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This article is about Young Link's appearance in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate. For other uses, see Young Link.
He's back after 17 years! Young Link is faster than Link but he's also lighter, making him easier to launch.
—Description from the Super Smash Blog.

Young Link (こどもリンク, Child Link) is a veteran fighter in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, first playable in Super Smash Bros. Melee. He was confirmed to return during Nintendo's E3 2018 presentation. He retains his voice clips from Melee.

When unlocked, he is fought at Great Bay.

Attributes[]

Strengths[]

  • Smaller hurtboxes than Link.
  • Bomb detonates automatically.
  • Arrows deal fire damage.
  • Has a tether.
  • Down Aerial can Meteor Smash.

Weaknesses[]

  • Short Knockback Range.
  • Deku shield is less reliable than Hylian shield.

Summary[]

To be added.

Changes from Melee[]

Attributes[]

  • The Lon Lon Milk taunt animation has been shortened.

Ground Attacks[]

Aerial Attacks[]

Grabs and Throws[]

Special Attacks[]

  • As Young Link didn’t appear in Brawl, his Final Smash is Triforce Slash.

Moveset[]

Ground Attacks[]

Normal[]

  • Neutral Attack: Double sword slash that culminates in either a sword thrust or flurry and upward sword slash.
  • Forward Tilt: Overhead sword slash.
  • Up Tilt: Upward sword slash.
  • Down Tilt: Crouching sword slash, quick, and launches foes.
  • Dash Attack: Overhead slash with knockback.

Smash Attacks[]

  • Forward Smash: Two-handed overhead sword slash coupled with launching foe away.
  • Up Smash: Triple sword slash overhead; first two popup, while final launches foes upward.
  • Down Smash: Almost full-circle sword slash.

Other attacks[]

  • Floor Attack (Front):
  • Floor Attack (Back):
  • Floor Attack (Trip):
  • Ledge Attack:

Aerial Attacks[]

  • Neutral aerial: Quick kick.
  • Forward aerial: Spinning double-strike sword attack.
  • Back aerial: Double-kick combo, alternating legs.
  • Up aerial: Upward sword thrust.
  • Down aerial: Downward sword thrust, bouncing off hit enemies; spikes enemies into the ground and can cause meteor smash.

Grabs and Throws[]

  • Grab: Grapple hook snare; can be used mi-air, especially to hook onto ledges.
  • Forward Throw: Standard.
  • Back Throw: Standard.
  • Up Throw: Standard.
  • Down Throw: Standard.

Special Moves[]

Young Link's Special Moves
Melee Ultimate
Standard Special Fire Bow Fire Arrow
Side Special Boomerang
Up Special Spin Attack
Down Special Bomb
Final Smash Triforce Slash

Taunts[]

  • Up Taunt: Holds the Kokiri Sword up in the air, crying out "Hup!".
  • Down Taunt: Sheaths the Kokiri Sword and places the Deku Shield on his back and takes a drink of Lon Lon Milk.
  • Side Taunt: Places the Deku Shield on his back and watches Navi fly around him. This was originally Link's side taunt in Brawl and SSB4.

On-Screen Appearance[]

  • Descends onto the stage while surrounded by rays of blue light that shine down from the sky, referencing the Ocarina of Time's powers. Upon landing, he equips the Kokiri Sword and Deku Shield. This is akin to his older self's on-screen appearance in SSB.

Idle Poses[]

  • Looks around himself.
  • Kicks the toes of his boots on the ground, as if knocking off the dirt.

Victory Poses[]

  • Left: While holding his sword in a reverse grip, adjusts his belt and flicks his nose. Based on one of Young Link's idle animations in Ocarina of Time.
  • Up: Stabs forward with his sword, then holds it up, giving off a battle cry. This is nearly identical to one of Link's poses other than the camera angle and Link using his right hand to hold the sword, while Young Link uses his left hand.
  • Right: Sheathes his sword, dusts his hands off, and puts them on his hips while grinning.

In competitive play[]

Young Link was met with a considerable amount of hype when he returned to the series after 17 years, last appearing in Melee. By the time Ultimate was released, there were high hopes for him due to his amazing combo game and damage racking potential from his projectiles. Tweek found success with the character in the early months of Ultimate, winning tournaments such as Glitch 6 and Frostbite 2019. Players believed that because of these strengths and strong results, Young Link was seen as a viable high-tier or top-tier character, and the best of the three Links. As time went on, players began discovering his weaknesses, which include inconsistent KO power and a linear, slow recovery, making him relatively easy to edgeguard. Tweek went on to drop the character in favor of Pokémon Trainer and Wario. As a result, Young Link was then seen as a high-tier or an upper-mid tier. In 2020, update 7.0.0. granted Young Link a multitude of buffs, which fixed his problem of KOing at higher percents and having a confirm off of his grab aerial. This caused many to again consider him a high-tier or even top-tier and the best fighter from The Legend of Zelda. Because of this, coming out of nowhere, Toast amazed the crowd with his breakout performance at Frostbite 2020, placing 7th, taking sets off of many top players, including Samsora and Light.

In the online scene, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Young Link has a more prominent representation and a much stronger pick in Wi-Fi tournaments. His safe aerials and already strong projectiles are buffed online due to increased lag and reaction time being taken into account. Currently, the character's Wi-Fi meta is being represented by players such as SKITTLES!! and colinies.

Classic Mode: Hyrule Smash![]

Young Link's opponents are all from the Zelda series. Additionally, to go with the theme of the route, all stages, items and assist trophies are from the The Legend of Zelda universe.

Role in World of Light[]

Although Young Link does not appear in the World of Light opening cutscene, he was vaporized and later imprisoned alongside the rest of the fighters (sans Kirby) when Galeem unleashed his beams of light.

Young Link was one of the many imprisoned fighters that fell under Dharkon's control upon Galeem's first defeat. He is a necessary unlock found in the Sacred Land sub-area on the bottom right corner of the land which makes up the Triforce of Courage. The player must rely on the owl statues which will guide the player to Saria's spirit battle. Unlocking her spirit clears out a tree stump that blocked access to his unlock battle. Once Young Link is unlocked, the Triforce of Courage appears in the center of the map. If Zelda is unlocked, the path leading to Cloud's unlock battle and the Master Sword clears out.

Palette Swaps[]

Young Link Palette (SSBU)-0
# Color Description
1 Green
2 Red Based on the colors of a Goron Tunic from Ocarina of Time.
3 Blue Based on the colors of a Zora Tunic from Ocarina of Time.
4 White Based on equipping a Blue Ring in The Legend of Zelda.
5 Pink Based on Ravio from The Legend of Zelda: A Link Between Worlds.
6 Cyan Based on the color scheme of the Champion's Tunic as seen in Breath of the Wild.
7 Orange Based on the color scheme of the Spirit Medallion from Ocarina of Time.
8 Black Based on Dark Link.

Trivia[]

  • Young Link and Pichu share the longest gap between playable appearances in the Super Smash Bros. series, with seventeen years between Melee and Ultimate.
    • This has been noted by the Super Smash Blog's "Today's Fighter" description for Young Link.

Gallery[]

External links[]

Smash Ultimate logo glow  · Fighters
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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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