Young Link (SSBM)

Young Link in Super Smash Bros. Melee
Universe	The Legend of Zelda
Availability	Unlockable
Tier	E (17)

“

Young Link is lighter and faster than his older self, and his Kokiri sword packs less punch.

”

Young Link (Japanese: こどもリンク, Kodomo Rinku) is a character in Super Smash Bros. Melee. He is a direct clone of Link, with some minor differences. Young Link was replaced with Toon Link in Super Smash Bros. Brawl.

He ranks 17th on the tier list in the E tier, just one place lower than Link. Young Link has a very good approach due to some low lag aerials, a great SHFFL and a good wavedash, as well as three projectiles. Young Link also is a potent comboer due to his projectiles, and can also edgeguard and space well. However, Young Link's primary flaw is that he has trouble KOing, due a lack of an efficient quick KO move and a difficulty in hitting cleanly with his smash attacks. Additionally, like Link, Young Link has a slow and predictable recovery, though his ability to wall jump, bomb jump and use his hookshot give him some options. Young Link's recovery, however, is particularly disappointing for his weight class.

How to unlock

For players to unlock Young Link, the Classic or Adventure Mode has to be completed with ten characters, two of whom are characters from the Zelda series. Alternatively, the player can take part in 500 VS. matches.

When fought, Young Link appears on Great Bay, with the song Saria's Song playing in the background.

Attributes

File:Younglink.jpg

As a fighter, Young Link appears as a lighter, weaker, and faster form of Link, and generally falls under the same archetype as a character, similar to characters such as Ness. Other properties of Young Link, however, are almost identical to those of Link. His airspeed and falling speed are identical to Link's, and he has only slightly lower traction, giving Young Link a slightly longer wavedash than Link.

As a fighter, Young Link's primary asset is his range. His Kokiri Sword gives him a disjointed hitbox that can allow him to strike from a range, and his specials all give him access to a variety of projectiles that can cause damage and start combos from significant distances. Additionally, Young Link's projectiles are surprisingly damaging, especially in comparison to Link's; his bombs catch opponents in the blast with multiple hits, allowing for combo potential, and both his boomerangs and Fire Arrows inflict more damage and hitstun than Link's, allowing for some dangerous combo starters against the opponent. Coupled with a long-ranged grapple, Young Link's range is among the highest in the game.

Additionally, Young Link has access to a surprisingly good approach game. In addition to his aforementioned range boons, Young Link's aerial approach is very good. Fast, low-lag aerials and a small short hop coupled with a high falling speed gives Young Link a very good SHFFL, and his high air speed can allow him to easily pursue enemies in the air. These traits also give Young Link a surprisingly good edgeguard game; Young Link's recovery is also good, with a relatively high third jump and a wall-grapple to assist him, as well as the ability to wall-jump.

Young Link's KO options are also surprisingly varied, and are often different than those found on most other characters. Young Link's neutral aerial and down tilt are surprisingly powerful, with the former having almost nonexistent ending lag when SHFFL'd. Additionally, Young Link's forward smash has the unusual property of being two hits: one with fixed knockback, and one with powerful vertical knockback, acting as a trap of sorts. Additionally, one of Young Link's most reliable finishers is his dash attack, which can KO at as low as 95% on some characters, and is unusually fast.

Young Link's primary flaw, however, is his inability to easily and efficiently hit with his finishers. His neutral air requires him to him be in the air first, and the remainder of his attacks can prove to awkward to hit with. His dash attack requires the first few frames to connect, and its ending lag can prove to be problematic. Additionally, with proper use of DI, it's possible to avoid the second hit of Young Link's forward smash. Additionally, Young Link's down aerial, which can act as one of the most powerful meteor smashes in the game, has a very small and situational sweetspot, significantly hindering its usefulness off the edge.

Additionally, Young Link's light weight makes him considerably easier to KO than other characters; this itself acts as a problem for Young Link due to his poor recovery in comparison to other characters of his weight class (such as Mewtwo or Jigglypuff).

Moveset

Ground attacks

Normal and tilt attacks

• Neutral attack- Same as Link's, three slashes, followed by a barrage of them if "a" is hit again after the last initial hit connecting. In respective order of damage: 2-3%, 2%, 4-5%, and 1% per consecutive hit.
• Dash attack- Slashes in front and slows down. Surprisingly powerful for a dash attack, and it has the unusual property of Young Link to charge forward. With the ability to KO starting at 95%, it is one of Young Link's most used finishers. 10% damage.
• Down tilt- Swipes sword whilst crouching. Can lead into various combos, though somewhat slow. Incredibly powerful meteor smash if used against a foe on the ledge; unlike Link's, the meteor smash hitbox is located on the tip of the sword, making it considerably more useful for edgeguarding. 10% damage.
• Forward tilt- Brings sword down, in an axe-like fashion. There's a small noticeable startup delay. 12% damage.
• Up tilt- Swings in an arc above himself. Quick, leads into various air combos if the foe DI's correctly. Above average KO power beyond high damages, usually 120%+. His up tilt can KO faster than his up smash. Does 8% damage.

Smash attacks

• Forward smash- Swings his sword in front once with low set knockback, and if "A" is pressed again, he will do a much more powerful cleave to follow. The first hit easily chains into the second, though it can be DI'd out of. Very strong finisher, damage and knockback wise. First hit does 10% uncharged, 13% fully, then 10% uncharged, 10% fully. Total 20% uncharged, 23% fully charged.
• Down smash- Swipes sword to both sides. 13% front, 11% back uncharged, 17% front, 14% back fully charged.
• Up smash- Does his up-tilt three times in a row. Hits all usually follow into each other with the final having the most knockback, though DI-able and is an unreliable finishing attack. Up to 11% uncharged, 15% fully. Fully charged is usually the toughest time to get all hits successfully connecting. The last hit has the unusual property of being able to send opponents to the left or right of him.

Other attacks

• Ledge attack- Gets up and flips, thrusts out sword. 8% damage.
• 100% Ledge attack- Climbs up slowly and sticks out his sword in a similar fashion to the third hit of his neutral attacks. 8% damage.
• Floor attack- Quickly swipes to both sides and picks himself up. 6% each side.

Aerial attacks

• Neutral aerial- A standard "sex kick". 12% when it comes out, 6% weakest.
• Down aerial- Very similar to Link's, thrusts his sword down with massive damage, knockback, ending lag, and duration. If the opponent is positioned above or to the side of Young Link, they will be meteor smashed powerfully at an angle. Because opponent must be positioned above or to the side of Young Link to meteor smash, it is fesible to edgeguard opponents from above or ending this attack after a combo. If the opponent is below Young Link, it results in considerable vertical knockback on the first hit, making it a great KO move. Second strongest meteor smash in Melee thanks to its immense base knockback and somewhat high knockback scalling, and its one of the strongest meteors on grounded opponents in Melee. Though it is very difficult to meteor smash opponents on a soft platform, it is capable of star KOing any grounded opponents (only if the characters is at the soft platform) around 75%. 14% when the move comes out and deals 17% damage afterward. The meteor smash sets the foe on fire and inflicts 17-21%.
• Forward aerial- Two sword swings in front. Some ending and startup lag. Around 12% for the first slash.
• Back aerial- Two kicks to his behind. The last hit is hard to connect with unless the player is attempting to the last hit without the first hit. 13% total damage.
• Up aerial- Aims sword upwards. Not good for KO-ing, better at juggling. 15% damage.

Grabs & throws

• Pummel- The average 2-3% damage per pummel, Young Link whacks the foe with the end of his sword's handle.
• Forward throw- Kicks foe forward. Can chaingrab against heavy foes, or can simply lead into a combo or follow-up attack. 6% damage.
• Up throw- Takes foe and swings his sword in an arch above, launching to foe above. Can lead into various combos, or simply his up aerial. At high percentage it can lead to his down aerial's meteor smash (up to 200%) if timed correctly. Can KO at 210%. 6% damage.
• Down throw- Very suddenly grounds the foe and tackles them. This launches the foe temporarily in the air right in front of Young Link, and can lead into many combos, though DI-able. 6% damage.
• Back throw- Takes foe and kicks them to his back. Oddly, there appears to be two different hitboxes for this throw, both 3%, adding up to 6%.

Special moves

Young Link's special moves

Neutral special	Fire Bow	Fire Arrow
Side special	Boomerang
Up special	Spin Attack
Down special	Bomb

Matchups

Super Smash Bros. Melee Character Matchups

Avg.

In single-player modes

In Classic Mode

Young Link can appear in ordinary one-on-one matches, as an opponent or ally in team battles (paired up with either Link or Zelda), as a giant-sized opponent, or as an opponent in the metal fight. In these cases, Young Link either appears on Great Bay or Temple, with the exception of the metal battle.

In Adventure Mode

The Adventure Mode makes no concessions to Young Link when he is unlocked.

In All-Star Mode

In All-Star Mode, Young Link and his allies are fought on the stage Jungle Japes, as the remainder of the Zelda stages are taken by Link and Zelda.

In Event Matches

Young Link is featured in the following event matches:

• Event 34: Seven Years: As Young Link, the player fights Link with 3 stock each on the Great Bay stage.
• Event 49: All-Star Match Deluxe: Young Link is the fourth opponent fought in this series of staged battles. The selected character battles him on the Great Bay stage with a stock of 2 while Young Link has 1. With a timer of four minutes, the player must defeat him and the other five characters one-by-one with the overall time and damage: Dr. Mario, Falco, Pichu, Roy and Ganondorf.

Ending images

• YLinkClassicMode.jpg

  Classic Mode.

• YLinkAdventureMode.jpg

  Adventure Mode.

• YLinkAllStarMode.jpg

  All-Star mode.

Trophies (3)

Young Link (Classic Mode, Trophy #287)
Link's younger incarnation is often considered to be the true Link: he was a young boy in the very first Legend of Zelda game, and he has appeared as a youth in most of the subsequent games. Since his debut on the original NES in 1987, Link's appearance has changed over and over again, each time adding to the mystique of his incomparable story.

• The Legend of Zelda

Young Link (Smash Red, Adventure Mode, Trophy #288)
Young Link is lighter and faster than his older self, and his Kokiri sword packs less punch. Even though his Boomerang has a shorter range, he has greater control over it. He's a smaller target, and while his Hookshot has less reach than older Link's, you can still use it in midair as a last ditch attempt to grab a ledge.

• B: Fire Bow
• Smash B: Boomerang

Young Link (Smash Blue, All-Star Mode, Trophy #289)
With a youthful spring in his step, Young Link can perform amazing wall-jumps. Once he hits a wall, tap the Control stick in the opposite direction to send him leaping upward; you can practice to your heart's content in Target Test. His Spin Attack can strike multiple times even on the ground, and although it's hard to discern, so do his Bombs.

• Up B: Spin Attack
• Down B: Bomb

Costumes

Young Link's in-game changeable clothing in Melee

Trivia

• Young Link has the longest taunt in the game.
• Link and Young Link's hookshot use the same model; as a consequence, it looks somewhat oversized when used by the latter character.
• Young Link has a brief appearance in the Opening of the game; in Link's montage, he can briefly be seen in the background in among the many photos from the game Ocarina of Time.
• Despite the Deku Shield's vulnerability to flames in Ocarina of Time, the Deku Shield is able to block fire projectiles in Melee.

External links

• Sskeeto for Home Run Contest strategies