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Young Link (SSBU)

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This article is about Young Link's appearance in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate. For the character in other contexts, see Young Link.
Young Link
in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate
Young Link SSBU.png
ZeldaSymbol.svg
Universe The Legend of Zelda
Other playable appearance in Melee


Availability Unlockable
Final Smash Triforce Slash
Tier B+ (38)
YoungLinkHeadSSBU.png

Young Link (こどもリンク, Young Link) is a playable character in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate. He was officially confirmed as playable alongside his former successor Toon Link and the rest of the returning roster on June 12th, 2018. Although the changes made to Link were not enough to change Young Link's status as a clone, he is not classified as an Echo Fighter. As such, Young Link is classified as Fighter #22.

As in Super Smash Bros. Melee, Fujiko Takimoto's portrayals of Young Link from The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time and Majora's Mask were repurposed for Ultimate, with mostly returning voice clips from Melee, and in addition to some new ones sourced from these games.

Young Link is ranked 38th out of 82 on the tier list in the B+ tier. This is an overall improvement from his mid-tier placement in Melee, where he was ranked 17th out of 26. Young Link possesses great frame data and combo ability. The low knockback on his attacks allows him to rack up damage quickly and his disjointed range provides him safety from getting too close to his opponent. His projectiles also benefit his combo game, most notably his Fire Arrow, which has low startup lag and sends his opponents upwards. Young Link also possesses kill confirms at high percentages thanks to the first hit of his forward aerial.

Young Link is not without his shortcomings however. Young Link has low range for a swordfighter, which forces him to get up close to deal effective damage, a flaw further worsened by him being a lightweight. His recovery is very punishable due to its predictable arcs. He also struggles to get KOs at high percents if he isn't able to get kill confirms, with his safest moves having very little KO power.

Overall, Young Link is often seen as the best of the three Links, and fares very well in the competitive environment thanks to strong results from players such as Toast, skittles, and Supahsemmie.

How to unlock[edit]

Complete one of the following:

  • Play VS. matches, with Young Link being the 8th character to be unlocked.
  • Clear Classic Mode with Link or any character in his unlock tree, being the 6th character unlocked after Snake.
  • Have Young Link join the player's party in World of Light.

With the exception of the third method, Young Link must then be defeated on Great Bay. In World of Light, he is fought on the Ω form of Temple.

Attributes[edit]

Young Link is a lightweight character (weighing the same as Greninja and Isabelle), and is the lightest of the three Links, being 3 units lighter than Toon Link. Compared to his alternate timeline counterparts, he tends to be in the middle in regard to mobility, including his running speed, air speed and acceleration, and jump height. He has the highest fall speed and initial dash of the links, though his fast fall speed is slower than the original Link thanks to Link's unusual fast fall speed boost. In terms of the rest of the cast, Young Link has an average running speed, high initial dash speed, low air speed and acceleration, high falling speed, and slightly above average jump height. Finally, his gravity is average and tied with Link's. Overall, Young Link has middling mobility, with most of his quick movement potential coming from his high initial dash and fall speed.

Young Link's moveset is regarded as one of the best and most reliable in the entire game. While even the best characters in the game usually have one or two moves in their moveset regarded as unusually weak or situational, every one of Young Link's moves is strong and flexible, with a mix of versatile ranged combat and robust boxing.

Young Link uses the Kokiri Sword, the starting weapon from The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time and The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask, granting Young Link disjointed range and giving him the ability to space out his opponents as well as making his sword attacks risky to trade with unless the opponent has disjointed range of their own. Unlike many sword users, however, this is coupled with outstanding frame data. Although the Link archetype has been synonymous with laggy frame data up until Ultimate, Young Link has some of the best frame data in the game, with many of his moves being infamous for how quickly they come out and how little cooldown they have. As a result, many moves of his are extremely safe on shield, such as down tilt, neutral air, forward air, back air, and even his Boomerang. Additionally, the speed of his moveset makes it reliable for one of Young Link’s most notable aspects: his combo game.

While the Link archetype is one that has never been known for combos, Young Link subverts this by providing one of the most complex and varied combo games out of the entire cast. His up tilt and especially down tilt are well designed to start combos, knocking the opponents up into the air with weak knockback to set up for his aerials. while his jab can transition into a rapid jab for respectable damage, create mixups through his surprisingly fast jab cancels, or be used to jab lock opponents and set up combos with down tilt or finish stocks with an up special or forward smash. However, his aerials are truly what gives him the outstanding combo and boxing game he has. Most of Young Link's aerials are capable of both starting combos as well as continuing them, making their usage very flexible and wide, as well as dealing significant damage.

His neutral aerial, perhaps his best aerial, is a simple sex kick. Its late hit in particular is extremely good for combos, being able to both start and continue them well into high percentages and being able to be followed up with a majority of Young Link's moveset. It can also lead to tech chase situations at high percents when the move causes opponents to go into tumble. Meanwhile, the clean hit is very reliable at warding off opponents, prevents other combo-oriented characters from overwhelming Young Link with combos of their own, has enough power to kill at high percentages, and provides him with a fast, safe and reliable out of shield option. Overall, the sheer utility of this move has caused it to gain a reputation as one of the best aerials in the game.

Forward and back aerial are both designed similarly. Both attacks are combo attacks that consist of a first weak hit that stuns the enemy in place for a second launching hit. However, these are both meant to be used in different ways. Back aerial is much more geared towards combos as it comes out fast, has very little lag, and deals minimal knockback, making it easy to follow up with another back aerial or another move. Forward aerial is instead a combo finisher as it comes out slower and recovers slower than back air in exchange for having much more power and knockback, providing significant KO power. Notably, canceling either of these moves by landing after the first hit allows Young Link to combo in to almost any move in his kit depending on the situation.

Up aerial is a thrust above Young Link that comes out very fast for how strong it is and lingers awhile, making it useful for covering the space above him. It can be used to juggle opponents, as its large disjoint makes it hard to challenge. Additionally, up aerial is a powerful KO move and can be combo'd into quite flexibly. Down aerial, while not being a combo tool except in relatively rare situations, serves as a reliable landing option or jump callout due to its lingering, disjointed hitbox and considerable power even on the late hit.

Young Link's special moves grant him many more options to work with. Like his normals they tend to be fast, flexible and safe. Fire Arrow fires a flaming arrow in front of Young Link. It is incredibly fast and quick-recovering, and even an uncharged arrow travels a respectable distance, making it a very persistent poking tool when zoning. The arrow itself also deals low upwards knockback with high hitstun, making them reliable combo starters, provided Young Link is close enough to his opponent or can catch the upward knockback with another projectile (including another arrow). Fire Arrow can also be charged, allowing it to fly further and do more damage than a noncharged arrow, which can be useful for catching landings, mixing up timings against certain reflectors, or pressuring far away targets. However, this charge cannot be stored, unlike moves such as Charge Shot.

Boomerang is slower than Fire Arrow, but comes with the perks of more damage, lasting much longer, being able to be thrown at different angles, and returning to Young Link after travelling a certain distance, meaning that the opponent must remain aware of the Boomerang’s location even after it has passed them. Boomerang is best used as a lingering trap to grant Young Link stage control and for challenging people above or below you with its many angles. Interestingly, a point blank Boomerang is actually safe on shield against most of the cast, something uncharacteristic of a projectile.

Bomb, Young Link's third and final projectile, is perhaps his most complex and flexible. When used, Bomb functions as a held item, allowing Young Link to throw it forward, backward, up, and down, in addition to Z dropping it, which may be used to pressure people below you or drop it and have it lie on the ground until it explodes. Bomb grants Young Link a numerous amount of trapping opportunities, such as being able to use dropped Bombs to cover platforms or ledge getup options, as well as setting up for combos if the Bomb hits an opponent.

This diverse projectile kit allow Young Link to play as a zoner, much like regular Link does. However, while most zoners' weaknesses are their poor frame data and inability to get opponents off of them, Young Link is more than capable of fighting up close and actually likes when his opponents get close to him, as it allows him to take advantage of his combo game. Speaking of combos, his last special move, Spin Attack, serves as a surprisingly effective combo starter on the ground, where it knocks opponents up into the air with weak knockback and has little endlag. Starting frame 9 and hitting on both sides, it provides a powerful out of shield option with great damage reward. In the air, it is instead a combo finisher or hard read, reliably KOing opponents at (or beyond) the ledge.

Young Link's grab game may be the best of the Links and provides him with additional options. Unlike Link, Young Link still retains use of the Hookshot for his grab, giving him a very long, disjointed grab range in exchange for his grab being laggier than unarmed grabs and thus requiring a more spacing-dependent grappling style, either grabbing at range or using turnaround grabs to create space. Additionally, the Hookshot itself can be used as a grab aerial attack. It has the longest range of any of his aerials, and can confirm in to a variety of followups, including nair or up smash for KOs at higher percents. This grab aerial attack also provides him with a tether recovery, which is often much safer than his Spin Attack. His forward throw is one of the strongest forward throws in the game, KOing middleweights at the ledge of Final Destination around 130% depending on their directional influence. Some Young Links will enjoy trying to fthrow their oppponents very quickly before they've had a chance to DI. Young Link's grabs also have solid combo potential as up and down throw both provide combos at low to mid percents. Back throw is the least useful of his throws but can set up for an edgeguard.

However, while he has some very potent strengths, Young Link has some notable weaknesses. His range, while disjointed, is significantly lacking when compared to other sword users. As a result, despite having a sword, Young Link is beaten out in range by nearly every other swordfighter in the game, causing his mid-range game to be rather poor as his attacks are too short ranged to hit but his projectiles leave him wide open to attack. Unlike other sword characters, he still needs to get up close and personal if he wants to use any attacks other than his projectiles, which leads into his second issue of his mobility.

While Young Link's mobility is average overall, this average mobility can tend to clash with his combo oriented moveset. This can lead to situations where Young Link is simply too slow to continue a combo he has started. While Fire Arrows can help alleviate this by being used to "hold" opponents in hitstun while Young Link gets over to continue the combo, it is not ideal or even possible in all situations. His low air speed can also limit his ability to approach or escape, making him dependent on his projectiles for setting the terms of engagement.

Additionally, Young Link's recovery, while much better than in Melee, can be exploitable. His Spin Attack, while having good reach, travels on a predictable arc and only hits to his sides, allowing him to be edge guarded by characters who can hit his head, or be blocked by characters with counters such as Lucina. Young Link has a variety of options to deepen his recovery potential thanks to his tether recovery and many projectiles he can throw at the stage to cover himself, but in bad situations may be forced to use his up special in a way that's very vulnerable or predictable.

Young Link's KO potential can also be a mixed bag. His up smash gives him excellent kill potential out of shield, but is risky if it misses. While he has many safe moves that kill such as neutral air, forward air, and forward tilt, they may kill quite late, often requiring the opponent to be past 150%. Young Link is very dependent on his melee hits in order to kill, challenging him to contend with his sometimes-awkward approach game and short reach. As usual this can be mitigated with projectiles, which provide combos even at very high percents and give Young Link an opening with which to approach. Stale moves can also present challenges--moves like nair and fair may have been heavily involved in combos and neutral, meaning they may be missing their full power when used for a KO. These factors, when combined with a large number of combos and set ups to learn, causes Young Link to have a rather high learning curve, especially at top level play.

In summary, Young Link, despite featuring a very similar moveset to his alternate timeline counterparts, has a unique design and playstyle unlike anybody else in the game. He is regarded as having one of the best combo games and above average zoning tools, giving him the ability to play both hyper defensively and hyper aggressively and switch between the two playstyles on the fly to throw opponents off. Despite rather low representation at top level, most likely due to his high learning curve and inconsistencies, Young Link is considered a high tier character, especially with the buffs to his KO power in update 7.0.0, and the few top level players who have chosen to main him have proven his capability to perform well in tournaments.

Differences from Link[edit]

Link has received a major aesthetic and gameplay overhaul. He is now based on the Hero of the Wild and thus features a heavily reworked moveset to reference his appearance in Breath of the Wild. As Young Link hails from Ocarina of Time, he is closest to his older self's appearances in SSB and Melee, effectively serving as the classic Link archetype for this game. He retains moves and characteristics from Melee that the Hero of the Wild lacks (most notably a flurry attack and Hookshot), yet has also received a few changes that reference his descendant, the Hero of Twilight, as he appeared in Brawl and Smash 4. While these changes further de-clone Young Link from Link, he remains a full clone instead of a semi-clone due to his large number of shared attacks (compared to Toon Link, who has roughly as many unique attacks as not). Of note is that with the exception of neutral infinite, every move that Young Link does not share with Link is instead shared with Toon Link.

Aesthetics[edit]

Attributes[edit]

  • Change Young Link is shorter than Link. While this does make him harder to hit, it also results in him having less reach in his attacks. Young Link's shield is also smaller than Link's (radius: 10.9 → 10), overall covering him better vertically due to his shorter stature, but worse horizontally.
  • Nerf Young Link will sometimes hold his Deku Shield to the side during his walking and idle animations. This makes it less reliable for blocking projectiles.
  • Nerf Young Link's Kokiri Sword has less of a disjointed range advantage on his attacks than Link, which gives him inferior range when combined with his shorter height.
  • Change Young Link deals less knockback for most of his attacks. Overall, this weakens his KO potential in comparison to Link, but it also grants Young Link access to new combos when combined with his faster frame data.
  • Buff Young Link can wall jump, aiding his recovery and ledge play options on stages with walls.
  • Buff Young Link walks faster than Link (1.247 → 1.26).
  • Buff Young Link dashes faster than Link (1.534 → 1.749).
    • Buff Young Link's initial dash speed is faster than Link's (1.98 → 2.09).
    • Nerf Young Link's dash acceleration is lower than Link's (0.17567 → 0.1342).
  • Nerf Young Link's traction is slightly lower than Link's (0.113 → 0.105), making it slightly harder for Young Link to punish out of shield.
  • Change Young Link's air friction is slightly lower (0.0038 → 0.00375).
  • Buff Young Link's air speed is faster than Link's (0.924 → 0.966).
  • Buff Young Link's base air acceleration is higher than Link's (0.01 → 0.02), giving him a higher air acceleration overall (0.05 → 0.06). When combined with his faster air speed, this gives him a better approach in the air.
  • Change Young Link falls faster (1.6 → 1.8) than Link. However, his fast falling speed is slower (3.04 → 2.88).
    • Nerf The difference between Young Link's falling speed and fast falling speed is much lower than Link's (increase: 90% → 60%), which makes it more predictable when landing and gives him fewer options in the air.
  • Buff Young Link jumps higher than Link (27.8 → 33.66 (jump), 13.38 → 16.26 (short hop), 29 → 33.66 (double jump)).
  • Nerf Young Link is significantly lighter than Link (104 → 88). This makes Young Link significantly easier to KO than Link.

Ground attacks[edit]

  • Neutral attack:
    • Buff Young Link's neutral attack can be followed by a neutral infinite and a finisher, unlike Link's.
    • Buff The first hit has much less startup lag (frame 7 → 4).
    • Change The first hit has a lower hitlag multiplier (1.6× → 1.5×).
    • Nerf The second hit has more startup lag (frame 5 → 6).
    • Buff The first and second hits have much less ending lag (FAF 25 → 18 (hit 1), 25 → 17 (hit 2)).
    • Change The third hit uses Link's previous animation that thrusting a sword, instead of swiping vertically.
    • Nerf The third hit has more ending lag (FAF 35 → 36).
    • Nerf All hits deal less damage (3% → 2% (hit 1), 3% → 1.5% (hit 2), 4% → 3.5% (hit 3), 10% → 7% (total)).
  • Forward tilt:
    • Buff Forward tilt has noticeably less startup lag (frame 15 → 10).
    • Nerf It has a shorter hitbox duration (frames 15-19 → 10-12), which also causes it to have one more frame of ending lag despite the shorter total duration (FAF 40 → 34).
    • Nerf It deals less damage (13% → 12% (base)/11% (tip)) and knockback (55 base/82 scaling → 30/85 (blade), 25/85 (body)), make it considerably weaker than Link's.
  • Up tilt:
    • Change Young Link's up tilt uses Link's previous animation, where it starts from the front rather than the back.
    • Nerf It has more startup lag (frame 8 → 9).
    • Buff It has a longer duration (frames 8-12 → 9-14) and less ending lag (FAF 36 → 32).
    • Nerf It deals less damage (11% → 8%) with knockback not fully compensated (30 base/103/111/105/104 scaling → 20 base/130/128/126 scaling), make it weaker than Link's.
      • Buff However, when combined with the lower ending lag, it makes it combo for longer.
    • Change The sword hit launches at a consistent angle (95°/85° → 85°).
    • Change The body hit launches at a lower angle (85° → 75°).
  • Down tilt:
    • Buff Down tilt has less startup (frame 10 → 8) and ending lag (FAF 31 → 26), as well as less knockback (90 base/30 scaling → 80/25), making it better for combos.
    • Buff Although it does not reach as far as Link's, it use three non-extended hitboxes rather than a single extended hitbox, and they're all larger (2u → 3.4u/3.4u/3.0u), improving the move's vertical range.
    • Change It does not deal consistent damage (9% → 10%/9%/7%). As a result, it deals more damage closer to Young Link's body, but less damage at the tip of the Kokiri Sword.
  • Dash attack:
    • Change Young Link has a different dash attack: instead of performing the Jump Attack from Ocarina of Time, he performs a lunging downwards slash.
    • Buff It has much less startup (frame 20 → 8) and ending lag (FAF 57 → 35), making it much safer.
    • Nerf It deals less damage (14% (tip)/13% (blade)/12% (body) → 11% (base)/10% (tip)) and knockback (70 base/85 scaling (tip), 85/85 (blade), 85/77 (body) → 70/70), make it considerably weaker than Link's.
  • Forward smash:
    • Nerf The first hit of Young Link's forward smash cannot fire a Sword Beam at 0%.
    • Buff The first hit has less startup (frame 17 → 15) and ending lag (FAF 51 → 48) and transitions faster into the second hit with a longer continuability window (frame 23-36 → 21-39), improving its safety and allowing to connect both hits better.
    • Change The first hit always deals lower damage (7% (base)/14% (tip) → 6%) and knockback (45 base/12 scaling (base), 30/100 (tip) → 35/40 base/15 scaling) and its tip hitbox launches at a higher angle (361° → 65°). This worsens its damage output and removes the tip hitbox's KO potential on the first hit, but also further helps it connect more consistently with its second hit when combined with the faster transition from the first hit.
    • Change The first hit's blade and body hitboxes launch at a lower angle than Link's (69°/60° → 65°/50°).
    • Nerf The second hit has more startup lag (frame 10 → 11), though this is compensated by the first hit's faster transition into it.
    • Buff The second hit has much less ending lag (FAF 61 → 50).
    • Nerf The second hit deals less damage (13% (blade)/12% (body) → 12% (base)/10% (tip)) and knockback (85 base/89 scaling → 43/115).
  • Up smash:
    • Buff Up smash has noticeably less ending lag (FAF 78 → 70).
    • Nerf The first two hits have a slightly shorter duration (10-15 → 10-14 (hit 1), 25-30 → 25-29 (hit 2)).
    • Nerf The first and third hits deal less damage (4% → 3% (hit 1), 11%/10%/9% → 8%/7% (hit 3)) and the knockback in the third hit is not fully compensated (60 base/96 scaling → 75/108), hindering its KO potential.
    • Change The third hit launches at a consistent angle (80°/90° → 100°).
  • Down smash:
    • Buff Down smash has less startup (frame 12 → 9 (hit 1), frame 24 → 21 (hit 2)) and ending lag (FAF 55 → 50).
    • Nerf Both hits deal less damage (17%/16%/14% → 13%/10% (hit 1), 12%/11%/10% → 10%/9% (hit 2)) and knockback (40 base/88 scaling → 30/90 (hit 1), 80/63 → 25 base/90/70 scaling (hit 2)).
    • Change The first hit launches at a much lower angle, matching the second hit and making it a semi-spike as well (78° → 30°). This further hinders its KO potential across the stage and at center stage, but makes it better for edgeguarding.

Aerial attacks[edit]

  • Neutral aerial:
    • Buff Neutral aerial has less startup lag (frame 7 → 4).
    • Nerf It has a shorter hitbox duration (frames 7-31 → 4-27), which also causes it to have one frame more ending lag despite the shorter total duration (FAF 39 → 36).
    • Buff It autocancels earlier (frame 36 → 32). Unlike Link's, it can autocancel in a short hop.
    • Change The clean hit deals consistent damage (11%/9% → 10%) and has different knockback values (22 base/100 scaling → 20/108).
    • Buff The late hit deals less damage (6% → 5%) and base knockback (15 → 10), further improving its combo potential.
    • Nerf The late hit lacks Link's notoriously large lingering hitboxes, with 2 of the 3 hitboxes being shrunk considerably (4.5u → 3u). Combined with Young Link's shorter, wider legs, this reduces the move's disjoint considerably.
  • Forward aerial:
    • Buff Forward aerial's first hit has less startup lag (frame 16 → 14).
    • Buff It has much less ending lag (FAF 52 → 41).
    • Buff It autocancels noticeably earlier (frame 53 → 41), matching its interruptibility. Unlike Link's, it can autocancel in a full hop.
    • Buff It has noticeably less landing lag (11 frames → 6).
    • Nerf Both hits deal less damage (8% → 6% (hit 1), 10% → 8%/7% (hit 2)) and the knockback in the second hit is not fully compensated (43 base/120 scaling → 45/125), hindering its KO potential.
    • Change The second hit launches at a slightly higher angle (44° → 48°). When combined with its lower knockback, this gives it more combo potential, but also makes it slightly worse for edgeguarding.
  • Back aerial:
    • Nerf Back aerial's second hit has more startup lag (frame 15 → 18).
    • Nerf Back aerial's first hit's aerial hitboxes deal less set knockback (36 → 20). Combined with Young Link's higher gravity, and the greater delay between the hits, this makes the move connect less consistently.
    • Buff It has less ending lag, especially relative the second hit (FAF 31 → 30), improving its combo potential.
    • Change The second hit has different knockback values (45 base/98 scaling → 40/102).
  • Up aerial:
    • Change Up aerial uses its animation from Melee, making it more closely resemble its appearance in Zelda II: The Adventure of Link.
    • Buff Up aerial has noticeably less startup lag with a longer active duration (frames 11-40 → 5-49), making it safer to use and decreasing its ending lag compared to the hitbox.
      • Nerf However, this also causes it to autocancel much later (frame 43 → 56). Unlike Link's, it can't autocancel in a full hop.
    • Nerf The clean hit deals less knockback (23 base/93 scaling → 25/82).
    • Nerf The late hit deals less damage (13% → 12%) with knockback not fully compensated (18 base/88 scaling → 25/82), hindering its KO potential.
  • Down aerial:
    • Buff Down aerial has less startup lag with a longer active duration (frames 15-64 → 13-64).
      • Nerf However, the clean hit has a shorter active duration (frames 16-19 → 13-15).
    • Buff It has a longer initial autocancel window (frames 1-9 → 1-12).
    • Buff It has less landing lag (19 frames → 17).
    • Buff It deals more knockback scaling (80/78 → 83) and launches at a higher angle (270°/60° → 70°), improving its KO potential near the vertical blastzone.
    • Nerf The bounce-off hit deals less damage (11% → 9%) with knockback fully compensated (50 base/80 scaling → 40/100).

Throws and other attacks[edit]

  • Grabs:
    • Change Young Link retains the Hookshot while Link no longer has a tether grab.
      • Buff Because of this, all grabs have much longer range, as well as a longer duration (2 frames → 7).
      • Nerf However, all grabs have noticeably more startup (frame 6/9/10 (standing/dash/pivot) → 12/14/15) and ending lag (FAF 35/43/38 → 52/60/55), making them riskier to use at close range, and easier to punish if they miss.
      • Buff This gives Young Link a grab aerial and a tether recovery.
  • Forward throw:
    • Buff Forward throw deals slightly more damage (2.5% → 3% (throw), 5.5% → 6% (total)).
    • Buff It deals drastically more knockback (75 base/85 scaling → 48/184), allowing it to KO under 140% at the edge.
    • Change It launches at a higher angle (33° → 52°).
  • Back throw:
    • Buff Back throw deals slightly more damage (2.5% → 3% (throw), 5.5% → 6% (total)).
    • Buff It deals more knockback (67 base/110 scaling → 45/140), allowing it to KO under 200% at the edge.
  • Up throw:
    • Nerf Up throw deals less damage (5% → 4% (hit 1), 7% → 6% (total)) and knockback (24 base/230 scaling → 30/210).
  • Down throw:
    • Change It has different knockback values (60 base/125 scaling → 70/115).
    • Change It launches at a slightly higher angle (83° → 86°).
  • Edge attack:
    • Change Edge attack has Young Link swipe his sword in front of himself, unlike Link who stabs forward.
    • Nerf Edge attack has much shorter range.

Special moves[edit]

  • Fire Arrow:
    • Buff Fire Arrow less startup lag (frame 16 → 14) than Link's Bow and Arrows.
    • Buff Arrows charge faster (60 frames → 50 frames).
    • Change Arrows are fired at a higher angle (2.5˚ → 4˚).
    • Change Arrows fly faster when uncharged (speed 2.6 → 2.8), but fly much slower when fully charged (speed 10 → 6.3). The arrows are also floatier (gravity 0.054 → 0.035).
      • Change Overall, arrows have more range at low charge levels, and less range at high charge levels.
    • Nerf The arrows have a shorter lifespan (46 frames → 35).
    • Buff It has significantly less ending lag (FAF 45 → 38).
    • Buff It deals more knockback (10 base/71 scaling → 45/70) and launches upward instead of away (361° → 78°), increasing his combo ability and making the move safer on hit up close.
    • Change It deals flame damage (hence the name).
    • Change Unlike Link's, arrows can not be picked up.
  • Boomerang:
    • Buff Boomerang deals more damage (8% (clean)/6% (late) → 11%/7%), which increases further if used as a smash special move (9.6% (clean)/7.2% (late) → 13.2%/8.4%).
    • Buff Boomerang can be angled more (max angle change: 26˚ → 33˚).
      • Nerf However, the clean hit has a much shorter duration (frames 27-36 → 27-29).
    • Nerf Boomerang has a shorter max duration (129 frames → 127 (regular), 171 → 163 (smash)).
    • Nerf A smash input has less initial speed (3.1 → 2.9).
    • Change The return speed of the boomerang is slower (3 → 2.8).
    • Change It deals less knockback (80/60 base/40 scaling → 55 base/30 scaling).
    • Nerf The return hitbox deals less damage (3% → 2%).
    • Change The return hitbox deals less knockback (50 base/40 scaling → 40/30) and launches vertically (70° → 90°).
  • Spin Attack:
    • Buff The grounded version of Spin Attack lands multiple hits instead of one, allowing it to trap opponents within its hitboxes, and the late hitboxes inflict more damage.
      • Nerf However, the knockback values are barely compensated from Link's clean hit (60 base/88 scaling → 71/85), make it not a viable KO move unlike Link's.
    • Buff The grounded version launches opponents upwards, allowing for more follow-ups.
    • Nerf The aerial version's first and final hits deal less damage (4% → 3%) and knockback (30 base/200 scaling → 40/180).
    • Buff The aerial version grants more height due to being floatier, improving its recovery distance.
    • Nerf Young Link's air speed is restricted slightly more after using the move (air speed multiplier: 0.909 → 0.9), and air acceleration is also reduced more.
    • Buff The aerial version has less landing lag (30 frames → 24).
  • Bomb:
    • Change Young Link retains Link's original bombs that detonate automatically, instead of the Remote Bomb.
    • Change It hits four times instead of once.
      • Buff It deals more damage (7% → 8-9.6% (2-2.4% per hit)).
  • Triforce Slash:
    • Change Young Link's Final Smash is Triforce Slash, which was Link's Final Smash in his previous appearances.
    • Buff It deals drastically more damage (35% → 60%) with multiple hits, improving its KO potential.

Changes from Super Smash Bros. Melee[edit]

Young Link has been significantly buffed in the transition from Melee to Ultimate. His attributes, moveset and general gameplan have all been significantly improved in the transition, and he has gained a better combo game, whereas the changes to the general pace of Ultimate have contributed to his benefits.

Young Link's speed has been improved from Melee, both in terms of his mobility and frame data. Many of his attacks have decreased startup and ending lag (such as neutral attack, forward and down tilts, and dash attack), and his aerials have heavily decreased landing lag (even compared to their L-canceled counterparts in Melee), improving his ability to land. Some of his moves have also been reworked to make them more reliable and effective, such as his up smash and his forward and back aerials, and the weakening of SDI heavily benefits his multi-hit attacks. His grab game has also been improved thanks to the universal changes to tether grabs, as they now have less ending lag and a longer duration. His forward throw also has increased knockback, giving him a new KOing option.

His special moveset has also seen heavy improvements. Fire Arrow has less ending lag and increased knockback, Boomerang deals less knockback as a result of its lower damage, grounded Spin Attack has less ending lag after its final hit, and aerial Spin Attack's hits link into the other much more consistently. Bombs were also significantly buffed, as their multi-hits accumulate their damage faster, they travel farther when thrown, no longer deal damage to Young Link if they hit an enemy head-on, and can be "soft-tossed" or slowly Z-dropped without exploding. All of these changes combined together not only grant Young Link a deceptively improved zoning game, but have also further improved his combo ability from mid-distance.

The changes to Ultimate's engine have also generally benefitted Young Link. The universal increase in mobility, the ability to use any attack out of a run and the increased shieldstun have vastly improved Young Link's close quarters combat, as he can now close in on the distance with less issue and his attacks' above average damage output renders them harder to punish (most infamously his tilt attacks). The universal reduction to landing lag is an especially notable benefit, as not only this improves his ability to land, but has improved his aerials' safety on shield (despite the reduced shieldstun on aerial attacks), but has also dramatically improved his combo game up-close outside of his down throw and Bombs, with him now having set-up options by virtue of his neutral aerial's late hit and the first hits of his forward and back aerials. The removal of edgehogging, the introduction of ledge trumping and the changes to invincibility when grabbing an edge have also notably improved Young Link's recovery, making him much less vulnerable to getting edgeguarded or getting hit if he doesn't grab the stage's edge.

Although he has mostly received buffs, Young Link is not without some nerfs. In exchange for his now excellent combo ability, some of Young Link's attacks deal less damage (most notably his projectiles), now requiring him to string more hits in order to rack up more damage. A few of his attacks also have slightly increased startup and ending lag, while others have shorter durations, bringing them more in line with the rest of the cast. His aerial mobility is also slightly worse (especially when relative to the cast). In terms of gameplay changes, the changes to air dodging hinder Young Link's mobility, as wavedashing and wavelanding are significantly less effective due to their increased landing lag. The removal of meteor canceling has hurt Young Link more than any other returning veteran, as his fast falling speed renders him highly vulnerable to them, while the loss of his own down tilt's and down aerial's meteor smash hitboxes result in him gaining no benefits from its removal.

Overall, Young Link's gameplan has radically changed between both games, which has also resulted in a slight increase to his already high learning curve. Young Link now has reliable damage racking capabilities at all ranges, courtesy of an improved zoning game and a deceptively improved combo game that doesn't rely on his bombs, which now makes it easier for him to close in on the distance against other characters and harder for other characters to keep up with him, and he has less trouble at landing due to his aerials' lower landing lag. However, some of Young Link's weaknesses from Melee still remain, most notably his below average range for a swordfighter (despite it improving in the transition) and his still limited KOing ability despite the higher knockback on some of his moves and his new hit confirms, meaning Young Link still has to take risks in order to KO the opponent. Regardless, he is a much better character than he was in Melee.

Aesthetics[edit]

  • Change Due to the game's graphical improvements, Young Link's design is drastically more detailed, particularly in his hair. His colors are more subdued than they were in Melee, while his eye color is more vibrant.
  • Change The Kokiri Sword now has a bronze hilt and leaves behind new sword trails:
    • All standard sword attacks have a white trail with blue accents, as opposed to a pure white trail in Melee.
    • Spin Attack has a yellow and blue trail, similar to the one Link had in SSB4, instead of purple as in Melee.
  • Change Young Link is much more expressive. He appears angry while attacking, and smiles in his taunts and one of his victory poses.
  • Change Young Link has been updated with universal features introduced in Brawl and SSB4.
    • Change Young Link now has an on-screen appearance, a Boxing Ring title, a Palutena's Guidance conversation, and two new taunts. His taunt from Melee has been moved to his down taunt and executes significantly faster.
    • Change Young Link has gained three additional alternate costumes, bringing his total up to the standard eight. His Dark Link costume now has the same color scheme as Link and Toon Link's corresponding counterparts, making the costume appear virtually almost identical to Dark Young Link in Hyrule Warriors: Definitive Edition, albeit with gray hair.
    • Change Young Link uses various voice clips for any move between the third hit of his neutral attack, any tilt attack, his dash attack, and any aerial attack (except grab aerial), and always uses specific clips for each of his smash attacks.
    • Change Young Link has new voice clips for taking medium and heavy knockback, when Star KO'd, when waking out of sleep status when not suffering any knockback, and a second KO voice clip.
      • Change Young Link also has a voice clip when emerging from underwater, although it now uses the voice clip previously used for his taunt in Melee, which now uses a new voice clip.
  • Change All sword attacks make a standard slash sound effect on hit, instead of a punch/kick sound effect like in Melee.
  • Change Young Link's victory pose where he adjusts his belt is slightly different. After adjusting his belt, he holds the Kokiri Sword and flicks his nose with his thumb.

Attributes[edit]

  • Change Young Link is relatively bigger than in Melee. This increases his range, but also increases his hurtbox.
  • Buff Like all characters, Young Link's jumpsquat animation takes 3 frames to complete (down from 4).
  • Buff Young Link walks faster (1.2 → 1.26).
  • Buff Young Link runs faster (1.6 → 1.749).
  • Nerf Young Link's air speed is slower (1 → 0.966), one of the few exceptions to returning veterans. It has gone from the 6th highest air speed to only the 60th highest.
  • Change Young Link's falling speed has been reduced (2.13 → 1.8), but is now faster relative to the roster.
  • Buff Young Link's midair jump is significantly higher. This improves his ability to recover back to the stage.
  • Buff Young Link's fast falling speed is much more in line with the rest of the roster (2.2 → 2.88), in comparison to his almost unnoticeable fast fall in Melee. This greatly increases the versatility of his air game, and allows him to use various mixups like other characters.
  • Buff Young Link's Deku Shield now protects him from projectiles while walking, similar to the shields of all other Link incarnations.
  • Buff Young Link is slightly heavier (85 → 88), improving his survivability, while still being less susceptible to combos than in Melee due to the changes to hitstun and his decreased falling speed.
  • Nerf The removal of meteor canceling harms Young Link more than any other returning veteran, as he no longer has access to any meteor smashes of his own, whereas his endurance is significantly hindered against opponents' meteor smashes.
  • Buff Both rolls have noticeably less ending lag (FAF 38 → 29 (forward), 34 (back)), making them safer to use for repositioning and escaping pressure.
  • Nerf Both rolls grant less intangibility (frames 4-19 → 4-14 (forward), 4-15 (back)).
  • Nerf Spot dodge has more startup (frame 2 → 3) and ending lag (FAF 23 → 25).
  • Buff Air dodge has less startup (frame 4 → 2), making it better for escaping combos. Due to its altered mechanics, it also no longer causes helplessness, and allows Young Link to sweetspot edges with directional air dodges.
  • Nerf Air dodge grants less intangibility (frames 4-29 → 2-26 (neutral), 2-19 (directional)), and due to the altered mechanics, directional air dodges have more landing lag (10 frames → 11-19) and are significantly less effective for wavedashing. Young Link can also no longer use his grab aerial out of an air dodge, hindering his recovery.

Ground attacks[edit]

  • Buff The increased shieldstun for ground attacks makes Young Link's slightly to moderately safer on shield, especially his tilt attacks (although not his smash attacks due to their increased ending lag).
  • Neutral attack:
    • Buff The first and second hits deal less knockback (10 base/60 scaling → 25/20 base/25/15 scaling), and launch opponents towards Young Link with the farthest hitboxes (361° → 180°), akin to other neutral attacks. This allows them to connect more reliably.
    • Buff The first hit transitions faster into the second hit (frame 10 → 9), which transitions faster into the third hit (frame 11 → 9).
    • Buff All hits have less startup (frame 6 (first hit)/frame 7 (second & third) → 4/6), with the first and second's total duration decreased as well (FAF 20/18 → 18/17).
    • Buff The third hit has greatly increased base knockback (10 → 75/70), and launches at a lower angle much like Link's (361° → 30°), increasing its safety on hit at low percents and allowing it to set up tech-chases.
    • Change Neutral infinite has a different animation: rather than repeatedly stabbing at different angles, Young Link performs a flurry of slashes.
    • Buff Neutral infinite has faster startup (frame 10 → 6), a shorter gap between hits (7 frames → 2), and deals less knockback (10 base/40/50/60 scaling → 8/15) while gaining a hitstun modifier of 2 on each hit, allowing it to connect much more reliably. Like all neutral infinites since Smash 4, it has also gained a finisher in the form of an ascending slash, making it significantly safer.
    • Buff Neutral infinite has gained a lower hitlag multiplier (0.5×) and SDI multiplier (0.4×), which alongside the changes to DI and SDI from Melee to Ultimate make it much harder to escape from, increasing its reliability for racking up damage.
    • Nerf Neutral attack deals less damage (3% → 2% (hit 1), 2% → 1.5% (hit 2), 5% → 3.5% (hit 3), 1% → 0.3% (infinite)).
    • Nerf The first three hits have shorter durations (frames 6-8 (hit 1), 7-9 (hit 2), 7-11 (hit 3) → 6-7 (all)).
    • Nerf The third hit has more ending lag (FAF 33 → 36), and decreased knockback scaling (100 → 70), causing it to KO later from center stage despite its higher base knockback.
    • Change Like most neutral attacks from Brawl onward, the full sequence of hits can be unleashed by simply holding the attack button instead of pressing it multiple times. Likewise, the neutral infinite can be looped by holding the button instead of having to mash it.
      • Change The second hit can transition into the neutral infinite if the attack button is pressed three times in quick succession, with the third hit now being activated by holding it or pressing it at a slower rate. In Melee, it would only transition into the infinite if the button was pressed more than three times.
    • Change The infinite has gained a shieldstun multiplier of 6×. This allows it to lock opponents into their shields between each hit, and thus pressure them more effectively, but also allows them to cancel shieldstun and punish Young Link more easily if they shield 10 hits or more.
  • Forward tilt:
    • Buff Forward tilt has less startup lag (frame 11 → 10).
    • Buff It has more vertical range.
    • Buff It has higher base knockback (5/2 → 30/25), although with its knockback scaling reduced to compensate (100 → 85). This increases its safety on hit at low percents, while keeping its KO ability at high percents.
    • Buff The weaker sourspots have been replaced by sweetspots (12%/11%/10%/10% → 12%/11%/12%), making the move's power more consistent.
    • Change The sweetspot has a higher hitlag multiplier (1.2×).
  • Up tilt:
    • Nerf Up tilt has a shorter duration (frames 9-15 → 9-14) and more ending lag (FAF 30 → 32), hindering its combo potential.
    • Change It has an altered animation, with Young Link slashing in a faster and heavier arc, akin to Link in Brawl and Smash 4.
  • Down tilt:
    • Buff Down tilt has much faster startup (frame 14 → 8), with its total duration reduced as well (FAF 32 → 26). This makes it safer and more reliable as a combo starter.
    • Buff It has considerably reduced knockback scaling (50 → 25), allowing it to combo for longer.
    • Nerf It has a shorter hitbox duration (frames 14-16 → 8-9), and less vertical range.
    • Nerf It launches at a consistent angle (280°/70° → 80°). While this slightly improves its combo potential, it most notably removes its ability to meteor smash.
  • Dash attack:
    • Buff Dash attack has less ending lag (FAF 40 → 35).
    • Buff It has significantly higher base knockback (10 → 70), increasing its safety on hit at lower percents.
    • Buff It has less sourspots (11%/10%/10%/10% → 11%/10%/11%), making its power more consistent.
    • Nerf It has more startup lag with a shorter duration (frames 7-12 → 8-10).
    • Nerf It has lower knockback scaling (100 → 70), reducing its KO ability.
    • Change It launches at higher angles (361° → 45°/50°/55°).
    • Change The sweetspot has a higher hitlag multiplier (1.2×).
  • Forward smash:
    • Buff The first hit has less ending lag (FAF 50 → 48).
    • Buff The second hit's damage output is properly affected by charging.
    • Buff Due to the changes to jostle mechanics, the second hit of forward smash no longer misses when Young Link is extremely close to the opponent, improving its reliability.
    • Nerf Both hits have a shorter duration (frames 15-17 → 15-16 (hit 1), 10-13 → 10-11 (hit 2)).
    • Nerf The first hit deals less damage (10% → 6%), and no longer has set knockback (40 set/100 scaling → 35/40 base/15 scaling), hindering its reliability at higher percents.
    • Nerf The second hit has more startup (frame 10 → 11) and ending lag (FAF 40 → 50).
    • Nerf The second hit launches at a higher angle (361° → 48°) with more base knockback (30 → 43), but less knockback scaling (120 → 115), hindering its KO potential if not used near the edge.
    • Change The first hit has different angles (75° → 65°/50°).
    • Change The second hit has a higher hitlag multiplier (1.5×).
    • Change The second hit's two previous sourspots have been merged into one, with its damage being the average of both (11%/9% → 10%).
  • Up smash:
    • Buff Up smash's first two hits have lower hitlag (0.6×) and SDI multipliers (0.5×), and use weight-independent knockback, which alongside the changes to DI and SDI allows them to connect much more reliably.
    • Buff The first two hits have less startup lag and longer durations (frames 11-14/26-28 → 10-14/25-29).
    • Buff The second hit deals more damage (2% → 3%), which alongside the changes to stale-move negation increases the move's total damage (12.1%/11.19% → 14%/13%).
    • Buff The third hit deals much more knockback (70 base/70 scaling → 75/108), allowing it to KO at realistic percents.
    • Nerf Up smash has significantly more ending lag (FAF 52 → 70), removing its combo potential.
    • Nerf The third hit has more startup lag (frame 40 → 41).
    • Nerf The third hit no longer has a late hit that deals more damage (8%/9% → 7%/8%) and is a semi-spike (30° → 100°), removing its edgeguarding potential.
  • Down smash:
    • Buff Down smash's sourspots deal more damage (7% → 10% (hit 1), 6% → 9% (hit 2)), and thus have increased knockback.
    • Buff The first hit no longer has hitboxes that launch opponents vertically (30°/70°/70°/30° → 30°), improving its consistency in edgeguarding and KOing.
    • Nerf It has more ending lag (FAF 42 → 50).
    • Nerf Both hits have a shorter duration (frames 9-12 → 9-10 (hit 1), 21-23 → 21-22 (hit 2)).
    • Nerf The second hit no longer has a hitbox on Young Link's foot, preventing it from hitting opponents in front of him.

Aerial attacks[edit]

  • Buff All aerials have significantly less landing lag (15 frames → 6 (neutral, forward, back), 30 → 14 (up), 50 → 17 (down)) having even less than when L-canceled in Melee.
  • Nerf The decreased shieldstun for aerial attacks makes Young Link's slightly to moderately less safe on shield compared to their L-canceled versions in Melee, despite their reduced landing lag.
  • Neutral aerial:
    • Nerf Neutral aerial deals less damage (12% → 10% (clean), 8% → 5% (late)), with knockback not fully compensated on the clean hit (15 base/100 scaling → 20/108), slightly hindering its KO potential.
      • Buff However, this allows the late hit to combo for longer.
  • Forward aerial:
    • Buff Forward aerial is no longer a single degrading hit, and instead hits twice like Link's. It deals more damage if both hits connect (12%/11%/9% (clean), 8%/7%/5% (late) → 6% (hit 1), 8%/7% (hit 2); 14%/13% total), and has increased knockback on the second hit (5 base/100 scaling → 45/125), improving its KO potential.
    • Buff It has less ending lag (FAF 47 → 41).
    • Buff It always launches opponents in the direction Young Link is facing, even if they are hit from behind, making it more reliable for edgeguarding.
    • Buff The first hit can lead into combos if Young Link lands before the second hit comes out, which gives him more options to rack up damage or secure a KO.
    • Nerf Forward aerial has a much shorter hitbox duration (frames 14-32 → 14-15 (hit 1), 24-25 (hit 2)).
    • Change It launches at a consistent angle (361° (clean), 76° (late) → 48°).
    • Change The second hit has a higher hitlag multiplier (1.2×).
  • Back aerial:
    • Buff Back aerial's first hit has set knockback (0 base/100 scaling → 50/20 set/100 scaling) and launches at higher angles (361° → 75°/72°/70°), allowing it to connect more reliably into the second hit.
    • Buff It always launches opponents opposite the direction Young Link is facing, even if hit from the front, making it more reliable for edgeguarding.
    • Nerf Both hits have shorter durations (frames 6-9 → 6-8 (hit 1), 18-23 → 18-20 (hit 2)).
    • Nerf The first hit deals less damage (7% → 5%).
    • Change The second hit deals much more knockback (15 base/100 scaling → 40/102), improving its KO potential, but hindering its combo potential.
    • Change The second hit has a higher hitlag multiplier (1.2×).
  • Up aerial:
    • Nerf Up aerial has lower knockback scaling (85 → 82), slightly hindering its KO potential.
    • Nerf It has smaller hitboxes (4.8u/2.4u → 3.4u/2.6u). Combined with the changes to jostle mechanics, landing an up aerial on a grounded opponent is much more difficult than before.
  • Down aerial:
    • Buff Down aerial's early hit deals more damage (14%/16% → 18%).
    • Nerf It no longer has a flame hitbox near Young Link's head that deals more damage and is a meteor smash, removing its extreme edgeguarding potential against opponents hit from below.
    • Nerf The late hit deals less damage (17%/21% → 15%).
    • Nerf The move deals less knockback (40/70 base/100 scaling → 30/83), especially with the late hit due to its decreased damage, significantly hindering its KO potential.
    • Change It has a higher hitlag multiplier (1.2×).
  • Grab aerial:
    • Buff Grab aerial has less startup with a longer hitbox duration (frames 11-15 → 9-16).
    • Buff It has significantly less landing lag (30 frames → 8) and no longer causes helplessness, making it much more useful offensively.
    • Buff It launches at a higher angle (361° → 60°) and has gained a hitstun modifier of 4, which alongside its reduced landing lag grants it combo potential even up to high percents.
    • Nerf It deals less damage (5% → 4%).
      • Buff However, it deals additional shield damage to compensate (0 → 1).
    • Nerf It causes the Hookshot to retract upon hitting an opponent, hindering its utility in battles with multiple opponents.
    • Change It has more base knockback (40 → 70), but even less knockback scaling (40 → 20), no longer KOing opponents even at 999%.
    • Change It has a lower hitlag multiplier (0.8×).
    • Change It is now affected by stale-move negation, reducing its damage output with consecutive uses, but allowing it to refresh other moves.
    • Change Due to universal changes, grab aerial functions like a tether recovery rather than a wall grapple.
      • Buff This allows it to be shot much faster to ledges if used close enough to them, leaving opponents with a shorter window to edgeguard Young Link.
      • Nerf However, this removes its ability to grapple to any wall, reducing its versatility.

Throws and other attacks[edit]

  • Grabs:
    • Buff Standing and dash grabs have significantly less ending lag (FAF 85 → 53 (standing), FAF 95 → 61 (dash)), leaving them much less punishable if they miss.
    • Buff Both grabs have longer durations (4 frames → 7), and the hitbox on the Hookshot's end now affects aerial opponents.
    • Nerf Standing grab has one frame more startup lag (frame 11 → 12).
  • Pummel:
    • Buff Pummel deals more hitlag (4 frames → 13), but has significantly less startup (frame 10 → 1) and ending lag (FAF 26 → 7), shortening its duration.
    • Nerf It deals much less damage (3% → 1%).
  • Change Forward and back throw release the opponent faster (frame 16 → 13), although with their total duration unchanged, and the former's first hit is faster (frame 12 → 11). This reduces the time for the opponent to DI them properly, but increases their ending lag.
  • Forward throw:
    • Buff Forward throw launches at a slightly lower angle (55° → 52°), and deals much more knockback (25 base/110 scaling → 48/184), allowing it to KO under 170% at the edge.
  • Back throw:
    • Buff Back throw deals much more knockback (24 base/110 scaling → 45/140), allowing it to KO under 200% at the edge.
  • Up throw:
    • Buff Up throw releases the opponent slower (frame 27 → 29) with its total duration unchanged, increasing its combo potential at low percents.
    • Change It has more base knockback (18 → 30), but less knockback scaling (230 → 210). This further improves its combo potential at low percents (due to its previously lacking hit advantage), but hinders its KO potential at high percents.
    • Change Young Link jumps a bit higher during up throw.
  • Down throw:
    • Nerf Down throw deals much more knockback (60 base/50 scaling → 70/115), drastically hindering its combo potential beyond mid percents. Most notably, it no longer has a guaranteed KO confirm into an up aerial at high percents.
    • Nerf Its speed is no longer weight-dependent, further diminishing its combo ability on lightweights, while still being worse on heavyweights due to its increased knockback.
    • Change Its damage values have been redistributed (2% → 3% (hit 1), 4% → 3% (throw)).
    • Change It launches opponents at a slightly more horizontal angle (90° → 86°).
  • Floor attacks:
    • Buff Floor attacks deal more damage (6% → 7%) and shield damage (1 → 8) per hit, with minimally compensated knockback scaling (50 → 48).
    • Change Their angles have been altered (361° → 48°).
  • Edge attack:
    • Buff Edge attack deals more damage (8% → 9%) and no longer has set knockback (90 set/100 scaling → 90 base/20 scaling).

Special moves[edit]

  • Buff Due to the changes to Perfect Shielding, Young Link's projectiles can no longer be reflected back at him by any character.
  • Nerf The decreased shieldstun for projectiles hinders their safety at close distances.
  • Fire Arrow:
    • Change Fire Bow has been renamed to Fire Arrow.
    • Buff Fire Arrow has one frame less ending lag (FAF 39 → 38).
    • Buff It can be B-reversed.
    • Buff Arrows fly much further, especially when uncharged. This greatly increases Fire Arrow's zoning and pressing ability, making it a more essential part of Young Link's toolkit.
    • Buff Arrows have more knockback scaling (30 → 70), increasing their combo potential despite launching at a slightly lower angle (80° → 78°).
    • Nerf They stay active for a shorter period of time.
    • Nerf They deal less damage (8%-15% → 4%-12%), and have received negative shield damage (0 → -2.5).
    • Nerf The move can no longer be held indefinitely upon reaching full charge, instead firing the arrow automatically if held for more than three seconds.
    • Change Fire Arrows are ablaze when being charged and fired, compared to Melee where the arrow does not light up at all.
    • Change Fire Arrows have been redesigned to more closely resemble the artwork found in the manual for Ocarina of Time.
    • Bug fix Ghost Arrow glitch has been removed.
  • Boomerang:
    • Buff Boomerang is bigger, and Young Link throws it vertically instead of horizontally, increasing its coverage immensely.
    • Buff It can be B-reversed.
    • Nerf It deals much less damage at point-blank range (16% → 11% (normal), 19% → 13.2% (smash input)), and has received negative shield damage (0 → -5.5 (clean), -3.5 (late), -1 (return)), effectively dealing half its usual damage to shields.
      • Buff However, its knockback has not been compensated, improving its combo potential.
    • Change Boomerang cannot be angled as sharply as in Melee; however, this makes its more useful angles easier to use.
    • Change Young Link has a new throwing animation for the boomerang.
    • Bug fix The boomerang superjump and chain dance glitches have been removed.
  • Spin Attack (grounded):
    • Buff Grounded Spin Attack has less ending lag (FAF 80 → 71), while its last hit is slower (frame 44 → 49), allowing it to combo reliably into aerial attacks even up to high percents.
    • Buff Its linking hits have set, weight-independent knockback (80/60 base/40 scaling → 55/10 set/100 scaling), and lower hitlag (0.4×) and SDI multipliers (0.5×), which combined with the weakening of SDI allows them to connect much more reliably.
    • Buff The last hit has higher base knockback (60 → 71), but lower knockback scaling (100 → 85), and launches at a higher angle (80° → 84°), further improving its combo potential.
    • Buff It can be charged to increase its damage and knockback, as with the other incarnations of Link.
    • Nerf Grounded Spin Attack has one frame more startup (frame 8 → 9), and its linking hits have a slightly longer duration (frames 8-43 → 9-45), but a slower rehit rate (3 → 4). As a result, it deals a total of 11 hits instead of 13, reducing its total damage when uncharged despite the changes to stale-move negation (13.74% → 13%).
    • Change The last hit has a higher hitlag multiplier (1.8×).
  • Spin Attack (aerial):
    • Buff Aerial Spin Attack has increased vertical distance, preserves much more momentum after being used, and Young Link can drift more in the air during its animation.
    • Buff Like most recovery moves from Brawl onward, it sweetspots the edge much earlier, making it safer to recover with.
    • Buff The multi-hits have a lower SDI multiplier (0.3×), weight-independent knockback, and use the autolink angle (367°), which alongside the changes to DI and SDI allows them to connect much more reliably.
    • Buff It deals more total damage due to the changes to stale-move negation (11.19% → 12%).
    • Change The last hit has a higher hitlag multiplier (2×).
  • Bomb:
    • Buff Like with Link's Bombs in Smash 4, the explosions from Young Link's bombs do not damage him if they hit an opponent.
    • Buff The bombs travel further when thrown.
    • Buff Their multi-hits accumulate much faster, making their damage more consistent.
    • Buff Similarly to Link in Smash 4, Young Link can "soft-toss" his Bombs, which lets him lay them on the floor with a throw without having them explode. This allows Young Link to set traps on the floor to hinder his opponent, and also allows for mindgame potential. Additionally, Young Link can Z-drop Bombs without them exploding much easier than in Melee.
    • Nerf Bomb's damage output is lower, even with all hits connecting (13% → 8%).
    • Bug fix The bomb dash glitch has been removed.
  • Change Young Link now has a Final Smash, that being Triforce Slash. Visually, it resembles Link's version from Smash 4, but it has completely unique animations for attacks, including a shield bash, kicks, and a different finisher in an outward slash.

Update history[edit]

Young Link received a mix of buffs, nerfs and glitch fixes via game updates, but was buffed overall. The nerfs to the shield damage of various projectiles in update 3.0.0 affect Young Link more negatively than most other characters. However, update 7.0.0 gave Young Link increased knockback on a few of his attacks, allowing for more KO options.

Super Smash Bros. Ultimate 1.2.0

  • Bug fix Fixed the Invisible Bomb glitch.

Super Smash Bros. Ultimate 3.0.0

  • Nerf Fire Arrow has received negative shield damage (0 → -2.5).
  • Nerf Boomerang has received negative shield damage (0 → -5.5 (clean), -3.5 (late), -1 (return)), effectively dealing half its usual damage to shields.
  • Bug introduced An unknown bug was created where opponents would unexpectedly teleport in any direction upon releasing Boomerang.

Super Smash Bros. Ultimate 3.1.0

  • Bug fix Boomerang teleportation glitch fixed.

Super Smash Bros. Ultimate 4.0.0

  • Buff Young Link can now shield SDI if a projectile hits his Deku Shield.

Super Smash Bros. Ultimate 7.0.0

  • Buff Overall shield size has been increased.
  • Buff Neutral attack's first hit has less startup lag (frame 6 → 4), with its total duration reduced as well (FAF 20 → 18).
  • Buff Up smash has more knockback scaling (100 → 108), improving its KO potential.
  • Buff Up aerial has more knockback scaling (77 → 82), slightly improving its KO potential.
  • Buff Forward throw deals more knockback (45 base/165 scaling → 48/184), allowing it to KO at realistic percents.
  • Buff Grab aerial has less startup lag (frame 11 → 9).
  • Buff Grab aerial launches at a higher angle (38˚ → 60˚), and inflicts 4 additional frames of hitstun, giving it combo potential even up to high percents.

Super Smash Bros. Ultimate 9.0.0

Super Smash Bros. Ultimate 10.1.0

  • Buff Aerial Spin Attack has received various adjustments that allow the move to connect more reliably:
    • Buff The first front hit has a new hitbox that outprioritizes the old hitbox and is smaller (size: 6u → 4u) but has similar range (Y-offset: 7.5 → 5.5, Z-offset: 10.5—8.5 → 11.5—7.5), sends at a vertical angle (367° → 80°) and has more set knockback (107 → 110). This sends opponents higher, setting them up for the following hits.
    • Change The first front hit's pre-existing hitbox no longer sends at an autolink angle (367° → 80°), but has less set knockback (107 → 76).
    • Change The third front hit no longer sends at an autolink angle (367° → 65°), but has less set knockback (107 → 70).
    • Buff The fourth front hit has a new hitbox that outprioritizes the old hitbox and is smaller (size: 6.5u → 4u), positioned differently (Y-offset: 9.5—8.5 → 9—6, Z-offset: 10.5—8.5 → 5.5—7), sends at a more vertical angle (70° → 74°) and has less set knockback (72 → 60). This sets them up for the final hit.
    • Buff The fourth front hit's pre-existing hitbox sends at an altered angle (70° → 98°) and has less set knockback (72 → 62).

Super Smash Bros. Ultimate 12.0.0

  • Buff Up smash's first and second hits deal less fixed knockback (38, 30, 33, 53 → 33, 23, 23, 48). The second hit's hitboxes are also moved slightly further (X: 0.0, 0.0, 5.2, 5.2 → 1.0, 1.0, 6.5, 6.5). This overall improves the move's ability to connect into the third hit.

Moveset[edit]

  • While Young Link is standing still, walking or crouching, any incoming projectiles that hit his Deku Shield will simply push him back slightly instead of inflicting damage. It can block any amount of projectiles, regardless of their power.
  • Young Link can wall jump.
  • Young Link possesses a tether attack, grab and recovery.

For a gallery of Young Link's hitboxes, see here.

Note: All numbers are listed as base damage, without the 1v1 multiplier.

  Name Damage Description
Neutral attack Slash (なぎ払い) / Counter Slash (返し) / Stab (突き) / Illusion Slash (幻影斬り) / Illusion Finish (幻影フィニッシュ) 2% A downward slash, followed by an outward slash, followed by a thrust. If button mashed, Young Link instead performs a rapid flurry of slashes before concluding with an upward slash. The standard neutral attack is based on the final series of strikes that he inflicts to Ganon in The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time.
1.5%
3.5%
0.3% (loop), 2.5% (last)
Forward tilt Bamboo Splitter (からたけわり) 12% (base), 11% (tip) A lunging downward slash. It resembles the Z-Targeting slash he uses in The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time and The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask. It comes out on frame 10 with low ending lag, yet it has good power for its speed, making it a reliable KO option. However, the tip of the sword is a sourspot.
Up tilt Half-Moon Slash (半月斬り) 8% An overhead arcing clash. A reliable combo starter that can combo into itself or into Young Link's aerials.
Down tilt Grass Cutter (草薙ぎ) 10% (base), 9% (middle), 7% (tip) A kneeling inward slash. It has minimal knockback and launches the opponent vertically, allowing it to easily chain into all of his aerials at almost any percent, allowing for KO confirms into aerial Spin Attack and forward aerial. One of Young Link's best combo tools. It deals more damage closer to the base of the sword.
Dash attack Splitting Strike (たたき割り) 11% (base), 10% (tip) A lunging downward slash. It comes out quickly at frame 8 without a large amount of ending lag, and it has decent power, giving it some KO potential at the ledge. Just like other attacks, the tip of the Kokiri Sword deals less damage.
Forward smash Sword Slice (スマッシュ斬り, Smash Slice) / Double Sword Slice (二段スマッシュ斬り, Double Smash Slice) 6% A two-handed, lunging downward slash. If the attack button is pressed again, Young Link will perform a single-handed outward slash. The first hit deals almost no knockback but is a natural combo into the second hit, which deals powerful knockback. Is somewhat fast for a forward smash, coming out on frame 15. Can be comboed into from neutral aerial's late hit and aerial Hookshot.
12% (base), 10% (tip)
Up smash Triple Sword Slice (三段斬り) 3% (hits 1-2), 8% (hit 3 base), 7% (hit 3 tip) A series of three overhead arcing slashes, the last of which launches opponents vertically. Unlike in Melee, it is no longer capable of creating long juggles due to its increased lag and knockback, although this also makes it significantly more effective as a KO move. The first two slashes trap opponents, with the third hit launching them vertically. Decently powerful, but the move's long duration makes it easy to punish if whiffed. It was buffed in update 7.0.0, and is now a viable KO option due to being noticeably stronger than before.
Down smash Front and Back Sword Slice (前後足元斬り) 13% (front base), 10% (front tip), 12% (back base), 9% (back tip) A kneeling inward slash in front of himself, followed by a kneeling outward slash behind himself. Both hits are semi-spikes, making them good for edgeguarding, and is stronger from the front than from the back.
Neutral aerial Link Kick (リンクキック) 10% (clean), 5% (late) A flying kick. It is a sex kick and one of the fastest aerials in the game at frame 4, making it a very good option to get opponents off of him. Additionally, it has extremely low landing lag, can autocancel in a short hop, and has just as strong of an offense use, as the late hit can function both as a combo starter or can be used in the middle of a combo to lead into a variety of moves. It also has decent power, as it can KO at high percents when edgeguarding. Overall, it is commonly regarded as one of the best aerials in the game, and is a vital part of Young Link's combo game.
Forward aerial Spinning Sweep (回転なぎ払い) 6% (hit 1), 8% (hit 2, base), 7% (hit 2, tip) Two alternating, spinning outward slashes. The first hit traps opponents into the second hit, which deals reasonably high knockback, making it useful for knocking opponents offstage or KOing them outright at higher percents. Landing on the ground after the first hit but before the second will cancel the move, allowing for a follow-up into a different attack. It can autocancel in a full hop.
Back aerial Double Kick (二段蹴り) 5% (hit 1), 7% (hit 2) A hook kick followed by a mid-level roundhouse kick. It comes out on frame 6 and has the lowest ending lag of his aerials. Functions similarly to his forward aerial, including the ability to drag down foes with the first hit, but trades range and power for reduced start-up. Despite this, it possesses a somewhat disjointed hitbox, and its first hit can reliably KO into any of his smash attacks.
Up aerial Jump Thrust (上突き, Up Thrust) 15% (clean), 12% (late) The Jump Thrust. It has a long active duration, and its high damage and knockback allow it to KO at around 130% with the clean hit, but despite that, it has very fast start-up at frame 5. However, its long active duration makes it punishable if not used carefully, and it has a strict autocancel window, as it can only autocancel in a double jump.
Down aerial Downward Thrust (下突き) 18% (clean), 15% (late), 9% (bounce) The Down Thrust. Unlike Link's similar move, it does not meteor smash even with the clean hit. Deals high knockback, making it one of Young Link's most reliable aerial KO moves, but is dangerous to use offstage due to its long duration and high ending lag. Landing the clean hit on an opponent or their shield will cause Young Link to bounce upwards.
Grab aerial Midair Hookshot (空中フックショット) 4% Fires his Hookshot forward. Can be used to grab stage edges and is a very useful spacing option. As of update 7.0.0, it now has above-average hitstun and faster start-up, making it an excellent combo starter at nearly any percent, even allowing for KO confirms into up smash, forward smash, or forward aerial.
Grab Hookshot (フックショット) 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 more ending lag than Toon Link's grabs.
Pummel Grab Hilt Strike (つかみ柄なぐり) 1% Quickly hits the opponent with the pommel of the Kokiri Sword.
Forward throw Kick Off (蹴り飛ばし) 3% (hit 1), 3% (throw) A front kick. As of update 7.0.0, it is one of the strongest forward throws in the game, starting to KO middleweights around 130% from the edge of Final Destination.
Back throw Back Kick Off (後方蹴り飛ばし) 3% (hit 1), 3% (throw) A back kick. Launches at a high angle, but has low ending lag and relatively low knockback growth, potentially leading into edgeguard setups. It is also capable of KOing around 180% from the edge of Final Destination.
Up throw Throw Away Slash (投げ捨て斬り) 4% (hit 1), 2% (throw) Tosses the opponent up into the air and performs a spinning upward slash. Has very minimal KO potential, even on platforms, as it starts to KO around 190% on Final Destination. If the initial sword slash hits another opponent, they will be launched at a very low angle, allowing for edgeguard setups. Unlike Link and Toon Link's up throws, it can combo reliably into up aerial at low percents due to his up aerial coming out much faster than theirs.
Down throw Elbow Strike (ヒジ打ち) 3% (hit 1), 3% (throw) Pins the opponent to the ground and performs an elbow drop. A very reliable a combo starter, even in spite of its combo potential being toned down since Melee.
Floor attack (front)   7% Slashes in front and behind himself while getting up.
Floor attack (back)   7% Slashes in front and behind himself while getting up.
Floor attack (trip)   5% Slashes in front and behind himself while getting up.
Edge attack   9% Climbs up the ledge and performs a slash.
Neutral special Fire Arrow 4%-12% Wields his Fairy Bow to fire a Fire Arrow. It can be charged up for more power and range. The arrows send opponents at an upwards angle with low knockback and high hitstun, making it a good aerial combo starter. In addition, it has low start-up and ending lag, making it an excellent combo/spacing tool all around.
Side special Boomerang 11% (close, normal throw), 13.2% (close, smash throw), 7% (far), 2% (return) Throws his Boomerang forward. It flies forward and then returns to Young Link. On the way forward, it launches enemies vertically with low base knockback, and on the way back, it launches them towards Link with slightly weaker base knockback, 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.
Up special Spin Attack 1%-1.6% (grounded hits 1-10), 3%-4.8% (grounded hit 11), 3% (aerial hit 1), 2% (aerial hits 2-4), 3% (aerial hit 5) Spins rapidly with the Kokiri Sword outstretched. The grounded version is a series of outward slashes, whereas the aerial version is a series of inward slashes. It has very quick start-up, making it a potent out of shield option. On the ground, it can be charged to inflict more damage. Similarly to Toon Link's version of the move, it hits multiple times on the ground, with the final hit launching opponents. However, Young Link's version of the Spin Attack is different than the variants the other Links have: instead of dealing strong horizontal knockback, Young Link's Spin Attack deals weak vertical knockback, making it unviable as a KO tool but useful as a combo starter. The aerial version can carry opponents to the upper blast line, and KO them there at high enough percents.
Down special Bomb 2%-2.4% (hits 1-4) Pulls out a Bomb. Just like in Melee, the explosion from the Bomb hits multiple times. The Bomb explodes after hitting a surface or enemy, or after enough time passes. The Bomb's weak knockback makes it a useful combo starter. It can be used to extend Young Link's recovery, as the damage from the explosion will take him out of helplessness.
Final Smash Triforce Slash 1% (trapping), 3% (hits 1-14), 2% (hit 15), 15% (final) Uses the 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, 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.

Stats[edit]

Stats Weight Dash speed Walk speed Traction Air friction Air speed Air acceleration Gravity Falling speed Jumpsquat Jump Height Double jump Height
Value 88 2.09 – Initial dash
1.749 – Run
1.26 0.105 0.00375 0.966 0.02 – Base
0.04 – Additional
0.096 1.8 – Base
2.88Fast-fall
3 33.66 - Base
16.26 - Short hop
33.66

Announcer call[edit]

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The editor who added this tag suggests: Needs announcer calls from other languages.
If you have a good audio file for this article, upload it here.

On-screen appearance[edit]

  • Descends onto the stage while surrounded by rays of blue light that shine down from the sky, referencing the Ocarina of Time's powers. Upon landing, he equips the Kokiri Sword and Deku Shield. This is akin to his older self's on-screen appearance in Smash 64.

Taunts[edit]

  • Up taunt: Holds the Kokiri Sword overhead triumphantly in the air.
  • Side taunt: Places the Deku Shield on his back and watches Navi fly around him. Similar to Link's side taunt from Brawl and Smash 4.
  • Down taunt: Sheaths the Kokiri Sword and places the Deku Shield on his back and takes a drink of Lon Lon Milk. Significantly shortened from Melee.

Idle poses[edit]

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

Crowd cheer[edit]

Cheer (English) Cheer (Japanese/Chinese) Cheer (Italian) Cheer (Dutch) Cheer (French)
Cheer Custom combination of the flags of Canada, the USA, and Mexico.

Source, tweaked to fix rendering issues
Description Young Link! Lin - Ku! Link! Bam - biii - no! Link Link! Jonge Link! Link enfant!
Cheer (German) Cheer (Spanish) Cheer (Russian) Cheer (Korean)
Cheer
Description Jun - ger Link! Liiiink niño! Yu - nyy Link! So - nyeon Lin - gkeu!

Victory poses[edit]

  • Left: While holding the Kokiri Sword in a reverse grip, he adjusts his belt and flicks his nose. It is based on one of his idle animations in The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time.
  • Up: Thrusts the Kokiri Sword in front of himself, then brings it near his face before thrusting it upward while giving off a battle cry. It is nearly identical to one of Link's poses, albeit with a different camera angle and Young Link being left-handed.
  • Right: Sheathes the Kokiri Sword, dusts his hands off, and then puts them on his hips while grinning.
A flourished and abridged remix of 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.

In competitive play[edit]

Most historically significant players[edit]

See also: Category:Young Link players (SSBU)

Tier placement and history[edit]

Young Link was met with a considerable amount of hype when he returned to the series after 17 years, last appearing in Melee. By the time Ultimate was released, there were high hopes for him due to his amazing combo game and damage racking potential from his projectiles. Tweek found success with the character in the early months of Ultimate, using Young Link as one of his characters to win tournaments such as Glitch 6 and Frostbite 2019. Players believed that because of these strengths and strong results, Young Link was seen as a viable high-tier or top-tier character, and the best of the three Links.

However as time went on, players began discovering his weaknesses, which include inconsistent KO power and a linear, slow recovery, making him relatively easy to edgeguard. In addition, most players who used Young Link at a top-player level, including Tweek, used the character as a secondary, and these players eventually phased Young Link out of their character pool. Despite these shortcomings, Young Link's representation in the first year still remained strong at a regional level thanks to buffs received in update 7.0.0 that improved his KO power, as well as the efforts of players such as skittles, Supahsemmie, and Toast, the latter of whom was beginning to pick up steam by the end of 2019, and ultimately saw a top 8 finish at the supermajor Frostbite 2020. These consistently strong results from Young Link players carried over to the post-online metagame, where many Young Link players continued to place well at majors. As a result, despite opinions on the character mellowing out, Young Link is still considered a high-tier character, which is reflected in his placement on the current tier list, where he is ranked 29th.

In the online scene, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Young Link is considered much stronger pick in Wi-Fi tournaments due to having safer aerials and stronger projectiles thanks to increased lag and reaction time. As a result, players such as skittles and colinies saw several high placements at notable online tournaments.

Classic Mode: Hyrule Smash![edit]

Young Link's congratulations screen.

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

Round Opponent Stage Music Notes
1 ZeldaHeadSSBU.png Zelda Hyrule Castle Hyrule Main Theme
2 YoungLinkHeadBlackSSBU.png Young Link Temple Song of Storms If the player is using the Dark Young Link costume, the CPU player will be the YoungLinkHeadSSBU.png default Young Link.
3 SheikHeadSSBU.png Sheik Gerudo Valley (Ω form) Gerudo Valley (Remix) Items do not appear.
4 ToonLinkHeadSSBU.pngToonLinkHeadRedSSBU.pngToonLinkHeadBlueSSBU.pngToonLinkHeadPurpleSSBU.png Toon Link (x4) Pirate Ship The Great Sea / Menu Select The multicolored Toon Links are a reference to The Legend of Zelda: Four Swords sub-series.
5 GanondorfHeadSSBU.png Ganondorf Bridge of Eldin (Ω form) Main Theme - The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess Items do not appear.
6 LinkHeadSSBU.png Link Great Plateau Tower Main Theme - The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild
Bonus Stage
Final Ganon Sacred Land Calamity Ganon Battle - Second Form

Credits roll after completing Classic Mode. Completing it as Young Link has Termina Field (Remix) accompany the credits.

Role in World of Light[edit]

Young Link's location in World of Light.
Finding Young Link in World of Light

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

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

Fighter Battle[edit]

No. Image Name Type Power Stage Music
22
Young Link SSBU.png
Young Link
Grab
Grab
10,300 Temple (Ω form) Saria's Theme

Spirits[edit]

Young Link's fighter spirit can be obtained by completing Classic Mode. It is also available periodically for purchase in the shop for 300 Gold, but only after Young Link has been unlocked. Unlocking Young Link in World of Light allows the player to preview the first spirit below in the Spirit List under the name "???". As a fighter spirit, it cannot be used in Spirit Battles and is purely aesthetic. His fighter spirit has an alternate version that replaces it with his artwork in Ultimate.

Additionally, Young Link makes an appearance in a few primary spirits under other forms.

In Spirit Battles[edit]

As the main opponent[edit]

Spirit Battle parameters Inspiration
No. Image Name Series Enemy Fighter(s) Type Power Stage Rules Conditions Music Character
178
SSBU spirit Link (The Legend of Zelda).png
Link (The Legend of Zelda) The Legend of Zelda Series Young Link YoungLinkHeadRedSSBU.png
Neutral
13,500 Find Mii (hazards off) N/A •The enemy's melee weapons have increased power
•The enemy's FS Meter charges quickly
•The enemy has increased attack power
Overworld Theme - The Legend of Zelda Link (Red Ring equipped)
184
SSBU spirit Fairy Bottle.png
Fairy Bottle The Legend of Zelda Series Young Link YoungLinkHeadPinkSSBU.png
Grab
3,700 Fountain of Dreams •Sudden Damage •All fighters take serious damage
•The enemy has increased defense
•The enemy starts the battle with a Fairy Bottle
Saria's Theme
194
SSBU spirit Kaepora Gaebora.png
Kaepora Gaebora The Legend of Zelda Series Young Link YoungLinkHeadOrangeSSBU.png
Grab
3,700 Distant Planet (Battlefield form) •Hazard: Screen Flip •The screen will suddenly flip after a little while Ocarina of Time Medley
212
SSBU spirit Happy Mask Salesman.png
Happy Mask Salesman The Legend of Zelda Series Young Link YoungLinkHeadBlackSSBU.png
Shield
4,300 Umbra Clock Tower •Attack Power ↑
•Move Speed ↑
•Jump Power ↑
•Timed battle (1:30)
•All fighters have increased jump power
•All fighters have increased move speed after a little while
Song of Storms
213
SSBU spirit Kafei.png
Kafei The Legend of Zelda Series •Bunny Young Link YoungLinkHeadBlueSSBU.png
Grab
4,600 Skyloft N/A •Timed battle (1:30)
•The enemy tends to avoid conflict
Termina Field (Remix)
235
SSBU spirit Ravio.png
Ravio The Legend of Zelda Series •Bunny Young Link YoungLinkHeadBlueSSBU.png
Shield
4,000 Skyloft N/A •Timed battle (2:00)
•The enemy favors special moves
•The enemy is easily distracted by items
Hyrule Main Theme
364
SSBU spirit Poppy Bros. Jr..png
Poppy Bros. Jr. Kirby Series Young Link YoungLinkHeadCyanSSBU.png×2
Grab
1,500 Yoshi's Island •Item: Bob-omb •The enemy's down special has increased power
•The enemy favors down specials in the air
Green Greens (for 3DS / Wii U)
876
SSBU spirit Cut Man.png
Cut Man Mega Man Series Young Link YoungLinkHeadOrangeSSBU.png×2 (80 HP)
Grab
3,700 Wily Castle (Ω form) N/A •The enemy's side special has increased power
Stamina battle
•The enemy favors side specials
Cut Man Stage
879
SSBU spirit Bomb Man.png
Bomb Man Mega Man Series Young Link YoungLinkHeadOrangeSSBU.png×2 (80 HP)
Grab
3,500 Wily Castle (Ω form) N/A •The enemy's explosion and fire attacks have increased power
Stamina battle
•The enemy favors down specials
Bomb Man Stage
1,127
diskun
Diskun Disk System Young Link YoungLinkHeadRedSSBU.png
Pit PitHeadYellowSSBU.png
Simon SimonHeadRedSSBU.png
Samus SamusHeadBlueSSBU.png
Attack
9,100 Temple (Battlefield form) N/A •Take your strongest team into this no-frills battle Famicom Medley Link (The Legend of Zelda for the Famicom Disk System)
1,130
donbe hikari
Donbe & Hikari Famicom Mukashibanashi Series Young Link YoungLinkHeadCyanSSBU.png
Villager VillagerHeadPinkSSBU.png
Falco FalcoHeadOrangeSSBU.png
Diddy Kong DiddyKongHeadBlueSSBU.png
Duck Hunt DuckHuntHeadTanSSBU.png
Neutral
3,500 Duck Hunt (hazards off) N/A •Defeat an army of fighters Shin Onigashima Medley Donbe
1,145
from the game's files
Prince Richard Kaeru no Tame ni Kane wa Naru Young Link YoungLinkHeadCyanSSBU.png
Neutral
9,900 Dream Land GB •Temporary Invincibility
•Assist Trophy Enemies (Sablé Prince)
•The enemy will occasionally be invincible after a little while
•The enemy can unleash powerful critical hits at random
•Hostile assist trophies will appear
Kirby Retro Medley (Castle Lololo)
1,280
Tethu
Tethu Ever Oasis Young Link YoungLinkHeadRedSSBU.png
Attack
3,700 Gerudo Valley (hazards off) •Flowery
•Item: Deku Nut
•You constantly take minor damage
•The enemy starts the battle with a Gust Bellows
Struggle Against Chaos
1,282
Spirit of Musashi from Sushi Striker
Musashi Sushi Striker: The Way of Sushido Young Link YoungLinkHeadCyanSSBU.png
Grab
2,400 Onett •Item Tidal Wave
•Hazard: Heavy Wind
•Dangerously high winds are in effect after a little while
•The enemy favors side specials
•Certain items will appear in large numbers after a little while
Gourmet Race (Brawl)

As a minion[edit]

Spirit Battle parameters Inspiration
No. Image Name Series Enemy Fighter(s) Type Power Stage Rules Conditions Music Character
189
SSBU spirit Young Zelda.png
Young Zelda The Legend of Zelda Series Zelda ZeldaHeadPurpleSSBU.png
Young Link YoungLinkHeadRedSSBU.png
Shield
3,700 Hyrule Castle N/A •Take your strongest team into this no-frills battle Ocarina of Time Medley Young Link (Ocarina of Time)
192
SSBU spirit Saria.png
Saria The Legend of Zelda Series Isabelle IsabelleHeadTealSSBU.png
Young Link YoungLinkHeadRedSSBU.png
Shield
9,900 Garden of Hope •Hazard: Fog •The stage is covered in fog
•The enemy will charge up a powerful Final Smash
Saria's Theme Young Link (Ocarina of Time)
211
SSBU spirit Tingle.png
Tingle The Legend of Zelda Series Villager VillagerHeadCyanSSBU.pngVillagerHeadPurpleSSBU.pngVillagerHeadYellowSSBU.png
Young Link YoungLinkHeadRedSSBU.png
Grab
9,000 Great Bay •Uncontrollable Speed
•Slippery Stage
•Defeat the main fighter to win
•All fighters move faster and can't stop quickly after a little while
•The enemy loves to taunt
Termina Field (Remix) Link (Majora's Mask)
218
SSBU spirit Dimitri (The Legend of Zelda).png
Dimitri (The Legend of Zelda) The Legend of Zelda Series Yoshi YoshiHeadRedSSBU.png
Young Link YoungLinkHeadRedSSBU.png
Shield
1,700 Great Bay N/A •The enemy favors neutral specials Tal Tal Heights Link (Oracle of Ages/Oracle of Seasons)
233
SSBU spirit Wall-Merged Link.png
Wall-Merged Link The Legend of Zelda Series Mr. Game & Watch MrGame&WatchHeadSSBU.png
Young Link YoungLinkHeadOrangeSSBU.png
Neutral
3,500 Flat Zone X N/A •Reinforcements will appear after an enemy is KO'd Lorule Main Theme Link (A Link Between Worlds)
236
SSBU spirit Hilda (The Legend of Zelda).png
Hilda (The Legend of Zelda) The Legend of Zelda Series Zelda ZeldaHeadBlackSSBU.png
•Bunny Young Link YoungLinkHeadBlueSSBU.png
Shield
9,100 Temple •Assist Trophy Enemies (Nightmare) •Hostile assist trophies will appear Lorule Main Theme Ravio
1,319
from the game's files
Professor Riggs & Plaise & Lerna North America
Professor Gerry, Plaise, & Lerna PAL
Nintendo Labo Series Dr. Mario DrMarioHeadYellowSSBU.png
Bayonetta BayonettaHeadBlueSSBU.png
•Tiny Young Link YoungLinkHeadRedSSBU.png
Neutral
2,500 Paper Mario •Attack Power ↑
•Defense ↑
•The enemy has increased defense after a little while
•The enemy has increased attack power after a little while
Title Theme - Super Mario Maker Plaise Allatyme

Alternate costumes[edit]

Young Link Palette (SSBU).png
YoungLinkHeadSSBU.png YoungLinkHeadRedSSBU.png YoungLinkHeadBlueSSBU.png YoungLinkHeadWhiteSSBU.png YoungLinkHeadPinkSSBU.png YoungLinkHeadCyanSSBU.png YoungLinkHeadOrangeSSBU.png YoungLinkHeadBlackSSBU.png

Gallery[edit]

Fighter Showcase Video[edit]

Trivia[edit]

  • Young Link's official artwork is based upon the pose he strikes after using his grounded Spin Attack.
  • Young Link and Pichu share the longest gap between playable appearances in the Super Smash Bros. series, with seventeen years between Melee and Ultimate. This was noted by both of their Super Smash Bros. blog's "Today's Fighter" descriptions.
  • Due to Young Link's hair having more physics-based movement, in certain animations such as taking damage, it's possible to see that his sideburns are not fully modeled under his hair.[1][2]
    • Additionally, the cuffs of his boots is not fully modeled when looking at them from below.[3]
  • An animation error is present in Young Link's up tilt; the Kokiri Sword rotates in his hand as he returns to his idle stance.
    • There's another animation error regarding his Hookshot in which the chain disconnects from the Hookshot during his pulling up animation after grabbing a ledge.
    • Additionally, certain animations such as one of his idle animations will cause his arm to clip through his shield.
  • When Young Link activates his side taunt where Navi flies around his head, if the game is slowed down to 1/4 speed, she can be seen flying into her initial position from offscreen. This suggests that Navi's model is kept somewhere offscreen and changes location on activation of the taunt, however, when the taunt ends, she returns back into his hat like normal and does not appear to fly back offscreen.
  • Young Link, Marth, Lucina, Roy, Chrom, and Wolf are the only characters that use their crouching animation from their previous Smash Bros. game when holding a small item.
    • Out of all of them, Young Link is the only one who's doesn't revert to his previous idle pose when holding a small throwable item.
  • When performing a wall jump, Young Link does not directly touch the wall before the jump, which is best seen when wall jumping on the Training stage.
  • Young Link's Star KO voice clip, unusually, begins with a short pause. Ivysaur also has this trait.
    • This was also the case for his Star KO voice clip in Melee.
  • In German, the name tag and voice clip from the announcer on the victory screen is slightly different from the one used on the character select screen, instead featuring a noticeable translation of "the" (der Junger Link). He shares this trait with Dark Pit.
  • When KO'd by reaching 0 HP during his final stock in Stamina Mode, Young Link's KO scream is a noticeably higher pitched version of one of his KO screams. He shares this trait with Inkling.

References[edit]