Toon Link


 * "Toon" redirects here. For the Chilean smasher, see Smasher:Toon.

Toon Link (, Toon Link) is one of Link's multiple incarnations in  series. Although several Links appear with the cel-shaded art style that Toon Link's design is based on, the one that appears as a playable character in the ' series is the Hero of Winds, the main protagonist of ' and .

Toon Link made his Super Smash Bros. series debut in Super Smash Bros. Brawl as a playable character, and has appeared as such in every subsequent installment.

Origin
Toon Link is one of the various incarnations of Link from The Legend of Zelda series. While the art style associated with the "Toon" term was technically established during the development cycle of ' and was depicted in 2D artwork alongside ', the first usage of the term itself occurred in Super Smash Bros. Brawl to denote the Hero of Winds from The Wind Waker and . However, the "Toon" term itself can nevertheless be used to describe the same art style, as ' demonstrated in regard to the Princess Zelda from '.

While Toon Link shows the determination and courageousness that his fellow incarnations are renowned for, his personality is also one of the most diverse of any incarnation: he is consistently shown to be carefree, easily excitable, and jovial to the point of smiling often, as well as appearing awestruck or wary upon arriving at new locations or encountering new foes.

Due to his cartoonish design, Toon Link has been shown to emote exaggeratedly; this is especially evident in  via the 's selfie feature, and has been displayed in varying degrees by other Toon-styled Links. Toon Link has also shown a level of astuteness atypical for someone his age, as he will freely observe certain objects of interest in his immediate surroundings, such as an enemy's discarded weapon.

Despite being the Hero of the Winds, Toon Link's appearances in the Super Smash Bros. series nevertheless make references to other Toon-styled Links: three of his alternate costumes are based on the red, blue and purple Links from ' and ', his trophies in SSB4 list Spirit Tracks and "a few other titles" alongside The Wind Waker as appearances, and his route in Ultimate is based on the trio-oriented gameplay of .

The Hero of Winds
' is set hundreds of years after ', and is the first installment that occurs within the Adult Link Timeline. Prior to the game's story, Ganondorf managed to escape from Sacred Realm and resume his rampage against. Hyrule's citizens wished for the hero they revered to save them from these tragic events, but he never returned, due to having returned to his own timeline.

In response, the es flooded Hyrule in order to stop Ganondorf. However, to ensure that Hyrule's populace would not be completely destroyed by Ganondorf's forces, the Golden Goddesses alerted a select number of them beforehand by prompting them to flee to the country's highest mountaintops. Among the evacuees were the Princess Zelda of that era and her attendants, who were also instructed to flee by her father after he chose to remain in Hyrule after giving her one half of the broken Triforce of Wisdom.

When Ganondorf and his forces breached Hyrule Castle, the Golden Goddesses sealed them away by trapping them within an enchanted air bubble, and then freezing them in time with a magical seal held intact by the and the. This deluge ultimately created the, which resulted in the mountaintops becoming islands, the memory of Hyrule being largely forgotten, and the legend of the Hero of Time being passed down the generations as a coming-of-age tradition for young boys.

At the beginning of the game, a young girl named is captured by the, a giant masked bird that mistook her for the pirate captain Tetra. After some persuasion, Tetra agrees to help Aryll's older brother, Link, chase after the Helmaroc King in order to rescue Aryll. During this pursuit, Link discovers that the bird is under the control of Ganondorf, who is revealed to be searching for the Princess Zelda of the current era. However, before he can clash with Ganondorf, Link is launched into the Great Sea by the Helmaroc King. After being saved by the King of Red Lions, Link then undergoes many trials, which includes acquiring the and rescuing Aryll, which results in The King of Red Lions bestowing him the title "Hero of Winds".

With Aryll safely on board alongside the pirate crew, Link soon discovers that his quest is not yet complete, as Ganondorf still poses a threat to the world now that the seal holding his power has been fully broken. Tetra and The King of Red Lions are eventually revealed to be Princess Zelda and King, respectively, the last members of the. As a result, Link takes Zelda to the underwater to keep her and the  of Wisdom safe, after which he proceeds to restore the Master Sword's  and reassemble the Triforce of Courage.

Now properly equipped, Link faces off against Ganondorf, who reveals his plan to use the Triforce to grant his wish of ruling Hyrule. With some assistance from Zelda's s, Link bests Ganondorf and ultimately kills him by plunging the Master Sword into his head. Immediately afterward, Hyrule is fully submerged within the Great Sea, as per Daphnes' Triforce-granted wish of Link and Zelda having a future instead of clinging to the long-forgetten kingdom. With the world saved and Aryll safely returned to their grandmother on Outset Island, Link decides to accompany Tetra and her crew on their journey for new lands, with Aryll, their grandmother and the rest of Outset Island's population tearfully saying goodbye while Link reciprocates the heartfelt feeling.

Some time after The Wind Waker, the events of  unfold. As the crew searches for new lands, Link, Tetra and the crew encounter the during their search, which, when boarded, suddenly turns Tetra to stone and teleports Link to the, where Tetra is imprisoned by. Link finds the, an item that protects him from the life-draining magic emitting from the , but only as long as it has sand in it. In addition to the Hourglass, he is accompanied by, a new fairy companion, and , a cowardly and greedy captain. Together, they journey to various islands that bring Link one step closer to defeating Bellum.

Eventually, Link forges the and defeats Bellum, saving Tetra. , the Ocean King, is restored to his original form, and he transports Link and Tetra back to their own realm. Tetra's crew claims everything to be a dream, as they state that only ten minutes passed when they supposedly fell asleep. However, Link discovers that he is still is possession of the now-empty Phantom Hourglass and sees the on the horizon, which confirms that his adventure in the World of the Ocean King was indeed real.

Sometime after the events of Phantom Hourglass, Link, Tetra and her crew discover a new land shortly after the conclusion of a war between the land's protectors, the, and a Demon King known as. Although the Spirits departed due to almost totally exhausting their power to seal Malladus, they entrusted their servants, the, to protect the land in their stead. Upon meeting the Lokomo, Tetra quickly struck up a friendship with their leader,. With the help of the Lokomo, Link and Tetra rechristen the land as New Hyrule, complete with a new Hyrule Castle almost identical to the previous one, and Tetra herself reinstating the Hyrule monarchy.

Other incarnations
In , Link is split into four while wielding the, with each Link wearing a differently-colored tunic: green for the original, and red, blue and purple for his copies. The four Links must cooperate, since working together proves to be essential in solving puzzles and defeating.

This concept would be revisited in , which sees a different Link in an entirely different timeline split into four in order to defeat Vaati again, and later a reincarnated Ganon.  acts as a prequel to the Four Swords games, with an earlier incarnation of Link forging the Four Sword. Unlike in the Four Swords games, the Four Sword enables Link to create ghostly copies of himself that also wear green tunics. The Minish Cap also acts as an origin story for Vaati and how he became a monster sealed within the Four Sword.

A hundred years after Phantom Hourglass, the events for The Legend of Zelda: Spirit Tracks unfold and follow a new Link and a new Princess Zelda, the latter of whom is Tetra's descendant. Unlike Tetra, the Hero of Winds does not make any kind of appearance whatsoever in Spirit Tracks. However, the Hero of Winds' legacy clearly lives on in New Hyrule: his signature clothing is the basis for the uniform worn by the country's s, while the exact same shield that he wielded during Phantom Hourglass can be acquired from, one of his and Tetra's shipmates. As a, this incarnation of Link dons the and drives the Spirit Train across New Hyrule, teaming up with his mentor  (a descendant of Tetra's crewmate ) and the Phantom-possessing spirit of Zelda in order to stop  from returning to power.

As a spiritual successor to the Four Swords games,  features three Links (with the main hero being the one with a green tunic) teaming up with one another to save of. While Link's design in this game closely resembles that of the Hero of the Winds, he is canonically the same incarnation from A Link Between Worlds despite the different art style. In addition to wearing many outfits fashioned by to grant them special abilities, the three Links can stack on top of each other to form Totem Link.

As a playable character
Toon Link is an unlockable character in Super Smash Bros. Brawl, in which he can be unlocked by either clearing Adventure Mode: The Subspace Emissary and/or going through the hidden door in The Forest stage, clearing with any character on any difficulty after clearing The Subspace Emissary, or by participating in 400 VS matches.

As a semi-clone of and a successor to, Toon Link's moveset is almost identical to theirs, although with some differences. One of the most notable differences is his Bomb, which emits an explosion that uses the art style from The Wind Waker and Phantom Hourglass.

However, there are mechanical differences as well, as the explosion has greater range, but less power compared to Young Link and Link's. Toon Link's neutral special, Hero's Bow, charges faster than Young Link's and shoots arrows farther compared to his and Link's. However, it charges slower than Link's, and his arrows fly slower than Link's. Toon Link's Spin Attack functions like Young Link's, as it traps opponents by hitting them multiple times before launching them away. However, it grants more distance when used as a recovery move, especially in comparison to Link's. Like Young Link, Toon Link possesses the Boomerang as his side special and as such, it provides noticeable differences compared to Link's Gale Boomerang: it does not push/pull opponents and grants more control when throwing it.

In regard to mobility, Toon Link's only differences from Young Link are his higher double jump and lower traction. However, Toon Link's mobility differs considerably from Link's: he walks and dashes faster than Link, his jump is higher and both it and his falling speed are floatier than Link's, and he can wall jump like Young Link. Toon Link's overall power is also similar to Young Link's, yet noticeably lower than Link's. Much like his special moves, a number of Toon Link's standard moves differ from theirs. The most noticeable examples include his up smash, neutral, forward, back and down aerials, and forward and back throws.

Toon Link is currently ranked 13th on the tier list, placing him in the C+ tier. This makes him both the highest ranking incarnation of Link in the Super Smash Bros. series, and the highest ranking fighter from The Legend of Zelda series in Brawl.

Trophies
Toon Link has a trophy that is awarded each time is completed with Toon Link on any difficulty.

As a playable character


Toon Link returns as a playable character in Super Smash Bros. 4, now as a starter character. Although fairly minor, Toon Link's design nevertheless underwent changes: his overall design and overall color scheme are sleeker and brighter, respectively, which make him virtually identical to his appearance as of .

Toon Link is currently ranked 23rd on the tier list. While his overall power was nerfed in the transition from Brawl, he retains his powerful zoning potential and gained fairly noticeable improvements to his grab game, the latter of which was arguably his greatest flaw in Brawl. His improved grab game allows for better spacing using his grab aerial, and grants him a KO option in the form of his back throw. Like in Brawl, Toon Link has achieved decent tournament representation and impressive results.

As a background character
The Spirit Tracks incarnation of Link, also known simply as Engineer Link, appears on Spirit Train as its conductor. However, if Toon Link and/or Link fights on the stage, will be the conductor instead. Engineer Link also has two trophies: one featuring him wearing his, and one featuring him wearing the Recruit Uniform and playing the.

As a playable character
Toon Link returns as an unlockable character in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate. Unlike in previous games, he is now joined by, with both characters functioning as derivatives of each other in certain aspects.

As a background character
Engineer Link once again appears on Spirit Train when there are no Links in battle. Compared to SSB4, he appears virtually identical to Toon Link (save for his Engineer's Clothes), instead of using a polygonal model similar to the ones in Phantom Hourglass and Spirit Tracks.

Trivia

 * Toon Link's artwork in Super Smash Bros. Brawl closely resembles his artwork in The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker. The only differences are the former's mirrored hairstyle, slight re-positioning of his arms, and a lack of the apparent gust of wind.
 * Toon Link's character model in Super Smash Bros. Brawl is ported directly from The Wind Waker, with only a few minor tweaks and new textures added.
 * In The Wind Waker and most other games with the "Toon" art style, Link's eyes and eyebrows are visible through his hair. While this trait does not apply to his Super Smash Bros. model, it still be seen on his Outset Link trophy in Brawl and the Link (Spirit Tracks) trophy in Super Smash Bros. 4.
 * Prior to Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, Toon Link, Young Link and Roy were the only swordsmen in the  series whose swords consistently produced a punch/kick sound effect instead of a slashing sound effect for the majority of their moves.
 * Toon Link, Young Link and Cloud Strife are the only swordsmen in the Super Smash Bros. series capable of wall jumping.
 * Despite being able to crawl in their respective games, Toon Link, Mario, Donkey Kong, Link, Young Link, and Pit are unable to do so in the Super Smash Bros. series.
 * Toon Link is the only fighter from The Legend of Zelda series:
 * To have debuted in the 21st century.
 * Whose design remains the same for more than two Super Smash Bros. games in a row. This is very similar to how his "Toon" design has been used for more games in his home series than any of the realistically designed Links.
 * Whose art style has been used in every established timeline: the Unified Timeline (Four Swords and The Minish Cap), the Child Timeline (Four Swords Adventures), the Adult Timeline (The Wind Waker, Phantom Hourglass and Spirit Tracks), and the Downfall Timeline (Tri Force Heroes). Although Skyward Sword and Breath of the Wild use cel-shading like the "Toon" games, they instead feature anatomically realistic character designs.
 * Despite using the "Toon" art style, the green-haired Link seen in The Legend of Zelda: Tri Force Heroes is actually the same Link from The Legend of Zelda: A Link Between Worlds.
 *  is the only other game outside of the Super Smash Bros. series where the Hero of Winds is referred to as Toon Link instead of simply Link.
 * On a related note, Hyrule Warriors is also the first game to refer to use the "Toon" term in reference to the art style itself, as shown by its referral of the Princess Zelda from The Legend of Zelda: Spirit Tracks as Toon Zelda.
 * The Super Smash Bros. series depicts Toon Link wielding both the Master Sword and in all of his playable appearances, with the former being based on its appearance when its power to repel evil is fully restored. This is inaccurate to Link's appearance in The Wind Waker, as the  would replace the Hero's Shield by the time the fully powered Master Sword is obtained.
 * Similarly, Toon Link also has a Hookshot as a grab in all of his appearances, even though he can't obtain the Hookshot in The Wind Waker until after obtaining the Mirror Shield.