Link (SSBU)

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Link in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate
Universe	The Legend of Zelda
Other playable appearances	in SSB in Melee in Brawl in SSB4
Availability	Starter
Final Smash	Ancient Bow and Arrow

“	Link has been redesigned to match his appearance in The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild. He can now pick up arrows he's fired, and his bombs have been upgraded to remote bombs, so you can set them off when the timing is just right!	”
—Super Smash Blog, Super Smash Bros. Ultimate Official Site

Link (リンク, Link) is a playable character in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate. He was teased in a trailer released on March 8th, 2018 before being fully confirmed as playable on June 12th, 2018. Link is now voiced by Kengo Takanashi, who reprises his role from The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild.

Changes from Super Smash Bros. 4

NOTE: SmashWiki is not speculative. Please refrain from adding detailed data values derived from pre-release gameplay footage, such as the E3 demo. Such data (damage values, launch trajectories, frame data, etc.) are subject to change before the official release.

Link now incorporates many elements from The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild into his moveset, such as the Remote Bomb, the Ancient Bow & Ancient Arrow, and the Master Sword's Sword Beam.

Aesthetics

• Link's design is now based off of his appearance in The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild. He dons the Champion's Tunic as his default costume and has an alternate costume based on the Tunic of the Wild.
• Link now takes on a new stance: his legs are further apart, with his sword and shield up at all times. His body also faces more towards the camera.
• Link now holds the Master Sword with his right hand and shield with his left hand as opposed to previous Smash Bros. games, with many of his animations altered as a result. This references how he holds his sword and shield in Breath of the Wild. This is also similar to other Zelda titles with this feature such as Skyward Sword, Master Quest in Ocarina of Time 3D, the Wii version of Twilight Princess and its HD remake's Hero Mode, respectively.
• The Master Sword now bears its design from Breath of the Wild, and is much longer.
• Link has a new on-screen appearance: he now glides using the Paraglider onto the stage.
• Link has a new taunt where he holds in the Master Sword in both hands, similar to one of Ike's taunts.
• Link's Boxing Ring alias has been changed to "Champion of Hyrule", referencing his new design.

Attributes

• Universal frame 3 jumpsquat significantly improves Link's historically lacking ground-to-air maneuverability, down from frame 7.
• Link's jump height and dashing speed are noticeably higher and faster than they were previously, respectively.
• The Master Sword is longer and larger than it was in previous installments, increasing Link's reach for his sword-based attacks.

Ground Attacks

• The final hit of Link's neutral attack is altered: he now swipes vertically instead of thrusting the sword. This also has an effect on the angle, being more vertical than in previous games.
• Neutral attack's first hit can now jab lock.
• Dash attack's sweetspot deals more damage.
• Link's up tilt has a different animation, now swiping from behind him first and ending in front of him. This new up tilt appears to no longer be able to hit opponents from beneath Link, hindering its range. Additionally, the move's new animation makes Link more vulnerable to frontal attacks.
• When at 0% damage, the first swing of Link's forward smash will shoot out a spinning sword beam. This is in reference to numerous Zelda titles, including Breath of the Wild, in which Link's sword shoots out sword beams when he is at full health.
  • The sword beam will increase in damage, size and speed the longer the player charges Link's forward smash.

Aerial attacks

• Forward aerial's first hit now has set knockback. This makes it possible for it to combo into the second hit regardless of percent. However, this is a net nerf as the damage is lowered (both on the first hit and altogether) and the first hit is no longer a kill move.
• Back aerial has a slightly different animation.

Throws/other attacks

• Link no longer uses the Clawshot for his grabs, instead having standard grabs where he reaches out with one hand. This significantly decreases their lag, but also their range.
• Due to Link's Clawshot being retired, he no longer has a grab aerial or a tether recovery.
  • As a result, Link can now Z-drop his remote bombs without triggering the grab aerial's lengthy animation.

Special moves

• Arrows fired from Link's bow now travel much further when charged at minimum, but also travel slower than before.
• The arrows fired from Link's Bow can be picked up and thrown after it sticks to the ground.
  • Using the Bow while holding an arrow causes Link to fire two arrows in one shot for double damage.
• Link now uses the Traveler's Bow from Breath of the Wild instead of the Hero's Bow.
• Arrows now seem to stick out of the opponent for a second before disappearing.
• Link's Boomerang is no longer the Gale Boomerang. This means he can no longer bring opponents towards him to continue combos, or push them away with the lingering wind hitbox. However, just like in Melee and Smash 64, Link's Boomerang now has a returning hitbox to interrupt opponents near it, and has increased range.
• Spin Attack's visuals have been updated. Additionally, Link can now spin either inwards like in Smash 64, or outwards like in his other appearances.
• Link can now reuse his double jump if hit during his aerial Spin Attack.
• Link's new down special is the Remote Bomb Rune, which now acts dramatically differently from their previous incarnation, and now resemble the rune from Breath of the Wild.
• The Remote Bomb Rune no longer explodes upon contact to any enemy, attack or surface. Instead, it simply bounces off of them, while dealing minimal damage and stun to enemies if thrown or hit toward them.
• Additionally, they are no longer detonated after a specific time, but have to be detonated with the same input as pulling them out. This allows for various item setups, but prevents Link from extending his recovery in the same way as previous games.
• Link can only have one Remote Bomb Rune out on the battlefield, instead of two standard bombs. However, his bombs now have a larger blast radius and hitbox to compensate, and can be thrown further than before.
• The bomb now sends the opponent at a horizontal angle, allowing for potential combo setups from afar and increasing its edge-guarding potential.
  • Additionally, the knockback has been increased dramatically, further increasing the kill potential and edge-guard potential of the item.
• Link has a new Final Smash which involves him firing an Ancient Arrow. It is functionally similar to Light Arrow from the previous games, although it only deals a single powerful blow to the first opponent in the arrow's path, alongside any bystanders.

Alternate costumes

Gallery

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  Link taunting on Great Plateau Tower.

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  Link about to perform his forward smash on Temple.

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  Link performing a Spin Attack on Pac-Man on Spirit Train.

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  Link holding a Heart Container on Great Bay.

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  Link performing his new Final Smash.

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  About to strike Ganondorf with his dash attack on Skyloft.

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  Struck by Daisy on Spirit Train.

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  Struck by the Inkling on Mario Circuit.

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  Link using Traveler's Bow on Prism Tower.

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  With Zelda and Ganondorf.

Character Showcase Video

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Trivia

• This marks the first time in the series where Link does not wear his trademark green tunic as a default outfit, both in official art and in-game, as well as the first time Link no longer has his Goron and Zora tunics from Ocarina of Time as his respective red and blue alternate costumes, nor uses a tether. However, his traditional designs (the Tunic of the Wild and the Tunic of Twilight) still appear as alternate costumes, with his new red and blue costumes now being based on two armor sets from Breath of the Wild, while both of his dopplegangers still retain their tethers.
• Despite Link's design now being based on Breath of the Wild, Kirby still gains his familiar green cap when copying him. However, this is in line with Link's alternate costume.