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Sheik (SSB4)

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This article is about Sheik's appearance in Super Smash Bros. 4. For the character in other contexts, see Sheik.
Sheik
in Super Smash Bros. 4
Sheik
ZeldaSymbol.svg
Universe The Legend of Zelda
Other playable appearances in Melee
in Brawl

Availability Starter
Final Smash Light Arrow
Tier S (4)
SheikHeadSSB4-U.png
“ Sheik Appears on the Scene! ”
—Introduction Tagline

Sheik (シーク, Sheik) is a playable character in Super Smash Bros. 4. Her return to the series was announced during a Super Smash Bros. Direct on April 8th, 2014.[1] Jun Mizusawa reprises her role as Sheik's voice actor, albeit via recycled voice clips from Brawl.

Sheik is currently ranked 4th out of 58 on the tier list, placing her at the bottom of the S tier. This is a vast improvement over her mid-tier placement in Brawl, where she was ranked 25th out of 38. While not as overwhelmingly dominant as Meta Knight in Brawl, the sheer effectiveness of Sheik's moveset saw her almost universally perceived as the best character in the early metagame of SSB4. Sheik's extremely fast frame data grants her an excellent neutral game and a potent combo game, which are supplemented by Needle Storm and her improved grab game, respectively. Her KO potential has also improved: up aerial now consists of multiple hits and concludes with a very strong hit, while her new down special move, Bouncing Fish, deals respectable damage and has high knockback scaling. Lastly, the combination of Sheik's much faster air speed, Bouncing Fish's horizontal travel distance, and the removal of edge-hogging noticeably improves her recovery.

Although she has outstanding strengths, Sheik nevertheless has noticeable weaknesses. Her overall low damage output offsets the very high knockback scaling of her smash attacks and up aerial, which results in her KO potential being unimpressive at best. When coupled with her lack of set-ups at high percentages, Sheik is forced to rely on hard reads to properly score a KO. While rage alleviates her KO potential, it also offsets her combo game. By extension, Sheik cannot utilize rage more often than not, owing to her above average height and very light weight collectively rendering her endurance as unimpressive. Lastly, nerfs from game updates have further hindered her by decreasing her already light weight, worsening her forward aerial and grab game's combo potentials, and weakening up aerial and Bouncing Fish's KO potentials.

While Sheik's flaws have resulted in her losing her status as the highest ranked character in SSB4, she is still widely considered to be a very viable character in competitive play. This was especially evident with ZeRo achieving a 56-tournament winning streak while utilizing her.

Attributes

Sheik is a character that, as a ninja of sorts, fits the "hit-and-run" character archetype. One of Sheik's greatest strengths is her overall mobility, being among the best in the game both grounded and aerial, boasting the fifth fastest walking speed, eighth fastest dashing speed, above average traction, high air speed and air acceleration and the ninth fastest falling speed. She also has high gravity, which makes her mobility better, but leaves her more vulnerable to vertical knockback. However, she is the eleventh lightest character, which combined with her gravity and above average height, also makes her among the frailest characters in the game. Her crouch is also very low, making her difficult to hit when doing so. Sheik can also wall cling and crawl.

Aside from her excellent mobility, another of Sheik's greatest strengths is her nearly-unrivaled frame data. Her moves have generally negligible amounts of startup and endlag, making her extremely difficult to punish properly, and this is supplemented by the good range of her moveset. She also has an excellent projectile in Needle Storm, with the needles being fast, long-ranged (covers about half of Final Destination), transcendent, and causing hitstun. Coupled with her range, her needles give her a strong camping ability. Overall, her mobility, projectile game, range and frame data all combined form her greatest strength: her outstanding neutral game. She can play both defensively, by pressuring and zoning from afar without much trouble, or aggressively, with her fast attack speed giving her an unpredictable approach. Sheik can poke and pressure her opponents with her aerials and tilts, all of which are safe options. If they choose to drop shield, they are wide open to these attacks. At the same time, holding shield presents her with an opportunity to grab and use her throw setups.

Sheik's excellent frame data, combined with the low power of many of her moves, gives her among the best combo abilities in the game. Her throws can easily lead into other attacks, with her forward and down throws being particularly effective at starting combos, as they can set up long chains of forward aerials, with her up aerial and Bouncing Fish being useful combo finishers. Her combos are not limited to her air game; all of her tilts can start and extend combos since they send opponents into the air, and can confirm into aerials; her forward tilt particularly, can chain into itself at lower percentages, and has reliable follow-ups all the way into KO percents as well. Down tilt, while not chaining into itself as effectively, has even lower power, giving her access to KO confirms as well. She also boasts an effective jab cancel that leads into her tilts. With proper spacing and timing, she can even perform pseudo-chain grabs.

All aspects of Sheik's moveset are solid overall. A sole few number of her aerial moves possess great versatility; forward aerial in particular, has little startup, decent ending lag, auto-cancels in a short hop fast fall, and has slightly disjointed range, making it an all-purpose move: it can be used to approach, pressure, combo and set up edge-guards. Neutral aerial is her fastest one, allowing her to break out of combos and finish or extend hers, notably into Bouncing Fish. Up aerial is her strongest one of her aerial moveset, and also sends opponents into a great angle for juggling, both of which give it good utility at both KOing and finishing combos. Her back aerial is her second strongest one, though due to its low damage output, it is overall best suited for edge-guarding and ending a combo. It also has the longest range of Sheik's aerials, and when fast-falled and sweetspotted (at the foot), it is even safer on shield than her forward aerial.

Outside of her Needle Storm, Sheik's special moveset also possesses good utility: her up special, Vanish, grants her invincibility and invisibility, making it hard for the opponent to predict where she will appear. It also has a hitbox on disappearance that is decently strong, and another one and a windbox when she reappears, making it nigh-impossible to punish. Meanwhile, her down special Bouncing Fish, is famous for being her primary KO move, being similar to Zero Suit Samus's Flip Jump on some regards, it deals good damage with high knockback scaling, has KO confirms on it from her neutral aerial (both clean and late), forward aerial and aerial Needle Storm, and is safe on shield if it hits. Both Vanish and Bouncing Fish also conform Sheik's last strength in her recovery, as they make it versatile and extendable, both of them and can be used in tandem with each other, and they are difficult and risky to intercept, as they both deal high knockback enough to interrupt an edge-guard. Combined with her wall jump, this makes Sheik hard to edge-guard or gimp, without disabling her midair jump, and enables her to reverse edge-guard effectively.

However, despite having immense strengths in several ways, Sheik still has notable flaws. The most notable of them is her frailty: despite her recovery being amazing, in a similar vein to Fox, her on-stage endurance is fairly weak, succumbing to strong enough blows, whereas her above average height, high falling speed and gravity make her easy to combo. This is further compounded by her poor damage output overall: despite her strong damage racking ability, she requires very long strings of attacks to deal the same amount of damage that super-heavyweight characters such as Bowser and Donkey Kong can inflict in noticeably fewer hits. While the low damage and power on her moves grant her an awesome combo game, Sheik also struggles to secure her opponent's stock. She has a few moves with high knockback, but she has difficulty landing them; her up smash has a powerful sweetspot on her arms as she rises them, but it is hard to land outside of a read or confirm, and is hampered by its much weaker sourspot as she lowers her arms. Her forward smash and her down smash are among the weakest smash attacks of their kind, and they have punishable ending lag as well. In the air, she is limited to using her up aerial or Bouncing Fish to KO, and even then they must be relatively close to the blast lines for maximum effectiveness, since her other aerial attacks do not KO until 200% or more, and are otherwise only useful for edge-guarding and gimping characters with particularly weak or linear recoveries. Furthermore, her overall below average grab game has no throws that can KO reliably, and her aforementioned forward and down throws have too much knockback for truly reliable KO set-ups. With all of this working against her, it is not uncommon for her opponents to survive in excess of 150%. Lastly, the introduction to rage hinders Sheik: without rage, she often has trouble KOing, though as her rage increases, her combo game is slowly hindered, which when combined with her poor damage output, it can make bringing an opponent to KO percents difficult. Besides, this also brings opponents to a high level enough of rage to KO Sheik herself with a strong enough move.

Other weaknesses include a few moves that have very low utility, despite Sheik's moveset versatility. These include her down aerial, which is the slowest of her aerial moveset, has the highest landing lag and is a stall-then-fall, which give it the lowest utility of Sheik's aerial moveset despite it meteor smashing an opponent. Her smash attacks are difficult to land overall and outside of up smash, have little KO power. Lastly, Burst Grenade has a slow explosion, renders Sheik helpless if performed while airborne, and has only situational usage on edge-guarding predictable recoveries (such as Little Mac) and extending the damage of a hard punish.

Sheik benefits a good amount from her custom moves. Penetrating Needles only shoots three needles instead of six and has less range, but it deals extra shield damage, granting her a new pressuring option. Gravity Grenade loses the suction effect, but the grenade can be thrown much farther and pulls enemies towards Sheik, allowing multiple follow-up opportunities. Pisces, while having a much more shallow flip, removing her forward throw combo, gains more horizontal distance, is faster, has little lag if the follow-up attack is not executed, and is significantly stronger, being able to KO 59% earlier than the default Bouncing Fish. Her other custom moves, like Paralyzing Needle and Abyss, have slightly increased amounts of risk and reward for using them over their standard counterparts.

All in all, Sheik's strengths outweigh her weaknesses, and due to her big advantages, she has some of the highest tournament representation of any character in SSB4, with some of her mains such as Mr. R, VoiD, and Vinnie being considered to be among the best players in the world. However, her recent nerfs to her KO potential and range in 1.1.5 have slightly affected her standings and representation compared to other characters.

Changes from Brawl

Sheik has been buffed significantly from Brawl, which has allowed her to become a dominant character in competitive play like she was in Melee. The partial reversion of some attacks and the outright updating of others have restored many of her options that she lost in Brawl, while changes to gameplay mechanics also greatly benefit her restored strengths. For example, Sheik's grab game has regained much of its utility because of synchronization between such changes: her grabs and back throw have less ending lag, which grants the latter combo potential, whereas forward and down throws greatly benefit from both their altered angles and the changes to hitstun canceling.

Sheik's special moveset has also largely improved: Needle Storm has increased knockback and travels faster; Vanish's reappearance is safer thanks to it receiving a hitbox alongside its windbox; and her new special moves, Burst Grenade and Bouncing Fish, provide greater utility than Chain and Transform. Sheik also benefits greatly from the reintroduction of pivoting, which improves her grounded mobility, allows her to extend combos with her tilt attacks, and improves Needle Storm's mindgame potential. Although Sheik's KO potential is not as potent as it was in Melee, it has nevertheless improved, thanks to the increased knockback scaling on her smash attacks and up aerial, as well as the additions of Bouncing Fish and the rage mechanic.

In addition to her moveset, Sheik herself has also improved, as her walking, dashing, and air speeds are much faster. Her faster air speed is especially useful in two ways: it now enables her aerial combo game to flow much more fluidly, which is especially evident with her forward aerial's altered angle, and it significantly improves her recovery alongside Bouncing Fish's horizontal travel distance, and the removal of edge-hogging.

However, Sheik also received a few nerfs, some of which are due to gameplay changes. The removal of DACUS significantly weakens her up smash's versatility. Although Sheik's forward tilt and down throw are both very useful combo starters, their combo potentials were nevertheless worsened by the changes to locks and the removal of chain grabbing, respectively. On top of this, her already below average damage output has lowered even further, which forces players to rely on combos to rack up damage before attempting to score a KO. Despite rage alleviating Sheik's KO potential, it also offsets her combo game at medium to high percentages, and her unimpressive endurance means that she cannot utilize it as consistently or effectively as other characters. Lastly, game updates have nerfed Sheik in certain ways, with update 1.1.5 most notably removing many of her 50/50 KO mix-ups.

Despite these noticeable flaws, Sheik's buffs significantly outweigh her nerfs, to the point that she was regarded by many as the best character in the game prior to update 1.1.5.

Aesthetics

  • Change Sheik retains her The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess-inspired design. However, her overall color scheme is now noticeably brighter to appear in line with the more vibrant aesthetic used within SSB4. She is also slightly more muscular, which makes her physique appear more in line with her appearance in The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time.
  • Change Sheik is slightly more expressive. She now glares during some attacks, and appears alarmed after tripping.
  • Change Sheik has a new idle animation and two new idle poses. However, she will revert to her idle poses from Brawl while holding a small item.
  • Change Sheik has a new victory pose. She now performs her forward tilt and then immediately performs her down smash. It replaces her contemplative victory pose.
  • Change Due to the removal of Chain, side taunt's visual effects have changed. Sheik now brandishes the tripwire she uses for her new side special, Burst Grenade.

Attributes

  • Change Sheik is lighter (85 → 81). This makes her slightly less susceptible to combos, but hinders her endurance.
  • Buff Sheik walks faster (1.3 → 1.4).
  • Buff Sheik dashes faster (1.92 → 2.016).
  • Buff Sheik's air speed is drastically faster (0.846 → 1.1).
  • Change Sheik falls faster (1.58 → 1.75).
  • Change Sheik's gravity is higher (0.1409 → 0.15).
  • Nerf Item throw is weaker (0.896 → 0.866).
  • Nerf Sheik is no longer connected to Zelda via Transform or character selection screen input.[1] As a result, she can no longer access Zelda's significantly better KO potential to alleviate her own.

Ground attacks

  • Buff Neutral attack's second hit has decreased start-up lag (frame 3 → 2). Neutral infinite also transitions into a finisher, a palm thrust.
  • Nerf All tilts deal less damage (5% → 4% (forward), 6% (hit 1)/7% (hit 2) → 5%/6% (up), 8% → 5% (down)).
  • Buff Forward tilt has increased knockback scaling (100 → 158/165), improving its combo potential.
  • Nerf Forward tilt has increased ending lag (frame 22 → 25).
  • Buff Forward tilt and up tilt's first hit's durations increased (frames 5-6 (both) → 5-8).
  • Nerf The changes to locks remove forward tilt's ability to lock opponents until 50%.
  • Nerf Down tilt and up tilt's second hit's durations are shorter (frames 5-8 → 5-6 (down), frames 19-14 → 19-23 (up)).
  • Nerf Dash attack deals less damage (7% (clean)/5% (late) → 6.5%/4.5%).
  • Change Clean dash attack has altered knockback (50 (base)/100 (scaling) → 70/90).
  • Nerf Forward and up smash attacks deal less damage (14% → 13% (forward), 17%/12% → 15%/11% (up)).
  • Buff Forward smash has increased knockback (50 (base)/100 (scaling) → 60/109).
  • Nerf Forward smash now consists of one hit instead of two when using a battering item.
  • Change Forward smash now uses a stab effect instead of a normal effect.
  • Buff Sweetspotted up smash has increased knockback scaling (82 → 86).
  • Nerf The removal of DACUS significantly hinders up smash's approach potential.
  • Nerf Due to consisting of two hits instead of three, down smash deals less damage (13% (hit 1)/10% (hits 2-3) → 3% (hit 1)/6% (hit 3)) and has increased start-up lag (frame 4 → 11).
  • Buff Down smash has increased knockback scaling (155 → 165).
  • Nerf Down smash has increased ending lag (frame 49 → 55), decreased range, and no longer grants intangibility on Sheik's legs. Altogether, these changes significantly hinder its safety.

Aerial attacks

  • Nerf Clean sweetspotted and clean sourspotted neutral aerial deal less damage (13% (clean sweetspot)/10% (clean sourspot) → 8%/7%), although their knockback was compensated. Neutral aerial also auto-cancels later (frame 25> → 31>).
  • Nerf Due to consisting of a sweetspot and a sourspot instead of a consistent hitbox, forward aerial no longer deals consistent damage (9% → 5% (arm)/4.3% (body)). Additionally, its sourspot takes priority over its sweetspot. Lastly, it has decreased range.
  • Change Due to its angle being altered (30° → 50°), forward aerial is no longer a semi-spike. This grants it combo potential at low to high percentages, but slightly hinders its edge-guarding potential.
  • Change Forward, up, and down aerials now use a slash effect instead of a normal effect.
  • Change Forward aerial's angle animation has slightly changed. Sheik now lunges further inward.
  • Nerf Back aerial deals less damage (12% (clean sweetspot)/11% (clean sourspot)/6% (late) → 8%/7%/5%), although its knockback was compensated. Additionally, it has increased landing lag (10 frames → 12). Lastly, late back aerial has a shorter duration (frames 7-17 → 7-14).
  • Change Due to consisting of loop hitboxes instead of a clean hitbox and a late hitbox, up aerial no longer has sex kick properties (11% (clean)/6% (late) → 1% (hits 1-3)/4% (hit 4)).
  • Nerf Up aerial has increased ending lag (frame 40 → 44). It also auto-cancels later (frame 30> → frame 47>) and can no longer auto-cancel with a short hop.
  • Nerf Clean down aerial deals 2% less damage (10% → 8%), although its knockback scaling was compensated (80 → 90). Down aerial also has increased landing lag (26 frames → 30).
  • Buff Down aerial received a landing hitbox that deals 2%. Due to its angle being altered (70° → 280°), clean down aerial is now a meteor smash.
  • Change Due to Sheik's faster falling speed, down aerial descends significantly faster. This improves its combo breaking ability, but significantly hinders its safety while off-stage.

Throws/other attacks

  • Buff Standing and dash grabs have decreased ending lag (frame 30 → 28 (standing), frame 40 → 35 (dash)).
  • Nerf Dash and pivot grabs have increased start-up lag (frame 7 → 8 (dash), frame 8 → 9 (pivot)).
  • Buff Pummel deals 0.1% more damage (3% → 3.1%).
  • Nerf Forward throw has increased knockback scaling (65 → 79), hindering its combo potential at high percentages.
  • Buff Forward throw is faster and its angle has been altered (70° → 72°). When coupled with the changes to hitstun canceling, these changes significantly improve its combo potential at low to high percentages.
  • Buff Back throw has decreased ending lag, improving its follow-up potential.
  • Buff Down throw's angle has been altered (77°). When coupled with the changes to hitstun canceling, this significantly improves its combo potential at low to high percentages.

Special moves

  • Nerf Fully charged Needle Storm deals less damage (18% (near)/12% (far) → 11%/7%). It also has increased ending lag and decreased range, hindering its zoning potential.
  • Buff Needle Storm has increased knockback and travels significantly faster. The reintroduction of pivoting also improves its mindgame potential.
  • Buff Sheik has a new side special, Burst Grenade. Sheik throws a grenade attached to a tripwire that can be detonated at will. Compared to Chain, Burst Grenade deals more damage and has significantly more knockback, making it capable of KOing. Unlike Chain, it has windboxes and longer maximum range, making it significantly better at edge-guarding.
  • Nerf Unlike Chain, Burst Grenade cannot be freely maneuvered, making it worse at spacing. It also cannot be used as a tether recovery and renders Sheik helpless in the air, making it unusable for recovery.
  • Nerf Burst Grenade's explosion is absorbable.
  • Nerf Vanish's disappearing hitbox deals 3% less damage (15% → 12%), hindering its KO potential.
  • Buff Vanish's reappearing windbox has received a hitbox that deals 5%, improving its safety.
  • Nerf Vanish's explosion is now absorbable.
  • Buff Sheik has a new down special, Bouncing Fish. It is a 360° Tengkong Pantui Cepu, a kick used in Nanquan. Unlike Transform, it deals damage, has high knockback scaling, and propels Sheik forward, making it capable of KOing and granting recovery.
  • Nerf Light Arrow deals less damage (3% (hit 1)/45% (first opponent)/25% (third opponent) → 1%/44%/24%) and has decreased knockback, slightly hindering its KO potential.

Update history

Sheik has been heavily nerfed over time in game updates, in a similar vein to Diddy Kong. Update 1.0.4 considerably weakened her up aerial and Bouncing Fish, her most reliable KOing options, and weakened her neutral game by decreasing forward aerial's damage output and increasing Needle Storm's ending lag. Update 1.0.6 noticeably decreased down tilt and back aerial's damage outputs, which almost removed the latter's KO potential as a result. Update 1.1.0 further decreased forward aerial's damage output, as well as switching the priority of its hitboxes. Update 1.1.1 made Penetrating Needles less threatening to shields. Update 1.1.4 made Vanish KO 2% later and reduced the explosion's hitbox size.

The most detrimental update, however, was 1.1.5: as of said update, Sheik is much more susceptible to early KOs as she is four units lighter, the range reduction of Needle Storm made her neutral game weaker, and her pivotal forward and down throws have increased knockback scaling and angle alterations which reduces their combo potential, and removes any semi-guaranteed KO set-ups without making them strong enough to KO at realistic percentages. The only buff she received was a knockback increase to her down smash, which continues to be one of her least-used attacks regardless of the buff. Overall, Sheik is noticeably worse compared to how she was at the release of SSB4, with professionals such as ZeRo no longer considering her the best character in the game and having dropped her as a result. Despite these nerfs, Sheik has nevertheless managed to retain her status as a top-tier character throughout SSB4's lifespan.

Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS 1.0.4

  • Nerf Forward aerial deals less damage (6.8% (sweetspot)/6% (sourspot) → 5.5%/4.8%), hindering its KO potential, as well as its combo potential at lower percents.
    • Buff However, this also improves its combo potential at higher percents.
  • Nerf Up aerial's loop hits hits now function properly, making it hit one less time, dealing less total damage as a result (8% → 7%).
  • Nerf Up aerial's final hit has less knockback scaling (155 → 138), significantly hindering its KO potential.
  • Nerf Needle Storm has more ending lag on the ground (FAF 41 → 47), hindering its safety and combo potential.
  • Nerf Bouncing Fish deals less knockback (30 (base)/100 (scaling) → 26/90), hindering its KO potential.
  • Nerf Bouncing Fish can no longer be edge-canceled.


Super Smash Bros. 4 1.0.6

  • Nerf Down tilt deals 2.5% less damage: 7.5% → 5%.
  • Nerf Clean sweetspotted and clean sourspotted back aerial deal less damage: 11% (clean sweetspot)/10% (clean sourspot) → 8%/7%, significantly hindering its KO and edge-guarding potential.

Super Smash Bros. 4 1.1.0

  • Nerf Forward aerial deals less damage: 5.5% (sweetspot)/4.8% (sourspot) → 5%/4.3%, although its sweetspot's knockback was compensated: 125 → 132.
  • Nerf Forward aerial's sourspot now takes priority over its sweetspot.

Super Smash Bros. 4 1.1.1

Super Smash Bros. 4 1.1.4

  • Nerf Weight slightly decreased: 85 → 84.
  • Nerf Vanish's disappearance hitbox knockback scaling (104 → 102) and size are slightly decreased (14 → 13).


Super Smash Bros. 4 1.1.5

  • Nerf Sheik is lighter (84 → 81).
  • Nerf Sheik's max walk speed with heavy items is slower (0.896 → 0.866).
  • Change Forward throw launches opponent's at a slightly higher angle (70° → 72°).
  • Nerf Forward throw has more knockback scaling (65 → 79), hindering its combo potential at higher percents.
  • Nerf Down throw has more knockback scaling (75 → 90) and launches opponents at a slighly lower angle (80° → 77°). This considerably hinders its combo potential at higher percents, notably heavily restricting her 50-50 KO set ups after a down throw.
  • Nerf The sweetspot of forward aerial was brought closer to Sheik, reducing its range (z-offset: 3.5 → 2.5).
  • Nerf Needle Storm's needles have a shorter duration (12 frames → 10), reducing their range by one sixth.
  • Buff The third hit of down smash has more knockback scaling (155 → 165), improving its KO potential.


Moveset

  Name Damage Description
Neutral attack   2% An inward knifehand strike followed by an outward knifehand strike. It can be jab canceled, or followed up with by a barrage of knifehand thrusts that concludes with a palm thrust. It jab cancels reliably even at high percentages, which makes it very useful as a set-up for combos into itself or her tilt attacks, or even into KOs with her smash attacks. Although its infinite's finisher has extremely high knockback scaling to offset its very low damage output, it has high ending lag.
3%
0.8% (near loop), 0.6% (far loop), 3% (last)
Forward tilt   4% A roundhouse kick. It has extremely low base knockback, yet extremely high knockback scaling. When coupled with its hitboxes' favorable launching angles, it can easily combo into itself from 0% to very low percentages, into Bouncing Fish at low percentages, and into neutral, forward, and up aerials at low to medium percentages.
Up tilt   5% (hit 1), 6% (hit 2) A stretch kick transitioned into an axe kick. The first hit has set knockback so it can be reliably followed up by the second hit. Commonly used to continue combos.
Down tilt   5% A legsweep. Fairly low knockback, so it can be immediately followed by her neutral or forward aerial. The hitbox at Sheik's heel sends opponents flying straight upward, which can allow Sheik to KO with an up aerial at about 130%.
Dash attack   6.5% (clean), 4.5% (late) Lunges to perform two outward fanning knifehand strikes. It comes out on frame 5, tying it with Sonic's dash attack as the third fastest in the game. It also has high knockback scaling, which makes it decent for spacing. However, it has fairly punishable ending lag.
Forward smash   5% (hit 1), 8% (hit 2) A roundhouse kick followed by a spinning side kick. Each hit moves her forward, while its first hit's low weight-based knockback enables it to combo reliably into the second hit. It is the weakest forward smash in the game, KOing at 152%.
Up smash   15% (sweetspot), 11% (sourspot) Raises her arms overhead and then quickly swings them downward to perform outward fanning knifehand strikes. Has a slash effect. The sweetspot is on her fingertips when her hands are overhead, whereas the sourspot is around her torso during the downswing. Its first hit grants intangibility to her head and arms on frames 8-15. The sweetspot KOs at roughly 110%, while the sourspot cannot KO reliably.
Down smash   3% (hit 1), 6% (hit 2) A modified butterfly kick performed from the windmill, a breakdancing move. Hits twice with the last hit having moderate knockback, though not enough for KOing reliably, doing so at 160%. Using this move as a finisher is risky, as it has rather low range, shieldstun, and high ending lag, making her vulnerable to punishment.
Neutral aerial   8% (clean sweetspot), 7% (clean sourspot), 5% (late sweetspot), 4% (late sourspot) A flying kick. Due to it coming out on frame 3, it is Sheik's fastest aerial. It is also a sex kick, which makes it good for breaking combos or functioning as an out of shield option. The strong hit can also combo into Bouncing Fish at medium percentages. Its lingering hitbox is capable of covering Sheik's landing, catching opponents off-guard, and applying pressure against opponents that are attempting to aim their recovery to the ledge.
Forward aerial   5% (sweetspot), 4.3% (sourspot) A lunging, downward knifehand strike. Its sweetspot is located on her arm, whereas its sourspot is located on her body. Arguably Sheik's most versatile move: it comes out on frame 5 and has low base knockback, very high knockback scaling, minimal ending and landing lag, decent range, and a very generous auto-cancel window. These traits collectively make it useful for approaching when SHFF'd and for edge-guarding, safe on shield when spaced well, and excellent for combos. Combos include into itself, grabs, tilt attacks, neutral aerial, a reverse aerial rushed back aerial, and Bouncing Fish.
Back aerial   8% (clean sweetspot), 7% (clean sourspot), 5% (late) A high-angle back kick. Due to it coming out on frame 4, it is tied with up aerial as Sheik's second fastest aerial. As a result, it is a decent edge-guarding option and can be used from a reverse aerial rush. It also has very high knockback scaling and large hitboxes, but has minimal KO potential because of its meager damage output offsetting its knockback scaling.
Up aerial   1% (hits 1-3), 4% (hit 4) A diagonal, corkscrew flying kick. Due to it coming out on frame 4, it is tied with back aerial as Sheik's second fastest aerial. Its first three hits have the auto-link angle against aerial opponents, which allows all of its hits to connect easily. Its last hit has extremely high knockback scaling, which makes it one of Sheik's most viable KOing options.
Down aerial   8% (descent), 2% (landing) A diagonal flying kick. A stall-then-fall, it can meteor smash during the beginning, but it is hard to recover from because of the fast descent. Has high ending and landing lag, making it unsafe on shield. This move is considered to be Sheik's worst aerial, possibly her worst move, and is arguably the riskiest meteor smash in the game, as Sheik will likely get KO'd before her opponent. Thus, it is almost never used in competitive play.
Grab   — Reaches out. Sheik's overall grab range is fairly short.
Pummel   3.1% An elbow smash. Moderately slow, but tied with Palutena's pummel as the sixth most damaging in the game.
Forward throw   5% (hit 1), 2% (throw) The tie shan kao, a technique used in Bajiquan. Its base knockback and knockback scaling are both average, and it launches opponents at 72°. These traits enable it to combo into neutral aerial and Bouncing Fish from 0% to medium percentages, into forward and up aerial from 0% to high percentages, and even into a jump-canceled up smash on heavyweights and fast-fallers at low percentages. Although it can combo into Bouncing Fish at high percentages for a potential KO combo, this combo is effective only without rage and is dependent on DI.
Back throw   5% (hit 1), 2% (throw) Throws opponent behind herself and performs a mid-level side kick. It can potentially combo into neutral, forward, and back aerials from 0% to low percentages. It can also combo into Bouncing Fish at medium to high percentages, which has respectable KO potential while near the edge. However, this combo is risky, as it is heavily dependent on DI.
Up throw   3% (hit 1), 2% (throw) A handstand kick. Due to its high ending lag, it has no guaranteed follow-ups until high percentages, with only Vanish being a potential KO combo. When coupled with it being Sheik's least damaging throw, it is her overall least useful throw.
Down throw   3% (hit 1), 3% (throw) A collar drag takedown followed by a somersault axe kick. It has average base knockback, high knockback scaling, and launches the opponent at 77°. These traits enable it to combo into neutral and reverse aerial rushed back aerials from 0% to medium percentages, into forward and up aerials from 0% to high percentages, and even into Vanish at high percentages. However, its Vanish combo is heavily dependent on DI. Despite having the highest knockback scaling out of her throws, it lacks KO potential because of its throw hitbox's very low damage output.
Forward roll
Back roll
Spot dodge
Air dodge 		— —
Techs — —
Floor attack (front)
Floor getups (front) 		  7% Kneels and performs a palm thrust in front of herself, and then behind herself.
Floor attack (back)
Floor getups (back) 		  7% A kip-up transitioned into a double-footed scorpion kick.
Floor attack (trip)
Floor getups (trip) 		  5% Squats on one leg and performs a spinning roundhouse kick.
Edge attack
Edge getups 		  7% Performs a corkscrew dropkick while climbing up.
Neutral special Default Needle Storm 1.9% (near), 1.2% (far) Accumulates up to six needles that can be thrown immediately or stored for later use. When used in the air, Sheik throws the needles downward at approximately 45°. One of Sheik's best options for camping/zoning, as it can nullify approaches and has transcendent priority.
Custom 1 Penetrating Needles 2.2% (near), 1.6% (far) The needles deal more damage and shield damage, the latter of which is thanks to their electric effect. They also pierce multiple opponents. However, is has less range, and Sheik can accumulate a maximum of only three needles.
Custom 2 Paralyzing Needle 1% Stuns an opponent, similarly to Disable. Like Disable, the stun's duration is longer the more damaged the opponent is. However, it has significant ending lag, less range, and Sheik can accumulate only one needle.
Side special Default Burst Grenade 1% (hit), 1% (pull), 12% (explosion) Throws a grenade attached to a tripwire. On detonation, it creates a small area that pulls opponents towards it, then explodes. The detonation can be delayed a second by holding the special attack button. The grenade can be thrown a further distance when Sheik is in the air or when thrown over an edge. If Sheik is attacked before the grenade explodes, it will become an item for anyone to use. However, Sheik will be rendered helpless if it is used in the air and uninterrupted, similarly to Din's Fire.
Custom 1 Gravity Grenade 3.58% Upon detonation, the grenade does not pull enemies into it and the explosion has a smaller radius, but the explosion launches opponents towards Sheik, allowing for multiple follow-up options like gimps or up smash.
Custom 2 Skimming Grenade 2% (hits 1-3), 4.6% (explosion) The grenade bounces on the ground with a time delay before exploding. Despite what the in-game description states, however, it deals the same damage regardless of how long it takes to explode.
Up special Default Vanish 12% (disappearance), 5% (reappearance's hitbox), — (reappearance's windbox) After a short delay, Sheik destroys a Deku Nut in order to disappear via a small explosion, before reappearing nearby in a controlled direction. Its disappearing hitbox deals respectable damage and has high knockback scaling, which enable it to KO at high percentages, especially near the upper blast line. It also grants a small vertical boost when used in the air. Conversely, its reappearance hitbox deals much less damage, but also has a windbox that can push away opponents who are very close to wherever Sheik reappears. It grants intangibility on frames 19-53. Reappearing near a ledge renders her helpless, though self-destructing with the move is difficult to do because it allows Sheik to grabbing the ledge the moment she enters helplessness. Due to a glitch, holding a direction and then using the move right after enduring knockback also gives her a boost on the chosen direction.
Custom 1 Gale — Disappears and reappears faster, covers more distance, and grants more momentum. However, it does not deal damage, and its increased momentum means that reappearing near a ledge puts her helpless and cannot recover like Vanish.
Custom 2 Abyss 5% (disappearance), 4% (travel) The disappearing hitbox is a meteor smash throughout its duration. However, it covers less distance, her travel path is visible, and the it does not grant a short vertical boost in the air prior to disappearing.
Down special Default Bouncing Fish 12% A 360° Tengkong Pantui Cepu, a kick used in Nanquan. If her feet connect with an opponent, she will flip back a small distance and land on her feet. She can kick up to three times if the preceding kicks connect. Upon a miss, she lands on her back and stands up. Strong knockback and one of her best KO moves. Also drastically improves her off-stage recovery as her up special can be used immediately afterwards. Can be executed sooner by hitting the button again and gains more distance if the control stick is held in whatever direction Sheik is facing. Has intangibility on start-up. It also grants intangibility on frames 3-4. It KOs at 155%, though due to its high scaling, it is easier to do so near a ledge.
Custom 1 Jellyfish 8% (grounded opponents), 10.5% (aerial opponents) The flip is more vertical, traveling a shorter horizontal distance. Grounded opponents are launched diagonally upwards with set knockback in order to ensure that the opponent can be hit the second time, said kick being significantly more powerful on aerial opponents. She can kick up to two times if the preceding kick connects.
Custom 2 Pisces 15.5% The flip is faster and more shallow, which requires pressing the attack button in order to kick if the attack is used while standing on the ground. If the hit lands, she will flip a short distance forward and will launch opponents backwards while dealing more knockback. It cannot be used more than once before landing on the ground. If it hits, she can control her movement. Has little to no lag if the button is not pressed. KOs at 106%.
Final Smash Light Arrow 1% (hit 1), 44% (first opponent), 33% (second opponent), 24% (third opponent) Wields Zelda's Bow and fires a Light Arrow forward. It can strike multiple opponents, but its damage output decreases for each successive target. Unlike Zelda's Light Arrow, it is a semi-spike.

On-screen appearance

  • Appears from a Deku Nut's explosion while briefly emanating blue wisps.
SheikOnScreenAppearanceSSB4.gif

Taunts

  • Up taunt: Performs the pike, a breakdancing move.
  • Side taunt: Brandishes the tripwire she uses for Burst Grenade.
  • Down taunt: Performs a threatening ninja pose with her right arm in front of her face.
Up taunt Side taunt Down taunt
SheikUpTauntSSB4.gif SheikSideTauntSSB4.gif SheikDownTauntSSB4.gif

Idle poses

  • Moves her hand in front of her face, then quickly moves it back down.
  • Turns around and balances on one leg.
SheikIdlePose1WiiU.jpg SheikIdlePose2WiiU.jpg

Crowd cheer

English Japanese
Cheer
Description Sheik! Shei-k!
Pitch Group chant Group chant

Victory poses

An orchestral remix of Get Triforce Fanfare, the theme that plays when Link obtains a Triforce Piece in The Legend of Zelda and has since become the main theme of The Legend of Zelda series.
  • Uses Needle Storm, then stands up while rearing back her right hand.
  • Uses her forward tilt and then her down smash.
  • Performs the fumikomi, a stomp-style kick in karate, followed by a side kick while exhaling loudly.
SheikPose1WiiU.gif SheikPose2WiiU.gif SheikPose3WiiU.gif

In competitive play

Official Custom Moveset Project

Character Custom sets available
SheikHeadSSB4-U.png Sheik 2211 2111 1211 2311 1311
1213 3213 2212 2312 2231

Notable players

Active

Inactive

Tier placement and history

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 VoiD and 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 and remain a top-tier character, with her placing 3rd and 4th on the second and third version of the tier list respectively, remaining on the S tier.

Trophies

Sheik
Ntsc In The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time, Sheik claimed to be a surviving Sheikah. However, this was just a cunning disguise for Princess Zelda so that she could escape Ganondorf. In Smash Bros., she's the complete opposite of Zelda, striking with fast attacks that can keep an opponent off balance.
Pal Sheik is introduced in The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time as the "survivor of the Sheikah", although it turns out to be Zelda, who took on the disguise to hide from Ganondorf. Sheik's ninja-like speed is a real contrast with Zelda's, and it allows for sneaky, fast-paced attacks that overwhelm opponents before they can even react.
N64: The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time (11/1998)
3DS: The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time 3D (06/2011)
Sheik (Alt.)
Ntsc 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.
Pal Sheik's Burst Grenade side special throws a small grenade that draws in nearby fighters, then explodes. Hold the button longer to thrown it further. The down special Bouncing Fish is a fish-like flop forwards that has Sheik attack with both heels on the way down. If the move connects, Sheik will bounce back up into the air.
N64: The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time (11/1998)
3DS: The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time 3D (06/2011)
Light Arrow (Sheik)
Ntsc Sheik's Final Smash uses a gigantic bow to fire a Light Arrow across the screen. If multiple foes are in its path, it will strike them all, ignoring shields like they're not even there. Sheik's Light Arrow is more damaging than Zelda's and it launches its victims at a lower angle.
Pal Sheik's Final Smash uses a gigantic bow to fire a Light Arrow across the screen. If multiple foes are in its path, it will strike them all, even penetrating straight through their shields. Sheik's Light Arrow is more powerful than Zelda's and it launches its targets at a more shallow angle.
  • Classic (3DS)

    Classic (3DS)

  • SheikAllStarTrophy3DS.png

    Alt. (3DS)

  • Classic (Wii U)

    Classic (Wii U)

  • Alt. (Wii U)

    Alt. (Wii U)

In Event Matches

Solo Events

Co-op Events

Alternate costumes

Sheik Palette (SSB4).png
SheikHeadSSB4-U.png SheikHeadRedSSB4-U.png SheikHeadPurpleSSB4-U.png SheikHeadPinkSSB4-U.png SheikHeadGreenSSB4-U.png SheikHeadBlackSSB4-U.png SheikHeadYellowSSB4-U.png SheikHeadWhiteSSB4-U.png

Gallery

Trivia

  • Sheik is the first and currently only character to have her weight changed twice via updates.


v • d • e
Fighters in Super Smash Bros. 4
Veterans Bowser · Captain Falcon · Charizard · Diddy Kong · Donkey Kong · Dr. Mario · Falco · Fox · Ganondorf · Ike · Jigglypuff · King Dedede · Kirby · Link · Lucario · Lucas · Luigi · Mario · Marth · Meta Knight · Mewtwo · Mr. Game & Watch · Ness · Olimar · Peach · Pikachu · Pit · R.O.B. · Roy · Samus · Sheik · Sonic · Toon Link · Wario · Yoshi · Zelda · Zero Suit Samus
Newcomers Bayonetta · Bowser Jr. · Cloud · Corrin · Dark Pit · Duck Hunt · Greninja · Little Mac · Lucina · Mega Man · Mii Fighter (Mii Brawler · Mii Gunner · Mii Swordfighter) · Pac-Man · Palutena · Robin · Rosalina & Luma · Ryu · Shulk · Villager · Wii Fit Trainer
v • d • e
ZeldaSymbol.svg The Legend of Zelda universe
Fighters Link (SSB · SSBM · SSBB · SSB4 · SSBU) · Sheik (SSBM · SSBB · SSB4 · SSBU) · Zelda (SSBM · SSBB · SSB4 · SSBU) · Young Link (SSBM · SSBU) · Ganondorf (SSBM · SSBB · SSB4 · SSBU) · Toon Link (SSBB · SSB4 · SSBU)
Assist Trophies Tingle · Skull Kid · Midna · Ghirahim · Moon
Bosses Ganon
Stages Hyrule Castle · Great Bay · Temple · Bridge of Eldin · Pirate Ship · Gerudo Valley · Spirit Train · Skyloft · Great Plateau Tower
Underground Maze (Adventure Mode)
Items Heart Container · Bunny Hood · Deku Nut · Fairy Bottle · Cucco · Bombchu · Beetle · Gust Bellows
Enemies Bubble · Cucco · Darknut · Like Like · Octorok · Peahat · ReDead · Stalfos
Other Bulblin · Dark Link · King Bulblin & Lord Bullbo · King of Red Lions · Koume & Kotake · Majora's Mask · Navi · Phantom · Sacred Land · Tetra · Yiga Clan
Trophies, Stickers and Spirits Trophies (SSBM · SSBB · SSB4) · Stickers · Spirits
Music Brawl · SSB4 · Ultimate
Masterpieces The Legend of Zelda · Zelda II: The Adventure of Link · The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time
  1. ^ a b Super Smash Bros. Direct 4.8.2014
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