Editing Toon Link (SSBU)

Toon Link is ranked 46th out of 82 on the current [[tier list]], placing him in the B- tier. This is a noticeable drop from his 23rd out of 54 placement in ''SSB4'' and is his worst placement in the series. Toon Link's gameplan is relatively a middle ground between Young Link's strong projectile and combo game and Link's strong kill power or Bomb usage. Toon Link has a pretty strong zoning game thanks to his numerous projectiles in [[Bomb (Link)|Bomb]] and [[Boomerang]]. The former allows him to set up combos or confirm into KOs at higher percents while the latter is a good combo starter or a way for opponents to approach him in neutral. Toon Link's mobility is also among the best of the three Links on the ground, allowing him to catch up or run away from his opponents more reliably. His frame 2 air dodge and floatiness also allow him to escape from more combos too.

Toon Link has some weaknesses similarly shared to the other Links. Because of his floatiness, it makes him take a while to land back on the ground, making him prone to juggling. Toon Link also has lower range than most other swordfighters who can outrange and pressure better than he can. His recovery is also relatively exploitable as it travels in a predictable path, though it can be mixed up with Bomb Jump.

Overall, Toon Link is a character with a simple, effective, and consistent gameplan that works when he gets momentum or wins neutral interactions. Toon Link has seen some strong results and representation mostly in Japan, through players, such as {{Sm|Lv.1}} and {{Sm|Sigma}}, who have had strong placements at majors.

{{incomplete|This section needs an in depth explanation of Toon Link's strengths and weaknesses.}}

Toon Link is a [[weight|middleweight]], yet boasts above-average [[dash]]ing speed and [[air acceleration]], as well as the ability to [[wall jump]]. However, his [[air speed]] is average and his [[falling speed|falling]] and [[fast fall]]ing speeds are both slow, while his [[gravity]] is low. Although they differ on the majority of their attributes, Toon Link and {{SSBU|Link}} both have above-average [[walk]]ing speeds. Like Link, he also wields his respective version of the {{s|zeldawiki|Master Sword}} and possesses a [[shield]]. The Master Sword grants Toon Link disjointed range, while the [[Passive shield|Hero's Shield]] blocks opposing [[projectile]]s if he is standing still or walking. Overall, Toon Link's attributes render him as a fairly quick, yet fairly [[Falling speed#Floaty|floaty]] character.

As a zoning-orientated character, Toon Link possesses a number of [[projectile]]s. His [[Hero's Bow]], [[Boomerang]] and {{b|Bomb|Link}} enable him to not only force approaches, but also camp effectively. In addition to these strengths, Boomerang and Bomb boast combo potential, with the latter being his most varied and useful combo starter. Thanks to its explosion no longer damaging Toon Link upon contact with an opponent, Bomb now grants him a number of follow-ups at varying percentages. With precise usage, it can be followed by his up smash or forward aerial even at high percentages, both of which are among his most viable KOing options.  

Although Toon Link's combo game largely revolves around Bomb, he also possesses non-projectile combo starters. Up tilt is the most effective of these: it can combo into itself, up smash, and Spin Attack at low percentages; a short hopped neutral aerial, short hopped back aerial, and short hopped Spin Attack at low to medium percentages; and forward aerial and up aerial at medium to high percentages. Aside from up tilt, grab aerial can be used as a long-ranged set-up similarly to Bomb, regardless of the opponent's damage, while neutral attack can be jab canceled reliably.  

However, Toon Link has some weaknesses. His grab game is overall very polarized: [[Hookshot]] grants him long-lasting grabs that can grab airborne opponents, and a [[grab aerial]] and [[tether recovery]] that are both very useful, yet his grabs have considerable start-up and ending lag (albeit much less so than in previous installments). By extension, Toon Link's back throw is one of his most viable KO options due to being one of the strongest back throws in the game, while his forward throw is decent for setting up edge-guards and creating space. Conversely, Toon Link's down throw lacks combo potential, which makes it drastically inferior to Link and Young Link's versions. It can almost combo into back aerial. Although Toon Link's up throw is a situational KO option on platforms like Link and Young Link's versions, his back throw utterly outclasses it in this role. As a result, Toon Link's up and down throws are used primarily for setting up aerial pressure, such as by launching an opponent into the trajectory of a previously thrown Boomerang or Bomb.

Toon Link's floatiness makes him particularly susceptible to strong vertical attacks, and renders his recovery quite predictable in spite of its improvements. Unlike other floaty characters, however, Toon Link cannot use his floatiness to perform long aerial combos because of his aerials' considerable ending lag. Toon Link's disjointed range is also somewhat offset by his short size, while the faster pace of ''Ultimate'' makes his defensive, projectile-based gameplan less effective than it was in previous installments.

Overall, Toon Link is considered a very balanced and fast fighter with a plethora of attack options via his projectiles, tether grab/recovery, and decent frame data. The combination of low ending lag on his forward and back aerials with his slow fall speed allow Toon Link to dominate in the air with combos, while his moderately fast yet fairly useful tilt attacks and reasonably strong smash attacks allow for relatively easy KOs. While his middling weight and slow falling speed make him easier to combo and KO, it is generally agreed that Toon Link's strengths outweigh his weaknesses by a fair margin.

Toon Link has received a notable mix of buffs and nerfs in the transition from ''SSB4'' to ''Ultimate''. Many of his standard attacks have been improved, but the general pace of ''Ultimate'', combined with the worsening of his camping tools, have annulled his improvements to an extent. As a result, Toon Link has been slightly nerfed overall.

Several of Toon Link's attacks where he uses the Master Sword have been notably buffed, alleviating one of his weaker points from ''SSB4''. Particularly, Toon Link now boasts a vastly buffed ground game: [[neutral attack]]'s first two hits can now [[lock]], and the third hit now has the tech-chasing ability his adult counterpart has. [[Forward tilt]] has less ending lag, all hitboxes send opponents in front of him, and its hitboxes can now hit behind Toon Link. The changes to the [[Sakurai angle]] allow [[down tilt]] to launch aerial opponents lower, improving its tech chasing potential. [[Dash attack]] is much faster, has more range and less endlag, and the sweetspots out-prioritize the sourspot, turning it into a respectable combo starter at low percentages. [[Up smash]] is more consistent on landing the sweetspot, whereas [[down smash]] now has consistent KO potential on both sides of the move instead of pulling opponents into a second hit.

Toon Link's air game, while seeing less buffs, has also become more useful; [[neutral aerial]] has more range, [[forward aerial]] can once again autocancel if performed in a short hop, [[back aerial]] is faster and has regained some of its combo potential, and [[up aerial]] is notably much safer to use due to its altered animation. Finally, Toon Link's Spin Attack has received various improvements, with the grounded version now being one of the best out of shield options in the game due to it being much faster and gaining KO potential, whereas the aerial version's power and safety have both improved and it will now always send opponents in front of Toon Link.

However, Toon Link also received some noticeable nerfs. One of his biggest nerfs was to his [[forward smash]]; the move no longer has a second hit, while its single hit instead is slightly slower, deals less aggregate damage, possesses no mixup or spacing potential, and has a debatably worse hitbox that fails to strike short opponents or ones hanging on an edge. His other major nerf was to his {{b|Bomb|Link}}s, which no longer beat weak projectiles and continue on, instead bouncing off of them; this massively worsens their potential in trade and projectile situations. Other nerfs to his [[camping]] ability include his item throws having more ending lag, which worsens his combo game via his Bombs; and his [[grab aerial]] now bouncing off of the first projectile or hurtbox it makes contact with, instead of piercing through. Aside from forward smash, a few of his sword-based moves also received some nerfs. [[Up tilt]] has slightly inferior combo potential at high percentages due to the changes to knockback, [[up smash]] has fewer active frames, and [[back aerial]]'s already minimal KO potential has been almost totally removed in favor of restoring its combo potential.

The universal changes to gameplay mechanics are overall mixed for Toon Link. The reduced landing lag makes it easier for him to combo, and safer to land if his aerials hit. The ability to [[Dash-canceling|use any attack out of a run]] also allows Toon Link more access to his now respectable grounded game. On the other hand, the changes to [[shieldstun]] make his grounded moveset much safer, though it also means shielding opponents are now more likely to punish mispaced aerials as easily. The nerfs to shield grabbing alleviate the negative changes from shieldstun, but combined with other characters also having reduced landing lag, and the changes to shieldstun, this notably worsens his grab game, despite his grabs' much lower ending lag. Finally, the universal increase to mobility further contributes to Toon Link's grounded game (due to his faster [[walk]]ing and [[dash]]ing speeds) and allows him to now combo out of his [[Hero's Bow]] when uncharged, but also allows more mobile opponents to close in on the distance to him and/or stay away from him easier.

Overall, Toon Link has more utility in his sword-based attacks, but has to contend with worsened camping tools and the faster pace of ''Ultimate'', which makes his defensive, projectile-based game less effective compared to previous titles. This noticeably changes his playstyle, shifting from primarily a zoner and counter-zoner, to a more movement and pressure-based playstyle that utilizes his sword attacks more. Combined with various buffs other veterans have received, Toon Link performs worse than his ''SSB4'' iteration, and while he remains relatively viable, he's widely considered overshadowed by {{SSBU|Young Link}} due to the former's faster air-to-ground mobility, superior damage output, and stronger projectile game.

Toon Link received a mix of buffs, a single nerf and glitch fixes via game updates, but was buffed slightly overall.

 

Starting with update 2.0.0, Toon Link's forward aerial can now auto-cancel out of a short hop, greatly buffing the move's utility and offense. He also can now grab the ledge earlier after using his back aerial. Update 3.0.0 nerfed Boomerang's shield damage as a part of a universal nerf to projectiles. Update 3.1.0 made neutral attack connect better, and Toon Link can now shield SDI if a projectiles hits his Hero's Shield thanks to update 4.0.0.

Update 7.0.0 brought the most noteworthy buffs to Toon Link's kit. His dash attack was given less ending lag, both hits of his down smash now deal more knockback, his back aerial now hits earlier and has a slightly longer hitbox duration. His down aerial is now drastically stronger than it was before due to it now dealing more damage and not having its knockback not fully compensated. And finally, his grab aerial's hitbox lasts 2 frames longer. Due to these changes, Toon Link's KO potential and spacing were improved.

Overall, Toon Link fares slightly better than he did at the launch of ''Ultimate''.

|ftiltdesc= A lunging downward slash. Moderate startup at frame 9, with low ending lag and decent knockback, making it fast for its power. The hilt and the middle of the swords are semi-spikes, while the tip launches at the Sakurai angle. Its hitboxes at the beginning of the animation reach far enough back for Toon Link to hit opponents behind him. It resembles the [[zeldawiki:Targeting#Z-Targeting|Z-Targeting]] slash used by the Hero of Time.

|utiltdesc=An overhead arcing slash. Thanks to its frame 8 startup and very low ending lag, it is one of Toon Link's best combo starters. Can combo into itself at low percentages, and at later percents, it can combo into his neutral, forward, back and up aerials.

|dtiltdesc=A kneeling inward slash. Can cause opponents to [[trip]] at low percents with a 50% trip chance and comes out on frame 9 with very minimal ending lag, making it very good for set-ups and tech-chases as well as being able to lock. At higher percents, it launches opponents away at a horizontal angle.

|dashdesc= A lunging outward slash. It has fast startup at frame 7 and very little ending lag (19 frames), making it safe on shield despite its lack of shieldstun and useful for catching landings. However, it has a sourspot on Toon Link's arm that deals less damage.

|fsmashdesc=Winds up and then performs an upward slash. Toon Link moves slightly forwards when using it. It comes out on frame 16, it's strong and it and has less ending lag compared to his previous forward smash, but also less versatile. The duration of this move's hitbox is deceptively short compared to the animation, only lasting for two frames. As such, the move's range is also deceptively short and will fail to damage those above Toon Link beginning at frame 18.

|usmashdesc=A hopping, overhead arcing slash. Can hit behind Toon Link. Although the animation causes Toon Link to hop, it cannot reach opponents standing on a Battlefield platform above him. A standard anti-air and effective for covering both sides of Toon Link quickly should down smash not suffice.

|dsmashdesc=A kneeling inward slash in front of himself, followed by a kneeling outward slash behind himself. Unlike in previous games, the first hit no longer leads into the second, although both hits have their knockbacks compensated, making the move effective near the sides of the stage.

|nairdesc=An inward slash followed by an outward slash behind himself. Has a chance to trip (30% trip chance) grounded opponents at low percents. Can also be used to lock, or as a combo starter. It can autocancel at the peak of a short hop.

|fairdesc=A spinning outward slash. Has noticeable startup at frame 14, but it has low ending lag, can autocancel in a short hop and has respectable damage and great knockback, being able to KO at higher percents. It resembles his rolling {{iw|zeldawiki|Parry Attack}}.

|bairdesc=Turns around and performs an upward slash behind himself. Almost identical to forward aerial, but trades power for faster startup, being tied with neutral aerial for the fastest startup of his aerials, at frame 6. While it is extremely weak and will not KO at any reasonable percent, its very low base knockback, high knockback growth, and ability to autocancel with a short hop make it a fairly good option for combos. It can combo into itself at low percents, and into an aerial Spin Attack as a KO combo.

|uairdesc=The {{iw|zeldawiki|Jump Thrust}}. Possesses [[sex kick]] properties. The clean hit has high knockback and can KO off the upper blast line at high percents, and the late hit can be used as a combo starter until high percents.

|dairdesc=A [[stall-then-fall]] version of the {{iw|zeldawiki|Down Thrust}}. Has a powerful meteor smash at the start of the descent, and weak [[windbox]]es on landing, while also having a small hitbox that deals 5% when Toon Link takes out the Master Sword. Extremely risky to use offstage, as it has a long duration and, unlike the down aerials of the other Links, Toon Link's will not bounce off of any opponents he hits. Resembles his final strike to Ganondorf's head in ''The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker''.

|grabdesc=Fires his Hookshot forward. It is a tether grab, and thus has higher lag than normal grabs in exchange for much longer range. Has noticeably less ending lag than {{SSBU|Young Link}}'s grabs.

|pummeldesc=Quickly hits the opponent with the pommel of the Master Sword.

|bthrowdesc=Performs the tomoe nage,{{ref|a}} a judo throw. A reliable KO throw, as it can KO middleweights at around 138% at the edge of {{SSBU|Final Destination}} with good [[DI]].

|uthrowdesc=Tosses the opponent up into the air and performs a spinning upward slash. Has very minimal KO potential, even on platforms, as it KOs middleweights at around 185% on Final Destination. Instead, it is best suited for setting up aerial pressure or launching an opponent into the trajectory of a previously thrown Boomerang or Bomb.

|dthrowdesc=Pins the opponent to the ground and performs an elbow drop. Due to its lack of combo potential, it is absolutely inferior to his alternate timeline counterparts' down throws. As a result, its only utility is for setting up aerial pressure or launching an opponent into the trajectory of a previously thrown Boomerang or Bomb.

|edgedesc=Performs an outwards slash while climbing up.

|nsdesc=Wields his {{iw|zeldawiki|Hero's Bow}} to fire an {{iw|zeldawiki|arrow}}. It can be charged up for more power and range. The arrows move much slower than the arrows that Link or Young Link fire, making them easier to avoid. However, this also means that the arrows remain active for longer. It can also lock at low percents.

|ssdesc=Throws his {{iw|zeldawiki|Boomerang}} forward. It flies forward and then returns to Toon Link. On the way forward, it launches enemies vertically with low base knockback, and on the way back, it launches them towards Link with no base knockback but very high knockback growth, allowing it to set up combos. It can be angled up or down, and inputting it like a smash attack increases its damage, as well as the distance it can travel.

|usdesc=[[zeldawiki:Spin Attack|Spins rapidly with the Master Sword outstretched]]. The grounded version is a series of outward slashes, whereas the aerial version is a series of inward slashes. The last hit of both versions has a horizontal launching angle. The grounded version can be charged to inflict even more damage, and due to it being faster and much stronger than in ''SSB4'', it is a very good out of shield option and one of Toon Link's best KO options. The aerial version can carry opponents to the upper blast line, and KO them there if they are sufficiently damaged.

|fsdesc=Uses the [[zeldawiki:Triforce|Triforce of Courage]] to emit a thin beam of light from his left hand to stun an opponent in front of himself. If the beam comes in contact with an opponent, Toon Link dashes forward and performs a barrage of slashes while they are trapped in a Triforce-shaped energy field before concluding with an outward slash that shatters the energy field and launches them and any bystanders.

*A cartoony explosion appears on-screen. As the smoke fades, Toon Link appears and equips the Master Sword and Hero's Shield.

*'''Up:''' Chases a pig. Upon catching a {{s|ZeldaWiki|pig}}, he holds it above his head. Whilst balancing on one foot, he occasionally starts to lose balance before steadying himself.

[[File:ZeldaSeriesVictoryThemeUltimate.ogg|thumb|A flourished and abridged remix of the theme that plays when [[Link]] obtains a [[zeldawiki:Triforce|Triforce Piece]] in ''{{iw|zeldawiki|The Legend of Zelda|Game}}'' and has since become the main theme of ''The Legend of Zelda'' series.]]

Toon Link saw middling success in the early metagame, most notably in Mexico -- thanks to players such as {{Sm|Ang}} and {{Sm|Hyuga}} -- and Japan -- thanks to players such as {{Sm|Lv.1}}, {{Sm|Ri-ma}}, and {{Sm|Sigma}}. However, Toon Link's representation was not as strong outside of those two regions, mainly due to perceptions that Toon Link was noticeably inferior to Link and Young Link. This perception stemmed from the buffs and changes Link and Young Link received, which made many to consider both characters at least high-tier. Coversely, Toon Link received a mix of buffs and nerfs in his transition, and was seen as a weaker version of Young Link due to having a weaker projectile game and damage output. In addition, most of Toon Link's best players generally only participated at regional-level events, while Ri-ma relegated Toon Link to a secondary in favor of {{SSBU|Joker}}, leaving Sigma as the only notable Toon Link player consistently performing well at majors. As such, many players considered Toon Link to be a mid-tier.

Dedicated mains would continue to push Toon Link, which led his overall representation to remain relatively stable for most of the game's lifespan, usually hovering between the high-30s to low-40s. Although some Toon Link players ultimately fell out of the limelight, newer players would appear and replace them, including {{Sm|Marvelous_Marco}} and {{Sm|JoJoDaHoBo}}, who began placing well at American events in the post-online metagame, and {{Sm|Manzoku}}, who dropped Link for Toon Link during the pandemic. In addition, Lv.1's results began improving, most notably in mid-2023, while Sigma's results remained strong, which ultimately led to him being ranked 44th on the [[UltRank 2022]], the first Toon Link player to be ranked in the top 50 globally. This has led many to believe Toon Link was stronger than previously perceived. As it currently stands, Toon Link is ranked 46th on the tier list as an upper mid-tier and is no longer considered the worst Link, as he is ranked 10 spots above Link.

*In his ''Ultimate'' trailer, his sword attacks use punching sounds when they hit: this is different from the actual game, where they use unique comical [[slash]]ing sounds.