged battles. The player battles him on Great Bay, which will transition to the next stage if Link gets defeated. With a timer of four minutes, the player must defeat him along with Samus, Zelda, Captain Falcon, and Fox.
- Event 29: Triforce Gathering: The player plays as Link with Zelda as their partner, who each has one stock, and must work together to defeat Ganondorf, who has two stock, on Temple. Clearing this event allows the player to unlock Ganondorf.
- Event 34: Seven Years: As Young Link, the player must defeat Link in a three-stock match on Great Bay.
- Event 41: En Garde!: As Marth, the player must defeat Link in a two-stock match on Temple.
Trophy description
In addition to the normal trophy about Link as a character, there are two trophies about him as a fighter, unlocked by completing the Adventure and All-Star modes respectively with Link on any difficulty.
- Link
- Even in his youth, Link was already becoming the warrior who would carry the destiny of Hyrule (and many other lands) on his shoulders. His epic struggles against the forces of darkness are written in legend, and he is bound to the Princess Zelda and the archfiend Ganondorf by the awesome power of the Triforce.
- The Legend of Zelda [07/87]
- Link (Smash Red)
- Burdened with a shield, a heavy sword, and plenty of equipment, Link is not a very mobile character. Nevertheless, he's skilled with the blade, and his varied supply of missile weapons makes him a powerful fighter. To master Link, you must control the pace by balancing your long-range attacks with head-to-head swordplay.
- Link (Smash Blue)
- Link's Bow, Boomerang, and Bombs all take time to wield, so you may want to try drawing them in midair to prevent your foes from attacking you while you're vulnerable. The Spin Attack can score consecutive midair hits, and the final slash is very powerful. Link's Bombs are his trump card, but he can't pull one out if he's carrying another item.
- Up & B: Spin Attack
- Down & B: Bomb
.jpg "Link trophy (SSBM).jpg (238 KB)")
.jpg "Link smash trophy (SSBM).jpg (187 KB)")
.jpg "Link smash 2 trophy (SSBM).jpg (216 KB)")
Alternate Costumes
Link's alternate costumes in Super Smash Bros. Melee.
Trivia
- Link and his clone, Young Link, both use the same model for the Hookshot. This makes Young Link's look rather large compared to Link's.
- Link has an interesting hitbox with the Home-Run Bat. When the opponent is in the air and slightly behind him, and he performs a Smash Attack with the bat in the opposite direction, the bat will actually deal a greater knockback than a front hit.
External links
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