Zelda (SSB4)

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

Zelda (ゼルダ, Zelda) is a playable character in Super Smash Bros. 4. She was announced on December 26th, 2013, the date on which The Legend of Zelda: A Link Between Worlds was released in Japan.

Her voice actress is Jun Mizusawa, who voiced her in Melee, Brawl, The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time, and The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess. Her sound clips were reused from Brawl.

Attributes

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Zelda defies most other character archetypes. Her approach is far below average while her out of shield game is quite strong, so she is at her best when played defensively, which is unusual for a character of her weight class. She also has some powerful KOing options in her up smash, forward smash and all of her aerials except of her neutral aerial. She also has a rather decent projectile in Phantom Slash. A chargeable attack, Phantom Slash sports both offensive and defensive capabilities and can even be used for edge-guarding. However, its extreme ending lag, poor reach (at the lowest charges) and its susceptibility to being reflected may hinder its use if it is not used wisely. As already mentioned, Zelda has many ways to punish mistakes out of shield: she can use her fast and strong Lightning Kicks, her neutral aerial and Nayru's Love. But her best out of shield option and unarguably her greatest strength is Farore's Wind. In addition to being long-ranged and virtually unpredictable for the opponent to counter if used wisely, Farore's Wind is now one of Zelda's most viable KOing options due to being heavily buffed. Its powerful disappearing hitbox sends opponents straight up, and if Zelda follows them straight up with its reappearing hitbox, it can KO characters as low as 65%.

However, her strengths end there. Like Mewtwo, Zelda has the inconvenient combination of being light, tall, floaty, and slow, making her very easy to KO. Her main way of dealing with projectiles, Nayru's Love, is rather laggy and has a short duration. Phantom Slash, her other defense against long-ranged pressure, is rather situational and, along with Din's Fire, do not help her camp very well. She has less combo starters than average and very laggy attacks with poorly placed hitboxes, making it difficult for her to KO despite her power. Her customs are also rather poor, especially Nayru's Rejection and Farore's Windfall, and none of them can fix her significant problems.

While she has received a number of helpful buffs in game updates, Zelda's flaws overpower her strengths and have ultimately resulted in her retaining her status from Brawl as a rather poor character.

Changes from Brawl

Zelda has received a mix of buffs and nerfs in the transition from Brawl to SSB4. Her KOing ability was toned down, with her Lightning Kicks and up air being weaker and her up tilt having significantly reduced knockback. Her up and down smashes are also weaker and have less range, and she lost her ability to Transform into Sheik. Din's Fire is also much less maneuverable and harder to hit with. Despite these changes, Zelda still has usable offenses. Farore's Wind, while risky, is now a very viable KOing option. At middle percents, the grounded first hit can combo into the second hit (known as the "Elevator" or "Sky Elevator"). Zelda also received an effective albeit short-ranged projectile in Phantom Slash that can block opponents' attacks and is useful for edge-guarding. Her quicker up tilt slightly improves her combo game, her down throw is more useful for aerial follow-ups, and both her ground speed and air speed have been slightly improved. Her down tilt also retains its function as a quick move with decent range that can chain into itself at low percents and lead into other moves.

Aesthetics

• Zelda once again appears as her Twilight Princess incarnation, but her overall color scheme is now noticeably brighter to appear in line with the more vibrant aesthetics used within SSB4. Her face is also more expressive.
• Most of Zelda's magically augmented moves no longer have an electrical effect. They also have updated graphics and sound effects.
• Zelda's down throw has additional fire graphics, and the re-appearance hit of Farore's Wind now has a slash effect instead of fire graphics.
• Zelda has new air dodge and sidestep animations
• Zelda's Lightning Kicks and her up taunt have new animations.

Attributes

• Zelda can no longer Transform into Sheik, with the latter becoming her own separate character.
• Zelda dashes faster (1.224 → 1.3).
• Zelda walks faster (0.8 → 0.87).
• Zelda's air speed is faster (0.987 → 1.04).
• Zelda falls faster (1.13 → 1.35).

Ground attacks

• Jab now connects reliably and deals more damage.
• Dash attack's sweetspot has more base knockback (70/70 → 85/70 (body), 50/70 → 80/50).
• Forward tilt no longer sends opponents backwards, making it more of a KOing option when sweetspotted, but can no longer be followed up by her back Lightning Kick.
• Forward tilt has slightly less range and deals less damage (13%/12%/11% → 12%/10%), which makes it slightly less reliable despite being a better KOing option.
• Up tilt is faster. It can also chain into itself at very low percents and be followed up by an aerial at higher percents.
• Up tilt deals less damage (11% → 7.2%). Combined with decreased base knockback (65 → 45), it is weaker overall and no longer KOs until around 150% despite its increased knockback scaling (105 → 110).
• Down tilt deals less damage, though with its knockback scaling has been compensated (80 → 120).
• Forward smash has decreased SDI multipliers, so opponents can no longer escape the move. It is also stronger (30/105 → 37/110).
• Up smash has less knockback scaling (20/210 → 24/190).
• Up smash and down smash have less range.
• Down smash's second hit has more knockback scaling (85 → 96).
• Down smash's first hit comes out 1 frame later, lasts 1 frame shorter, and has less knockback scaling (95 → 86). Zelda's leg also lost the intangibility during the attack.

Aerial attacks

• Neutral aerial has more knockback scaling (130/120 → 160) and more comboing potential.
• Neutral aerial has a smaller hitbox and deals less damage, especially on the back hits.
• Due to a change in the Lightning Kicks (forward aerial and back aerial) hitbox placements, they are now easier to land.
• Both Lightning Kicks have reduced base knockback. They also have significantly longer endlag and landing lag.
• Up aerial has less knockback scaling (110 → 90).
• Down aerial's sweetspot has a bigger hitbox and can now land on grounded opponents.
• Down aerial's sweetspot is weaker (50/90 → 40/65).

Throws/other attacks

• Down throw now sends opponents at a 100° angle, increasing its follow-up options.
• Down throw deals 4% less damage (10% → 6%).
• Up throw has less base knockback, allowing for better follow-ups.

Special moves

• Nayru's Love has less endlag.
• Nayru's Love's back hit no longer swirls a trapped target in front of Zelda.
• Nayru's Love deals less damage.
• Din's Fire has stronger knockback when sweetspotted at the center of the explosion.
• Din's Fire now has a sizable sourspot with weaker damage and knockback, and the explosion's range has been noticeably reduced. The maneuverability and travel distance of the fireball have also been lowered, making it far more unwieldy to control. It must also must travel a set distance away from Zelda before it can be detonated, leaving her open if it misses. Overall, Din's Fire takes more skill to use properly than in Brawl.
• Farore's Wind travels farther, has less start-up lag, deals more damage, and has significantly more knockback, capable of KOing heavy characters below 85% and light characters below 60%. Its grounded first hit additionally sends the opponent straight up allowing it to combo into the re-appearance hit, creating a strong but risky option out of shield.
• The re-appearance hitbox of Farore's Wind now has a sourspot that deals less damage.
• Zelda has a new down special move, Phantom Slash, to replace Trasnform. Phantom Slash enables her to summon a Phantom that shoots forward like a projectile before slashing with its sword. The Phantom can block attacks, and the move can be charged to shoot the Phantom further, although the charge cannot be stored.
• Phantom Slash can be reflected or Pocketed.
• Light Arrow deals overall less damage and has weaker knockback.

Update history

Zelda began receiving notable buffs since the 1.0.6 update. Her forward and up smashes link together much better, and the latter has increased knockback and range. Phantom Slash has also received improvements in the forms of decreased endlag and a removed blind spot. Additionally, her jab, up tilt, and down tilt inflict more damage (the second of which was given true comboing potential), her neutral, up, and down aerials have less endlag (the former of which was made better for spacing), and while still drastically inferior to Farore's Wind, Farore's Squall and Farore's Windfall have been improved. Despite the significant amount of buffs Zelda has received, they have failed to address her more major issues. She is also one of the characters to not noticeably benefit from the changes to the shield mechanics brought about in updates 1.1.0 and 1.1.1.

1.0.4

• Up tilt damage: 6.5% → 7.2%
• Pivot grab z-offset: -4.0 – -18.7 → -4.0 – -15.7 (less range)

1.0.5

• Pivot grab has a tweaked animation.
• Some Zelda's attacks have improved visual effects.

1.0.6

• Forward smash has significantly reduced SDI multipliers and pulls opponents in much better.
• Forward smash's looping hit angles have been lowered to make the move's hits link better.
• Phantom Slash has slightly less endlag.
• Phantom stays out for roughly a quarter of a second longer.
• Destroyed Phantom respawn time: 6 seconds → 9 seconds
• Back Lightning Kick has improved visual effects.

1.0.8

• Up smash has much more knockback (KOing 20% earlier) and has significantly reduced SDI multipliers like her forward smash.
• Up smash's multi-hits' hitbox sizes increased: 3 → 3.5
• Neutral, up, and down aerials have reduced landing lag by approximately 3 frames.
• Neutral aerial's front hits and back hits have had their damage outputs reversed: 1% → 2% (front), 2% → 1% (back).

1.1.0

• Jab's total damage increased: 6% → 8%.
• Jab's final hit has more base knockback: 24 → 35.
• Jab links better and sends opponents at a more favorable angle.
• Jab's final hit knockback growth decreased (150 → 130).
• Jab's heavy position, bone, angle, size, and weight based knockback adjustments on all hits.
• Up tilt endlag: 32 frames → 29 frames
• Up tilt's decreased endlag now allows for true combos.
• Down tilt's damage increased: 4.5% → 5.5%.
• Phantom Slash has a new 0% hitbox that leads into the sword's hitbox at low charges and pushes opponents away at high charges, essentially removing the move's blind spot.
• Phantom Slash has 5 less frames of endlag.

1.1.1

• Neutral aerial's back hits now drag opponents towards the front hits, allowing the move to deal more damage from this position.
• Farore's Squall's hitbox duration increased by 1 frame.
• Farore's Squall's ending lag reduced by 6 frames.
• Nayru's Passion's explosion hitbox start-up decreased by 5 frames.
• Nayru's Passion's windbox startup by 2 frames.
• Nayru's Passion's windbox has a slight position alternation.

Moveset

		Name	Damage	Description
Neutral attack			2.5% (hits 1-2) 3% (hit 3)	Zelda sticks her hand out in front of herself and shoots small magical sparks, pushing foes slightly back. A decent combo starter at low percents.
Forward tilt			12% (hand), 10% (arm)	Zelda slashes her arm horizontally in front of her with a boost of magic power. Deals decent knockback, and can be angled.
Up tilt			7.2%	Zelda waves her arm above her head in an arc with a boost of magic power. Fast, and can be comboed into itself at low percents, and into an aerial at mid percents. The back hit has much more combo potential than the front hit.
Down tilt			5.5%	Zelda crouches and kicks her foot in front of her, hitting opponents low. Hits opponents slightly into the air, with the possibility of following up.
Dash attack			12% (clean base), 9% (clean tip), 6% (late)	Zelda shoves her arms in front of her and pushes foes in front of her away with a boost of magic power. Sweetspot is located at the beginning of the move.
Forward smash			1% (hits 1-4), 13% (hit 5)	Zelda charges magic energy in her right hand and flashes it in front of her, hitting opponents multiple times before knocking them away. Pressures shields and deals decent knockback.
Up smash			2% (hits 1-4), 0.8% (hits 5-7), 5% (hit 8)	Zelda charges magic energy in her left hand and waves it above her head twice, hitting opponents multiple times before knocking them away. Deals high knockback, KOing at ~80%.
Down smash			12% (hit 1), 10% (hit 2)	Zelda quickly kicks on both sides of herself, knocking opponents away. Hits very quickly and at a low angle.
Neutral aerial			2% (hits 1-4 front), 1% (hits 1-4 back), 3% (hit 5)	Zelda waves her arms around her, hitting opponents multiple times around her before knocking them away. Useful for catching opponents off guard or in combos.
Forward aerial		Lightning Kick	20% (clean foot), 4% (clean leg, late)	Zelda quickly kicks in front of her, dealing great damage and knockback if the opponent is hit at the beginning of the move and just the tip of her boot strikes the opponent. Otherwise, the opponent is hit with low damage and knockback. Sweetspot KOs at ~70-80%. Has enough ending lag for opponent to punish a missed sweetspot even if the attack connects.
Back aerial		Lightning Kick	20% (clean foot), 4% (clean leg, late)	Zelda quickly kicks behind herself, dealing great damage and knockback if the opponent is hit at the beginning of the move and just the tip of her boot strikes the opponent. Otherwise, the opponent is hit with low damage and knockback. Sweetspot KOs at ~60-80%. Is slightly faster than her forward air. Has enough ending lag that the opponent can punish a missed sweetspot even if they are hit.
Up aerial			15%	Zelda brings her arm above her head and releases a fiery explosion above her head, dealing great knockback. Slow, and requires percise timing to strike, but can KO well. Can clip through the bottom of stage ledges and have the hitbox go slightly above the ledge or narrow areas of the stage.
Down aerial			16% (clean), 5% (late leg), 4% (late foot)	Zelda stomps her foot below herself, meteoring opponents caught below her waist. The initial hitbox deals a powerful meteor, whereas later hitboxes hit opponents with less force, albeit still a meteor.
Grab			—	Zelda restrains her opponent in front of her with magical energy.
Pummel			3%	Zelda waves her arms quickly in front of her victim, dealing small magic damage.
Forward throw			12%	Zelda spins her opponent in front of her and throws her opponent away. Deals a good amount of damage.
Back throw			11%	Zelda spins her opponent, circles them around herself and throws them behind her. Deals good damage and can kill near the edge at 110%.
Up throw			11%	Zelda forces her opponent above her and throws them upward. On fast-fallers, can be followed up with a Nair or Uair if timed well enough.
Down throw			1% (hits 1-4), 2% (throw)	Zelda forces her opponent under her and shoots fire from her hands at them, before knocking them above her. Can be followed up with a Nair, Bair or Uair if timed well enough. At high percent, Zelda can followed up with a uair or bair for a KO.
Floor attack (front)			7%	Zelda kicks in front and then behind her. As with all getup attacks, deals great shield damage, but can be punished.
Floor attack (back)			7%	Zelda kicks in front and then behind her. As with all getup attacks, deals great shield damage, but can be punished.
Floor attack (trip)			5%	Zelda kicks behind and then in front of herself. As with all getup attacks, deals great shield damage, but can be punished.
Edge attack			7%	Zelda brings herself onto the edge and kicks her opponent away.
Neutral special	Default	Nayru's Love	2% (loop front), 1% (loop back), 5% (last front), 4% (last back)	Creates a crystal that slashes enemies and reflects projectiles. Has eight frames of intangibility near the beginning of the move.
	Custom 1	Nayru's Rejection	1% (loop), 5% (last)	Weaker overall but reverses opponents and pushes them away. Has slight starting lag, but increased intangibility.
	Custom 2	Nayru's Passion	15%	Sucks in opponents and explodes; does not reflect. Has noticeable starting lag before explosion.
Side special	Default	Din's Fire	3-7% (Sourspot), 7-14% (Sweetspot)	Zelda shoots a controllable fireball when the special button is held. Releasing the button causes it to explode. The longer the button is held down, the farther the blast will travel, automatically detonating when it reaches its maximum distance.
	Custom 1	Din's Flare	7% (Sourspot), 14% (Sweetspot)	Faster and deals the same damage regardless of how long it is held, but can barely be adjusted vertically. Has more range.
	Custom 2	Din's Blaze	3.8-9 (sourspot), 7.6-18 (sweetspot)	Much more vertical movement and explosion size, but slower to detonate. Has a much slower travel speed.
Up special	Default	Farore's Wind	6% (hit 1), 10% (ground hit 2 near), 7% (ground hit 2 far), 12% (ground hit 2 near), 8% (ground hit 2 far)	Teleports in a given direction, dealing damage at both ends. When combined with a jump, can increase range greatly. Possess very high knockback, being able to KO as low as 30% near the top blast zone (depending on weight and DI), making it one of Zelda's best KO options.
	Custom 1	Farore's Squall	0%	Has slightly more range (Much more range when combined with a jump), but takes longer to teleport, deals no damage, and simply pushing opponents away with a large windbox. If Zelda reappears at the opponents position, they will be knocked into the air with set knockback, but no damage.
	Custom 2	Farore's Windfall	4% (hit 1), 7% (hit 2)	Can only teleport straight up, but meteors opponents on reappearance. No benefits when combined with a jump. After, you have some horizontal control over Zelda. This move loses a lot of it's KO power as it doesn't start KOing until the 400's or higher.
Down special	Default	Phantom Slash	6% (uncharged), 14% (mid-charged), 24-26% (full charged), 11% (first hit, full charge), 13-15% (second hit, full charge)	A chargeable attack that propels a Phantom forwards that slashes enemies and blocks attacks. Charging longer increases distance covered and the attack is altered slightly. At max charge, becomes a two-hit attack. However, since the phantom is considered a projectile, it can be reflected. The phantom is also considered a physical entity and can slow down players that try to move through it (except for the Zelda that used it), block some non-penetrating hits (Phantom has set health on all charges and customs), and won't put Zelda in free fall if she is in the air.
	Custom 1	Phantom Breaker	5% (uncharged), 12% (mid-charge) 20% (fully charged), 9% (fully charged hit 1), 11% (fully charged hit 2)	Travels a set distance and deals more shield damage, but less damage %. The set distance is approx. the distance of Phantom Slash at its 2nd charge, meaning a minimally charged Phantom travels farther and maximum charged Phantom travels less distance when compared to Phantom Slash.
	Custom 2	Phantom Strike	8% (uncharged), 20% (mid-charged), 28-30% (fully charged) 14% (fully charged hit 1), 14-16% (fully charged hit 2)	Travels a shorter distance and deals more damage. This move charges to full in 1/2 the time.
Final Smash		Light Arrow	1% (hit 1), 39% (throw 1st opponent) 29% (throw 2nd opponent) 21% (throw 3rd opponent)	Fires an arrow of light sideways that deals significant damage. Knocks opponents at a 45 degree angle. Deals less damage for each consecutive enemy hit.

Taunts

• Up Taunt: Holds one arm straight up, her hand glowing with magic.
• Side Taunt: Turns toward the screen, puts her hands together in front of her torso and creates a small flame between them.
• Down Taunt: Waves to the side while leaning forward slightly.

Idle Poses

• Loosely holds one arm and then looks in multiple directions.
• Brushes the back of her hair.
• With one hand on her elbow, she puts one hand on her neck, puts it back down and then taps her arm with one finger.

On-Screen Appearance

Zelda teleports onto the stage with magic glowing between her hands and sparkles rising up from the floor around her.

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, Sheik, Ganondorf, and Toon Link.

Victory Poses

• ZeldaPose1WiiU.png
• ZeldaPose2WiiU.png
• ZeldaPose3WiiU.png

• Clasps her hands together, which glow with magic, and prays with her eyes closed, then turns her head and looks up towards the sky.
• Turns her head to the left and loosely holds one arm with the other, making an elegant stance.
• Conjures a pulsing magical flame between her hands in front of her torso similar to her side taunt.

In Competitive Play

Official Custom Moveset Project

Character	Custom sets available
Zelda	1213	1313	1212	1312	1223
	1323	3212	3312	2213	2312

Notable players

•  Ed
•  maXy
•  Nairo
•  Ven

In Event Matches

Solo Events

• All-Star Battle: Melee: Zelda is one of the eight opponents that must be fought in this event. These eight characters debut in Melee, and reappear in Smash 4.
• Identity Crisis: As Sheik the player must defeat Samus. After defeating her, the player must defeat Zero Suit Samus. Zelda can appear if Sheik dies.
• Princess Punch-Up!: As Zelda with Link as a CPU ally, the player must defeat a team of Peach and Mario.
• The Demon King and the Goddess: As Ganondorf, the player must defeat a team of Link and Zelda. After the two are defeated or some time has passed, Giant Palutena appears and the player must defeat her.
• Unwavering Chivalry: As Meta Knight, the player must defeat Marth without defeating Peach or Zelda. Defeating any of the princesses results in a failure.

Co-op Events

• Peach in Peril: Zelda is one of the opponents Bowser and Bowser Jr. must defeat without KOing Peach.
• The Ultimate Battle: Two players choose a character and must defeat everyone on the roster.

Trophies

Zelda

This is the namesake of the Legend of Zelda games. Her appearance may change, but she always plays an important role. In Smash Bros., she's quick on the draw when it comes to magic, though a bit slow when moving. She has a new move that summons a Phantom to her aid.

This is the Zelda they're talking about in the titles of all the Legend of Zelda games. Though her appearance can change from game to game, her importance in the story usually doesn't. In this game, she's a bit slow, but her impressive magic skills make up for it. Power up her brand new special, Phantom Slash, by holding down the button.

: The Legend of Zelda (08/1987)

: The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess (11/2006)

Zelda (Alt.)

Zelda's forward air attack, Lightning Kick, is a valiant kick with a magically charged tip. Striking with just the glowing spot will deal heavy damage and launch your opponent. Din's Fire, her explosive side special, can be guided up and down and has a greater blast if the button is held.

Zelda's forward air attack, Lightning Kick, is a single-footed, electrically charged strike. Hit your opponent with just the glowing spot to deal heavy damage and launch them. Her Din's Fire side special can be guided up and down, and makes a bigger blast the longer you hold the button. It'll explode as soon as you let go.

: The Legend of Zelda (08/1987)

: The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess (11/2006)

Light Arrow (Zelda)

In many of the Legend of Zelda games, the sacred Light Arrows are required to defeat the final boss. In this game, Zelda fires one straight across the screen for her Final Smash. If it passes through multiple foes, the ones hit first will take the most damage. The Light Arrow has a lot of launching power, making it great for getting KOs!

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  Classic (3DS)

• ZeldaAllStarTrophy3DS.png

  Alt. (3DS)

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  Classic (Wii U)

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  Alt. (Wii U)

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  Light Arrow

Alternate costumes

Gallery

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  Zelda in the Nintendo Direct from April 8th, 2014.

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  Zelda's amiibo.

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  The pic of the day shown during Zelda's reveal.

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  Zelda's appearance.

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  Zelda and Link in the 3DS version.

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  Zelda using Phantom Slash to strike Fox.

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  Zelda next to Link summoning Navi.

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  A pose.

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  Zelda and Donkey Kong.

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  Zelda teetering in front of Rosalina.

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  Zelda's pose when she charges Phantom Slash.

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  Zelda near a knocked down Link.

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  Zelda Behind Link and Peach.

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  Zelda's forward tilt. Note the new slashing effect.

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  Zelda performing her down taunt to Mario and Mega Man.

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  Zelda with Toon Link.

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  Zelda using Farore's Wind.

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  Zelda's side taunt.

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  Zelda's neutral air.

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  Zelda watching Link and Peach.

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  Neutral air with Samus.

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  Down taunt with Toon Link.

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  Neutral air with Rosalina.

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  Zelda's jab attack.

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  Posing with Donkey Kong and Samus.

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  Zelda and Link.

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  Being attacked by Marth.

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  One of Zelda's idle poses.

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  With Olimar and a Yellow Pikmin.

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  Zelda and Mega Man's forward smash attacks.

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  Zelda with Peach and Rosalina.

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  Zelda jumping away from Mario.

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  Zelda's default stance.

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  Beginning of Din's Fire.

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  Laying down with a Purple Pikmin.

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  Another one of Zelda's idle poses.

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  Zelda in the 3DS version.

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  Another 3DS screenshot.

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  Posing in the 3DS version.

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  Using her jab on Samus.

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  End of forward smash.

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  Zelda, with King Dedede and Peach.

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  "Curiouser and curiouser ..."

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  "Ah--soft and squishy." [1]

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  Battling Rosalina as Viridi approaches from the back.

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  Zelda using Din's Fire on Toon Link in SSB4.

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  Zelda using Phantom Slash only to miss Yoshi doing his forward tilt.

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  Back-to-back with Sheik.

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  Zelda being attacked by a Polar Bear in Smash Run.