Toon Link (SSBB)

This article is about Toon Link's appearance in Super Smash Bros. Brawl. For Links in general, see Link, and for the Wind Waker Link in other contexts, see Toon Link.

Toon Link in Super Smash Bros. Brawl
Universe	The Legend of Zelda
Availability	Unlockable
Final Smash	Triforce Slash
Tier	C+ (13)

Toon Link (トゥーンリンク, Tūn Rinku) is a playable character in Super Smash Bros. Brawl. "Toon Link" is simply a reference name to give distinction between the two Links that appear in Brawl and to not confuse him with Young Link (again, a reference name). In all actuality, he's simply named Link and comes from a different era and timeline branch than "Twilight" Link does. His moveset appears similar to that of Young Link. His appearance is based on his look in The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker and The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass. However, Toon Link looks slightly more realistic in Brawl than in Wind Waker. This can be seen by comparing his standard trophy and his Outset Link trophy, as his character model in Brawl is not cel-shaded like that of Wind Waker, Phantom Hourglass or Spirit Tracks.

Toon Link is currently ranked 13th on the tier list at the top of the mid-high tier (the highest ranked character of all the The Legend of Zelda characters). Toon Link's biggest asset is his variety of versatile projectiles, which when combined with his great jumping ability and air mobility, gives him one of the strongest camping abilities and makes him one of the most difficult characters to approach. Toon Link additionally has a strong aerial game, with the aforementioned efficient jumping and aerial mobility, and access to fast, powerful aerial attacks, in addition to a damaging zair, which is useful for keeping opponents at a distance and setting up subsequent attacks. Toon Link also has two great combo starters in his up tilt and back aerial that can combo into themselves, a far reaching and relatively safe recovery, and strong approaching capabilities from his fast movement speed and projectiles. Toon Link however suffers from substandard KOing ability, possessing finishers that aren't that powerful with short reach, or in the case of his up smash, being too predictable while lacking strong enough traits to make up for it. Toon Link additionally possesses short reach throughout his moveset, and a very punishable grab that lacks the reach to make up for its high ending lag (in addition to possessing rather poor throws). Toon Link overall has strong matchups (with his only counter being Meta Knight), in addition to achieving strong tournament results.

How to Unlock

• Complete Classic Mode with any character on any difficulty after finishing The Subspace Emissary, then defeat Toon Link.
• Toon Link can also be found in a door near the beginning of the Subspace Emissary level, The Forest, after the story is completed. Then defeat Toon Link.
• Play 400 brawls in Brawl mode, then defeat Toon Link.

The player must defeat Toon Link in a brawl on Pirate Ship.

Gameplay differences between Young Link and Toon Link

Toon Link replaces Young Link from Melee, with some noticeable changes in his fighting style.

• Toon Link uses his sword for more attacks than Young Link does, due to his shorter legs.
• Toon Link's Hero's Bow shoots farther and charges faster, but his arrows are slower and do not set targets on fire like Young Link's do. However, two can be fired out of a short hop, providing for an effective fence of pain.
• Toon Link's Bombs do not perform combos like Young Link's and are weaker than Link's, but they have a bigger blast radius and a different smoke explosion, which was taken from The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker.
• Toon Link's down tilt does not meteor smash like Young Link and has medium knockback.
• Toon Link's up smash is a single slash, rather than three, and it is a much better and stronger finisher.
• Toon Link's recovery is significantly longer, as he has less fall time and higher second and third jumps.
• Toon Link's neutral, back, and forward aerials are different (neutral aerial is two slashes, one forward and one backward, back aerial is a standard backward slash, and forward aerial is a standard forward slash. Young Link's neutral aerial was a Sex Kick, his forward aerial was two slashes forward, and his back aerial was two kicks backwards).
• Toon Link's up aerial is better and stronger finisher than Young Link's.
• Toon Link's down aerial goes straight down, is much faster, and is easier to control. However, it is more dangerous to use and can lead to a self-destruct if it is used offstage, does not connect with an opponent, and is not used properly as it is a Stall-Then-Fall that has a long falling distance and will not stop until it is used at very high altitudes, leaving Toon Link unable to recover.
• Toon Link's down aerial meteor smash is in the beginning of the plunge; Young Link could only meteor smash on any frame with his down aerial if the opponent was directly above him and touched the hilt of his sword; this move, unlike Toon Link's, does set opponents on fire if the meteor smash sweetspot connects.
• Toon Link is much lighter than Young Link.
• Toon Link's hookshot goes farther than Young Link's.
• Toon Link is floatier than Young Link.
• Toon Link's boomerang is bigger, slower and doesn't fly as far as Young Link's.

Attributes

Toon Link is a small, quick character. As such, he is floaty and on the lighter side. Toon Link also has the ability to wall jump. His attacks are generally high priority, decent range (although poor compared to other swordsmen), and medium to low lag disjointed hitbox moves. Toon Link's aerial game is powerful, but he may have problems regarding finishing his opponent off. His best KO move is his up smash, but his down smash is not as powerful. The second hit of his forward smash can easily be evaded with DI and thus leave him vulnerable. His tether grab has decent range, but it leaves him vulnerable if it misses. Projectiles, his bombs in particular, are also part of Toon Link's game, which are great for mindgames, and (like Boomerangs) can be used to combine with other attacks. He has a decently powerful and ranged game due to having 3 projectiles and a grab aerial, as well as a shield to automatically block most other projectiles while standing in a stationary position (although his idle poses negate this). His Stall-Then-Fall down aerial can negate horizontal knockback (although it can also cause some unwanted self destructs), which sets up the rest of his recovery, and can also make use of bomb and tether recoveries. On the downside, his recovery is predictable, fairly easy to edge guard due his floatiness, and gives only decent distance overall. Ultimately, Toon Link becomes what his player makes of him in combining and using his advantages to mitigate disadvantage.

Moveset

Toon Link's Moveset
	Move	Description	Segment		Damage	Angle	Hit Frames		BKB	KBG	WBKB	Type
Neutral attack	Triple Swing	Toon Link slashes twice then thrusts his sword forward. Fairly quick. The first and second hits have very little knockback. The third hit, though it has actual "knockback", has little KO potential. Primarily used as a way to create space against close-up opponents.	Hit 1	Tip	3%	80	6	7	0	100	23
				Blade					16	37	0
				Body		*			30
			Hit 2	Tip	2%	100	14	15	22	20
				Blade		82
				Arm		60
				Body		50
			Hit 3		5%	40	34	38	30	100
Forward tilt	Overhand Swipe	Toon Link slashes from behind to in front of him. The beginning of the attack hits behind him. Decent horizontal knockback makes it tolerable for edge-guarding if the blast line is nearby. Has no natural trip chance, but its very low angle can cause tripping anyway.	Tip		9%	*	10	13	20	96	0
			Blade			20
			Body							90
Up tilt	Vertical Swing	Quick overhead swipe. Similar to his up smash, except faster and less powerful. Covers a fairly large arc. Knockback is almost entirely vertical, and it is usually possible to chain multiple up tilts in succession on a low-damage enemy. Excellent for combining with aerial attacks. Exactly identical to Link's up tilt, but lasts two frames longer.	Tip		9%	95	8	14	30	122	0
			Blade			85				130
			Arm							124
			Body							123
Down tilt	Ground Swipe	Swipes his sword along the ground. Ideal for edge-guarding if an off-stage opponent is trying to grab a ledge. Has a 40% chance of tripping opponents.			9%	*	9	10	20	88	0
Dash attack	Running Slash	A horizontal slash. It knocks the enemy directly forward with little knockback. Conversely, it can also cause the enemy to trip (30% chance). Has considerable ending lag.	Blade		10%	0	9	11	35	32	0
			Tip		8%
Up smash	Super Swing	Single overhead strike. Slower, longer-ranged, and more powerful than his uptilt. It has good Star KO potential, and its decent speed and range make it a good choice to execute during a dash.	Clean	Area	Template:DamageWhenCharged	100	11		30	93	0
				Sword		96	11	13
			Late		Template:DamageWhenCharged		14	17
Down smash	Grass Cutter	Sweeps his sword in front of and then behind him along the ground. The first hit leads into the second hit on grounded opponents and cannot be SDI'd; on aerial opponents it hits upwards with decent knockback. With proper timing it can be used to counter players who roll a lot. The attack also has a 30% chance of tripping opponents.	Hit 1 (aerial targets)		Template:DamageWhenCharged	70	9	10	40	100	0
			Hit 1 (grounded targets)	Tip	Template:DamageWhenCharged	170			0		150
				Middle							120
				Base		180					80
			Hit 2		Template:DamageWhenCharged	72	17	19	30	107	0
Forward smash	Two-Handed Swing	A strong sideways slash. If the player hits the attack button again, he follows up with another finishing slash. A good finisher. The first hit has little set knockback. The second hit has powerful knockback and cannot be SDI'd, but lightweights can easily escape it.	Hit 1	Tip	Template:DamageWhenCharged	80	15	17	0	110	40
				Blade		76
				Arm		45
				Body		10					30
			Hit 2	Sword	Template:DamageWhenCharged	40	32	34	32	106	0
				Body					25
				Rear	Template:DamageWhenCharged				20
Neutral air	Wobble Slash	Double swipe of the sword, first in front then behind, similar to Marth's neutral aerial. The first hit can bring the target into the second hit, provided the enemy is positioned properly. Minimal starting lag makes this a useful move out of a short hop.	Hit 1		10%	*	6	7	20	100	0
			Hit 2				13	14
Forward air	Single Swing	Forward slash, high knockback. Good for edge-guarding in terms of leaving the stage to intercept the recovering enemy. Can be short hopped, but is not as effective in that capacity as his neutral aerial or back aerial. Is auto-cancelled after a short hop and doing it right away.			13%	*	14	15	22	100	0
Back air	Rear Swing	Quick backward arc, raising from his feet to about his head. High damage, but low knockback, enabling multiple hits to be strung together consecutively. Excellent for combining with other aerial attacks, and a tolerable edge-guarding move if one stages an aerial-interception defence directly from the ledge itself. Excellent to use out of a short hop using a reverse aerial rush. One of the best back aerials in the game as it has excellent edgeguarding ability, KOing power, and can combo at low percentages. Has diagonal knockback that is better for Star KOs at later percentages.			10%	60	6	10	18	117	0
Up air	Ceiling Stab	Sticks his sword above him, like Link's up aerial, though it has more knockback. Long duration, very high knockback. One of his best Star KO moves and problably one of the best up aerials in the game. The range and disjointed hitbox of this move make it a good choice for juggling. Similar to a sex kick in that it will do more damage on the opening frames but is held out for a while.	Clean		14%	80	11	13	25	95	0
			Late		12%		14	40
Down air	Blade Plummet	Sticks his sword straight down, as per Link's down aerial. However, this has a twist: it acts as a stall-then-fall, stalling momentarily in midair before launching Toon Link downwards very quickly with no horizontal control. The beginning of the downwards descent can meteor smash the opponent powerfully, but it's very risky because if he misses, he will most likely self-destruct. In addition, when Toon Link slams into the ground, any opponents near the impact point but not struck by the attack are pushed away with a fair amount of force. Like Link's, this down aerial can pogo-hop off an enemy, allowing it to hit twice. This is easily followed up with one of his other aerials like his neutral or up aerials for a quick three-hit string of attacks. The pogo effect allows one to meteor smash an offstage opponent and pogo back to the stage. Can KO grounded opponents at high percentage.	Clean	Sword	16%	270	12	18	40	80	0
				Body					30
			Late	Sword	13%	70	19	64	40
				Body					50
			After Bounce	Sword	8%				40
				Body					50
			Landing	Close wind	0%	0	1		0	100	58
				Far wind							35
				Sword	5%	30	1	4	20		0
Grab air (zair)	Rotary Hookshot	Fires his Hookshot straight in front of him, just like Link's tether recovery but with shorter range. The only part of the attack which hits is the tip of the Hookshot. There is very little knockback to this attack, which is commonly used to follow up with a grab, which can lead to aerial combos. Typically done in a short hop and used at the peak of Toon Link's jump, or just as he begins to fall. This attack is unique in the sense it can be used instantly out of an air dodge (a typical combo is a short hop, air dodge, tether recovery), and is practically lagless when Toon Link hits the ground.			4%	45	11	16	60	30	0
Pummel	Hilt Hit	Beats opponent with the hilt of his sword. Very fast and almost no afterlag.			2%	*	9		0	100	0
Forward throw	Short Tackle	Drops opponent quickly and shoulder tackles them forward.	Hit 1		3%	*	12		0	0	120
			Throw		4%	45	13		40	120	0
Back throw	Roll Kick	Rolls onto his back, pulling his opponent with him, then kicks them backwards. Is a semi-spike.	Hit 1		3%	*	10	12	0	0	120
			Throw		4%	30	13		30	110	0
Up throw	Lob Slice	Throws opponent upward and slashes them. Any bystanders near Toon Link will be semi-spiked. Strongest throw. Can be comboed with Spin Attack.	Hit 1	Tip	5%	20	26	30	50	100	0
				Blade	4%
			Throw		2%	90	28		24	200	0
Down throw	Elbow Slam	Throws opponent on the ground and slams on top of them. The first hit cannot hit Jigglypuff. It is believed that this is because Jigglypuff's low weight causes the animation to occur too quickly, the hitbox appearing and vanishing before it is checked for.	Hit 1		3%	*	22		0	0	120
			Throw		4%	100	23		60	60	0
Floor (back)	Standing Swipe	Two quick swipes to either side.	Hit 1		6%	*	21	22	80	50	0
			Hit 2				28	29
Floor (front)	Quick Swing	Two quick swipes to either side; faster-hitting than the other floor attack.	Hit 1		6%	*	15	16	80	50	0
			Hit 2				25	27
Floor (trip)	Standing Swing	Slashes in front of him and then behind him just like his floor attacks.	Hit 1		5%	*	19	20	60	50	0
			Hit 2				28	29
Edge (<100%)	Flip Swipe	Gets on the stage and slashes from head to toe.			8%	*	27	29	0	100	110
Edge (100%+)	Slow Stab	Slowly gets up and stabs forward.			10%	*	51	54	0	100	110
Neutral Special	Hero's Bow	Fires an arrow that can be charged.			4%	*			8	50	0
Side Special	Boomerang	Throws a boomerang that deals damage and returns to Toon Link.	Release		8%	70	1	10	50	50	0
			Flight		5%	65
			Return		3%	60			0	100	70
Up Special	Spin Attack	Attacks on both sides with a spinning slash that can be charged and hits multiple times.	Hit 1 (ground)	Arm	1%	180	4	12	0	40	5
				Blade						70
				Tip						100
				Body		80					10
			Hit 2 (ground)	Arm		180	13	44		30	50
				Blade						70
				Tip						100	30
				Body		80					10
			Hit 3 (ground)		3%	55	46		25	160	0
			Hit 1 (air)	Part A	4%	92	8	10	0	100	90
				Part B		75					100
				Part C		38					50
				Part D		70					78
			Hit 2 (air)	Part A	2%	92	16	18			88
				Part B		75					100
				Part C		38					50
				Part D		70					78
			Hit 3 (air)	Part A		92	22	24			77
				Part B		75					90
				Part C		40					40
				Part D		70					55
			Hit 4 (air)	Part A		92	30	32			60
				Part B		75					70
				Part C		40					40
				Part D		70					43
			Hit 5 (air)		4%	*	47	51	40	163	0
Down Special	Bomb	Produces a bomb to throw. Can cause self-damage.			3%	70			40	70	0
Final Smash	Triforce Slash	Traps the opponent and lays down a series of quick sword strikes before an impressive final blow.	Snag		5%	22	13	14	0	100	30
			Hits 1-14	Part A	4%	90	5-6, 16-17, 28-29, 38-39, 49-50, 60-61, 71-72, 82-83, 93-94, 104-105, 115-116, 126-127, 137-138, 148-149		0	100	50
				Part B		70
				Part C		110
				Part D		0
				Part E		180
			Hit 15		4%	*	159		60	200	0
			Hit 16		18%		256	257	30	105

Taunts

• Up: Conducts with his Wind Waker baton, at the end of which, a sound from when Toon Link plays a melody in The Wind Waker is heard.
• Side: Puts his sword away and looks around the environment.
• Down: Panics while slashing his sword around wildly, which tires him out.

On-Screen Appearance

Appears from a Wind Waker style explosion, and quickly sheaths and unsheathes his sword.

Idle poses

• Looks on both sides of him.
• Stomps the tip of his boot on the ground.

Victory Pose

Victory Theme: Zelda Triforce Theme

• He waves the Wind Waker baton.
• He tries to catch a pig but ends up tripping and falling on his bottom and begins rubbing it gently with a small sigh as he falls.
• Similar to the previous pose except he catches the pig and holds it above his head, all while struggling trying not to drop it.

Character Roll Call Music

• Village of the Blue Maiden

In Competitive play

Matchups

Super Smash Bros. Brawl Character Matchups

Avg.

Role in the Subspace Emissary

Toon Link in SSE.

Toon Link is an optional character in the Subspace Emissary, like Jigglypuff and Wolf, who can only be unlocked after the mode has been completed . To find him, players must enter a new door in the Forest which appears after defeating Tabuu for the first time that takes them to the Pirate Ship, where Toon Link prepares for battle. Defeating Toon Link will add him to the player's team. He does not have an actual role in the overall plot.

Stickers

Toon Link uses his sword for all of his attacks except his back throw, forward throw, and down throw. Because of this, he benefits greatly from [Slash] and [Weapon] Damage boosts. Toon Link has more ranged specials than direct, so a [Specials: Indirect] boost would also be beneficial to him.

Costumes

Toon Link's alternate costumes in SSBB

Trivia

• Despite being able to crawl voluntarily in Wind Waker, Toon Link is unable to crawl in Brawl; Mario is the only other character who acts this way.
• Toon Link holds the world record for Level 4 and Level 5 Target Smash (Level 4 completed in 9.05 seconds, and Level 5 completed in 6.65 seconds), Co-op Target Smash Level 1 with Falco (2.66 seconds), and Co-op Target Smash Level 5 with another Toon Link (4.11 seconds).
• The parting in his hair is reversed from his Wind Waker counterpart. Additionally, it isn't affected by gravity or wind.
• Toon Link has the same idle poses as Young Link in SSBM.
• Toon Link, Bowser, Link, Luigi, and Yoshi are the only characters to wear their default costumes while on the green team during Team Battles.
• All of Toon Link's attacks use a weapon, with the exception of his forward, back and down throws.
• If Toon Link eats Superspicy Curry and doesn't move or attack after the effect wears off, he will not take his sword and shield back out until he finally moves or attacks.
• Currently, Toon Link is the only known character to have an unquestionable error in his hitbox coding - while the first hit of his forward throw is quite clearly a shoulder tackle, for sticker purposes it is considered a Leg attack. This is likely an error caused by copying moveset data from Link.
• Toon Link has the most semi-spikes in Brawl.

External links

• DOJO!! Page
• Toon Link Character Guide at SWF
• All Of Toon Link's Advanced Techniques at SWF
• Toon Link's hitbox size of each of his moves