Link (SSBU)

Link (, Link) is a playable character in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate. He was suggested to appear in the then unnamed Ultimate in its first teaser trailer at the end of the March 8th, 2018 Nintendo Direct, and officially announced in Ultimate's E3 2018 trailer on June 12th. Link is classified as Fighter #03.

Kengo Takanashi, Link's voice actor from , reprises his role in Ultimate with newly recorded voice clips, replacing Akira Sasanuma's portrayal from The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess used in Super Smash Bros. Brawl and Super Smash Bros. 4.

Link is currently ranked 53rd out of 82 characters on the current tier list, placing him in the B- tier. This is a noticeable drop from his placement in SSB4, where he ranked 31st out of 54.

Attributes
Link is a heavyweight swordsman that sports powerful attacks and long range via the Master Sword. Link sports an above-average walking speed, the 15th slowest dashing speed, above-average initial dash, the 10th slowest air speed (tied with ), the 4th slowest air acceleration, average gravity, above-average falling speed, the 6th highest fast falling speed, and above-average traction. Lastly, Link has among the lowest jumps in the game. Overall, these stats render Link's mobility generally poor. Like his alternate timeline counterparts and, Link possesses two shields instead of just one. In Link's case, he wields the Hylian Shield, which blocks opposing projectiles if he is standing still, walking, or crouching. Like Toon Link, Link also wields his respective version of the, which sports overall better range compared to the previous installment.

In addition to overall long range, Link's grounded moveset features other merits: neutral attack deals above-average damage and has a reliable semi-spike in its third hit. Forward tilt boasts both above-average damage and knockback, which in tandem with its good range and low ending lag, makes for a great spacing option. Up tilt also deals above-average damage which, in tandem with its low ending lag and large range, makes it a great juggling option. Down tilt possesses low ending lag, satisfactory damage, and high vertical knockback; altogether, these traits render it a great combo starter for devastating chains of aerial attacks. Dash attack possesses high damage, knockback, range, and traveling distance, all of which make it very useful for KOs at around 110%.

Link's KO potential shines strongly in his smash attacks, all of which deal high damage and knockback. Forward smash has large range and a tipper on the first hit. His forward smash is a natural combo without activating the tip. When Link is at 0% or when he has full stamina in a stamina battle, the first swing of his forward smash releases a sword beam that can be charged to improve damage and distance. His up smash hits three times, has wide range, and average startup; these attributes, in tandem with up smash's high damage and knockback, makes it very reliable for both damage-racking and KOing. His down smash deals the lowest damage out of Link's smash attacks, but its decent speed and vertical trajectory make it a very useful edgeguarding option; down smash's edgeguarding capabilities are further bolstered through its second hit's strongest hitbox, which is a reliable semi-spike.

Link's aerial attacks are useful in their own rights. His neutral aerial is a sex kick with low all-around lag and good damage output overall, and is able to lock and combo with other aerial and ground attacks; forward aerial sports long range, low landing lag, and high damage, making it one of Link's most reliable KOing options; back aerial is Link's fastest aerial in terms of startup lag, being able to combo into itself at low percents and other attacks at higher percents; up aerial deals high damage, a long-lasting hitbox, and great range, making it reliable for both KOs and juggles; down aerial is similar to up aerial in some regards, but its clean hit instead functions as a reliable meteor smash that KOs at alarmingly early percents (its grounded hit KOs at 125%). Down aerial can be used to bounce off of opponents, which can actually aid Link's recovery.

Although Link's close combat capabilities are excellent, he shines primarily when it comes to his projectiles: arrows from his bow, Boomerang, and Remote Bomb. Bow and Arrows has Link fire an arrow straight ahead, which can be spammed to some degree; it can be charged, greatly increasing its damage, knockback, and distance, making it a good gimping and pressuring tool. Link's neutral special is unique in the fact that his arrows briefly linger on the ground when landing, allowing him to pick them up and fire two arrows simultaneously; Link is able to deal more damage and knockback, aiding neutral special's KO potential.

Boomerang travels decently far and deals good damage, which can be further exploited by smash tapping the move: the Boomerang's distance and damage are increased as a result. Boomerang also launches opponents vertically with high base knockback on its way forward, and launches opponents towards Link on its way back. When coupled with its ability to be angled up and down, Boomerang is a flexible combo starter and approaching option.

Remote Bomb can be thrown as an item, potentially being able to initiate combos by chaining it with other attacks. This is further bolstered by the Remote Bomb's 30-second time limit, which gives it plenty of time to be abused as a projectile. The Bomb's detonation has large range and deals decent damage and knockback, with enough power to KO opponents at 180%. Although Link can be harmed by his own bomb's explosion, he can exploit its vertical knockback offstage as a means of aiding his recovery. This also allows him to launch himself way past the ledge without going into freefall, avoiding being edge-trapped.

Link's primary recovery move and most offensive special attack is Spin Attack. The move's grounded version boasts decent damage and knockback, good range, and is a fast out of shield option, giving it decent utility; however, it can be charged, increasing its damage output and knockback, significantly improving its KO ability. Aerial Spin Attack is instead a multi-hitting series of sword slashes that gains respectable vertical distance and has good knockback on its last hit, making it good for KOing near the upper blast line.

However, like all fighters, Link has some weaknesses. Although he has noticeably better mobility than his predecessors, Link's mobility is still inconsistent and somewhat on the poor side. Despite his fast walking speed, his dash is only marginally faster, making it very sluggish and unreliable for approaching (with foxtrotting being the only way of mitigating this issue). Link's air speed and air acceleration are both notoriously poor, making his air game solely reliant on the traits of his aerial attacks. On a related note, Link's recovery is burdened by the combination of his low jumps and high falling speed, his aforementioned poor air speed and air acceleration, and the merely average travel distance of Spin Attack. Due to lacking a Hookshot or a Clawshot in his moveset, Link lacks both a tether recovery and another spacing option, the former of which further hinders his recovery.

Link's lack of a Hookshot/Clawshot also results in his grab game differing entirely: due to grabbing opponents with his bare hands, his grab speed is significantly quicker at the cost of his grab having much less range. Thus, Link's grab game is much more aggressive and up-close. Despite being a swordsman, Link's grab game is decent overall. His pummel is fast and his down throw is a reliable combo starter into moves like up tilt, up smash, neutral aerial and up aerial. Although Link's up throw will semi-spike bystanders, it has minimal KO potential. Finally, his forward and back throws deal minimal damage and while both are best suited for setting up edgeguards, only forward throw is decent in that regard.

Overall, Link is a flexible zoner character; while his long-distance projectiles and disjointed hitboxes make him play somewhat defensively for much of the match, his excellent out-of-shield options and KO power allow him to close in on his opponents with the right timing and deal large amounts of damage very quickly. However, Link players must be cautious to not play recklessly due to his below-average frame data and mobility, as many other characters can make it difficult for him to utilize his options with their superior speed. Throughout Ultimate's lifespan, Link has garnered great results from many different players, although his results did go down slightly after the first few months of the game's release.

Changes from Super Smash Bros. 4
Link has received arguably the most noticeable changes of any veteran in Ultimate. Due to his appearance being updated to the Hero of the Wild from , he incorporates multiple elements from that game into his moveset, such as the, the and , the , and the ability to fire two arrows at once. This has led to a much larger overhaul in his moveset compared to other veterans, as several of his attacks either have altered or completely new animations alongside mechanical changes. As a result, Link has gained a large mix of buffs and nerfs in his transition to Ultimate, but has been buffed overall.

Compared to his predecessors (the and the Hero of Twilight) in Smash, Link has better close combat and spacing capabilities, thanks to his faster movement speed, a stronger and longer ranged Boomerang (which also improved his combo game), and the longer range on his Master Sword, now having range on par with other swordfighters, such as  or. Particularly, the latter change has either improved or outright granted his attacks' more utility: forward tilt is now much more effective as a ledge-trapping option due to its wider arc, down tilt's reduced damage output allows the move to combo for much longer (even serving as a potential KO confirm at higher percents), up smash serves as a more threatening anti-air option, forward aerial is more effective as a spacing option while the first hit can now be used to start combos, up aerial catches airborne opponents from a farther distance, and Spin Attack has increased reliability as an out of shield option and KOing tool due to its faster start-up and larger sweetspot.

Furthermore, Link benefits from some of the universal gameplay mechanics, all of which have improved his previously below average close combat game. His grab game has slightly improved due to him now possessing a more standard grab; while the Hookshot and Clawshot granted his predecessors a long-ranged grab, they were unsafe due to their high startup and ending lag. Ultimate's improved dash-canceling, when coupled with Link's faster mobility, above average traction and the Master Sword's overall improved range, altogether improve his ground game's utility noticeably.

Link's air game has also benefitted from gameplay changes: the combination of his standardized jumpsquat (which is much faster than his predecessors') and the universal reduction of landing lag make his aerial combo game significantly more potent, as well as result in him having somewhat less difficulty when it comes to landing safely. This has been demonstrated with neutral aerial's weak hit allowing him to set-up for a grab at low percents, forward aerial's first hit comboing into other moves until very high percentages, back aerial's SHFF'd first hit now serving as a KO setup at high percents, and his aerials' damage outputs making them safer on shield despite the reduced shieldstun for aerial attacks.

Unlike his predecessors, Link uses the Remote Bomb instead of a standard. Compared to standard Bombs, Remote Bombs can be detonated at will, making it function similarly to 's C4, and feature both much higher knockback and a much larger blast radius. These changes modify his set-up and combo routes, as the Remote Bomb can now be detonated or Z-dropped into one of Link's own attacks. They also significantly improve Link's pressuring, edgeguarding and edge trapping abilities, since the bomb can be thrown while only being detonated at command. Lastly, the move possesses potential as a strong, albeit difficult recovery option, as it can also be Z-dropped and detonated to launch Link a considerable distance forward.

However, Link is not without his fair share of nerfs. As a result of the several changes and alterations his moveset received, he has inadvertently lost several key strengths that his predecessors possessed. While Link has a much faster grab than his predecessors, his lack of a Hookshot/Clawshot significantly worsens his overall grab range (having, in fact, one of the shortest and least disjointed grabs among the cast), but also effectively removed one of his more potent recovery and spacing options. Some of his sword-based attacks also received hitbox reductions, now mapping them strictly to the Master Sword itself. While this does not necessarily affect the reach of his attacks that involve swinging his sword from above (i.e. forward tilt, up tilt, forward smash), it has reduced the vertical reach of his attacks that are swung in front of him (i.e. down tilt), while also hindering the horizontal range of his thrusting sword attacks (i.e. up aerial, down aerial), making them slightly harder to land overall.

Link's lack of standard Bombs also hinders him in a variety of ways, as he can no longer pull out Bombs as a way to potentially break out of combos, making him slightly more vulnerable to them. Since Remote Bombs no longer explode on impact, KO set-ups with them have effectively become harder to perform. Link can only have one Remote Bomb out a time, resulting in them becoming a worse zoning option overall.

Finally, despite sporting less landing lag and a better Spin Attack than his predecessors, the majority of his frame data is more sluggish in comparison, especially on the ground. A considerable number of his attacks have either increased endlag (such as forward tilt or down tilt) or increased start-up lag (such as neutral attack, forward smash, down smash, and forward aerial), making it harder for him to defend himself up close against opponents with superior frame data, such as or. This requires Link to be more wary when fighting opponents with such strong boxing capabilities and use the longer range of his Master Sword to his advantage, as his weaker frame data can put him at a greater risk of being thrown into a disadvantage state easier.

Overall, the changes to Link have somewhat repurposed his playstyle from that of a hard-hitting zoner with long-ranged melee attacks, to one that also incorporates more stage control and trapping tactics with his Remote Bomb, simiarly to to Snake. Because of this, Link has noticeably deviated from not only his predecessors, but also and  in terms of his overall gameplan. Even so, Link's buffs eclipse his nerfs, and he is agreed to fare better competitively than his predecessors, though the extent of how much is debatable given other veterans have been buffed to varying degrees as well.

Update history
Link received a mix of buffs, a single nerf and glitch fixes via game updates, but was buffed slightly overall. The most significant nerf Link received was in Version 3.0.0 where Boomerang now deals much less shield damage as part of the universal projectile nerf, worsening his zoning potential. However, most of the buffs specifically improve Link's combo potential, as his combo starters were altered to more reliably connect into each other and the kill potential of some combo enders has been increased. Another small but significant buff came in Version 4.0.0 with Link being able to Shield SDI projectiles, allowing him to more easily escape combos that characters set up with projectiles.

Overall, Link fares mildly better than he did at launch. His projectiles have not been significantly affected and his combo game has been improved across the board, making him more affective with a bait-and-punish style of setting traps and rushing down caught opponents.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Moveset
For a gallery of Link's hitboxes, see here.
 * While Link is standing still, walking or crouching, any incoming projectiles that hit his Hylian Shield will simply push him back slightly instead of inflicting damage. It can block any amount of projectiles, regardless of their power.

On-screen appearance

 * Glides in on his, and pulls out his sword.

Taunts

 * Up Taunt: Swings the twice and then twirls it behind him before sheathing it. It is very similar to the Hero of Twilight's victory pose in ', which he performs after learning a  or defeating a boss/particularly difficult enemy. It also resembles the pose he performs after pulling out the Master Sword from its pedestal in '.
 * Side Taunt: Holds the Master Sword in front of himself with both hands as its blade shines with a light blue gleam, indicating its . It is similar to 's up taunt.
 * Down Taunt: Assumes a -like stance while rearing the Master Sword behind his head. Loosely based on the attacking pose used by the Link from .

Idle poses

 * Assumes a battle stance.
 * Looks behind him.

Crowd cheer
 

Victory poses

 * Left: Swings the Master Sword three times and looks to his right. It resembles the Hero of Time's "character chosen" animation in Super Smash Bros., albeit with Link facing a different direction.
 * Up: Thrusts the Master Sword in front of himself, then brings it near his face before thrusting it upward while giving off a battle cry. Based on the animation that occurs when he pulls the Master Sword in The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild.
 * Right: Swings the Master Sword briskly, then turns his back to the camera and sheaths it. It resembles the Hero of Twilight's victory pose in The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess.

Tier placement and history
In the beginning of Ultimate's metagame, many players the character had significantly improved from SSB4, recognizing the increased reach of his sword, the return of his previous Boomerang from Smash 64 and Melee, his improved mobility, most of his aerials being safe on shield (most notably his neutral air), and the versatility of his new Remote Bomb special. Compounded with 's strong success with the character at majors and supermajors in the game's early months, Link received an extremely positive reception from the community, being regarded as a high-tier or even a top-tier character. Although opinions on the character eventually mellowed out, especially after Salem dropped the character, the continued to remain positive thanks to strong results from Link players on a regional level and 's strong performances at majors, leading Link to have a relatively average playerbase.

However, the post-pandemic period saw Link's position in the metagame decline, most notably due to 's lower activity and worse results. On the other hand, there were not a lot of Links active at a national level, with only a few players such as and  seeing some success outside of regionals. This led to a noticeable decline in Link's metagame representation, with the character dropping from 32nd at the end of 2019 to 55th by the end of 2022. Due to this, most players reassessed the character as a mid-tier, which is reflected in Link's current position on the tier list, where he is ranked 53rd out of 82 characters and on the lower half of the upper-mid tier.

Most historically significant players
See also: Category:Link players (SSBU)


 * - The best Link player in Mexico. Placed 3rd at, 5th at , and 13th at and  with wins over players such as , , and . Ranked 17th on the Mexican Power Rankings.
 * - Although he has yet to make an appearance offline, he is considered one of the all-time best players in Japan's online metagame, winning several events such as 157th Maesuma and 154th Tamisuma SP and ranking 1st on the 9th Smashmate SP ranking.
 * - One of the two best Link players in Europe. Placed 9th at, 17th at both and , 25th at , and 33rd at  with wins over players such as , , and . Ranked 39th on the European Smash Rankings.
 * - The best Link player in the world in the post-online metagame. He regularly places highly at events, including 5th at the superregional and 17th at the major.
 * - The best Link player of all-time, with performances that have yet to be matched by any other Link player. He remains the only Link player who has placed top 8 at a major, having placed 4th at the major and 5th at the supermajor.
 * - One of the two best Link players in Europe. Placed 9th at, 25th at both and , and 33rd at both  and  with wins over players such as , , and . Ranked 43rd on the European Smash Rankings.

: A Quest to Seal the Darkness
Link's opponents are all affiliated with darkness, referencing the main goal of every game in his series: to destroy darkness.

Credits roll after completing Classic Mode. Completing it as Link has  accompany the credits.

Character unlock tree
Link's Classic Mode character unlock tree includes the following characters in order:

Each character can be unlocked by clearing Link's Classic Mode, or the Classic Mode of any preceding character, if all preceding characters have been unlocked. Once all the above characters are unlocked, clearing Classic Mode with any of them will default to 's character unlock tree, starting with.

Role in World of Light
Link was among the fighters summoned to the cliffside to fight the army of Master Hands.

During the opening cutscene, Link was present on the cliffside when Galeem unleashed his beams of light. Link successfully deflected three beams of light with his shield, but he lost his footing on the third blow, and, failing to block the fourth beam coming for him, was vaporized and placed under Galeem's imprisonment along with the rest of the fighters (excluding ).

Link is unlocked near a Sheikah Tower when taking ’s route. The player must defeat Don's spirit to access his unlock battle.

Spirits
Link's fighter spirit can be obtained by completing as him. It is also available periodically for purchase in the shop for 300 Gold. Unlocking Link in World of Light allows the player to preview the second 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, various incarnations of Link make an appearance in various primary and support spirits.

Trivia

 * Ultimate marks the first time in the Smash series where Link does not:
 * use recycled voice clips from his respective Zelda games; this also applies to.
 * By extension, Ultimate marks the first time in which any incarnation of Link (including Young Link and Toon Link) has new voice clips recorded for Smash as opposed to reused ones from the Zelda series.
 * fight left-handed, matching Breath of the Wild; this resulted in multiple animation changes.
 * wield the Triforce, as it does not appear in Breath of the Wild.
 * This also makes Link's Ultimate iteration the first playable The Legend of Zelda character that does not wield the Triforce.
 * wear his trademark green tunic as his default outfit, as well as the first time Link no longer has his Goron and Zora tunics from Ocarina of Time as his respective red and blue alternate costumes. His new red and blue costumes are based on armor sets from Breath of the Wild - the and the Royal Guard Uniform, respectively.
 * Ironically, Link's Champion's Tunic cannot be dyed in Breath of the Wild despite being the base for four of his costumes in Ultimate. His Hero of the Wild set can be dyed, but the colors used for the other three costumes based on this outfit are not possible in Breath of the Wild.
 * Despite being recolored versions of the Hero of the Wild outfit, neither his Fierce Deity nor his Twilight Princess-inspired costumes appear to expose his knees. This is in line with how both outfits appear in their respective Zelda games. Additionally, if one views him wearing these costumes during gameplay, then one can tell that his trousers were indeed lengthened due to the appearance of seams and other fabric detail and not just simply recoloring his legs.
 * Despite Link's default design lacking a cap, still gains his familiar green cap when copying Link.
 * Link's Skyloft-based alternate costume (now a white recolor of his Champion's Tunic) is the only one of his eight costumes in this game that does not appear in Breath of the Wild.
 * Link's Tunic of the Wild-based costume somewhat resembles Link's design in both A Link to the Past and A Link Between Worlds (which also inspired Zelda's design in this game), particularly the tunic's brown-colored sleeves, and having his knees completely exposed. This is best seen if Link (while wearing this costume) and Zelda are both on the stage at the same time.
 * In the E3 demo of the game, Link's portrait used his in-game model instead of his official artwork. This was also the case for, and.
 * Link is one of the five veterans from Smash 4 to have their Boxing Ring alias changed in Ultimate, the others being Kirby,, , and.
 * Link is ranked #3 on Ultimate's roster, which is coincidentally the same number of playable Links in the game as well as the same number of pieces in the, as well as the number of sides of a triangle.
 * While Link's Smash series amiibo is based on his SSB4 appearance and does not match his Ultimate design, he possesses an amiibo in the Breath of the Wild line that matches his incarnation in Ultimate (despite possessing different weapons) and is identical to his Fighter Spirit.
 * In Link's Hero of the Wild outfit, there's a gap on his right arm.
 * One of Link's Tips talks about how Link's name is only in five titles in the series, and that one is trickier to remember than the others. These games are Zelda II: The Adventure of Link, The Legend of Zelda: A Link To the Past, The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening, The Legend of Zelda: A Link Between Worlds, and the one that is "trickier to remember" being Link's Crossbow Training.
 * Link is the most common opponent for Classic Mode routes, as he appears in 23 different routes.
 * Despite his Twilight Princess incarnation (which based his designs in Brawl and SSB4) being retired after this game, the Twilight Princess version of Link still makes an appearance in Ultimate as a spirit, although in his Wolf form.
 * Marketing for Ultimate depicts Link as a mascot of the game alongside Mario with roughly equal status for the first time in the series; for instance, Mario and Link were the two most prominent veterans teased for the game in March 2018, they are the two most prominent characters on the "Everyone is Here" cast artwork, and were shown on interstitial screens to represent the game at.
 * The only cases in which Link does not share prominence with Mario are the video (depicting Mario and  as has been tradition), the Controls menu (due to the fact that only one character is used to test controls), and Adventure Mode: World of Light (as Mario is the first required unlock while Link can be skipped over, although Kirby is the mode's de facto starter character). While Mario is marginally more prominent on the boxart for Ultimate, it still depicts him and Link as a mascot duo.
 * Interestingly, although Link has a new side taunt, an unused model of the fairy from his previous side taunt (which is given to Young Link instead in Ultimate) remains in his character files.
 * When fighting off the fifty puppet fighter army as Master Hand in World of Light, Link is one of the eight fighters fought there, being affiliated with Galeem.
 * The Sword Beam from Link's forward smash flashes as it travels and produces a brighter flash before it disappears. The bright flash always occurs after 30 frames whereas the Beam lasts between 32-40 frames, making it appear to last longer than it should.