Sheik: Difference between revisions

{{ArticleIcons|melee=y|brawl=y|ssb4=y|ultimate=y}}

{{for|the Japanese smasher|Smasher:Sheik}}

{{Infobox Character General

|name        = Sheik

|firstgame    = ''{{s|zeldawiki|The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time}}'' (1998)

|games        = ''[[Melee]]''<br>''[[Brawl]]''<br>''[[SSB4]]''<br>''[[Ultimate]]''

|lastappearance= ''{{s|zeldawiki|Hyrule Warriors: Definitive Edition}}'' (2018)

|console      = [[Nintendo 64]]

|gender      = Female (disguised as male)

|homeworld    = {{s|zeldawiki|Hyrule}}

==Origin==

Sheik is a Sheikah who debuted in ''The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time''. Contrasting with {{s|zeldawiki|Impa}}, the only other Sheikah seen in the game, Sheik's identity and voice are concealed with conservative clothing and a scarf.

Sheik first appears before [[Link]] soon after his spirit is unsealed after being contained within the [[zeldawiki:Temple of Light#Chamber of Sages|Chamber of Sages]] for seven years. Upon meeting Link, Sheik reveals to him his true quest: he is now old enough to properly become the {{s|zeldawiki|Hero of Time}}, and now that he has acquired the Light Medallion from {{s|zeldawiki|Rauru}}, the {{s|zeldawiki|Sage}} of Light, he must also awaken five other Sages and acquire their respective {{s|zeldawiki|Medallions}} in order to become powerful enough to stop [[Ganondorf]] and save Hyrule.

Though Sheik has not made another appearance in a mainline ''Zelda'' game to date, her design within the ''Super Smash Bros.'' series has been updated over time to match the aesthetics of other installments in the series. When Zelda's design was changed to her ''{{s|zeldawiki|Twilight Princess}}'' appearance in ''Brawl'', Sheik was also altered to match, now using a design based on concept art the development team created specifically for ''Brawl''. Because Zelda and Sheik were split into unique fighters in ''SSB4'', their designs diverged in ''Ultimate''; while Zelda uses her look from ''{{s|zeldawiki|A Link Between Worlds}}'', Sheik was given a unique appearance combining the ''Twilight Princess'' design with the {{s|zeldawiki|Stealth Set}}, armor based on her design which is available to Link in ''Breath of the Wild''.

==''In [[Super Smash Bros. Melee]]''==

Sheik is one of the new characters introduced in ''[[Super Smash Bros. Melee]]''. Rather than being a full-fledged character, she is a transformation of {{SSBM|Zelda}}, which makes them the only characters in ''Melee'' to possess such an ability. In addition to her ability to [[Transform]] into Zelda, Sheik's [[Vanish]] is based on her usage of Deku Nuts in ''Ocarina of Time''.

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===Trophies===

{{main|List of SSBM trophies (The Legend of Zelda series)}}

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Many argued that because Sheik did not appear in ''Twilight Princess'', Zelda would not be able to [[Transform]] into Sheik. By extension, many cited the fact that the {{s|zeldawiki|Hero of Time}} had also been succeeded by his own descendant, the Link from ''Twilight Princess'', who features special moves that were reworked to fit with ''Twilight Princess''{{'}} aesthetics. Conversely, others argued that even though the Zelda in ''Melee'' was explicitly the ''Ocarina of Time'' incarnation, she was not supposed to be based on any specific Zelda, but rather an amalgamation of all Zelda's past and present. As a result, they argued that the ''Twilight Princess'' incarnation of Zelda would not be prevented from being able to Transform into Sheik as her ancestor could in ''Melee''.

Sheik's updated design was created for ''Brawl'' to represent the ''Twilight Princess'' version of Zelda.<ref>"The pictures at the bottom right represent what Zelda from ''Twilight Princess'' would look like if she transformed into Sheik. They were drawn for ''Super Smash Bros. Brawl''." (''Hyrule Historia'', page 174)</ref> Her new design noticeably includes a braided ponytail, similar to Zelda's design in ''Twilight Princess''.

Sheik's playstyle is largely similar to how it was in ''Melee'', though she now has a [[Final Smash]], [[Light Arrow]], that she shares with Zelda. However, her KO potential has been severely weakened, while her endurance has also worsened. As a result, Sheik is currently ranked 25th out of 38 on the tier list, which renders her as a mid-tier character.

{{main|List of SSBB trophies (The Legend of Zelda series)}}

===Sticker===

! Game

! Effect

|-

| Sheik

| [[The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time]]

| {{SortKey|AttackBodySpin+017}}{{TypeIcon|Body}}{{TypeIcon|Spin}} Attack +17

|}

{{StickerPicBox|Sheik|Zelda: Ocarina of Time}}

===Trophies===

==In ''[[Super Smash Bros. Ultimate]]''==

{{Main|Sheik (SSBU)}}

[[File:Sheik SSBU.png|thumb|Sheik, as she appears in ''Ultimate''.]]

As Sheik was top tier for most of ''Smash 4'' even in spite of the nerfs she received in updates, she was drastically nerfed in the transition to ''Ultimate''. Her damage output was severely reduced, forcing her to rack up extremely long strings of hits to deal any notable damage. Her already low weight was also decreased even further, and she doesn't benefit much from universal mobility improvements compared to other characters. Sheik's initially abysmal perception has slowly improved thanks to recent buffs however, and currently she is generally agreed to be mid-tier.

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==Trivia==

*Sheik and [[Ganondorf]] both made their playable debuts in ''Super Smash Bros. Melee'', and both made their playable debuts outside of the ''Super Smash Bros.'' series in ''{{s|zeldawiki|Hyrule Warriors}}''.

*Sheik is the only character in the ''Super Smash Bros.'' series to have been ranked at the very top of the tier list in two different games; she was ranked 1st on ''SSB4''{{'}}s first tier list, and was ranked 1st on ''Melee''{{'}}s first seven tier lists.

**She and [[Diddy Kong]] are also the only characters in the ''Super Smash Bros.'' series to have been ranked 1st on an installment's respective tier list, and then later lose that position on said installment's subsequent tier list.

**Strangely enough, despite ''3DS'' featuring the playable ''Zelda'' cast introduced in ''Melee'' in their ''Ocarina of Time'' designs, referencing their appearances in that game as trophies, Sheik was not given a trophy, making ''SSB4'' the only game where Sheik's canonical design is not directly referenced at all.

*Sheik's appearance in ''Super Smash Bros. Ultimate'' marks the first time in any video game where she is shown using her dagger.

*In ''Ultimate'', Sheik is the only character to have her moves written solely in kanji, including her Final Smash.

*In both ''Melee'' and ''Smash 4'', Sheik is somewhat ironically near the top of the tier list, while her true form as Zelda is near the bottom.

*Zelda and Sheik are the only characters whose voice actor remained the same in three installments in a row across all regions before being recasted. If regional differences are ignored, this also applies to [[Falco]] (in Japanese) and [[Marth]] (in international releases) as well.

**Coincidentally, all four debuted in ''Melee''.