Light Arrow

Light Arrow (, Bow and Arrow of Light) is the Final Smash of both Zelda and Sheik in Super Smash Bros. Brawl and Super Smash Bros. 4.

Overview
When used, Zelda/Sheik draws a large bow and sets an arrow. During this time, any characters in her line-of-sight will flinch. A second later, the Light Arrow is released, dealing significant damage and likely KO'ing the struck characters, although its power decreases drastically for every target caught in the blow.

The move consists of two hits. The first hit is weak and stuns opponents to keep them in place for the main hit. It has limited range of 300 units, covering approximately 1.7 times the length of Final Destination or 40 units more than. The main hit of the move deals a large amount of damage and knockback, both of which vary between Zelda and Sheik's versions. It deals reduced damage to successive targets; anything that can be hit, including players, bosses, items (such as crates and Assist Trophy summons), and attackable stage elements, can all be hit by the attack and reduce the damage of the main hit to subsequent targets. The main hit has seemingly unlimited range in Brawl but has a limited range of 300 units (same as the first hit) in Smash 4, meaning in Brawl it is possible to get hit while being out of range to be stunned.

The move can hit a maximum of 8 targets in Brawl and 7 targets in SSB4, with reduced damage (and thus knockback) for each target hit. Thus, if used on many targets, the further ones will take much less damage, and further opponents may not be KO'd even at high percentages. For each fighter the arrow connects with, the match will pause as the camera does a slow-motion close-up of each hit one in order (similar to the Dragoon). This zoom effect is faster in SSB4 than in Brawl.

This move penetrates opponents' shields. Unusually for Brawl, this Final Smash also ignores super armor, and can therefore successfully hit opponents that are in super armor frames. This is likely due to the paralyzing effect of the first hit, which overrides the super armor and allows the main hit to connect with full power.

While the basic move is the same whether Zelda or Sheik uses it, the properties of the arrow are slightly different for each of them. The primary difference is that Zelda's launches at the Sakurai angle (and thus usually about 45 degrees), while Sheik's launches at a semi-spike angle (10 degrees in Brawl and 20 degrees in SSB4). Zelda's Light Arrow also does less damage but more knockback than Sheik's Light Arrow; in Brawl, Zelda's has enough knockback to one-hit KO the first target at 0% damage, though it is barely in the OHKO threshold and can be DI'ed. In SSB4, Zelda's Light Arrow, while still powerful, can no longer OHKO. In both games, Sheik's Light Arrow can be very powerful against fighters with poor recoveries due to its semi-spike angle, especially if used on recovering opponents.

In Brawl, opponents that are close together when hit by this move may collide with each other, potentially preventing them from being KO'd. Thus, spacing of opponents is very important when using the Light Arrow. This is even more important in Sheik's version, where opponents are launched at a very low angle.

Damage
For both Zelda and Sheik's Light Arrows, the stun hit that occurs first deals 3% damage in Brawl and 1% damage in SSB4. Successive targets hit by the main hit of the move multiply its damage by 0.75 for subsequent targets. The stun hit's damage is not affected by the number of targets. The below tables detail only the main hit's damage.

Origin
In conjunction with the Master Sword, Light Arrows have been used in series as a weapon used to stun Ganon/Ganondorf, leaving him vulnerable to the Master Sword. The concept for them probably comes from the original NES The Legend of Zelda, in which Link used a similar weapon called the to defeat Ganon. Link was first able to wield the Light Arrows in The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time, where he utilized them in the penultimate showdown with Ganondorf.

The first incarnation of Zelda to use Light Arrows was the Zelda in  (also known as Tetra), wielding Link's Hero's Bow and Light Arrows in the final battle against Ganondorf.

The bow and Light Arrows used in Smash Bros. are based on the  design, in which Zelda is granted the Light Arrows by the and once again uses them in the final battle against Ganondorf.

Trivia

 * Light Arrow is the only Final Smash shared between two non-clone characters, due to Zelda and Sheik being able to transform into each other in Brawl.
 * Dark Pit Staff is very similar to this move, and is often considered a clone of Light Arrow due to its similar properties (down to the zooming in on hit).
 * The same can be said about Ancient Bow and Arrow; however, as Light Arrow has been replaced in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, Ancient Bow and Arrow could also be considered its successor (though it is used by rather than Zelda or Sheik).