Sheik (SSBB)

This article is about Sheik's appearance in Super Smash Bros. Brawl. For other uses, see Sheik. Also, for information about Sheik's alter-ego, see Princess Zelda (SSBB).

Sheik in Super Smash Bros. Brawl
Universe	The Legend of Zelda
Alternate form	Zelda
Other playable appearances	in Melee in SSB4
Availability	Starter
Final Smash	Light Arrow
Tier	D (25)

“	Zelda's alternate form. Graceful, swift attacks make her a close-range threat.	”
—Brawl manual description

Sheik (シーク, Sheik) is a character in Super Smash Bros. Brawl. Sheik transforms from Zelda by using her down special move Transform, and can also transform back from Sheik. Her design saw great changes in that she was given a great deal more detail in her costume, as well as a ninjato and hair braid. The most significant change to her design is in her figure, which now appears much more feminine than in previous titles. Sheik's Brawl design isn't based on her appearance from Ocarina of Time like it was in Melee. It is actually based on conceptual designs that were created for Twilight Princess.

The playability of Sheik had earlier been hinted by Eiji Aonuma, the director of Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker and Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess, who stated that he sent Twilight Princess-style designs of Sheik and Ganondorf to Sakurai.

Sheik can be selected off of the Character Select screen by clicking on her image, like selecting a starting Pokémon with the Pokémon Trainer. However, unlike the Pokémon Trainer, there is no Random option between the two.

Sheik saw a large drop in her tier position, from being rank 3rd in the top tier of Melee, to being currently ranked 25th in the Middle tier of Brawl. Sheik retains her blinding attack speed from Melee, possessing some of the fastest movement, and frame data only rivaled by Meta Knight. Additionally, Sheik possesses a transcendent and fast projectile with high damage potential in her Needles, as well as great combo ability, and a lock in her forward tilt that can rack up over 50% in damage on most characters. Her power was significantly nerfed from Melee however. She possesses few attacks that can KO under 150% outside edge guarding, and of those few potential finishers, only two can be considered reliable in KOing (her sweetspotted up smash and the explosion in Vanish), both of which are difficult to land. Sheik also has very poor endurance; suffering from the combination of being tall and light, causing her to sustain high knockback while being rather easy to hit, which is exacerbated by her poor momentum cancelling, and her short distanced and easily edge hogged recovery. Additional problems Sheik has include her fast falling speed leaving her vulnerable to some juggles and chain throws, as well as short reach in the majority of her attacks. This has resulted in average matchups and below average tournament results for Sheik. Despite ranking significantly higher than Zelda, who rests at 37th on the tier list (second to dead last), her Zelda/Sheik form is considered a better character and is ranked slightly higher than Sheik alone (currently 24th), mainly as transforming into Zelda can help alleviate the very severe KO problems Sheik has in some matchups (such as against King Dedede).

Attributes

Sheik is one of the fastest characters in the game, having the fourth fastest running speed, high attack speed, and a quick, long and deadly DACUS. She has one of the best comboing abilities, as her attacks have very little start up and ending lag, with overall low knockback, allowing them to chain effectively. The best example of this is Sheik's forward tilt. As in Melee, the forward tilt can smoothly follow after her up tilt, down tilt, neutral aerial, forward aerial, back aerial, down smash, and jab cancel; it can also repeatedly link into itself to easily rack up 50% or more, especially on fast-fallers or heavy characters, such as Fox. Sheik's up tilt can combo into itself very low percentages, and at slightly higher percentages, it leads well into a forward tilt. It has a very large hitbox in terms of size and duration, making it a powerful defensive move.

As for stronger moves with greater KO potential, Sheik's down smash has multiple hits and has long range. Her up smash can KO easily at around 100%, but only when it is sweetspotted, which is not always easy. Her forward smash isn't very powerful, but it is a two hit combo and has fairly good range.

Sheik has a fairly powerful air-game that really only lacks in one area: versatility. Her back and neutral aerials have very similar knockback and speed and negligible landing lag outside of auto-cancel. If hit in the initial few frames, they have decent knockback, making them useful for edgeguarding, and they have good range. Her up aerial has some landing lag and has less knockback. Her forward aerial is a quick swipe with low knockback but a great semi-spike trajectory, low lag, but sub-par range. This makes it a great move for KO'ing at higher percentages. Her down aerial is a stall-then-fall, negating all vertical knockback, but unfortunately, it has high landing lag.

Sheik does have versatility amongst her special moves, however. Needle Storm is a fast projectile that can be very hard to dodge and can be charged for increased damage. Sheik's up special is somewhat low in terms of recovery distance, but it has the second highest knockback of any of Sheik's moves. Combined with the invulnerability it grants, this can occasionally be used against some moves as a powerful counter, but it's also one of the hardest moves to hit with unless used in this way: it can also be used to edgeguard through Vanish Gliding. Sheik's forward special is the Chain, which can be used for a tether recovery and the Chain Jacket, which can be used to insert the knockback of the last attack into the Chain, giving an advantage over characters without attacks that cannot outrange or clank with the Chain. It is slow coming out and returning, however, and leaves her vulnerable from behind, a problem that can be capitalized on. Sheik's down special transforms her into Zelda, which allows use of two different characters in the same match, which can help to balance some of Sheik's weaknesses. Sheik also can wall jump, wall cling, and crawl.

Sheik is not a character without any weaknesses, however. Above all, Sheik does not have much KO'ing power on most of her moves, as a majority of her KO'ing moves in Melee were severely nerfed. Her two most powerful KO'ing moves are her sweetspotted up smash and Vanish, which are hard to connect with compared to Sheik's other moves. Sheik can use techniques such as DACUS and forward tilt to help connect her up smash, to an extent, but nothing else KO's reliably below 150%. This makes Sheik very reliant on getting numerous hits to rack up damage and edgeguarding. Additionally, Sheik's best chain of attacks (the forward tilt-lock) often stops working before the opponent reaches KO percentage (stops at about 50%, depending on the match-up of course: lasts to later percentages on fast-fallers and heavy characters like Wolf and Bowser, but stops sooner on light and floaty characters like Kirby and Jigglypuff). Because of this, it may be best to turn back into Zelda to KO the opponent. Sheik also has poor attack range on a good number of moves. Sheik is also very light-weight and tall for her weight class, making her easier to defeat than many characters (though this is not without its advantages, as it allows Sheik to escape some chaingrabs, including Dedede's infamous Chaingrab), and her poor recovery often comes up short. Sheik is also one of the fastest-falling characters in the game, making her vulnerable to any chaingrab that is effective against fast-fallers.

Changes from Melee to Brawl

Sheik has undergone a large nerf in the transition from Melee to Brawl , as she has lost a lot of options that the she had before, and her KOing ability was toned down, resulting in a dramatic drop from her previous top tier position in Melee.

Aesthetics

• Sheik now uses a design based on a concept artwork from The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess. In cosmetic terms, she looks more feminine, has a lighter skin tone, smaller eyes, and a different outfit. She also now has a braid.
• Sheik can now be chosen instead of Zelda at the character selection screen by selecting Zelda and then clicking on Sheik's portrait.

Attributes

• Sheik walks and dashes slightly faster
• Sheik is slightly lighter
• Sheik now sustains more knockback, only slightly outlasting Zelda vertically, and being outlasted by Zelda when knocked back horizontally.

Ground attacks

• Introduction of DACUS gives Sheik an additional approach and KO option.
• Forward tilt can lock most characters and has better combo utility.
• Forward and down smashes are stronger.
• Up smash is much weaker, especially its sourspot hitbox. The sourspot hitbox also has a less favorable diagonal trajectory rather than a vertical trajectory.

Air attacks

• All of her aerials were weakened, especially her forward aerial.
• Down aerial is now a stall-then-fall. It has more ending lag, poorer hitbox placement, and can no longer set up aerial follow-ups properly.

Throws/other attacks

• Down throw is no longer capable of chain throwing or tech chasing.

Special moves

• Needles from Needle Storm have transcendent priority.
• Chain moves more freely and can be used as a tether recovery, giving Sheik an additional recovery option.
• Vanish has less start-up lag, and the hitbox from its explosion is stronger.
• Transform takes much longer to complete, rendering Sheik's ability to transform into Zelda for a longer recovery infeasible.

Moveset

		Name	Damage	Description
Neutral attack			3%	Two quick swipes, followed by a series of short jabs.
			3%
			1-2%
Forward tilt			5%	Sheik rotates her leg upwards knocking the opponent into the air with low knockback. Easily combos into itself and other moves.
Up tilt			6% (hit 1), 7% (hit 2)	Sheik brings her leg up and quickly brings it down. Can hit on the upswing and downswing.
Down tilt			8%	Sheik quickly sweeps her leg out in front of her. Has low vertical knockback.
Dash attack			7% (clean), 5% (late)	A quick slash in front of her. Has decent knockback with little ending lag.
Forward smash			5% (hit 1), 9% (hit 2)	Two successive kicks that moves her forward as they are executed. The first has low knockback, while the second has significant knockback. Can KO at high percentages.
Up smash			17% (sweetspot), 12% (sourspot)	Sheik raises her arms over her head and quickly brings them down to her sides. Powerful knockback when sweetspotted, but less powerful when sourspotted. It is also possible to hit twice with it for huge damage.
Down smash			13% (hit 1), 10% (hits 2-3)	Gets on her back and does a break-dance style rotation. Can hit twice.
Neutral aerial			13% (clean sweetspot), 10% (clean sourspot), 5% (late sweetspot), 4% (late sourspot)	Sheik extends one leg in front with the other tucked underneath in a typical sex kick form. Poor knockback.
Forward aerial			9%	Sheik leans forward and quickly slashes downwards. Good for edgeguarding due to its semi-spike trajectory.
Back aerial			12% (clean sweetspot), 11% (clean sourspot), 6% (late)	Sheik extends one leg downwards and the other backwards in a sex kick. The sweetspot is located at the foot.
Up aerial			11% (clean), 6% (late)	Sheik does a quick screwdriver kick upward.
Down aerial			10%	Sheik performs a downwards kick in a similar fashion to Sonic and Zero Suit Samus's down aerials, being a stall-then-fall. Has high ending lag.
Grab			—
Pummel			3%	Hits opponent with her left elbow.
Forward throw			5% (hit 1), 2% (throw)	Launches the opponent forward.
Back throw			5% (hit 1), 2% (throw)	Throws her opponent behind and kicks them away.
Up throw			3% (hit 1), 2% (throw)	Flips upside-down and kicks her opponent with both of her feet.
Down throw			3% (hit 1), 3% (throw)	Throws opponent on the ground, then performs an axe kick knocking the opponent up into the air.
Floor attack (front)			6%	Gets up and kicks in front and back of herself.
Floor attack (back)			6%	Gets up and punches in front amd back of herself.
Floor attack (trip)			5%	Gets up and kicks in front and back of herself.
Edge attack (fast)			8%	Climbs up and kicks onto the stage.
Edge attack (slow)			8% (arm), 6% (body)	Slowly gets up and thrusts out her elbow.
Neutral special		Needle Storm	3% (needle close), 2% (needle far), 6 needles max	Sheik accumulates up to six needles that can be stored and released immediately or later. If thrown in the air, the needles travel at approximately a 45 degree angle.
Side special		Chain	3% (chain), 5% (tip)	Pulls out a long metal chain which can be controlled by moving the control stick (directional pad on Wii Remote) The tip of the chain deals electric damage. Has high ending lag.
Up special		Vanish	15%	After a short delay, Sheik vanishes in a puff of smoke, reappearing nearby in a controlled direction. The vanish hitbox has high knockback, able to KO at high percentages. Any opponents near Sheik whenever she reappears will be pushed back a bit.
Down special		Transform	0%	Transforms into Zelda.
Final Smash		Light Arrow	3% (hit 1), 45% (Light Arrow 1st opponent), 33% (2nd opponent), 25% (3rd opponent)	Sheik pulls out a large magical bow and light arrow which she fires in a straight, horizontal line across the stage. It can strike multiple opponents, but the damage decreases for each successive target. Launches opponents at a semi-spike angle.

Taunts

• Up: Stands on one hand.
• Side: Pulls out her Chain.
• Down: Performs a threatening pose with her right hand before her face.

On-screen appearance

• Appears in magical sparks.

Idle poses

• Balances on one foot
• Moves her hand in front of her face, then quickly swings it to the side

Cheer

Sheik's NTSC and PAL cheer

Sheik!

Wii Remote selection sound

Zelda's Wii Remote selection sound

The Transform sound effect is heard and Zelda shouts. Shared with Zelda.

Victory theme

This flourish is a cover of the music that played whenever Link obtained a Triforce Piece in The Legend of Zelda. It is shared with Link, Zelda, Ganondorf, and Toon Link.

Victory poses

• Kicks twice then holds her left hand in front of her while exhaling loudly.
• Slashes towards the screen twice, then holds her right hand up to her mouth.
• Looks off into the distance, pondering, while keeping her mouth concealed.

In competitive play

Matchups

Super Smash Bros. Brawl Character Matchups

Avg.

Notable players

See also: Category:Sheik professionals (SSBB)

•  Cross
•  Daiki
•  Earth
•  Judo
•  ScaryLB59

Role in The Subspace Emissary

Sheik in the SSE

If one chooses to rescue Zelda from Petey Piranha in the Subspace Emissary, the player can still transform into Sheik, despite her not technically being introduced until much later. Thus, Sheik is the only character in the Subspace Emissary to be playable before she's introduced. After Peach and Zelda are rescued by Lucario, Meta Knight, and Snake, the two princesses are ordered to stay where they are until the Halberd is under their control. Zelda transforms into Sheik and walks out with Peach, opening a window to the outside of the ship. Both princesses then make their way to the front deck of the ship. There, they witness Fox's Arwing attacking the Halberd, and his lasers meant for the Halberd's turret nearly injures Peach. In response, Sheik leaps into the air and uses Vanish onto the Arwing, striking the windshield and forcing Fox to jettison. They fall back to the Halberd, and begin to fight, but Peach offers them both tea, ending any erroneous hostilities.

As they drink their tea, several Mr. Game and Watches fall from the bridge and turn into shadow bugs that coalesce to form the monstrous Duon. The three prepare to fight, but are joined by Lucario, Snake, and Falco. They then proceed to defeat Duon, and it turns into the trophy of Mr. Game and Watch, who Peach revives. Then she and the other heroes journey into subspace for the final battle against Tabuu. Sometime when the Halberd was retaken, but before the Isle of Ancients was consumed by Subspace, Sheik transformed back into Zelda.

Playable appearances

Sheik is always playable in any level Zelda appears in. If Zelda is rescued in Midair Stadium, after The Lake Shore is completed, she along with her alternative form Sheik will be removed from the team until Battleship Halberd Exterior.

• Midair Stadium
• Sea of Clouds - If she's rescued in Midair Stadium.
• Battleship Halberd Exterior
• Battleship Halberd Bridge
• Entrance to Subspace
• The Great Maze - If she's rescued in Subspace (Part II).

In Event Matches

Solo Events

• Event 2: Landmaster Ignition: As Fox with a Smash Ball, the player must survive against Meta Knight and Sheik. Fox must rely on his Landmaster as his opponents take less knockback from his regular attacks.
• Event 17: Super Waterfall Climb: As Zelda, the player must survive until the background changes into a waterfall. Two pairs of Ice Climbers with unlimited stock will try to hinder the player's progress. The player can transform into Sheik to complete this event.
• Event 22: Monkeys Unite: As Diddy Kong helped by a giant Donkey Kong, the player must defeat Sheik and Lucario.
• Event 25: The Aura Is With Me: As Lucario starting at 182% damage, the player must defeat Ness and Sheik.
• Event 31: The Ultimate Bodyguard: Marth must defend Zelda and defeat two Ganondorfs on Castle Siege. Zelda remains in her crouching position until the third background change, where she'll transform into Sheik and assist Marth.
• Event 33: Advent of the Evil King: As Ganondorf, the player must defeat Link, Zelda, and Pit on Temple. Zelda may transform into Sheik on harder difficulties.
• Event 34: All-Star Battle Melee: Zelda is one of the opponents fought in this event. All opponents are newcomers from Super Smash Bros Melee. On harder difficulties, Zelda may transform into Sheik.

Co-op Events

• Co-Op Event 6: Unwanted Suitors: As Zelda and Zero Suit Samus, both players must defeat an invisible Captain Falcon and an invisible Luigi on Port Town Aero Dive. The player may transform into Sheik if he/she wishes.
• Co-Op Event 21: The True All-Star Battle: Two players select a character and take on the entire roster on Battlefield. Note that Sheik may take Zelda's spot in the lineup.

Trophies

Sheik's main and Final Smash trophies can be obtained by clearing Classic Mode and All-Star mode respectively with Sheik.

Trophy descriptions

Sheik

The persona Zelda adopted to escape from Ganondorf. She completely hid all traces of her Zelda identity and appeared to Link as the last member of the Sheikah tribe. She taught Link essential ocarina melodies and then vanished in an instant. She didn't appear very often—rather, she would show up to support Link in crucial situations.

: The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time

Light Arrow (Sheik)

Sheik's Final Smash. After grabbing a Smash Ball, Sheik will be able to wield a bow of light. The arrow fired from this bow has the power to pass through multiple targets, so it will damage all enemies in the direction it flies. This, coupled with its shield-breaking power, makes it even more terrible. Even in Sheik form, Zelda's ability as an archer is undiminished.

: Super Smash Bros. Brawl

• 

  Classic Mode trophy

• 

  Light Arrow trophy

Alternate costumes

Sheik's alternate costumes in Brawl

Trivia

• Sheik has the shortest on-screen appearance duration out of all the characters in The Subspace Emissary, apart from Ivysaur, who only appears as a trophy.
• Unlike in Melee, where completing Classic mode with either Zelda or Sheik would get both Zelda and Sheik trophies, Brawl makes one play both characters separately to retrieve their trophies.
• Along with Sonic, Squirtle, and Zero Suit Samus, Sheik is one of the only characters to not be seen in trophy form during The Subspace Emissary. Coincidentally, all these characters' names begin with the letter "S", and all have a blue-colored default palette.
• Sheik is the only veteran fighter that can wall cling.
• Excluding Transformation from Zelda, Sheik is the only character in Brawl not to be selectable in Events without free character selection.
• Sheik and Toon Link are the only The Legend of Zelda characters in Brawl to not be placed on the F tier.

External links

• Sheik's page at Smash Bros. Dojo
• Sheik Character Guide at SWF
• Sheik's hitbox size of each of her moves
• Zelda and Sheik's Moves - History Behind Super Smash Bros. Brawl, by CrappyCaptureDevice