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This article is about Shiek's appearance in Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS and Wii U. For other uses, see Sheik.

Sheik (シーク, Sheik) returns as a playable fighter in Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS and Wii U. She was confirmed during the Super Smash Bros. Direct on April 8th, 2014, a day before the Australian releases of The Legend of Zelda: Four Swords Adventures and The Legend of Zelda: The Minish Cap.

She currently ranks 4th place on the tier list due to being incredibly fast with a low-lag neutral with many moves allowing her to set up combos, where she excels. However, she is very lightweight and most of her attacks lack range.

Attributes[]

Strengths[]

  • Very fast in all aspects, with the 5th fastest walk speed, 7th fastest dash speed, among the 15th fastest air speed and 9th fastest air speed.
  • Has many moves with little to no lag at all.
  • Can crawl.
  • Can wall jump and wall cling.
  • Amazingly powerful neutral game, with many options during the match, being able to take on different roles depending on the situation, with powerful combos, good camping and gimping potential.
  • Can string attacks very easily, being able to initiate ground to air combos and vice-versa. Is unmatched at juggling.
  • Many attacks have high active frames, with long-lasting hitboxes.
  • Has a Meteor Smash, Down Aerial.
  • All Special Attacks save for Burst Grenade have  transcending priority.
  • Needle Storm is a great poking tool and can nullify many approaches, as well being able to land off-stage gimp kills against opponents with poor recovery due the high flinch and little knockback.
  • Burst Grenade allows Sheik to dominate the space around her by controlling the fuse of the bomb, which can lead to many follow ups, as well various mindgames.
  • Bouncing Fish is an excellent finisher and follow up to her combos. This makes this attack deadly to be used for gimping and earlier kills. The bouncing can also aid her recovery if used against opponent trying to gimp her.
  • Vanish is powerful for both recovery and attack, being able to do both if right timed. The initial explosion is powerful enough to KO opponents at mid-high percentages off-stage. It also has invincibility frames during the teleport, as well a very small window of opportunity for opponents to interrupt it.

Weaknesses[]

  • Lightweight, being easy to launch.
  • Lack of range in many moves, forcing Sheik to go personal, which can be dangerous against opponents with disjointed hitboxes.
  • Lack of damage in most attacks, meaning Sheik relies mostly on long combos to do proper damage.
  • Does not benefit much from rage due her weight and combo oriented game.
  • Lack of KO power in many moves.
  • Has a high short hop, which makes hard to pull some fast fall combos.
  • Needle Storm and Burst Grenade can be reflected.
  • Sheik becomes helpless if she uses Burst Grenade in the air.
  • Vanish doesn't go very far in terms of recovery, and can by dangerous to use against fighters with good wall of pain techniques, such as Kirby, Jigglypuff, and Ness.

Summary[]

Kuroham-sheik

Sheik's stats by Kurogane Hammer.

Sheik is a Zone-Breaker, capable of penetrating the enemy's defense with her high mobility, boasting from having one of the best frame datas in the game which makes her a powerful Rushdown character. Her speed is one of the highest in the game, with fast movement and attack speed, which allows her to also employ many hit and run tactics.

Sheik's is notable for being unpredictable, with nearly all of her moves being able to combo with each other and having a huge variety of combos. Her most and unrivaled strength is the lack of ending lag for most of her moves, meaning she can string them together without problems, trapping the opponent into a flurry of kicks and punches. All her combos are very versatile, with quick attacks that can easily go from ground to air and vice-versa. Neutral Attack can be cancelled into grabs and tilts, while Forward and Up Tilts can easily start juggling setups. When her opponent is in the air, Sheik can put some serious pressure, chaining multiple Forward Aerials in succession. Her Neutral and Back Aerials have high active frames, allowing to hit opponents with late frames, that can lead to more combos. Up Aerial is one of the best juggling moves in the game, while her Down Aerial can even land some surprise Meteor Smashes. All her Throws can lead into other moves due the low knockback. Because of her combo potential, any hit move is a win; regardless of sweetspot or sourspot, the low knockback will always mean another option to be followed and frame trap the opponent.

As for her Special Attacks, she can put a lot of pressure and penetrate the enemy's defenses. Needle Storm deals a lot of hitstun when fully charged, being very fast, hard to spot due being very small, and also having transcending priority (meaning it can't "clash" with other moves). Burst Grenade can lead to some traps as Sheik can control the fuse of the bombs, being a decent option for edge guard. Vanish is a great offensive and defensive tool, allowing Sheik to deal damage and even KO opponents while recovering. Finally, Bouncing Fish is a versatile move that can be used to finish combos.

Despite her formidable frame data, Sheik has some notable flaws. Her reliance on combos hinders her damage output for individual moves, meaning she often requires to string very long combos to do sustained damage, while other characters can easily do the same amount of damage and even more with few blows. This is even more evident due the Stale-Move Negation mechanic, which means that Sheik loses a lot of damage potential as many of her combos consists on linking the same move (like Forward Aerial chains). She also has some problems with KOs, with her most powerful moves in terms of knockback being relatively hard to land, requiring specific sweetspots, such as her Up Smash. Despite being very fast, all her Smash Attacks lack range and have considerable ending lags, with her Down Smash being nearly useless with little KO power, while her Forward Smash being very slow and easy to punish. Her Burst Grenade and Vanish are also easy to punish if the player is not careful as they have considerable ending lags.

Overall, Sheik is often considered the best character in the game, with a great representation on tournaments due her performance against most of the cast. Players, however, must be creative with the combos in order to prevent too much staleness. Because of her lack of KO power, Sheik has a very high technical learning curve, requiring precision and accuracy to land her Aerial Attacks and Tilts properly, as well quick reflexes to strike with the finishing moves efficiently.

Differences from Brawl[]

Sheik has received major buffs to further increase her mobility and power. Many of her moves properties now resembles a bit the ones she had in Melee, with many attacks being changed or reverted, giving back many of the options she lost in Brawl. As transformations have been removed, she no longer can transform into Zelda and vice-versa, but gained a new Special Attack that greatly aids her combo game. She also received very few nerfs, mostly notably to her recovery, with the lost of her tether recovery and being able to transform into Zelda. Her KO power was also drastically reduced for many moves in favor for higher focus on combo'ing.

Because of her dominance in the metagame and being regarded by many as the best character in the game, Sheik was also target of nerfs in several patches. However, much like Diddy Kong, who suffered the same treatment, none of these nerfs have significantly affected her viability in tournaments.

Appearance-wise, Sheik looks much like she did in Brawl, with a Twilight Princess inspired design. However, she has some additional details on her clothes, as well more defined muscular build that resembles her original design from Ocarina of Time. She also got a new standing idle animation that gives her a more "fierce look", as well two new idle poses. Most of her animations have been slightly tweaked to give her a more nimble and graceful manner.

Attributes[]

  • Slightly faster walking and dash speeds.
  • Faster air speed and falling speed.
  • Short hop is much faster and her normal jump has less landing lag.
  • No longer able to perform Tether Recovery due her new Side Special, Burst Grenade.
  • No longer able to transform into Zelda, thus losing access to Farore's Wind to aid her recovery.
  • No longer does a two-hit Forward Smash with battering items, meaning she won't fire two stars at once with the Star Rod.

Ground Attacks[]

  • The second hit of her Neutral Attack can transition between rapid jabs and a finisher.
  • Forward Tilt deals less damage, but is faster and can combo into itself better.
  • Up Tilt deals less damage, has less ending lag and lower knockback growth.
  • Down Tilt deals less damage, but now can link better into other moves against opponents at low percentages.
  • Forward Smash's second hit is much stronger in terms of knockback. However, both hits deals less damage. It also no longer sends opponents at a downwards angle.
  • Up Smash deals less damage, but its sweetspot is a bit stronger in terms of knockback, although harder to land. Also, sourspot causes slightly lower knockback, and it deals less damage.
  • Down Smash's animation is slightly tweaked, having less range and dealing less damage and knockback, but has slightly lower ending lag. Additionally, the hits can now connect better on the first hit.
  • Dash Attack's animation is slightly different, where Sheik claws more forcefully. It's now a two-hit attack, having slightly higher range and dealing more horizontal knockback.

Aerial Attacks[]

  • Neutral Aerial has less knockback growth and deals less damage, making it a less reliable KO move, but very useful in combos.
  • Forward Aerial has a slightly different animation, covering more of Sheik's body when attacking, forming an arc. It is much faster and covers more range, but deals less damage and no longer sends opponents at a slightly downwards trajectory. The sourspot now has priority over the sweetspot.
  • Back Aerial has less ending lag, but, it deals less damage and knockback.
  • Up Aerial is now a multi-hit attack, similar to Samus' Up Aerial, however it deals higher knockback, but less damage.
  • Down Aerial is now Meteor Smash at the first frames, however Sheik descends much faster, meaning it is harder to maneuver. Additionally, also deals a second hit against grounded opponents, ground bouncing them. However, it deals less damage.

Grabs and Throws[]

  • Forward Throw is slightly faster and sends opponents more vertically, able to follow up with attacks such as Forward Aerial and Bouncing Fish.
  • Back Throw has less ending lag, allowing for more follow ups.
  • Down Throw deals more knockback, and now sends opponents more vertically above Sheik, like in Melee, but still allows follow ups. However, it deals less damage.

Special Attacks[]

  • Needle Storm's projectiles are faster, and now inflicts proper knockback, specially when fully charged, allowing Sheik to control her space better. It can also be pivoted on the ground. When used in midair, no longer gives Sheik landing lag. However, it deals much less damage, has more ending lag, and takes longer to charge.
  • New Side Special, Burst Grenade, replaces her old one, Chain. Rather than using the chain to cause damage, Sheik launches a grenade attached to the chain, which explodes when the button is released, causing knockback. Prior explosion also has windboxes that pulls opponents towards the grenade, increasing the chances to hit. However, when used in midair, it leaves Sheik in a helpless state.
  • Vanish now has a hitbox when Sheik reappears, dealing high damage and knockback; it also has windboxes that pushes opponents, making it a safer move upon landing should the damaging hitbox does not connect. The hitbox when she disappears inflicts much higher knockback, able to KO at high percentages near the ledge.
  • New Down Special, Bouncing Fish, replaces her old one, Transform. It functions similar to Zero Suit Samus' Down Special, Flip Jump, however it covers much more horizontal range and is very fast, being a powerful follow up option for her aerial game. It also has very high base knockback, as well aiding in her recovery. Sheik can control the distance it covers, meaning the move won't always cover a set distance.
  • Light Arrow deals slightly less knockback and damage. However, it now launches opponents at a lower angle instead of straight forward. With this in mind, it can be considered a semi-spike.

Moveset[]

Ground Attacks[]

  • Neutral combo: Two hand swipes leading into a rapid flurry ending with a force palm. 2%, 3%, 1x%, 3%
  • Forward tilt: A forward and upward kick that can combo. 4%
  • Up tilt: A handstand kick, leading to a downwards kick. 5%, 6%
  • Down tilt: A sweep kick. 5%
  • Dash attack: A quick dual hand swipe in front of Sheik. 6%

Smash Attacks[]

  • Up smash: A dual hand swipe downwards, which is one of her strongest attacks. Doesn't hit twice when fully charged 21% ~ 26%
  • Forward smash: An advancing double forward kick. 8% ~ 16%
  • Down smash: A handstand spin kick. 9% ~ 12%

Other attacks[]

  • Ledge attack: Sheik pulls herself up from the ledge and kicks forward with both feet. 7%
  • Get up attack: Sheik sticks one feet out and hits forward with it.

Aerial Attacks[]

  • Neutral air: A sex kick. 8% sweetspotted, 5% sourspotted
  • Forward air: A quick hand swipe downwards. 5% sweetspotted, 4% sourspotted
  • Up air: An upwards spiral kick. 1x%, 4%
  • Down air: A quick diagonal kick downwards hitting the ground, similar to Sonic and Zero Suit Samus. 10%
  • Back air: A behind upwards diagonal kick. 7%

Grabs and Throws[]

Grabs and Throws[]

  • Grab - Small grab.
  • Pummel - Hits opponent with her arm. A slow pummel.
  • Forward Throw - Slams into the opponent with her torso, doing 5%. Can combo into a forward or up aerial, and Bouncing Fish until mid percentages against most characters, depending on DI, and a jump cancel up smash on heavyweights and fast-falling characters.
  • Back Throw - Throws opponent behind and back kicks them away for 5%. Can potentially follow up with aerials or Bouncing Fish.
  • Down Throw - Performs a kip-up and kicks the opponent into the air for 3%. Due to it having high base knockback and high ending lag, it has no guaranteed follow-ups and is her overall least useful throw.
  • Up Throw - Throws opponent on the ground, then performs an axe kick knocking the opponent up into the air for 3%. Can combo into any aerial (except down aerial) depending on opponent's DI until high percents, where opponents fly too high for her to followup. This is also her strongest throw, but does not KO until 305%.

Sheik's Special Moves
Melee Brawl 3DS/Wii U Ultimate
Standard Special Needle Storm
Side Special Chain Burst Grenade
Up Special Vanish
Down Special Transform Bouncing Fish
Final Smash Light Arrow Sheikah Dance

Sheik's Custom Special Moves
Custom 1 Custom 2
Standard Special Penetrating Needles Paralyzing Needle
Side Special Gravity Grenade Skimming Grenade
Up Special Gale Abyss
Down Special Jellyfish Pisces

Taunts[]

  • Up taunt: Handstands on one hand.
  • Down taunt: Strikes a pose.
  • Forward taunts: Pauses for a moment and strikes a pose.

In Competitive Play[]

Sheik has always been perceived as a top-tier character since the game's release, which was eventually reflected in her ranking at the very top of the first official 4BR tier list, with the previous nerfs to Rosalina & Luma and Diddy Kong paving the way for Sheik to be considered the near-indisputable best character in the game, in a similar manner to Meta Knight in Brawl and Fox in Melee. Players noticed her fantastic frame data, the ability to control the neutral game by spacing effectively with her forward aerial and camp with Needle Storm, extensive combo game that allowed her to rack up damage quickly and efficiently, dominant offstage game, and reliable KO set-ups off of low-committal grab set-ups. This led most players to believe she lacked losing match-ups and had only a handful that were arguably even. As expected, Sheik's position was cemented by a stellar playerbase that included highly talented players such as ZeRo, Mr.R, VoiD, K9sbruce and RAIN, among others, all of whom achieved great results with the character on a consistent basis.

However, Sheik's overwhelming dominance took a blow with patches 1.1.4 and 1.1.5, which removed her most reliable KO set-ups, worsened her survivability, and weakened her camping ability. As a result, her most notable player, ZeRo, eventually dropped her, and others such as K9sbruce have been using secondaries more often. Despite her heavy nerfs, Sheik's neutral, combo, and offstage games are still among the best, allowing her to continue to gain strong results from players like VoiD and Mr.R and remain a top-tier character, placing at 3rd and 4th on the second and third version of the tier list respectively and remaining on the S tier.

Currently, Sheik is ranked as 4th on the fourth tier list, but has since then dropped to the A tier due to her results being worse than the characters ranked higher than her, although they still remain strong with many top players still having high opinions over Sheik as VoiD won Smash 'N' Splash 4 defeating top players Mistake, Dabuz, Light and Salem marking the first time Sheik won a major since patch 1.1.5, Mr.R getting 2nd at Hyrule Saga defeating top players DSS, Nairo, Samsora, Cosmos, ANTi, and Dabuz before losing to Tweek, 1-3, and Nietono getting 3rd at EVO 2018 defeating top players Charlie, Shuton, falln, Choco, Mr E, and Mistake before losing to Captain Zack 0-3 (Although he used Diddy Kong to beat Choco and Mr E). These recent spike of results have been rare for Sheik as she hardly ever achieved these results after the nerfs. These results have also been more impressive than Diddy Kong and Cloud as they have failed to go this far in tournament without the use of a secondary in recent history. Due to this, some smashers have debated that Sheik should be ranked higher than this with Dabuz Mr.R and MKLeo agreeing that Sheik should be ranked slightly higher. Other players like ESAM, however, believe that she is overrated due to her inconsistency at killing as he puts her at 8th on his tier list.

Trophy Description[]

SSB3DS Sheik Trophy1

Sheik[]

In The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time, Sheik claimed to be a surviving Sheikah. However, this was just a cunning disguise used by--SPOILER ALERT!--Princess Zelda so she could hide from Ganondorf. In Smash Bros., she's the complete opposite of Zelda, striking with fast attacks that can unbalance her foes.

  • N64 - The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time (11/1998)
  • 3DS - The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time 3D (06/2011)

Sheik (Alt)[]

Sheik's Burst Grenade side special throws a small grenade that draws in nearby fighters before exploding. Once the button has been released, it'll hop or explode after a time. The down special Bouncing Fish is an attack where Sheik strikes with both heels, falling similarly to the way a fish might flop around.

Other Features[]

To Be Added

Costume Gallery[]

Sheik Palette (SSB4)

Gallery[]

Trivia[]

  • Although Sheik has a new idle animation, she will revert to her previous one if holding a light item. She shares this trait with Yoshi.
  • Sheik and Pit are the only veterans to have at least two new special moves.

Gallery[]

External links[]

ZeldaSymbol The Legend of Zelda universe
Characters Link (64  · Melee  · Brawl  · 3DS/Wii U  · Ultimate)
Sheik (Melee  · Brawl  · 3DS/Wii U  · Ultimate)
Princess Zelda (Melee  · Brawl  · 3DS/Wii U  · Ultimate)
Young Link (Melee  · Ultimate)
Ganondorf (Melee  · Brawl  · 3DS/Wii U  · Ultimate)
Toon Link (Brawl  · 3DS/Wii U  · Ultimate)
Side characters Bosses Dark Link  · Ganon
Assist Trophies Tingle  · Skull Kid  · Midna  · Ghirahim  · Moon
Mii Fighter Costumes Link  · Princess Zelda  · Sheik  · Majora's Mask  · Yiga Clan  · Skull Kid  · Ancient Soldier Gear
Background characters Four Giants  · Moon  · Tingle  · Toon Link  · Alfonso
Stage Hazards King Bulblin  · Koume and Kotake
Enemies Bubble  · Cucco  · Darknut  · Like Like  · Octorok  · Peahat  · ReDead  · Stalfos
Other Navi  · Beedle
Stages Hyrule Castle  · Great Bay  · Temple  · Bridge of Eldin  · Pirate Ship  · Gerudo Valley  · Spirit Train  · Skyloft  · Great Plateau Tower
Underground Maze  · Majora's Mask
Items Beetle  · Bombchu  · Bunny Hood  · Cucco  · Deku Nut  · Fairy Bottle  · Gust Bellows  · Heart Container  · Triforce
Music List of Music (The Legend of Zelda series)
Collectibles Trophies Melee Trophies  · Brawl Trophies  · 3DS Trophies  · Wii U Trophies
Stickers List of stickers (The Legend of Zelda series)
Spirits List of spirits (The Legend of Zelda series)
Masterpieces The Legend of Zelda  · Zelda II: The Adventure of Link  · The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time
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