Editing Sheik

{{ArticleIcons|melee=yes|brawl=yes|ssb4=yes}}

:''For fighter info, see [[Sheik (SSBM)]], [[Sheik (SSBB)]], and [[Sheik (SSB4)]].''

|image        = [[File:Sheik Twilight Princess.png|200px|Sheik]]

|caption      = [[File:ZeldaSymbol.svg|50px]]<br>Concept artwork of Sheik's scrapped design from ''{{s|zeldawiki|The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess}}''.

|universe    = ''{{uv|The Legend of Zelda}}''

|firstgame    = ''[[The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time]]'' (1998)

|games        = ''[[Melee]]''<br/>''[[Brawl]]''<br>''[[SSB4]]''

|lastappearance= ''{{s|zeldawiki|Hyrule Warriors Legends}}'' (2016)

|species      = {{s|zeldawiki|Hylian}} (disguised as {{s|zeldawiki|Sheikah}})

|gender      = Female (disguised as male)

|homeworld    = [[Hyrule]]

|creator      =  

|artist      =  

|voiceactor  = Jun Mizusawa

'''Sheik''' ({{ja|シーク|Shīku}}, ''Sheik'') is a character from {{uv|The Legend of Zelda}} universe, specifically a disguise of [[Princess Zelda]]. Sheik aids [[Link]] in ''[[The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time]]'' by giving him tips and teaching him [[zeldawiki:Warping#Ocarina of Time|warp songs]].

==Character description==

[[File:Sheikartwork.jpg|thumb|126x295px|left|Official artwork of Sheik from ''{{s|zeldawiki|The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time}}'', which directly inspired her design in ''[[Super Smash Bros. Melee]]''.]]

Sheik is a Sheikah who debuted in ''[[The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time]]''. Unlike {{s|zeldawiki|Impa}}, the only other Sheikah in the game, Sheik's voice is muffled and her face is concealed, which make her virtually unrecognizable. Sheik first appears before [[Link]] soon after his spirit is unsealed after being contained within the [[zeldawiki:Temple of Light#Chamber of Sages|Chamber of Sages]] for seven years. Upon meeting Link, Sheik reveals that now that he has acquired the Light Medallion from {{s|zeldawiki|Rauru}}, the {{s|zeldawiki|Sage}} of Light, he must also awaken five other Sages and acquire their respective {{s|zeldawiki|Medallions}} in order to become powerful enough to stop [[Ganondorf]] and save Hyrule.

Following this, Sheik appears before Link at various instances, and uses her [[zeldawiki:Goddess's Harp|harp]] to teach him [[zeldawiki:Warping#Ocarina of Time|warp songs]] to help him on his quest. Upon teaching Link each song, she imparts words of wisdom to him before using a {{s|zeldawiki|Deku Nut}} to mysteriously disappear in an explosive flash. When all six Sages are awakened, Link arrives at the Temple of Time near the end of the game and is greeted by Sheik, who uses the Triforce of Wisdom to reveal herself as Zelda. It is claimed by the character's trophy in ''[[Super Smash Bros. Melee]]'' that she uses her magical skills to change her skin tone, hair length, eye color, and clothing. In addition, when hurt, Sheik is voiced by a female voice actor in both ''Ocarina of Time'' and ''Melee''.  

A popular topic in both ''The Legend of Zelda'' and ''Super Smash Bros.'' fan communities is Sheik's gender. Many say that Sheik is a female, as she is merely a disguise of Zelda; others suggested that her masculine qualities are because of an actual gender change Zelda undergoes while transforming into Sheik, explaining the gender alteration as an effect of magic.

The issue originates from ''Ocarina of Time''; in the game, Link encounters Princess Ruto in the Water Temple. She asks Link to thank Sheik for saving her, referring to Sheik as "a young man named Sheik..." In addition, the manga adaptation for ''Ocarina of Time'' suggests that Zelda uses the Triforce of Wisdom to actually become male while disguised as Sheik; this adaptation, however, is officially considered to be non-canon. Zelda herself apologizes for "meeting Link in disguise", though what she means is very open to interpretation. In addition, it has been argued that the Sheik "character" is male, much like some real-life cross dressers adopt opposite-gendered stage personas.

While Sheik's gender in ''Ocarina of Time'' is still occasionally argued, Sheik is officially considered a female in the ''Super Smash Bros.'' series. Sheik's ''Melee'', ''Brawl'', and ''SSB4'' trophies describe her as female, Masahiro Sakurai referred to her as female in her update on the [[Smash Bros. DOJO!!]] website, and she is referred to as female within ''Brawl's'' manual. However, Zelda's trophy in ''Super Smash Bros. 4'' referred to Sheik as "a young man". For the main series, before the Japanese release of ''{{s|zeldawiki|Hyrule Warriors}}'', Bill Trinen, Nintendo's senior product marketing manager and head translator for ''Ocarina of Time'', stated in an interview on August 5th, 2014 that since Sheik is Zelda in disguise and Zelda is female, Sheik is therefore also female.<ref>[http://www.polygon.com/2014/8/5/5948989/zelda-nintendo-sheik-gender-cosplay Zelda fans debate Sheik's gender, but here's Nintendo's final word]</ref>

Sheik is one of the new characters introduced in ''[[Super Smash Bros. Melee]]''. Rather than being added as a full-fledged character, she is a transformation of {{SSBM|Zelda}}, which makes her and Zelda the only characters in ''Melee'' to possess such an ability. In addition to her ability to [[Transform]] into Zelda, Sheik's [[Vanish]] is based on her usage of Deku Nuts in ''Ocarina of Time''.

Due to her very fast attack speed, excellent agility, and deceptively powerful smash attacks, Sheik was initially deemed [[broken]] by some players. However, the evolution of ''Melee''{{'}}s metagame revealed that she has a poor recovery, and a mediocre neutral game. Overall, Sheik's strengths largely outweigh her weaknesses, and she is currently ranked 4th out of 26 on the tier list.

In addition to the Zelda trophies, there are three Sheik trophies available in ''Melee''. Her main trophy reads as follows:

<br>'''Sheik'''<br>

''This is Zelda's alter ego. Using a variation of the name of the ancient Sheikah tribe, she appears before Link and teaches him melodies instrumental to his success. It's believed that she's not just a quick-change artist, but rather that she is able to instantaneously alter her clothing and her eye and skin color by using her magical skills.''

*The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time, 11/98 (N64)

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Sheik Trophy Melee.png|Sheik [Classic Mode] trophy

Sheik Trophy (Smash).png|Sheik [Smash, Adventure Mode] trophy

Sheik Trophy 2 (Smash).png|Sheik [Smash, All-Star Mode] trophy

Unlike ''Melee'', ''[[Super Smash Bros. Brawl]]'' does not feature the [[Princess Zelda]] from ''Ocarina of Time''. Instead, she has been succeeded by her descendant, the Zelda from ''{{s|zeldawiki|The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess}}''. When this was revealed, many debates came about as to whether or not Sheik would return. Many argued that because Sheik did not appear in ''Twilight Princess'', Zelda would not be able to [[Transform]] into Sheik. By extension, many cited the fact that the Hero of Time had also been succeeded by his descendant, the Link from ''Twilight Princess'', who features special moves that were reworked to fit with ''Twilight Princess'' aesthetics.

Conversely, others argued that even though the ''Ocarina of Time'' incarnation of Zelda was playable in ''Melee'', she was not supposed to be based on any specific Zelda; rather, she was an amalgamation of all Zeldas, past and present. As a result, they argued that the ''Twilight Princess'' incarnation of Zelda would not be prevented from being able to Transform into Sheik like her ancestor could in ''Melee''.

The debate was settled with the revelation of Sheik's inclusion in Famitsu's review of ''Brawl''. Shortly thereafter, [[Smash Bros. DOJO!! (SSBB)|Smash Bros. DOJO!!]] confirmed Sheik's inclusion via its January 16th update. Sheik's special moves have remain unchanged, but much like Zelda, Link, and [[Ganondorf]], she now features an updated design based on ''Twilight Princess''{{'}} aesthetics. Sheik's updated design was initially created for ''Twilight Princess'',<ref>[http://www.smashbros.com/wii/en_us/characters/sheik.html Sheik's profile on the Smash Bros. DOJO!!]</ref> but plans to implement her into ''Twilight Princess'' fell through. As a result, her updated design was effectively discarded until finding new life via ''Brawl''.<ref>"The pictures at the bottom right represent what Zelda from ''Twilight Princess'' would look like if she transformed into Sheik. They were drawn for ''Super Smash Bros. Brawl''." (''Hyrule Historia'', page 174)</ref>

Sheik's playstyle is largely similar to how it was in ''Melee'', though she now has a [[Final Smash]], [[Light Arrow]], that she shares with Zelda. However, she her KO potential has been severely weakened, while her endurance has also worsened. As a result, Sheik is currently ranked 25th out of 38 on the tier list, which renders her as a mid-tier character instead of a top-tier character.

[[File:Sheik - Brawl Trophy.png|thumb|125px|Sheik trophy in ''Brawl''.]]

Sheik has a trophy that is awarded each time {{SSBB|Classic Mode}} is completed with Sheik on any difficulty. See [[Light Arrow]] for the trophy description of Sheik's [[Final Smash]]:

'''Sheik'''<br>

''The persona Zelda adopted to escape from Ganondorf. She completely hid all traces of her Zelda identity and appeared to Link as the last member of the Sheikah tribe. She taught Link essential ocarina melodies and then vanished in an instant. She didn't appear very often--rather, she would show up to support Link in crucial situations.''

{{Trophy games|console1=N64|game1=[[The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time]]}}

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! Characters

| {{SortKey|Link Zelda Toon Link Ganondorf}}{{Head|Link|g=SSBB|s=16px}}{{Head|Zelda|g=SSBB|s=16px}}{{Head|Ganondorf|g=SSBB|s=16px}}{{Head|ToonLink|g=SSBB|l=Toon Link (SSBB)|s=16px}}

Sheik returns as a playable character in ''[[Super Smash Bros. 4]]''. She has retained her ''Twilight Princess'' design, albeit with a much more vibrant color scheme because of ''SSB4'' aesthetics. Unlike in previous installments, however, Sheik is now a standalone character like {{SSB4|Zero Suit Samus}} and {{SSB4|Charizard}}. She has also gained two new special moves, one of which compensates for her independence from Zelda: [[Burst Grenade]] replaces [[Chain]], and [[Bouncing Fish]] replaces [[Transform]].

Sheik has been buffed significantly from ''Brawl'' to ''SSB4'', as many of her traits from ''Melee'' have been restored. What she lacks in power is more than made up by her excellent combo game, as many of her attacks naturally link into each other with ease. Unlike in ''Melee'', she is now blessed with an excellent [[neutral game]], being able to pressure opponents with [[Needle Storm]] from afar, or get in close using her quickness and unpredictability. Sheik has unarguably the best frame data in the game, making her an exceedingly difficult character to [[Punishment|punish]]. She also possesses potent KO options with her sweetspotted up smash, up aerial, [[Vanish]], and Bouncing Fish.

Although Sheik was originally viewed as the best character in the game, game updates heavily nerfed some of her most viable options, such as weakening her forward aerial, reducing her forward and down throws' combo potentials at high percentages, and decreasing [[Needle Storm]]'s range.

However, Sheik is still viewed as a highly viable character, and has achieved great tournament representation and results. This has been reflected by her currently being ranked 4th out of 58 on the tier list, which results in her becoming a top-tier character like in ''Melee''.

====Trophy descriptions====

:{{Flag|North America}} ''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.''

:{{Flag|Europe}} ''Sheik is introduced in The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time as the "survivor of the Sheikah", although it turns out to be Zelda, who took on the disguise to hide from Ganondorf. Sheik's ninja-like speed is a real contrast with Zelda's, and it allows for sneaky, fast-paced attacks that overwhelm opponents before they can even react.''

:'''Sheik (Alt.)'''

:{{Flag|North America}} ''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.''

:{{Flag|Europe}} ''Sheik's Burst Grenade side special throws a small grenade that draws in nearby fighters, then explodes. Hold the button longer to thrown it further. The down special Bouncing Fish is a fish-like flop forwards that has Sheik attack with both heels on the way down. If the move connects, Sheik will bounce back up into the air.''

SheikTrophy3DS.png|Classic (3DS)

SheikTrophyWiiU.png|Classic (Wii U)

*Sheik is the only character in the ''Super Smash Bros.'' series to have been ranked at the very top of the tier list in two different games; she was ranked 1st on the first ''SSB4'' tier list, and was ranked 1st on the first seven ''Melee'' tier lists.

**She and [[Diddy Kong]] are characters in the ''Super Smash Bros.'' series to have been ranked at the very top of a tier list, and then later lose that position.

[[Category:Sheik]]