Link


 * "Rinku" redirects here. For the Mexican player, see Smasher:Rinku.

Link (, Link) is the playable protagonist of series. Unlike the majority of Nintendo protagonists, there are several distinct incarnations of Link seen throughout The Legend of Zelda series, each of whom are destined to become heroes against powerful forces of evil, most notably Ganondorf/Ganon. Due to the consistent critical and commercial success of The Legend of Zelda series, Link is marketed as one of Nintendo's flagship characters alongside Mario, the company's mascot, to the point that both he and Mario are marketed together as mascots for Super Smash Bros. Ultimate.

As a member of the "perfect-attendance crew", Link has been featured as a playable character throughout the  series. Compared to the rest of the crew, however, he holds the distinction of doing so in name only because of three of his incarnations (the, the Hero of Twilight, and the Hero of the Wild) appearing as playable characters. By extension, prepubescent incarnations have also been playable, with the first instance of this occurring in Super Smash Bros. Melee.

Origin
Link's first appearance was in The Legend of Zelda, which depicted his quest to rescue Princess Zelda and the land of Hyrule from the evil Ganon. Link is designed with a green tunic and a green hat, which, like Mario's design, was due to the NES' hardware limitations. This appearance has since been traditional for Link, with the exception of his appearance in Breath of the Wild, which nevertheless features versions of his traditional green clothes as unlockable attires.

It is worth noting that while there have been multiple games within The Legend of Zelda series, it has not always been the same Link who the player controls. This is evident with the fact that there are multiple timelines within the series, wherein many games typically feature a new Link with a new origin. Notable examples include "Hylia's Chosen Hero" (referring to the Link from Skyward Sword), the "" (referring to the Link from Ocarina of Time/Majora's Mask), the "Hero of Winds" (referring to the Link from The Wind Waker/Phantom Hourglass), and the "Hero of Twilight" (referring to the Link from Twilight Princess). While the only blood relation between any Links was shown in Twilight Princess between the Hero of Time and the Hero of Twilight, each Link has nevertheless been shown to possess the spirit of the hero.

On a related note, Link's age has also varied. In some games, such as The Wind Waker and the present timeline of Ocarina of Time, Link is a child, with these two particular incarnations being represented as playable characters in the Super Smash Bros. series. In Skyward Sword, , Breath of the Wild, Twilight Princess and the future timeline of Ocarina of Time, Link is depicted as a teenager, with the incarnations from the latter three games also being playable characters in the Super Smash Bros. series.

In addition, Link, regardless of his age, almost always starts out as unremarkable until learning of his heroic destiny and, as his journey presses onward, gradually progresses into a full-fledged hero. For example, Ocarina of Time features him as a young boy whose mother entrusted him in the care of the before dying. The Wind Waker also features him as a young boy, albeit living a happy and carefree life on alongside his grandmother and younger sister. In Twilight Princess, he is an ordinary young man working at. Breath of the Wild is one of the few exceptions to this rule, introducing him as a knight and a descendant of many other knights.

Link also traditionally never speaks outright, remaining a silent protagonist. There are instances throughout the franchise to imply that Link is speaking, such as other characters replying to him in conversations despite not saying anything and dialogue boxes with responses occasionally appearing. This is done to make Link a blank slate with minimal personality, which makes it easier for the player to project themselves onto Link and immerse themselves in the game.

Regardless of his origin, each incarnation of Link is tasked with defeating the main antagonist of the story, most frequently Ganondorf/Ganon, in order to stop them from either taking over the world or, in other cases, destroying it. Other hallmarks shared by the Links are their ability to wield the and their possession of the Triforce of Courage, although these are not depicted universally.

Due to the The Legend of Zelda series giving Link simple and concise answers that the player can pick instead of traditional dialogue, there is very little insight into the personalities of the majority of his incarnations. While the only incarnations to expressively show distinct personalities are the ones from Ocarina of Time/Majora's Mask, The Wind Waker/Phantom Hourglass, Twilight Princess, Spirit Tracks, Skyward Sword, and Breath of the Wild, universal traits among Link's incarnations are bravery, humility, and politeness.

As a playable character
Link's first appearance in a fighting game, and by extension his first official appearance in a Nintendo game outside of his home series, is in Super Smash Bros. as one of the eight starter characters. The incarnation that appears is the Hero of Time from .

Link is a slow heavyweight whose grants him many disjointed attacks that allow for ranged combat. His neutral special move is Boomerang, which is a fast attack that will return to him. His up special move is Spin Attack, which boasts impressive power, but is cited as his main weakness due to its lackluster recovery potential. Lastly, his down special move is Bomb, which can be thrown either directly at opponents for combos, or to rest on the ground.

Due to his flaws, Link is currently ranked 11th out of 12 on the tier list, placing him in the C tier.

Link's in-game character description says:


 * Link
 * Link is the valiant boy hero of "" series in which he fights against the evil Ganon to recover the Triforce. Though his tools may change with each adventure, his strength and righteousness remain constant. With his trusty sword and a variety of weapons, he takes adventure head on!
 * Works:
 * The Legend of Zelda (NES),
 * The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past (SNES),
 * The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time (N64)

As a playable character
The Hero of Time incarnation of Link returns in Super Smash Bros. Melee as a starter character. He retains his Ocarina of Time design, although redesigned in a way so that he has a far more detailed look, even more so than the game his design is based on - largely due to the improved graphics of the GameCube. While his playstyle has been largely retained, his moves have been slightly tweaked. Spin Attack is now a much more reliable recovery move, while Boomerang is now assigned as Link's side special. Like the rest of his fellow veterans, he received a fourth special move, with his being Bow. It is a neutral special move that allows Link to fire an arrow, with the arrow's range being dependent on how long the player holds down the B button. Finally, his Hylian Shield is no longer purely aesthetic, as it can block projectiles while Link is standing still or crouching.

Link has been buffed in the transition to Melee. In addition to retaining his Master Sword's disjointed range and his numerous projectiles, Spin Attack covers more distance in the air and his faster air speed. However, he has a very slow dashing speed, and is easy to combo due to his heavy weight and quick falling speed.

Thanks to his buffs, Link is currently ranked 18th out of 26 on the tier list, placing him in the C- tier.

Trophies
As a playable character, Link has three trophies - a normal trophy won beating the with Link on any difficulty, and "Smash Red" and "Smash Blue" trophies are acquired by beating the Adventure and All-Star modes, respectively.

As a playable character
Unlike the previous two installments, Super Smash Bros. Brawl does not feature the Hero of Time. Instead, he has been succeeded by his descendant, the "Hero of Twilight" from The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess. While this Link's playstyle is essentially the same as his ancestor's, some of his moves are slightly different in order to match his aesthetics and functionalities in Twilight Princess. This is most apparent with the Gale Boomerang and the Clawshot: the former can pull opponents and items toward Link with a small tornado, whereas the latter can grab an edge, but not walls. Other changes include the arrows of his Hero's Bow, which now disappear after a distance, and his Spin Attack now being chargeable when used on the ground.

Like the rest of the cast, Link has a Final Smash that he obtains when he breaks a Smash Ball. In his case, his Final Smash is the Triforce Slash, in which light from the Triforce of Courage on Link's hand shoots out and traps an opponent in between two large Triforce-shaped force fields. Link then dashes at the opponent, unleashes a barrage of slashes, and then finishes with a powerful blow with enough knockback to one-hit KO the opponent if nothing gets in the way.

While this Link's attacks are stronger, his mobility and recovery are very poor, to the point that the latter is comparable to his ancestor's in SSB. Due to his weaknesses largely outweighing his strengths, Link is ranked 35th out 38 on the tier list. This places him in the F tier, and renders him as a bottom-tier character.

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

As a playable character
The Twilight Princess incarnation of Link reappears as a starter character in Super Smash Bros. 4. However, his overall color scheme is noticeably more vibrant because of SSB4's aesthetics, making him look more like his Skyward Sword incarnation, whom was otherwise unused in Smash.

Link has been buffed in the transition to SSB4. Many of his attacks are faster and stronger, while SSB4's new edge mechanics make his Clawshot's tether recovery more dependable. His projectiles have also seen some improvements: Hero's Bow charges faster, Gale Boomerang's new launching angle improves its follow-up potential, and Bomb deals more damage if it explodes near the opponent's feet. However, Link is still highly susceptible to rushdowns because of his rather sluggish mobility, while some of his attacks' damage outputs were slightly lowered.

Thanks to his buffs largely outweighing his nerfs, Link has been able to attain some notable players in tournament play and achieve respectable results, even at the national level. As a result, he is ranked 31st out of 54; in addition to placing him near the top of D tier, this renders him a mid-tier character like his ancestor is in Melee.

As a costume
In addition to his playable appearance, Link's appearance serves as the basis of a downloadable content costume for s. Nintendo also released a QR code for those who wish to have the exact Mii used in the costume's advertising. While the costume is based on Link's SSB4 appearance, its simplified design, brighter color scheme, and mirrored hairstyle closely resemble the Skyward Sword incarnation of Link.

As a playable character
Link returns in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate as a playable character. Initially teased alongside and the s during the then-unnamed Super Smash Bros. trailer at the end of the March 8th, 2018 Nintendo Direct, he was formally announced alongside the rest of the cast via Ultimate's E3 2018 trailer on June 12th, 2018.

Like Brawl, Ultimate features a new incarnation of Link succeeding a previously playable one; in this case, it is the "Hero of the Wild" from . In addition to wearing the as part of his default costume, Link has the Wild Set of clothes as an alternate costume.

Compared to his predecessors, Link features a few noticeably distinct properties to his moveset. He is now right handed as in Breath of the Wild, with several altered animations as a result. While at 0%, he can use his forward smash to launch a Sword Beam, improving his camping potential near the beginning of his stocks. Compared to his previous Bombs, the Remote Bomb Rune is detonated on command, granting it improved utility and KO potential. He lacks a Hookshot or Clawshot due to neither of them appearing in Breath of the Wild; while his grab has less range and can no longer be used for spacing or recovery, it is much faster and thus safer to use. He can also pick up previously fired arrows and shoot two simultaneously, and his Final Smash utilizes an Ancient Bow to fire an Ancient Arrow, similar to Zelda and Sheik's Light Arrow in previous installments.

Aside from these changes, Link has been noticeably buffed from Smash 4. His Master Sword has greater reach, and he greatly benefits from the universal reduction of landing lag, although his already sluggish frame data has been further worsened in other aspects. His Boomerang has reverted to its appearance from 64 and Melee, restoring some of its combo potential. Due to these buffs and his more technical gameplan, Link has been positively received in competitive play with strong representation and results, and is generally agreed to be at least a high-tier fighter.

As a costume
Link's downloadable costume for the from the previous installment is now unlockable, but it is also accompanied by a new outfit based on the Champion's Tunic from The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild.

A Mii Swordfighter costume of Link's from Breath of the Wild is available as  for players who purchase Fighters Pass Vol. 2. This costume wields an  and carries an, although the shield is purely aesthetic.

Trivia

 * Link and Captain Falcon have shared the same weight value throughout the Super Smash Bros. series.
 * As of Melee, Link is one of only three characters who has had a forward smash that can unleash a second hit upon a second button press. Fittingly, he shares this trait with Young Link and, prior to Ultimate, Toon Link.
 * Palutena's Guidance is the first official source to refer to the Breath of the Wild incarnation of Link as the "Hero of the Wild". This moniker was originally coined by fans, derived from the Tunic of the Wild and the naming pattern of the other Links' amiibo-unlocked tunics from that game; the Hero of Time's tunic is called the Tunic of Time, the Hero of Twilight's tunic is called the Tunic of Twilight, and so on.
 * Link is, along Hero, one of the two playable characters in Smash whose Copy Ability hat is based on an alternate costume rather than the default design. In this case, Kirby still wears the iconic green cap when copying Link in Ultimate, even though it has been relegated to Link's Hero of the Wild alternate costume and is not featured in the default Champion's Tunic.
 * Conceptually, Link and Zelda "swapped" their Final Smashes in the transition from Smash 4 to Ultimate. In Brawl and Smash 4, Link uses the Triforce of Courage to attack with Triforce Slash, while Zelda fires an arrow with Light Arrow; in Ultimate, Link fires an arrow with the Ancient Bow and Arrow, and Zelda uses the Triforce of Wisdom to attack.
 * In the official one-shot manga The Nintendo All-Stars Free-For-All! Smash Brothers, Link assumes the role of Phantom X, the main antagonist of the manga. He, along with Samus Aran and Fox McCloud as henchmen, decided to create these alter egos so the other characters can stop bickering and unite as friends against a common enemy. Phantom X has never reappeared in any media since this manga.