Editing Zelda (SSBB)

{{ArticleIcons|brawl=y|featured=y}}

{{disambig2|Zelda's appearance in ''Super Smash Bros. Brawl''|the character in other contexts|Princess Zelda}}{{for|information about Zelda's alter-ego|Sheik (SSBB)}}

|name = Zelda

|image = [[File:Zelda SSBB.jpg|250px]]

|game = SSBB

|ssbgame1 = SSBM

|ssbgame2 = SSB4

|tier = F

|ranking = 37

'''Zelda''' ({{ja|ゼルダ|Zeruda}}, ''Zelda'') is a playable fighter in ''[[Super Smash Bros. Brawl]]''. The titular character of {{uv|The Legend of Zelda}} universe, Zelda's model from ''{{s|zeldawiki|The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess}}'' is reused in ''Brawl''. Zelda was confirmed as a returning fighter on June 25th, 2007 on the {{SSBB|Smash Bros. DOJO!!}}.

 

Having previously appeared in ''[[Super Smash Bros. Melee]]'', Zelda reappears in ''Brawl'' as a character utilizing strong magical attacks, but despite her overall KO power being strongly [[buff]]ed, her [[tier list|tier position]] is a slight drop compared to her already very low placement in ''[[Melee]]'', at 37 out of 38 compared to 24 out of 26 in the earlier game, tied with [[Zelda (SSB4)|her later iteration from ''Smash 4'']] as her worst placement in the series. While Zelda possesses fast, powerful attacks, some of the most powerful aerials in ''Brawl'', and a great defensive game thanks to strong out of shield options, Zelda suffers from a combination of severe character build flaws. These flaws include a very inconvenient combination of attributes similar to {{SSBM|Mewtwo}} (slow, light, tall, and floaty), her almost non-existent approach options, possessing a moveset that consists nearly entirely of unreliable finishers with poorly-placed hitboxes (which makes it difficult for her to KO consistently despite her abundance of powerful attacks, and leaves her with an almost non-existent combo game), a terrible projectile that cannot force approaches, one of the worst grab games, with a very slow grab and terrible throws, and her predictable and unreliable recovery (her primary recovery move suffers from major angular issues, and she does not have access to an alternate recovery move nor the [[air speed]] and [[jump]]ing abilities to make it back without using a recovery move). This has left her with terrible tournament results and having terrible matchups against many higher tiered characters, ultimately clocking her in F Tier right above the worst spot (with {{SSBB|Ganondorf}} being the only fighter ranked lower than her) - although the combination of her and her transformation, {{SSBB|Sheik}} is higher at 24/38, placed in the D tier (though this is based on theory rather than actual practice). While Zelda is ranked as one of the worst characters in the game in the American and European tier list, in [[Japanese tier list|Japan]] she is ranked significantly higher, 16th in the high tier along with Sheik, as they are considered as a single character.

Zelda is a floaty, lightweight character with poor [[momentum canceling]] (making her very easy to KO but difficult to chain throw) with strong, graceful attacks, usually augmented with magic. She has abysmal grounded mobility overall, with her having the 4th slowest walking and dashing speeds. However, she has above-average air speed.

 

Arguably Zelda's most defining trait is the high KO power on a large portion of her moveset. Her aerials (except for neutral aerial) are among the absolute strongest in the game, with her forward, back and up aerials being the strongest in ''Brawl'' and her down aerial being the third most powerful meteor smash in the game. Her Lightning Kicks and down aerial are single, powerful blows that cause a lot of damage and knockback if landed properly, but they are extremely weak and have low stun when sourspotted, while her up aerial is likewise the most powerful in the game. On the ground, both her forward and up tilt are among the strongest, with the latter easily KOing most floaty characters under 100%, her forward and up smashes have fast start-up and hit multiple times with large damage output and powerful knockback on the final hit, with the latter being nearly impossible to SDI out of and being able to juggle at lower percentages, while her down smash has almost no start-up lag and is a decently powerful semi-spike, which can be extremely deadly against characters with poor recoveries.

 

Zelda is also gifted with a solid defensive game. Her [[roll]]s and [[spot dodge]] are perfectly solid defensive options, although she does possess one of the slower [[air dodge]]s. She has some powerful out of shield options. Up smash is a frame 6 option which has solid KO power and it hits on both sides. Her back aerial is a frame 11 Out of Shield option and while it is difficult to land, it has incredible KO power when sweetspotted. This also applies to forward aerial although it is slower, being frame 14 OoS. She also has down smash as a frame 11 option which while much weaker than back aerial, it does hit in front and it is still a viable KO move. Down tilt is a frame 12 option which can lead into followups, especially if the opponent trips, or fails to [[SDI]] the move. Zelda also has other useful defensive tools. Her Nayru's Love is a reflector with high damage output, decent knockback and reasonable startup lag, while also having a projectile in Din's Fire to defend herself to some degree (even though it is extremely situational). Her strong defense is counterbalanced by her very low traction and her very poor mobility on the ground (very slow dash speed and slow falling speed). Her grab is disjointed, but it is very slow (at frame 12), while also having less range then numerous grabs which come out twice as fast, making it hard to land without set ups, and it is very difficult to land Out of Shield.

 

Zelda's crippling combination of her slow mobility, atrocious endurance, and her tall frame, however, is arguably what makes her one of the worst characters in ''Brawl''. Zelda's tall frame and floatiness makes her very easy to juggle, despite her above-average air speed, while the latter and her lightweight both give her one of the worst endurances in the game, especially from the upper blast line. Despite her potent defensive game, it is very easy to force her to play offensively because of her very poor approach options, her very slow mobility and her slow grab. Characters with great camping abilities (most notably {{SSBB|Falco}}) can simply outcamp her with a flurry of projectiles or by simply evading her wiith their superior mobility, while she cannot rely on her Din's Fire to camp, as it is easily avoidable and Zelda will not win any projectile wars with it. This means that she gets very few chances to use her strong out of shield options to her advantage and is instead forced to play with her horrible offensive game due to her abysmal approach.

 

Zelda also struggles with close range pressure. Her fastest ground option is down smash at frame 4 and while it is quite fast, it is also quite punishable. She does have a safer alternative with down tilt although it is frame 5, which can still lose against characters with superior frame data. Zelda can also have some trouble punishing Out of Shield, despite her strong options. Her only fast option is up smash, which does not have particularly impressive range, matching the shortest ranged grabs. Outside of her up smash, she has no options which are faster than frame 11, which can give her a lot of trouble punishing moves which up smash cannot reach, as long as they are not too punishable. Zelda especially has trouble punishing shorter characters as her already unreliable Lightning Kicks are even harder to land against them. When combined with her low traction, this gives Zelda a limited Out of Shield game overall. Zelda does have much better options after a [[powershield]], as down smash and down tilt become frame 5 options, allowing her to reliably punish relatively safe moves. However, these moves are still not fast enough to punish ordinarily safe moves and Zelda does not gain any faster options to punish opponents from behind.

Another one of Zelda's major flaws is her inconsistency in KOing opponents. As mentioned before, most of Zelda's moveset has high KO potential, but landing them is extremely difficult due to the poorly-placed hitboxes on most of her strongest finishers. Her Lightning Kicks and down aerial are extremely powerful when sweetspotted, but the sweetspot hitboxes are notoriously small and the sourspots have incredibly low knockback, damage output and low hitstun, making the moves dangerously unsafe and difficult to land. Down aerial's sweetspot additionally only works against aerial opponents, which only makes it a viable KO option off stage. Her up aerial is generally impossible to land on a opponent at the same ground level as her and is rather laggy. Her forward smash can be SDI'd out of, her up smash does not have the best horizontal range, and her down smash is rather weak for a smash attack despite its semi-spike properties, while her up tilt is rather slow for a tilt attack and is less effective againt heavier characters. Conversely, Zelda's poor frame data and high knockback attacks give her one of the worst comboing abilities in the game. Zelda is virtually unable to followup her aerials into each other, despite her above-average air speed, due to the terrible hitbox placements and properties of most of her aerials, while her only few combo starters, such as her down tilt, jab or neutral neutral aerial or dash attack, eventually become predictable for repetitive use. Neutral attack has slow startup, unfavorable hitbox places and is susceptible to SDI, neutral aerial's loop hits give it inconsistent followup potential against grounded opponents and while down tilt can rack up a lot of damage by chaining into itself, it is susceptible to SDI, preventing Zelda from getting more than three down tilts at the most against a skilled player. Most of Zelda's combos only last for merely two or three hits at low percentages, which do not rack up a lot of damage under most circumstances. This is aggravated by her poor grab game; her grabs are very slow and while her back throw can KO at higher percents, her others throws have are quite limited, with forward throw only really be using for setting up edgeguards, down throw can be used to rack up damage and set up unreliable followups and up throw does not reliably lead to followups or KOes.

Lastly, Zelda possesses an extremely situational set of special moves. Din's Fire is long ranged, has a large hitbox when and deals good damage when fully charged, KOs at high percents, cannot properly be reflected, can be controlled, and be used for edgeguarding. However, it is predictable and avoidable against skilled players (easy to spot dodge, air dodge or even trade with), being difficult to camp with against most characters (with few exceptions, like the {{SSBB|Ice Climbers}} and slow characters). Additionally, it is not very effective as an edgeguarding move, as the move sends at a vertical angle, does not KO reliably until around 150% unless near the top blast line, and opponents can easily air dodge or trade with it off-stage. Nayru's Love is a decent duration reflector attack, a solid defensive spacing tool, and it has utility in other areas with techniques such as [[Love Jumping]], but suffers from a considerable amount of ending lag. Farore's Wind is a long distance recovery/attack, but it is very slow, cannot sweetspot ledges until Zelda has reappeared, has weak knockback and Zelda cannot move horizontally after reappearing for a lengthy amount of time. Opponents can either easily hit Zelda out of it or they can [[edge hog]] it, making it a rather poor recovery move overall despite its long distance. Transform enables Zelda to alleviate some of her weaknesses (such as poor mobility) by transforming into Sheik, who is a considerably superior character, but the amount of time it takes to transform into Sheik is extremely long, giving the opponent more than enough time to set up a devastating punish on her.

In the end, Zelda relies on her strong defensive game and potential power to overcome her weaknesses, which is usually hard to do. Zelda is a character that has hard time to approach her opponents, but once she does, she can be a devastating character. Zelda can be described as a glass cannon: she can pump out a lot of damage if the opponent approaches her, but she will not survive long once she starts getting hit. [[Transform]] can also shore up some of Zelda's weaknesses (most notably her terrible mobility and approach) by turning into Sheik, and vice-versa.

==Changes from ''[[Super Smash Bros. Melee]]''==

Zelda has been given major power [[buff]]s from ''Melee'' to ''Brawl'' and she is now an even more powerful character than in ''Melee'' due to her gaining several, new powerful finishers like her down smash, down aerial and [[Din's Fire]]. Her moveset deals more damage overall and she benefits from various additions including much lower [[SDI]] multipliers and the fact that [[stale move negation]] no longer affects individual hits of multi-hit moves. The universally decreased falling speeds also further improve her KO power as none of her vertical finishers received a nerf to their power. Additionally, some of her out of shield options have been improved, the aforementioned lower SDI multipliers on her forward and up smash, as well as her neutral aerial, have greatly improved their defensive utility.

However, changes to the mechanics have mitigated these buffs, and she received significant nerfs that made her an even lighter and floatier character, worsened her already horrible endurance and her already inconsistent KOing ability, and considerably weakened her combo game to be among the absolute worst. Those nerfs have drastically harmed Zelda overall, making her arguably even worse relative to the cast than in ''Melee'': her flaws from the previous game remain and were exacerbated by the physics changes due to her average weight being lowered further (although this benefits her matchup against {{SSBB|King Dedede}}) and her slower falling speed and lower gravity making her even floatier. Her barely improved mobility also remains very slow despite the increases to her walking, dashing and air speeds. Despite her moves doing more damage, her damage racking game has been weakened: her powerful moves are harder to hit with due to their smaller hitboxes, increased lag, shorter duration and the introduction of several large sourspots, her combo game has been severely nerfed leaving her with barely any combo potential on most of her moves, while her grab game was greatly weakened despite the improvements her grabs received due to the slower falling speeds and the introduction of [[hitstun canceling]] no longer allowing her to chaingrab with her up throws or completely removing her previous follow-ups with her down throw. Lastly, her marginally better [[Din's Fire]] remains very difficult to camp with, while still being fairly ineffective as a edgeguarding and KOing move due to only merely KOing above 150%. [[Transform]] takes a lot longer to perform and {{SSBB|Sheik}} has been significantly nerfed in her own right making transforming into Sheik a much less effective strategy than in ''Melee''.

Overall, her nerfs heavily outweigh her buffs, making Zelda an even worse character in this game and she still heavily struggles against much of the rest of the cast.

 

*{{change|Zelda's design is now based on her appearance in ''The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess''.}}

*{{change|Zelda now vocalizes when jumping from the ground.}}

 

*{{buff|Zelda [[walk]]s faster (0.7 → 0.8).}}

*{{buff|Zelda [[dash]]es faster (1.1 → 1.224), no longer having the slowest dashing speed.}}

*{{buff|[[Air dodge]] has a longer duration (frames 4-19 → 4-29) no longer being the worst in the game.}}

*{{buff|Her lower weight however does allow her to be knocked down by {{SSBB|King Dedede}}'s down throw preventing her from being chain grabbed by it.}}

*{{nerf|Zelda's [[gravity]] is lower (0.073 → 0.067), making her floatier and reaching her maximum falling speed slower. However, this doesn't compensate for her worse endurance than in ''Melee''.}}

*{{buff|Zelda's [[glide toss]] covers more distance, especially her backwards glide toss.}}

 

*[[Neutral attack]]:

**{{buff|The first two hits now uses set knockback instead of base knockback (10 (base) → 0, 0 (set) → 50/43/30/7), allowing it to more reliably connect into the third hit.}}

*[[Forward tilt]]:

*[[Up tilt]]:

**{{nerf|Forward smash's final hit inflicts 1% less damage (14% → 13%) and has altered knockback (50 (base), 98 (scaling) → 30/105), reducing its KO potential slightly.}}

**{{change|Down smash's front hit deals 1% more damage (11% → 12%), but the back hit deals 1% less (11% → 10%) with its knockback compensated (80 (scaling) → 85).}}

 

**{{nerf|Sourspotted Lightning Kicks are significantly weaker and deal drastically less damage (10% → 4%). The sweetspots now last for only 1 frame as opposed to 4 in ''Melee'', while the rest of the attack's frames deal the same damage a sourspotted Lightning Kick would deal. The sweetspotted hitbox's size is also significantly smaller (5.2u → 1.7u) , being less than a third of the size from ''Melee'' (although their increased priority slightly compensates for this). They also have more landing lag (18 frames → 22) which is further exacerbated with the removal of [[L-canceling]]. Altogether, those changes drastically hinder the move's utility, completely removing their approaching abilities, while making them dangerously unsafe if missed.}}

**{{nerf|It has more ending lag (FAF 36 → 40), preventing Zelda from performing two forward aerials in a short hop.}}

*[[Up aerial]]:

**{{nerf|It has a smaller hitbox and can also no longer auto-cancel out of a short hop due to it a later auto-cancel window (frame 45 → 56).}}

*[[Down aerial]]:

**{{buff|Down aerial has gained a clean sweetspot for 1 frame, which is similar to that of her Lightning Kicks, dealing much more damage (7% → 16%) and knockback (5 (base), 85 (scaling) → 50/90) powerfully meteor smashing foes with a slightly different angle (275° → 270°). However, it cannot land on a grounded opponent.}}

**{{buff|The sourspotted hit can now trip opponents and has a longer duration (frames 14-17 → 15-24) and less landing lag (24 frames → 21).}}

**{{nerf|Its late hits deal less damage (8%/7% → 5%/4%) and knockback (100/80 (scaling) → 90/70).}}

**{{change|Down aerial's animation has been altered. Zelda's body is more upright when stomping down with her left arm placed a bit more to her side.}}

 

**{{buff|Grab range is longer, now being the 3rd longest non-tether grab in the game.}}

**{{nerf|Due to the slower falling speeds of ''Brawl'', up throw can no longer chaingrab fastfallers.}}

**{{nerf|Down throw sends opponents higher due to universally decreased falling speeds, which when combined with the changes to hitstun, completely removes its comboing capabilities and makes it completely unreliable at setting up follow-ups.}}

 

**{{buff|Nayru's Love can now be used to perform a "[https://youtu.be/8djTa_wHqtE Love jump]" increasing its utility. It also has a higher maximum damage output due to changes to stale move negation (13% → 15%) and the final hit can now semi-spike improving its edgeguarding potential.}}

**{{change|Zelda has a [[Final Smash]], Light Arrow. Zelda pulls out the Bow of Light and shoots a Light Arrow. The Light Arrow deals high damage and incredible knockback, and will usually [[one-hit KO]] anyone who gets hit by it. {{SSBB|Sheik}} also has Light Arrow has her Final Smash, albeit with slight differences.}}

''For a gallery of Zelda's hitboxes, see [[Zelda (SSBB)/Hitboxes|here]].''<br>

''For a more detailed information regarding Zelda's moveset and attack hitboxes, see [[Zelda (SSBB)/Moveset|this page]].''

|game=SSBB

|neutralcount=1

|neutralname=Short Flash ({{ja|ショートフラッシュ|Shōto Furasshu}})

|neutral1dmg=2% (hits 1-3)

|neutraldesc=Zelda sticks her hand out in front of herself and shoots small magical sparks, pushing foes slightly back. Disjointed with decent range.

|ftiltname=Magical Cutter ({{ja|マジカルカッター|Majikaru Kattā}})

|ftiltdmg=13% (hand), 12% (arm), 11% (body)

|ftiltdesc=Zelda steps forward and slashes one arm in front of her, with a trail of sparkles. The attack has moderate knockback. The tip of the attack hits backwards, while the base hits forwards. Can be angled.

|utiltname=Barricader ({{ja|バリケーダー|Barikēdā}})

|utiltdmg=11%

|utiltdesc=Zelda waves her arm above her head in an arc with a boost of magic power. This move has very high vertical knockback, and makes an excellent finisher.

|dtiltname=Low Kick ({{ja|ローキック|Rō Kikku}})

|dtiltdmg=7% (foot), 8% (leg)

|dtiltdesc=Zelda crouches and kicks her foot in front of her, hitting opponents low. The tip of her foot [[meteor smash]]es grounded opponents and launches airborne opponents upwards. Can make the opponent trip, allowing for multiple follow-ups.

|dashname=Quick Palm Shot ({{ja|クイックパームショット|Kuikku Pōmu Shotto}})

|dashdmg=12% (clean body), 9% (clean hands), 8% (late body), 7% (late hands)

|dashdesc=Zelda shoves her arms in front of her and pushes foes in front of her away with a boost of magic power. Any foes caught in the sweetspot of the move will shocked and knocked upwards.

|fsmashname=Shining Palm Shot ({{ja|シャイニングパームショット|Shainingu Pōmu Shotto}})

|fsmashdmg={{ChargedSmashDmgSSBB|1}} (hits 1-4), {{ChargedSmashDmgSSBB|13}} (hit 5)

|fsmashdesc=Zelda charges magic energy in her right hand and flashes it in front of herself, hitting opponents multiple times before knocking them away. Can pressure shields and deals great knockback. However, it can be SDI'd out of (though it requires good timing).

|usmashname=Power Steer ({{ja|パワースティア|Pawā Sutia}})

|usmashdmg={{ChargedSmashDmgSSBB|1}} (hits 1-10), {{ChargedSmashDmgSSBB|5}} (hit 11)

|usmashdesc=Zelda charges magic energy in her left hand and waves it above her head twice, hitting opponents multiple times before knocking them away. At low percentages, especially against heavy characters, this can combo several times with itself, and is also easily followed by an up tilt.

|dsmashname=Compass Turn ({{ja|コンパスターン|Conpasu Tān}})

|dsmashdmg={{ChargedSmashDmgSSBB|12}} (hit 1), {{ChargedSmashDmgSSBB|10}} (hit 2)

|dsmashdesc=Zelda quickly kicks on both sides of herself, knocking opponents away. It is the fastest down smash in the game (tied with R.O.B) with good semi-spike knockback. The leg Zelda strikes with is intangible.

|nairname=Zelda Spin ({{ja|ゼルダスピン|Zeruda Supin}})

|nairdmg=2% (hits 1-4), 5% (hit 5)

|nairdesc=Zelda spins in place, slowly trailing sparkles from her hands. Has short range but is useful for catching opponents in combo's.

|fairname=[[Lightning Kick|Lightning Kick (Front)]] ({{ja|稲妻キック（前）|Inazuma Kikku (Mae)}})

|fairdmg=20% (clean foot), 4% (clean leg, late)

|fairdesc=Zelda quickly kicks in front of herself, dealing great damage and knockback if the opponent is hit at the beginning of the move and just the tip of her boot. Otherwise, the opponent is hit with low damage and knockback.

|bairname=[[Lightning Kick|Lightning Kick (Back)]] ({{ja|稲妻キック（後）|Inazuma Kikku (Ato)}})

|bairdmg=20% (clean foot), 4% (clean leg, late)

|bairdesc=Identical to Zelda's forward aerial, except the opposite direction and faster, dealing slightly higher knockback than the forward Lightning Kick.

|uairname=Condense Blast ({{ja|コンデンスブラスト|Kondensu Burasuto}})

|uairdmg=15%

|uairdesc=Zelda brings her arm above her head and releases a fiery explosion above her head, dealing great knockback. Requires precise timing to KO.

|dairname=Mild Meteor Heel ({{ja|マイルドメテオヒール|Mairudo Meteo Hīru}})

|dairdmg=16% (clean), 5% (late leg), 4% (late foot)

|dairdesc=Zelda stomps her foot below herself, [[meteor smash|meteoring]] opponents. The initial hitbox deals a powerful meteor (the 3rd strongest meteor smash in the game, whereas later hitboxes hit opponents with less force, albeit still a meteor.

|grabname=Holding ({{ja|ホールディング|Hōrudingu}})

|grabdesc=Zelda restrains her opponent in front of her with magical energy.

|pummelname=Holding Attack ({{ja|ホールディングアタック|Hōrudingu Atakku}})

|pummeldmg=3%

|pummeldesc=Zelda waves her arms quickly in front of her victim, dealing small magic damage.

|fthrowname=Force Move ({{ja|フォースムーブ|Fōsu Mūbu}})

|fthrowdmg=12%

|fthrowdesc=Zelda spins her opponent in front of her and throws her opponent away. Deals a good amount of damage.

|bthrowname=Force Back Move ({{ja|フォースバックムーブ|Fōsu Bakku Mūbu}})

|bthrowdmg=11%

|bthrowdesc=Zelda spins her opponent, circles them around herself and throws them behind herself. Deals good damage.

|uthrowname=Force Top Move ({{ja|フォーストップムーブ|Fōsu Toppu Mūbu}})

|uthrowdmg=11%

|uthrowdesc=Zelda forces her opponent above her and throws them upward.

|dthrowname=Plasma Beat ({{ja|プラズマビート|Purazuma Bīto}})

|dthrowdmg=2% (hits 1-4), 2% (throw)

|dthrowdesc=Zelda forces her opponent under her and shoots magic from her hands at them, before knocking them behind herself.

|floorfname=&nbsp;

|floorfdmg=6% (hit 1), 8% (hit 2 leg), 6% (hit 2 body)

|floorfdesc=Zelda performs a spin kick as she gets up. Notable for having unusually high damage on the second hit.

|floortname=&nbsp;

|floortdmg=5%

|floortdesc=Zelda performs a sweep kick from the sitting position.

|edgefname=&nbsp;

|edgefdmg=6%

|edgefdesc=Zelda climbs up and swings her legs in a circular motion, while pulling herself up.

|edgesdmg=10% (arm), 8% (body)

|edgesdesc=Zelda raises up slowly, and after a short pause, smacks the enemy with the back of her hand.

|nsname=Nayru's Love

|nsdmg=1-2 (hits 1-5), 3-5% (hit 6)

|nsdesc=A crystal forms that reflects projectiles, followed by the shards spinning around and slicing nearby opponents.

|ssname=Din's Fire

|ssdmg=8-16%

|ssdesc=Launches a controllable fireball that charges as it travels until it explodes. Can be directed up or down with the [[control stick]].

|usname=Farore's Wind

|dsname=Transform

|dsdmg=0%

|dsdesc=Transforms into {{SSBB|Sheik}}.

|fsname=Light Arrow

|fsdmg=3% (hit 1), 39% (Light Arrow 1st opponent), 29% (2nd opponent), 21% (3rd opponent)

|fsdesc=Zelda 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, decreasing in damage and knockback with each successive target, with the first opponent being hit with enough knockback to [[one-hit KO]] {{SSBB|Mario}} from the center of {{SSBB|Final Destination}}. Launches opponents at a 45° angle.

 

===Stats===

{{technical data|Needs short hop and double jump heights}}

|cast      = 39

|weight    = 85

|rweight    = 28-29

|dash      = 1.25

|rwalk      = 35-36

|trac      = 0.054

|airfric    = 0.006

|air        = 0.987

|rair      = 14-17

|baseaccel  = 0.01

|addaccel  = 0.09

|raddaccel  = 4-7

|gravity    = 0.067

|rgravity  = 31

|fall      = 1.13

|rfall      = 36

|ff        = 1.582

 

{{audio|Needs announcer calls from other languages.}}

 

{{SelectSound|char=Zelda|desc=The Transform sound effect is heard and Zelda shouts.}}

 

|desc=Teleports in with magic in her hands.

|desc-up=Jabs her arm upwards, creating sparkles above her palm.

|desc-side=Clasps her hands. When she does, a ball of [[Din's Fire|fire]] appears between her hands, a remodel of one of her victory poses from ''Melee''.

|desc-down=Leans forward and waves.}}

===[[Idle pose]]s===

|desc-1=Flips her hair back.

|desc-2=With one hand on her elbow, she puts the other hand on her neck, puts it back down and then taps her other arm with one finger.

|desc-3=Holds one arm and looks in multiple directions.

|image-2=Zelda Idle Pose 1 Brawl.png}}

===[[Crowd cheer]]===

|game=Brawl

|desc-us=Zel-da!

|desc-jp=Zel-da!

|pitch-us=Group chant

===[[Victory pose]]s===

|victory-theme=ZeldaUniverseTheme.ogg

|victory-desc=This flourish is a cover of the music that played whenever Link obtained a Triforce Piece in ''The Legend of Zelda''.

|desc-up=Turns her head to the left, making an elegant stance.

|desc-left=Praying, she turns her head upward, similar to her taunt from ''Melee''.

|desc-right=Conjures bright red magical energy.

|char=Zelda}}

===Most historically significant players===

:''See also: [[:Category:Zelda players (SSBB)]]''

*{{Sm|JuJux|France}} - Considered to be the best Zelda player in Europe, and one of the best Zeldas in the world. Placed 33rd at {{Trn|Bushido Brawl Impact}}, which is considered to be her best placement at a major.

*{{Sm|Riot|USA}} - Although he preferred to play doubles than singles, he was considered the best Zelda player in the world prior to ven throughout the game's competitive lifespan, and was once ranked 15th on the [[New England Power Rankings#Super Smash Bros. Brawl rankings|New England Brawl Power Rankings]].

*{{Sm|Ven|USA}} - Was considered the best Zelda player in the world after Brawl's decline, placing 4th at {{Trn|Rise 2017}}.

Zelda was initially seen as a solid mid-tier character, being ranked 20th on the first tier list; her significant power buffs in ''Brawl'' made her a very powerful character that was able to compete decently with the then inexperienced playerbase, who did not utilise much camping and couldn't play the [[neutral game]] well. As the metagame progressed however, it became realized Zelda's buffs did little to address the very significant problems of her character design; Din's Fire was still a terrible projectile that could not force approaches while Zelda herself was still very slow and incapable of initiating approaches, and her moveset still consisted near-entirely of unreliable finishers that made it very difficult for her to rack up damage, as well as gave her difficulty in reliably finishing stocks when the opponent was in KO range, while players started to notice that the changes to ''Brawl'' mechanics were unfavorable for her, alongside other direct nerfs. Namely, she lost the [[chain throw]]s and other combos she had out of her throws, while her Lightning Kicks that she relied so heavily on were made significantly harder to sweetspot and laggier, in addition to their sourspots being drastically weaken and Brawl's severe [[stale-move negation]] crippling the KO potential of such heavily used moves with such severe sourspots. As ''Brawl'' became more defensive based, the playerbase's neutral improved, and camping became more prevalent, Zelda's problems were significantly exacerbated, and it gradually became clear that Zelda was a poorly-designed character that could not remotely viably compete.

Zelda's decline started slowly, with her only falling two places on the second tier list. But it picked up on the third tier list with her falling four places, and then she took a nose dive on the fourth tier list to 35th in bottom tier as the fourth worst character. She fell even farther to being ranked the second worst character on the fifth tier list, and remained stuck there for the rest of ''Brawl''<nowiki>'</nowiki>s competitive life, which is also the largest tier drop any character experienced in ''Brawl''. By the end of ''Brawl''<nowiki>'</nowiki>s active life, there were even some players who considered Zelda as the worst character in ''Brawl'' and not {{SSBB|Ganondorf}}, though the BBR would not sway in placing Ganon as the worst on their final ''Brawl'' tier list. While Zelda did have a few players dedicated to using her, her overall playerbase was very small and made very little impact, so her competitive prospects never improved in ''Brawl''.

While Zelda performs poorly in ''Brawl'' singles, she performs slightly better in doubles, where a teammate can alleviate some of her significant flaws and allow Zelda to utilize her strengths better. Riot, for example, routinely placed well in doubles events in his region, compared to his worse and more scarce results in singles.

==Role in [[The Subspace Emissary]]==

In The Subspace Emissary single-player mode, Zelda and {{SSBB|Peach}} have two different storylines, depending on which one is saved from [[Petey Piranha]].

The [[Shadow Bug]]s (which came along with Bowser) make a clone of Zelda while he takes the real Zelda. The clone proceeds to ambush {{SSBB|Link}} and {{SSBB|Yoshi}} with a [[Dark Cannon]]. However, {{SSBB|Pit}} destroys the Dark Cannon and he and Mario fight and defeat her. When the clone is defeated, Link witnesses her trophy disintegrating into Shadow Bugs and, believing it was the real Zelda, proceeds to attack both Mario and Pit with Yoshi’s help. Mario and Pit defeat them and turn them into trophies and then Link and Yoshi fall into a state of unconsciousness as trophies. Kirby then revives them as King Dedede snatches them with his cargo (already hauling Luigi, Ness, and Peach). The five heroes chase after Dedede to his castle which is in ruins after Bowser stormed it and took Peach's trophy. The group then catches up to Bowser at a cliff but he escapes with Peach's trophy and flies to the Halberd where Zelda is already being held.

If Peach was saved, {{SSBB|Wario}} appears whilst Zelda is trapped under her wrecked cage. He blasts her with a Dark Cannon and turns her into a trophy, before fleeing the stadium with her. She is later captured by {{SSBB|King Dedede}} when he ambushes Wario and steals his [[Cargo]] along with {{SSBB|Ness}}. As he passes Link and company, Link spots her on the back of the Cargo, and Pit shoots the Cargo, slowing it down so that they can pursue Dedede.

At a later part of the story, Zelda and Peach are discovered by {{SSBB|Lucario}}, {{SSBB|Meta Knight}}, and {{SSBB|Snake}} in cages aboard the Battleship Halberd, stuck in their trophy form. Shadow Bugs of the princesses then fight the trio. After being freed, Snake tells both Zelda and Peach to stay in the room that they were being held captive in. Zelda transforms into {{SSBB|Sheik}}, and both she and Peach make their way to the deck of the Halberd, against Snake's orders.

When Fox attacks the Halberd against and nearly hits Peach by accident, Sheik uses [[Vanish]] to appear on top of Fox's Arwing. She then breaks the cockpit and Fox ejects, and they both fall to the Halberd. Just as they begin to fight, Peach holds up a hand and yells, "Hi!" Both Fox and Sheik look over, and find Peach has just offered them both tea. Fox, looking confused, looks to Sheik, to find she has already begun to drink. Fox accepts the tea and they do not fight again.

Zelda/Sheik helps Peach, {{SSBB|Fox}}, Lucario, Snake and {{SSBB|Falco}} defeat [[Duon]]. She is on the Halberd when Meta Knight lands it and meets up with the two other groups. Sometime between the Halberd's retaking and before the Subspace Bomb detonation at the Isle of Ancients, she returns to Zelda's appearance.

*[[The Great Maze]] - If she's rescued in [[Subspace (Part II)]].

Zelda, like {{SSBB|Luigi}}, doesn't have the trophy form pose of her collectible trophy. She instead has her arm in front of her rather than behind, as in her down taunt.

===Using stickers===

 

In Classic Mode, Zelda/{{SSBB|Sheik}} can appear as an opponent or ally in Stage 1 along with {{SSBB|Link}}, {{SSBB|Ganondorf}}, and {{SSBB|Toon Link}} on [[Bridge of Eldin]] or [[Pirate Ship]] (with the latter available if it has been unlocked). Zelda/Sheik can also appear as an opponent in Stage 11, but only if she hasn't appeared in Stage 1.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

==[[Alternate costume (SSBB)#Zelda/Sheik|Alternate costumes]]==

|colspan=6|[[File:ZeldaSheik Palette (SSBB).png]]

|-

|{{Head|Zelda|g=SSBB|s=25px}}

|{{Head|Zelda|g=SSBB|s=25px|cl=Pink}}

 

SSBBDojoZelda1.jpg|Next to {{SSBB|Pit}} on [[Castle Siege]].

*In the ''Super Smash Bros. Brawl'' manual, Zelda is referred to as a "queen" even though she is commonly referred to as "princess". This is because her ''Brawl'' appearance is based on the Zelda of ''Twilight Princess'', who is queen de facto, but does not officially bear the title as her coronation was prevented by the events of the game.

*During Zelda's down smash animation, there is a small rendering error where her arm twists the wrong way near the end of it. It only lasts for about one frame, however, and is nearly impossible to see in a normal match; in Training mode, where the player can set the game's speed at 1/4 and zoom in, the error "blinks" shortly. This error was fixed in ''[[SSB4]]''.

*[http://www.smashboards.com/showthread.php?t=196906 Zelda Character Guide on SmashBoards]

 

{{SSBBCharacters}}

{{Zelda universe}}

[[Category:Zelda (SSBB)| ]]

[[Category:Trophies (SSBB)]]

[[es:Zelda (SSBB)]]