- This article is about Sheik's appearance in Super Smash Bros. Melee. For the character in other contexts, see Sheik; and for information about Sheik's alter-ego, see Princess Zelda.
| “ | A mysterious warrior whose moves allow her to flow across battlefields. | ” |
| —Description from Melee's manual. | ||
Announced at E3 2001, Sheik (シーク, Sheik) is a starter character in Super Smash Bros. Melee. She transforms from Zelda by using her down special move (Transform), and can transform back. By holding the "A" button at the stage loading screen, Zelda will automatically transform into Sheik at the start of a match.
Sheik currently ranks fifth the tier list, which is located at the top of the A tier. This is primarily due to her chain throw, excellent combos, a great finisher in her forward aerial, a very good approach due to fast aerials and high jumps, and one of the best edge-guarding games in Melee. However, Sheik suffers from a relatively short and predictable recovery, as well as a rather short but quick wavedash along with most of her moves being weak for an attack of their type.
Attributes[]
Sheik is a very fast character in both movement and attack speed, but her attacks lack power and are vulnerable to being crouch cancelled. However, as her opponent's damage percent climbs higher, the knockback of her attacks increase many fold.
Sheik's needles are arguably one of the best projectiles in the game. Not only are they quick to charge, but she can save her needles and continue charging them whenever she is given time to do so. Her needles can neutralize opponents' projectiles, especially Samus's Charge Shot and Mewtwo's Shadow Ball, and thanks to its hitstun, they can be added to her edgeguarding game. Needle canceling makes for a speedy and unpredictable air-to-ground game. For the advanced player, reverse needle canceling improves mobility and recovery, as they can turn themselves the other way to follow up into finishing blows.
Her side special move, Chain, has decent range, but has almost zero Hitstun, and is slow to execute and end, therefore making Chain virtually useless in advanced play. Despite this, Sheik's chain can be used to edgeguard Falco and Fox extremely effectively.
Sheik has one of the fastest wavedashes in the game. She has excellent dodging ability thanks to her unusually low crouch, which can help dodge projectiles like Fox's and Falco's Blasters. Sheik has a very high short hop, so her SHFFL is slowed significantly. Sheik's tilts are known not only for being fast like her other attacks, but for also having long reach and juggling capabilities. Sheik is also famous for her Down Throw, which can chaingrab against much of the cast. Not only is Sheik's Up Smash quick, but it is also the second strongest in the game (next to Ganondorf's) if sweetspotted at the tip of her hands. Sheik can also Wall jump.
Although her recovery doesn't travel much distance, being a combination of relatively fast-falling speed, fairly poor air speed, and not much distance on her Up Special Move, Vanish, it has a large number of invincibility frames, and damages foes around her due to the explosion. Sheik can transform into Zelda if the player has a disadvantage as Sheik, or for her better recovery when knocked far offstage. However, Transform is fairly slow and grants few invincibility frames, allowing her to be easily punished. Pressing the Pause button, while illegal in most tournaments, allows for Sheik's transformation to be instantly finished.
PAL differences[]
Like other characters, Sheik has received some changes in the PAL version of Melee, which nerfed her overall. This is due primarily to the changes to her down throw, which caused Sheik to lose her chaingrab, some tech-chasing options, and several KO setups. Along with the nerfs to her finishers, Sheik generally has a much harder time KOing characters that she had no trouble KOing in the NTSC version, such as Peach and Marth, resulting in much poorer matchups against them.
- Sweetspotted up smash deals 1% less damage.
- Up aerial no longer has KO potential; it deals 2% less damage and is much weaker, making it more of a juggling/comboing-orientated move, rather than finisher.
- Up aerial is a much better combo attack.
- Down throw loses its practicality as a potential chaingrabbing or tech chasing option as the move sends foes at a horizontal trajectory instead of a vertical trajectory.As a result, Sheik can no longer followup with a smash attack or an aerial. The only possible option is a dash attack.
Moveset[]
| Image | Name | Damage | Description | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Neutral attack |  |
4% | Sheik quickly strikes forward twice then transitions into a flurry a rapid jabs. | ||
| 3% | |||||
| 1% (loop) | |||||
| Forward tilt |  |
7% | Sheik delivers a quick spin kick forward. This attack launches the enemy upwards, leaving them open for a follow-up attack. | ||
| Up tilt |  |
8% (hit 1), 4% (hit 2) | Sheik kicks one leg upwards, then swings it down forward. | ||
| Down tilt |  |
8% | Sheik does a spinkick while crouching. | ||
| Dash attack |  |
10% (clean), 7% (late) | Sheik dashes forward and swings her arms apart while coming to a stop. | ||
| Forward smash |  |
5% (hit 1), 10% (hit 2) | Sheik kicks forward twice. The first kick doesn't contain much knockback, which usually makes it easier to connect with the second kick. | ||
| Up smash |  |
17% (sweetspot), 13% (sourspot) | Sheik lifts up both hands over hear head before striking down on both sides. This attack can hit twice, with the first hit dealing more damage than the second. Sheik's head and both her arms are invulnerable during the attack. | ||
| Down smash |  |
13% (clean), 10% (late) | Sheik gets on her back and does a break-dance style rotation. This attack can hit up to three times. | ||
| Neutral aerial |  |
14%/10% (clean leg/knee), 9% (late) | Sheik extends one foot in midair. A typical sex kick that gets weaker the longer it's out. | ||
| Forward aerial |  |
13% | Sheik attacks with a downward swipe. An excellent finishing move that semi-spikes the enemy with high knockback, which can be deadly for characters with poor recovery. | ||
| Back aerial |  |
Clean: 14%/10% (right foot/leg), 8% (left leg) Late: 10%/9% (right foot/leg), 6% (hip), 7% (left leg) |
Sheik does a reverse jump kick that deals more damage at her extended foot and less damage at the leg. | ||
| Up aerial |  |
12% (clean), 9% (late) | Sheik spins and does a spiraling kick aimed upwards. | ||
| Down aerial |  |
11% | Sheik thrusts one foot downward. Contains long ending lag. | ||
| Grab |  |
— | |||
| Pummel |  |
3% | Sheik hits the enemy with her elbow. | ||
| Forward throw |  |
6% (hit 1), 2% (throw) | Sheik launches the enemy forward with low horizontal knockback and hitstun. | ||
| Back throw |  |
5% (hit 1), 2% (throw) | Sheik throws the opponent behind and kicks them away. | ||
| Up throw |  |
6% (hit 1), 2% (throw) | Sheik stands on both hands and launches the enemy upwards with a double-kick attack. | ||
| Down throw |  |
5% (hit 1), 3% (throw) | Sheik places the opponent on the ground and performs an axe-kick, knocking the opponent up into the air. | ||
| Floor attack (front) |  |
6% | Sheik gets up and kicks on both sides. | ||
| Floor attack (back) |  |
6% | Sheik gets up and delivers a punch on both sides. | ||
| Edge attack (fast) |  |
8% | Sheik returns to the stage and performs a long-range dropkick. | ||
| Edge attack (slow) |  |
6% (body), 8% (arm) | Sheik slowly climbs up and jams her elbow at the opponent. | ||
| Neutral special |  |
Needle Storm | 3% | Sheik begins the charge up needles, which can be fired by releasing the B button. The charge can be saved by pressing the shield button, and resumed by pressing the B button. When Sheik is grounded, the needles fly forward. While she’s airborne, she throws the needles diagonally downward. | |
| Side special |  |
Chain | 3% (chain), 5% (tip) | Sheik pulls out a long metal chain and whips it around. Does minor damage to opponents and has an electric effect at the tip of the chain. | |
| Up special |  |
Vanish | 12% | Sheik throws a bomb to the ground and warps to a different direction which can be controlled with the control stick. When used in the air, Sheik will performs a small jump before disappearing. | |
| Down special |  |
Transform | 0% | Sheik transforms into Zelda by using magic. | |
Taunt[]
- Performs a threatening pose with her right hand before her face.
Idle pose[]
- Shakes her hand in front of her face, then swings it to the side.
Matchups[]
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Trophy descriptions[]
In addition to the normal trophy about Sheik as a character, there are two trophies about her as a fighter, unlocked by completing the Adventure and All-Star modes respectively with Zelda/Sheik on any difficulty:
- Sheik
- This is Zelda's alter ego. Using a variation of the name of the ancient Sheikah tribe, she appears before Link and teaches him melodies instrumental to his success. It's believed that she's not just a quick-change artist, but rather that she is able to instantaneously alter her clothing and her eye and skin color by using her magical skills.
- Sheik (Smash Red)
- Strategically switching between Zelda and Sheik is key. Compared to her Zelda form, Sheik is nimble and has gorgeous moves, but she lacks a strong knockout attack. The number of needles thrown in Needle Storm is based on how long you hold the B Button before releasing it. Use the Control Stick to wave the Chain after brandishing it.
- B: Needle Storm
- Smash B: Chain
- Sheik (Smash Blue)
- The best strategy to use when playing as Sheik is to let her flow from one powerful attack into another, like a river of quicksilver. Zelda has some techniques with more punch, however, so in one-on-one battles, use Transform as needed. Sheik only travels a short way when using Vanish, but the move comes with a small explosion that damages foes around her.
.jpg "Sheik trophy (SSBM).jpg (220 KB)")
.jpg "Sheik smash trophy (SSBM).jpg (207 KB)")
.jpg "Sheik smash 2 trophy (SSBM).jpg (118 KB)")
Alternate Costumes[]
Sheik's alternate costumes in Super Smash Bros. Melee.
Trivia[]
- Sheik's appearance in Melee marked the first time the character was playable in any game.
- Sheik is the only playable character in Melee not to appear on the character selection screen.
- Sheik is the only playable character in Melee not to have a target test stage instead She shairs it with Zelda.
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