Sheik (SSBB)

Sheik (, Sheik) is a character in Super Smash Bros. Brawl. Sheik was originally hinted to return as a playable character when Eiji Aonuma, director of The Legend of Zelda stated he had sent the Twilight Princess designs of her, Link and Ganondorf to Sakurai. She was officially revealed on January 16, 2008. Jun Mizusawa once again voices Sheik, with some voice clips recycled from Melee.

Sheik has experienced a significant drop in her tier position, from being ranked 5th in the top tier of Melee, to being ranked 25th in the Middle tier of Brawl, her worst placement in the series. Sheik retains her blinding attack speed from Melee, possessing some of the fastest movement, and frame data only rivaled by. Additionally, Sheik possesses a transcendent and fast projectile with high damage potential in her Needles, as well as great combo ability, most notably with her forward tilt that can rack up over 50% in damage on most characters. Her power was significantly nerfed from Melee however. She possesses few attacks that can KO under 150% outside edge guarding, and of those few potential finishers, only two can be considered reliable in KOing (her sweetspotted up smash and the explosion in Vanish), both of which are difficult to land. Sheik also has very poor endurance; suffering from the combination of being tall and light, causing her to sustain high knockback while being rather easy to hit, which is exacerbated by her poor momentum cancelling, and her short distanced and easily edge hogged recovery. Additional problems Sheik has include her fast falling speed leaving her vulnerable to some juggles and chain throws, as well as short reach in the majority of her attacks. This has resulted in average matchups and below average tournament results for Sheik. Despite ranking significantly higher than Zelda, who rests at 37th on the tier list (second to dead last), her Zelda/Sheik form is considered a better character and is ranked slightly higher than Sheik alone (currently 24th), mainly as transforming into Zelda can help alleviate the very severe KO problems Sheik has in some matchups (such as against ).

Attributes
Sheik is one of the fastest characters in the game, having the 5th fastest running speed, high attack speed, and a quick, long and deadly DACUS. She has one of the best comboing abilities, as her attacks have very little start up and ending lag, with overall low knockback, allowing them to chain effectively. The best example of this is Sheik's forward tilt. As in Melee, the forward tilt can smoothly follow after her up tilt, down tilt, neutral aerial, forward aerial, back aerial, down smash, and jab cancel; it can also repeatedly link into itself to easily rack up 50% or more, especially on fast-fallers or heavy characters, such as. Sheik's up tilt can combo into itself very low percentages, and at slightly higher percentages, it leads well into a forward tilt. It has a very large hitbox in terms of size and duration, making it a powerful defensive move.

Sheik has rather poor smash attacks overall, Sheik's down smash has multiple hits and has long range, but has very low knockback for an attack of its type. Her up smash can KO easily at around 100%, but only when it is sweetspotted, which is not always easy. Her forward smash is among the weakest in Brawl, but it is a two hit combo and has fairly good range.

Sheik also has a fairly powerful aerial game. Her back and neutral aerials have very similar knockback and speed and negligible landing lag outside of auto-cancel. If hit in the initial few frames, they have decent knockback, making them useful for edgeguarding, and they have good range. Her up aerial has some landing lag and has less knockback. Her forward aerial is a quick swipe with low knockback but a great semi-spike trajectory, low lag, but sub-par range. This makes it a great move for KO'ing at higher percentages. Her down aerial is a stall-then-fall, negating all vertical knockback, but unfortunately, it has high landing lag and can cause a SD if used off-stage.

Sheik does have versatility amongst her special moves. Needle Storm is a fast projectile that can be very hard to dodge and can be charged for increased damage. Sheik's up special is somewhat low in terms of recovery distance, but it has the second highest knockback of any of Sheik's moves. Combined with the invulnerability it grants, this can occasionally be used against some moves as a powerful counter, but it's also one of the hardest moves to hit with unless used in this way: it can also be used to edgeguard through Vanish Gliding. Sheik's forward special is the Chain, which can be used for a tether recovery and the Chain Jacket, which can be used to insert the knockback of the last attack into the Chain, giving an advantage over characters without attacks that cannot outrange or clank with the Chain. It is slow coming out and returning, however, and leaves her vulnerable from behind, a problem that can be capitalized on. Sheik's down special transforms her into Zelda, which allows use of two different characters in the same match, which can help to balance some of Sheik's weaknesses. Sheik also can wall jump, wall cling, and crawl.

Sheik is not a character without any weaknesses, however. Above all, Sheik does not have much KO'ing power on most of her moves, as a majority of her KO'ing moves in Melee were severely nerfed. Her two most powerful KO'ing moves are her sweetspotted up smash and Vanish, which are hard to connect with compared to Sheik's other moves. Sheik can use techniques such as DACUS and forward tilt to help connect her up smash, to an extent, but nothing else KO's reliably below 150%. This makes Sheik very reliant on getting numerous hits to rack up damage and edgeguarding. Additionally, Sheik's best chain of attacks (the forward tilt chain) often stops working before the opponent reaches KO percentage (stops at about 50%, depending on the match-up of course: lasts to later percentages on fast-fallers and heavy characters like and, but stops sooner on light and floaty characters like  and ). Because of this, it may be best to turn back into Zelda to KO the opponent. Sheik also has poor attack range on a good number of moves. Sheik is also very light-weight and tall for her weight class, making her easier to defeat than many characters (though this is not without its advantages, as it allows Sheik to escape some chaingrabs, including Dedede's infamous Chaingrab), and her poor recovery often comes up short. Sheik is also one of the fastest-falling characters in the game, making her vulnerable to any chaingrab that is effective against fast-fallers.

Changes from Super Smash Bros. Melee
Sheik has received a mix of nerfs and buffs in her transition from Melee to Brawl. Her KO'ing ability is much worse though: up smash, neutral air, forward air, and up air have had their damage and knockback significantly reduced, and with the changes to hitstun, they cannot be comboed into as effectively and are thus much harder to land. In addition to that, she is more vulnerable to KO's herself, as her weight and fall speed have been lowered while her gravity has been increased. Her grab game has been worsened as well: all of her throws deal less damage (except for back throw), and she has lost the ability to chain-grab and set-up other moves with her down throw, which played a major role in her success in Melee while she herself is now one of the most vulnerable characters to chain-grabs due to her increased gravity. The reduced damage on many of Sheik's moves, the removal of much of down throw's follow-up potential, and the general changes to hitstun and fall speeds have limited Sheik's ability to rack up damage, though it is still quite good relative to the rest of the cast. Transform takes longer to execute, and so transforming into Zelda to make use of her superior recovery is now impractical.

Sheik has received some notable buffs. Her already solid mobility has been improved further (especially when compared to other returning veterans). Her down aerial is now a stall-then-fall, allowing her to make good use of vertical momentum cancelling, aiding her vertical endurance. Due to the more severe effects of stale-move negation as well as its decreased damage, SDI multiplier and ending lag, forward tilt's combo potential has been improved, especially on fast-fallers, as Sheik can now lock them with her forward tilt for as much as 50% damage. Chain can be used as a tether recovery, and Vanish is faster and more powerful. Needle Storm has been given transcendent priority, which overall improves her camping ability, and she is also one of the biggest benefactors of the DACUS technique as her DACUS covers a large distance and her up smash (despite its decrease in power) still remains a solid KO option. Lastly, while Transform is a lot slower, it now resets stale-move negation improving Zelda's KO power if Transform is used.

However, such buffs do not compensate for the nerfs to her damage output and KO'ing ability and the changes to the game's mechanics hinder her far more than they help her, resulting in her being considered a below-average character relative to the cast, a far cry from her top-tier status in Melee, in a similar line to.

Ground attacks

 * Neutral attack:
 * Forward tilt:
 * Up tilt:
 * Down tilt:
 * Dash attack:
 * Forward smash:
 * Up smash:
 * Down smash:
 * Up tilt:
 * Down tilt:
 * Dash attack:
 * Forward smash:
 * Up smash:
 * Down smash:
 * Down tilt:
 * Dash attack:
 * Forward smash:
 * Up smash:
 * Down smash:
 * Dash attack:
 * Forward smash:
 * Up smash:
 * Down smash:
 * Forward smash:
 * Up smash:
 * Down smash:
 * Forward smash:
 * Up smash:
 * Down smash:
 * Up smash:
 * Down smash:
 * Up smash:
 * Down smash:
 * Up smash:
 * Down smash:
 * Down smash:
 * Down smash:
 * Down smash:
 * Down smash:
 * Down smash:
 * Down smash:
 * Down smash:
 * Down smash:
 * Down smash:

Aerial attacks

 * Neutral aerial:
 * Forward aerial:
 * Back aerial:
 * Up aerial:
 * Down aerial:
 * Back aerial:
 * Up aerial:
 * Down aerial:
 * Back aerial:
 * Up aerial:
 * Down aerial:
 * Back aerial:
 * Up aerial:
 * Down aerial:
 * Up aerial:
 * Down aerial:
 * Up aerial:
 * Down aerial:
 * Down aerial:
 * Down aerial:
 * Down aerial:
 * Down aerial:

Throws/other attacks

 * Grabs:
 * Throws:
 * Forward throw:
 * Back throw:
 * Up throw:
 * Down throw:
 * Forward throw:
 * Back throw:
 * Up throw:
 * Down throw:
 * Up throw:
 * Down throw:
 * Down throw:
 * Down throw:
 * Down throw:
 * Down throw:

Special moves

 * Needle Storm:
 * Chain:
 * Vanish:
 * Transform:
 * Final Smash:
 * Chain:
 * Vanish:
 * Transform:
 * Final Smash:
 * Transform:
 * Final Smash:
 * Transform:
 * Final Smash:
 * Final Smash:
 * Final Smash:
 * Final Smash:

Notable players

 * See also: Category:Sheik players (SSBB)


 * 🇺🇸 USA JLim
 * 🇺🇸 USA JLim

Tier placement and history
At the start of Brawl's Metagame, players immediately noticed the reduced damage output on a vast majority of Sheik's moves. Despite her improved mobility, her poor damage output and significantly nerfed combo potential hurt the character's viability. Not only that, but Sheik retained a lot of her problems from Melee such as her unimpressive survivability and terrible recovery. While Sheik still had multiple strengths, her flaws were notable which led to her having poor matchups versus characters who had amazing survivability, were small, or had amazing damage output most notably, , and.

Sheik's perception never really improved and she remained as a mid to low mid-tier character through Brawl's entire lifespan getting ranked in the 23rd-26th spots on the tier lists. Some players however such as and  believed that Sheik was underrated and that she was a high-tier character. Many top Japanese Brawl players also notably used Sheik as a counter pick character to due to 's dominance overseas with him. In Japan, she's considered to be a strong high tier ranking 16th on the current Japanese brawl tier list (although she shares her spot with ).

Despite the optimism amongst top players, Sheik still isn't seen as a solo viable character and is still regarded as one of the most nerfed characters from Melee.

Role in The Subspace Emissary
During the Midair Stadium ambush, the player can have transform into Sheik despite her not technically being introduced until much later. Thus, Sheik is the only character in The Subspace Emissary to be playable before she is introduced. After and Zelda are rescued by, , and , the two princesses are ordered to stay where they are until the Halberd is under their control. Zelda transforms into Sheik and walks out with Peach, opening a window to the outside of the ship. Both princesses then make their way to the front deck of the ship. There, they witness 's Arwing attacking the Halberd, and his lasers meant for the Halberd's turret nearly injures Peach. In response, Sheik leaps into the air and uses Vanish onto the Arwing, striking the windshield and forcing Fox to jettison. They fall back to the Halberd, and begin to fight, but Peach offers them both tea, ending any erroneous hostilities.

As they drink their tea, several Mr. Game & Watches fall from the bridge and turn into shadow bugs that coalesce to form the monstrous Duon. The three prepare to fight, but are joined by Lucario, Snake, and. They then proceed to defeat Duon, and it turns into the trophy of, who Peach revives. Then she and the other heroes journey into subspace for the final battle against Tabuu. Sometime when the Halberd was retaken, but before the Isle of Ancients was consumed by Subspace, Sheik transformed back into Zelda.

Playable appearances
Sheik is always playable in any level Zelda appears in. If Zelda is rescued in Midair Stadium, after The Lake Shore is completed, she along with her alternative form Sheik will be removed from the team until Battleship Halberd Exterior.
 * Midair Stadium
 * Sea of Clouds - If she is rescued in Midair Stadium.
 * Battleship Halberd Exterior
 * Battleship Halberd Bridge
 * Entrance to Subspace
 * The Great Maze - If she's rescued in Subspace (Part II).

In Classic Mode, /Sheik can appear as an opponent or ally in Stage 1 along with, , and on Bridge of Eldin or Pirate Ship (with the latter available if it has been unlocked). Zelda/Sheik can also appear as an opponent in Stage 11, but only if she hasn't appeared in Stage 1.

All-Star Mode
In All-Star Mode, /Sheik is fought in Stage 6 alongside, , and on Bridge of Eldin or Pirate Ship.

Solo Events

 * Event 2: Landmaster Ignition: As with a Smash Ball, the player must survive against  and . Fox must rely on his Landmaster as his opponents take less knockback from his regular attacks. Sheik may transform into Zelda on harder difficulties.
 * Event 17: Super Waterfall Climb: As Zelda, the player must survive on Rumble Falls until the background changes into a waterfall. Two pairs of with unlimited stock will try to hinder the player's progress.
 * Event 22: Monkeys Unite: allied with a giant  must defeat  and . Sheik may transform into Zelda on harder difficulties.
 * Event 25: The Aura Is With Me: As at 182% damage, the player must defeat both  and . Sheik may transform into Zelda on harder difficulties.
 * Event 31: The Ultimate Bodyguard: must defend Zelda and defeat two s on Castle Siege. Zelda remains in her crouching position until the third background change, where she'll transform into  and assist Marth.
 * Event 33: Advent of the Evil King: As Ganondorf, the player must defeat, Zelda, and on Temple.
 * Event 34: All-Star Battle Melee: Zelda is one of the opponents fought in this event. All opponents are newcomers from Super Smash Bros. Melee.

Co-Op Events

 * Co-Op Event 6: Unwanted Suitors: As Zelda and, both players must defeat an invisible and an invisible  on Port Town Aero Dive.
 * Co-Op Event 21: The True All-Star Battle: Two players select a character and take on the entire roster on Battlefield.

Trophies
Sheik's main and Final Smash trophies can be obtained by clearing and All-Star mode respectively with Sheik.

Trivia

 * Unlike in Melee, where completing 1 player modes with either Zelda or Sheik would get both of their trophies, only one of their trophies at a time can be received in Brawl, with the trophy earned depending on the character used.
 * The also applies to / and (all three of his Pokémon;, , and ), where all of them have separate trophies upon completing . This also applies for All-Star Mode, although unlike Zelda/Sheik and Samus/Zero Suit Samus, Pokémon Trainer only has one Final Smash trophy, which features all three of his Pokémon.
 * Along with, Squirtle, and Zero Suit Samus, Sheik is one of the only characters to not be seen in trophy form during The Subspace Emissary.
 * Sheik is the only veteran that can wall cling.
 * Excluding Transformation from Zelda, Sheik is the only character in Brawl not to be selectable in Events without free character selection.
 * Zelda and Sheik are the only two characters in this game to share a character select icon. Melee only shows Zelda on its character selection screen, while Smash 4 onwards splits the two into their own characters. and  would later on share a character selection icon in Ultimate.
 * Brawl marks the first time Sheik is listed in the character selection screen.