Sheik

For fighter info, see Sheik (SSBM), Sheik (SSBB), Sheik (SSB4), and Sheik (SSBU).

Sheik
Official artwork for various iterations of Sheik.
Universe	The Legend of Zelda
Debut	The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time (1998)
Smash Bros. appearances	Melee Brawl SSB4 Ultimate
Most recent non-Smash appearance	Hyrule Warriors: Definitive Edition (2018)
Console/platform of origin	Nintendo 64
Species	Hylian, disguised as Sheikah
Gender	Female
Place of origin	Hyrule
Created by	Toru Osawa Shigeru Miyamoto Yoshiaki Koizumi
Designed by	Yoshiki Haruhana
Voice actor	Jun Mizusawa (Melee/Brawl/SSB4) Ayumi Fujimura (Ultimate)
Article on Zelda Wiki	Sheik

Sheik (シーク, Sheik) is a character from The Legend of Zelda universe. Sheik debuted in The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time, claiming to be one of the last surviving Sheikah and aiding Link by teaching him warp songs. In actuality, however, Sheik is the magically-induced alter ego of Princess Zelda.

Origin

Link wearing the Stealth Chest Guard and Stealth Tights of the Stealth Set along with Sheik's Mask in The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild. This attire combination was the basis for Sheik's appearance in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate.

Sheik is Zelda's Sheikah disguise who appeared in The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time. Contrasting with Impa, the only other Sheikah seen in the game, Sheik's identity and voice are concealed with conservative clothing and a scarf. Sheik is stoic and reserved, only showing emotion during brief episodes of surprise and concern when she and her surroundings are in danger, especially when Link is nearby. Sheik has a very melancholic demeanor, often waxing poetic about time and its effect on the mind, befitting the game's themes. Sheik is also proficient with a harp, which she uses to teach Link various melodies on his ocarina.

Sheik first appears before Link soon after his spirit is unsealed from a 7-year slumber in the Chamber of Sages. Hyrule has been overtaken by Ganondorf in his absence, and Sheik reveals to him his true quest: he is now old enough to properly become the Hero of Time, and must awaken the Sages and acquire their respective Medallions in order to save Hyrule.

Following this, Sheik appears before Link at each Temple, teaching him warp songs to help him on his quest. Sheik also imparts words of wisdom before mysteriously disappearing each time, typically via the explosive flash of a Deku Nut. When all six Sages are awakened, Link arrives at the Temple of Time near the end of the game and is greeted by Sheik, who uses the Triforce of Wisdom to reveal herself as Princess Zelda. She reveals that she and Impa were forced into hiding during Ganondorf's rule; Impa taught Zelda the ways of the Sheikah to both hide her identity and defend herself if she is forced into combat.

Unlike all other Zelda characters in Smash, Sheik was purely a one-off, and has not appeared in another mainline Zelda game to date. Despite this, she has remained throughout the Super Smash Bros. series, her design having been continually updated to match her series and fellow characters' evolving aesthetics. When Zelda's design was changed to her Twilight Princess appearance in Brawl, Sheik was also altered to match, with a custom design based on concept art created during both games' concurrent development. Because Zelda and Sheik were split into unique fighters in SSB4, their designs diverged in Ultimate; while Zelda uses her look from A Link Between Worlds, Sheik was given a unique appearance combining the Twilight Princess design with Breath of the Wild's Stealth Set, armor based on her design that can be worn by Link in that game.

Sheik is occasionally assumed to be male or a male persona of Zelda, thanks to the disguise's androgynous appearance. It is Nintendo's official stance that Sheik is female, just as Zelda is; she simply wears a different outfit, which her trophy in Melee speculates to be the result of magic. Super Smash Bros. uses female pronouns for Sheik in-game, including her trophy descriptions, her Ultimate Move List, and tips. The localized version of Ultimate's Palutena's Guidance conversation jokingly references the controversy, where Palutena and Viridi refer to Sheik as male before being corrected by a confused Pit. The lone in-game allusions to the Sheik persona being male in Ocarina of Time (a line by Ruto) and Smash (the Ocarina of Time Zelda trophy in Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS) are translation errors caused by the Japanese text's use of gender-ambiguous language for her.

In Super Smash Bros. Melee

As a playable character

Sheik, as she appears in Melee.

Sheik is one of the new characters introduced in Super Smash Bros. Melee. Rather than being a full-fledged character, she is a transformation of Zelda, which makes them the only characters in Melee to possess such an ability. In addition to her ability to Transform into Zelda, Sheik's Vanish is based on her usage of Deku Nuts in Ocarina of Time.

Unlike Zelda, Sheik boasts very fast attack speed and excellent mobility. When coupled with her deceptively powerful smash attacks and terrific neutral game, Sheik was initially deemed broken by some players, until the evolution of Melee's metagame revealed that she has a poor recovery and a mediocre neutral game. Nevertheless, Sheik's strengths still largely outweighed her weaknesses, reflected by her current ranking being 5th out of 26 on the tier list.

Trophies

As a playable character, Sheik has three trophies - a normal trophy won beating the Classic Mode with Sheik on any difficulty, and "Smash Red" and "Smash Blue" trophies are acquired by beating the Adventure and All-Star modes, respectively.

Sheik's Classic Mode trophy in Melee

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.

The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time (11/98)

Sheik's Adventure Mode trophy in Melee

Sheik SMASH

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's All-Star Mode trophy in Melee

Sheik SMASH

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.

Up & B: Vanish

Down & B: Transform

In Super Smash Bros. Brawl

As a playable character

Sheik, as she appears in Brawl.

Unlike Melee, Super Smash Bros. Brawl does not feature the Princess Zelda from Ocarina of Time. Instead, she has been succeeded by her descendant, the Zelda from The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess. Due to this, many debates initially came about as to whether or not Sheik would return.

Many argued that because Sheik did not appear in Twilight Princess, Zelda would not be able to Transform into Sheik. By extension, many cited the fact that the Hero of Time had also been succeeded by his own descendant, the Link from Twilight Princess, who features special moves that were reworked to fit with Twilight Princess' aesthetics. Conversely, others argued that even though the Zelda in Melee was explicitly the Ocarina of Time incarnation, she was not supposed to be based on any specific Zelda, but rather an amalgamation of all Zelda's past and present. As a result, they argued that the Twilight Princess incarnation of Zelda would not be prevented from being able to Transform into Sheik as her ancestor could in Melee.

The debate was settled with the revelation of Sheik's inclusion in Famitsu's review of Brawl. Shortly thereafter, Smash Bros. DOJO!! confirmed Sheik's inclusion via its January 16th update. Sheik's special moves have remained unchanged, but much like Zelda, Link, and Ganondorf, she now features an updated design based on Twilight Princess' aesthetics.

As both games' development periods overlapped, Sheik's design for Brawl was custom-made by Eiji Aonuma's Zelda team, with the dual purpose of potential usage in Twilight Princess. She did not end up appearing in the game, rendering the design exclusive to Brawl. Her new design noticeably includes a braided ponytail, similar to Zelda's design in Twilight Princess.

Sheik's playstyle is largely similar to how it was in Melee, though she now has a Final Smash, Light Arrow, that she shares with Zelda. However, her KO potential has been severely weakened, while her endurance has also worsened. As a result, Sheik is currently ranked 25th out of 38 on the tier list, which renders her as a mid-tier character.

Trophy

Sheik has a trophy that is awarded each time Classic Mode is completed with Sheik on any difficulty.

Sheik's trophy in Brawl

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

Sticker

Name	Game	Effect	Fighter(s)
Sheik	The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time	AttackBodySpin+017 Attack +17	Link Zelda Ganondorf Toon Link

Sheik (Zelda: Ocarina of Time)

In Super Smash Bros. 4

As a playable character

Sheik, as she appears in Super Smash Bros. 4.

Sheik returns as a playable character in Super Smash Bros. 4. Although she has retained her Twilight Princess design, her overall color scheme is now more vibrant because of SSB4's aesthetics. By extension, she now has an alternate costume that features the color scheme of her attire in Ocarina of Time.

Unlike in previous installments, Sheik is now a standalone character, like Zero Suit Samus and Charizard. She has also gained two new special moves, one of which compensates for her independence from Zelda: Burst Grenade replaces Chain (and also results in her side taunt being modified), and Bouncing Fish replaces Transform.

Sheik has been buffed significantly in the transition from Brawl to SSB4, thanks to many of her attacks being partially reverted to how they functioned in Melee, or updated outright. Unlike in Melee, she now has a noticeably better neutral game and recovery. Her neutral game benefits from Needle Storm's faster travel speed and increased knockback, as well as her faster walking, dashing, and air speeds.

In comparison, Sheik's recovery benefits from her much faster airspeed, Bouncing Fish's ability to function as a horizontal recovery option, and the removal of edge-hogging. Outside of these changes, Sheik still boasts unarguably the best frame data among the cast, which results in her retaining an excellent combo game, and makes her exceedingly difficult to punish.

However, Sheik retains a low overall damage output, mediocre smash attacks, unimpressive endurance, a lack of reliable KO setups at high percentages, and only a handful of KOing options (sweet spotted up smash, up aerial, Vanish's disappearing hitbox, and Bouncing Fish). In addition, game updates heavily nerfed some of Sheik's most viable options, such as weakening her forward aerial, hindering her forward and down throws' combo potentials at high percentages, and decreasing Needle Storm's range.

Overall, Sheik's strengths largely outweigh her weaknesses, and she has achieved great tournament representation and results as a result. To reflect this, Sheik is currently ranked 4th out of 55 on the tier list, and she has maintained her status as a top-tier character throughout SSB4's lifespan like in Melee.

As a costume

Sheik Mask in SSB4.

A Sheik Mask is available as headgear for all Mii Fighter types.

Trophies

Sheik's trophy in Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS

Sheik's trophy in Super Smash Bros. for Wii U

Sheik

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.

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.

: The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time (11/1998)

: The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time 3D (06/2011)

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.

: The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time (12/1998)

: The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time 3D (06/2011)

Sheik (Alt.)'s trophy in Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS

Sheik (Alt.)'s trophy in Super Smash Bros. for Wii U

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.

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

: The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time (11/1998)

: The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time 3D (06/2011)

Sheik's Burst Grenade side special throws a small grenade that draws in nearby fighters, then explodes. Hold the button longer to throw 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.

: The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time (12/1998)

: The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time 3D (06/2011)

In Super Smash Bros. Ultimate

As a playable character

Sheik, as she appears in Ultimate.

Sheik returns as a standalone character in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate. However, her design has been overhauled to reference The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild; Sheik now wears the Stealth Chest Guard and Stealth Tights from the Stealth Set, while her mask is now similar to its appearance as headgear armor in Breath of the Wild. Unlike her previous appearances, Sheik is now an unlockable character instead of a starter character.

As Sheik was top tier for most of Smash 4 even in spite of the nerfs she received in updates, she was drastically nerfed in the transition to Ultimate. Her damage output was severely reduced, forcing her to rack up extremely long strings of hits to deal any notable damage. Her already low weight was also decreased even further, and she doesn't benefit much from universal mobility improvements compared to other characters. Sheik's initially abysmal perception has slowly improved thanks to recent buffs, however, and she is generally agreed to be mid-tier, currently ranking 50th out of 82 on the tier list.

As a costume

Sheik Mask in Ultimate.

The Sheik Mask returns as headgear for all Mii Fighter types.

Spirit

• 

  174. Sheik

Names in other languages

Language	Name
Japanese	シーク, Sheik
French	Sheik
German	Shiek
Spanish	Sheik
Italian	Sheik
Chinese	希克, Sheik
Portuguese	Sheik
Korean	시크, Sheik
Dutch	Sheik
Russian	Шиик

Trivia

• Sheik and Ganondorf both made their playable debuts in Super Smash Bros. Melee, and intra-Zelda playable debuts in Hyrule Warriors.
• Sheik is the only character in the Super Smash Bros. series to have been ranked at the very top of the tier list in two different games; she was ranked 1st on SSB4's first tier list, and was ranked 1st on Melee's first seven tier lists.
  • Ironically, the first tier list for SSB4 listed Zelda as the worst character in the game while Sheik was the best. Melee's tier list has a similar gulf.
  • She and Diddy Kong are also the only characters in the Super Smash Bros. series to have been ranked 1st on an installment's respective tier list, and then later lose that position on said installment's subsequent tier list.
• Vanish and Transform are Sheik's only abilities in Smash that canonically originate from Ocarina of Time.