Link (SSBB): Difference between revisions

'''Link''' ({{ja|リンク|Rinku}}, ''Link'') returns as a playable character in ''[[Super Smash Bros. Brawl]]'' at [[E3 2006]]. He was one of the original 4 members to be confirmed as returning playable character at [[E3 2006]], with the other three being [[Mario]], [[Kirby]], and [[Pikachu]].

==Attributes==

Link may be a character of poor speed, but he makes up for that with power. His sliding [[DACUS]] also helps his slow mobility and his BDACUS is very effective due to his fast sidestep. Link is moderately [[weight|heavy]], having the same weight as {{SSBB|Captain Falcon}}. Link is also one of the heavyweight characters that has good [[directional influence]] and [[momentum canceling]], especially vertically, which along his extremely quick [[fast fall]] allows him to survive almost as long as {{SSBB|Snake}} onstage, though he arguably has the worst recovery in the game and sometimes his fast fall can also give him problems recovering. His heavy weight backfires, however, by making him extremely vulnerable to chain grabs that force him offstage. Link's tilts are fast and powerful, and his down tilt is particularly good for getting opponents into the air. It can also [[meteor smash]] at the tip of the sword or hitting behind Link, making it respectable for [[edgeguarding]]. His up tilt is fast and good for juggling, and his forward tilt can easily KO at high percentages. Link's forward smash can become a two hit [[natural combo]] at low percentages. It is also a great KO move, depending from where the sword connects. His down smash is an easy KO move at fairly high percentages, and is Link's quickest [[smash attack]]. However, it is predictable making it easy to read at higher percentages, and has some ending lag. Link's up smash doesn't KO easily, but it racks up decent damage. Link's aerial attacks are also good, as both his neutral aerial and [[grab aerial]] (zair), combined with a short hop and fast falling, is a great option for approach. Link's back aerial is good for spacing when needed. Link's forward aerial is fairly fast, is a good set-up move and its second hit is powerful, but this KOing move is hard to land, since the first hit only set ups the second hit at very low percentages and the first hit lacks KO power. Link's up and down aerials are some of his best KO moves, having high duration and high [[knockback]], but have high ending and landing lag. Even though his aerial attacks are effective, his slow aerial speed, fast falling speed, and small jumps give Link a very weak aerial game. His grab, like all tether grabs, has good range but has a high amount of startup lag (12 frames) and is laggy if missed. Specials for Link are also good for keeping distance, racking up damage, and great for survival. On the ground, Link can charge his [[up special]]. It is a good edge guarding tool, but is predictable. Spin Attack can also deflect projectiles if used in the air. His [[neutral special]] is a bow that charges and shoots quick projectiles. If activated in the air, just before hitting the ground, an uncharged arrow will shoot instantly, making it a fast attack that will often hit unsuspecting enemies. Link's [[down special]] allows him to pull out a bomb as an [[item]] and throw it, which can be used for [[mindgames]], but his own bombs can be caught during the throw and used against him. His [[side special move]], [[Gale Boomerang]] has fairly good range and can gimp some opponent's recoveries. Inputting the command like a smash attack will cause the boomerang to reach farther. Link's shield, which he holds to his front while standing, can act as a shield on its own: when Link doesn't move, many projectiles coming from the opposite direction he's facing can't hit him. Crouching can also block most attacks as well, but leaves his upper hitbox open. He also has a great [[spot dodge]].

Overall, Link's high power and respectable camping ability is largely offset by his terrible recovery, unreliable frame data and poor mobility; this gives him a poor approach and almost no reliable method of recovering. Because of his overwhelming weaknesses, he is widely considered non-viable in tournament play, and his representation is almost nonexistent at a competitive level.

Link has received some significant power buffs and is overall a much more powerful character in ''Brawl''. Many of his attacks have been given higher knockback potential, resulting in him wielding many more KO moves. His grab aerial is a lot more useful as an attack as it no longer suffers from large amounts of landing lag, giving him a new spacing tool and more opportunities to link to his other moves. Additionally, the introduction of [[DACUS]] gives him a new much needed approach option, though his DACUS is poor as while it covers a large distance, his up smash remains a fairly poor move especially with its higher ending lag.

While Link already heavily struggled to utilize his strengths in ''Melee'', the game mechanics made even worse in ''Brawl'', and he has among the worst tournament results and representation.

===Aesthetics===

*{{change|His forward [[helpless]] state is now the animation of when he finishes his double jump (from both ''Melee'' and ''Brawl''), but his back and neutral helpless states are the same.}}

*{{change|Link's dark costume is now based on [[Dark Link]] and he has a new yellow costume.}}

*[[Neutral attack]]:

**{{buff|The second and third hits of neutral attack have less startup lag (frame 7 → 6) and the third hit has altered knockback (10 (base), 100 (scaling) → 70/50) improving its spacing potential. Additionally, the first hit can now be used to [[jab lock]] opponents.}}

***{{nerf|The first and third hits deals less damage (5% (first)/6% (third) → 4%/5%). Additionally, the first hit has more startup lag (frame 6 → 7) and the second and third hits also have more end lag (frame 18 (second)/frame 33 (third) → 21/37).}}

*[[Forward tilt]]:

**{{nerf|Up smash has more ending lag (frame 52 → 70) significantly hindering its followup potential despite the final hits lower base knockback (90 → 70).}}

*[[Down smash]]:

**{{nerf|Down smash has more ending lag (frame 42 → 50).}}

**{{nerf|Neutral aerial's clean sweetspot and late hit deal less damage (11% → 10% (clean), 7% → 6% (late)) although their base knockback was compensated (15 → 22 (clean), 10 → 15 (late)). Neutral aerial also has more startup lag, a shorter duration (frames 4-39 → 7-27) and more ending lag (frame 36 → 40).}}

*[[Forward aerial]]:

**{{buff|The second hit of forward aerial deals more damage (8% → 12%) and knockback (0 (base), 90 (scaling) → 20/110) being stronger than the first hit in ''Melee''. The second hit also has less startup lag (frame 30 → 26) and is much easier to use out of a short hop. Forward aerial also has less ending lag (frame 56 → 51) and it can now auto-cancel out of a full hop.}}

*[[Back aerial]]:

**{{nerf|The introduction of [[hitstun canceling]] heavily limits up and down throw's follow up potential beyond very low percents.}}

*[[Down throw]]:

===Special moves===

***{{nerf|As a drawback of both the faster charge and the increased minimum range, it is harder to hit opponents below Link.}}

**{{buff|Link can now [[B-reverse]] with Hero's Bow.}}

*[[Gale Boomerang]]:

**{{nerf|Link has a new side special: Gale Boomerang. It is considered less effective; Gale Boomerang deals significantly less damage in its initial hitboxes and has no damaging hitboxes at all in its later flight and on its return, while the opponent can still fully react when being pushed/pulled by the wind hitboxes, which makes it difficult for Link to use the move to setup additional blows. Gale Boomerang also travels more slowly and cannot be controlled.}}

**{{buff|Gale Boomerang deals more knockback, has larger hitboxes, and is much more effective for [[gimp]]ing. Its new [[Windbox]] can allow for new follow ups in some situations. Link can now [[cape glide|edge momentum shift]] Gale Boomerang aiding its edeguarding potential.}}

**{{buff|Link can B-reverse with Gale Boomerang.}}

*[[Spin Attack]]:

**{{buff|Link can now charge grounded Spin Attack, with its fully charged variant dealing more damage (15% → 19%) and knockback. Its uncharged late hit also deals more damage (5% → 9%/7%/5%), and the aerial version deals more damage due to changes to stale move negation (12% → 14%).}}

|dtiltname= 

|dtiltdmg=12%

|dashname= 

|dashdmg=12% (blade), 10% (tip), 11% (arm & body)

|dashdesc=Swings sword from head to toe. Good combo starter.

|fsmashcount=2

|fsmashdmg={{ChargedSmashDmgSSBB|15}} (blade), {{ChargedSmashDmgSSBB|14}} (body)

|dairname= 

|dairdmg=22% (clean), 18% (late), 8% (after bounce)

|zairdmg=4% (hit 1), 6% (hit 2)

|zairdesc=Link fires his [[Clawshot]] forward, scoring two hits. Has no landing lag at all. Can be used as a [[tether recovery]]. Very useful for spacing and stopping approaches against taller characters.

|grabdesc= 

|pummelname= 

|usname=Spin Attack

|usdmg=12%/9%/7%/5% (ground), 4% (air hit 1), 2% (air hits 2-4), 4% (air hit 5)

|dsname=Bomb

|dspage=Bomb (Link)

|fsdesc=Link locks onto an opponent and proceeds to slash them repeatedly with his Master Sword. A luminous image of the Triforce appears around the opponent as Link slashes them. The final strike launches the opponent.

}}

===[[On-screen appearance]]===

|pitch-us=Group chant

|pitch-jp=Group chant}}

===[[Victory pose]]s===

==In [[competitive play]]==

===Tier placement and history===

==Role in [[The Subspace Emissary]]==

Link's role begins with him walking through a forest with his fairy companion, Navi. Upon reaching the Master Sword's resting place, Link pulls the sword from its pedestal, wielding it once more. In a clearing of the forest is a napping {{SSBB|Yoshi}}, who Link at first pays no mind to. However, the [[Halberd]] soon flies over the clearing, dropping [[Shadow Bug]]s which soon form into Primids. At this point, Link and Yoshi form a team and battle through the enemies while in pursuit of the Halberd, only to lose their aforementioned target as it flies far off into the distance, though they quickly continue their pursuit.

Link's next appearance plays out depending on which princess is saved earlier on in the story. If {{SSBB|Peach}} was saved, Link and Yoshi do battle with a Shadow Bug clone of Peach (who had recently been turned into a trophy by {{SSBB|Bowser}}) after she attempted to turn an unsuspecting {{SSBB|Mario}} and {{SSBB|Pit}} into trophies until Link prevented the attack by slicing the Dark Cannon in half. Upon defeating the clone of Peach, Link is attacked by Mario, who witnessed the defeat of Peach's copy as it reverts into Shadow Bugs and drifts away, apparently mistaking it for the real Peach. Then Link and Yoshi fight him and Pit. If {{SSBB|Zelda}} is saved earlier on, then it is she who is cloned, and Mario and Pit fight the clone of her, and must then fend off an attack by Link and Yoshi, whom Link thinks Mario killed the real Zelda. After the defeat of Mario and Pit or Link and Yoshi, {{SSBB|King Dedede}} arrives in a [[cargo]] and snatches the trophies of the fallen duo with an arm attached to it. Fortunately, {{SSBB|Kirby}} (who had accompanied Peach/Zelda earlier) appears and frees the two trophies, and revives them as well. Upon revival, Pit/Link fires an arrow at the incoming cargo, slowing it down a little. The five characters then form an alliance and pursue Dedede.

*Zelda (The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time): [Flame] Resistance +18

*'''[[Event 10: All-Star Battle Regulars]]''': Link is one of the opponents that must be fought in this event. All opponents are starter characters from the original ''[[Super Smash Bros.]]'' game.

*'''[[Event 18: Dark Link Duel]]''': Link must defeat Dark Link in a 200 HP battle on [[Bridge of Eldin]].

*'''[[Event 33: Advent of the Evil King]]''': As {{SSBB|Ganondorf}}, the player must defeat Link, {{SSBB|Zelda}}, and {{SSBB|Pit}} on [[Temple]].

*'''[[Co-Op Event 7: Battle of the Dark Sides]]''': Link and {{SSBB|Samus}} must defeat Dark Link and Dark Samus in a 200 HP battle on [[Bridge of Eldin]].

*'''[[Co-Op Event 13: Blades of the Quick and Mighty]]''': {{SSBB|Marth}} and {{SSBB|Ike}} must defeat Link, {{SSBB|Meta Knight}}, and {{SSBB|Ganondorf}} on Temple.

*'''[[Co-Op Event 21: The True All-Star Battle]]''': Two players select a character and take on the entire roster on [[Battlefield (SSBB)|Battlefield]].

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==[[Alternate costume (SSBB)#Link|Alternate costumes]]==

|{{Head|Link|g=SSBB|s=25px|cl=Black}}

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==Trivia==