Sheik (SSB4)

Sheik in Super Smash Bros. 4
Universe	The Legend of Zelda
Other playable appearances	in Melee in Brawl
Availability	Starter
Final Smash	Light Arrow

“	Sheik Appears on the Scene!	”
—Introduction Tagline

Sheik (シーク, Sheik) returns as a playable fighter in Super Smash Bros. 4. She was confirmed during the Super Smash Bros. Direct on April 8, a day before the Australian releases of The Legend of Zelda: Four Swords Adventures and The Legend of Zelda: The Minish Cap. Unlike the previous Smash games, she is now a completely separate character from Zelda, and the two are no longer able to transform into the other under any circumstance.

As a result of many notable and useful buffs from Brawl to her ability to combo and the addition of her new down special, Sheik is a major force in the metagame with many early high-placing tournament results on the national and international level.

Changes from Brawl

Sheik has been heavily buffed from Brawl, which helps her become a dominant character in competitive play like she was in Melee. Many of her attacks have been partially reverted or changed, giving Sheik many options back that she lost in Brawl. Additionally, she has not suffered any serious nerfs in the transition from Brawl to SSB4'; the only noticeable ones being include the loss of Chain as a situational tether recovery, DACUS technique, and access to Zelda's superior up special, the latter of which is compensated by Sheik's new down special Bouncing Fish.

Aesthetics

• Sheik retains the Twilight Princess-inspired design she had in Brawl, but now with a noticeably brighter color scheme due to the more vibrant aesthetics in SSB4. However, she appears to be more muscular than her appearance in Brawl. This gives her a body type closer to her the one she has Ocarina of Time, which was more masculine in appearance compared to the physique she has in her Twilight Princess concept art.
• Sheik has a new standing idle animation.
• Sheik has two new idle poses.

Attributes

• Short hop is much faster.
• Air speed is faster.
• Sheik can no longer transform into Zelda.
  • Due to this, Sheik can no longer use Zelda's Farore's Wind has a reliable recovery move.

Ground attacks

• Neutral infinite now transitions into a finisher.
• Up tilt has less ending lag and slightly lower knockback growth, allowing more followups.
• Down tilt can now more reliably follow into other attacks at lower percentages.
• Sweetspotted dash attack deals 1% less damage.
• Forward smash has been strengthened again, now being able to KO reliably under 130%.
• Up smash's sweetspot is stronger.
• Up smash's sourspot is slightly weaker.
• Due to the removal of DACUS, her up smash is a more situational attack.
• Down smash deals less damage and knockback, and now only the last hit has KO power.

Aerial attacks

• Forward aerial has a new animation, and is much faster and links into followup options very reliably at almost any percentage below around 100%.
• Up aerial is now a multi-hit attack that deals higher damage and can reliably KO under 130% in the air.
• Down aerial is now a meteor smash. It also leads into a second hit on grounded opponents.
• Down aerial falls much faster, but has given less time to act out of it.

Throws/other attacks

• Forward throw is faster and sends opponents at a slightly higher trajectory, now reliably setting up a forward aerial at any percentage below around 150%.
• Back throw has less ending lag, allowing more followups.
• Down throw's trajectory has been reverted to how it functioned in Melee. While it deals much more knockback than in Melee, it still gives Sheik several follow-up options.

Special moves

• Needle Storm can be pivoted on the ground, and no longer has landing lag when used in the air.
• Burst Grenade appears similar to the previous side special of Chain, except that the chain now has an explosive on the end instead of dealing damage itself. Her side taunt has changed to reflect this, where she pulls out the string from Burst Grenade as opposed to her Chain.
• Due to Burst Grenade's function, and its property of leaving Sheik helpless in the air after usage, Sheik cannot use this move as a tether recovery.
• Vanish now has a hitbox when Sheik appears.
• Bouncing Fish is her new down special move. It is an acrobatic kick attack similar to Zero Suit Samus' down special, but covers much more horizontal range. It has extremely high base knockback and is a reliable KO move at high percents, and aids greatly in Sheik's previously mediocre recovery by providing a great deal of horizontal distance without leaving her helpless.

Moveset

		Name	Damage	Description
Neutral attack			2%	Two quick swipes, followed by a series of short jabs that terminates as a final hit with somewhat weak knockback.
			3%
			0.6% far or 0.8% close (infinite), 3% (last hit)
Forward tilt			4%	Sheik rotates her leg upwards knocking the opponent into the air with low knockback. Easily combos into itself and other moves.
Up tilt			5% (hit 1), 6% (hit 2)	Sheik brings her leg up and quickly brings it down. Can hit on the upswing and downswing.
Down tilt			7.5%	Sheik quickly sweeps her leg out in front of her.
Dash attack			6.5% (clean), 4.5% (late)	A quick slash in front of her. Has decent knockback.
Forward smash			5% (hit 1), 8% (hit 2)	Two successive kicks that moves her forward as they are executed. The first has low knockback, while the second has significant knockback. Can KO at high percentages.
Up smash			15% (sweetspot); 11% (sourspot)	Sheik raises her arms over her head and quickly brings them down to her sides. Her fingertips during the beginning of the move is the sweetspot and the downswing is the sourspot.
Down smash			3% (hit 1), 6% (hit 2)	Gets on her back and does a break-dance style rotation. Can hit twice.
Neutral aerial			8% (clean sweetspot), 7% (clean sourspot), 5% (late sweetspot), 4% (late sourspot)	Sheik extends one leg in front with the other tucked underneath in a typical sex kick form. Poor knockback.
Forward aerial			5.5% (arm), 4.8% (body)	Sheik leans forward and quickly slashes downwards. Has good knockback and can combo into itself at low damage percentages. One of her best moves for edge guarding.
Back aerial			11% (clean sweetspot), 10% (clean sourspot), 5% (late)	Sheik extends one leg downwards and the other backwards in a sex kick. Weak knockback but with large hitboxes. Good for edge guarding.
Up aerial			1% (loop hits 1-3), 4% (hit 4)	Sheik inverts herself and spirals upwards for four hits. The first three hits have the autolink angle against aerial opponents, which allows all four hits to connect easily. The final hit has strong knockback and is a solid KO move at moderate damage percentages.
Down aerial			8% (descent), 2% (landing)	Sheik extends one leg downwards during a short stall followed by a fast decent at about a 20 degree angle. The attack can meteor smash during the beginning, but it's hard to recover because of the fast descent.
Grab			—
Pummel			3.1%	Hits opponent with her arm.
Forward throw			5% (hit 1), 2% (throw)	Punches the opponent forward. At moderate damage it can be comboed into bouncing fish.
Back throw			5% (hit 1), 2% (throw)	Throws opponent behind and kicks them away.
Up throw			3% (hit 1), 2% (throw)	Sheik falls on her back hitting the opponent and then kicks them up into the air. High base knockback with little growth, making combos difficult.
Down throw			3% (hit 1), 3% (throw)	Throws opponent on the ground, then performs an axe kick knocking the opponent up into the air.
Floor attack (front)			7%	Sheik kneels then punches forwards and backwards.
Floor attack (back)			7%	Sheik kicks her feet over her head.
Floor attack (trip)			5%
Edge attack			7%	Sheik pulls herself up and kicks both legs forward along the ground.
Neutral special	Default	Needle Storm	1.9% (near) or 1.2% (far) per needle, 6 needles max	Sheik accumulates up to six needles that can be stored and released immediately or later. If thrown in the air, the needles travel at approximately a 45 degree angle.
	Custom 1	Penetrating Needles	2.2% (near) or 1.6% (far) per needle, 3 needles max	Needles travel through multiple opponents with electric effect. Travels a shorter distance and can only be charged to three needles. Deals extra damage to shields.
	Custom 2	Paralyzing Needle	1%	A single needle that can stun an opponent. Has significant ending lag.
Side special	Default	Burst Grenade	1% (hit), 1% (pull), 12% (explosion)	Sheik throws a grenade on a string. On detonation, it creates a small area that pulls opponents towards it, then explodes. The detonation can be delayed a second by holding the special attack button. Grenade can be thrown a further distance when Sheik is in the air or when thrown over an edge.
	Custom 1	Gravity Grenade	3.58%	Upon detonation, the grenade does not pull enemies into it, but the explosion knocks opponents towards Sheik.
	Custom 2	Skimming Grenade	2% (hits 1-3), 4.6% (explosion)	The grenade bounces on the ground with a time delay before exploding.
Up special	Default	Vanish	12% (vanish), 5% (reappear)	After a short delay, Sheik vanishes in a puff of smoke, reappearing nearby in a controlled direction. The vanish hitbox has high knockback, able to KO at high percentages. The reappearance hitbox has much weaker knockback, but can push shielded opponents out of her way.
	Custom 1	Gale	0%	Sheik vanishes and reappears faster while traveling a further distance.
	Custom 2	Abyss	5% (vanish), 4% (travel)	There is no longer a short vertical movement before Sheik's vanish and it will meteor smash for the entire duration of the vanish. However, the distance travelled is shorter and her pathway during it is visible.
Down special	Default	Bouncing Fish	12%	Sheik flips forward a moderate distance and kicks the opponent. If her feet connect with an opponent, she will flip back a small distance and land on her feet. She can kick up to three times if the preceding kicks connect. Upon a miss, she lands on her back and stands up. Strong knockback and one of her best KO moves. Also drastically improves her off-stage recovery as vanish can be used immediately afterwards.
	Custom 1	Jellyfish	8% (grounded opponents), 10.5% (aerial opponents)	Sheik's flip is more vertical, traveling a shorter horizontal distance. Grounded opponents are launched diagonally upwards with set knockback in order to ensure that the opponent can be hit the second time. She can kick up to two times if the preceding kick connects.
	Custom 2	Pisces	15.5%	Sheik's flip is faster and more shallow, which requires pressing the attack button in order to kick if the attack is used while standing on the ground. If the hit lands, she will flip a short distance forward and will launch opponents backwards while dealing more knockback. It can't be used more than once before landing on the ground.
Final Smash		Light Arrow	1% (hit 1), 44% (Light Arrow 1st opponent), 33% (2nd opponent), 24% (3rd opponent)	Sheik pulls out a large magical bow and light arrow which she fires in a straight, horizontal line across the stage. It can strike multiple opponents, but the damage decreases for each successive target. Has very high knockback.

Victory Fanfare

A flourished remix directly from Brawl. It is a remix of the tune that will play when Link obtained a Triforce Piece in The Legend of Zelda for the Nintendo Entertainment System. It is shared with Link, Zelda, Ganondorf, and Toon Link.

Trophies

Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS trophy descriptions

Sheik

In The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time, Sheik claimed to be a surviving Sheikah. However, this was just a cunning disguise for Princess Zelda so that she could escape Ganondorf. In Smash Bros., she's the complete opposite of Zelda, striking with fast attacks that can keep an opponent off balance.

Sheik (Alt.)

Sheik's Burst Grenade side special throws a small grenade that draws in nearby fighters before exploding. Once the button has been released, it'll hop or explode after a time. The down special Bouncing Fish is an attack where Sheik strikes with both heels, falling similarly to the way a fish might flop around.

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  Classic (3DS)

• SheikAllStarTrophy3DS.png

  Alt. (3DS)

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  Classic (Wii U)

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  Alt. (Wii U)

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  Light Arrow

Update history

1.0.4

• Forward aerial damage reduced from 6.8% to 5.5% (sweetspot) and 6% to 4.8% (sourspot).
• Up aerial hits one less time and does 7% damage instead of 8%.
• Bouncing Fish knockback decreased.

Alternate costumes

Gallery

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  Sheik's introduction picture.

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  Sheik's amiibo.

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  A pose

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  In the air

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  Throwing an attack at Samus

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  Burst Grenade.

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  Neutral aerial

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  A face closeup

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  With Navi

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  A pose

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  Back-to-back with Zelda in the 3DS version.

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  Stretching

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  Posing

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  Attacking Little Mac

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  Charging up Needle Storm

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  Burst Grenade

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  Back-to-back with Zelda in the Wii U version.

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  On the 3DS Version.

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Trivia

• In the Portuguese localisation of SSB4, Sheik is referred to as "o Sheik" ("o" is the masculine definite article).